Protesters Claim ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Advocates Torture

Exactly how much influence the media has on the public has always been a significant question, and in particular the connection between real-life gun violence and violent movies has been on a lot of people’s minds lately.  Similarly, there is growing criticism of Kathryn Bigelow‘s Zero Dark Thirty, which is about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, especially with how the film depicts the role advanced interrogation or torture (depending on your definition) played in uncovering bin Laden’s secret whereabouts.  Some believe that the film glorifies torture and advocates for its effectiveness.

Organized protests against the film have happened at theaters where it has been playing, and U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein, John McCain and Carl Levin have spoken out against the film, calling it “grossly inaccurate.”  However, intelligence experts — including former CIA deputy director Phil Mudd, called such techniques “invaluable” and “crucial” to eventually finding bin Laden’s whereabouts. Read more

Documentary Trailer: ‘Casting By’ Follows the History and Impact of Casting Directors

Casting By is a documentary by Tom Donahue that features Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Jeff Bridges, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Diane Lane, Jon Voight, Bette Midler and John Travolta all discussing Hollywood’s unsung heroes – the casting director.

Synopsis: The doc is about the history and impact of the Hollywood Casting Director featuring the accomplishments of the “one-woman casting revolution” Marion Dougherty. One of the last of the true Hollywood originals, legendary casting director Marion Dougherty had a career in movies and television that spanned 50 years. Marion Dougherty’s legacy, well-represented in over 100 motion pictures  and over 1000 television programs, brought to the screens, large and  small, the likes of Al Pacino, Glenn Close, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, Richard Gere, Christopher Walken, Mel Gibson, Debra Winger, Robert Duvall, Diane Lane, Brooke Shields, Brendan Fraser, Martin Sheen and Bette Midler, and enduring, timeless movie unforgettables such as The Sting, Midnight Cowboy, Slaughterhouse-Five, Lenny, Pretty Baby, The Last  Picture Show, The Killing Fields, A Little Romance, The Great Gatsby, The Man Without A Face, Lethal Weapon and Batman.

HBO Documentary Films has just acquired U.S. rights to the film and plans to premiere it in the near future.  Read more

The Amazing Spider-Man’s Sally Field and Martin Sheen on Why They Never Watch Dailies

When the respective careers of Sally Field and Martin Sheen are considered, the word “legacy” should immediately come to mind. With the combined acting careers of both incredible actors, there is more than one hundred years of experience in which to boast.

In the new Marc Webb film, The Amazing Spider-Man, Field and Sheen portray two integral characters to the “Spider-Man” franchise: “Aunt May,” and “Uncle Ben.” Despite the incredible continued success of both actors, both Field and Sheen recognize the major pull of insecurity for all actors.

Field and Sheen recently spoke with Ed Symkus of GateHouse News Service about how they handle doubts associated with being an actor. Read more

Watch this Four-Minute Preview of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’

Last night, Sony released this four-minute preview of Marc Webb‘s The Amazing Spider-Man except for the first minute, everything is pretty much the same stuff you’ve already seen in the previous trailers.

But, it still looks great.

Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen and Sally Field, The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.

Check it out below! Read more

Watch: Dustin Lance Blacks’ ’8′ starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Jane Lynch, Kevin Bacon, Chris Colfer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Matthew Morrison, John C. Reilly

If, like me, you missed the live stream of the one-night only performance of Dustin Lance Black‘s “8″ at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in LA, we’re in luck because we can watch it below.  

The play featured an all-star cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Lynch, Kevin Bacon, Matt Bomer, Campbell Brown, Chris Colfer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Vanessa Garcia, Cleve Jones, Christine Lahti, Matthew Morrison, Rory O’Malley, James Pickens, Jr., John C. Reilly, Rob Reiner, Yeardley Smith and George Takei.
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Trailer #2: ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Sally Field

The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.

Director: Marc Webb

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, Sally Field

Writers: Steve Kloves, James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent

In theaters: July 3rd, 2012  Read more

Q&A: Martin Sheen Talks ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ and Why He Changed His Name

Martin Sheen is the featured guest on tonight’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, NBC’s show that traces the ancestry of celebrities.

Brought to America by Host and Executive Producer Lisa Kudrow, the episode follows Sheen as he travels to Ireland and Spain to investigate his family roots.

I talked to Sheen on a conference call where he told me that he went on this journey because for his children and grandchildren. He said that, “I felt like I had a responsibility to go to this place at this time. I’m 71 years old and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be around and if something could be uncovered that would be meaningful to future generations then I would be a part of passing that on and that would be very, very satisfying.”

In this Q&A, Sheen talks about his roots, his time in Ireland and why as a young actor he changed his name.

Who Do You Think You Are? airs at 8/7c on NBC

After taking the journey like this does it make you feel more like a whole individual as far as giving you perspective about who you really are?

Martin Sheen: Well of course that is the fundamental purpose is to try and identify personally to your foundation. I think anyone that goes on one of these journeys whether it is in front of a camera or on the Internet is really looking for a personal identification with the past.

And what is amazing about that is that as you go back further and further into your lineage in generation and generation and you begin to look at the dates and you start to realize oh like for example, one of my great, great, great grandparents died just at the onset of the American Revolutionary War.

So in that sense it gives you some perspective that you rarely think about in terms of historical value.  Read more

Trailer: “The Amazing Spider-Man” starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field

Here’s the official trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man. It was leaked earlier this morning and Sony just put this up onto Yahoo. I was hoping they would save it for the Comic-Con panel this Saturday.

I love Spider-Man and think Andrew Garfield is a great choice for Peter Parker but I have no idea why they are re-hashing the origin story again.

The trailer is kind of ‘blergh’ until you get the POV of Spidey swinging around New York City.

Here’s the synopsis from Yahoo: A teenage Peter Parker grapples with both high school and amazing super-human crises as his alter-ego Spider-Man.

Director: Mark Webb
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, C. Thomas Howell

In Theaters: July 3, 2012

 

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Vote "No" videos keep coming

I was away for the holiday weekend but it’s good to see that the Vote “No” group was getting out the message.

And it’s good to see that a “name” actor is finally showing support. Thank you Martin Sheen, Ed Asner and Elliot Gould!

SAG Election: Martin Sheen & Mike Farrell

Different well-known actors in the past 48 hours have written in support for United For Strength or Membership First. Here’s Mike Farrell (supporting U4S) and Martin Sheen (supporting MF). From DHD.