Robert Watts, the British producer and production manager who collaborated with George Lucas on the first three Star Wars films and the first three Indiana Jones movies, has died. He was 86.
Watts died Monday in his sleep at his home in East Sussex, England, his rep, Julian Owen at Alliance Agents, told The Hollywood Reporter. “We were with him for a decade taking him to conventions all over the world, where he could connect with fans and talk about his career,” Owen said.
Watts also worked alongside Indiana Jones director Steven Spielberg on the Spielberg-produced Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991).
For the extremely challenging first Star Wars film, Watts served as production supervisor under production designer John Barry, and the two traveled to Morocco and Tunisia to scout locations. He then did some third-unit directing.
“We were under a great deal of pressure from 20th Century Fox,...
Watts died Monday in his sleep at his home in East Sussex, England, his rep, Julian Owen at Alliance Agents, told The Hollywood Reporter. “We were with him for a decade taking him to conventions all over the world, where he could connect with fans and talk about his career,” Owen said.
Watts also worked alongside Indiana Jones director Steven Spielberg on the Spielberg-produced Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991).
For the extremely challenging first Star Wars film, Watts served as production supervisor under production designer John Barry, and the two traveled to Morocco and Tunisia to scout locations. He then did some third-unit directing.
“We were under a great deal of pressure from 20th Century Fox,...
- 10/1/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Idris Elba fights a lion. This is what Beast promises, and this is what Beast delivers. No more. No less. The purity of it — the bald-faced simplicity! — is sort of beautiful.
This is where we are in the cursed summer of 2022. We quaver with existential ennui as the planet tries to throw us off with pandemics, heatwaves, wildfires, landslides, dust storms, droughts and floods. But we can cheer in a whistling-past-the-graveyard way as Idris Elba punches a prodigious pissed-off pussycat in the, well, puss, as if to say, “Not today, Mother Nature! Not today!”
To be fair to the lion, he is absolutely correct to be pissed off: poachers killed his whole family, and tried to kill him too, so he is out for revenge. All homo sapiens are in his sights. You may want to root for the lion instead. We humans are only getting what we deserve.
Faster,...
This is where we are in the cursed summer of 2022. We quaver with existential ennui as the planet tries to throw us off with pandemics, heatwaves, wildfires, landslides, dust storms, droughts and floods. But we can cheer in a whistling-past-the-graveyard way as Idris Elba punches a prodigious pissed-off pussycat in the, well, puss, as if to say, “Not today, Mother Nature! Not today!”
To be fair to the lion, he is absolutely correct to be pissed off: poachers killed his whole family, and tried to kill him too, so he is out for revenge. All homo sapiens are in his sights. You may want to root for the lion instead. We humans are only getting what we deserve.
Faster,...
- 9/1/2022
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Caroline Hardy Aug 12, 2016
Just a few words on chatting to someone who is very ill...
Welcome to Geeks Vs Loneliness, our weekly spot where we chat about things that may be affecting you, or people around you. No miracle cures are ever offered here, sadly, but we do hope to have advice, tips and discussions that may be of help to someone out there.
This week isn’t the easiest of subjects: we’re talking about how to talk to, interact with and respect people who are suffering from serious illness. This piece is written by Caroline Hardy, who was diagnosed with mouth cancer in the early 2000s. As Caroline says, “please do not take offence – it is meant as constructive advice”. And whilst obviously different people deal with things in different ways, here are the tips that Caroline has passed on.
• Do not avoid us. We already feel like lepers,...
Just a few words on chatting to someone who is very ill...
Welcome to Geeks Vs Loneliness, our weekly spot where we chat about things that may be affecting you, or people around you. No miracle cures are ever offered here, sadly, but we do hope to have advice, tips and discussions that may be of help to someone out there.
This week isn’t the easiest of subjects: we’re talking about how to talk to, interact with and respect people who are suffering from serious illness. This piece is written by Caroline Hardy, who was diagnosed with mouth cancer in the early 2000s. As Caroline says, “please do not take offence – it is meant as constructive advice”. And whilst obviously different people deal with things in different ways, here are the tips that Caroline has passed on.
• Do not avoid us. We already feel like lepers,...
- 8/8/2016
- Den of Geek
There's nothing more earnest than an English national epic, and this is a valiant expedition that becomes a low-key disaster. Told straight and clean, it's a primer on how to behave in the face of doom. Scott of the Antarctic Region B Blu-ray Studiocanal (UK) 1948 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 110 min. / Street Date June 6, 2016 / Available from Amazon UK £ 14.99 Starring John Mills, Derek Bond, Harold Warrender, James Robertson Justice, Kenneth More, Reginald Beckwith. Cinematography Osmond Borradaile, Jack Cardiff, Geoffrey Unsworth Editor Peter Tanner Original Music Vaughan Williams Written by Walter Meade, Ivor Montagu, Mary Hayley Bell Produced by Michael Balcon Directed by Charles Frend
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
English film companies fell on hard times during the postwar austerity period. But the relatively small Ealing Studios maintained its creative underdog brand even after it was taken over by Rank, and is still celebrated for wartime greats like Went the Day Well?, the singular masterpiece Dead of Night,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
English film companies fell on hard times during the postwar austerity period. But the relatively small Ealing Studios maintained its creative underdog brand even after it was taken over by Rank, and is still celebrated for wartime greats like Went the Day Well?, the singular masterpiece Dead of Night,...
- 7/10/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Above: 1978 re-release poster for Tabu (F.W. Murnau, USA, 1931)
I only recently came across the posters of German artist Boris Streimann (1908-1984)—who was known to also sign his work as B. Namir—and was immediately struck by both the dynamism and the color of his work. The author of hundreds, if not thousands, of posters from the late 20s through the late 60s, Streimann loved diagonals. All of the posters I have selected— the best of his work that I could find—work off a strong diagonal line, with even his varied and very inventive title treatments (which could have been the work of another designer) often placed on an angle. On top of the sheer energy and movement of his posters, his use of color is extraordinary: brash and expressionistic like his brushwork. I especially love the multi-colored accordion in Port of Freedom, the loin cloth in Tabu, and...
I only recently came across the posters of German artist Boris Streimann (1908-1984)—who was known to also sign his work as B. Namir—and was immediately struck by both the dynamism and the color of his work. The author of hundreds, if not thousands, of posters from the late 20s through the late 60s, Streimann loved diagonals. All of the posters I have selected— the best of his work that I could find—work off a strong diagonal line, with even his varied and very inventive title treatments (which could have been the work of another designer) often placed on an angle. On top of the sheer energy and movement of his posters, his use of color is extraordinary: brash and expressionistic like his brushwork. I especially love the multi-colored accordion in Port of Freedom, the loin cloth in Tabu, and...
- 3/28/2014
- by Adrian Curry
- MUBI
The BBC has announced which movies will premiere on TV over Christmas.
Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, Gnomeo and Juliet, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Little Fockers and Megamind will air across the BBC's main channels.
Classic Ealing comedies Titfield Thunderbolt, Whisky Galore and Kind Hearts and Coronets will air on BBC Four, alongside Scott of the Antarctic, Papillon and The Fir Tree - Hans Christian Andersen's story of a Christmas tree.
Exact air dates are yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, BBC One will show the return of Sherlock, Matt Smith's farewell to Doctor Who and the arrival of Danny Dyer in EastEnders.
A special edition of The Great British Bake Off and the return of Rab C Nesbitt will air on BBC Two.
A Bad Education festive special and The Call Centre are at the centre of...
Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, Gnomeo and Juliet, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Little Fockers and Megamind will air across the BBC's main channels.
Classic Ealing comedies Titfield Thunderbolt, Whisky Galore and Kind Hearts and Coronets will air on BBC Four, alongside Scott of the Antarctic, Papillon and The Fir Tree - Hans Christian Andersen's story of a Christmas tree.
Exact air dates are yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, BBC One will show the return of Sherlock, Matt Smith's farewell to Doctor Who and the arrival of Danny Dyer in EastEnders.
A special edition of The Great British Bake Off and the return of Rab C Nesbitt will air on BBC Two.
A Bad Education festive special and The Call Centre are at the centre of...
- 11/26/2013
- Digital Spy
The BBC has announced which movies will premiere on TV over Christmas.
Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, Gnomeo and Juliet, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Little Fockers and Megamind will air across the BBC's main channels.
Classic Ealing comedies Titfield Thunderbolt, Whisky Galore and Kind Hearts and Coronets will air on BBC Four, alongside Scott of the Antarctic, Papillon and The Fir Tree - Hans Christian Andersen's story of a Christmas tree.
Exact air dates are yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, BBC One will show the return of Sherlock, Matt Smith's farewell to Doctor Who and the arrival of Danny Dyer in EastEnders.
A special edition of The Great British Bake Off and the return of Rab C Nesbitt will air on BBC Two.
A Bad Education festive special and The Call Centre are at the centre of...
Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom, Gnomeo and Juliet, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Little Fockers and Megamind will air across the BBC's main channels.
Classic Ealing comedies Titfield Thunderbolt, Whisky Galore and Kind Hearts and Coronets will air on BBC Four, alongside Scott of the Antarctic, Papillon and The Fir Tree - Hans Christian Andersen's story of a Christmas tree.
Exact air dates are yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, BBC One will show the return of Sherlock, Matt Smith's farewell to Doctor Who and the arrival of Danny Dyer in EastEnders.
A special edition of The Great British Bake Off and the return of Rab C Nesbitt will air on BBC Two.
A Bad Education festive special and The Call Centre are at the centre of...
- 11/26/2013
- Digital Spy
Distant memories used to be truly distant – fragmentary, blurred, unreliable. Now so many of them can be digitally refreshed online
Our original intention had been to see Hitchcock's second version of The Man Who Knew Too Much (with Doris Day singing Que Sera, Sera, 1956), but the timing proved impossible, and instead we booked seats for Charles Frend's Scott of the Antarctic (with John Mills as Scott, 1948). This was our Christmas treat at the BFI on London's South Bank, though we knew, of course, that the second film's ending wouldn't exactly send us trilling across Waterloo Bridge to our post-screening hamburgers in Covent Garden, which is another seasonal custom.
I had seen Scott of the Antarctic before, as a small boy at a cinema in a Lancashire cotton town in the closing years of the last king's reign; or rather, at one of those theatres that alternated films with variety acts,...
Our original intention had been to see Hitchcock's second version of The Man Who Knew Too Much (with Doris Day singing Que Sera, Sera, 1956), but the timing proved impossible, and instead we booked seats for Charles Frend's Scott of the Antarctic (with John Mills as Scott, 1948). This was our Christmas treat at the BFI on London's South Bank, though we knew, of course, that the second film's ending wouldn't exactly send us trilling across Waterloo Bridge to our post-screening hamburgers in Covent Garden, which is another seasonal custom.
I had seen Scott of the Antarctic before, as a small boy at a cinema in a Lancashire cotton town in the closing years of the last king's reign; or rather, at one of those theatres that alternated films with variety acts,...
- 12/29/2012
- by Ian Jack
- The Guardian - Film News
★★★☆☆ When British Army officer Pat Reid approached the bleached white foundations of Colditz Castle, he was probably not speculating which actor would later portray him in an autobiographical account of his infamous prison escape. Whoever it was, they had to almost parody the quintessence of Britishness, be partial to an over waxed quiff, and above everything, hate the ruddy Jerries. The leading man turned out to be one of Britain's most prolific filmic exports, John Mills (who had already played Scott of the Antarctic), who starred as Reid in Guy Hamilton's 1955 historical adaptation, The Colditz Story.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 12/11/2012
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Prince Charles has personally wished wounded servicemen well as they set off on a journey to the South Pole. Members of the expedition team, from the Royal Dragoon Guards (Rdg), were invited to London to meet the heir to the British throne ahead of setting off to retrace the steps of Scott of the Antarctic. The expedition will raise money for charities including Walking with the Wounded. Captain Adam Crookshank, Corporal Robbie Harmer and Lance-Corporal Nick Webb were among those who enjoyed the champagne reception with the prince - although he drank tea - and discuss their trek, which starts on November 19. The expedition will be led by one of the world's most experienced explorers, David Hempleman-Adams, and the...
- 10/25/2012
- Monsters and Critics
The son of a vicar (and Charles Darwin was his great-uncle), Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) became one of the most popular English composers. He studied under Charles Villiers Stanford and Hubert Parry at the Royal College of Music, but also read history and music at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he palled around with the philosophers Bertrand Russell and G.E. Moore. He also went to Germany for lessons with Max Bruch, but ultimately rejected the 19th century German Romantic style Friendships with fellow Rcm students Gustav Holst and Leopold Stokowski later bore more fruit, in different ways: Stokowski, who moved to the United States, became Rvw's biggest supporter there; Holst and Vaughan Williams critiqued each others' work and joined in the study and collection of English folk songs. "The knowledge of our folk songs did not so much discover for us something new, but uncovered something which had been hidden by foreign matter,...
- 10/12/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
A new season, a return of an old enemy, a dramatic change to a relationship, and a very surprising casting choice made the premiere episode of Doctor Who quite the rollicking ride. Keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times, mind the spoilers, hang tight to your jewelry (especially bracelets), mind the spoilers and here we go…
Asylum Of The Daleks
By Steven Moffat
Directed by Nick Hurran
The Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams are all captured by Dalek sleeper agents and taken to their main fleet, home of their Parliament. Rather than Exterminate him, they beg for his help. Their Asylum, a combination hospital and prison for Daleks so damaged or insane they can no longer be controlled, is in danger of being breached after a lost spaceship crashes on it. The Doctor. Amy and Rory are sent down to the surface to shut down the planetary force field defense,...
Asylum Of The Daleks
By Steven Moffat
Directed by Nick Hurran
The Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams are all captured by Dalek sleeper agents and taken to their main fleet, home of their Parliament. Rather than Exterminate him, they beg for his help. Their Asylum, a combination hospital and prison for Daleks so damaged or insane they can no longer be controlled, is in danger of being breached after a lost spaceship crashes on it. The Doctor. Amy and Rory are sent down to the surface to shut down the planetary force field defense,...
- 9/3/2012
- by Vinnie Bartilucci
- Comicmix.com
All I can think of when I see this trailer -- especially that last bit, which suggests that Liam Neeson is gonna go hand-to-hand (hand-to-paw?) with a wolf -- is that Monty Python Flying Circus sketch about making the movie Scott of the Antarctic: “The lion is in the contract!” ”He fights the lion.” Although obviously the solution to this: is not fighting lions but forming a South American rugby team and eating one another. It’s what The Movies has taught is the proper response.
- 1/11/2012
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
New Europe Film Season, Edinburgh
As the EU expands, so too do film festivals that aim to present new European cinema in all its gritty glory. This year's tales of urban survival and cultural and geographical displacement come mainly from central and eastern Europe, with a sneaky entry from the not-quite-in-the-club-but-nearly Croatia, which offers Balkan war drama The Blacks. You can delve into the murky depths of the Warsaw criminal underworld in Snow White And Russian Red, or discover the sweet and surreal stylings of Latvian Signe Baumane's short films. There's also Zero, a brilliantly twisted tale of 24 stories of revenge, jealousy and despair in 24 hours from Polish director Pawel Borowski, and, from Hungary comes the Mike Leigh-esque I Am Not Your Friend, about the dark side of modern Budapest.
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Fri to 28 Apr
Andrea Hubert
Extraordinary Film Festival, London
London used to have cinemas that played nothing but extraordinary films,...
As the EU expands, so too do film festivals that aim to present new European cinema in all its gritty glory. This year's tales of urban survival and cultural and geographical displacement come mainly from central and eastern Europe, with a sneaky entry from the not-quite-in-the-club-but-nearly Croatia, which offers Balkan war drama The Blacks. You can delve into the murky depths of the Warsaw criminal underworld in Snow White And Russian Red, or discover the sweet and surreal stylings of Latvian Signe Baumane's short films. There's also Zero, a brilliantly twisted tale of 24 stories of revenge, jealousy and despair in 24 hours from Polish director Pawel Borowski, and, from Hungary comes the Mike Leigh-esque I Am Not Your Friend, about the dark side of modern Budapest.
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Fri to 28 Apr
Andrea Hubert
Extraordinary Film Festival, London
London used to have cinemas that played nothing but extraordinary films,...
- 4/9/2010
- by Phelim O'Neill, Andrea Hubert
- The Guardian - Film News
Featuring material not found in the audiobook, Who and Me is the definitive account of the late Barry Lett's career and long association with Doctor Who and is published for the first time in hardback and paper back on November 8th. This is a much anticipated release that comes just a few weeks after the sad loss of Barry Letts after a long illness. Barry Letts began his screen career as an actor, starring in the Ealing film Scott of the Antarctic and TV dramas such as The Avengers, The...
- 10/16/2009
- by Christian Cawley info@kasterborous.com
- Kasterborous.com
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