Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary on Blu-Ray

Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary Collection on Blu-Ray. Presented in a multi-panel fold-out booklet, 5-disc collection includes all five films, a full-color book of photography, and a comprehensive timeline of the Apes universe.

Special Features:
- NEW Science of the Apes BONUSVIEW – Scientists, anthropologists and sociologists discuss the facts and fiction of the first film
- NEW “Beyond the Forbidden Zone” Adventure Game
- NEW “A Public Service Announcement From ANSA” in HD – A mission report from the agency regarding their brave astronauts
- NEW “Evolution of the Apes”- HD featurette tracing the apes story from the original novel to the screen
- NEW “Impact of the Apes” – HD featurette on how to market a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The story behind the marketing and merchandising of one of the first ever film franchises and the series’ lasting influence on pop culture through the years
- NEW HD Making-of Featurette for Each Sequel:
- Beneath the Planet of the Apes – “From Alpha to Omega: Building a Sequel”
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes – ” The Secret Behind Escape”
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes – ” Riots and Revolutions: Confronting the Times”
- Battle for the Planet of the Apes – ” End of an Epic: The Final Battle”
- NEW Each Apes sequel will have an isolated score track in 5.1 DTS Master Audio
- Commentary by Composer Jerry Goldsmith
- Commentary by Actors Roddy McDowall, Natalie Trundy, Kim Hunter and Makeup Artist John Chambers
PLANET OF THE APES: 40 YEAR EVOLUTION BLU-RAY COLLECTION
- Text Commentary by Eric Greene and Author of “Planet of the Apes as American Myth”
- Behind the Planet of the Apes Documentary – Includes all new interactivity and timeline
- Behind the Planet of the Apes Promo (1988)
- Planet of the Apes Makeup Test with Edward G. Robinson (1966)
- Roddy McDowall On-set Footage
- Planet of the Apes Dailies and Outtakes (No Audio)
- Planet of the Apes NATO Presentation (1967)
- Planet of the Apes Vintage Featurette (1968)
- A Look Behind the Planet of the Apes (1972)
- Don Taylor Directs Escape from the Planet of the Apes
- J. Lee Thompson Directs Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
- Original Theatrical Trailers
- Original Sketches by Costume Designer Morton Haack
- Photo Gallery
- Planet of the Apes Timeline
- Interactive Pressbooks
- Vintage Apes Newspaper Galleries
- Advertising and Lobby Card Galleries
- Behind-the-Scenes Galleries

Beetlejuice is a 1988 American comedy horror fantasy film directed by Tim Burton, produced by The Geffen Film Company and distributed by Warner Bros. The plot revolves around a recently dead young couple who become ghosts haunting their former home, a quaint and quiet house on a hill overlooking the fictional town of Winter Rivers located in Connecticut. When a family of metropolitan yuppies from New York City move into the house, the ghosts seek the help of an obnoxious, devious and mischievous “bio-exorcist” named Betelgeuse from the underworld in order to scare the new living inhabitants away permanently. Beetlejuice stars Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jeffrey Jones, Sylvia Sidney and Michael Keaton as the titular Betelgeuse (the film’s title being a phonetic spelling of the character’s name).

After the success of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Burton was sent several scripts and became disheartened by their lack of imagination and originality. When he was sent Michael McDowell’s original script for Beetlejuice, Burton agreed to direct, although Larry Wilson and Warren Skaaren were hired to rewrite it. Beetlejuice was both a financial and critical success, grossing $73.33 million from a budget of $13 million. The film spawned an animated television series that Burton produced, and the unproduced Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian sequel.

Trivia:

• The receptionist in the waiting room is Miss Argentina.
• Tim Burton originally wanted Sammy Davis Jr., a favorite star of his since childhood, to play the role of Betelgeuse but studio executives didn’t like that idea at all.
• Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [music] music by Danny Elfman
• In the wedding scene, Lydia’s dress is a bright red. According to the old rhyme about wedding dress colors, it’s “Married in red, better off dead.”
• During the sequence where Adam and Barbara enter Juno’s office and see her speaking to a recently deceased football team, a movie theater full of ghosts can be seen through Juno’s office window. When the film was first released in theaters, the scene created the illusion that the audience were themselves being watched by the ghosts. Among the ghosts in the audience are a red skeleton and a green skeleton (identical to the ones seen in Tim Burton’s later movie, Mars Attacks! (1996)), a woman with red hair, and two men in suits and Ray-Ban style sunglasses.
• Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [dogs] The Maitland’s deaths are caused by a stray dog wandering around the bridge their car topples over.
• Michael Keaton spent only two weeks filming his part in the film, which lasts 17.5 minutes out of the 92-minute running time. It is Keaton’s favorite film of his own.
• Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [TV commercials] Betelgeuse’s TV commercial.
• Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [stop-motion animation] The sculptures, sandworms, and various effects.
• The original script was a horror film, and featured Beetlejuice as a winged, reptilian demon who transformed into a small Middle Eastern man to interact with the Maitlands and the Deetzes. Lydia was a minor character, with her six year old sister Cathy being the Deetz child able to see the Maitlands. Beetlejuice’s goal was to kill the Maitlands, rather than frighten them away, and included sequences where he mauled Cathy in the form of a rabid squirrel and tried to rape Lydia. Subsequent script rewrites turned the film into a comedy and toned down Beetlejuice’s character into the ghost of an Ebonics-speaking con-artist rather than a demon.
• As the Geffen logo rolls during the intro, soundtrack composer Danny Elfman is heard singing “Day-o, he say day-ay-ay-o.” This was added during post-production and is heard on the released soundtrack.
• The title character of Beetle Juice (1988) is named for a bright red star in the constellation of Orion, Betelgeuse. The studio disliked the title and wanted to call the film “House Ghosts”. As a joke, Tim Burton suggested the name “Scared Sheetless” and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it.
• The only cast member who would initially commit to the project was Geena Davis. Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, and Sylvia Sidney all said no at least once. Producer David Geffen convinced Michael Keaton’s manager to convince Michael to meet with director Tim Burton. Once Michael said yes, Tim Burton personally called Sylvia Sidney and begged her to do the movie, and he flew out to meet with Catherine O’Hara to convince her as well.
• Catherine O’Hara was a replacement for an ill Anjelica Huston as Delia. On the set she met her future husband, production designer Bo Welch.
• The original plan for the dinner party was to have the guests dance to “a song by The Ink Spots,” but Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O’Hara suggested the music be calypso.
• When Adam and Barbra are in the office, a voice on the PA systems announces the arrival of Flight 409 (“Flight 409 is arriving at Gate 3″). On October 6, 1955 United Airlines Flight 409 crashed into a mountain over Wyoming killing all passengers and crew aboard. It was the worst crash in history to that point. To this day, no one knows why it crashed.
• Director Trademark: [Tim Burton] [Claymation] The Priest, Fireplace and decomposing versions of Adam and Barbra are all Claymation.
• A toy line was released in conjunction with the film, featuring action figures of most of Beetlejuice’s incarnations, Otho, Adam (whose figure featured him wearing a red baseball cap), and the Shrunken Head Man from the waiting room, whose figure was named “Harry the Haunted Hunter” and came with a detachable head showing what he looked like before death.
• Adam and Barbara are the only spirits that look “normal”, compared to the other deceased in the Netherworld.
• Juliette Lewis auditioned for the role of Lydia. Lori Loughlin, Diane Lane, Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields, Justine Bateman, Molly Ringwald and Jennifer Connelly all turned down the same role.
• The snake scene had been filmed before Michael Keaton was cast as Betelgeuse, and the animatronic snake used bore no resemblance to the actor. After Keaton had been cast, some additional film was shot for the scene, using a stop-motion snake that looked more like Betelgeuse. This was suggested by the studio to make sure the audience knows the the snake is actually Betelgeuse and not some random monster from the afterlife.
• The number 3 is used ’3′ times: The number of times to say commands (“Betelgeuse”, “home”), the number of times to knock on the door to get to the other side, and the number of first class intersessions allotted.
• Producer Jon Peters thought of casting controversial comedian Sam Kinison as Beetlegeuse, but Kinison’s agent never told him about it.

The Silencers is the title of an American secret agent comedy motion picture produced in 1966 and starring Dean Martin as agent Matt Helm. It is only loosely based upon the novel of the same name by Donald Hamilton, as well as another of Hamilton’s Helm novels, Death of a Citizen.

The film was the first of four produced between 1966 and 1969 starring Martin. Whereas Hamilton’s books were generally serious spy novels about a former Second World War assassin who is recruited to continue killing for an American government agency, the film versions were light-hearted spy romps spoofing the James Bond series in the same spirit as Our Man Flint. They have been cited as the principal inspirations for the Austin Powers spy comedies of the 1990s and early 2000s.

The Silencers does borrow a plot element from the first Helm novel, Death of a Citizen, as it begins with the agent being coaxed out of retirement. Helm’s mission: to stop an evil organization called “BIG O” (the Bureau for International Government and Order) from their plan of “Operation Fallout”; diverting an American missile into an underground atomic bomb testing site into New Mexico. Co-starring with Martin are Stella Stevens, Daliah Lavi, Victor Buono, and Cyd Charisse who opens the film with a sexy striptease while lip synching the theme song “The Silencers” sung by Vikki Carr.

James Gregory makes his first appearance as Macdonald, Helm’s superi

War Requiem is a film adaptation of Benjamin Britten’s musical piece War Requiem. It was shot in 1988 by the British film director Derek Jarman with the 1963 recording as the soundtrack, produced by Don Boyd and financed by the BBC. Decca Records required that the 1963 recording be heard on its own, with no overlaid soundtrack or other sound effects. The film featured Nathaniel Parker as Wilfred Owen, and Laurence Olivier in his last acting appearance in any medium before his death in July 1989. The film is structured as the reminiscences of Olivier’s character, the Old Soldier in a wheelchair, and Olivier recites “Strange Meeting” in the film’s prologue.

The Production Design was done by Lucy Morahan, while Linda Alderson was responsible for the costumes.

Trivia:

• Laurence Olivier’s final film.
• First film of Alex Jennings.
• First film of Nathaniel Parker.

The Poseidon Adventure is a 1972 American action-adventure disaster film based on a novel by Paul Gallico. It concerns the capsizing of a luxurious ocean liner by a tsunami caused by an under sea earthquake and the desperate struggles of a handful of survivors to journey up to the bottom of the hull of the liner before it sinks.

It won the Academy Award for Best Song for “The Song from ‘The Poseidon Adventure’” (also known as “The Morning After”), which became a hit single for Maureen McGovern, as well as winning an Academy Award for Special Achievement in Visual Effects. Shelley Winters was also nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a film for the role. The cast of the film includes five past Academy Award winners – Winters, Gene Hackman, Jack Albertson, Red Buttons and Ernest Borgnine. Parts of the movie were filmed aboard the RMS Queen Mary.

The plot centers upon the fictional ocean liner SS Poseidon, an aged luxury ship from the golden age of travel, on its final voyage from New York City to Athens before being sent to the scrapyard. On New Year’s Day, it is overturned by a tsunami caused by an underwater earthquake. Passengers and crew are trapped inside and a rebellious preacher attempts to lead a small group of survivors to safety.

A huge box office success, it was the second highest grossing film of 1972, behind The Godfather. The success of this film is in the vein of other all-star disaster films in the 1970s such as Airport (1970) and later films like The Towering Inferno (1974), and Earthquake (1974). A sequel, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979), had an equally star-studded cast, but was a box-office and critical failure. The film was remade twice, first as a television special in 2005 with the same name, and a theatrical release with the name Poseidon in 2006.

Cast
Gene Hackman … Reverend Scott
Ernest Borgnine … Det. Lt. Mike Rogo
Red Buttons … Martin
Carol Lynley … Nonnie
Roddy McDowall … Acres
Stella Stevens … Linda Rogo
Shelley Winters … Belle Rosen
Jack Albertson … Manny Rosen
Pamela Sue Martin … Susan

Trivia:

• Most of the external shots of the Poseidon were shot using a model built from the original blueprints of the Queen Mary. The model is on display at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum at the Los Angeles harbor. The real Queen Mary is located just a few miles away in Long Beach.
• Shot in sequence, taking advantage of the fact that the principals became dirtier and more tattered and
  

  Pamela Sue Martin

  suffered injuries – some real and some artificial – as they progressed.

• Some of the pre-capsize sequences were shot aboard the Queen Mary, including the opening storm sequence, the pre-disaster scenes in the staterooms and hallways, the scenes above decks, and an early scene in the engine room.
• In the scene in which Rev. Scott rescues Robin, the set was built on tracks which would slowly lower the inclined set into a large water tank. The set was supposed to stop moving once the set was half-submerged, but for some reason it continued until the camera crew was underwater. The film magazine was rushed to the lab, where immediate processing showed the film was undamaged.
• The original script called for Rev. Scott to send Mrs. Rosen on her underwater mission, and for her to be trapped and need rescuing by him. Gene Hackman decided that his character would never ask her to do this, and suggested their characters’ situations be reversed. Director Ronald Neame agreed, and they persuaded Shelley Winters that this was indeed better for her character.
• The set for the banquet hall was designed so that very few objects needed to be moved from the floor to the ceiling (and vice versa); the columns along the walls were identical at the top and bottom, and the wall decorations were all removable.
• Part of the set was built on a hydraulic system which would raise it to a 45° angle, and camera tricks were used to suggest more severe angles.
• An ending scene showing rescue boats surrounding the sinking ship was planned, but the budget ran out. The shot of the helicopter lifting off the hull was done on the studio lot, looking upward to avoid seeing the surrounding buildings.

• Except for the most dangerous sequences, all of the stunts were done by the actors themselves. All the actors at one point complained to the production staff about how difficult the shoot was physically.
• Shelley Winters gained 35 pounds for the part of Belle Rosen.
• Filming was delayed twice because of the cost, and finally began only when Irwin Allen and outside backers matched the investment of Twentieth Century Fox. Reportedly, Allen found those backers by walking across the street from the Fox lot to a country club, where he found some friends playing cards. During the card game, they agreed to back the film. Because the studio never spent any of the backer’s money, the backers made a profit from the success of the film without actually spending a dime.
• Shelley Winters trained with an Olympic swim coach so that her character, who is a former award-winning swimmer, would come across more realistically in the underwater scenes.
• Paul Gallico was inspired to write his novel by a voyage he made on the Queen Mary. When he was having breakfast in the dining room, the liner was hit by a large wave, sending people and furniture crashing to the other side of the vessel. He was further inspired by a true incident which occurred aboard the Queen Mary during World War II. Packed with American troops bound for Europe, the ship was struck by a gargantuan freak wave in the North Atlantic. It was calculated that if the ship had rolled another five inches, she would have capsized like the Poseidon.
• Sally Kellerman was originally offered the role of Linda Rogo.
  

  Stella Stevens

• Petula Clark was originally offered the role of Nonnie Parry.
• After the cable telegram is delivered to the Shelby stateroom, Robin jumps off the bed, inadvertently capsizing his plastic model of the S.S. Poseidon.
• Such mid-ocean “rogue waves” were previously thought to occur only once every ten thousand years. A 2004 study of satellite radar images showed they can happen as often as hundreds of times every decade.
• The role of James Martin was originally to go to Gene Wilder. Scheduling forced him to turn the role down.
• Milton Berle’s brother was an extra in the dining room.
• Red Buttons and Carol Lynley, whose characters fall in love in the movie, actually disliked each other intensely. They refused to have anything to do with each other except when the cameras were rolling.
• The boots and pendant that Carol Lynley wears in the film actually came from her own private collection.
• The sequence where Nonnie (Carol Lynley) rehearses “The Morning After” with her band mates was the first scene to be filmed. Originally Waddy Wachtel (the guitarist) was to be cast as her brother Teddy, but as Wachtel had brown eyes and Lynley was blue-eyed, drummer Stuart Perry was cast as Nonnie’s brother.
• In her autobiography Esther Williams claims she was offered the role of Belle Rosen by producer Irwin Allen because of her former swimming roles (though this remains open to debate, as the character of Belle Rosen called for a large woman).
• In the scene where Rev. Frank Scott is giving his sermon on the deck, actress Pamela Sue Martin is wearing a white and yellow poncho that was actually made for actress Rosemary Forsyth who wore it in City Beneath the Sea (1971) (TV), the TV-film that Irwin Allen produced the year before.
• 125 stunt people were used during the filming. No one was killed or injured.
• Contains five Academy Award winning actors – Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Jack Albertson and Red Buttons.
• The song “The Morning After” is credited on screen as “The Song From The Poseidon Adventure”.
• The film received 8 competitive nominations and was awarded a non-competitive Special Achievement Oscar (Visual Effects).

Steve Oedekerk (born November 27, 1961) is an American comedian, director, editor, producer, screenwriter and actor. Oedekerk is best known for his collaborations with actor Jim Carrey (particularly the Ace Ventura franchise), his series of “Thumbmation” shorts and his film Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002).

Oedekerk gained popularity with his series of “Thumbmation” shorts: Thumb Wars, Bat Thumb, The Godthumb, Frankenthumb, The Blair Thumb and Thumbtanic.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ06RKGcPBI]

Trivia:

Is highly involved in Martial Arts.

Is best known for the “Thumb” movies.

Was a contestant on “Star Search” (1983), and appeared on the TV series “Full House” (1987) as Joey Gladstone’s (Dave Coulier) competitor on Star Search in the episode “Star Search”.

Martin Marcantonio Luciano Scorsese (born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. He is the founder of the World Cinema Foundation, a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema and has won awards from the Oscars, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Directors Guild of America. Scorsese is president of the Film Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation and the prevention of the decaying of motion picture film stock.

Scorsese’s body of work addresses such themes as Italian American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, machismo, and violence. Scorsese is widely considered to be one of the most significant and influential American filmmakers of his era, directing landmark films such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas; all of which he collaborated on with actor Robert De Niro. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Departed and earned an MFA in film directing from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.

Trivia:

Listed as one of 50 people barred from entering Tibet. Disney clashed with Chinese officials over the film Kundun (1997), which Scorsese directed. [19 December 1996]

Awarded third annual John Huston Award for Artists Rights by the Artists Rights Foundation. [1995]

Presented with a special tribute at the 1976 Telluride Film Festival. It was presented by Michael Powell. [1976]

He is a longtime friend and was once a housemate of The Band’s Robbie Robertson. He directed The Last Waltz (1978), the documentary of their supposedly last gig which Robertson produced. Robertson later produced the soundtrack for Scorsese’s The Color of Money (1986).

Good friends with editor Thelma Schoonmaker & cinematographer Michael Ballhaus. Scorsese introduced Thelma to her husband Michael Powell and he often quotes Powell as an influence.

His name is pronounced “Scor-sez-see”.

He directed Michael Jackson’s Bad (1987) (V) music video. The full length video runs 16 minutes and is in both black & white and color. It is usually shortened down to just the color segment for television.

He appears as attached to his pet white Bichon Frise Zoe as he was to his beloved parents – except Zoe is right beside Marty every day in the office.

Daughter Francesca Scorsese born. [16 November 1999]

John Woo dedicated his action film Dip huet seung hung (1989) (“The Killer”) to Scorsese on a commentary he did for the movie’s DVD.

Daughter Domenica Cameron-Scorsese with Julia Cameron.

Taught both Oliver Stone and Spike Lee at NYU.

Was at one point going to make a movie about the life of comedian Richard Pryor.

He was an altar boy at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was used in his early films I Call First (1967) and Mean Streets (1973). Old St. Patrick’s is also where the baptism scene in The Godfather (1972) took place.

Was at one point slated to direct Clockers (1995), but for reasons that are not entirely clear, handed the directing chores to his onetime NYU student Spike Lee, while staying on as producer. He was also at one point going to direct Little Shop of Horrors (1986) for David Geffen, with Steven Spielberg as the executive producer. He was ultimately uninvolved, but claims that he wanted to shoot the movie in 3-D. It no doubt would have been a loving homage to Roger Corman, for whom he directed Boxcar Bertha (1972).

He took a cameo in his film Taxi Driver (1976) (as a man about to kill his wife) only because the actor who was supposed to play the role was sick on the day the scene was to be shot. Says he is generally uncomfortable in front of the camera.

Has a dog named Silas.

Is the subject of the song “Martin Scorsese” by alternative band King Missile.

Father of actress Cathy Scorsese from his first marriage.

Is of Italian-Sicilian descent.

Has asthma.

Of the three films he’s been trying to make since the mid-1970s, he has done two: The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Gangs of New York (2002). The third film, a biopic of Dean Martin called “Dino”, has been on hiatus at Warner Brothers since the late 1990s. Scorsese has a very specific all A-list cast in mind, probably why it has yet to be produced. He wants Tom Hanks to star as Martin, Jim Carrey to play Jerry Lewis, John Travolta to play Frank Sinatra, Hugh Grant to play Peter Lawford, and Adam Sandler to play Joey Bishop.

Was voted the 4th greatest director of all time by Entertainment Weekly, making him the only living person in the top 5 and the only working film director in the top 10 (Ingmar Bergman being retired as a filmmaker).

Appeared on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2000) as a shrill version of himself who comes to regret his decision to cast Larry David as a violent gangster in a movie after David repeatedly ruins the suit he needs to wear as the character.

Several characters in his films refer to the legendary (noir) actor John Garfield, star of the original The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), which is also mentioned.

He was one of three major directors to have been offered the opportunity to direct Schindler’s List (1993) by producer Steven Spielberg, the other two being Roman Polanski and Billy Wilder. Scorsese thought a Jewish filmmaker should direct it; Polanski wasn’t yet ready to deal with the painful subject (having lost his mother in the Holocaust); and Wilder (who was retired and who lost his mother and grandmother in the Holocaust) finally told Spielberg that he should do it himself.

Because so many of his actors win or are nominated for awards, actors are dying to work with him. The film With Friends Like These… (1998) pokes fun at this very real desire.

Both The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Gangs of New York (2002) were personal passions of his that he had wanted to make since the 1970s. When he first starting considering them, Robert De Niro was in his mind to play the lead characters in both (Jesus Christ in “Temptation” and Bill Cutting in “Gangs”). De Niro ultimately turned down the part in “Temptation” and it was decided he was too old to play Cutting by the time that “Gangs” finally went into production.

He has famously collaborated with Robert De Niro in 8 films. Scorsese has said that his creative collaboration with De Niro is very deep and that they can often understand each other without even talking. Their collaboration has had many dry spells (including recently), but Scorsese says he shows almost every script he writes or considers directing to De Niro to see what the actor’s thoughts on them are even when De Niro ultimately has no involvement the film.

Appeared in an “American Express” ad where he goes to pick up photos of his nephew’s birthday party at a drug store, and then proceeds to nervously pick through what’s wrong with each picture while trying to get the clueless photo-lab clerk’s opinion on them. He proceeds to buy more film with an American Express card and calls the people on the pictures saying they need to reshoot. Scorsese says this funny ad is probably the closest he’s come to accurately “playing” himself.

Apart from his legendary work as a filmmaker, he has been a vocal supporter of film preservation for almost three decades. His efforts to create a strong public awareness for the work of film archives include The Film Foundation, a non-profit organisation which he started together with other filmmakers. The Film Foundation regularly partners with the American film archives on the restoration of “lost” or endangered films. With this background he has agreed to serve as Honorary President of the Austrian Film Museum in Vienna.

Personally spurns the notion of the “director’s cut” feeling that once a film has been completed, it should not be further altered in any way.

He lost three best director – and best picture – Oscars to leading-man actors turned directors: Robert Redford, Kevin Costner, and Clint Eastwood (Raging Bull (1980) lost to Redford’s Ordinary People (1980); Goodfellas (1990) to Costner’s Dances with Wolves (1990); The Aviator (2004) to Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby (2004)). On the only two occasions when he was Oscar-nominated as Best Director in years ending in zero, he was beaten by actors making their directorial debuts (Redford and Costner).

In 1975, he accepted the Oscar for “Best Actress in a Leading Role” on behalf of Ellen Burstyn, who wasn’t present at the awards ceremony. She won for her performance in Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

President of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998.

Has mentioned that he thought Robert De Niro’s best performance under his direction was as Rupert Pupkin in The King of Comedy (1982).

Ranked #3 in Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Greatest directors ever!” [2005]

His favorite films include: Citizen Kane (1941), The Red Shoes (1948) and Il gattopardo (1963) (“The Leopard”).

Was friend, protégé, and employee of actor-director John Cassavetes.

When asked where audiences would find the next Martin Scorsese, he said to look to Wes Anderson, the young director of Rushmore (1998).

Has directed, as of 2008, 6 biopics: Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), Kundun (1997) and The Aviator (2004).

He received a Degree ad honorem in “Cinema, TV and Multimedia Production” from the University of Bologna on 26 November 2005.

Served as mentor to Georgia Lee and invited her to apprentice for Gangs of New York (2002) in Europe.

The 1912 American Mutoscope & Biograph Company short The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) heavily influenced Scorsese in the making of his own gangster films Goodfellas (1990), and Gangs of New York (2002). The film was picked by Scorcese for his 2005 tribute at Beaubourg, centre d’art et de culture Georges Pompidou (1977) in Paris, France. Biograph is the oldest movie company in America and in existence today, headed by producer/director Thomas R. Bond II.

Scorsese and Taxi Driver (1976) are, among others, named as inspiration for the Massive Attack debut “Blue Lines”.

He signed a four-year, first-look deal to develop projects with studio executives of Paramount. [November 2006]

The Departed (2006) is the highest-grossing movie of his 40-year career ($132,373,442 (USA)).

The Aviator (2004) was his first movie to gross over $100 million in the U.S.

He has worked with big names of music business: Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, ‘Michael Jackson (I)’ and David Bowie.

Directed 17 different actors in Oscar nominated performances: Jodie Foster, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis , Cate Blanchett, Winona Ryder, Ellen Burstyn, Sharon Stone, Diane Ladd,Cathy Moriarty, Juliette Lewis, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Newman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Alan Alda and Mark Wahlberg. (Burstyn, De Niro, Newman, Pesci and Blanchett won Oscars for their roles in one of Scorsese’s movies).

When he won his Best Director Oscar for The Departed (2006), he received the award from legendary directors, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Steven Spielberg. The four were part of the “New Hollywood” movement of the 1970s and combined have 9 Academy Awards and 38 Nominations.

As a teenager in the Bronx, Scorsese frequently rented Michael Powell’s The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) from a store that only had one copy of the reels. When it wasn’t available the owner told him, “that Romero kid has it,” referring to George A. Romero who was also a big fan of the film. Today, both directors cite the film as a major influence.

Says he was happy with the fact that it took so long for him to win Best Director, because if he had won it earlier, it would have affected his directing and films.

Recipient of the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors. Other recipients that year were Leon Fleisher, Steve Martin, Diana Ross, and Brian Wilson.

Says the only thing he regrets in his career is that he was only able to make The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) on a small budget although he imagined it to be a grand version.

Was originally going to direct The Honeymoon Killers (1969), but was replaced after a week of shooting.

Served as a guest critic on “Siskel & Ebert & the Movies” (1986) following the death of ‘Gene Siskel’. The episode was “The Best Films of the 90s” in which Roger Ebert cited Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) as one of the best films of the 90s (#3). Scorsese’s full list of his favorite films of the 1990s: 10.) Tie: Malcolm X (1992) and Heat (1995), 9.) Fargo (1996), 8.) Crash (1996), 7.) Bottle Rocket (1994), 6.) Breaking the Waves (1996), 5.) Bad Lieutenant (1992), 4.) Eyes Wide Shut (1999), 3.) Duo sang (1994) (“A Borrowed Life”), 2.) The Thin Red Line (1998), 1.) Dao ma zei (1986) (“Horse Thief”).

He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.

Resides in New York City. His production offices are located on W. 57th Street in Manhattan.

Attended Cardinal Hayes high school in the Bronx as a young man. Fellow alumni included George Carlin, George Dzundza, Regis Philbin and Jamal Mashburn.

Is a fan of the British Hammer Films series.

A huge fan of Fawlty Towers (1975). He describes the episode “The Germans” as “so tasteless, its hilarious.”.

In the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), 7 of Scorsese’s films are listed: Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1982), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995) and The Departed (2006).

Haig Manoogian was Scorsese’s mentor at NYU. He eventually produced Scorsese’s first film (I Call First (1967)) and when he died in 1980, Scorsese dedicated Raging Bull (1980) to Manoogian.

Roger Ebert is a great admirer of Scorsese’s work. 14 of Scorsese’s films were given four stars by Ebert (Mean Streets (1973), Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), After Hours (1985), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Casino (1995), Kundun (1997), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), Shine a Light (2008)), seven of his films are in Ebert’s Great Movies list (“Mean Streets”, “Taxi Driver”, “Raging Bull”, “After Hours”, “The Last Temptation Of Christ”, “Goodfellas”, and “The Age of Innocence”), and Ebert has written an entire book of his reviews, interviews and essays on Scorsese’s work simply titled “Scorsese By Ebert”.

As of November 10th 2009, five of his films are on the IMDb’s Top 250 Films list: Goodfellas (1990), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), The Departed (2006), and Casino (1995).

Amazon Specials!

Prehistoric Women is a 1950 science fiction adventure film, written and directed by Gregg C. Tallas and starring Laurette Luez and Allan Nixon. Released by Alliance Productions, this independent film was also titled The Virgin Goddess. Prehistoric Women is seemingly influenced by and is similar to the 1940 film One Million B.C.. A remake (sometimes known as ‘Slave Girls’ ) was made in 1967, and starred Martine Beswick.

Tagline:  Savage! Primitive! Deadly!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7bFhLCVSwg]

Plot:  Tigri (Luez) and her stone age friends, all of which are women, hate all men. However, she and her Amazon tribe see men as a “necessary evil” and capture them for potential husbands. Engor (Nixon), who is smarter than the rest of the men, is able to escape them. He discovers fire and battle enormous beasts. After he is recaptured by the women, he discovers fire and drives off a dragon-like creature. The women are impressed with him, including their prehistoric queen. Engor marries Tigri and they begin a new, more civilized, tribe.

Cast
  Laurette Luez … Tigri
  Allan Nixon … Engor
  Joan Shawlee … Lotee
  Judy Landon … Eras
  Mara Lynn … Arva, the usurper
  Jo-Carroll Dennison … Nika
  Kerry Vaughn … Tulee

Laurette Luez

Amazon Specials!

Blood Mania is a 1970 grindhouse,  horror film from Crown International Pictures.   Starring Peter Carpenter, Maria De Aragon, Vicki Peters, and Reagan Wilson.  Directed by Robert Vincent O’Neill.

Tagline:  Plunge Into a Night of Unspeakable Terror!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiFjr7FN7eM]

A nightmare of unspeakable terror, this Gothic-like horror tale is about a young doctor who’s haunted by a questionable past and entrapped in a hopeless present by jealousy, blackmail and finally, murder!