An authorized biographical series about the life of late author Hunter S. Thompson is in development at MGM Television, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series will be titled Fear and Loathing, after Thompson's acclaimed book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which was first published as a two-part article in Rolling Stone in 1971.
Veteran television writer Davey Holmes will helm Fear and Loathing as part of a new overall deal with MGM TV. Holmes has written for shows like In Treatment and Shameless, and most recently adapted Elmore Leonard's novel,...
Veteran television writer Davey Holmes will helm Fear and Loathing as part of a new overall deal with MGM TV. Holmes has written for shows like In Treatment and Shameless, and most recently adapted Elmore Leonard's novel,...
- 10/24/2017
- Rollingstone.com
"Star Wars" looks set to continue increasing in diversity with J.J. Abrams, speaking earlier this week at the Oscar Wilde awards at Bad Robot Productions, saying that an Lgbt characters will one day show up on screen in a galaxy far, far away.
Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" centered around a black male and white female lead, and he says (via The Daily Beast) plans for inclusivity also extend to characters of different sexual orientations and gender definitions:
"When I talk about inclusivity it's not excluding gay characters. It's about inclusivity. So of course. To me, the fun of Star Wars is the glory of possibility. So it seems insanely narrow-minded and counterintuitive to say that there wouldn't be a homosexual character in that world."
The franchise has already offered the first Lgbt character that is part of the official canon in the form of Moff Mors, a lesbian...
Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" centered around a black male and white female lead, and he says (via The Daily Beast) plans for inclusivity also extend to characters of different sexual orientations and gender definitions:
"When I talk about inclusivity it's not excluding gay characters. It's about inclusivity. So of course. To me, the fun of Star Wars is the glory of possibility. So it seems insanely narrow-minded and counterintuitive to say that there wouldn't be a homosexual character in that world."
The franchise has already offered the first Lgbt character that is part of the official canon in the form of Moff Mors, a lesbian...
- 2/27/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
The Lucasfilm story group is hard at work keeping all elements of the new Star Wars properties in line as the franchise moves forward. While we've only seen snippets so far of their plans, the galaxy far, far away will soon be a lot more connected. As part of this, it sounds like one of the new book characters will be jumping from page to screen. Come inside to learn more!
Earlier this week, we reported on the current status of an impending Star Wars live-action TV show, and made brief mention of a character from a book who could potentially appear in the series (though I'm not sure in what capacity it would be in). Today, I'm going to expound on that a little more and hopefully make a couple things really clear.
Last November, Lucasfilm kicked off the new Star Wars canon, and since then we've had a...
Earlier this week, we reported on the current status of an impending Star Wars live-action TV show, and made brief mention of a character from a book who could potentially appear in the series (though I'm not sure in what capacity it would be in). Today, I'm going to expound on that a little more and hopefully make a couple things really clear.
Last November, Lucasfilm kicked off the new Star Wars canon, and since then we've had a...
- 3/26/2015
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Jordan Maison)
- Cinelinx
Yesterday is was announced that Disney would not really be using anything from the Star Wars Expand Universe that has been built over the years. A lot of fans seemed very disappointed by the news. There are a lot of cool stories in there that would make for some great concepts for the films they are making. The Lucasfilm Story Group has already started to build their version of the universe, and they will be releasing a new series of books that tie into the films and series that they are developing.
The first book is called Star Wars: A New Dawn, which will serve as a prequel to the upcoming Star Wars: Rebels cartoon. Thanks to the press release we have a synopsis to share with you:
The first novel to benefit from this deeper collaboration is Star Wars: A New Dawn, by bestselling author John Jackson Miller.
The first book is called Star Wars: A New Dawn, which will serve as a prequel to the upcoming Star Wars: Rebels cartoon. Thanks to the press release we have a synopsis to share with you:
The first novel to benefit from this deeper collaboration is Star Wars: A New Dawn, by bestselling author John Jackson Miller.
- 4/26/2014
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Disney has confirmed that it will release a new range of Star Wars books to tie in directly to the upcoming film series.
The company is teaming up with Del Rey Books for a slate of stories to begin bi-monthly releases beginning in September.
Star Wars: 10 things you never knew about the galaxy far, far away
John Jackson Miller has written the first entry Star Wars: A New Dawn, which will be released in print and digitally on September 2.
Star Wars: A New Dawn has been written with co-operation from Star Wars Rebels producers Simon Kinberg, Dave Filoni and Greg Weisman.
Future releases will be Star Wars: Tarkin by James Luceno on November 4, Kevin Hearne's Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi in January 2015, and the Paul Kemp book Star Wars: Lords of the Sith next March.
Disney Publishing Worldwide's Jeanne Mosure said in a...
The company is teaming up with Del Rey Books for a slate of stories to begin bi-monthly releases beginning in September.
Star Wars: 10 things you never knew about the galaxy far, far away
John Jackson Miller has written the first entry Star Wars: A New Dawn, which will be released in print and digitally on September 2.
Star Wars: A New Dawn has been written with co-operation from Star Wars Rebels producers Simon Kinberg, Dave Filoni and Greg Weisman.
Future releases will be Star Wars: Tarkin by James Luceno on November 4, Kevin Hearne's Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi in January 2015, and the Paul Kemp book Star Wars: Lords of the Sith next March.
Disney Publishing Worldwide's Jeanne Mosure said in a...
- 4/25/2014
- Digital Spy
A while ago, we reported on Lucasfilm forming a group specifically to organize the Star Wars Expanded Universe (or EU) which comprised of it's books, games, comics, etc. The overall goal, would be to finally give Star Wars a unified canon spread out between it's films and everything else. A lot of cleaning up had to be done, especially with new movies on the way, and today Lucasfilm has officially announced their plans for the EU moving forward, on top of some new books to look forward to that'll be officially part of the new canon. Come inside to check it all out!
Well folks, us nerds have been waiting a long time for some official Star Wars news, and while today's revelations don't specifically pertain to Episode VII, it does have far reachign effects on the entire Star Wars universe as we know it. It's an announcement we knew was coming,...
Well folks, us nerds have been waiting a long time for some official Star Wars news, and while today's revelations don't specifically pertain to Episode VII, it does have far reachign effects on the entire Star Wars universe as we know it. It's an announcement we knew was coming,...
- 4/25/2014
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Jordan Maison)
- Cinelinx
Cover art for “The Companions,” the 28th book in the Drizzt Do’Urden series.
The latest novel in the Drizzt Do’Urden series hit bookstores last week and was well received by critics.
R.A. Salvatore’s “The Companions” is the 28th full-length novel to focus on Drizzt and his friends. The lavender-eyed drow and his companions have captured the hearts and imaginations of fans since the first book was published in 1988. The original series wasn’t even focused on Drizzt, but after a massive response from fans Salvatore decided to run with the character.
The latest novel is the first in a series titled “The Sundering,” which ushers in a change to the Forgotten Realms, one of the shared worlds that Dungeons and Dragons players use in role-playing games owned by Wizards of the Coast.
The Sundering is a major event for the Forgotten Realms, and will feature six major hardcover novels,...
The latest novel in the Drizzt Do’Urden series hit bookstores last week and was well received by critics.
R.A. Salvatore’s “The Companions” is the 28th full-length novel to focus on Drizzt and his friends. The lavender-eyed drow and his companions have captured the hearts and imaginations of fans since the first book was published in 1988. The original series wasn’t even focused on Drizzt, but after a massive response from fans Salvatore decided to run with the character.
The latest novel is the first in a series titled “The Sundering,” which ushers in a change to the Forgotten Realms, one of the shared worlds that Dungeons and Dragons players use in role-playing games owned by Wizards of the Coast.
The Sundering is a major event for the Forgotten Realms, and will feature six major hardcover novels,...
- 8/15/2013
- by Andy Lyons
- Obsessed with Film
Film Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
The Rum Diary took a long time to get to the screens. It was always going to be a difficult story to tell, because of the pen that wrote it, and the looming, rather ominous shadow of brilliance cast over it by its odd-ball sibling, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. But is it worth the wait and the effort?
Well, sort of. There is absolutely no disguising the fact that The Rum Diary is a vanity project, made with near tender loving attention by Johnny Depp and director Bruce Robinson for Depp’s hero and friend Hunter S Thompson, but that doesn’t always have to mean that what is produced is without artistic merit. Just look at Terrence Malick – a director with a similar creative gestation period to Robinson in fact – whose recent films have been little more than artistic onanism, and yet who...
The Rum Diary took a long time to get to the screens. It was always going to be a difficult story to tell, because of the pen that wrote it, and the looming, rather ominous shadow of brilliance cast over it by its odd-ball sibling, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. But is it worth the wait and the effort?
Well, sort of. There is absolutely no disguising the fact that The Rum Diary is a vanity project, made with near tender loving attention by Johnny Depp and director Bruce Robinson for Depp’s hero and friend Hunter S Thompson, but that doesn’t always have to mean that what is produced is without artistic merit. Just look at Terrence Malick – a director with a similar creative gestation period to Robinson in fact – whose recent films have been little more than artistic onanism, and yet who...
- 3/7/2012
- by Simon Gallagher
- Obsessed with Film
Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) is a Us journalist who arrives in Puerto Rico at the dawn of the 1960′s to take up a post at the Us-backed and funded San Juan Star. He is given meaningless fluff pieces and pointless horoscopes to write, which become increasingly frustrating as he encounters more of the island’s indigenous life and accordingly more meaty topics relating to poverty and deprivation start to eat away at him. Simultaneously he strikes up a friendship with Aaron Eckhart’s rapacious property developer and his free-wheeling girlfriend Chenault (Amber Heard) who captivates him with her beauty while he also begins to sink under a thick cloud of drink and narcotics.
*****
Having played Hunter S. Thompson in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, Depp remained on good terms with him and in fact pressed Thompson to not only publish The Rum Diary (the unpublished manuscript lay in Thompson...
*****
Having played Hunter S. Thompson in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, Depp remained on good terms with him and in fact pressed Thompson to not only publish The Rum Diary (the unpublished manuscript lay in Thompson...
- 3/7/2012
- by Dave Roper
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The Rum Diary will be released by Entertainment in Video on Rental & Retail DVD & Blu-Ray on March 5th 2012. We have three copies of the Blu-ray to give away.
Based on the debut novel by Hunter S. Thompson which initiated his long, distinguished and brilliantly unpredictable career, The Rum Diary tells the increasingly unhinged story of itinerant journalist Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp). Tiring of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, Kemp travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local newspaper, The San Juan Star, run by downtrodden editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins).
Adopting the rum-soaked life of the late 50’s version of Hemmingway’s lost generation, Paul soon becomes increasingly obsessed with Chenault (Amber Heard), the wildly attractive Connecticut-born fiancée of Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), a businessman involved in shady property development deals.
All you need to do for...
Based on the debut novel by Hunter S. Thompson which initiated his long, distinguished and brilliantly unpredictable career, The Rum Diary tells the increasingly unhinged story of itinerant journalist Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp). Tiring of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, Kemp travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local newspaper, The San Juan Star, run by downtrodden editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins).
Adopting the rum-soaked life of the late 50’s version of Hemmingway’s lost generation, Paul soon becomes increasingly obsessed with Chenault (Amber Heard), the wildly attractive Connecticut-born fiancée of Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), a businessman involved in shady property development deals.
All you need to do for...
- 2/19/2012
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
Writer-director Bruce Robinson's adaptation of The Rum Diary isn't a particularly good movie, but then I'm not really sure it had a whole lot of a chance. Based on an early novel by journalist/brilliant writer/crazy person Hunter S. Thompson, the Robinson's movie attempts to graft some of the author's later gonzo sensibilities (as well as the image that we all have of him post-Fear And Loathing) on a book which, in turn, is already at odds with itself given how much noodling Thompson did with it before and after his leap to fame. You can actually see that tension play out in Johnny Depp's performance as writer Paul Kemp, playing the role as half-naif, half Raoul Duke without being able to really find a way...
- 2/15/2012
- Screen Anarchy
..and it will be a voice of ink and rage.. Johnny Depp steps back into the world of Hunter S. Thompson. Depp had a hand in finding Thompson.s lost work and decided to bring it to the screen in tribute to the late author. The results don.t seem to go anywhere, but are still a well-made trip though not along the lines of Captain Jack Sparrow. Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) woozily wakes up in a hotel room in Puerto Rico. He has arrived to take a job at the faltering San Juan Star. It.s run by toupee wearing editor Edward J. Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) who spots Kemp as a drunkard but since he.s the only one who...
- 2/14/2012
- by Jeff Swindoll
- Monsters and Critics
This week: Johnny Depp again channels Hunter S. Thompson in "The Rum Diary," a disturbed man attempts to outdo the original film in "The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence," Michael Shannon believes the end is nigh in "Take Shelter," and Lena Dunham plays a college graduate at the crossroads in "Tiny Furniture."
'The Rum Diary'
Box Office: $13 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 50% Rotten
Storyline: In this adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's novel, Johnny Depp plays wandering journalist Paul Kemp, a man who grows weary of New York during the Eisenhower administration and takes a job writing for "The San Juan Star" in Puerto Rico. Fueled by drink and other mind-altering substances, Kemp encounters a group of self-destructive souls and becomes fixated on the beautiful Chenault (Amber Heard) and the dirty dealings of her fiancé, Hal Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), who sees Puerto Rico as something to pillage for profit.
Extras!
'The Rum Diary'
Box Office: $13 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 50% Rotten
Storyline: In this adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's novel, Johnny Depp plays wandering journalist Paul Kemp, a man who grows weary of New York during the Eisenhower administration and takes a job writing for "The San Juan Star" in Puerto Rico. Fueled by drink and other mind-altering substances, Kemp encounters a group of self-destructive souls and becomes fixated on the beautiful Chenault (Amber Heard) and the dirty dealings of her fiancé, Hal Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), who sees Puerto Rico as something to pillage for profit.
Extras!
- 2/13/2012
- by Robert DeSalvo
- NextMovie
In 2011 he was the voice of Rango, he was Captain Jack Sparrow (again) and he was also a journalist. And, again this year, Johnny Depp has the distinction of being America’s Favorite Actor. Next on the list are two actors who haven’t actually acted in a movie this past year. Tied for number two [...]
Continue reading For the Second Year, Johnny Depp is America’s Favorite Actor on FilmoFilia.
Related posts: Johnny Depp Makes Rum Diary His Next Film Johnny Depp is back on “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” Johnny Depp as Paul Kemp in “The Rum Diary” – First Look...
Continue reading For the Second Year, Johnny Depp is America’s Favorite Actor on FilmoFilia.
Related posts: Johnny Depp Makes Rum Diary His Next Film Johnny Depp is back on “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” Johnny Depp as Paul Kemp in “The Rum Diary” – First Look...
- 1/19/2012
- by Allan Ford
- Filmofilia
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 14, 2012; Digital Download Release Date: Feb. 7, 2012
Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray $35.99
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) acts in his second movie adapted by a Hunter S. Thompson novel in The Rum Diary, following 1998′s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
In the comedy film, set in the 1950s, Depp plays New York journalist Paul Kemp, who travels to Puerto Rico for a freelance job with a local newspaper run by down-trodden editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins, Let Me In). Depp quickly finds himself caught between a beautiful woman (Amber Heard, Drive Angry) and her fiance (Aaron Eckhart, Love Happens), a shady American businessman who wants to turn the island into a capitalist paradise for the wealthy. While partaking in several bottles of booze, Depp is assigned to write favorably about the scheme and must decide whether to go along with...
Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray $35.99
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) acts in his second movie adapted by a Hunter S. Thompson novel in The Rum Diary, following 1998′s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
In the comedy film, set in the 1950s, Depp plays New York journalist Paul Kemp, who travels to Puerto Rico for a freelance job with a local newspaper run by down-trodden editor Lotterman (Richard Jenkins, Let Me In). Depp quickly finds himself caught between a beautiful woman (Amber Heard, Drive Angry) and her fiance (Aaron Eckhart, Love Happens), a shady American businessman who wants to turn the island into a capitalist paradise for the wealthy. While partaking in several bottles of booze, Depp is assigned to write favorably about the scheme and must decide whether to go along with...
- 12/20/2011
- by Sam
- Disc Dish
I haven’t been a very good Johnny Depp fan this year. Not only did I skip out on “Pirates of the Caribbean 4″ — turns out I didn’t miss much — I also passed on “The Rum Diary” during its short trip to the box office back in October. Shame on me. Thankfully, I won’t have to wait too long before the latter shows up on home video, as the flick is already scheduled to hit retail shelves on February 14th, 2012. The $45 million flick didn’t make a whole lot of money for FilmDistrict, so I’m sure they’re eager to recoup their loses on home video. Good luck with that. An extended synopsis is in order, I think: Tiring of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local newspaper,...
- 12/7/2011
- by Todd Rigney
- Beyond Hollywood
I don’t know the Hunter S. Thompson novel [Amazon U.S.] [Amazon Canada] [Amazon U.K.] this disappointingly unengaging flick was spun out of, but it’s hard to imagine that Thompson created his semiautobiographical journalist Paul Kemp as such an ineffectual figure... and it’s equally impossible to believe that Johnny Depp -- who acted as producer and stars as Kemp, and who is, we’re told, such a very big fan of Thompson’s -- intended for Kemp to flail ineptly through a story in which he can have little impact on events around himself beyond stealing the putative villain’s girlfriend (Amber Heard: Drive Angry). The year is 1960, and Kemp arrives in Puerto Rico to work for a local newspaper the editor of which (a hilarious Richard Jenkins: Let Me In) readily admits is dying -- hell, newspaper journalism itself is all but dead, everyone here but Kemp is ready to concede, sacrificed...
- 12/7/2011
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Amber Heard continued to build upon her reputation as a genre queen by joining Dominic Cooper on Motor City, the revenge thriller from director Albert Hughes and Joel Silver’s Dark Castle. According to Deadline, Chad St. John wrote the script about a man recently released from prison (Cooper) who seeks out the men who framed him. Heard enjoyed a brief burst in the spotlight this fall with a couple of high-profile roles in less than successful projects. Heard co-starred opposite Johnny Depp as the Hunter S. Thompson-inspired character Paul Kemp in writer/director Bruce Robinson’s adaptation of Thompson’s early novel The Rum Diary.
- 11/22/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Amber Heard continued to build upon her reputation as a genre queen by joining Dominic Cooper on Motor City, the revenge thriller from director Albert Hughes and Joel Silver’s Dark Castle. According to Deadline, Chad St. John wrote the script about a man recently released from prison (Cooper) who seeks out the men who framed him. Heard enjoyed a brief burst in the spotlight this fall with a couple of high-profile roles in less than successful projects. Heard co-starred opposite Johnny Depp as the Hunter S. Thompson-inspired character Paul Kemp in writer/director Bruce Robinson’s adaptation of Thompson’s early novel The Rum Diary.
- 11/22/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Amber Heard continued to build upon her reputation as a genre queen by joining Dominic Cooper on Motor City, the revenge thriller from director Albert Hughes and Joel Silver’s Dark Castle. According to Deadline, Chad St. John wrote the script about a man recently released from prison (Cooper) who seeks out the men who framed him. Heard enjoyed a brief burst in the spotlight this fall with a couple of high-profile roles in less than successful projects. Heard co-starred opposite Johnny Depp as the Hunter S. Thompson-inspired character Paul Kemp in writer/director Bruce Robinson’s adaptation of Thompson’s early novel The Rum Diary.
- 11/22/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Johnny Depp, who played gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson in Terry Gilliam's film of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, apparently discovered the manuscript of the unpublished autobiographical novel The Rum Diary among Thompson's papers and engaged Bruce Robinson, writer-director of the cult film Withnail and I, to adapt it. The result is a lot of myth-making fun with Depp as Thompson's faux-naif 30-year-old alter ego Paul Kemp. In 1960 Kemp escapes from a stultifying Eisenhower-era New York to the corrupt American vacation island of Puerto Rico and a job on the San Juan Star, which plays along with the local land barons and caters to the dream of tourists.
The film paints a colourful picture of the lazy, drunken journalists, and a frightening one of the island's venal politicians and the burgeoning activities of what Eisenhower identified in a farewell 1961 address to the nation as the "military-industrial complex". There's some splendid Front Page-style dialogue,...
The film paints a colourful picture of the lazy, drunken journalists, and a frightening one of the island's venal politicians and the burgeoning activities of what Eisenhower identified in a farewell 1961 address to the nation as the "military-industrial complex". There's some splendid Front Page-style dialogue,...
- 11/13/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
To many he’s known as Captain Jack Sparrow and while Captain Jack has missed the boat in his last few outings, the man who plays him, Johnny Depp is most certainly back on the boat in The Rum Diary. Based on the Hunter S. Thompson novel, The Rum Diary has not been without its ups and downs. It’s director Bruce Robinson wanted nothing to do with the directors chair. Sure he’d do the screenplay, but that was it. The man hadn’t directed anything since Jennifer Eight back in 1992. Constant persistence from the one of the biggest movie stars in the world didn’t convince Robinson to shout action. Eventually, the phone calls from Depp got so frequent that Robinson threatened Captain Jack with a lawyer. Depp’s persistence paid off and Robinson finally took on the directorial challenge of bringing The Rum Diary to the big screen.
- 11/11/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (Vic Barry)
- www.themoviebit.com
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
The Rum Diary might have had a horrific opening in the USA, but that’s unlikely to temper the expectation among those keen to catch this film. What’s so special about it? Oh, only that it contains several massive cult figures with a mainstream budget and a host of goodwill, that’s all.
But these selling points may also be the death knell of a film that uneasily marries all of these elements, each of which is carefully guarded by an army of purists. Angry, vitriolic purists.
Fun Quiz Question #1: Which type of purist am I? (The review will give you hints, but I’ll give you the answer at the bottom of the page anyway).
The reason so many people are likely to be furious isn’t obvious from the subject matter of the film. The story tracks journalist Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp...
The Rum Diary might have had a horrific opening in the USA, but that’s unlikely to temper the expectation among those keen to catch this film. What’s so special about it? Oh, only that it contains several massive cult figures with a mainstream budget and a host of goodwill, that’s all.
But these selling points may also be the death knell of a film that uneasily marries all of these elements, each of which is carefully guarded by an army of purists. Angry, vitriolic purists.
Fun Quiz Question #1: Which type of purist am I? (The review will give you hints, but I’ll give you the answer at the bottom of the page anyway).
The reason so many people are likely to be furious isn’t obvious from the subject matter of the film. The story tracks journalist Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp...
- 11/11/2011
- by Michael Edwards
- Obsessed with Film
The Johnny Depp-produced adaptation of Hunter S Thompson's semi-autobiographical novel is lovingly made, but it's bit of a vanity project
Producer-star Johnny Depp mounts a sincere but basically self-admiring homage to his hero, wildman gonzo-journalist Hunter S Thompson — adapting Thompson's own unpublished autobiographical novel. Depp plays the hard-drinking reporter Paul Kemp, who comes to Puerto Rico in 1960, supposedly on a mission to expose exploitative Us corporations pauperising the region. But Kemp is fatally tempted by Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), a PR smoothie employed by these same fatcats; they need a wordsmith to spin a brochure for their application to build hotels and generally despoil the paradise. The director here is none other than Bruce Robinson, creator of the 1987 classic Withnail and I, and he contrives a few Withnailesque situations for Kemp and his photographer buddy Sala (Michael Rispoli), being menaced by locals in bars, getting high and getting the fear.
Producer-star Johnny Depp mounts a sincere but basically self-admiring homage to his hero, wildman gonzo-journalist Hunter S Thompson — adapting Thompson's own unpublished autobiographical novel. Depp plays the hard-drinking reporter Paul Kemp, who comes to Puerto Rico in 1960, supposedly on a mission to expose exploitative Us corporations pauperising the region. But Kemp is fatally tempted by Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), a PR smoothie employed by these same fatcats; they need a wordsmith to spin a brochure for their application to build hotels and generally despoil the paradise. The director here is none other than Bruce Robinson, creator of the 1987 classic Withnail and I, and he contrives a few Withnailesque situations for Kemp and his photographer buddy Sala (Michael Rispoli), being menaced by locals in bars, getting high and getting the fear.
- 11/11/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The Rum Diary star on his love of Europe, flying by private jet and why he can't stop smoking
In the weeks leading up to this interview, I began to think there must be some law that makes it illegal not to love Johnny Depp. Everyone melts into a puddle at the mention of his name. Men go even loopier than women – and the higher men rank on the cool-ometer of fame, the more in love with Depp they seem to be. Keith Richards, Brad Pitt, Marilyn Manson, the Gallagher brothers – the dudes all adore Johnny – while this month's GQ anoints him "the world's coolest actor". The director of Withnail & I was only talked out of retirement to make Depp's latest movie "because it was for Johnny", and recently Ricky Gervais was swooning in this paper: "His emails are like poetry. He's made of bohemia."
What can Depp do to inspire all of this?...
In the weeks leading up to this interview, I began to think there must be some law that makes it illegal not to love Johnny Depp. Everyone melts into a puddle at the mention of his name. Men go even loopier than women – and the higher men rank on the cool-ometer of fame, the more in love with Depp they seem to be. Keith Richards, Brad Pitt, Marilyn Manson, the Gallagher brothers – the dudes all adore Johnny – while this month's GQ anoints him "the world's coolest actor". The director of Withnail & I was only talked out of retirement to make Depp's latest movie "because it was for Johnny", and recently Ricky Gervais was swooning in this paper: "His emails are like poetry. He's made of bohemia."
What can Depp do to inspire all of this?...
- 11/7/2011
- by Decca Aitkenhead
- The Guardian - Film News
Bruce Robinson brings Hunter S Thompson's The Rum Diary to the big screen, with a bit of help from Johnny Depp. Here's our review...
With two and a half unpublished novels under his belt, Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) is definitely a writer. Unfortunately for Kemp, his best and most creative writing work is on his resume, which is full of lies, half-truths, and exaggerations.
However, the work is good enough to get Kemp a job with the San Juan Star, an English-language paper in Puerto Rico catering mostly to tourists and staffed by a motley assortment of flotsam and jetsam. After all, editor in chief E.J. Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) has no better options, and Kemp is young and +fiery enough to add a little spirit to a dispirited news room which features a heavy-drinking photographer named Sala (Michael Rispoli) and the deranged Moburg (Giovanni Ribisi) among many other colorful characters.
With two and a half unpublished novels under his belt, Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) is definitely a writer. Unfortunately for Kemp, his best and most creative writing work is on his resume, which is full of lies, half-truths, and exaggerations.
However, the work is good enough to get Kemp a job with the San Juan Star, an English-language paper in Puerto Rico catering mostly to tourists and staffed by a motley assortment of flotsam and jetsam. After all, editor in chief E.J. Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) has no better options, and Kemp is young and +fiery enough to add a little spirit to a dispirited news room which features a heavy-drinking photographer named Sala (Michael Rispoli) and the deranged Moburg (Giovanni Ribisi) among many other colorful characters.
- 10/30/2011
- Den of Geek
In the film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson.s The Rum Diary, the first time that Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) meets Chenault, while out in a tiny paddle boat, he believes her to be a mermaid. Though she quickly corrects him and explains that she.s actually from Connecticut, that doesn.t put an end to his mystification. She ends up almost haunting him, as he views her as the perfect woman and, even worse, one that is out of her reach. When casting for a character like that, who better to bring in than Amber Heard? I recently had the chance to sit down one-on-one with the actress to talk about her new film, which arrives in theaters this weekend. Check out our conversation below, in which she talks about her connection to the novel, Chenault.s struggle within the gilded cage, and the relationship both between her character...
- 10/29/2011
- cinemablend.com
Director: Bruce Robinson Writers: Bruce Robinson, Hunter S. Thompson (novel) Starring: Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi Hunter S. Thompson was a mere 22-years old when, in 1961, he penned the novel The Rum Diary. His second novel -- preceded only by the yet-to-be-published Prince Jellyfish -- The Rum Diary was not published until 1998 (by no small coincidence, that is the same year Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was released). To be perfectly honest, I have never read The Rum Diary and I suspect that could be because somewhere deep down in my subconscious, pre-lsd and/or pre-Gonzo Thompson is...well...not very appealing to me... Not very appealing to me... That pretty much sums up my thoughts when I heard that Bruce Robinson was attached to write and direct The Rum Diary. I am still not quite sure how Withnail...
- 10/29/2011
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Johnny Depp’s The Rum Diary Is Like Two Movies in One – Review
I walked away from watching The Rum Diary with feelings as dichotomous as the two halves of the film. The first half is what the film appears to be in the trailers, while the second is a fairly serious take on corruption and the censorship of news by those who control what is printed. Neither part is entirely satisfying, for differing reasons, and the two halves hang together rather awkwardly.
The opening half of the film makes it seem as though the goal is to be Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Lite. Unfortunately, the approach doesn’t work despite the copious amounts of rum and quips. None of the characters here are presented with the true and simple strangeness of those in Fear and Loathing. Instead we have actors who been given Thompson’s hallmark one-liners...
I walked away from watching The Rum Diary with feelings as dichotomous as the two halves of the film. The first half is what the film appears to be in the trailers, while the second is a fairly serious take on corruption and the censorship of news by those who control what is printed. Neither part is entirely satisfying, for differing reasons, and the two halves hang together rather awkwardly.
The opening half of the film makes it seem as though the goal is to be Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Lite. Unfortunately, the approach doesn’t work despite the copious amounts of rum and quips. None of the characters here are presented with the true and simple strangeness of those in Fear and Loathing. Instead we have actors who been given Thompson’s hallmark one-liners...
- 10/29/2011
- by Elena Nola
- Boomtron
When the screen adaptation of Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson's "Rum Diary" hits theaters on Friday (Oct. 28), this marks the third such film based on the life and works prolific author.
This most recent iteration follows Johnny Depp as journalist Paul Kemp who moves from New York to Puerto Rico for a more relaxed lifestyle. In typical Thompson fashion, his travels involves a lot of drinking, drugs and misadventures. The films also features Amber Heard as the love interest and Aaron Eckhart as Heard's fiancee.
While the film is drawing so-so reviews, only getting a 47 percent favorable rating on Rottentomatoes.com, fans of the late Dr. Thompson can look forward to future big-screen adaptations given the vast collection of work.
But this got us thinking, which book deserves to be a movie next?
Which Hunter S. Thompson book should next be a movie?...
This most recent iteration follows Johnny Depp as journalist Paul Kemp who moves from New York to Puerto Rico for a more relaxed lifestyle. In typical Thompson fashion, his travels involves a lot of drinking, drugs and misadventures. The films also features Amber Heard as the love interest and Aaron Eckhart as Heard's fiancee.
While the film is drawing so-so reviews, only getting a 47 percent favorable rating on Rottentomatoes.com, fans of the late Dr. Thompson can look forward to future big-screen adaptations given the vast collection of work.
But this got us thinking, which book deserves to be a movie next?
Which Hunter S. Thompson book should next be a movie?...
- 10/29/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Johnny Depp in the Caribbean Sea? We like the sound of that. And it's not what you're thinking, this has nothing to do with 'Pirates of the Caribbean' ... Finally a movie where we can oh-and-ah at Johnny Depp without him covered in rags or scissors! Johnny plays a tormented journalist, Paul Kemp who leaves the chaos of NYC for the palm trees -- and rum -- of Puerto Rico. Based on a the book written by Hunter S. Thompson, Rum Diary is full of adventure. It's nice to see him play a character that's relatable rather than someone who exists in another world. And his romance with Chenault (Amber Heard) is exciting and enjoyable to watch. Hollywoodlife.com attended the NYC Rum Diary premiere hosted by Playboy, and promises you won't be disappointed! Grab your guy and take him to this movie this weekend, which is out in theaters tonight,...
- 10/28/2011
- by Nicole Karlis
- HollywoodLife
Summary: An unremarkable adaptation of an unremarkable book.
Hunter S. Thompson was only 22 when he wrote The Rum Diary, the semi-autobiographical novel that would go unpublished until 1998. Thompson's stand-in is American journalist Paul Kemp, a young lad who already suffers from a debilitating fear of growing old, whose job hunt lands him in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the year 1960. There, Kemp befriends the gang of lustful, alcoholic newspapermen who write and publish The San Juan Star. Together, they have a series of drunken misadventures, mixing it up with angry locals, buxom blondes, treacherous businessmen and conniving politicians. I read The Rum Diary only a couple of years ago, and while it successfully captures what I imagine to be the lurid, sweaty atmosphere of a Caribbean night, I can barely remember a single plot point. It's an enjoyable book once you realize that it isn't very good.
Director Bruce Robinson...
Hunter S. Thompson was only 22 when he wrote The Rum Diary, the semi-autobiographical novel that would go unpublished until 1998. Thompson's stand-in is American journalist Paul Kemp, a young lad who already suffers from a debilitating fear of growing old, whose job hunt lands him in San Juan, Puerto Rico in the year 1960. There, Kemp befriends the gang of lustful, alcoholic newspapermen who write and publish The San Juan Star. Together, they have a series of drunken misadventures, mixing it up with angry locals, buxom blondes, treacherous businessmen and conniving politicians. I read The Rum Diary only a couple of years ago, and while it successfully captures what I imagine to be the lurid, sweaty atmosphere of a Caribbean night, I can barely remember a single plot point. It's an enjoyable book once you realize that it isn't very good.
Director Bruce Robinson...
- 10/28/2011
- by Benny Gammerman
- Filmology
In The Rum Diary, a young journalist named Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp), based on the novel's writer Hunter S. Thompson, checks out of the New York City rat race to find his voice in Puerto Rico in the 1960s and finds himself entangled in a real estate shark’s scheme to turn the island into a cosmopolitan tourist trap.
While Kemp never finds his voice at the struggling English language paper in San Juan, he manages to find a rag tag group of misfits with whom to share his drunken misadventures. Kemp is paired with crackpot photographer Sala (Michael Rispoli) and befriends Moburg (Giovanni Ribisi), a coworker who has partaken in so many psychoactive substances that he is beyond repair.
He also finds Chenault (Amber Heard), the fiancée of real estate magnate Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart). Sanderson recognizes Kemp’s talent, despite his aimlessness and penchant for rum, and hires him...
While Kemp never finds his voice at the struggling English language paper in San Juan, he manages to find a rag tag group of misfits with whom to share his drunken misadventures. Kemp is paired with crackpot photographer Sala (Michael Rispoli) and befriends Moburg (Giovanni Ribisi), a coworker who has partaken in so many psychoactive substances that he is beyond repair.
He also finds Chenault (Amber Heard), the fiancée of real estate magnate Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart). Sanderson recognizes Kemp’s talent, despite his aimlessness and penchant for rum, and hires him...
- 10/28/2011
- by Grace Chu
- AfterEllen.com
The Rum Diary arrives in theaters this week, offering audiences yet another taste of the surreal stories penned by famed Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas author Hunter S. Thompson. Based on a novel Thompson wrote in the early 1960s about his time as a sports reporter in San Juan, The Rum Diary casts Johnny Depp as Thompson stand-in Paul Kemp, a significantly more subdued version of the man whose epic, drug-fueled adventures later gave birth to the term “gonzo journalism.” The role is a return to familiar territory for Depp, who portrayed Thompson's pill-popping, gun-wielding alter ego Raoul Duke in the 1998 adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Still, it 's worth noting that Johnny Depp isn't the only actor to portray Thompson (or one of...
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- 10/28/2011
- by Rick Marshall
- Movies.com
Here is a sneak peek at what's opening in theaters this weekend, including the animated "Puss in Boots," starring Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek; the alcohol-fueled dramedy "The Rum Diary," starring Johnny Depp; the sci-fi thriller "In Time," starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried; and the period Tudor drama, "Anonymous."
In Theaters Now (October)'Puss in Boots' (Oct. 28)
Who: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris; director Chris Miller...
In Theaters Now (October)'Puss in Boots' (Oct. 28)
Who: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris; director Chris Miller...
- 10/28/2011
- Extra
The Rum Diary
Written by Bruce Robinson
Directed by Bruce Robinson
USA, 2011
It’s been nearly two decades since writer-director Bruce Robinson made a movie (1992′s Jennifer 8 was the last). When directors emerge from long hiatuses, the outcome is rarely positive; the films that result from these long periods of inactivity often wind up either overstuffed, undercooked, or weirdly out-of-time. The Rum Diary, Robinson’s long-gestating adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s vaguely autobiographical novel, somehow manages to be be all three.
Set in 1962, Diary stars Johnny Depp (effectively Thompson’s Hollywood ambassador at this point, having previously played another Thompson surrogate in Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as well as narrating Alex Gibey’s bracing Thompson doc Gonzo), in mostly-wacky mode as Paul Kemp, an ambitious journalist who eagerly nabs an unwanted position at the San Juan Star, an English-language newspaper in Puerto Rico.
Written by Bruce Robinson
Directed by Bruce Robinson
USA, 2011
It’s been nearly two decades since writer-director Bruce Robinson made a movie (1992′s Jennifer 8 was the last). When directors emerge from long hiatuses, the outcome is rarely positive; the films that result from these long periods of inactivity often wind up either overstuffed, undercooked, or weirdly out-of-time. The Rum Diary, Robinson’s long-gestating adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s vaguely autobiographical novel, somehow manages to be be all three.
Set in 1962, Diary stars Johnny Depp (effectively Thompson’s Hollywood ambassador at this point, having previously played another Thompson surrogate in Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as well as narrating Alex Gibey’s bracing Thompson doc Gonzo), in mostly-wacky mode as Paul Kemp, an ambitious journalist who eagerly nabs an unwanted position at the San Juan Star, an English-language newspaper in Puerto Rico.
- 10/28/2011
- by Simon Howell
- SoundOnSight
The Rum Diary marks Johnny Depp’s return to Hunter S. Thompson territory, following his cult favorite work in Terry Gilliam’s delirious adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Yet audiences expecting more of the same drug-fueled mania will be disappointed. While it’s filled with offbeat characters and the occasional stylistic quirk, Bruce Robinson’s film offers a straightforward, earnest narrative about a young marble-mouthed author finding his writing voice while fighting capitalist corruption. Set in a volatile Puerto Rico, circa 1960, Thompson’s semi-autobiographical story follows struggling journalist/alter ego Paul Kemp (Depp) as he joins the staff at a local rag run by domineering editor-in-chief Lotterman (Richard Jenkins). It’s a day-to-day portrait of Kemp’s hard living in paradise, set against a backdrop of conflict between the natives hoping to protect their land and the capitalistic cronies interested in transforming the archipelago nation into an overdeveloped tourist spot. The...
- 10/28/2011
- by Robert Levin
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
By all means, Bruce Robinson‘s atmospheric adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson‘s discovered novel The Rum Diary should not work. And, in many ways, Robinson’s film is messy, meandering and, like its struggling characters, aimless. Is all this chaotic and jarring storytelling an intention on Robinson’s part? Maybe, and a lot of the film’s possible flaws come off that way.
The story follows Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) on a journey to finding his voice in one of the most glorious hell holes on Earth: Puerto Rico. It’s a time of change there, and the dirt and grime of Kemp’s surroundings start to eat away at him and open his eyes. This kind of coming-of-age plot line is tough to swallow at first, considering how not-so-young Depp is now. The role requires someone who we can believe to be naive.
The antagonist, Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart...
The story follows Paul Kemp (Johnny Depp) on a journey to finding his voice in one of the most glorious hell holes on Earth: Puerto Rico. It’s a time of change there, and the dirt and grime of Kemp’s surroundings start to eat away at him and open his eyes. This kind of coming-of-age plot line is tough to swallow at first, considering how not-so-young Depp is now. The role requires someone who we can believe to be naive.
The antagonist, Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart...
- 10/28/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
If there's one thing Johnny Depp's film characters love, it's their rum. First there was Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, quotably wondering where all the rum went. Now, Depp, 48, stars in The Rum Diary, which opens Friday. Based on the novel of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson, the movie tells the story of journalist Paul Kemp (played by Depp), who moves to Puerto Rico and has a series of alcohol-fueled adventures. For fans looking to get into the spirit of The Rum Diary - literally - here's a recipe for the "Caribbean Kiss" specialty...
- 10/28/2011
- by Liz Raftery
- PEOPLE.com
The Rum Diary is an origins story for those familiar with the legend of Hunter S. Thompson. As he did in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Johnny Depp inhabits the Thompson role onscreen with a power and grace that would make his good friend proud.
In The Rum Diary, Depp is Paul Kemp, an aspiring novelist who lands in Puerto Rico to work at a daily newspaper. It is the dawn of the 1960s and Kemp is a writer in search of a voice. He hopes to find it in San Juan, but between his two roommates Oberg (Giovanni Ribisi) and Sala (Michael Rispoli), he is more likely to find trouble than inspiration.
Kemp also gets pulled into an elite social circle lead by Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart) and his girlfriend (Amber Heard). Sanderson is an American businessman seeking opportunity on the island at the expense of the locals. Smelling a story,...
In The Rum Diary, Depp is Paul Kemp, an aspiring novelist who lands in Puerto Rico to work at a daily newspaper. It is the dawn of the 1960s and Kemp is a writer in search of a voice. He hopes to find it in San Juan, but between his two roommates Oberg (Giovanni Ribisi) and Sala (Michael Rispoli), he is more likely to find trouble than inspiration.
Kemp also gets pulled into an elite social circle lead by Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart) and his girlfriend (Amber Heard). Sanderson is an American businessman seeking opportunity on the island at the expense of the locals. Smelling a story,...
- 10/28/2011
- by joel.amos@moviefanatic.com (Joel D Amos)
- Reel Movie News
The Rum Diary
Directed by: Bruce Robinson
Cast: Johnny Depp, Michael Rispoli, Giovanni Ribisi, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard
Running Time: 2 hrs
Rating: R
Release Date: October 28, 2011
Plot: Journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) takes on a job in Puerto Rico for a newspaper in 1960, and he struggles to find balance between the class systems.
Who’S It For? Are you a U.S. history buff? This gives you the chance to get a glimpse of Puerto Rico in 1960 and Hunter S. Thompson before he truly is The Hunter S. Thompson.
Overall
Yes channel AMC, I liked the premiere episode of your new TV show “The Rum Diary” and I will watch the whole season. Oh, wait (pretend I am a news anchor and I’m holding my ear piece to indicate my producer is telling me late, great, breaking news … just go with it), I’m being told “The Rum Diary” is actually a movie,...
Directed by: Bruce Robinson
Cast: Johnny Depp, Michael Rispoli, Giovanni Ribisi, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard
Running Time: 2 hrs
Rating: R
Release Date: October 28, 2011
Plot: Journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) takes on a job in Puerto Rico for a newspaper in 1960, and he struggles to find balance between the class systems.
Who’S It For? Are you a U.S. history buff? This gives you the chance to get a glimpse of Puerto Rico in 1960 and Hunter S. Thompson before he truly is The Hunter S. Thompson.
Overall
Yes channel AMC, I liked the premiere episode of your new TV show “The Rum Diary” and I will watch the whole season. Oh, wait (pretend I am a news anchor and I’m holding my ear piece to indicate my producer is telling me late, great, breaking news … just go with it), I’m being told “The Rum Diary” is actually a movie,...
- 10/28/2011
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
To celebrate the release of Johnny Depp’s new movie, The Rum Diary, in cinemas November 11th, we have teamed up with Entertainment Film to offer you the chance to win tickets to the Premiere in London on Thursday 3rd November.
The Rum Diary is directed by Bruce Robinson and also stars, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Michael Rispoli, Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi and Marshall Bell.
Based on the debut novel by Hunter S. Thompson which initiated his long, distinguished and brilliantly unpredictable career, The Rum Diary tells the increasingly unhinged story of itinerant journalist Paul Kemp (Depp). Tiring of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, Kemp travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local newspaper, The San Juan Star, run by downtrodden editor Lotterman (Jenkins).
Adopting the rum-soaked life of the late 50’s version of Hemmingway’s lost generation,...
The Rum Diary is directed by Bruce Robinson and also stars, Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Michael Rispoli, Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi and Marshall Bell.
Based on the debut novel by Hunter S. Thompson which initiated his long, distinguished and brilliantly unpredictable career, The Rum Diary tells the increasingly unhinged story of itinerant journalist Paul Kemp (Depp). Tiring of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, Kemp travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local newspaper, The San Juan Star, run by downtrodden editor Lotterman (Jenkins).
Adopting the rum-soaked life of the late 50’s version of Hemmingway’s lost generation,...
- 10/28/2011
- by Competitons
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Aaron Eckhart and Giovanni Ribisi also talk about writer Hunter S. Thompson's impact on the film.
By Ahsika Sanders, with reporting by Kara Warner
Johnny Depp in "The Rum Diary"
Photo: FilmDistrict
From the first few moments of the trailer's island music, bright colors and eye-catching castmembers, "The Rum Diary" looks like a whimsical vacation to paradise realized onscreen.
Based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson during the author's own travels to Puerto Rico in the late '50s, the film casts "Pirates of the Caribbean" leading man Johnny Depp as the writer Paul Kemp, who struggles to find a balance between work, play and the island's increasingly tumultuous politics.
When MTV News caught up with the film's stars, they explained how the film is a fitting tribute to Thompson's final story, as well as to his legacy.
"The whole thing is really a love letter to Hunter,...
By Ahsika Sanders, with reporting by Kara Warner
Johnny Depp in "The Rum Diary"
Photo: FilmDistrict
From the first few moments of the trailer's island music, bright colors and eye-catching castmembers, "The Rum Diary" looks like a whimsical vacation to paradise realized onscreen.
Based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson during the author's own travels to Puerto Rico in the late '50s, the film casts "Pirates of the Caribbean" leading man Johnny Depp as the writer Paul Kemp, who struggles to find a balance between work, play and the island's increasingly tumultuous politics.
When MTV News caught up with the film's stars, they explained how the film is a fitting tribute to Thompson's final story, as well as to his legacy.
"The whole thing is really a love letter to Hunter,...
- 10/28/2011
- MTV Music News
Aaron Eckhart and Giovanni Ribisi also talk about writer Hunter S. Thompson's impact on the film.
By Ahsika Sanders, with reporting by Kara Warner
Johnny Depp in "The Rum Diary"
Photo: FilmDistrict
From the first few moments of the trailer's island music, bright colors and eye-catching castmembers, "The Rum Diary" looks like a whimsical vacation to paradise realized onscreen.
Based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson during the author's own travels to Puerto Rico in the late '50s, the film casts "Pirates of the Caribbean" leading man Johnny Depp as the writer Paul Kemp, who struggles to find a balance between work, play and the island's increasingly tumultuous politics.
When MTV News caught up with the film's stars, they explained how the film is a fitting tribute to Thompson's final story, as well as to his legacy.
"The whole thing is really a love letter to Hunter,...
By Ahsika Sanders, with reporting by Kara Warner
Johnny Depp in "The Rum Diary"
Photo: FilmDistrict
From the first few moments of the trailer's island music, bright colors and eye-catching castmembers, "The Rum Diary" looks like a whimsical vacation to paradise realized onscreen.
Based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson during the author's own travels to Puerto Rico in the late '50s, the film casts "Pirates of the Caribbean" leading man Johnny Depp as the writer Paul Kemp, who struggles to find a balance between work, play and the island's increasingly tumultuous politics.
When MTV News caught up with the film's stars, they explained how the film is a fitting tribute to Thompson's final story, as well as to his legacy.
"The whole thing is really a love letter to Hunter,...
- 10/28/2011
- MTV Movie News
PVR Pictures will release Johnny Depp’s next ‘The Rum Diary’ on 4th November in India. 'The Rum Diary' gives Depp chance to play yet another crack at playing Thompson.
Paul Kemp played by Jonny Depp is a freelance journalist who finds himself at a critical turning point in his life while writing for a run-down newspaper in the Caribbean. Paul is challenged on many levels as he tries to carve out a more secure niche for himself, amidst a group of lost souls all bent on self-destruction.
< ...
Paul Kemp played by Jonny Depp is a freelance journalist who finds himself at a critical turning point in his life while writing for a run-down newspaper in the Caribbean. Paul is challenged on many levels as he tries to carve out a more secure niche for himself, amidst a group of lost souls all bent on self-destruction.
< ...
- 10/28/2011
- Bollywood Chaska
Ahhh, the tropical beaches, the endless ocean view…there’s just one thing missing. Hold up, here he is-Johnny Depp. Is he slapping on the eye shadow for another nautical odyssey as Captian Jack Sparrow? Not quite. The Rum Diary skips ahead a couple of centuries to set ashore in Puerto Rico circa 1960. But Depp is in somewhat familiar territory. The film is based on the work of Depp’s late friend, Hunter S. Thompson. This would be the second Depp / Thompson film project ( not counting Hunter’s cameo/ tribute in the animated Rango ) after Terry Gilliam’s 1998 screen adaptation of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Does this new flick match that earlier film’s gonzo lunacy?
The film begins with Paul Kemp’s ( Depp ) arrival in San Juan during the politically turmoil of 1960. This chain-smokin’, hard-drinkin’, cynical writer is about to begin a new job at the...
The film begins with Paul Kemp’s ( Depp ) arrival in San Juan during the politically turmoil of 1960. This chain-smokin’, hard-drinkin’, cynical writer is about to begin a new job at the...
- 10/28/2011
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
While Johnny Depp may have been remembering his friend this past week, his performance in the buzzed-about "The Rum Diary" is perhaps the most fitting tribute to the late writer.
"The Rum Diary" was Hunter S. Thompson's first attempt at the novel, fictionalizing his time in Puerto Rico as a cub reporter in 1958. Here Depp plays Paul Kemp, who is supposed to represent two dueling sides of Thompson's personality. After finding the work amid Thompson's possession, Depp swore he would turn it into a film.
He stars alongside Amber Heard as the forbidden love interest who married to a wealthy man (Aaron Eckhart) and Richard Jenkins as a newspaper editor.
Check out the two newly released clips below, they'll be sure to whet your thirst.
Watch:
Photos:...
"The Rum Diary" was Hunter S. Thompson's first attempt at the novel, fictionalizing his time in Puerto Rico as a cub reporter in 1958. Here Depp plays Paul Kemp, who is supposed to represent two dueling sides of Thompson's personality. After finding the work amid Thompson's possession, Depp swore he would turn it into a film.
He stars alongside Amber Heard as the forbidden love interest who married to a wealthy man (Aaron Eckhart) and Richard Jenkins as a newspaper editor.
Check out the two newly released clips below, they'll be sure to whet your thirst.
Watch:
Photos:...
- 10/27/2011
- by Jessie Heyman
- Huffington Post
At the Austin Film Festival where he received an award for his contributions to acting, Johnny Depp presented his passion project, The Rum Diary, based on the unearthed novel of late author Hunter S. Thompson. On stage after, Depp lamented the loss of his close friend, who he lived with for months, and said the film was “fourteen years in the making.” But when outed by director Bruce Robinson, who Depp “dragged out of retirement” to make the film, the actor admitted he hasn’t (and won’t) see the movie he produced and starred in, preferring to remember “the experience instead of the product.”
Depp’s live-in-the-moment vibe and Thompson’s Gonzo writing style explain why the movie is largely experiential. It’s a rum-soaked slosh through the misadventures of the author’s surrogate, a middle-aged alcoholic named Paul Kemp.
A New York journalist displaced to picturesque Puerto Rico,...
Depp’s live-in-the-moment vibe and Thompson’s Gonzo writing style explain why the movie is largely experiential. It’s a rum-soaked slosh through the misadventures of the author’s surrogate, a middle-aged alcoholic named Paul Kemp.
A New York journalist displaced to picturesque Puerto Rico,...
- 10/27/2011
- by Jeff Leins
- newsinfilm.com
After years of watching Johnny Depp give performances from behind thick rings of pirate eyeliner or masks of outlandish Tim Burton makeup, it's a relief to see him, more and more often these days, acting with nothing but his real face. In Bruce Robinson's The Rum Diary -- liberally adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's novel -- Depp plays a wayfaring, hard-drinking journalist, Paul Kemp, who has drifted to Puerto Rico, circa 1960, where he lands a job at a floundering, two-bit newspaper, The San Juan Star. Its editor, played by a cigar-chomping Richard Jenkins, hires him reluctantly; never mind that he was the only person who applied for the job.
- 10/27/2011
- Movieline
"The Rum Diary" is not a very good book. It's an early piece of work by Hunter S. Thompson, but anyone who picked it up looking for the voice that distinguished his classic work was likely disappointed. He wrote it in his early 20s, and it went unpublished until 1998. More than anything, it serves as a fascinating glimpse at a raw, unpolished talent, and it offers up some autobiographical details hidden amidst the twists and turns in the story of Paul Kemp, a reporter who moves from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico in order to kick off his...
- 10/27/2011
- Hitfix
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