Chris Chesser, the film and documentary producer best known for bringing the iconic baseball comedy Major League to the big screen, has died. He was 74.
Chesser died suddenly Feb. 2 at his Los Angeles home, his brothers, Alan and Steve Chesser, announced. No cause of death was revealed.
As a production executive, Chesser supervised such notable films as The Great Santini (1979), Caddyshack (1980), On Golden Pond (1981), Wolfen (1981), Arthur (1981), Sharky’s Machine (1981) and Excalibur (1981).
He supervised production on the British comedy Yellowbeard (1983), starring Graham Chapman, and helped develop Rob Reiner’s Spinal Tap (1984) at Embassy Pictures and Sydney Pollack’s Absence of Malice (1981) at Columbia Pictures.
Chesser and Irby Smith produced Paramount’s Major League (1989), which was written and directed by David S. Ward and starred Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Wesley Snipes and Rene Russo.
After earning his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his master’s from the American Graduate School of International Management,...
Chesser died suddenly Feb. 2 at his Los Angeles home, his brothers, Alan and Steve Chesser, announced. No cause of death was revealed.
As a production executive, Chesser supervised such notable films as The Great Santini (1979), Caddyshack (1980), On Golden Pond (1981), Wolfen (1981), Arthur (1981), Sharky’s Machine (1981) and Excalibur (1981).
He supervised production on the British comedy Yellowbeard (1983), starring Graham Chapman, and helped develop Rob Reiner’s Spinal Tap (1984) at Embassy Pictures and Sydney Pollack’s Absence of Malice (1981) at Columbia Pictures.
Chesser and Irby Smith produced Paramount’s Major League (1989), which was written and directed by David S. Ward and starred Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Wesley Snipes and Rene Russo.
After earning his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his master’s from the American Graduate School of International Management,...
- 2/21/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chris Chesser, the independent film and documentary producer whose credits include the hit Charlie Sheen 1989 comedy Major League, died suddenly at his home in Los Angeles on February 2. He was 74.
His death was announced today by his brothers Alan and Steve Chesser. A cause of death was not disclosed.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Huey "Piano" Smith Dies: New Orleans Rocker Behind 'Rockin' Pneumonia And Boogie Woogie Flu', 'Sea Cruise' Was 89 Related Story Jansen Panettiere Dies: Actor, Brother Of Hayden Panettiere Was 28
Chesser began his film career in New York in 1974 as an executive in international sales for Columbia Pictures. He became General Manager of the American Film Institute in Los Angeles in 1976.
In 1978 he became executive assistant at the newly formed Orion Pictures to co-founder Mike Medavoy, and from 1980 to 1983 he served as Vice President of Production for Marble Arch Productions and...
His death was announced today by his brothers Alan and Steve Chesser. A cause of death was not disclosed.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Huey "Piano" Smith Dies: New Orleans Rocker Behind 'Rockin' Pneumonia And Boogie Woogie Flu', 'Sea Cruise' Was 89 Related Story Jansen Panettiere Dies: Actor, Brother Of Hayden Panettiere Was 28
Chesser began his film career in New York in 1974 as an executive in international sales for Columbia Pictures. He became General Manager of the American Film Institute in Los Angeles in 1976.
In 1978 he became executive assistant at the newly formed Orion Pictures to co-founder Mike Medavoy, and from 1980 to 1983 he served as Vice President of Production for Marble Arch Productions and...
- 2/21/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
For Sunday’s Oscars 2020 ceremony on ABC, producers had a difficult decision of which film industry people would make the cut and who would unfortunately be left out of the “In Memoriam.” For the segment, for the song “Yesterday” performed by Grammy champ Billie Eilish.
Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam gallery for the year of 2019 and the just launched gallery for 2020.
SEE2020 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 92nd Academy Awards
Over 100 people in the film industry, many of them academy members, have passed away in the past 12 months. Here is a list of the some of the names included in the tribute:
Danny Aiello (actor)
Jim Alexander (sound)
Bibi Andersson (actor)
Ben Barenholtz (executive)
Kobe Bryant (producer)
Diahann Carroll (actor)
Seymour Cassel (actor)
William J. Creber (production designer)
Doris Day (actress)
Stanley Donen (director)
Kirk Douglas (actor/producer)
Robert Evans (executive)
Peter Fonda (actor)
Robert Forster (actor)
Harriet Frank,...
Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam gallery for the year of 2019 and the just launched gallery for 2020.
SEE2020 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 92nd Academy Awards
Over 100 people in the film industry, many of them academy members, have passed away in the past 12 months. Here is a list of the some of the names included in the tribute:
Danny Aiello (actor)
Jim Alexander (sound)
Bibi Andersson (actor)
Ben Barenholtz (executive)
Kobe Bryant (producer)
Diahann Carroll (actor)
Seymour Cassel (actor)
William J. Creber (production designer)
Doris Day (actress)
Stanley Donen (director)
Kirk Douglas (actor/producer)
Robert Evans (executive)
Peter Fonda (actor)
Robert Forster (actor)
Harriet Frank,...
- 2/10/2020
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
One of the most significant additions to the Academy Awards ceremony around 30 years ago has been the In Memoriam segment. Producers find the perfect blend of music, photos and clips for the short annual presentation.
Which of the past Oscar winners and nominees from many different branches will be featured this Sunday, February 9, on the Oscars 2020 ceremony for ABC? Some of the most likely to be included will be acting nominees Danny Aiello, Diahann Carroll, Doris Day, Kirk Douglas, Peter Fonda, Robert Forster, Sylvia Miles, Michael J. Pollard and Rip Torn. How about major creatives such as Stanley Donen, Robert Evans, Buck Henry, Andre Previn and John Singleton?
Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam gallery for the year of 2019 and the just launched gallery for 2020.
SEEWho is Performing at the Oscars 2020?: Full List of Presenters and Performers
Over 100 people in the film industry, many of them academy members, have...
Which of the past Oscar winners and nominees from many different branches will be featured this Sunday, February 9, on the Oscars 2020 ceremony for ABC? Some of the most likely to be included will be acting nominees Danny Aiello, Diahann Carroll, Doris Day, Kirk Douglas, Peter Fonda, Robert Forster, Sylvia Miles, Michael J. Pollard and Rip Torn. How about major creatives such as Stanley Donen, Robert Evans, Buck Henry, Andre Previn and John Singleton?
Visit our own Gold Derby memoriam gallery for the year of 2019 and the just launched gallery for 2020.
SEEWho is Performing at the Oscars 2020?: Full List of Presenters and Performers
Over 100 people in the film industry, many of them academy members, have...
- 2/7/2020
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
George Litto, a longtime Hollywood talent agent who represented blacklisted writers and collaborated with Melvin Van Peeples and Ossie Davis, has died. He was 88.
Litto passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on April 29 from complications of aortic stenosis, his daughter and business partner, Andria Litto, told Deadline.
George Litto started in the mailroom at William Morris New York in 1954, and worked his way up to an agent, booking summer stock theatre. Among his early successes was helping Mae West secure a role in Come On Up (Ring Twice).
There would be many other famous clients when he moved to boutique agencies in Los Angeles before opening The George Litto Agency in the mid-1960s.
Litto represented Mel Davenport, aka Waldo Salt, who at the time was working in New York under his pseudonym because he was blacklisted. George put him to work under his own name on the film, Midnight Cowboy (1969).
Soon after,...
Litto passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on April 29 from complications of aortic stenosis, his daughter and business partner, Andria Litto, told Deadline.
George Litto started in the mailroom at William Morris New York in 1954, and worked his way up to an agent, booking summer stock theatre. Among his early successes was helping Mae West secure a role in Come On Up (Ring Twice).
There would be many other famous clients when he moved to boutique agencies in Los Angeles before opening The George Litto Agency in the mid-1960s.
Litto represented Mel Davenport, aka Waldo Salt, who at the time was working in New York under his pseudonym because he was blacklisted. George put him to work under his own name on the film, Midnight Cowboy (1969).
Soon after,...
- 5/8/2019
- by Anita Bennett
- Deadline Film + TV
George Litto, a former talent agent who represented the likes of Robert Altman, Dalton Trumbo and Waldo Salt before producing the Brian De Palma films Obsession, Dressed to Kill and Blow Out, has died. He was 88.
Litto died April 29 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications from aortic stenosis, his daughter Andria Litto announced.
Litto packaged creative elements for M*A*S*H (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and Nashville (1975), all directed by Altman, and Hang 'Em High (1968) and Play Misty for Me (1971), both starring Clint Eastwood, as well as other notable films like ...
Litto died April 29 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications from aortic stenosis, his daughter Andria Litto announced.
Litto packaged creative elements for M*A*S*H (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and Nashville (1975), all directed by Altman, and Hang 'Em High (1968) and Play Misty for Me (1971), both starring Clint Eastwood, as well as other notable films like ...
George Litto, a former talent agent who represented the likes of Robert Altman, Dalton Trumbo and Waldo Salt before producing the Brian De Palma films Obsession, Dressed to Kill and Blow Out, has died. He was 88.
Litto died April 29 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications from aortic stenosis, his daughter Andria Litto announced.
Litto packaged creative elements for M*A*S*H (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and Nashville (1975), all directed by Altman, and Hang 'Em High (1968) and Play Misty for Me (1971), both starring Clint Eastwood, as well as other notable films like ...
Litto died April 29 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications from aortic stenosis, his daughter Andria Litto announced.
Litto packaged creative elements for M*A*S*H (1970), McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and Nashville (1975), all directed by Altman, and Hang 'Em High (1968) and Play Misty for Me (1971), both starring Clint Eastwood, as well as other notable films like ...
After he dazzled viewers with Phantom of the Paradise and before he took horror fans to prom with his adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie, Brian De Palma delivered a multi-faceted mystery with 1976's Obsession, coming to Blu-ray in a new Collector's Edition on January 15th from Scream Factory, and we now have a look at the full list of bonus features for the anticipated release:
From the Press Release: "This riveting mystery thriller by Brian De Palma will leave you breathless. On January 15th, 2019, Shout! Factory will release this sinister melodrama as a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Obsession features new bonus material including a new audio commentary with author Douglas Keesey, and new interviews with producer George Litto and editor Paul Hirsh, as well as the vintage featurette “Obsession Revised”, theatrical trailer, still gallery and more! Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com
A tenth wedding...
From the Press Release: "This riveting mystery thriller by Brian De Palma will leave you breathless. On January 15th, 2019, Shout! Factory will release this sinister melodrama as a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. Obsession features new bonus material including a new audio commentary with author Douglas Keesey, and new interviews with producer George Litto and editor Paul Hirsh, as well as the vintage featurette “Obsession Revised”, theatrical trailer, still gallery and more! Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com
A tenth wedding...
- 12/7/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Welcome back to another installment of Daily Dead’s 2015 Holiday Gift Guide—we’re now on the eighth day and for today’s gifting ideas, we’re turning the spotlight on several great books related to noteworthy horror and sci-fi TV shows. We’re also featuring some amazing indie artists in this edition of the Hgg—Electric Zombie and Velvet Geek—and we’ve also found some pop culture-inspired Clue games that would be perfect to put under the tree this year.
This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is being sponsored by Rlj Entertainment and their recent terrifying yuletide release, A Christmas Horror Story. To help you guys get into the spirit of the season, we’ve put together ten amazing prize packs filled with goodies, a T-shirt and your very own copy of A Christmas Horror Story to get you ready for the holiday season.
For a chance to...
This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is being sponsored by Rlj Entertainment and their recent terrifying yuletide release, A Christmas Horror Story. To help you guys get into the spirit of the season, we’ve put together ten amazing prize packs filled with goodies, a T-shirt and your very own copy of A Christmas Horror Story to get you ready for the holiday season.
For a chance to...
- 12/3/2015
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
July 25, 1980. That was the day Dressed to Kill opened in theaters across the country, and it marked the first of countless times I would see the movie projected on a big screen, on a drive-in screen, panned and scanned for home video, even interrupted and cut to ribbons for network TV. But I’ll never forget seeing it that first time, in a cavernous old movie palace in downtown Eugene, Oregon, its lush, complex, violently dynamic and meticulously choreographed images, all set to a Pino Donaggio score which reflected precisely those same qualities, thrilling me to my core. I left that theater buzzing, even if at first I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about the movie-- it took me a few days and another screening or two to decide that the outraged cries of Hitchcock plagiarism coming from some circles were unwarranted. For me, Dressed to Kill is...
- 10/10/2015
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
The Hollywood Film Awards® was founded in 1997 and honors excellence in filmmaking and traditionally signals the Official Launch of the Award Season®. The HFAs showcase to the public at large previews of quality films released during the calendar year. The first-ever Hollywood Film Awards® gala took place in October 1997 in the historic Blossom Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, in Hollywood. Kirk Douglas took home the inaugural “Hollywood Lifetime Achievement Award.” The Hollywood Film Awards launch the awards season. Over the past 18 years, prior honorees have gone on to garner many Oscar nominations and wins. With participating Hollywood insiders, our Advisory Team identifies and selects the recipients of our honors. Our winners are pre-selected to receive our awards. Our selection is based on their outstanding achievement and contribution to the art of cinema. They are not “nominees.” 2014 honorees included some of the biggest names in Hollywood such as Keira Knightley,...
- 10/2/2015
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
The Hollywood Film Awards honor established Hollywood artists. The criteria for these awards is based on the recipient’s body of work and/or a film that they have coming out this year. These awards are bestowed in all disciplines of filmmaking*: Career, Leadership, Producer, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Screenwriter, Cinematographer, Editor, Film Composer, Production Designer, Costume Designer, Animation, and Visual Effects. Our award/tribute recipients are selected by our Advisory Team which is comprised of a cross section of Hollywood professionals. To read more about the Hollywood Film Awards The selection process for our honorees takes multiple elements into consideration and involves attending pre-press private industry screenings, press screenings, festival screenings, and research. It also includes the support and participation of established entertainment industry executives, from agents, critics, directors, managers, producers, publicists, screenwriters and studio execs to members of the craft guilds. With participating Hollywood insiders,...
- 10/2/2015
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
“Murder In Soft Focus”
By Raymond Benson
Brian De Palma’s crime thriller/horror flick, Dressed to Kill, was a controversial release in 1980 for its depiction of violence against women and its sexual content— nevertheless, it was a successful entry in the director’s oeuvre during the most fruitful period of his long career. The film was released in America with an “R” rating—but only after De Palma, under protest, compromised with the ratings board and agreed to cut some footage, re-edit a couple of sequences, and change some lines of dialogue.
De Palma’s preferred unrated version of the film was released on home video not too long ago, but The Criterion Collection has seen fit to issue a new, 4K digital restoration, supervised by the director, of what might have been an “X”-rated picture back in the day. The results are gorgeous. De Palma’s thrillers...
By Raymond Benson
Brian De Palma’s crime thriller/horror flick, Dressed to Kill, was a controversial release in 1980 for its depiction of violence against women and its sexual content— nevertheless, it was a successful entry in the director’s oeuvre during the most fruitful period of his long career. The film was released in America with an “R” rating—but only after De Palma, under protest, compromised with the ratings board and agreed to cut some footage, re-edit a couple of sequences, and change some lines of dialogue.
De Palma’s preferred unrated version of the film was released on home video not too long ago, but The Criterion Collection has seen fit to issue a new, 4K digital restoration, supervised by the director, of what might have been an “X”-rated picture back in the day. The results are gorgeous. De Palma’s thrillers...
- 9/11/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Criterion beautifully restores Brian De Palma’s early masterpiece, Dressed to Kill, his 1980 title often lumped in with a quartet of other films categorized as Hitchcockian riffs, criticized or celebrated for how they playfully exhume style, narrative and tone from iconic titles. Although it’s nearly impossible to discuss the film without an acknowledgment of its obvious homage, it’s also a strikingly original piece in its own right, one that most easily sidesteps the derivative trappings of the ‘anxiety of influence’ theory thanks to its complex design as a critique on rigid social constructions.
Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) is an unhappily married housewife, saddled with husband number two, a man whose underwhelming lovemaking she describes to therapist Dr. Elliott (Michael Caine) as the root her problems. When her precocious teenage son (Keith Gordon) declines to go on a lunchtime museum trip, Kate goes alone, and becomes involved in a casual tryst with a stranger.
Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) is an unhappily married housewife, saddled with husband number two, a man whose underwhelming lovemaking she describes to therapist Dr. Elliott (Michael Caine) as the root her problems. When her precocious teenage son (Keith Gordon) declines to go on a lunchtime museum trip, Kate goes alone, and becomes involved in a casual tryst with a stranger.
- 9/8/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Fans of David Cronenberg and Brian De Palma are in for a treat this summer and fall, as The Criterion Collection will release the former's The Brood and the latter's Dressed to Kill on respective Blu-rays.
The Criterion Collection will release The Brood on Blu-ray October 13th and Dressed to Kill on Blu-ray August 18th:
From The Criterion Collection: The Brood: "A disturbed woman is receiving a radical form of psychotherapy at a remote, mysterious institute. Meanwhile, her five-year-old daughter, under the care of her estranged husband, is being terrorized by a group of demonic beings. How these two story lines connect is the shocking and grotesque secret of this bloody tale of monstrous parenthood from David Cronenberg, starring Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar. With its combination of psychological and body horror, The Brood laid the groundwork for many of the director’s films to come, but it stands...
The Criterion Collection will release The Brood on Blu-ray October 13th and Dressed to Kill on Blu-ray August 18th:
From The Criterion Collection: The Brood: "A disturbed woman is receiving a radical form of psychotherapy at a remote, mysterious institute. Meanwhile, her five-year-old daughter, under the care of her estranged husband, is being terrorized by a group of demonic beings. How these two story lines connect is the shocking and grotesque secret of this bloody tale of monstrous parenthood from David Cronenberg, starring Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar. With its combination of psychological and body horror, The Brood laid the groundwork for many of the director’s films to come, but it stands...
- 7/22/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
August marks the fading days of summer, the last gasp of heat-soaked freedom before vacations are over and everyday responsibilities start taking over. But if you've got a few bucks left over from that summer job, or some money you didn't spend on holiday, Criterion's August lineup has some compelling reasons to part with it. Kicking things off, Brian De Palma's sizzler "Dressed To Kill" arrives on the label. It will boast a new high def transfer, all kinds of new interviews (actress Nancy Allen, producer George Litto, composer Pino Donaggio, shower-scene body double Victoria Lynn Johnson, and poster and photographic art director Stephen Sayadian), featurettes about the different versions of the movie that were cut to avoid an X rating, and much more. This looks like a treat for De Palma devotees (but let's hope they change that kinda dreadful cover art). As expected, the Dardennes' acclaimed "Two Days,...
- 5/18/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
In a case that had as many ups and downs as the tide off the coast of the 50th state, CBS and the estate of Hawaii Five-0 creator Leonard Freeman were handed a victory today in the $100 million lawsuit by talent agent George Litto. “The Court grants judgment in favor of CBS and the Freeman Parties with respect to the Third Amended Complaint,” said La Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White today in a proposed statement of decision (read it here). The network’s official response today was a simple “Mahalo” to the end of the 2-year case. The La Superior Court judge’s decision comes after a very short trial earlier this month in the long-festering litigation. Litto was the agent of Freeman, who created the original Hawaii Five-0 that ran from 1968-80, passed away in 1974. His initial May 2012 lawsuit against the estate sought $10 million in punitive damages and...
- 5/23/2014
- by DOMINIC PATTEN
- Deadline TV
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has handed CBS and the late widow of Hawaii Five-0 creator Leonard Freeman a victory in a $100 million dispute that could have impacted the future of the hit crime drama. Read the ruling here. The lawsuit came from George Litto, who was Freeman's agent when the first incarnation of Hawaii Five-0 ran on CBS from 1968 to 1980. When Freeman passed away in 1974, Litto renegotiated a deal with CBS giving the network the right to produce the show in the future and shifted responsibility for production from Freeman's company to CBS. In
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- 5/22/2014
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The $100 million lawsuit over CBS' reboot of Hawaii Five-0 isn't over. In March, we reported that on the eve of trial, a settlement was being finalized in a lawsuit brought by George Litto, the former agent of Hawaii Five-0 creator Leonard Freeman, who claims to have been cut out of financial participation from the series. But the parties couldn't execute an agreement and in the past couple of weeks there has been a flurry of new court papers suggesting that the heated case is again moving forward. Photos: Elijah Wood in 'Hobbit' and 16 Other Cameos in Prequels,
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- 4/7/2014
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
George Litto won’t be getting his day in court after all — and the talent agent is probably Ok with that. CBS’ lawyer James Curry today told an La Superior Court judge that the network and the estate of Hawaii Five-0 creator Leonard Freeman have come to an amicable resolution with Litto in the nearly 2-year-old case. With a much-delayed trial set to start shortly, today’s resolution came as a surprise when Curry and other lawyers appeared in front of Judge Elizabeth Allen White. Litto was the agent of Freeman, who passed away in 1974. His initial May 2012 lawsuit against the estate sought $10 million in punitive damages and a big swell of the shares of the profits from the reboot version of the Hawaii-set cop show, which CBS brought back in 2010. While no details of the settlement were provided by the Sheppard Mullin attorney in court, it is highly unlikely...
- 3/12/2014
- by DOMINIC PATTEN
- Deadline TV
George Litto's $100 million lawsuit over CBS' reboot of Hawaii Five-o is being settled. The parties were before a Los Angeles Superior Court judge this week during the first phase of a trial when CBS attorney James Curry informed the court that the matter had been resolved. The parties are said to be finalizing a deal. Attorneys in the matter declined comment. Litto was the agent of Hawaii Five-0 creator Leonard Freeman, who passed away in 1974. At that time, Freeman's widow represented by Litto renegotiated a deal with CBS to allow the network the right to produce
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- 3/12/2014
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Next month, ex-agent George Litto will go to trial in a $100 million lawsuit that alleges he has been cut out from financially participating in CBS' current hit reboot of Hawaii Five-o. Litto claims that CBS dealt with the wrong party in entering into a deal for the crime drama. He's suing the trustees managing the estate of the widow of Hawaii Five-o creator Leonard Freeman as well as CBS for allegedly ignoring Litto's rights. In advance of the trial, the trustees have moved forward in their own counterclaims thanks to an L.A. Superior Court judge's
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- 1/28/2014
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
George Litto, the talent agent who represented Leonard Freeman, the writer-producer of the original Hawaii Five-o series, will have to go to trial in February to determine whether he has been unfairly cut out of financial participation from the remade CBS series. The attorney for Litto had hoped to score an early knockout punch at a summary judgment hearing on Wednesday, but a Los Angeles Superior Court has decided that an issue of contractual interpretation is best left for the jury. The plaintiff brought the $100 million lawsuit in May, 2012, and detailed the long, complicated backstory of
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- 12/18/2013
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
They would be on more stable legal footing if they just jumped in the surf off the coasts of America’s 50th state. After being in, then out, and then in again, CBS today is really back in the multimillion-dollar lawsuit over the Hawaii Five-o reboot. In a downtown hearing today, La Superior Court Judge Gregory Alarcon denied the network’s latest bid to be let out of the case brought by talent agent George Litto. In his ruling on the summary judgment motion, Alarcon made no finding on the merits of the actual case, which is now set for a January 21, 2014 trial date. However, the judge did agree with Litto’s contention that CBS had clear knowledge of the partials rights that the talent agent held to the series in conjunction with creator Leonard Freeman’s estate. The agent to Freeman, Litto is seeking $10 million in punitive damages and...
- 11/20/2013
- by DOMINIC PATTEN
- Deadline TV
CBS Studios appears headed to trial in January against former agent George Litto -- who claims he is owed about $100 million from the revival of the TV series Hawaii Five-0 -- after an L.A. Superior Court judge on Wednesday denied the network's motion for summary judgment. CBS had argued that it signed a contract in 2010 with the trust company of a former producer that amended earlier agreements, which would have given the network control over the rights to the series and different payment obligations. The judge ruled that Litto had shown CBS should have known about the earlier agreements
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- 11/20/2013
- by Alex Ben Block
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The network isn’t out of the legal surf after all. Today, CBS’ motion to be dismissed as a defendant in the multimillion-dollar lawsuit over the Hawaii Five-o reboot has been denied. Judge Elizabeth Allen White turned down the network’s effort to again be let out of talent agent George Litto’s suit in a hearing Thursday in La Superior Court. CBS was hoping to see a repeat of its temporary exit from the suit earlier this year. Not that CBS seemed to be sweating today’s decision. “Today was a procedural ruling only, not about the evidence of the case. We’re confident going forward that the facts presented will support a dismissal. Mahalo,” a CBS spokesperson told me today after the hearing. In January, Judge Gregory Alarcon agreed with the network’s then demurrer and removed it from the suit that Five-o creator Leonard Freeman’s talent...
- 9/26/2013
- by DOMINIC PATTEN
- Deadline TV
Each week we take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the home entertainment offerings, reviewing and rating the films and the special features packed onto the discs.
Release of the Week
Side Effects
The Film
Steven Soderbergh reunites with writer Scott Z. Burns to tell the tale of another kind of deadly contagion in the world of pharmaceutical treatment with Side Effects. Dependency of one kind or another, and the moral wasteland of the modern medical landscape are in play here. Soderbergh delivers another cracking thriller which benefits from a fine lead performance from Rooney Mara.
It is her relationship with Jude Law’s Dr. Banks which gives this suspenseful mystery its grounding. The duplicity hinted at from both sides has shades of Hitchcock at his finest and Soderbergh has a knack of finding the exact moment to knock his audience out of its complacency.
Release of the Week
Side Effects
The Film
Steven Soderbergh reunites with writer Scott Z. Burns to tell the tale of another kind of deadly contagion in the world of pharmaceutical treatment with Side Effects. Dependency of one kind or another, and the moral wasteland of the modern medical landscape are in play here. Soderbergh delivers another cracking thriller which benefits from a fine lead performance from Rooney Mara.
It is her relationship with Jude Law’s Dr. Banks which gives this suspenseful mystery its grounding. The duplicity hinted at from both sides has shades of Hitchcock at his finest and Soderbergh has a knack of finding the exact moment to knock his audience out of its complacency.
- 7/30/2013
- by Adam Lowes
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Arrow Video is pleased to announce the UK Blu-ray debut of Brian De Palma’s erotic crime thriller Dressed To Kill on Monday 29th July.
One of De Palma’s best loved films, Dressed To Kill has been lovingly re-mastered by MGM studios, and will finally be available uncut and on blu-ray for the very first time in the UK. Arrow’s deluxe edition of the film will come loaded with an exclusive selection of special features and bonus material.
Starring legendary British actor Michael Caine (The Italian Job, Get Carter) alongside Nancy Allen (Carrie, Blow Out) and Angie Dickenson (Point Blank, The Killers), Dressed To Kill begins as sexually frustrated housewife Kate Miller (Dickenson) consults her psychiatrist about her husband’s lacklustre performance in the bedroom. Following the session with Dr Elliot (Caine), Kate silently seduces a stranger in a New York Art gallery, before going back to his place.
One of De Palma’s best loved films, Dressed To Kill has been lovingly re-mastered by MGM studios, and will finally be available uncut and on blu-ray for the very first time in the UK. Arrow’s deluxe edition of the film will come loaded with an exclusive selection of special features and bonus material.
Starring legendary British actor Michael Caine (The Italian Job, Get Carter) alongside Nancy Allen (Carrie, Blow Out) and Angie Dickenson (Point Blank, The Killers), Dressed To Kill begins as sexually frustrated housewife Kate Miller (Dickenson) consults her psychiatrist about her husband’s lacklustre performance in the bedroom. Following the session with Dr Elliot (Caine), Kate silently seduces a stranger in a New York Art gallery, before going back to his place.
- 7/29/2013
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
Update, 1:02 Pm: CBS isn’t inclined to make too big a deal about being renamed as a defendant in the multi-million dollar lawsuit over the Hawaii Five-o reboot but the network isn’t taking it lying down either. “This is not a ruling on the merits of the case. It is simply a procedural decision that allows Mr. Litto to allege financial claims against CBS, which we will vigorously contest. It is important to remember that Mr. Litto’s own filing with the court confirms CBS’s rights to produce and broadcast the new Hawaii Five-0,” said the network today. The statement comes in response to La Superior Court judge Gregory Alarcon putting CBS back in the $10 million suit filed by talent agent George Litto after letting them out of it earlier this year. Previously, 9:14 Am: They thought they were out, but the judge has made CBS a...
- 7/16/2013
- by DOMINIC PATTEN
- Deadline TV
The familiar Lost alumnus, Terry O’Quinn is headed back to Hawaii. Isn’t he the lucky one? Yes, he’ll have to do some work while he’s there. It isn’t a vacation. He is all set to reprise his Hawaii Five-o role.
Fans of the tropical cop series reboot know O’Quinn as retired Navy Seal Joe White. He last appeared in the Season 2 finale, when he introduced McGarrett to the mysterious “Shelburne,” who turns out to be McGarrett’s one and only mother, acted by Christine Lahti. White is also McGarrett’s mentor and former Navy Seal instructor.
He will return to the set sometime this season, as was evident on Twitter. The CBS Tweet read: #H50 fans! Just confirmed, #TerryOQuinn will return as the mysterious Joe White later this season and McG has a Lot of questions 4 him!
By the by, you media hounds out...
Fans of the tropical cop series reboot know O’Quinn as retired Navy Seal Joe White. He last appeared in the Season 2 finale, when he introduced McGarrett to the mysterious “Shelburne,” who turns out to be McGarrett’s one and only mother, acted by Christine Lahti. White is also McGarrett’s mentor and former Navy Seal instructor.
He will return to the set sometime this season, as was evident on Twitter. The CBS Tweet read: #H50 fans! Just confirmed, #TerryOQuinn will return as the mysterious Joe White later this season and McG has a Lot of questions 4 him!
By the by, you media hounds out...
- 1/10/2013
- by Sasha Nova
- Boomtron
CBS won’t be getting caught up in the rough currents of a Hawaii Five-o lawsuit after all. Monday the network was released from a lawsuit filed in May by the agent of Hawaii Five-o creator Leonard Freeman. “Defendant CBS Studios Inc.’s, erroneously sued as CBS Television Network, (“CBS”) Demurrer is sustained without leave to amend,” wrote La Superior Court Judge Gregory Alarcon in his tentative ruling (read it here) made final Monday. While the network could be pulled back into the case on appeal, they are out of the case for now. “We appreciate the court’s ruling and are pleased that it brings an appropriate conclusion to our involvement in this lawsuit,” said a CBS spokesman today. Though many of his claims were substantiated, it was time that worked against Freeman’s former agent George Litto. Specifically how long it took Litto to file his $10 million suit...
- 1/8/2013
- by DOMINIC PATTEN
- Deadline TV
CBS has prevailed in a lawsuit brought by George Litto, the talent agent who represented the original Hawaii Five-o creator Leonard Freeman. Litto claimed that he was cut out from participating in the successful new version of the show, and in October, he amended his allegations in an effort to have the 2010 agreement that paved the way for the new Five-o be ruled invalid. If successful, Litto might have been able to extract tens of millions of dollars in damages from CBS and also make it more difficult for the network to reap profits on the hit
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- 1/8/2013
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
No time for my Year End Roundup or even my Havana Film Festival Report because I am busy with writing a Report -For-Pay of the 1,000 Top Filmmakers, Location Managers and Influencers Worldwide for a particularly smart country’s film commissioner and I must deliver it by the year’s end.
As I compile it, I am struck by the names of the film companies I am looking at. German names are mundane and Irish are imaginative. I know the U.S. names so well that in contrast, the French names are so evocative.
Naming companies after their owners and the well known studio names are normal and mundane. Personal meaning names like Lava Bear or Wild West Picture Show are more interesting as they bring up imaginary pictures. Weed Road of Akiva Goldsman is very evocative – do its owners smoke weed? Virgin Produced – well that’s fairly obvious I think -- once you know Richard Branson owns it, Walden Media evokes Walden Pond. Village Roadshow always sounded good but it’s old school like the majors are by now, as is New Regency of former arms dealer Arnon Milchan now partner of 20th Century Fox and others with their longstanding studio deals. In the U.S. we have so many old studio or “studio deal” companies whose early origins have been obscured by the sands of time and which no longer elicit dreams of greatness or memories of private childhood games or haunts, names like Alcon, the company founded by FedEx's Fred Smith, Leonardo di Caprio's Appian Way (recalling the old Roman road), Mark Canton's Atmosphere Entertainment, Amram Bernstein's Beacon Pictures, Rob Reiner's Castle Rock Entertainment, Spring Creek which was so evocative of Paula Weinstein when she was with Mark Rosenberg, major Columbia Pictures, Weinstein offshoot Dimension Films, Spielberg's Dreamworks, Endgame Entertainment, James Schamus and David Linde's Focus Features now Universal's arthouse arm, major Fox 2000 and Fox Searchlight, Gold Circle Films of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame, HBO – a perfect name of the time and place, HBO Latin America Group – a perfect revisionist name for the brand, Imagine Entertainment which still elicits the name of Brian Glazer ,Malpaso which still evokes Clint Eastwood, Mandalay Pictures which still recalls Peter Guber and those old Sony days of power plays, Legendary Pictures recalls Batman and Superman, Marvel Studios – the comicbook heroes, Lionsgate – gone corporate after their indie Canadian beginnings so long ago, , MGM, Moonstone, Morgan Creek Productions, Mutual Films, Myriad Pictures, New Line Cinema, New Regency, Pandemonium (we still love Bill Mechanic), Paramount Pictures, , Phoenix Pictures (we still love Mike Medavoy), Radar Pictures (Ted Fields), Red Om (Julie Roberts), Relativity Media (Ryan Cavanaugh), Revelations (hooray for Morgan Freeman), , Ritchie-Wigram, Screen Gems, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment to name a few, Tribeca Films, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros.
We have the usual names based on the company owners who are or perceive themselves to be brands in themselves like Apatow, Berlanti Prods, Bleiberg Entertainment, Blumhouse Prods. In which Jason Blum becomes horror branded, Bender Spenk, Bruce Cohen Prods., Callahan Filmworks, Chris Morgan Prods., Chuck Lorre Prods., De Line, de Passe Jones Entertainment, Di Novi, Francine Maisler & Associates, Freemantle, George Litto , Gerber, Gk Films, Hurwitz & Schlossberg Prods., , J.W. Prods., Josephson, KatzSmith, Lin Pictures, Stuber Pictures, Tdj Enterprises, Team Downey, The Weinstein Company.
There are those companies whose names evoke places like 22nd & Indiana, Arroyo Films, Broken Road Prods., Cross Creek, GreeneStreet Films, Cherry Road Films (not so new), Hyde Park , Lakeshore Entertainment (where Tom Rosenberg either lived or vacationed as a child), Langley Park, Olive Bridge Entertainment, Pearl Street, Spring Street, Barry Levinson's Baltimore, Kevin Spacey's Trigger Street, Thunder Road, Summit named after the street Patrick Wachsberger live(d) on in Beverly Hills.
The U.S. fanciful names like 3 Monkeys, Angle Films, Agregate Films, Polymorphic evoke something more private than public. Other companies evoking private signals to those who are in the know are 3 Monkeys, Aggregate Films (pretty hip for today), Angle Films, Barnstorm Pictures, Bold Films, Branded Films (a good capitalistic name for today), Captivate Entertainment, Carousel Prods., Cruel and Unusual, Everyman Pictures, Exclusive Media Group, Film 44, FilmDistrict, Global Produce, Green Hat Films, Groundswell , Gulfstream, Heyday, Illumination Entertainment, ImageMovers, Lava Bear Films – hats off to David Linde, Media Rights Capital, Mockingbird Pictures, Ninjas Runnin Wild, One Race Films, Open City (we love Jason Kliot and Joana Vicente), Original Films, Our Stories, Playtone, Polymorphic, Roserock Films, Saturn, , Atlantic Streamline, Shandaland – I love the Yiddish reference here , Strike Entertainment, Thousand Words.
For some reason, the French names sound more exotic or, if not exotic, then somehow more evocative of the unknown…Of course some are named after their owners, like Les Films d’Antoine…though even that sounds more exotic than Gk Films, Graham King’s company. There is an everyday familiarity with the U.S. that I definitely do not have with the French.
I feel a little like Proust in Names and Places, conjuring up unknown histories and deeper meanings to the French companies.
Ok, A.S.A.P. is American so that hardly counts, though it is a cool name for a film company. And Anna Lena, maybe is a person’s name. Avenue B, again is American as is Blue Monday and Local Film, though Charivari is Italian and Aurora is Latin. But the Cine names are great: Cine Nomine – what an intelligent play on words, in the name of g’d, or Cinema Defacto or Cine-Sud; all have great meaning behind them. Dharamsala is either an Indian God or food, Dolce Vita we know is a tribute to Fellini. Is Delante Films like Adelante? And Elzevir – again Proust enters with his fictionalized artist. Estrella and Gloria are names aiming for Greatness. But what is Kaleo?
La Vie est Belle gets me singing the song from South Pacific. Lazennec seems very old and venerable, aristocratic even, while Les Enrages is very 60s. Rezo is also an old and classic film company of France and Pathe and Gaumont are equivalent to our major studio names. Les Films de la Croisade – does it have a crusade as its mission? Les Films du Lendemain seems very laid back. Les Films du Poisson makes me wonder what does a fish have to do with the movies? And what is Veyrier? Les Productions Balthazar sound s great, though its founder’s name is Balthazar. And Les Films Pelleas sound grand and mythological. Mille et Une Films makes you know there are 1,001 stories to be told. Haut et Court elicits a picture which I cannot explain.
While MK2 is simply based upon the name of Marin Karmitz, I love his job title, “President du Conseil de Surveillance”, or President of the Surveillance Council, as he grants his son Nathanael his legacy.
Noodles is fun. Petit is descriptive, Sbs is boring – I thought it was a broadcaster but it’s just a name, however, the name Said Ben Said is not boring at all nor are his films, like Passion and Carnage. Sciapode is intriguing – it sounds like sci-fi and Sombrero makes me think the filmmaker leans toward the Latino. Stone Angels – English again, as is The French Connection – both conjure up images from real life fiction. Stone Angels that decorate tombs of old aristocrats; Pierre-Ange Le Pogam’s name also conjures up the Proustian Names of Old - Stone Angel the Pogam…what is a Pogam? Tempete Sous un Crane is also totally out there as a name…Storm Beneath a Crane? Maybe I don’t know French so well after all. But that is Julie Delpy’s company She’s already mostly American anyway. . I loved her last film 2 Days in New York. It would take me another lifetime to be as knowledgeable about the French as I am about the Americans. And I’m not very knowledgeable about them either nowadays. But the French names make me feel like Proust as they elicit wonderment and create stories in and of themselves.
As I compile it, I am struck by the names of the film companies I am looking at. German names are mundane and Irish are imaginative. I know the U.S. names so well that in contrast, the French names are so evocative.
Naming companies after their owners and the well known studio names are normal and mundane. Personal meaning names like Lava Bear or Wild West Picture Show are more interesting as they bring up imaginary pictures. Weed Road of Akiva Goldsman is very evocative – do its owners smoke weed? Virgin Produced – well that’s fairly obvious I think -- once you know Richard Branson owns it, Walden Media evokes Walden Pond. Village Roadshow always sounded good but it’s old school like the majors are by now, as is New Regency of former arms dealer Arnon Milchan now partner of 20th Century Fox and others with their longstanding studio deals. In the U.S. we have so many old studio or “studio deal” companies whose early origins have been obscured by the sands of time and which no longer elicit dreams of greatness or memories of private childhood games or haunts, names like Alcon, the company founded by FedEx's Fred Smith, Leonardo di Caprio's Appian Way (recalling the old Roman road), Mark Canton's Atmosphere Entertainment, Amram Bernstein's Beacon Pictures, Rob Reiner's Castle Rock Entertainment, Spring Creek which was so evocative of Paula Weinstein when she was with Mark Rosenberg, major Columbia Pictures, Weinstein offshoot Dimension Films, Spielberg's Dreamworks, Endgame Entertainment, James Schamus and David Linde's Focus Features now Universal's arthouse arm, major Fox 2000 and Fox Searchlight, Gold Circle Films of My Big Fat Greek Wedding fame, HBO – a perfect name of the time and place, HBO Latin America Group – a perfect revisionist name for the brand, Imagine Entertainment which still elicits the name of Brian Glazer ,Malpaso which still evokes Clint Eastwood, Mandalay Pictures which still recalls Peter Guber and those old Sony days of power plays, Legendary Pictures recalls Batman and Superman, Marvel Studios – the comicbook heroes, Lionsgate – gone corporate after their indie Canadian beginnings so long ago, , MGM, Moonstone, Morgan Creek Productions, Mutual Films, Myriad Pictures, New Line Cinema, New Regency, Pandemonium (we still love Bill Mechanic), Paramount Pictures, , Phoenix Pictures (we still love Mike Medavoy), Radar Pictures (Ted Fields), Red Om (Julie Roberts), Relativity Media (Ryan Cavanaugh), Revelations (hooray for Morgan Freeman), , Ritchie-Wigram, Screen Gems, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment to name a few, Tribeca Films, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros.
We have the usual names based on the company owners who are or perceive themselves to be brands in themselves like Apatow, Berlanti Prods, Bleiberg Entertainment, Blumhouse Prods. In which Jason Blum becomes horror branded, Bender Spenk, Bruce Cohen Prods., Callahan Filmworks, Chris Morgan Prods., Chuck Lorre Prods., De Line, de Passe Jones Entertainment, Di Novi, Francine Maisler & Associates, Freemantle, George Litto , Gerber, Gk Films, Hurwitz & Schlossberg Prods., , J.W. Prods., Josephson, KatzSmith, Lin Pictures, Stuber Pictures, Tdj Enterprises, Team Downey, The Weinstein Company.
There are those companies whose names evoke places like 22nd & Indiana, Arroyo Films, Broken Road Prods., Cross Creek, GreeneStreet Films, Cherry Road Films (not so new), Hyde Park , Lakeshore Entertainment (where Tom Rosenberg either lived or vacationed as a child), Langley Park, Olive Bridge Entertainment, Pearl Street, Spring Street, Barry Levinson's Baltimore, Kevin Spacey's Trigger Street, Thunder Road, Summit named after the street Patrick Wachsberger live(d) on in Beverly Hills.
The U.S. fanciful names like 3 Monkeys, Angle Films, Agregate Films, Polymorphic evoke something more private than public. Other companies evoking private signals to those who are in the know are 3 Monkeys, Aggregate Films (pretty hip for today), Angle Films, Barnstorm Pictures, Bold Films, Branded Films (a good capitalistic name for today), Captivate Entertainment, Carousel Prods., Cruel and Unusual, Everyman Pictures, Exclusive Media Group, Film 44, FilmDistrict, Global Produce, Green Hat Films, Groundswell , Gulfstream, Heyday, Illumination Entertainment, ImageMovers, Lava Bear Films – hats off to David Linde, Media Rights Capital, Mockingbird Pictures, Ninjas Runnin Wild, One Race Films, Open City (we love Jason Kliot and Joana Vicente), Original Films, Our Stories, Playtone, Polymorphic, Roserock Films, Saturn, , Atlantic Streamline, Shandaland – I love the Yiddish reference here , Strike Entertainment, Thousand Words.
For some reason, the French names sound more exotic or, if not exotic, then somehow more evocative of the unknown…Of course some are named after their owners, like Les Films d’Antoine…though even that sounds more exotic than Gk Films, Graham King’s company. There is an everyday familiarity with the U.S. that I definitely do not have with the French.
I feel a little like Proust in Names and Places, conjuring up unknown histories and deeper meanings to the French companies.
Ok, A.S.A.P. is American so that hardly counts, though it is a cool name for a film company. And Anna Lena, maybe is a person’s name. Avenue B, again is American as is Blue Monday and Local Film, though Charivari is Italian and Aurora is Latin. But the Cine names are great: Cine Nomine – what an intelligent play on words, in the name of g’d, or Cinema Defacto or Cine-Sud; all have great meaning behind them. Dharamsala is either an Indian God or food, Dolce Vita we know is a tribute to Fellini. Is Delante Films like Adelante? And Elzevir – again Proust enters with his fictionalized artist. Estrella and Gloria are names aiming for Greatness. But what is Kaleo?
La Vie est Belle gets me singing the song from South Pacific. Lazennec seems very old and venerable, aristocratic even, while Les Enrages is very 60s. Rezo is also an old and classic film company of France and Pathe and Gaumont are equivalent to our major studio names. Les Films de la Croisade – does it have a crusade as its mission? Les Films du Lendemain seems very laid back. Les Films du Poisson makes me wonder what does a fish have to do with the movies? And what is Veyrier? Les Productions Balthazar sound s great, though its founder’s name is Balthazar. And Les Films Pelleas sound grand and mythological. Mille et Une Films makes you know there are 1,001 stories to be told. Haut et Court elicits a picture which I cannot explain.
While MK2 is simply based upon the name of Marin Karmitz, I love his job title, “President du Conseil de Surveillance”, or President of the Surveillance Council, as he grants his son Nathanael his legacy.
Noodles is fun. Petit is descriptive, Sbs is boring – I thought it was a broadcaster but it’s just a name, however, the name Said Ben Said is not boring at all nor are his films, like Passion and Carnage. Sciapode is intriguing – it sounds like sci-fi and Sombrero makes me think the filmmaker leans toward the Latino. Stone Angels – English again, as is The French Connection – both conjure up images from real life fiction. Stone Angels that decorate tombs of old aristocrats; Pierre-Ange Le Pogam’s name also conjures up the Proustian Names of Old - Stone Angel the Pogam…what is a Pogam? Tempete Sous un Crane is also totally out there as a name…Storm Beneath a Crane? Maybe I don’t know French so well after all. But that is Julie Delpy’s company She’s already mostly American anyway. . I loved her last film 2 Days in New York. It would take me another lifetime to be as knowledgeable about the French as I am about the Americans. And I’m not very knowledgeable about them either nowadays. But the French names make me feel like Proust as they elicit wonderment and create stories in and of themselves.
- 1/1/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
George Litto, the talent agent who represented the original Hawaii Five-o creator Leonard Freeman, is still pursuing money from CBS' hit reboot. In May, Litto sued Freeman's heirs for making a 2010 deal with CBS that cut the ex-showbiz agent out of the success of the franchise. Now, the 81-year-old Litto has a new plan for how he's going to collect what he believes is owed. In an amended complaint, he's added CBS as a defendant and wants the court to declare the 2010 agreement to be invalid. According to Litto's new attorney, Henry Gradstein, the
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- 10/31/2012
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
George Litto, the talent agent who represented Larry Freeman, the writer/producer of the original Hawaii Five-o series, which ran on CBS from 1968 to 1980, has filed a lawsuit seeking profits from the new CBS remake and $10 million in punitive damages. In a lawsuit filed on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Litto alleges to have been cut out of financial participation. Litto's talent boutique agency negotiated on behalf of Freeman in 1966, and when the producer died in 1974 as the result of heart bypass surgery, he negotiated an amendment to the contract on behalf of widow
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- 5/4/2012
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
George Litto, whose agency represented the original writer and creator of the 1960s and ’70s CBS TV series Hawaii Five-o, has filed suit against the trusts for heirs of writer-producer Leonard Freeman and their representatives alleging that he was shut out of negotiations over the new version of the series and deprived of the relevant income and rights. Litto points out that CBS at one point filed a federal claim trying to wrest control from Litto and the Freeman trusts but ultimately lost. Litto’s suit contends that CBS and the trusts then shut him out of negotiations for the new series by attempting to renegotiate a 1974 agreement between Litto and the trusts that gave him substantial rights in connection with future versions of the series. Litto further contends that all rights to negotiate terms for and to share in revenues from future iterations of Hawaii Five-o reverted to him...
- 5/4/2012
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
Like "Space Cowboys" a few weeks ago, "The Crew" hopes to gain comic mileage from the effects of age on men of action. Only instead of test pilots, our four heroes are ex-mobsters whose days of knee-capping and extortion are long behind them. But unlike Clint Eastwood's film, which had the decency not to treat age as a curse, "The Crew" is a lame programmer, low on laughs and even more so on inspiration.
The Buena Vista comedy can boast an excellent cast in Richard Dreyfuss, Burt Reynolds, Dan Hedaya and Seymour Cassel. Let's just say they've all been in better movies. The film appears destined for a quick exit from theaters. Even ancillary potential looks weak for a film that excludes the young and borderline insults the old.
Screenwriter Barry Fanaro had a perfectly reasonable idea for a comedy. But he should have studied 1950s British comedies from Earling Studios if he wanted to pen a slightly dark comedy about a group of aging crooks willing to commit felonies in order to live out their golden years in peace.
The former wiseguys in question face eviction from a dilapidated Miami residence hotel once designated for seniors but now prime real estate with the discovery of South Beach by yuppies and glamorous models. The quartet scheme to snatch a corpse from the county morgue and leave it in the lobby in such a manner that it looks like a mob hit. The plan goes awry when the dead John Doe turns out to be a former crime boss whose mobster son is most displeased.
The film then devolves into strenuously unfunny complications involving a beautiful and mercenary stripper (Jennifer Tilly), a Latino drug lord (Miguel Sandoval), a Jewish stepmother (Lainie Kazan) and bickering police partners (Carrie-Anne Moss and Jeremy Piven). When the drug lord calls himself a cliche, he takes the word right out of every critic's mouth.
Besides its essential humorlessness, the film suffers from tonal problems. The blackness of its black comedy has been lightened considerably in order to maintain the film's PG-13 niceness. The filmmakers even go out of their way to emphasize that a rodent, featured prominently in dramatic developments, escapes physical harm. But, hey, if these are former wiseguys, shouldn't cracked skulls and bullet holes be part of everyday life?
Also, all of the actors are playing old rather than simply acting their age. OK, so the four leading actors are past 50. But why all the wooden physicality, studied mannerisms and facial muggings that would get them kicked out of most Hollywood acting classes? Why this fox-trot of feebleness that belies the strapping vigor they so obviously possess?
Even more troubling are the supporting roles. Why should a talented comic actress and former Oscar nominee such as Tilly be the subject of continual jokes about her breasts? And must such actors as Kazan and Sandoval play ethnicity to such a pointed degree?
Direction by Michael Dinner is routine. And other than one egregiously bad digital effects shot, technical credits are fine. Everybody got the job done, but it looks exactly like that -- a job.
THE CREW
Buena Vista Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Producers: Barry Sonnenfeld, Barry Josephson
Director: Michael Dinner
Screenwriter: Barry Fanaro
Executive producers: George Litto,
Michael S. Glick
Director of photography: Juan Ruiz-Anchia
Production designer: Peter Larkin
Music: Steve Bartek
Co-producer: Zane Weiner
Costume designer: Betsy Cox
Editor: Nicholas C. Smith
Color/stereo
Cast:
Bobby Bartellemeo: Richard Dreyfuss
Joey "Bats" Pistella: Burt Reynolds
Mike "The Brick" Donatelli: Dan Hedaya
Tony "Mouth" Donato: Seymour Cassel
Detective Olivia Neal: Carrie-Anne Moss
Ferris "a k a Maureen" Lowenstein: Jennifer Tilly
Pepper Lowenstein: Lainie Kazan
Raul Ventana: Miguel Sandoval
Running time - 88 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
The Buena Vista comedy can boast an excellent cast in Richard Dreyfuss, Burt Reynolds, Dan Hedaya and Seymour Cassel. Let's just say they've all been in better movies. The film appears destined for a quick exit from theaters. Even ancillary potential looks weak for a film that excludes the young and borderline insults the old.
Screenwriter Barry Fanaro had a perfectly reasonable idea for a comedy. But he should have studied 1950s British comedies from Earling Studios if he wanted to pen a slightly dark comedy about a group of aging crooks willing to commit felonies in order to live out their golden years in peace.
The former wiseguys in question face eviction from a dilapidated Miami residence hotel once designated for seniors but now prime real estate with the discovery of South Beach by yuppies and glamorous models. The quartet scheme to snatch a corpse from the county morgue and leave it in the lobby in such a manner that it looks like a mob hit. The plan goes awry when the dead John Doe turns out to be a former crime boss whose mobster son is most displeased.
The film then devolves into strenuously unfunny complications involving a beautiful and mercenary stripper (Jennifer Tilly), a Latino drug lord (Miguel Sandoval), a Jewish stepmother (Lainie Kazan) and bickering police partners (Carrie-Anne Moss and Jeremy Piven). When the drug lord calls himself a cliche, he takes the word right out of every critic's mouth.
Besides its essential humorlessness, the film suffers from tonal problems. The blackness of its black comedy has been lightened considerably in order to maintain the film's PG-13 niceness. The filmmakers even go out of their way to emphasize that a rodent, featured prominently in dramatic developments, escapes physical harm. But, hey, if these are former wiseguys, shouldn't cracked skulls and bullet holes be part of everyday life?
Also, all of the actors are playing old rather than simply acting their age. OK, so the four leading actors are past 50. But why all the wooden physicality, studied mannerisms and facial muggings that would get them kicked out of most Hollywood acting classes? Why this fox-trot of feebleness that belies the strapping vigor they so obviously possess?
Even more troubling are the supporting roles. Why should a talented comic actress and former Oscar nominee such as Tilly be the subject of continual jokes about her breasts? And must such actors as Kazan and Sandoval play ethnicity to such a pointed degree?
Direction by Michael Dinner is routine. And other than one egregiously bad digital effects shot, technical credits are fine. Everybody got the job done, but it looks exactly like that -- a job.
THE CREW
Buena Vista Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Producers: Barry Sonnenfeld, Barry Josephson
Director: Michael Dinner
Screenwriter: Barry Fanaro
Executive producers: George Litto,
Michael S. Glick
Director of photography: Juan Ruiz-Anchia
Production designer: Peter Larkin
Music: Steve Bartek
Co-producer: Zane Weiner
Costume designer: Betsy Cox
Editor: Nicholas C. Smith
Color/stereo
Cast:
Bobby Bartellemeo: Richard Dreyfuss
Joey "Bats" Pistella: Burt Reynolds
Mike "The Brick" Donatelli: Dan Hedaya
Tony "Mouth" Donato: Seymour Cassel
Detective Olivia Neal: Carrie-Anne Moss
Ferris "a k a Maureen" Lowenstein: Jennifer Tilly
Pepper Lowenstein: Lainie Kazan
Raul Ventana: Miguel Sandoval
Running time - 88 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 8/25/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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