Monday, January 16, 2012
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Academy governors to honor Coppola
LOS ANGELES – A friend from the motion picture academy left a message, but Francis Ford Coppola
didn't want to return the call.
"Well, I am always nervous when I get a phone call from folks where I am living," explained the director of such classics as "The Godfather" trilogy and "Apocalypse Now." "(It's a) 'Why are they calling me?' kind of thing and 'Who's sick?' or 'Who's passed away?' But it was happy news."
Indeed. Former Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis was on the line to inform Coppola that he would be honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, to be presented at the academy's second-annual Governors Awards Saturday night in Hollywood.
"It is sort of the ultimate award for producing," noted Coppola. "I've been a writer, a director and I have gotten more than my share of those honors. The Thalberg award for me is kind of a trifecta."
The Academy has handed out five Oscars to Coppola: for co-writing "Patton" (1970), for co-writing "The Godfather" (1972) and for co-writing, producing and directing "The Godfather: Part II" (1974).
The Governors Awards dinner will honor Coppola, as well as preservationist Kevin Brownlow, director Jean-Luc Godard and actor Eli Wallach — all of whom have some sort of Coppola connection.
Godard ("Breathless") did some shooting at Coppola's Zoetrope film studio in Hollywood, and "I knew (him) from Paris and got to hang out with him," Coppola said. "He is a very intriguing man."
After seeing Brownlow's restoration of director Abel Gance's 1927 silent epic "Napoleon," Coppola arranged for a gala screening with musical accompaniment by a live orchestra, which resulted in a theatrical re-release of the film. Oddly enough, Coppola and Brownlow never connected personally. "I never got to work with him," Coppola said. "I never met him."
Veteran actor Wallach ("Baby Doll") played a key role in "The Godfather: Part III" (1990). "He speaks Italian very well," Coppola recalled. "He said when he first went to Italy, he asked where the bathroom was and they said 'Laggiu' (which sounds like, "The Jew"). And he said (joking), 'Don't get personal. I am Jewish.' Laggiu means 'Down there.' Lassu means 'Up there,'" Coppola continued, laughing. "He was a neat man."
At 71, Coppola remains active. In addition to overseeing his Northern California wineries, he supervised the painstaking digital transfer and contributed hours of new bonus material for Lionsgate's recent Blu-ray release of "Apocalypse Now" (1979). He served as an executive producer on Oscar-winning daughter Sofia Coppola's upcoming feature "Somewhere." And he's by no means finished with filmmaking, himself.
Coppola's a revered director, and Saturday he will be honored as a producer. But, he says, "my dream always was to be a writer who made films of the stories and the writing that I did."
___
Online:
http://www.oscars.org 1/4
didn't want to return the call."Well, I am always nervous when I get a phone call from folks where I am living," explained the director of such classics as "The Godfather" trilogy and "Apocalypse Now." "(It's a) 'Why are they calling me?' kind of thing and 'Who's sick?' or 'Who's passed away?' But it was happy news."
Indeed. Former Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis was on the line to inform Coppola that he would be honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, to be presented at the academy's second-annual Governors Awards Saturday night in Hollywood.
"It is sort of the ultimate award for producing," noted Coppola. "I've been a writer, a director and I have gotten more than my share of those honors. The Thalberg award for me is kind of a trifecta."
The Academy has handed out five Oscars to Coppola: for co-writing "Patton" (1970), for co-writing "The Godfather" (1972) and for co-writing, producing and directing "The Godfather: Part II" (1974).
The Governors Awards dinner will honor Coppola, as well as preservationist Kevin Brownlow, director Jean-Luc Godard and actor Eli Wallach — all of whom have some sort of Coppola connection.
Godard ("Breathless") did some shooting at Coppola's Zoetrope film studio in Hollywood, and "I knew (him) from Paris and got to hang out with him," Coppola said. "He is a very intriguing man."
After seeing Brownlow's restoration of director Abel Gance's 1927 silent epic "Napoleon," Coppola arranged for a gala screening with musical accompaniment by a live orchestra, which resulted in a theatrical re-release of the film. Oddly enough, Coppola and Brownlow never connected personally. "I never got to work with him," Coppola said. "I never met him."
Veteran actor Wallach ("Baby Doll") played a key role in "The Godfather: Part III" (1990). "He speaks Italian very well," Coppola recalled. "He said when he first went to Italy, he asked where the bathroom was and they said 'Laggiu' (which sounds like, "The Jew"). And he said (joking), 'Don't get personal. I am Jewish.' Laggiu means 'Down there.' Lassu means 'Up there,'" Coppola continued, laughing. "He was a neat man."
At 71, Coppola remains active. In addition to overseeing his Northern California wineries, he supervised the painstaking digital transfer and contributed hours of new bonus material for Lionsgate's recent Blu-ray release of "Apocalypse Now" (1979). He served as an executive producer on Oscar-winning daughter Sofia Coppola's upcoming feature "Somewhere." And he's by no means finished with filmmaking, himself.
Coppola's a revered director, and Saturday he will be honored as a producer. But, he says, "my dream always was to be a writer who made films of the stories and the writing that I did."
___
Online:
http://www.oscars.org 1/4
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Student filming practice dies when tower topples
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – A Notre Dame student died Wednesday after the tower from which he was filming football practice fell over.
Declan Sullivan, a 20-year-old junior from Long Grove, Ill., was transported from the LaBar practice complex to a South Bend hospital, where he died.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to Declan's family and friends," coach Brian Kelly said in a release. "Declan was a diligent student worker in our video department and had a tremendous personality and great sense of humor. He brightened the days for all that had the privilege to work with him, and the Notre Dame football family will dearly miss him."
Authorities were investigating the incident. The hydraulic scissor lift, which can be lowered or raised depending on needs, stretched across a nearby street.
Winds in the area were gusting to 51 mph at the time, according to the National Weather Service, and the team practiced indoors Tuesday because of the blustery conditions.
Notre Dame was making grief counselors available for students, and university president Rev. John Jenkins will preside over a special Mass in Sullivan's memory on Thursday.
"We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss," Jenkins said. "Our hearts go out to the student's family and friends and our prayers and profound sympathies are with them during this incredibly difficult time. The loss of someone so young is a terrible shock and a great sadness. Our entire community shares in the family's grief."
The Fighting Irish, who host Tulsa this Saturday, canceled post-practice interviews after the accident.
"In the midst of a season where you are disappointed with the outcomes ... you can lose sight of what's most important. Sad day at practice," senior linebacker Brian Smith posted on his Twitter page. "I will never forget today."
student died Wednesday after the tower from which he was filming football practice fell over.Declan Sullivan, a 20-year-old junior from Long Grove, Ill., was transported from the LaBar practice complex to a South Bend hospital, where he died.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to Declan's family and friends," coach Brian Kelly said in a release. "Declan was a diligent student worker in our video department and had a tremendous personality and great sense of humor. He brightened the days for all that had the privilege to work with him, and the Notre Dame football family will dearly miss him."
Authorities were investigating the incident. The hydraulic scissor lift, which can be lowered or raised depending on needs, stretched across a nearby street.
Winds in the area were gusting to 51 mph at the time, according to the National Weather Service, and the team practiced indoors Tuesday because of the blustery conditions.
Notre Dame was making grief counselors available for students, and university president Rev. John Jenkins will preside over a special Mass in Sullivan's memory on Thursday.
"We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss," Jenkins said. "Our hearts go out to the student's family and friends and our prayers and profound sympathies are with them during this incredibly difficult time. The loss of someone so young is a terrible shock and a great sadness. Our entire community shares in the family's grief."
The Fighting Irish, who host Tulsa this Saturday, canceled post-practice interviews after the accident.
"In the midst of a season where you are disappointed with the outcomes ... you can lose sight of what's most important. Sad day at practice," senior linebacker Brian Smith posted on his Twitter page. "I will never forget today."
Friday, September 10, 2010
California gas explosion kills one, destroys homes
SAN FRANCISCO — A huge gas pipe explosion killed one person and left dozens injured as it swept through a neighborhood near San Francisco, reducing over 50 homes to ashes and forcing residents to flee in panic.
San Bruno fire chief Dennis Haag confirmed one fatality from the disaster as he gave a preliminary assessment of the destruction that followed the blast caused by the rupture of a large natural gas pipeline.
Some 30 people were injured and at least 100 were evacuated and taken to shelters operated by the Red Cross, but authorities were struggling to account for residents and were clearly concerned the death toll could rise.
Television footage showed firefighters going house to house with sniffer dogs looking for victims, but "it is going to take us until at least (Friday) into the afternoon to do a complete search," Haag said.
In one street a dozen homes were seen engulfed in flames. Other images showed a smoldering crater the size of a city intersection and scores of raging fires turning San Bruno's smoke-filled night sky orange -- just two miles (three kilometers) from the San Francisco International Airport.
Up to 200 firefighters were dispatched to battle the blaze, but they were no match for flames which destroyed 53 homes and damaged at least 120 more.
And the threat remained more than six hours after the fire began, with several blazes raging.
Local utility officials said the source of the blast was likely a large natural gas pipe that ruptured under a San Bruno road.
Pacific Gas & Electric spokesman Jeff Smith described the fire as "an absolutely horrible situation," and said that if it turns out the utility was to blame, "we will absolutely take accountability for it."
People wept as they fled while others paused to capture the chaotic scene on cell phone cameras.
"I heard a sound like a low flying plane, then all of a sudden the house shook," said Tina DiIoia, who was with her baby in their condominium in San Bruno, just south of San Francisco, when the explosion occurred about a half-mile away.
"Then there was another explosion. I went outside and there was debris falling from the air."
Helicopters and airplanes were seen dumping water and fire retardant chemicals in an effort to stanch the flames.
Several homes were thoroughly razed by the fire, cars were burned down to their frames, and debris -- including large chunks of asphalt upended by the explosion -- littered the streets.
"It looks like the entire mountainside is burning," DiIoia said.
"It was just a huge explosion," one resident recounted. "More than that, we felt the heat. It was a huge heat wave that sucked the air out for a minute."
One young man recounted being awakened by the blast and looking into his backyard to see trees and a dog house ablaze.
"The roof was falling in," he said of the terrifying scene. "I got the family and we ran down the street. The fire was very close."
A huge fountain of flames blasted from the ground like a blow torch where the pipe was ruptured and fire spread relentlessly to houses in several directions.
"A terrible, terrible tragedy has fallen on our city," said San Bruno mayor Jim Ruane. The top priority, he said, was "making sure our citizens are safe," while other city officials pleaded with residents to register with emergency authorities to let them know they and family members were safe.
"This is going to be a long haul for the city and our residents," he added.
More than 30 people were treated at local hospitals, with emergency rooms going on alert and some victims rushed to burn units, according to emergency workers.
"This is really a tragedy," said Kaiser Permanente medical facility spokesman Karl Sonkin. "We are caring for people as best we can."
California Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldenado, who is in charge while Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Asia, declared a state of emergency in the county of San Mateo where San Bruno is located.
"I commend the swift and courageous response of California's brave emergency personnel and stand ready to expedite any recovery resources that are needed," Maldonado said in a release, adding that a "swift investigation" into the cause of the fire would be launched.
, reducing over 50 homes to ashes and forcing residents to flee in panic.San Bruno fire chief Dennis Haag confirmed one fatality from the disaster as he gave a preliminary assessment of the destruction that followed the blast caused by the rupture of a large natural gas pipeline.
Some 30 people were injured and at least 100 were evacuated and taken to shelters operated by the Red Cross, but authorities were struggling to account for residents and were clearly concerned the death toll could rise.
Television footage showed firefighters going house to house with sniffer dogs looking for victims, but "it is going to take us until at least (Friday) into the afternoon to do a complete search," Haag said.
In one street a dozen homes were seen engulfed in flames. Other images showed a smoldering crater the size of a city intersection and scores of raging fires turning San Bruno's smoke-filled night sky orange -- just two miles (three kilometers) from the San Francisco International Airport.
Up to 200 firefighters were dispatched to battle the blaze, but they were no match for flames which destroyed 53 homes and damaged at least 120 more.
And the threat remained more than six hours after the fire began, with several blazes raging.
Local utility officials said the source of the blast was likely a large natural gas pipe that ruptured under a San Bruno road.
Pacific Gas & Electric spokesman Jeff Smith described the fire as "an absolutely horrible situation," and said that if it turns out the utility was to blame, "we will absolutely take accountability for it."
People wept as they fled while others paused to capture the chaotic scene on cell phone cameras.
"I heard a sound like a low flying plane, then all of a sudden the house shook," said Tina DiIoia, who was with her baby in their condominium in San Bruno, just south of San Francisco, when the explosion occurred about a half-mile away.
"Then there was another explosion. I went outside and there was debris falling from the air."
Helicopters and airplanes were seen dumping water and fire retardant chemicals in an effort to stanch the flames.
Several homes were thoroughly razed by the fire, cars were burned down to their frames, and debris -- including large chunks of asphalt upended by the explosion -- littered the streets.
"It looks like the entire mountainside is burning," DiIoia said.
"It was just a huge explosion," one resident recounted. "More than that, we felt the heat. It was a huge heat wave that sucked the air out for a minute."
One young man recounted being awakened by the blast and looking into his backyard to see trees and a dog house ablaze.
"The roof was falling in," he said of the terrifying scene. "I got the family and we ran down the street. The fire was very close."
A huge fountain of flames blasted from the ground like a blow torch where the pipe was ruptured and fire spread relentlessly to houses in several directions.
"A terrible, terrible tragedy has fallen on our city," said San Bruno mayor Jim Ruane. The top priority, he said, was "making sure our citizens are safe," while other city officials pleaded with residents to register with emergency authorities to let them know they and family members were safe.
"This is going to be a long haul for the city and our residents," he added.
More than 30 people were treated at local hospitals, with emergency rooms going on alert and some victims rushed to burn units, according to emergency workers.
"This is really a tragedy," said Kaiser Permanente medical facility spokesman Karl Sonkin. "We are caring for people as best we can."
California Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldenado, who is in charge while Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Asia, declared a state of emergency in the county of San Mateo where San Bruno is located.
"I commend the swift and courageous response of California's brave emergency personnel and stand ready to expedite any recovery resources that are needed," Maldonado said in a release, adding that a "swift investigation" into the cause of the fire would be launched.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Pentagon bans four reporters from Guantanamo trials
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has banned four journalists from covering trials at Guantanamo after they published the name of an interrogator testifying at a hearing.
The Pentagon said Thursday reporters from the Miami Herald and three Canadian news organizations, the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and CanWest news service, had violated a request from the military judge to keep the identity of the witness secret.
"As a result of these violations, these individual reporters are barred from returning to cover future Military Commissions proceedings," Colonel Dave Lapan wrote in an email to the reporters' editors.
"Your news organizations may continue to cover the proceedings with other reporters," he said.
But if those journalists failed to abide by the Pentagon's rules, the news organizations could be banned entirely from the proceedings, the email said.
Reporters who attend the Guantanamo military commissions must agree to "ground rules" issued by the Defense Department, prohibiting the release of information deemed secret by the court or Pentagon public affairs officials.
The decision came amid pre-trial hearings in the case of Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 and who faces charges he killed a US soldier in a grenade attack.
The interrogator's identity had already been reported in previous news accounts and in 2008 the interrogator gave an on-the-record interview to one of the banned reporters, Michelle Shephard of the Toronto Star, author of a book about the Khadr case, "Guantanamo's Child."
"Interrogator No. 1," as the Guantanamo court identified him, had been sentenced to five months in prison in 2005 after he pleaded guilty in a court-martial to abusing an Afghan detainee who was found dead at the Bagram US military base.
According to journalists in Guantanamo, the decision came after interrogator No. 1 testified that he used the threat of being gang raped in a US prison by "four big black guys" to scare Khadr into talking.
Apart from Shephard, the reporters banned were Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald, Paul Koring of the The Globe and Mail, and Steven Edwards of CanWest news service.
The news organizations said they would appeal the Pentagon's decision.
"We have been covering Guantanamo for years and we've always played by rules -- and we did in this case as well," Mindy Marques, managing editor of The Miami Herald, said in an article on the paper's website.
"We expect to sort this out and continue to cover this important story, as we have always done."
The Herald's reporter, Rosenberg, has been covering the military tribunals in Guantanamo since proceedings started in 2004.
The move to ban the reporters was an administrative decision and not based on a judicial ruling that the journalists had violated any court order, a reporter in Guantanamo told AFP.
The American Civil Liberties Union called the decision "rash, draconian and unconstitutional."
"That reporters are being punished for disclosing information that has been publicly available for years is nothing short of absurd -- any gag order that covers this kind of information is not just overbroad but nonsensical," Jameel Jaffer, ACLU deputy legal director, said in a statement.
Khadr is the first detainee to have his case heard since the controversial system for trying "war on terror" suspects was reformed under President Barack Obama.
has banned four journalists from covering trials at Guantanamo after they published the name of an interrogator testifying at a hearing.The Pentagon said Thursday reporters from the Miami Herald and three Canadian news organizations, the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and CanWest news service, had violated a request from the military judge to keep the identity of the witness secret.
"As a result of these violations, these individual reporters are barred from returning to cover future Military Commissions proceedings," Colonel Dave Lapan wrote in an email to the reporters' editors.
"Your news organizations may continue to cover the proceedings with other reporters," he said.
But if those journalists failed to abide by the Pentagon's rules, the news organizations could be banned entirely from the proceedings, the email said.
Reporters who attend the Guantanamo military commissions must agree to "ground rules" issued by the Defense Department, prohibiting the release of information deemed secret by the court or Pentagon public affairs officials.
The decision came amid pre-trial hearings in the case of Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002 and who faces charges he killed a US soldier in a grenade attack.
The interrogator's identity had already been reported in previous news accounts and in 2008 the interrogator gave an on-the-record interview to one of the banned reporters, Michelle Shephard of the Toronto Star, author of a book about the Khadr case, "Guantanamo's Child."
"Interrogator No. 1," as the Guantanamo court identified him, had been sentenced to five months in prison in 2005 after he pleaded guilty in a court-martial to abusing an Afghan detainee who was found dead at the Bagram US military base.
According to journalists in Guantanamo, the decision came after interrogator No. 1 testified that he used the threat of being gang raped in a US prison by "four big black guys" to scare Khadr into talking.
Apart from Shephard, the reporters banned were Carol Rosenberg of the Miami Herald, Paul Koring of the The Globe and Mail, and Steven Edwards of CanWest news service.
The news organizations said they would appeal the Pentagon's decision.
"We have been covering Guantanamo for years and we've always played by rules -- and we did in this case as well," Mindy Marques, managing editor of The Miami Herald, said in an article on the paper's website.
"We expect to sort this out and continue to cover this important story, as we have always done."
The Herald's reporter, Rosenberg, has been covering the military tribunals in Guantanamo since proceedings started in 2004.
The move to ban the reporters was an administrative decision and not based on a judicial ruling that the journalists had violated any court order, a reporter in Guantanamo told AFP.
The American Civil Liberties Union called the decision "rash, draconian and unconstitutional."
"That reporters are being punished for disclosing information that has been publicly available for years is nothing short of absurd -- any gag order that covers this kind of information is not just overbroad but nonsensical," Jameel Jaffer, ACLU deputy legal director, said in a statement.
Khadr is the first detainee to have his case heard since the controversial system for trying "war on terror" suspects was reformed under President Barack Obama.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)