Oliver Stone
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Oliver Stone is making his own movie about the Edward Snowden saga
Between W., Nixon, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July and Platoon, it's safe to say that Oliver Stone has a reputation as being a political film-maker. It shouldn't come as a surprise, therefore, to see that the director has signed up to helm a movie based on Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald's exposure of the NSA's PRISM program. The Snowden Files is based upon Luke Harding's account of the story, and will compete with No Place to Hide, which is based on Greenwald's book of the same name. In a statement, Stone said that "this is one of the greatest stories of our time," which explains why we need two films on the same subject -- just like Armageddon and Deep Impact, or Volcano and Dante's Peak, or Mission to Mars and Red Planet, or Mirror/Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman...
Scarface Limited Edition Blu-ray says hello September 6th (trailer)
Yet another classic arrives in HD this fall when Universal releases the Scarface Special Limited Edition Blu-ray. It's getting a premium treatment too, with Steelbook packaging, 7.1 DTS-HD MA audio, art cards, and even the 1932 original version of Scarface on DVD. Universal's packed in the extras on the disc too, including a couple of U-control add-ons that keep track of both F-bombs dropped and bullets fired, plus picture-in-picture breakdowns with director Brian De Palma, Al Pacino, Screenwriter Oliver Stone and more. Check after the break for the press release with all the details -- except price, and it's not on Amazon yet either.
Oliver Stone, Michael Mann and Baz Luhrmann extoll the virtues of Blu-ray, Stone suggests stocking up (video)
Panasonic took a break from its usual CES business this afternoon to host the inaugural directors' panel at the show (in conjunction with 20th Century Fox), where the unexpected trio of Oliver Stone, Michael Mann and Baz Luhrmann showed up to talk about technology in Hollywood, and Blu-ray in particular. As you might expect, the general theme was that Blu-ray is great, but the directors certainly weren't shy to make their opinions known. While Mann said that Blu-ray would be the "premier format for six, seven or eight years," for instance, he also took a moment to reminisce about the photochemical process used on Last of the Mohicans, which he notes still can't be fully replicated on Blu-ray. Luhrmann also talked at length about the great colors Blu-ray allows, and stated simply that "it's better," before picking a fight with a noisy booth next door. Oliver Stone was unsurprisingly the most opinionated, however, and lamented the fact that Blu-ray will be "last hardware" in the face of digital distribution. He even suggested that people should "be different, go against the grain" and collect Blu-rays, which he says will be very valuable by 2050 or so in much the way comics and baseball cards are today. On a more general note, Stone also said that watching kids try to watch a movie on a computer screen and multitask so much these days is "very depressing to me" and that, in a way, "we are the last of the Mohicans." Richard Lawler contributed to this report. Update: Now with video! Check it out after the break to hear their words directly. %Gallery-113321%
James Bond 007: Blood Stone hurled through holiday release window, courtesy of Bizarre
Assassinating months of speculation, Activision has finally announced its new James Bond game, helmed by Project Gotham Racing and Blur developer Bizarre Creations. Featuring an original story by Bruce Feirstein (who penned the screenplay for GoldenEye and the script for 2003's Bond game, Everything or Nothing), James Bond 007: Blood Stone features a mix of third-person cover-based shooting, hand-to-hand combat and "adrenaline-fuelled driving sequences" on land and sea -- and air, if there are enough exploding ramps. Daniel Craig will reprise his role as suave spy guy (it's not like they need him for a movie right now) alongside Judi Dench, who once again plays stern boss lady "M." Grammy award-winning singer Joss Stone will be playing Blood Stone's obligatory gun-toting temptress, presumably because Oliver Stone couldn't quite pull off the evening gowns. Stone -- that's Joss -- will also provide the game's original theme song, "I'll Take it All," with the aid of Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics. Bizarre's James Bond 007: Blood Stone is set to launch on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this holiday season. N-Space is developing a DS version for the same time frame. You can watch the trailer for the console version here. %Gallery-97612%
