Ron Howard's time across the pond looks like it has been good for him. With the exception of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, I've never been a fan of racing movies. I realize that death lurks around every curve, but, from a spectator's perspective, auto races are about as thrilling as Major League baseball games. There's a lot of monotony in those laps (and innings).
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What's second unit? What's the 180 degree line? These questions and more were often answered by "King of the Bs" Roger Corman in his grindhouse movie heyday, when he famously took newbie future auteurs like James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese under his wing while churning out B-movies left and right. In an exclusive deleted scene from Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, almost a dozen of his former proteges, including Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, Jonathan Demme, and Penelope Spheeris recall the crash course in filmmaking he gave them at the start of their careers.
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Films about geniuses are so numerous that they almost constitute their own genre. One seems to pop up every few years, always with a few distinct markers. We usually see a brilliant character whose ideas are a little crazy, a couple of “normal” characters against whom the genius’s difference can be easily identified, and a Very Important Project that puts those crazy ideas to the test and ultimately validates the lead character’s oddball behavior. Most informed movie-goers can set their watches by these plot developments, but to me, even the worst ones have a certain appeal. Watching great ideas brought to life is thrilling, and the really good ones, like The Social Network or Good Will Hunting, seem to tap into something universal.
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After an excerpt of his Vanity Fair interview hit yesterday in which he compared being photographed to being raped, Johnny Depp (whose Rum Diary hits screens in a few weeks) thought better of his word choice. ""I am truly sorry for offending anyone in any way. I never meant to. It was a poor choice of words on my part in an effort to explain a feeling. I understand there is no comparison and I am very regretful. In an effort to correct my lack of judgment, please accept my heartfelt apology." No worries, Johnny. It's Apology Wednesday! Stick around for more Buzz Break.
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