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The versatile British actor David Warner has died from a cancer-related illness, as confirmed by his family. He was 80 years old. Warner was best known for portraying villains in films like "The Omen" and "Tron" and was also known for playing Billy Zane's malicious enforcer Spicer Lovejoy in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster "Titanic".
A native of Manchester, he studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London before becoming a young star of the Royal Shakespeare Company in performances such as Henry V and King Richard II. One of the finest performances he made for the company and his generation was the title role of "Hamlet", directed by Peter Hall in 1965.
Despite his acclaim as a stage actor, Warner had chronic stage fright, which caused him to prefer movie and TV work for many years. Early in his career, his work was recognised when Warner earned a BAFTA nomination for his lead performance in "Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment", opposite Vanessa Redgrave. He also starred in the 1968 adaptation of "A Midsummer's Night Dream" with Helen Mirren and Diana Rigg.
In 1976, when appearing in the supernatural flick "The Omen", Warner was notable for his role as the photographer Keith Jennings, who met his inglorious demise. He would land in other villainous roles, which he often portrayed in movies like "Straw Dogs", "The Thirty Nine Steps","Time After Time", and most notably "Time Bandits" and "Tron". He also appeared as various characters in the Star Trek franchise and even "Doctor Who". Warner would win an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Roman politician Pomponius Falco in the TV miniseries "Masada" in 1981. In later years, he continued acting in films and television while returning to the stage in 2005 for the rest of his career. His last film role was as a retired naval officer, Admiral Bloom, in "Mary Poppins Returns" in 2018.
People from each generation, young and old, are impacted by the late Elvis Presley and how he changed rock n' roll music before the Beatles. Ever since his untimely death in 1977, there have been several biopics, including a TV movie by John Carpenter with Kurt Russell as the King. Everything changed when Baz Luhrmann, the director of Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, brought his version of Elvis' life story to the silver screen. It is because the success of Bohemian Rhapsody sparked a trend for musical biopics that came out in recent years. The latest that jumped on the bandwagon was Luhrmann's pet project, ELVIS. However, it had a turbulent production due to its actor Tom Hanks and his wife being tested positive for COVID-19, which delayed filming as the pandemic occurred until it resumed.
A wild, energetic, show-stopping dazzler, ELVIS is a glamourous retake of the legendary King of Rock n' Roll. The story was decent, but there are some historical inaccuracies. I wasn't surprised that the film started from the perspective of Elvis' manager when it should've revolved around the King instead. I was glad that Baz Luhrmann was the right director to pull this biopic, though I've only seen Australia and none of his other films. Still, he always brought a musical element of style and energy into his motion pictures.
All the actors in this movie are naturally Australian (except for Tom Hanks). Austin Butler delivers an electrifying performance as the King by channelling his energy. He captured the singer's intense physique, charisma, stage presence, accent and mannerisms, which shows how much Elvis was a famous and electrifying performer in his heyday. Tom Hanks wore a fat suit and fake nose to portray Elvis' despicable manager, Colonel Tom Parker. He did well, but taking his performance seriously with the unnecessary prosthetics and the weird accent is hard. Olivia DeJonge was terrific in her role as the woman Priscilla, who would fall in love with Elvis and become his wife.
The musical performances were staged and well-choreographed and were a highlight for me. The music has a modern feel but maintains that distinctive sound of rock n' roll that Elvis brought in the 1950s.
I can't tell you how much this movie reminds me of my admiration for Elvis and my fondness for some of his music. ELVIS is a great movie that shook up all long-time fans of the King. I highly recommend it to people who are yet to know about Elvis. I hope they will make a biopic of either Michael Jackson or The Beatles, which will be good.
The actor James Caan is dead. Caan was best known to adult audiences for portraying Sonny Corleone in "The Godfather" and other notable roles in "Misery" and "Elf". He was 82 years old when he died, as confirmed by his family via his verified Twitter account.
He was born in 1940 in the Bronx, New York. His parents were Jewish immigrants. He played football at Michigan State and later began his acting studies as a student at Hofstra University, where future "Godfather" director Francis Ford Coppola was one of his classmates. Before heading to Los Angeles in the early 1960s to launch a film career, Caan appeared in a few plays on and off-Broadway. He met Coppola, giving him one of his first roles as a troubled drifter in the 1969 drama "The Rain People".
Caan would not find fame in his acting career until 1971. He played Chicago Bears halfback Brian Piccolo in the widely-seen TV movie "Brian's Song". The year after, Caan's next film that made him a star was "The Godfather". Although he wasn't Italian, Caan portrays the hotheaded Sonny Corleone, the eldest son of mobster Don Vito Corleone, famously gunned down by rival gangsters in an ambush at the toll booth. This performance earned Caan an Oscar nomination. He also appeared in a flashback in "The Godfather: Part II".
The versatile actor was known for playing tough-guy characters in movies like "Rollerball" and "Thief" while showing vulnerability in films like "Misery", the 1990 Stephen King adaptation about a mild-mannered romance novelist held captive by an obsessive fan. Even in younger audiences, he was best known as Will Ferrell's Scrooge-like father, a workaholic children's book publisher in 2003's Elf. Caan's other movies include the Howard Hawks western "El Dorado", "The Gambler", "Dick Tracy", "Eraser", andRichard Attenborough's ensemble World War II epic "A Bridge Too Far". Caan hasalso appeared on television in the drama "Las Vegas" and the rebooted "Hawaii Five-0" series with his son Scott Caan. More recently, he got played by actor Damian Conrad-Davis in "The Offer", a miniseries for Paramount+ that details the making of "The Godfather".
According to IMDb, Caan's last movie role will be in the action-crime-thriller "Fast Charlie" in 2023, which is currently in post-production.
