News

If there was some doubt in your mind that Kurt Russell wouldn’t appear in the upcoming Fast & Furious, well that’s about to change. As usual, Vin Diesel has shared yet another set photo, this time including Russell. Check it out below.

Diesel shared the following photo via Facebook. The pic, which also features Diesel in a clean suit, only shows us a profile of Mr. Russell, but it’s pretty exciting either way. Here it is:

The eventh installment of the Fast & Furious series will bring back all the series’ familiar faces like Diesel, Jason Statham, Paul Walker, plus Dwayne Johnson.

No plot details have been revealed but here’s a short summary of what happened in the last film. (Beware. Spoilers ahead!)

In FF6 Johnson’s Dobbs enlisted the help of Walker and Diesel’s crew to help capture Luke Evans’ team of drivers. After a kick...

Left to right: the audiobook, the 50th anniversary edition, the original cover.

In the introduction to the 50th anniversary edition of Beautiful Chaos Gary Russell informs us he made Russel T. Davies cry. He dismisses this as Mr. Davies “just being nice”. Well Mr. Russell you made me teary by page 7 and sobbing by the time I reached Donna’s letter on page 239. Russell also claims there that he wrote Beautiful Chaos to be a story “about loss, sadness, triumph, and living the only life we have, despite – or even because of – what fate hands us.” The result is very much that story, an exploration of memory and identity from the utterly human, to the very alien, and everything in between.

To like this novel, you have to like Donna, you need to be invested in her and in her family. Or you at least need to be willing to...

I am a bad SFnal blogger, since these nominees were announced a good two weeks ago. (Perhaps I delayed because I believe, based on my own Wfa judge experience, that the winners in all categories have already been determined, and so most of the nominees are doomed to forlorn hopes.)

Anyway, congratulations to all of the nominees, and good luck to them. I leave the annual exercise of determining which two entries in each category were voted on by the convention membership and which were picked by the judges to fandom assembled.

Novel

Those Across the River, Christopher Buehlman (Ace) 11/22/63, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton as 11.22.63) A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK) Osama, Lavie Tidhar (Ps Publishing) Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)

Novella

“Near Zennor”, Elizabeth Hand (A Book of Horrors) “A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong”, K.J. Parker (Subterranean Winter 2011) “Alice Through...

To mark the Bacardi 150 Year Celebration, we’ve been given limited edition 150 year celebration bottle of Bacardi to give away to one lucky HeyUGuys reader who will receive a limited edition 150 year celebration bottle of Bacardi, an exclusive Bacardi Tshirt and a Bacardi Mojito mixing kit. Two runners up will receive a limited edition 150 year celebration bottle of Bacardi.

Here’s some things you may or may not have already known about Bacardi’s 150 year history…..

Bacardi was founded 4th February 1862 in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

Don Facundo Bacardí Massó buys a distillery and starts to innovate with rum – producing Cuba’s first clear variety. His son Facundo plants the coconut palm at the entrance to the distillery which thrives despite fires, hurricanes and earthquakes. It becomes known as El Coco, and locals start a prophecy: “Bacardi will survive in Cuba as long as El Coco lives”. See 1960 to see if this proved true…...

Peter Kramer/NBC “Today” show co-host Ann Curry talks with Jason Russell on NBC News about his viral video “Kony 2012″

A co-founder of the group that produced a popular online video about fugitive African rebel leader Joseph Kony was detained by police in San Diego and hospitalized after “exhibiting bizarre behavior” while dressed only in his underwear, according to police.

Jason Russell, 33 years old, was detained Thursday afternoon in the Pacific Beach area after he was found having “kind of a meltdown,...

Getty Images The leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony in Southern Sudan.

A video campaign about a fugitive rebel leader in Africa has exploded into a viral online phenomenon, igniting debate about the group behind it and the threat posed by the rebel himself.

The 30-minute video, “Kony 2012,” focuses on Lord’s Resistance Army head Joseph Kony, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes including murder, sexual slavery and...

Critics agree that the supernatural movie brings new life to the found-footage technique.

By Kevin P. Sullivan

Alex Russell in "Chronicle"

Photo: 20th Century Fox

With "Chronicle," found footage comes to the superhero genre. It's a fun and exciting take on a story you've probably heard before, and the critics agree. You can check out MTV's review over at the Splash Page.

We've rounded up a mostly spoiler-free sampling of the reviews out there for your reading pleasure. Check out what the critics are saying about "Chronicle."

The Story

"Told mostly (we'll get to that in a bit) through the video-camera lens of a pasty Seattle high school loser named Andrew (Dane DeHaan), the film "documents'' the aftermath of his encounter with a mysteriously glowing space rock. Along with friends and fellow discoverers Matt (Alex Russell) and Steve (Michael B. Jordan), Andrew realizes he can levitate objects and possesses super-human strength.

Critics agree that the supernatural movie brings new life to the found-footage technique.

By Kevin P. Sullivan

Alex Russell in "Chronicle"

Photo: 20th Century Fox

With "Chronicle," found footage comes to the superhero genre. It's a fun and exciting take on a story you've probably heard before, and the critics agree. You can check out MTV's review over at the Splash Page.

We've rounded up a mostly spoiler-free sampling of the reviews out there for your reading pleasure. Check out what the critics are saying about "Chronicle."

The Story

"Told mostly (we'll get to that in a bit) through the video-camera lens of a pasty Seattle high school loser named Andrew (Dane DeHaan), the film "documents'' the aftermath of his encounter with a mysteriously glowing space rock. Along with friends and fellow discoverers Matt (Alex Russell) and Steve (Michael B. Jordan), Andrew realizes he can levitate objects and possesses super-human strength.

Briefly: Sony has tapped a new director for the video game adaptation Uncharted. Neil Burger, whose most recent film is the Bradley Cooper sci-fi thriller Limitless, will now write and direct the action-adventure movie about treasure hunter Nathan Drake. Variety [1] announces the news, saying that Mark Wahlberg's future with the project is uncertain; the actor was brought on by David O. Russell when he was still writing and directing the film. That casting did not much please fans of the property, and when Mr. Russell walked, there was a vocal fan contingent hoping for a recasting of the lead role, too. So will Neil Burger try to bring on his Limitless star Bradley Cooper? Since Mr. Burger is writing a fresh new script for the project (goodbye to David O. Russell's family storyline) he'll have the leeway to write for a specific actor if he likes. Bradley Cooper...

Yesterday when I wrote about David O. Russell leaving [1] Sony's Uncharted, I mused about the possibility of the eventual film hewing much closer to the original games than his script had planned. That script was only tangentially related to the game, as it featured a family that is "a force to be reckoned with in the world of international art and antiquities ... [a family] that deals with heads of state and heads of museums and metes out justice," with the game's hero, Nathan Drake, being one family member. But when Mr. Russell left LionsGate's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the project carried on [2] with the script he left behind. So I wondered if Sony would do the same with Uncharted. Now we know that the studio will go back to an earlier draft of the script and move forward from that. In other words: all the family stuff is definitely going away.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The tenth anniversary of the New York-bred Tribeca Film Festival opened Wednesday night with a screening of The Union, the Cameron Crowe-directed documentary charting the collaboration between Sir Elton John and Leon Russell…wait a minute, who? The Union and Sir Elton make no qualms about Mr. Russell’s modern-day anonymity and the musical project is frankly stated to be Elton’s way of paying his dues, of bringing a man who inspired him to greatness into the studio and recording “not an Elton John album, but an Elton John/Leon Russell album”. With Cameron Crowe’s cameras as a mostly silent observer, The Union is a tender look at the making of the album and the relationship that blossoms between two greats, one known the world over and the other coming to life in the course of the project.

With silver hair and a lengthy white beard,...

After weeks of back and forth, Craig Gillespie was finally announced yesterday as the new -- and hopefully final -- director of the Lionsgate film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The movie has had a long and public development path, with Natalie Portman producing and originally starring in the film based on Seth Grahame-Smith's novel and David O. Russell writing the script and directing. Mr. Russell left a while back, Natalie Portman bowed out of the cast, and Mike White was hired to direct, then also left. So Craig Gillespie is firmly in the director's chair, but we've wondered about the fate of the David O. Russell script, which was once said to be the thing that gave the project a lot of momentum. The film's new director says that script is still in play, and the film will shoot at the end of the summer. Speaking to EW [1], Craig Gillespie said,...

In 2006, Billy Corben's documentary Cocaine Cowboys, about the rise of the drug trade in '70s and '80s Miami, became the jumping-off point for more than one project. By 2008 HBO had commissioned a pilot script for a series based on the documentary [1], and for several years a feature film has been in slow development also based on the doc. We just heard that David O. Russell is attached [2] to direct the feature version. And now, after being dormant for some time, the HBO series is coming back to life with a new pilot script from The Pacific writer Michelle Ashford. Deadline [3] says that the series won't feature any of the real-life characters from the doc, but that it will "borrow from its portrayal of the events of the illegal drug trade in Miami during that time frame." So it is just trading on the name -- not the most unusual move,...

It's a pretty great time to be in when David O. Russell is as talked-about a director as any in Hollywood. That certainly wasn't the case in years past, or when it was, the subject was the director's temperament rather than his work. But since taking The Fighter he's been looking at many new projects -- at times quickly flipping from one to the next -- almost as if he's trying to weave and juke his way to a surprise 'next film' announcement. Now there is word that the long-gestating film Cocaine Cowboys is his latest possible next project. The Playlist [1] spoke to the director briefly at the Ace Eddie Awards over the past weekend, and when asked about what he's making next. Mr. Russell said, I’m working on Drake’s Fortune right now. I’m really digging it, I think the story’s coming together in a really intense cool way,...

And the strangeness continues. That's right, Rocket Poppeteers! The Super 8 Super Bowl spot continues to yield many different things, and fans are eating it up trying to piece things together. One DC reader has even definitively identified what's in one of the mysterious images! Read on!

If you head on over to the Apple site where the spot first debuted, you'll notice something weird. The commercial, while mostly the same, has been changed slighting with flashes of imagery that amount to an even bigger image when put together. In fact, the trailer has been changing every so often.

Some truly eagle-eyed fans over at the Unification forums have taken said images and assembled them to reveal something startling. Click on the collages below to see them larger, and keep watching that Apple site for more. If you find additional weirdness, shoot us an e-mail here to let us know about it!

David O. Russell's The Fighter was my favorite film of 2010 [1], so I was thrilled to learn that we'll have a chance to chat with Mr. Russell tomorrow, live at 4 Pm Est / 1 Pm Pst. Want to tune in? Just head over to Slashfilm's live page [2]. Have a question for David? Feel free to leave it in the comments below or e-mail us at slashfilmcast(At)gmail(Dot)com. We'll choose the best ones and try to put them to him during the Q&A tomorrow. [Note: Our conversation will likely center around The Fighter. I've already been told he can't say too much about Uncharted, although I'll definitely be asking him about it.] The entire conversation will be available for download as a /Filmcast episode next week. To make sure you don't miss it, subscribe to the /Filmcast below, and it'll automatically download when it's available: [3] [4] [1] http://www.slashfilm.com/filmcast-dark-ep-129-top-10-movies-2010/ [2] http://www.slashfilm.com/live [3] http://feeds.feedburner.com/filmcast [4] http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=281400220...

We think director David O. Russell has made some great movies. Look at Oscar-nominated The Fighter for instance. But we're also huge fans of the "Uncharted" game franchise and Russell's continuous comments about the "family dynamic" in the games has us worried. Mr. Russell, the game is about Nathan Drake (who looks nothing like Mark Wahlberg), who is helped on his adventures by close friend Victor "Sully" Sullivan and sometimes by a reporter named Elena Fisher. Seeing some of these quotes at IGN from Russell makes us think he has never played the game himself though he is attached to direct Uncharted: Drake's Fortune . I think if we take that family dynamic that we have in The Fighter, and put that in terms of a grander stage, with a crime family...

It's that time again to present possible choices for a couple big roles in upcoming films. With Henry Cavill announced for Superman, naturally people are turning to speculation about other big roles in the film. Chief among them is Lois Lane, and there is a rumored shortlist of people who are in the running to play the intrepid reporter. In addition, David O. Russell has mentioned a couple actresses that are of interest for the equally intrepid Elena in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. First up, here's what David O. Russell had to say to Empire [1] when asked about Amy Adams as a possible fit for Elena, a key supporting character in the Uncharted games: I love Amy [Adams]. I also love Scarlett Johansson; there’s a lot of great actors I think might suit. Hopefully, we’ll see how it works out with everybody who are being scoped to do that role…...

Briefly: Is the success of The Fighter going to lead to a packed film slate for David O. Russell? I hope so, and there are probably some that hope the success of the film will mean he won't direct Uncharted, with Mark Wahlberg playing the lead character Drake. But I don't really want to reopen that conversation right now, because there's a report about a possible new project for Mr. Russell. He's now in talks to rewrite and direct 2 Guns, which has Vince Vaughn set to star. Owen Wilson was also attached as recently as last October [1]to the story of "an undercover DEA agent and naval intelligence officer who, without knowing it, are investigating each other for stealing money from the mob." So: questions. What happened to Owen Wilson? And does this mean the death of Old St. Louis, the other film [2] that David O. Russell and Vince Vaughn...

Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford today announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2010.

“2011 marks the 75th anniversary of the DGA, making the celebration of this year’s five nominees especially meaningful,” said Hackford. “Their inspired films radiate the passion and unique vision of each of these filmmakers, who are about to become part of our Guild’s rich history. My sincerest congratulations to all five nominees.”

The DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film has traditionally been one of the industry’s most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award; only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the Feature Film winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award.

The winner will be named at the 63rd Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 29, 2011, at the Grand Ballroom of Hollywood & Highland.

Taylor Hackford, the President of the Directors Guild of America, has announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2010.

Hackford noted that "2011 marks the 75th anniversary of the DGA, making the celebration of this year's five nominees especially meaningful."

Missing from the nominees were the Coen brothers who gave us the fantastic "True Grit." But have no fear, the Coens have won the DGA Award already (2007's "No Country for Old Men").

We will know who will emerge victorious at the 63rd Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 29.

And the nominees are (in alphabetical order):

Source: DGA.Org

*** Darren Aronofsky

Black Swan

(Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Mr. Aronofsky's Directorial Team:

Unit Production Manager: Jennifer Roth

First Assistant Director: Joseph Reidy

Second Assistant Director: Amy Lauritsen

Second Second Assistant Director: Travis Rehwaldt

Location Manager: Ronnie Kupferwasser

This is Mr. Aronofsky's first DGA Feature Film Award Nomination.

hollywoodnews.com: Los Angeles’ Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford today announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2010.

‘2011 marks the 75th anniversary of the DGA, making the celebration of this year’s five nominees especially meaningful,’ said Hackford. ‘Their inspired films radiate the passion and unique vision of each of these filmmakers, who are about to become part of our Guild’s rich history. My sincerest congratulations to all five nominees.’

The winner will be named at the 63rd Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 29, 2011, at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland. The nominees are (in alphabetical order):

Darren Aronofsky

Black Swan

(Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Mr. Aronofsky’s Directorial Team:

· Unit Production Manager: Jennifer Roth

· First Assistant Director: Joseph Reidy

· Second Assistant Director: Amy Lauritsen

· Second Second Assistant Director: Travis Rehwaldt

· Location Manager: Ronnie Kupferwasser

This is Mr.

The next major guild award nominees have been announced today on the official site. Last year we saw the Directors Guild of America nominate Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (who went on to win), James Cameron for Avatar, Lee Daniels for Precious, Jason Reitman for Up in the Air and Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds.

This year president Taylor Hackford announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2010 and you can read his statement below, followed by the nominees.

“2011 marks the 75th anniversary of the DGA, making the celebration of this year’s five nominees especially meaningful,” said Hackford. “Their inspired films radiate the passion and unique vision of each of these filmmakers, who are about to become part of our Guild’s rich history. My sincerest congratulations to all five nominees.”

As for the nominees below it’s nice to...

I usually hate press conferences. Due to having so many journalists in attendance, it’s extremely difficult to get into a good rhythm with the people answering questions. What usually happens is you get a few good answers, but the majority of the time you regret the format.

However, I’m extremely happy to report that the press conference I got to attend for The Fighter was awesome. Not only did Christian Bale actually talk a lot, but everyone on the panel (Amy Adams, Mark Wahlberg, Melissa Leo, director David O. Russell) was very funny and refreshingly honest about the making of the film and they all told some great stories. So if you’d like to read or listen to what they had to say, hit the jump.

But before getting to the press conference, about a week ago I posted 3 clips and a ton of images from The Fighter.

The idea that David O. Russell might direct [1] the video game adaptation Uncharted: Drake's Fortune seemed rather odd. Sure, he's done an actionish-movie (Three Kings) and Uncharted is one of the more character-oriented action games out there. But it still seemed like a weird fit. Then news came out that the director is interested [2] in having Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci play the father and uncle of Drake (Mark Wahlberg), which seemed to put the film a lot closer to the films of Mr. Russell's past, which dealt with family dynamics in a dramatic, often uncomfortable way. (Even The Fighter, about brothers Mickey Ward and Dickie Eklund, has this angle.) Now we've got more info on Uncharted, including a couple details on just how the story will be expanded from the one in the original game. The La Times [3] talked to David O. Russell, and he explained that...

A few weeks ago some of the men of Pajiba got into a discussion about actors who had some damn manly roles in film. At the end of it all it was quite an impressive list and it was hard to argue with any of the choices except I still maintain that Zac Effron isn't manly, Deistbrawler. For the hell of it (and because it makes my job easier) I suggested that whomever wanted to, should do a short write-up and find a clip on any of the actors and we'd put together a Seriously Random List/Comment Diversion with it. Please consider that certain actors were exempted by default because there really wasn't anything they did that wasn't ball-swellingly manly. The result was a little different then I expected but will most definitely put hair on your chest.

The first time I saw him was in the trash piece...

Briefly: This is really just a confirmation post and a suggestion to those hoping to see a film version of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies that the time might have come to take a seat for a while. For the past year, development was brewing on a film adaptation of the novel, with David O. Russell set to direct Natalie Portman in the lead role. But the director's chair was vacated earlier this week when scheduling conflicts saw Mr. Russell jumping to his own project Old St. Louis. And now, confirming a few days worth of informed speculation, there's word that Natalie Portman has also moved on. Scheduling is cited here, too, though she'll reportedly still produce the film. Feel free to speculate on who might be the new choice for heroine Elizabeth Bennett, and who might step behind the camera to get the project moving once more. [EW]...

The New York Times had an interesting story on David O. Russell’s The Fighter starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo. Many oscar pundits see the film receiving more than a few nominations with its mid-December 2010 release.

During the St. Louis premiere of The Other Guys earlier this month, Wahlberg briefly talked to Wamg’s Melissa Howland about his upcoming film.

Here are excerpts from the Nyt article:

The Fighter has those elements, plus Christian Bale, and the extraordinary passion of Mark Wahlberg, who started training almost four years ago for the lead role as the real-life boxer Micky Ward.

But the movie still had to survive a grueling behind-the-scenes struggle before landing on the schedule at Paramount Pictures, which plans to release it on Dec. 10, as the awards season hits full stride.

Wahlberg fought hard to get The Fighter made. “Many times I thought it wasn’t going to happen,...

A grizzled central performance from Kurt Russell as Coach Herb Brooks played a major role in keeping the inspirational hockey tale Miracle on the favorable end of the predictable sports movie spectrum. With that in mind, director Don Handfield has wisely secured Russell’s services for the role of Coach Hand in his feature debut, Touchback.

Brian Presley stars as Murphy, a former high school football hero who unexpectedly travels back to the past to relive his glory days on the gridiron. Melanie Lynskey, Christine Lahti, Marc Blucas, Drew Powell, Sarah Wright, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, and Kevin Covais also star in the film, set to shoot in Grand Rapids, Michigan this week. Hit the jump for the full press release.

Kurt Russell Leads The Team In Touchback

Grand Rapids, Mi (August 3, 2010) Freedom Films named Kurt Russell as the head high-school football coach in Writer/Director Don Handfield’s Touchback, which stars...

Kurt Russell is coming back to the big screen as a high school football coach in "Touchback". Kurt has already played a player-turned-coach character in 2004's Miracle ( I had accidentally put 1994. The reader who corrected me was a douche. So I banned him. That's what happens when you don't play nice.), so this should be old hat for Kurt.Here's the press release:Freedom Films named Kurt Russell as the head high-school football coach in Writer/Director Don Handfield’s Touchback, which stars Brian Presley (Home of the Brave), Melanie Lynskey as his wife, (Up in the Air, The Informant, Sweet Home Alabama) and Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Christine Lahti as his mother (Obsessed, Smart People). Marc Blucas (Knight and Day, The Jane Austin Book Club, First Daughter), Drew Powell (Straw Dogs, 1408), Sarah Wright (The House Bunny), Sianoa Smit-McPhee (Hung) and Kevin Covais (College, Labor Pains) also star.

HollywoodNews.com: Freedom Films named Kurt Russell as the head high-school football coach in Writer/Director Don Handfield’s Touchback, which stars Brian Presley (“Home of the Brave”), Melanie Lynskey as his wife, (“Up in the Air,” “The Informant,” “Sweet Home Alabama”) and Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Christine Lahti as his mother (“Obsessed,” “Smart People”). Marc Blucas (“Knight and Day,” “The Jane Austin Book Club,” “First Daughter”), Drew Powell (“Straw Dogs,” “1408″), Sarah Wright (“The House Bunny”), Sianoa Smit-McPhee (“Hung”) and Kevin Covais (“College,” “Labor Pains”) also star. Filming on “Touchback” begins this week in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.

Handfield and Freedom Films are thrilled to have Mr. Russell come aboard in the role of “Coach Hand.” “I am thrilled he responded to the material. He is an icon and brings a unique warmth, charm and strength to the character. I feel blessed to be working with such...

Kurt Russell has joined to be the lead role in Don Handfield’s "Touchback." Russell will play a head high-school football coach.

Here is the full press release:

Freedom Films named Kurt Russell as the head high-school football coach in Writer/Director Don Handfield’s Touchback, which stars Brian Presley (Home of the Brave), Melanie Lynskey as his wife, (Up in the Air, The Informant, Sweet Home Alabama) and Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Christine Lahti as his mother (Obsessed, Smart People). Marc Blucas (Knight and Day, The Jane Austin Book Club, First Daughter), Drew Powell (Straw Dogs, 1408), Sarah Wright (The House Bunny), Sianoa Smit-McPhee (Hung) and Kevin Covais (College, Labor Pains) also star. Filming on Touchback begins this week in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.

Handfield and Freedom Films are thrilled to have Mr. Russell come aboard in the role of “Coach Hand.” “I am thrilled he responded to the material.

Actor Gabriel Byrne.

Gabriel Byrne: Talk To Me

By

Alex Simon

Editor's Note: The following article appears in the April issue of Venice Magazine.

Gabriel Byrne was born in Dublin May 12, 1950, the eldest of six children. After schooling under the stern tutelage of The Christian Brothers and five years in Catholic seminary, Byrne attended University College in Dublin, where he studied linguistics and archeology, as well as honing his love of soccer, playing with the renowned Stella Maris Football Club.

Byrne discovered acting late compared to most of his peers, spending his 20s working in a variety of professions including schoolteacher, where his students inadvertently helped him discover his true calling (see below for more details). Since then, he has starred in over 45 films for some of cinema's finest contemporary directors both in the Us and Europe (John Boorman, Costa Gavras, Michael Mann, Ken Loach, David Cronenberg, and the Coen Brothers,...