Posts Tagged ‘Humphrey Bogart’

LAST CALL PODCAST EP. 1: Return me to Harry’s Bar, 5 Daunou.

On this episode of “Last Call with Richard Crouse” we visit Paris and James Bond’s favourite bar. The home of the Bloody Mary and “An American in Paris,” Harry’s New York Bar at 5, Rue Daunou, is one of the world’s most legendary cocktail bars. With the help of cocktail historians Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller of Mixellany, Richard traces the history of the bar where real life “International Bar Flies” like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Coco Chanel, Humphrey Bogart, Edward VIII and George Gershwin all bent elbows. Join us for a story of a disgraced sport superstar, cocktails, and a New Year’s Eve wild goose chase around Paris.

Listen to the whole thing HERE!

The Top 10 On-Set Romances in Richard’s new Cineplex.com column!

Screen Shot 2014-06-17 at 11.06.34 AMRichard’s new Cineplex.com column is now up and running!

“Making love on camera is such hard work,” says actress Julie Christie, “that there is no time for the libido to take over.”

Maybe so, but some good-old-fashioned romance does manage to blossom on movie sets. Just ask Brad Pitt or Goldie Hawn or Ben Affleck. Each of them met their current paramour while making a movie.

Let’s take a look at some of the greatest Hollywood on-set romances… READ THE WHOLE THING HERE!

Casablanca: The Film with Live Orchestra and intro by Richard!

dooleyJust in time for Valentine’s Day, the TSO invites you and your partner to experience the classic romantic film Casablanca as you never have before! The Orchestra performs Max Steiner’s glorious score live to the film, enhancing every beat of the movie’s noble heart with luscious live sound.

7:15pm Pre-concert Chat in the Lobby on February 14 with film critic Richard Crouse.

Fri. Feb. 14, 2014 at 8:00 PM
Roy Thomson Hall
Sat. Feb. 15, 2014 at 8:00 PM
Roy Thomson Hall

Steven Reineke, conductor

Fri. Feb. 14, 2014 at 8:00 PM
$39 – $110 TICKET INFO HERE
Sat. Feb. 15, 2014 at 8:00 PM
$39 – $110

Casablanca: The Film with Live with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra!

Casablanca,_titleJust in time for Valentine’s Day, the TSO invites you and your partner to experience the classic romantic film Casablanca as you never have before! The Orchestra performs Max Steiner’s glorious score live to the film, enhancing every beat of the movie’s noble heart with luscious live sound.

Fri. Feb. 14, 2014 at 8:00 PM
$39 – $110
Sat. Feb. 15, 2014 at 8:00 PM
$39 – $110

7:15pm Pre-concert Chat in the Lobby on February 14 with film critic Richard Crouse.

More info HERE!

 

Is Daniel Craig a Star in Karachi? By Richard Crouse

jamesbondDanielCraigHumphrey Bogart used to say you weren’t a star until they could spell your name in Karachi and while there’s nothing tricky about the order of the letters in Daniel Craig’s name I’m not sure if people in Karachi spell his name D-a-n-i-e-l or J-a-m-e-s-B-o-n-d. That’s my long winded way of asking, “Is Craig a movie star or are his movies the stars?”

He has all the attributes of a movie star. He’s good looking, the camera loves him and Del Monte Foods once launched an ice pop molded in his image but I’m not sure if people say, “Man, I gotta see the new Daniel Craig movie,” as much as they pronounce, “Man, I gotta see Insert Iconic Title Here.”

But, you say, millions of people flock to see some of his movies. That must mean he’s a movie star, right? Well, no, not exactly.

In recent years Craig’s biggest successes have been in films that almost sell themselves. He’s a great James Bond, perhaps the most interesting of the Connery replacements, but he can’t rightly lay claim to the Bond box offices grosses. Who can? Bond, James Bond. That’s who. It’s a recognizable brand no matter who is on the poster.

It is a fact that Craig can hold the lead in a movie. He’s a powerful presence with acting chops to spare—he’s earned good reviews for serious movies like Love is the Devil, Elizabeth, The Mother and Enduring Love and praise for his work in bigger Hollywood pictures—but being a good actor is just one element of being a movie star.

Box office grosses are important to maintaining status as a movie star, but I’m talking about something more ephemeral, something that has nothing to do with dollars and cents but lots to do with sense and sensibility.

A movie star should be bigger than the movie or character they are playing. Years ago people went to see John Wayne movies regardless of title or content. Wayne was a movie star, an actor who transcended his characters, filling the screen with his, well… Wayness.

There aren’t that many performers these days who can create that kind of excitement on the strength of their name alone. Tom Cruise used to inspire lineups. No more. Julia Roberts, ditto. Jim Carrey, not so much. They are big stars, but their time as movie stars, quote, unquote, is over. Will Smith and Johnny Depp are movie stars (although I wish Johnny would make Captain Jack walk the plank and move on). Their movies are events, not simply because of premise, but because they came to work with their indefinable movie star-ness in hand.

Craig has four movies set for release 2011, which is a pretty movie star thing to do, but none of them could be described as “a Daniel Craig movie.”

This weekend Cowboys & Aliens looks primed to do well on the strength of a catchy trailer and cool premise. December’s double hit of The Adventures of Tintin and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are both franchises waiting to happen and Dream House, a psychological drama directed by Jim Sheridan which has been sitting on the shelf for over a year, has zero buzz.

It’s that last movie, set for release in September, which proves my point. His other movie releases this year are hotly anticipated high profile pictures based on popular preexisting material—a graphic novel, a beloved comic series and a cultural phenomenon. Dream House stands alone as the film which will rise or fall based on Craig’s star power, and yet it has almost no public awareness.

John Wayne never released a film that had zero public awareness, and if Craig was an honest-to-goodness movie star, he wouldn’t either.