Welcome to Career Watch, a vocational checkup of top actors and directors, and those who hope to get there. In this edition we take on Italian-American actor-director John Turturro, who stars in Richard Price and Steve Zaillian’s widely hailed limited series “The Night Of” (HBO).
Bottom Line: For 37 years, versatile New York actor John Turturro has delivered memorable characters who can be incredibly smart (“Quiz Show”) or insanely stupid (bowler Jesus Quintano in “The Big Lebowski”), lovable (“Fading Gigolo”) or menacing (the pool hustler in Martin Scorsese’s “The Color Of Money”). He’s a go-to player for both the Coens and Spike Lee as well as a reliable character actor for Hollywood tentpoles such as “The Transformers.”
Career Peaks: After winning a scholarship to the Yale Drama School and performing Ibsen, Ionesco, and John Patrick Shanley off-Broadway, Turturro got stuck playing violent killers in films like “Five Corners...
Bottom Line: For 37 years, versatile New York actor John Turturro has delivered memorable characters who can be incredibly smart (“Quiz Show”) or insanely stupid (bowler Jesus Quintano in “The Big Lebowski”), lovable (“Fading Gigolo”) or menacing (the pool hustler in Martin Scorsese’s “The Color Of Money”). He’s a go-to player for both the Coens and Spike Lee as well as a reliable character actor for Hollywood tentpoles such as “The Transformers.”
Career Peaks: After winning a scholarship to the Yale Drama School and performing Ibsen, Ionesco, and John Patrick Shanley off-Broadway, Turturro got stuck playing violent killers in films like “Five Corners...
- 7/31/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Welcome to Career Watch, a vocational checkup of top actors and directors, and those who hope to get there. In this edition we take on Italian-American actor-director John Turturro, who stars in Richard Price and Steve Zaillian’s widely hailed limited series “The Night Of” (HBO).
Bottom Line: For 37 years, versatile New York actor John Turturro has delivered memorable characters who can be incredibly smart (“Quiz Show”) or insanely stupid (bowler Jesus Quintano in “The Big Lebowski”), lovable (“Fading Gigolo”) or menacing (the pool hustler in Martin Scorsese’s “The Color Of Money”). He’s a go-to player for both the Coens and Spike Lee as well as a reliable character actor for Hollywood tentpoles such as “The Transformers.”
Career Peaks: After winning a scholarship to the Yale Drama School and performing Ibsen, Ionesco, and John Patrick Shanley off-Broadway, Turturro got stuck playing violent killers in films like “Five Corners...
Bottom Line: For 37 years, versatile New York actor John Turturro has delivered memorable characters who can be incredibly smart (“Quiz Show”) or insanely stupid (bowler Jesus Quintano in “The Big Lebowski”), lovable (“Fading Gigolo”) or menacing (the pool hustler in Martin Scorsese’s “The Color Of Money”). He’s a go-to player for both the Coens and Spike Lee as well as a reliable character actor for Hollywood tentpoles such as “The Transformers.”
Career Peaks: After winning a scholarship to the Yale Drama School and performing Ibsen, Ionesco, and John Patrick Shanley off-Broadway, Turturro got stuck playing violent killers in films like “Five Corners...
- 7/31/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Interview conducted by Tom Stockman August 14th, 2014
Despite his appearance and the roles you’ve often seen him in before, it turns out that actor John Turturro is one sexy stud! In Fading Gigolo he’s nothing like the nervous genius he played in Quiz Show, or the angry hothead from Do The Right Thing, or that weasel Bernie Bernbaum he played in Miller’S Crossing. No, in Fading Gigolo, which Turturro wrote, directed, and starred in, he played Fioravante, an honest-to-goodness gigolo whose eagerly-paying clientele include Sofia Vergara and Sharon Stone! With Woody Allen as Murray, his unlikely pimp, Fading Gigolo sounds like the most oddball vanity project project to come down the pike in decades. But Fading Gigolo was a funny, gentle, and surprisingly sensitive comedy with a witty script, amusing characters and a jazzy sense of life in New York that felt like an old-fashioned Woody Allen movie,...
Despite his appearance and the roles you’ve often seen him in before, it turns out that actor John Turturro is one sexy stud! In Fading Gigolo he’s nothing like the nervous genius he played in Quiz Show, or the angry hothead from Do The Right Thing, or that weasel Bernie Bernbaum he played in Miller’S Crossing. No, in Fading Gigolo, which Turturro wrote, directed, and starred in, he played Fioravante, an honest-to-goodness gigolo whose eagerly-paying clientele include Sofia Vergara and Sharon Stone! With Woody Allen as Murray, his unlikely pimp, Fading Gigolo sounds like the most oddball vanity project project to come down the pike in decades. But Fading Gigolo was a funny, gentle, and surprisingly sensitive comedy with a witty script, amusing characters and a jazzy sense of life in New York that felt like an old-fashioned Woody Allen movie,...
- 8/21/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
John Turturro's career as a director has been picking up steam in the last few years with the likes of Romance And Cigarettes, Passione and, most recently, Fading Gigolo, in which he also co-starred with Woody Allen. Shoring up those gigs behind the camera have been higher-profile roles in things like the Transformers films, but he remains perhaps best known for his four collaborations with the Coen Brothers (Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou?). It's one of those in particular that continues to fire his imagination, to the extent that he wants to make a spin-off. Turturro has serious plans to revisit The Big Lebowski's preening bowler Jesus Quintana for a project of his own.Quintana, you'll recall, was The Dude's arch nemesis at the alley. The creep could roll, man, but he was also a pervert. As described by John Goodman's less-than-tolerant Walter Sobchak,...
- 6/25/2014
- EmpireOnline
Actor John Turturro may be best known as one of the screen’s best character actors who has been a part of the repertory companies of both Spike Lee (Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever) and the Coen brothers (Miller’S Crossing, The Big Lebowsky), but he’s begun to make a name for himself behind the camera as well. After directing the music based documentary Passione in 2010 he has now directed his fourth dramatic feature (Mac in 1992, Illuminata in 1998, and the musical Romance And Cigarettes in 2005). Well, this a more of a comedy. To be more precise it’s a New York City-based comedy, much in the same vein as Woody Allen’s 70′s and 80′s classics (for the last few years Woody’s been shooting his stories in Europe and with last year’s Blue Jasmine in ‘gasp’ California). And guess who Mr. Turturro is directing and sharing scenes with?...
- 5/8/2014
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
At first glance, "Fading Gigolo," John Turturro’s fifth directorial credit, marks one of the more peculiar entries in Woody Allen's career: Written and directed by Turturro, it's one of only a few projects in which Allen has starred without playing any other role in its production. Intentionally or not, however, "Fading Gigolo" actually functions as something of a statement on Allen's persona—onscreen and off—as it has been understood in the public eye. And the resulting conclusion, like the movie, is a decidedly mixed bag. Unlike Allen, Turturro has never been a predictable filmmaker: With each project, he explores new possibilities, from the postmodern musical "Romance and Cigarettes" to the elaborate music history documentary "Passione." With "Fading Gigolo," Turturro seems to be riffing on the idea of a Woody Allen comedy in terms of its themes and neuroses expressed over the years, with Allen himself operating as...
- 4/15/2014
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
From the stage to the screen, the director’s chair to the writer’s room, real-life jack-of-all-trades John Turturro channels his versatility in his latest feature, Fading Gigolo. As Fioravante, a sensitive florist and handyman who turns to the world’s oldest profession to help out a cash-strapped friend, played by Woody Allen, Turturro puts a lighthearted spin on this surprisingly poignant story about intimacy, companionship and love.
His first full auteur effort since 2005’s Romance and Cigarettes, at first glance, Fading Gigolo seems to possess the uncanny look, feel, and sound of a Woody Allen film: an opening New York City montage shot on 8 mm, a jazzy soundtrack, and a broad cast of quirky characters including Liev Schreiber as an overprotective Hasidic neighborhood watchman and, of course, Allen himself.
“I’d write the script and [Allen] would give me his feedback and tell me all the things he hated, which were many,...
His first full auteur effort since 2005’s Romance and Cigarettes, at first glance, Fading Gigolo seems to possess the uncanny look, feel, and sound of a Woody Allen film: an opening New York City montage shot on 8 mm, a jazzy soundtrack, and a broad cast of quirky characters including Liev Schreiber as an overprotective Hasidic neighborhood watchman and, of course, Allen himself.
“I’d write the script and [Allen] would give me his feedback and tell me all the things he hated, which were many,...
- 4/14/2014
- by Misa Shikuma
- SoundOnSight
Indian-born actor who brought his ingenuous charm to the hit films of Wes Anderson
Some film-makers have lucky-mascot actors who are occasionally to be spotted in small roles in their movies – for instance Dick Miller in the work of Joe Dante or Jack Nance returning repeatedly to David Lynch. It's a film geeks' in-joke, a cinephiles' game of Where's Wally? For Wes Anderson, one of the most original Us film-makers to emerge in the last 20 years, that position was filled on four occasions by the delightful and guileless Kumar Pallana, who has died aged 94.
Pallana appeared in Anderson's first three, reputation-forging movies. He played the useless safecracker Kumar in the director's 1996 debut, Bottle Rocket ("Man, I blew it," he sighs memorably as the police close in. "I blew it, man.") He was the school caretaker Mr Littlejeans in Rushmore (1998), Anderson's masterpiece. And he took his most prominent role as Pagoda,...
Some film-makers have lucky-mascot actors who are occasionally to be spotted in small roles in their movies – for instance Dick Miller in the work of Joe Dante or Jack Nance returning repeatedly to David Lynch. It's a film geeks' in-joke, a cinephiles' game of Where's Wally? For Wes Anderson, one of the most original Us film-makers to emerge in the last 20 years, that position was filled on four occasions by the delightful and guileless Kumar Pallana, who has died aged 94.
Pallana appeared in Anderson's first three, reputation-forging movies. He played the useless safecracker Kumar in the director's 1996 debut, Bottle Rocket ("Man, I blew it," he sighs memorably as the police close in. "I blew it, man.") He was the school caretaker Mr Littlejeans in Rushmore (1998), Anderson's masterpiece. And he took his most prominent role as Pagoda,...
- 10/14/2013
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor John Turturro plays a sex worker in his new film, Fading Gigolo, with Woody Allen as his pimp. He talks about giving airtime to middle-aged sex and why religion is erotic
A session with John Turturro will cost you. Twenty minutes clocks in at about $250, plus tip – at least going by his new film. Fading Gigolo, which he also wrote and directed, sees Turturro as a sex worker rented out by novice pimp Woody Allen to clients including Sharon Stone's screwy dermatologist and Vanessa Paradis as a widowed Hassidic mother of six, for whom he falls.
Off screen, there's no charge. Though, it has to be said, you do get a substantially reduced level of service, for all Turturro's friendly entreaties to share his tea.
Fading Gigolo, which premiered this week at the Toronto film festival, is a love story, at its most persuasive when the central pair are he and Allen.
A session with John Turturro will cost you. Twenty minutes clocks in at about $250, plus tip – at least going by his new film. Fading Gigolo, which he also wrote and directed, sees Turturro as a sex worker rented out by novice pimp Woody Allen to clients including Sharon Stone's screwy dermatologist and Vanessa Paradis as a widowed Hassidic mother of six, for whom he falls.
Off screen, there's no charge. Though, it has to be said, you do get a substantially reduced level of service, for all Turturro's friendly entreaties to share his tea.
Fading Gigolo, which premiered this week at the Toronto film festival, is a love story, at its most persuasive when the central pair are he and Allen.
- 9/12/2013
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
Though he'll always be best-known for his Emmy-winning work on The Sopranos, James Gandolfini has also left behind over two decades of scene-stealing work in the movies. The actor, who died today at age 51, was most recently seen on the big screen in Zero Dark Thirty and Violet and Daisy, and Vulture has put together this compilation of clips from some of his most notable films, including Where the Wild Things Are, True Romance, In the Loop, and more. Feel free to add your own favorites in the comments section.In the Loop (Nsfw): Where the Wild Things Are: Romance and Cigarettes (he sings!): The Mexican: Killing Them Softly (second clip): True Romance: Welcome to the Rileys: The Man Who Wasn't There:...
- 6/20/2013
- by Kyle Buchanan
- Vulture
While he’s one of our most respected actors -- who somehow has never received an Oscar nomination, that’s another story -- the world of feature filmmaking hasn’t been exactly kind to actor John Turturro. While his early directorial efforts, 1992's "Mac" and 1998's "Illuminata,” were well-received -- both were accepted to Cannes and the former earned itself the Caméra d'Or prize and two key Independent Spirit Award nominations -- neither did particularly well at the box-office (max gross was under $900,000 domestically). His later pictures didn't score the same kinds of accolades. And despite the caliber of actors willing to work with him, Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, James Gandolfini, Christopher Walken and Steve Buscemi all starred in 2007’s “Romance and Cigarettes,” the film couldn’t muster more than $557K at the domestic box-office after waiting two years to be released (and was poorly...
- 2/19/2012
- The Playlist
They light up the small screen, but have seen relatively little exposure in the movies. Here’s James’ of TV stars we’d love to see on the big screen…
Straddling the fine line between success and failure in Hollywood is like walking a tightrope of future career persecution and retrospective judgement.
Success on the TV screen is not always amply rewarded with a success on the big screen. There are a few ways to make the cut – reinvent your career through TV (Keifer Sutherland style), take the path less trodden with a series of slow-burning support roles (Jk Simmons) or have a huge hit on TV simply too large to ignore (Ricky Gervais).
Hollywood is a bit like an elitist private members club – once you’re in, you’re in, but cracking it has proven far too difficult for this list of talented actors in the past. We, the people,...
Straddling the fine line between success and failure in Hollywood is like walking a tightrope of future career persecution and retrospective judgement.
Success on the TV screen is not always amply rewarded with a success on the big screen. There are a few ways to make the cut – reinvent your career through TV (Keifer Sutherland style), take the path less trodden with a series of slow-burning support roles (Jk Simmons) or have a huge hit on TV simply too large to ignore (Ricky Gervais).
Hollywood is a bit like an elitist private members club – once you’re in, you’re in, but cracking it has proven far too difficult for this list of talented actors in the past. We, the people,...
- 1/17/2012
- Den of Geek
If there’s one iron-clad rule in marketing, movies or otherwise, it’s “Sex Sells.” If there is another ironer-cladder rule in marketing, it’s “People Notice Boobs.” Or to take the advice one step further, “Boobs boobs boobs.” You are now all licensed postermakers. The new sideboob poster for Sarah Michelle Gellar’s show Ringer got me thinking (first about boobs and then) “What are the all-time most blatant uses of boobs in posters?” From posters entirely centered around the lead actresses’ cleavage to subtler posters that still go out of their way to make sure those boobs are clearly noticeable, here’s a list of The 30 Most Blatant Uses Of Boobs In Movie Posters: 1. Cruel Intentions 2. Romance And Cigarettes 3. L.A. Confidential 4. I Know What You Did Last Summer 5. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer 6. Bandidas 7. Step Up 8. Step Up 2 9. Blue Crush 10. Beowulf 11. Tomb Raider 12. Tomb Raider...
- 7/28/2011
- by Dan Hopper
- BestWeekEver
Let's get one thing straight: John Turturro is a treasure of an actor. (I don't think that needs clarifying, but still.) While he has a broad and impressive resume both in front of and behind the camera (I don't care what people say; I kinda love Romance and Cigarettes) it is his work with Joel and Ethan Coen that will likely be his most well-known down the trail into the future. Speaking to the Av Club in yet another one of the site's wonderful Random Roles interviews, Mr. Turturro talked about making his own films and working with Spike Lee and the Coens, among other things. In doing so he reiterated the idea of a spin-off [1] from The Big Lebowski and a sequel to Barton Fink. Both are ideas that have been mentioned over the years, and neither is really likely to be made. But they're still fun to think about.
- 6/28/2011
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
For the past twenty-five years John Turturro has been one of the most dynamic presences in American narrative filmmaking, both in the independent world and in Hollywood. His roles in films such as Do The Right Thing, Barton Fink, Quiz Show and The Big Lebowski cemented his place as one of the most versatile actors around, someone who could slip easily between extremely varied character roles while occasionally moonlighting as a leading man. Beyond his work as an actor, he’s also directed a trio of mostly terrific feature narratives, 1992′s Mac, 1998′s Illuminata and 2005′s Romance and Cigarettes. With his latest film Passione, he’s taken the leap into documentary filmmaking with the same pinache and fearlessness he’s brought to his many screen roles.
A “musical adventure” that chronicles the world of contemporary Neopolitan music from top to bottom, Passione is that rare film in our cynical times that embraces large gestures,...
A “musical adventure” that chronicles the world of contemporary Neopolitan music from top to bottom, Passione is that rare film in our cynical times that embraces large gestures,...
- 6/22/2011
- by Brandon Harris
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
John Turturro likes killing cliches. Though he's best known as an actor, particularly for his work with Joel and Ethan Coen ("Barton Fink," "The Big Lebowski") and Spike Lee ("Do the Right Thing"), "Passione" is Turturro's fourth film as a director, and his first documentary. In it, he presents the music of the city of Naples in all its rich and vibrant character, from ancient ballads to classical compositions, to modern jazz, reggae, and more.
Turturro put his love of music on full display in his last film, 2005's "Romance and Cigarettes," which featured the likes of James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet, and Christopher Walken bursting into song. "Passione" takes things even further; it's like a wild crazy jam session playing out on the streets of Naples, with one powerful performance after another all linked together with stories, personal anecdotes and even a few appearances by Turturro himself as narrator, storyteller,...
Turturro put his love of music on full display in his last film, 2005's "Romance and Cigarettes," which featured the likes of James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet, and Christopher Walken bursting into song. "Passione" takes things even further; it's like a wild crazy jam session playing out on the streets of Naples, with one powerful performance after another all linked together with stories, personal anecdotes and even a few appearances by Turturro himself as narrator, storyteller,...
- 6/20/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
Don't call it a Sopranos reunion, but James Gandolfini is poised to work with Sopranos creator David Chase once more. The actor has taken a role in Mr Chase's new project Twylight Zones, aka the film previously referred to as the Untitled David Chase Rock and Roll Movie. In addition, Mr. Gandolfini is circling roles in two other potentially big films: Andrew Dominik's Cogan's Trade, and Stephen Daldry's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Deadline [1] has the details on all three roles, but note that Twylight Zones is the only one totally locked down at the moment. The slightly weird title is the band in the film, which the site describes as "a drama about a New Jersey Rock'n'Roll band and the musical renaissance of the 1960s. It centers on Douglas (John Magaro), a socially awkward teen who begins to shine as lead singer in his band, The Twylight Zones.
- 1/25/2011
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
For most actors, getting a regular gig on a television show or a film series is a boon, because essentially you can make enough money that you will never have to work again. The problem is - most actors want to work again. When you've been playing an iconic character for years, it's hard for people to separate you from that work, and so most actors will take on really radically different roles. And it tends to be a mixed bag as to how that turns out. You look at someone like Sarah Michelle Gellar, who hasn't done a whole hell of a lot since she hung up her stakes. Or the casts of "Friends" or "Seinfeld," who hasn't really been able to shake those enigmatic personas - aside from maybe one or two small interesting roles here or there. And things don't really bode too well for any of the children from Harry Potter,...
- 11/3/2010
- by Brian Prisco
Italian-American actor-director John Turturro is beloved by the Italians—Venice Fest audiences treat him like a huge star. In fact, ill-fated Romance and Cigarettes, which was caught in the backdraft at the end of United Artists, was such a hit in Italy that financeers stepped up to hire Turturro to direct a doc about the music of Naples. Passione is not unlike Fatih Akin’s Crossing the Bridge: it’s a “musical adventure” showcasing the music, old and new, of Naples, via a mix of old footage and new performances by the city’s top artists. The film was exhilarating, and more than one moviegoer walked out of the theater humming. I also admired Turturro's Mac and Illuminata, even though American moviegoers have yet to click with his movies. I ...
- 10/2/2010
- Thompson on Hollywood
Wasting no time, Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity Media, having acquired Universal's Rogue label and Overture's distribution and marketing divisions, has pacted with Richard Branson's Virgin Group, which has formed a new film and television production arm. The next step for Relativity may be going public. Virgin Produced and Rogue Pictures are forming a joint venture to develop, produce and market films together. Based in La, producers Jason Felts (Romance and Cigarettes) and Justin Berfield (child star of Malcolm in the Middle), former heads of recently shuttered six-year-old J2TV / J2 Pictures (TV's short-lived Sons of Tucson), will lead Virgin Produced as CEO and chief creative officer, respectively. Both companies are positioning themselves as entrepreneurial innovators who are willing to break the mold: "With Rogue’s boundary breaking approach ...
- 7/30/2010
- Thompson on Hollywood
The 25th Independent Spirit Awards are celebrating half a century of recognizing independent cinema with a brand new host, none other than Eddie Izzard. The Brit comedian is best known for is sophisticated and smart stand up act -- that he usually performs in drag -- but Izzard has numerous film credits including "Valkyrie," "Ocean's Thirteen," "Across the Universe" and "Romance and Cigarettes" just to name a few. He also starred in the FX television series "The Riches" and is currently finishing his "Stripped Too" tour across the U.S. and U.K. After Steve Coogan's solid, but not really memorable run as...
- 1/26/2010
- Hitfix
Actor-director John Turturro will distribute his movie Romance & Cigarettes with his own money, after a studio takeover left it on the scrap-head. The musical was made in 2004 with an ensemble cast including James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, Steve Buscemi and Christopher Walken. Its future was thrown into jeopardy before it could be released when MGM was bought by a consortium headed by Sony in 2005. It was released in the U.K. in 2006, but has been left in limbo in the U.S. as the filmmakers attempt to unravel a legal mess so the film can be seen by the American public. Sony Pictures claims it has video rights for the movie and MGM has theatrical rights - but a source claims Turturro has secured the film's release so it can go on show at New York's Film Forum from September 7, at his own expense.
- 8/17/2007
- WENN
NEW YORK -- John Turturro is taking matters into his own hands. The actor-writer-director is self-distributing his $11 million musical Romance & Cigarettes, a project that has experienced a tortured history since it was filmed in 2004.
Despite an all-star cast that includes James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Elaine Stritch, Eddie Izzard and Amy Sedaris, the unconventional United Artists feature was put in limbo in 2005 when Sony Pictures merged with MGM.
Turturro was nominated for a Golden Lion award for the film after its September 2005 premiere at the Venice Film Festival, but Romance received mixed reviews there and at the Toronto International Film Festival a week later. It was labeled a "karaoke nightmare" and "downright unwatchable" by some, but "terrific as a musical" and "almost impossible not to adore" by others.
The over-the-top story line follows a Queens construction worker (Gandolfini) who gets in trouble when his wife (Sarandon) discovers he has a lusty mistress (Winslet).
Despite an all-star cast that includes James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Elaine Stritch, Eddie Izzard and Amy Sedaris, the unconventional United Artists feature was put in limbo in 2005 when Sony Pictures merged with MGM.
Turturro was nominated for a Golden Lion award for the film after its September 2005 premiere at the Venice Film Festival, but Romance received mixed reviews there and at the Toronto International Film Festival a week later. It was labeled a "karaoke nightmare" and "downright unwatchable" by some, but "terrific as a musical" and "almost impossible not to adore" by others.
The over-the-top story line follows a Queens construction worker (Gandolfini) who gets in trouble when his wife (Sarandon) discovers he has a lusty mistress (Winslet).
- 8/15/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- John Turturro is taking matters into his own hands. The actor-writer-director is self-distributing his $11 million musical Romance & Cigarettes, a project that has experienced a tortured history since it was filmed in 2004.
Despite an all-star cast that includes James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Elaine Stritch, Eddie Izzard and Amy Sedaris, the unconventional United Artists feature was put in limbo in 2005 when Sony Pictures merged with MGM.
Turturro was nominated for a Golden Lion award for the film after its September 2005 premiere at the Venice Film Festival, but Romance received mixed reviews there and at the Toronto International Film Festival a week later. It was labeled a "karaoke nightmare" and "downright unwatchable" by some, but "terrific as a musical" and "almost impossible not to adore" by others.
The over-the-top story line follows a Queens construction worker (Gandolfini) who gets in trouble when his wife (Sarandon) discovers he has a lusty mistress (Winslet).
Despite an all-star cast that includes James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Elaine Stritch, Eddie Izzard and Amy Sedaris, the unconventional United Artists feature was put in limbo in 2005 when Sony Pictures merged with MGM.
Turturro was nominated for a Golden Lion award for the film after its September 2005 premiere at the Venice Film Festival, but Romance received mixed reviews there and at the Toronto International Film Festival a week later. It was labeled a "karaoke nightmare" and "downright unwatchable" by some, but "terrific as a musical" and "almost impossible not to adore" by others.
The over-the-top story line follows a Queens construction worker (Gandolfini) who gets in trouble when his wife (Sarandon) discovers he has a lusty mistress (Winslet).
- 8/15/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- British-based indie distributor Icon Film Distribution on Wednesday said it has set up its own U.K. home entertainment division and hired former HMV chief Ian Dawson to spearhead the unit. Dawson, most recently HMV head of DVD and related products, will take up his new post at the beginning of October and will report to Icon U.K. CEO Martin Bigham, the company said. The new London-based division replaces previous deals Icon has struck with Warner Bros. in the U.K. to handle home video titles, a spokesperson said. The last films released through Icon's deal with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment were The World's Fastest Indian and Romance and Cigarettes.
British actress Kate Winslet got judges steamed up at this year's Venice Film Festival with dirty talk in her new film Romance And Cigarettes. The film's director John Turturro admitted this week that Titanic star Winslet is very talented at using sexy words. Tarturro says, "There's dirty language of a certain kind and there's a real art to that." Despite her more respectable roles in Finding Neverland and Sense And Sensibility, her character in Romance And Cigarettes is full of raunchy moments. Tarturro reveals, "There were things that had to be cut out that Kate said, that were just too dirty for the film."...
- 9/8/2005
- WENN
VENICE -- The Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney spirit is alive and well in John Turturro's Romance & Cigarettes with some top stars including James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, and Kate Winslet gamely putting on a show, but the sad result is a karaoke nightmare.
Loud and pointlessly crude, the film takes the disintegration of a dysfunctional working class family and gives it the song-and-dance treatment. It's not pleasant to contemplate the kind of audience that would respond to this, but it's likely to be small and made up of people who fantasize about seeing Tony Soprano belt out A Man Without Love along with Engelbert Humperdinck.
Over the top from the start, the film follows Nick Murder (Gandolfini), a builder although with no evident mob associations, as he grapples with his noisy wife Kitty (Sarandon) and dabbles with his redheaded mistress named Tula (Winslet).
Garbage men, telephone workers and firefighters burst into song at a moment's notice, dancing in the streets, usually to something by Tom Jones or James Brown, as Kitty finds out about Tula and ropes in weird Cousin Bo (Christopher Walken) to hunt her down.
There's a second generation of Murders, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro and Mandy Moore, who torment their father and play in a raucous rock band in the back yard. Moore also has a syncopated passion for a flamboyant neighborhood boy who calls himself Fryburg (Bobby Cannavale).
While Kitty finds solace screaming out Piece of My Heart with Janis Joplin and a church choir led by an organist named Gene Vincent (Eddie Izzard, who is wasted), Nick decides to get a circumcision, the better, he believes, to delight women.
The performers all appear to be very pleased with themselves for letting their knickers down, kicking up their heels and being such good sports. Gandolfini acts like Tony Soprano; Sarandon is in full "men are swine" mode; and Winslet talks dirty and inexplicably with an accent from England's far north. Ricky Gervais talked Winslet into using gutter language amusingly for his new BBC/HBO television series Extras, but it appears she's gotten into the habit.
Walken makes an amusing entrance to Elvis Presley's Trouble but has little to do after that. Buscemi, as always, fills whatever screen space he occupies with his unique and flawless technique, and Elaine Stritch expertly delivers a bitter but amusing reflection on the men in her life.
They are the only redeeming elements of a picture that strains too hard and bursts of its own self-regard. Turturro, a fine actor, says he dreamed up "Romance & Cigarettes" while making Barton Fink. It looks more like something that might have been made by Jesus Quintana, the wild man of the bowling alley he played in The Big Lubowski.
ROMANCE & CIGARETTES
United Artists and Joel & Ethan Cohen present, in association with Icon Entertainment International, a Greenestreet Films production.
Credits: Director and screenwriter: John Turturro
Producers: John Penotti, John Turturro
Executive producers: Jana Edelbaum, Matthew Rowland, Nick Hill, Joel Cohen, Ethan Cohen
Director of photography: Tom Stern
Production designer: Donna Zakowska
Editor: Ray Hubley
Cast:
Nick Murder: James Gandolfini
Kitty: Susan Sarandon
Tula: Kate Winslet
Angelo: Steve Buscemi
Fryburg: Bobby Cannavale
Baby: Mandy Moore
Constance: Mary-Louise Parker
Rosebud: Aida Turturro
Cousin Bo: Christopher Walken
Gracie: Barbara Sukowa
Nick's mother: Elaine Stritch
Gene Vincent: Eddie Izzard
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 105 mins...
Loud and pointlessly crude, the film takes the disintegration of a dysfunctional working class family and gives it the song-and-dance treatment. It's not pleasant to contemplate the kind of audience that would respond to this, but it's likely to be small and made up of people who fantasize about seeing Tony Soprano belt out A Man Without Love along with Engelbert Humperdinck.
Over the top from the start, the film follows Nick Murder (Gandolfini), a builder although with no evident mob associations, as he grapples with his noisy wife Kitty (Sarandon) and dabbles with his redheaded mistress named Tula (Winslet).
Garbage men, telephone workers and firefighters burst into song at a moment's notice, dancing in the streets, usually to something by Tom Jones or James Brown, as Kitty finds out about Tula and ropes in weird Cousin Bo (Christopher Walken) to hunt her down.
There's a second generation of Murders, Mary-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro and Mandy Moore, who torment their father and play in a raucous rock band in the back yard. Moore also has a syncopated passion for a flamboyant neighborhood boy who calls himself Fryburg (Bobby Cannavale).
While Kitty finds solace screaming out Piece of My Heart with Janis Joplin and a church choir led by an organist named Gene Vincent (Eddie Izzard, who is wasted), Nick decides to get a circumcision, the better, he believes, to delight women.
The performers all appear to be very pleased with themselves for letting their knickers down, kicking up their heels and being such good sports. Gandolfini acts like Tony Soprano; Sarandon is in full "men are swine" mode; and Winslet talks dirty and inexplicably with an accent from England's far north. Ricky Gervais talked Winslet into using gutter language amusingly for his new BBC/HBO television series Extras, but it appears she's gotten into the habit.
Walken makes an amusing entrance to Elvis Presley's Trouble but has little to do after that. Buscemi, as always, fills whatever screen space he occupies with his unique and flawless technique, and Elaine Stritch expertly delivers a bitter but amusing reflection on the men in her life.
They are the only redeeming elements of a picture that strains too hard and bursts of its own self-regard. Turturro, a fine actor, says he dreamed up "Romance & Cigarettes" while making Barton Fink. It looks more like something that might have been made by Jesus Quintana, the wild man of the bowling alley he played in The Big Lubowski.
ROMANCE & CIGARETTES
United Artists and Joel & Ethan Cohen present, in association with Icon Entertainment International, a Greenestreet Films production.
Credits: Director and screenwriter: John Turturro
Producers: John Penotti, John Turturro
Executive producers: Jana Edelbaum, Matthew Rowland, Nick Hill, Joel Cohen, Ethan Cohen
Director of photography: Tom Stern
Production designer: Donna Zakowska
Editor: Ray Hubley
Cast:
Nick Murder: James Gandolfini
Kitty: Susan Sarandon
Tula: Kate Winslet
Angelo: Steve Buscemi
Fryburg: Bobby Cannavale
Baby: Mandy Moore
Constance: Mary-Louise Parker
Rosebud: Aida Turturro
Cousin Bo: Christopher Walken
Gracie: Barbara Sukowa
Nick's mother: Elaine Stritch
Gene Vincent: Eddie Izzard
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 105 mins...
VENICE -- James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, John Turturro and the Coen Brothers waltzed their way onto the Lido Tuesday for the premiere of the bawdy musical Romance & Cigarettes. Director Turturro's movie was the second U.S. title to unspool here in competition. One of the largest entourages to arrive yet provided ample opportunity for a packed news conference to quiz the filmmaker and stars. But the event was largely dominated by questions fired to Sarandon about her views on Hollywood and politics.
VENICE -- James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, John Turturro and the Coen Brothers waltzed their way onto the Lido Tuesday for the premiere of the bawdy musical Romance & Cigarettes. Director Turturro's movie was the second U.S. title to unspool here in competition. One of the largest entourages to arrive yet provided ample opportunity for a packed news conference to quiz the filmmaker and stars. But the event was largely dominated by questions fired to Sarandon about her views on Hollywood and politics. Sarandon joshed that the only way to end your career in Hollywood was to get "old and fat." She said Hollywood wasn't really a "political entity that is going to evolve in some way." She also said that it was a pity that men got paid more than women to be in movies but added that many of the roles did not appeal to her. The movie script, described by producers Joel and Ethan Coen as "sufficiently demented" to bring them on board, trades in foulmouthed dialogue and lewd sexual references. "Dirty language of a certain kind is a certain art and everything can't be sweet," said Turturro, who penned the project in addition to directing it. "We made a list of interesting expressions and as long as it is humorous it is fun." Prior to the news conference, a war of words broke out between Venice festival organizers and a major Italian newswire service. Organizers said Italy's second-largest wire service, Adnkronos, had misrepresented the tone and content of festival coverage from outlets including The Hollywood Reporter. Adnkronos ran an article -- picked up by the Venice daily Il Gazzettino -- which said that U.S. press coverage had slammed the festival organization and the movies so far. But organizers fired back at the wire service, saying in a press statement that the "tone and comments" of coverage "were in fact positive." As the war of words broke out, Venice entered the home stretch and Italian entries pushed to the fore. Tuesday saw the first Italian movie unspool in competition as Roberto Faenza's I Giorni dell'Abbandono hit the screen. Both Cristina Comencini's La Bestia Nel Cuore and Pupi Avati's La Seconda Notte di Nozze also will vie for the jury's attention as Saturday's awards ceremony approaches.
ROME -- George Clooney's sophomore directorial outing Goodnight, and Good Luck, starring Clooney, Robert Downey Jr. and Patricia Clarkson, will lead off the competition section of the 62nd International Venice Film Festival on Sept. 1, organizers said Thursday. The other American film in competition, John Turturro's Romance and Cigarettes, which stars James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken, screens Sept. 6. The festival runs Aug. 31-Sep. 10.
- 8/19/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
ROME -- Nine American films will have their world premieres across the three major sections of this year's 62nd Annual International Venice Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday. Venice unveiled a slimmed down yet Hollywood-heavy lineup of films complimented by a bevy of Italian and Asian cinema, all of which will vie for the Golden Lion and the world's attention. George Clooney's newest directorial effort Goodnight and Good Luck, chronicling the events surrounding broadcaster Edward R. Murrow during the McCarthy era, joins John Turturro's down-and-dirty musical Romance & Cigarettes as the two American films among the 19 in competition.
- 7/28/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
ROME -- Nine American films will have their world premieres across the three major sections of this year's 62nd Annual International Venice Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday. Venice unveiled a slimmed down yet Hollywood-heavy lineup of films complimented by a bevy of Italian and Asian cinema, all of which will vie for the Golden Lion and the world's attention. George Clooney's newest directorial effort Goodnight and Good Luck, chronicling the events surrounding broadcaster Edward R. Murrow during the McCarthy era, joins John Turturro's down-and-dirty musical Romance & Cigarettes as the two American films among the 19 in competition.
- 7/28/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
ROME -- Nine American films will have their world premieres across the three major sections of this year's 62nd Annual International Venice Film Festival, organizers announced Thursday. Venice unveiled a slimmed down yet Hollywood-heavy lineup of films complimented by a bevy of Italian and Asian cinema, all of which will vie for the Golden Lion and the world's attention. George Clooney's newest directorial effort Goodnight and Good Luck, chronicling the events surrounding broadcaster Edward R. Murrow during the McCarthy era, joins John Turturro's down-and-dirty musical Romance & Cigarettes as the two American films among the 19 in competition.
- 7/28/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mandy Moore has signed on to star in Personal Shopping for Scott Rudin Prods. An offbeat, transatlantic romantic comedy, Personal Shopping centers on an American who loses his bags upon arrival in London and enlists a female shopper to find him a new wardrobe. British writer Tim Sullivan will direct from his own script. Paramount acquired the property in 2001 for Rudin, who is set to exit the studio for the Walt Disney Co. Moore most recently starred in Saved! for United Artists and next appears in Romance & Cigarettes for director John Turturro. She is repped by WMA and the Firm.
- 4/21/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Kate Winslet is in negotiations to topline Little Children for New Line Cinema. Winslet would play the role of Sarah in the adaptation of Tom Perrotta's book, which Todd Field is set to direct. Field also is producing with Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger, and he co-wrote the screenplay with Perrotta, whose other credits include Election. Toby Emmerich and Kent Alterman are overseeing the project for the studio. The film is set in a suburban town where perfect parents rear perfect children by day and surf Internet porn and have affairs by night. Winslet's character is a mother who has a fling with a stay-at-home dad. Winslet most recently starred in Finding Neverland and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, for which she received her fourth Oscar nomination. Her upcoming projects include All the King's Men for Columbia Pictures and Romance & Cigarettes for UA/Sony. She is repped by CAA.
- 4/11/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
British actress Kate Winslet was caught up in a real life drama on the set of upcoming movie Romance & Cigarettes - when a fire broke out. The Titanic beauty was filming a fantasy sequence with on-screen love interest James Gandolfini in which he dreams of becoming a firefighter and rescuing her from a burning building. In between takes, the special effects sparked onto a beam in the abandoned building and started burning. Luckily a group of off-duty New York firefighters were on set to serenade Winslet in the scene and were able to rush to the aid of the panicking film crew. A movie insider says, "Kate was never in any real danger." Trucks from a nearby FDNY rushed to the set and actor Steve Buscemi, who was a fireman before starting his acting career, also helped dampen the flames. Fortunately no-one was hurt during the fire, which took an hour to put out.
- 5/17/2004
- WENN
LONDON -- Icon Entertainment International on Wednesday named Peter Naish head of international distribution. Naish, who was managing director of First Independent Films and partner in Bridge Media, will work with Icon CEO Nick Hill and chief operating officer Andy Mayson in all aspects of the company's international business. "His breadth and depth of expertise will be a great asset to the company, and I look forward to working with him in advancing our international operations," Hill said. Icon has such films as John Turturro's Romance & Cigarettes, Richard Eyre's Stage Beauty and David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees upcoming.
NEW YORK -- Mary-Louise Parker and Christopher Walken have signed on to star with James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Mandy Moore and Kate Winslet in United Artists' musical comedy Romance and Cigarettes, to be directed by John Turturro. Production begins this month in the Big Apple on the film, which also was penned by Turturro. GreeneStreet Films' John Penotti is producing, with Joel and Ethan Coen, Bruce Davey and Jana Edelbaum executive producing. Romance follows a cheating blue-collar husband who is forced to choose between his sexy mistress and his put-upon wife. According to the film's producers, Romance is "punctuated by lip-synched performances of popular songs" by artists including Irving Berlin, Nick Cave, Connie Francis, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield and Bruce Springsteen.
- 3/17/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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