Tag: Mel Gibson

  • Mel Gibson set to make biblical drama

    Mel Gibson set to make biblical drama

    MUMBAI: Mel Gibson, who was acclaimed for his 2004 film The Passion of the Christ, is set to produce a biblical drama about Jewish hero Judas Maccabeus.
     
    The 55-year old actor producer Gibson is working with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas to tell the story of the celebrated Jewish warrior, who defeated the Greek-Syrian armies in the second century BC and inspired the Hanukkah celebration, it is gathered.
     
    It is said that Gibson wanted to do a film on Maccabee for more than a decade. The Jewish warrior, considered to be one of the great warriors in Jewish history, led a popular revolt against he Seleucid king Antiochus IV, seizing Jerusalem and reconsecrating the Temple, an event remembered by the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

  • Star World focusses on ‘Hollywood Shootouts’, Christmas next month

    Star World focusses on ‘Hollywood Shootouts’, Christmas next month

    MUMBAI: English general entertainment channel Star World will during the yuletide season next month focus on Christmas as well as on a new show Hollywood Shootouts.

    Hollywood Shootouts will air every Sunday from next month at 5 pm. Two of Hollywood’s big shots – Variety editor Peter Bart and producer Peter Guber – take on some of moviedom’s biggest movers and shakers: top actors, directors, producers and studio executives who make Hollywood what it is today.

    The show gets behind the hype and into the minds of some of entertainment’s most elusive and fascinating personalities. Names to watch for include Dustin Hoffman, Charlize Theron, Samuel L. Jackson, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson and Harvey Weinstein.

    The two hosts have attracted critical acclaim for complementing each other perfectly as two sides of the Hollywood coin. The A-list guests are willing to discuss their careers with frankness.
    All the episodes revolve around the general topic of surviving and thriving in Hollywood. However the varied guests shape each episode according to their individual identities.

    Since next month is the time to spread good cheer the channel will air the special Christmas Miracles on 19 December at 8 pm, 20 December at 11 amand on 24 December at 9 am. Celebrities Halle Berry, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Melissa Joan Hart and Richard Karn serve as first-time Santa’s helpers by fulfilling the wishes of children and their families, from specially selected letters that were written to Santa and found in the “dead letter” bins at the U.S. Postal Service.

    Also showcased are stories by everyday people who have, in some way, been miraculously touched at Christmas time. Some of the soul-warming highlights include: Melissa Joan Hart and the cast of Sabrina The Teenage Witch fulfilling a young girl’s Christmas wish to experience what it’s like to be an actress. Jennifer Love Hewitt redecorates a young boy’s bedroom and presents him with the gift of his dreams – his very first bed.

    Halle Berry helps a nine-year-old boy create a better Christmas for a group of less-fortunate children with a surprise visit from Santa Claus. And Richard Karn uses his “Home Improvement” skills to create a yard filled with snow for a young girl who dreamt of having a “white Christmas”.

    On Christmas Eve 24 December at 1 pm the channel will air a classic film The Man Upstairs. It is about the unlikely relationship that grows between Victoria (Katherine Hepburn) – an elegant, lonely reclusive, and a fast-talking fugitive, Moony Polanski (Ryan O’Neal), who she finds hiding in her attic one day. It is a story about how love and life can be found in the strangest places, Ryan soon finds the family he never had in Victoria, while the older woman’s loneliness disappears with his presence.

    But idyllic though this life is, it couldn’t stay the same with Moony’s checkered past haunting them. The climax is played out on Christmas Eve, where the two celebrate over a true-blue Christmas tree, only to find out that more than just presents are waiting for them.

    The channel has also lined up a slew of episodes of its comedy shows that have the Christmas theme. These will air on 24 December from 3 pm and on Christmas Day 25 December from 8:30 am onwards. An episode of Scrubs that will air is called My Own Personal Jenus. While his friends don’t really feel like celebrating ther birth of Jesus, Turk makes a huge deal about it. But his faith and happiness are gone after a very busy night at the hospital. Dr. Cox has J.D. videotape the birth of the child of one of his friends.

    In the episode of Everybody Loves Raymond called The Thought That Count Robert gives Ray a great idea on what to get Debra for Christmas, but he isn’t very happy when Ray takes all the credit for it.

    An episode of Just Shoot Me is called Christmas? Christmas!. In the episode of Still Standing
    Judy is excited to host Christmas in the Miller house for the first time, but her plans are scrapped when Bill’s mom insists on having Christmas dinner for the entire family in her tiny apartment. Meanwhile, Linda’s good deed for Christmas – making over her helpless co-worker – goes better than planned.

    Even The Simpsons get into the holiday spirit. In the episode Tis The Fifteen Season the Simpson family goes Christmas shopping at the Springfield Heights Promenade, where the rich people shop. Homer spends the remaining portion of his share of the money for a gift for himself (a personalised talking astrolabe) and has no money left to buy the family a nice Christmas tree.

    Marge and the kids find out what he’s spent the money on and are disappointed in him. Spending the night on the couch, Homer watches “Mr. McGrew’s Christmas Carol” and the story works its magic on Homer, and Homer wakes with resolve to be good and unselfish.

    In the Malcolm In The Middle episode called Christmas Tree Hal and the boys begin selling Christmas trees, but every time that they are about to gain money for actually doing it, something unexpected happens. At the ranch, Francis and Piama are reminded of home when Otto’s relatives come to stay at the ranch, while Lois recruits the help of vagabonds in order to find a squirrel that bit Craig, to confirm if it has rabies.

  • ABC cancels Gibson’s proposed show on the holocaust

    ABC cancels Gibson’s proposed show on the holocaust

    MUMBAI: Looks like Oscar winning actor Mel Gibson’s tirade against the Jews after being arrested for drunk driving is starting to cost him big time.

    US broadcaster ABC has announced that it has pulled out of the deal with the star for a show on the holocaust.

    ABC though says that the project has been in the pipeline for the past couple of years and they have not yet seen a script. Gibson was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving last week. He launched into a tirade against Jews, asking the arresting officer if he was a Jew and blaming the Jews for starting all wars.

    The actor is a strong conservative Catholic. His father, media reports indicate, is a Holocaust denier. At the time of the release of Passion Of the Christ Gibson’s father said that reports on the Holocaust were exaggerated. The next day after his arrest Gibson apologised for his remarks and has entered a rehabilitation programme to treat alcoholism.

    On the film front though Disney will go ahead with its plans to release Mel Gibson’s film Apocalypto on 8 December 2006. Hollywood has a strong Jewish presence. That includes Sony Pictures chairwoman Amy Pascal and Laura Ziskin.