'In 1991, Edward Furlong was just a 12-year old Los Angeles child who was on the brink of stardom. Terminator 2: Judgement Day was just about to be released in cinemas and revolutionise blockbusters for years to come. Furlong's surprisingly soulful performance as John Connor, the eventual leader of the human resistance against the Terminators, was praised by many critics. Like his character, Furlong was destined for greatness.
'Furlong's home life wasn't exactly the most conducive to a normal life. He didn't know his father. His mother eventually lost control of him, resulting in an aunt and uncle suing for custody and raising him until his early teens. Perhaps more shockingly is the fact that he sued for his emancipation and won it. Why did he do that?
'Furlong was in a relationship with a 29-year old woman who was his on-set tutor during filming of Terminator 2: Judgement Day. He was 15. She eventually became his manager, although she did little to steer his career in any meaningful way. Furlong starred in a number of critical and commercial failures, none that came close to replicating the success of Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
'Furlong would eventually get engaged to - and split from - his manager, both personally and professionally. In 1999, she sued him for money owed to her for acting as his manager. She also claimed he was physically abusive. Throughout this time, Furlong is said to have taken hard drugs - heroin, cocaine - and was in the depths of serious alcoholism.
'In the middle of this chaos, Furlong surprised everyone by taking off to film the family tragedy Little Odessa. On Jan. 7, he called his mother from Los Angeles International Airport to tell her he’d taken the job and was headed for New York — without her. This was the first time Furlong was on a movie set without family members, and a funny thing happened: Nothing.
'”It was a delight to work with him. He was always emotionally present. I think he’s a very accomplished actor. And, in many ways, he was the most cooperative actor in the picture. Other than the fact that I got a Coke with Edward after shooting, I would never have known about his family,” says Odessa director James Gray, who watched the young actor hold his own with Vanessa Redgrave and Maximilian Schell. ”His role was that of someone from a troubled, broken family, and in many ways he used his background to his advantage and funneled his personal tumult into the role. At 16, he’s been forced into adulthood, and he’s handling it better than I would have.”
'His career uptick continued in 1997 when he starred as the vulnerable, damaged younger brother to Edward Norton in American History X. The role won Furlong a nomination for Young Artist Award and the film was a critical success.
'Furlong enjoyed a brief moment of success again with Detroit Rock City, where he starred alongside and eventually dated Natasha Lyonne, one of the stars of Orange Is The New Black. His fortunes spiralled downward again, with Furlong unable to secure any meaningful work other direct-to-DVD films.
'His addictions prevented him from being recast as John Connor in the 2002 follow-up to Terminator 2: Judgement Day, with the role going to Nick Stahl instead. Throughout the 2000s, he was arrested several times for domestic abuse, drug addiction and various driving offences. He's admitted publicly in court that he's completely broke.
'According to iMDB, Furlong's only starred in one film in 2015 and hasn't had a theatrically-released film in ten years. Despite this, Furlong is still believed to be a talented, if troubled actor. "I shot Ed Furlong when he wasn’t even aware that we were filming," said one director. "He’s a very unpredictable and a brilliant actor when he wants to."'-- collaged
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Stills
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Further
Edward Furlong @ IMDb
EF @ Twitter
EF page @ Facebook
THE EXTREME EDDIE SITE!!
Absolut Furlong
Edward Furlong Central
EF fan tumblr
Edward Furlong Fan Fiction Stories
'A Look At Edward Furlong - Before And After Success'
'The John Connor Curse: Nick Stahl, Edward Furlong and Christian Bale'
'Edward Furlong Charged with Assaulting Girlfriend'
'Actor Edward Furlong hides, then is arrested
'Edward Furlong's Lobster Tale'
'Edward Furlong: gueule d’ange (noir)'
'DER TIEFE FALL DES EDWARD FURLONG'
Edward Furlong - Hold On Tight (CD, Album) at Discogs
'EDWARD FURLONG JOINS ‘STAR TREK : RENEGADES'
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Extras
EDWARD FURLONG Interview and Q&A
Edward Furlong sings 'Hold On Tight'
`Die Another Day' Premiere
Edward Furlong singing for Detroit Rock City
Chicago Comic Con 2011 - Interview With Edward Furlong
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Interview
What have you been up to?
Well, right now I'm just getting up. I know I sound like a lazy bastard, but I had breakfast in bed, you know. I'm being kind of a lush, I guess. But lately, I've been being a dad, putting food on the table, doing movies once in a while. Same old, same old, nothing too exciting.
You were awesome in Terminator 2 and American History X and Little Odessa and Pecker, and then it seemed like you disappeared.
What happened? I became a crackwhore! After selling my body for crack for a couple of years... no, no, I'm just joking. [Laughs] It's the way it goes. It's just the way it is. It goes up and down. I still consider myself blessed enough that I can still put food on the table for my son. I still do stuff, I guess it's just not as big as I used to get. I did just do CSI: NY - that's probably the biggest thing lately.
You're so good in Pecker. When that came out, I hoped you would start acting in arty indie movies and become the the sexy cute young Steve Buscemi or something.
Yeah. [Sighs] I should have been in more of John's films and films like that. That was a valiant attempt by him to renew my filmmaking industry. It just didn't work out. I fucked it up. That's what I used to do. Fuck things up.
You still could.
Nah. [Long pause] I got fat and ugly. Another huge fuck up right there. [Sighs] Can you change the subject possibly?
Yeah. You were scouted to be in Terminator 2, correct? It was your first movie.
It was random. I was hanging out at the Boys and Girls Club. They had trouble finding someone in young Hollywood at the time to play John Connor, and I guess they were looking for "normal" kids. This woman came up to me at the Club and asked me if I wanted to be in a movie. She didn't tell me what kind of movie it was, so I went [in my mind] to the worst possible thing, so I said, "Sorry, I'm not into child porn." She laughed and said it wasn't child porn. I went in and kept reading lines, and eventually I got the part!
Did being in a movie so laden with apocalyptic undertones and Doomsday messages mess with your psyche at all?
Nah, man. I think if maybe I was a bit older when I did the movie, I might have made better decisions - like save my money. It was fun for me to make the movie, though. The hardest thing was probably growing up in the business, in the public eye. I know a lot of people my age are still trying to figure out what to do, and I consider myself lucky that I can make a living doing something that I truly enjoy.
True. And there were a lot of actors in the same boat as you, and a lot of them have died. Hey, at least you survived.
So far! I'm alive today, and that's good. I feel very blessed.
Did you follow The Crow before you starred in the fourth Crow movie?
No, not really.
Did you watch all the movies?
Yeah, I did, actually. Before I knew I was doing The Crow I saw the first one and was a pretty big fan of it. Of course, when I signed on for the fourth one, I watched the other two.
It looked like a pretty physical movie. What do you think was the toughest sequence in the film to shoot?
In terms of physicality?
Well, you can do both. You can do physicality and acting, too.
Well, physical wasn't quite as bad, because you have stunt doubles and everything. Also, the funny part is I accidentally broke my wrist not too long before the movie, so a lot of the physical stuff was a little bit harder for me. I had to take of my cast prematurely, and that was kind of a bitch. I've always played real life sort of characters and this is sort of like a mystical character with him coming back for revenge, for lost love, lost life, coming back from the dead, and all of that sh*t. At first it was scary, I guess. I'd never really stepped into those shoes. And when I saw The Crow on websites and shit, I had no idea it had so many fans. So, I guess the stressful part acting-wise was just stepping into those shoes and hoping that we could do a good job with it.
In the movie, you die and come back to life. It's a second chance, or almost an immortality. Would you ever want to be immortal?
No. I don't think so. By the time I'm old, I'm sure I'll have lived a full enough life. I think we're mortal for a reason. Life gets tiring, man! I get tired, so I don't know. Being immortal might exhaust me or make me go crazy.
If you could have any superpower, what would you want?
Oh God... I'd have a couple. I'd have the ability to just make money trees. Like make money appear. I would be able to have Angelina Jolie and Shakira just fall magically in love with me and just wanna stalk me. I'd be able to eat whatever I want without gaining any weight. There's definitely many serious superpowers I'd like to have.
Your first movie was with James Cameron. How was working with him at the time?
It's funny. I can kind of remember. I was so young at the time, only 13. And the amount of pot I've smoked in my life... [Laughs] No, Jim was great. He has this image of being a tough director, but he was very nice to me. I loved working with him. He was the first director I ever worked with, so with every director since him, he's like the number one. I base all my other experiences on him. I cared more about working with him than I did about Arnold Schwarzenegger. I was tripping out because it was around the time he was doing Aliens and Abyss, really cool stuff for a teenage boy.
Any funny stuff you can remember from your on-set days?
I remember one time Arnold accidentally hit me with the butt end of a rifle. That's the only thing I can remember. I don't know. Jim Cameron used to call me "Special Ed." [Laughs]
What about the first time you met Arnold Schwarzenegger? Do you recall that?
Barely, but I do. We were doing a read-through. I remember thinking, 'Man, this guy wears really loud clothes.' He was wearing a big, flowery Hawaiian shirt. I had just seen him in Predator, you know, and here he is in some bright-colored shirt.
Do you have a favorite scene from the movie, or do you cringe watching it?
I don't watch it. I saw part of it on TV a while ago, and it was the part where I'm outside taking off on my bike, in the garage, talking to my step-parents, and my character's like: "She's not my mother, Todd!" in some whiny voice. I was like 'Oh my God, change the fucking channel!" It was horrible. It's hard enough for me to watch my more recent stuff.
I was reading that you released a single and it got really big in Japan.
Yeah.
Did you do a lot of touring then?
No, I didn't tour. It was a huge thing out there. Definitely not my kind of music.
I haven't heard it.
You don't want to hear it.
Is it like pop?
It's like me at 14, 15 singing for like 12-year old girls and stuff. It's awful.
What's the next thing we're going to see you in? I have a movie coming out pretty soon, called This Is Not a Movie, directed by Olallo Rubio, and co-starring Peter Coyote.
It's a very, very cool movie. Guns N' Roses' Slash did the movie score. There's all sorts of shit in it. It's weird and really hard to explain. It's an apocalyptic, end-of-the-world, druggie movie with naked chicks dancing around. It makes sense once you watch it all the way through. There's a twist to it that I can't reveal here. It's really good. I also have a movie called For the Love of Money coming out soon, too. James Caan is in that one. And I did a sci-fi movie. There's a couple things on the horizon for me, so I'm looking forward to it.
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21 of Edward Furlong's 60 films
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James Cameron Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
'Much like John Connor, The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (a.k.a “T2”), are both the products of and creators of their time. The Terminator came from a grittier, meaner brand of R-rated, 80s action that melded bloody action with desperate measures. They’re movies that are sweaty, ugly, and gleefully violent mixed with just a bit of campiness. Move to the 90s and everything is much cleaner and glossier. It’s the decade that saw the rise of the PG-13 action film, and the vanishing of the gritty aesthetic. Even though the movie is rated-R, Terminator 2 helped set the tone for this new wave of action movies. It’s drastically different than the original, features far more visual effects, and at the time was the most expensive movie ever made (James Cameron: Wanting His Movies to Cost More than the GDP of Small Countries since 1991). T2 showed that The Terminator may have been influential in the 1980s, but the sequel was a game-changer that redefined the character, the franchise, and, the blockbuster action movie.'-- Collider
Trailer
Excerpt
"Shit" montage
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Mary Lambert Pet Sematary II (1992)
'Essentially, Pet Sematary II is the embodiment of one of its resurrected victims: an emotionless husk that looks like the thing it used to represent but features none of the qualities that made people care for it in the first place. The two films are so different in tone it’s actually difficult to believe they were both directed by the same person: however, with Stephen King having nothing to do with the sequel it just goes to show the person with the pen is often more important than the person behind the camera.'-- That Was a Bit Mental
Trailer
Excerpt
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Martin Bell American Heart (1992)
'There are many reasons to watch Martin Bell’s American Heart (1992). A philosophical drama with Coming-of-Age nuances, the film focuses on the hardships of life by telling the story of Jack (Jeff Bridges), a recently released convict and his teenage son Nick (Edward Furlong). I did not really feel an emotional connection to any of the characters, but this did not lessen the experience. On the contrary, the distance between viewer and characters contributes to the authenticity of the film’s narrative. Most of the action is set in Seattle and we evidence the gritty daily fight of survival of its underprivileged inhabitants: drugs, violence, prostitution and robberies. A shocking, yet genuine, portrayal of the street – likely influenced by a documentary on the homeless kids of Seattle directed by Martin Bell some years prior to his work in American Heart.'-- The Sky Kid
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John Flynn Brainscan (1994)
'When Eddie and his legal guardians Sean Furlong and Tafoya arrived on the Brainscan set, a pitched battle began between the guardians and their charge, who, according to a draft of his contract, earned $350,000 to star in the sci-fi thriller, which opens nationwide on April 22. Tafoya said she and Eddie had three fights on the set and numerous fights off the set involving discipline — and Domac. ”’No, you can’t go visit Jackie now, you have to give your dog a bath,”’ she recalls saying. ”That’s when Eddie punched a hole in the ceiling of the trailer — over that. ‘Eddie, you just worked 12 hours. You can’t go visit Jackie; you have to go to sleep.’ ‘Get off the phone with Jackie — it’s 3 a.m.”’ Tafoya also claims she found Domac asleep in Eddie’s bed. Midway through the seven-week shoot, the moviemakers moved to resolve what they saw as a crisis. ”Sean and Nancy disrupted filmmaking,” says producer Michel Roy. ”Edward was in constant conflict with them. As a result, he had more difficulty performing his work. At one point, the group behind Brainscan, including me, decided the disruption was creating a major problem. I called Bruce Ross and said if they continued to disturb my days, you guys are going to have to pay for it.”'-- EW
the entire film
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James Gray Little Odessa (1994)
'Tim Roth is an amazingly versatile actor; compare this character from Brooklyn with his Cockney thief in Pulp Fiction and his foppish con man in Rob Roy. He does what he can with his character, but the story, written and directed by James Gray, is neither a family drama nor a crime melodrama, but a series of disconnected scenes that play like exercises - some of them very good ones. Consider, for example, the kid brother. Edward Furlong is a skillful actor, but what can he do with a role that requires him to materialize uncannily at key moments, just so he can witness things it is unlikely he would even know about? Or what about the father, played by Schell, who is written as such a ham-handed heavy that he bursts through credibility? And what, given the movie's Jewish milieu, are we to make of a closing scene in which a furnace is used as a crematorium? There is symbolism there, I'm sure, but I don't feel like working it out, and I don't think the movie has earned it.'-- Roger Ebert
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Barbet Schroeder Before and After (1996)
'In Before and After, Meryl Streep is a small-town pediatrician and Liam Neeson is a successful artist who makes big, John Chamberlainish metal sculptures. As Carolyn and Ben Ryan, they have two children and live in a rambling old house in New England. One day, their 16-year-old, played by Edward Furlong, is accused of murdering his girlfriend. Furlong’s Jacob runs away. Unsure whether his son did the deed but determined to protect him, Ben destroys potential evidence and lies to the authorities. Jacob’s younger sister, Judith (Julia Weldon), and Carolyn are appalled by Ben’s actions. Streep and Neeson are awfully good at conveying the parents’ agony and confusion, but only Weldon is permitted to tug at the audience’s hearts, in touching voice-over narration. Her character, however, is also the only member of the Ryan family who’s superfluous to the action. In Reversal of Fortune and Kiss of Death, Schroeder’s cool irony energized his material; in Before and After, it enervates the story he is trying to tell.' -- EW
Trailer
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John Waters Pecker (1998)
'If you didn’t see the movie when it came out back in 1998, the film follows 18-year-old amateur photographer Pecker (Edward Furlong) (so named because he pecks at his food, also because it’s funny) on a rags-to-riches adventure in the world of high art. Pecker is just a blue-collar kid in Baltimore, with a mom who runs a thrift shop where she offers fashion advice to the homeless, a sister (Martha Plimpton) who recruits go-go boys to dance at the local Fudge Palace, and a grandmother, Memama (Jean Schertler), who is the “pit beef” queen of Baltimore when not conducting prayer meetings with her talking statue of Mary. Pecker’s snapshots of family, friends, and laundromat-owning girlfriend (Christina Ricci) catch the eye of hip Manhattan art dealer Rorey Wheeler (Lili Taylor) who becomes fascinated with Pecker’s photos and offers him a big exhibition in the offing, followed by overnight fame as the young man becomes the new darling of New York. Soon Pecker discovers that fame has its price.'-- IFC
Pecker Recut as a Thriller
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Tony Kaye American History X (1998)
'Although American History X marked Tony Kaye's feature film debut, he considered himself a veteran filmmaker already because of his work in commercials and videos. A decade earlier, he was already billing himself as "the greatest English director since Hitchcock." Kaye's initial edit of the film drew notes from New Line on how he might improve it. He spent a year recutting the film. "In that time, I found a whole new film, one that they never allowed me to finish," he told the Guardian. New Line found the second cut even more unacceptable. At that point, film editor Jerry Greenberg and Edward Norton worked on a third cut. "I was so staggered by what [Norton] was doing to my film, and by the fact that New Line approved, that I punched the wall and broke my hand," Kaye told the Guardian. Norton wasn't the only star with whom Kaye had strained relations. He also had difficulty with Edward Furlong (the Terminator 2 actor, who played Danny, the younger brother whom Derek tries to keep from following in his own racist footsteps). During post-production, while he was on the phone with Furlong's management, he stomped on a VHS cassette of the studio edit of the movie and tried to flush the pieces down the toilet.'-- moviefone.com
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Adam Rifkin Detroit Rock City (1999)
'Detroit Rock City is KISS’ best merchandising move ever. Released about six years after Dazed and Confused, this movies follows four Cleveland teens on a trip to Detroit to see the greatest band in the universe: KISS. You know you’re in for an amazing time when the biggest name in the movie is Edward fucking Furlong. Edward Furlong, pre-downward spiral into drugs and irrelevancy, plays Hawk, the group’s leader. The rest of the cast includes Shannon Tweed, Sam Huntington, Nicky from Orange Is The New Black, and a few others. The movie is actually pretty funny, and while it is a giant KISSadvertisement, it’s one of the movie’s endearing qualities. You’d be hard pressed not to see some kind of KISS merchandise on screen, and in that sense, it feels like some used car salesman trying to get you to buy a bunch of shit.'-- Noisey
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Steve Buscemi Animal Factory (2000)
'Steve Buscemi, with his wry and jabby hostility, is such a vivid actor that few people seem to realize he’s becoming a major filmmaker as well. In Animal Factory, the finely tuned prison drama that’s his second feature (after Trees Lounge), Buscemi displays a pinpoint humanity, reminiscent of Jonathan Demme, that lays bare the inner turmoil of everyone on screen. Ron Decker (Edward Furlong), a soft-faced 21-year-old, doesn’t belong in prison, but there he is — convicted on a marijuana charge, tossed in with men who could eat him alive. Fortunately, he wins the attentions of Earl (Willem Dafoe), a veteran con who has mastered the Machiavellian intricacies of prison society. Dafoe makes Earl a tough-nut sociopath with an oxymoronic streak of restraint. He refuses to turn Ron into his ”punk,” and the film pivots around this enigmatic grace note of civility in hell. Oddball cameo of the year: Mickey Rourke as a pumped-up drag queen who’s like Blanche DuBois crossed with Elmer Fudd.'-- EW
the entire film
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Andrew Lauer Intermedio (2005)
'I thought the presence of a known actor like Eddie Furlong might mean that this movie has a certain level of budget, if not quality. Neither is the case. This is a cheap movie with cheap "effects" that are eye-rolling at best, laughable at worst -- the "ghosts" are guys dressed in skeleton costumes, a la Karate Kid (Plus, I'm getting sick of digital blood in horror movies.). The dialog is a ridiculous heaping of clichéd yelling ("We're not gonna get anywhere yelling at each other like this!" and that sort of crap). The actors are no better -- just a bunch of overacting, and Furlong is not immune. He's seen better days. His hunched over, paunchy stoner body, and baggy eyes make him look increasingly like Peter Lorre.'-- Bruce LeRoy
Trailer
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Lance Mungia The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)
'The Crow: Wicked Prayer is just like the first one -- if the first one had been made by a room full of mean-spirited six-year-olds with a finger-paint budget of $12.00. Appealing to the lowest possible tastes, it elevates violence to new levels of pander. Well, it's better than Crow 3. The only thing holding it together is Edward Furlong, who's deep, passionate performance is worthy of a better package.'-- collaged
Excerpt
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Randall Rubin Jimmy and Judy (2006)
'A teenage outcast road movie, Jimmy and Judy follows a of a pair of outsiders who fall in love and out of control as they travel across an American landscape dotted with hypocrisy, materialism, drugs and violence. The film focuses on the classic themes such as adolescent rebellion, love, and anger. Jimmy and Judy are a modern day Bonnie and Clyde: destructive young lovers who leave the comfort of their suburban community in rural Kentucky in search of a better life. The film is presented in the form of a video diary from the point of view of the main characters.'-- Wiki
Trailer
Excerpt
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Micheal Bafaro The Covenant: Brotherhood of Evil (2006)
'David Goodman is on the pick of his career as a PR executive when he suddenly loses his chance for a big promotion and, unfortunately, his sight at a street attack. Soon after a message is left on his answering machine about a doctor, named Guillermo List, who can help David to regain his eyesight and get his career back on track with only price... his soul.'-- howoldwas.com
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Excerpt
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Uwe Boll Siegburg (2009)
'According to director Uwe Boll, Stoic centers on a true incident which occurred in Siegburg prison in 2006 where three prisoners raped, tortured and ultimately forced their cellmate to commit suicide over a period of ten hours in a series of events that began with a poker bet involving the consumption of a tube of toothpaste. The film is based on a film treatment created by Uwe Boll. The dialogue was almost entirely improvised by the actors.'-- collaged
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Michel Gondry The Green Hornet (2011)
'Just days before The Green Hornet hits theaters with expectations of a #1 bow, one of the film’s stars, Edward Furlong, is struggling to stay out of the spotlight. The former child star who launched his career in 1991 in the role of a young John Conner in Terminator 2: Judgment Day was arrested on Tuesday in Los Angeles on suspicion of violating a restraining order that requires him to stay 100 yards away from his estranged wife, Rachael Kneeland, according to the Los Angeles Times. Furlong made it to Monday’s red carpet premiere of The Green Hornet in Los Angeles, but was then taken into custody the next day during a court appearance for violating the stay-away order in December. The couple are going through an ugly divorce, and People magazine reported that in court documents Kneeland alleged that, back in September 2010, Furlong “pushed” and “bruised” her and left threatening messages claiming he would “hire people to come and beat [her] with chains and bats.” Furlong has denied the allegations, but a judge issued a three-year restraining order against the actor and ordered him to undergo counseling.'-- mtv.com
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Olallo Rubio This Is Not a Movie (2011)
'Edward Furlong vehicle This is Not a Movie tragically lives up to its title, failing utterly at having a plot, being remotely entertaining, or making any valid points about anything at all. On the upside, it has an original soundtrack from Slash of Guns ‘n’ Roses (if you’re into that), and there’s a scene where faceless chicks in American flag underwear shake their asses for five minutes in a room full of lights and confetti. Also, there’s this other scene where Edward Furlong throws his arms up in the air and screams “I NEED P*SSY!” for no real reason, while wearing a cowboy hat. Other than that, the movie is boring and worthless. I’m pretty forgiving of low-budget movies that lack coherence or entertainment value – it can be a tough grind getting a film finished on time, working under severe budget constraints without sufficient resources. This is Not a Movie, however, is so wanktastically self-congratulatory about its inability to function as a narrative that it inspires only annoyance and disdain, seeming blithely convinced that its preschooler-at-mealtime refusal to conform to traditional rules about storytelling and characterization makes it automatically transcendent and artistically relevant.'-- Crave
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Justin Thomas Ostensen Below Zero (2011)
'Below Zero last made headlines in 2010 when cameras on the production were just getting rolling. Nearly two years later, we’re receiving the first stills released for the film. The story is said to be “based on true events,” but let’s be clear, the “true events” were not ripped from the headlines. Rather, the screenwriter put herself into the same situation the movie’s protagonist finds himself in. A bit gimmicky, but if it inspires interest in the film, so be it. So, what are the “true events”? A screenwriter – played by Edward Furlong – locks himself in a meat locker to complete a script. There, he faces his own demons. Silly.'-- Shock Til You Drop
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Ellie Kanner For the Love of Money (2012)
'Thesp-turned-scribe Jenna Mattison shows an immediate willingness to leave no verbal cliche unturned, filling the early passages with such opening-voiceover banalities as “A wise man once said,” “Times were simple back then” and “We didn’t have a lot, but we had each other.” Izak (Cody Longo in a fright wig) and his best friend/cousin, Yoni (Jonathan Lipnicki), are carefree teens in 1973 Tel Aviv whose fun in the sun is terminated by a dustup with vicious thug Tommy (Edward Furlong). To avoid reprisals, the entire family packs up and moves to Los Angeles, save Yoni’s black-sheep sibling, Levi (Oded Fehr), left cooling his heels in prison after a bank robbery. There’s a miniseries’ worth of narrative complication here. But For the Love of Money is so compressed, there’s no time for character development, stranding good actors with bad dialogue and zero chemistry. Nor does director Ellie Kanner-Zuckerman exhibit any feel for the pulp style and violent setpieces the material cries for. The most the pic can manage in living up to its own obvious reference points (Goodfellas, Casino, Scarface, etc.) is to predictably paper the soundtrack with period-evoking oldies from Three Dog Night to A Flock of Seagulls.'-- Variety
Trailer
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Nicholas Gyeney Matt's Chance (2013)
'"You know, when it comes to Eddie, today it seems to be popular to first think of him as that actor who's in and out of trouble with the law," begins the firm's director. "But when it comes to his acting abilities, as well as his work ethics, Eddie is extremely respectful and professional. Every time I yelled action, Eddie would LEAP into a zone that is difficult to describe. He would nail deliveries with ease, and his performance has elevated Matt's Chance into a complex character journey that I'm very proud of. I will step out on a limb and say that his performance in our dark comedy was one of his very best, and his current circumstances in life only build on the tension and humanity of his work in the film."'-- collaged
Trailer
Behind the scenes
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Uwe Boll Bailout: The Age of Greed (2013)
'This film isn’t unequivocally horrible. Early desire to set up the serious circumstances surrounding Wall Street’s fleecing of the American public and the regular Joe victims finding their lives spiraling out of control proves effective until eventually languishing in Boll’s overwrought montages of silent emotion. I felt for Jim (Dominic Purcell) and his wife Rosie’s (Erin Karpluk) plight, understanding the pressures of unavoidable illness and the yearning to hope love can truly conquer all. Finally receiving a clean bill of health where her tumors were involved, a few months of hormone treatment promise the green light on pregnancy and building a family. But happy thoughts soon disappear when their insurance cap is hit, their life savings are lost courtesy of faulty investments, and a sixty grand bill for owed interest on their shares is drawn.'-- jared mobarak
Trailer
The Making of 'Bailout: The Age of Greed'
*
p.s. RIP: Holly Woodlawn. ** Liquoredgoat, Hi, Douglas. We did the email thing this weekend, cool. Thank you again! Me too, re: Rose McDowall. Although I was a little disappointed with that recent album of her unreleased, semi-SS stuff, mostly '80s era. 'Jubilee', yeah. it keeps getting better with time, that film. Interesting. Oh, my pleasure. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, Nice, thank you for the link to the Terry Southern piece. I'll devour that. Norman Lloyd: I don't know why I don't know who that is. I'll find out. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, T. When you go into the corners and cracks in the '80s, it was actually a very wealthy time for experimental pop. But there is a ton of stuff by bands who kowtowed too greatly to the prevalent 'New Wave' production sound that's not worth much to non-nostalgists or era-fixaters. ** Bernard Welt Hi, B. I remember making those tapes. Echo&theBM (first three albums only) are still one of my all-time favorite bands. Good question. One uncontrollable factor is that, in the case of the '80s, a lot of the bands, good and bad, worked heavily with electronics. And the electronics of that era were relatively primitive, so, for better or worse, a lot of music from that time has the sound of bands trying to do advanced things with electronics, synths, etc. that weren't possible, and you hear that attempt/strain/limit, which is interesting but does lock the music into that time period. Yeah, Norman Lloyd doesn't even ring a bell for me. Weird. Sure, thanks, about alerting Jayme. I'll try to look characteristically me-like at any events. Bausch's 'Rite of Spring' is just about as great as dance has ever gotten. And, of course, Holly passed very sadly yesterday. Death is the absolute fucking worst. ** Sypha, Hi, James. Sweet. Personally, I would say 'Tainted Love' is the least interesting thing Soft Cell ever recorded. Anyway, glad the gig inhaled you in. ** Bill, Hi, Bill. I hope your nostalgia wasn't too powerful. You know know how nostalgia makes me reach for my garlic supply and cross. Right, yeah, re: that John Foxx vid. I never saw any of the Gang of Four reunion shows, but, as I'm sure I've mentioned here, the best gig I've ever attended in my life was Gang of Four on their first, 'Entertainment!' tour. Did you get to tinker? Gabrielle Wittkop: hm, interesting. I'll check that out. Thanks, pal. ** Misanthrope, Sounds likely. I mean re: the Scott Walker song title thing. Belated happy birthday to your mom! I saw a photo of her on FB yesterday, and now I know what she looks like. She doesn't look anything like the vague mental image I had inadvertently composed of her based on everything you've said about her. Which is cool. ** James, Ah, great you and the great Kevin have now moved into the face-to-face, in-person phase of your colleague-ship. Awesome. Was he up where you live, or were you down in SF? ** H, Hi. Oh, no, I've known Alice a little for decades, pre- and post-Ted, from the times the I lived in NYC. She's great, personally, and we get along good. She's just even more reclusive than I am. Yikes, that shouting ignoramus by-passer! ** Steevee, Hi, Steve. Thanks a lot, man. You may well know this, but the ABC track is particularly interesting because it's, I think, the best track from their infamously career sabotaging second album 'Beauty Stab' wherein they turned both on their fans and on 'themselves', i.e. the 'Look of Love' band, and tried to distort/destroy the thing they were famous for, and, yeah, basically killed their career, although they eventually snuck out a couple of minor hits, still subversive, by sticking to a closer mimicry of their earlier electronic sound. They're a more interesting, intelligent band than they're generally remembered for being. Good news about the new Spike Lee! This is the first time in a long, long time that I'm excited and anxious to see a new film by him. Well, you know it was just the first round of the elections. The media in the US seems to be reporting what happened as though it was the actual election. But, yes, it's bad. At best, it means the 'mainstream' conservatives are going to gain more ground. Unsurprisingly. Ugh. No, there is no one here remotely like Trump. Closest would be one of the Le Pens, Jean-Marie or the granddaughter, but, as horrid as they are, they're not openly -- that's the key word -- raging racism-spouting fascists. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Thanks, man. I would imagine you're at least something of a fan of Scritti Politti? Or ... are you into early Electro? Excited to hear about the writing/blog project reaching fruition. Obviously, please alert the fuck out of us when that is actualized. And good luck re: the meeting with Andrew, natch. ** MANCY, Yay, it's there and real! I'm ordering mine in just a minute! Everyone, the utterly fantastic artist of multiple stripes Stephen Purtill aka MANCY has a new, limited edition, hand-numbered zine work just now out and available to you. I'm ordering mine the very second I publish this p.s., and I urge you most passionately to do the same in your context. In any case, go have a look at the announcement page before you do anything else, yeah? Here. Oh, and here's a note from SP: 'If people have issues with my paypal button (for instance, it doesn't seem to appear on mobile browsers), they can just email me(steventpurtill@gmail.com).' Awesome! Yeah, nice Gang of Four clip, right? That's one of the best of the tracks from their later phase, I think. ** Okay. I have suggested that you give it up for Edward Furlong today. Is my suggestion sufficiently suggestible? See you tomorrow.