Me and Orson Welles (2008)

Actors: Richard Linklater (director), Simon Atherton (miscellaneous crew), Steve Christian (producer), Richard Linklater (producer), Eddie Marsan (actor), John Sloss (producer), Jools Holland (actor), Claire Danes (actress), Zac Efron (actor), Chris Wilson (actor), Michael Brandon (actor), Greg Bennett (actor), Garrick Hagon (actor), Matt Curtis (miscellaneous crew), Libbie Barr (miscellaneous crew),

Plot: In November 1937, high school student and aspiring thespian Richard Samuels takes a day trip into New York City. There, he meets and begins a casual friendship with Gretta Adler, their friendship based on a shared love and goal of a profession in the creative arts. But also on this trip, Richard stumbles across the Mercury Theatre and meets 'Orson Welles' (qv), who, based on an impromptu audition, offers Richard an acting job as Lucius in his modern retelling of Julius Caesar, which includes such stalwart Mercury Theatre players as 'Joseph Cotten (I)' (qv) and 'George Coulouris' (qv). Despite others with official roles as producer 'John Houseman (I)' (qv), this production belongs to Welles, the unofficial/official dictator. In other words, whatever Welles wants, the cast and crew better deliver. These requests include everything, even those of a sexual nature. Welles does not believe in conventions and will do whatever he wants, which includes not having a fixed opening date, although the unofficial opening date is in one week's time. In turn, Welles realizes that his name will either be strengthened or ruined in the theater community by this production. Richard is taken under the wing by the production's Jane-of-All-Trades, Sonja Jones. Known as the Ice Queen by the male cast, Sonja deflects much of the unwanted sexual attention by jokingly implying that she and Richard are having a fling, which Richard wants nothing more than to be the truth. As the end of the week and opening night approaches, Richard, having seen Welles' behavior, has to decide if acting in this production is worth it at any cost.

Keywords: 17-year-old, 1930s, actor, actors'-equity-association, actress, ambition, ambulance, ambulance-siren, apology, applause
Genres: Drama,
Taglines: All's fair in love and theater

Quotes:

Orson Welles: Cinna is Shakespeare's indictment of the intelligentsia. He's a lofty, Byronic figure.

Orson Welles: Where is thou ukulele?::Richard Samuels: I think some asshole... doth... stole it

Orson Welles: Do you know Booth Tarkington's "The Magnificent Ambersons?" Tarkington was a family friend. The character of Eugene, the inventor, is based on my father who died when I was fifteen. My mother when I was nine. "Ambersons" is about how everything gets taken away from you.

Orson Welles: Look at us, Runyon. Me without my story and you without your girl. We can't ever tell what will happen at all, can we? Once I stood in Grand Central Station to say goodbye to a pretty girl. I was wild about her. In fact, we decided we couldn't live without each other, and we were to be married. When we came to say goodbye we knew we wouldn't see each other for almost a year. I thought I couldn't live through it - and she stood there crying. Well, I don't even know where she lives now, or if she is living. If she ever thinks of me at all, she probably imagines I'm still dancing in some ballroom somewhere... Life and money both behave like quicksilver in a nest of cracks. And when they're gone we can't tell where - or what the devil we did with 'em...

John Houseman: This is an infinitely rewarding partnership, Orson. You go around smashing everything, you disenfranchise every friend, every supporter we have. And then I'm left desperately trying to clean up your mess. Because I am the one who ends up making the apologies, making the corrections, and making the ten thousand phone calls...::Orson Welles: And I'm out acting in "The Shadow" and "The March of Time" and every other piece-of-shit radio show in this city, just to pour my money into this son-of-a-bitch theater that you're supposed to be running.::John Houseman: That I'm 'supposed to be running?' I am killing myself trying to run it!

Joseph Cotten: Welcome to quadruple-space, kid.::Richard Samuels: What's quadruple space?::Joseph Cotten: You know in a novel, when the main characters are finally about to shtup? They can't describe it or otherwise they can't print the book. They just go, 'He hugged her hard, and they fell into bed.' Period. Quadruple space.::Norman Lloyd: The next paragraph the sun is rising and the milkman is knocking the bottles together.::Joseph Cotten: All the good stuff happens in the quadruple space.::Norman Lloyd: Fertilizer's hoping to make his next thirty years one long quadruple space.::Joseph Cotten: Forty.

Sonja Jones: Mercury. This is she... Oh, Mr. Ingram, Orson left just two minutes ago... he took an ambulance to beat the traffic... Well, you know, according to Orson there's no law on the books that says you have to be sick to take an ambulance. Of course, that's according to Orson, which probably means it isn't really true but it ought to be...

Richard Samuels: Well, I wish you luck.::Sonja Jones: I won't need luck. I don't believe in luck.::Richard Samuels: I don't think I do anymore, either. It's kind of a relief, isn't it, not believing in luck?::Sonja Jones: I don't want to keep Mr. Selznick, waiting, do I? How do I look?::Richard Samuels: Like a girl who's going to give me one blindingly beautiful parting kiss.

Sonja Jones: Orson wants to stay with me tonight.::Richard Samuels: Stay with you tonight?::Sonja Jones: I'm in no position to refuse.::Richard Samuels: What are you talking about?::Sonja Jones: I have to watch out for myself. That's what my whole life has taught me again and again.

[first lines]::Dr. Mewling: By the year of 1592, Shakespeare was already an actor, and a playwright. Records of how his stage career began have not survived. We do know that in 1594 he joined a theater troupe. Called... anyone remember? Not everyone at once now. The Lord Chamberlain's Men.

Timeless: Live at the Velvet Lounge (2006)

Actors: Bob Koester (producer), Steve Wagner (editor), Tom Koester (director), Fred Anderson (actor), Fred Anderson (actor), Harrison Bankhead (actor), Hamid Drake (actor),

Genres: Music,

Ritual Trio: Live at the River East Art Center (2005)

Actors: Bob Koester (producer), Steve Wagner (producer), Tom Koester (director), Bob J. Koester (editor), Kahil El Zabar (producer), Kahil El Zabar (actor), Kahil El Zabar (actor), Ari Brown (actor), Billy Bang (actor), Yosef Ben Israel (actor),

Genres: Documentary, Music,

Louie Bellson and His Big Band (2003)

Actors: Tom Malone (actor), Louie Bellson (actor), Gil Goldstein (actor), Michael Brecker (actor), Tim Landers (actor), Randy Brecker (actor), Herb Geller (actor), André Villeger (actor), Ack Van Rooyan (actor), Benny Baily (actor), Jiggs Whigham (actor), Americo Belotto (actor), Hermann Breuer (actor), Dean Brown (actor), Rudi Fussers (actor),

Plot: The Inventor of the two-bass drum kit is famous for his collaborations with Ellington, Basie, Dorsey, and Goodman bands and his work with Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and many others. This is superb big-band jazz at its best; a live concert performance, recorded direct from Switzerland in 1983, featuring Randy and Michael Brecker, Herb Geller, Lew Soloff, Howard Johnson, and Benny Baily. Includes Bonus Video of Bellson and Billy Cobham in a "Drum Duel"

Keywords: big-band, character-name-in-title, concert-film, drummer, genius, jazz, live-concert
Genres: Documentary, Music,

Louie Bellson and His Big Band (2003)

Actors: Tom Malone (actor), Louie Bellson (actor), Gil Goldstein (actor), Michael Brecker (actor), Tim Landers (actor), Randy Brecker (actor), Herb Geller (actor), André Villeger (actor), Ack Van Rooyan (actor), Benny Baily (actor), Jiggs Whigham (actor), Americo Belotto (actor), Hermann Breuer (actor), Dean Brown (actor), Rudi Fussers (actor),

Plot: The Inventor of the two-bass drum kit is famous for his collaborations with Ellington, Basie, Dorsey, and Goodman bands and his work with Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and many others. This is superb big-band jazz at its best; a live concert performance, recorded direct from Switzerland in 1983, featuring Randy and Michael Brecker, Herb Geller, Lew Soloff, Howard Johnson, and Benny Baily. Includes Bonus Video of Bellson and Billy Cobham in a "Drum Duel"

Keywords: big-band, character-name-in-title, concert-film, drummer, genius, jazz, live-concert
Genres: Documentary, Music,

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Actors: Frank Slaten (actor), Stefania Rocca (actress), James Rebhorn (actor), Sergio Rubini (actor), Renato Scarpa (actor), Gwyneth Paltrow (actress), Philip Seymour Hoffman (actor), Gianfranco Barra (actor), Philip Baker Hall (actor), Matt Damon (actor), Jack Davenport (actor), Jude Law (actor), Ivano Marescotti (actor), Sydney Pollack (producer), Cate Blanchett (actress),

Plot: The 1950s. Manhattan lavatory attendant, Tom Ripley, borrows a Princeton jacket to play piano at a garden party. When the wealthy father of a recent Princeton grad chats Tom up, Tom pretends to know the son and is soon offered $1,000 to go to Italy to convince Dickie Greenleaf to return home. In Italy, Tom attaches himself to Dickie and to Marge, Dickie's cultured fiancée, pretending to love jazz and harboring homoerotic hopes as he soaks in luxury. Besides lying, Tom's talents include impressions and forgery, so when the handsome and confident Dickie tires of Tom, dismissing him as a bore, Tom goes to extreme lengths to make Greenleaf's privileges his own.

Keywords: 1950s, affection, american-abroad, american-express, anger, aristocrat, assumed-identity, bank-account, based-on-book, based-on-novel
Genres: Crime, Drama, Music, Thriller,
Taglines: How far would you go to become someone else. Everybody should have one talent... what's yours? It's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody.

Quotes:

Tom Ripley: I always thought it would be better, to be a fake somebody... than a real nobody.

Peter: Sorry, I'm completely lost.::Tom Ripley: I know. I'm lost, too. I'm going to be stuck in the basement, aren't I, that's my, that's my... terrible, and alone, and dark, and I've lied about who I am, and where I am, and now no-one will ever find me.::Peter: What do you mean... lied about who you are?::Tom Ripley: I always thought it'd be better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody.::Peter: What are you talking about? You're not a nobody. That's the last thing you are.

Freddie Miles: In fact the only thing that looks like Dickie is you.::Tom Ripley: Hardly.::Freddie Miles: Have you done something to your hair?::Tom Ripley: Freddie, do you have something you'd like to say?::Freddie Miles: What? I think I'm saying it. Something's going on. He's either converted to Christianity... or to something else.::Tom Ripley: I suggest you ask Dickie that yourself. Otello's is on delle Croce, just off the Corso.::Freddie Miles: Is it on "delle Croce, just off the Corso?" You're a quick study, aren't you? Last time you didn't know your ass from your elbow, now you're giving me directions. That's not fair, you probably do know your ass from your elbow. I'll see you.

[first lines]::Tom Ripley: If I could just go back... if I could rub everything out... starting with myself.

Dickie Greenleaf: Everybody should have one talent, what's yours?::Tom Ripley: Forging signatures, telling lies... impersonating practically anybody.::Dickie Greenleaf: That's three, nobody should have more than one talent.

Tom Ripley: [imitating Dickie's father] "Oh yes, Jazz... it's just insolent noise."::Dickie Greenleaf: I feel like he's here. Horrible. Like the old bastard is here right now! [pause in disbelief, Dickie moves in to hold Tom's hand] Brilliant. How do you know him ?

Dickie Greenleaf: You know, without the glasses you're not even ugly.

Meredith: [sheepish] I'm sorry, I wouldn't have made a joke if...::Tom Ripley: [cuts her off] Don't be sorry. I've never been happier. I feel like I've been handed a new life.

Tom Ripley: You're the brother I never had. I'm the brother you never had. I would do anything for you, Dickie.

Tom Ripley: First of all I know there's something. That evening when we played chess for instance it was obvious.::Dickie Greenleaf: What evening?::Tom Ripley: Oh sure, no, no, it's too dangerous for you to take on. Oh, no, no, we're brothers. Hey. And then you do this sordid thing with Marge. Fucking her on the boat while we all have to listen. Which was excruciating, by the way! And you follow your cock around and now you're getting married! I'm bewildered, forgive me. You're lying to Marge and then you're getting married to her. You're knocking up Silvana. You're ruining everybody. You wanna play the sax, you wanna play the drums. What is it, Dickie? What do you actually play?::Dickie Greenleaf: Who are you? Huh? Some third class mooch? Who are you? Who are you to say anything to me? I really, really don't want to be on this boat with you right now. I can't move without you moving. Gives me the creeps. [enraged by his on-the-fly suspicions] You give me the creeps!

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Actors: Frank Slaten (actor), Stefania Rocca (actress), James Rebhorn (actor), Sergio Rubini (actor), Renato Scarpa (actor), Gwyneth Paltrow (actress), Philip Seymour Hoffman (actor), Gianfranco Barra (actor), Philip Baker Hall (actor), Matt Damon (actor), Jack Davenport (actor), Jude Law (actor), Ivano Marescotti (actor), Sydney Pollack (producer), Cate Blanchett (actress),

Plot: The 1950s. Manhattan lavatory attendant, Tom Ripley, borrows a Princeton jacket to play piano at a garden party. When the wealthy father of a recent Princeton grad chats Tom up, Tom pretends to know the son and is soon offered $1,000 to go to Italy to convince Dickie Greenleaf to return home. In Italy, Tom attaches himself to Dickie and to Marge, Dickie's cultured fiancée, pretending to love jazz and harboring homoerotic hopes as he soaks in luxury. Besides lying, Tom's talents include impressions and forgery, so when the handsome and confident Dickie tires of Tom, dismissing him as a bore, Tom goes to extreme lengths to make Greenleaf's privileges his own.

Keywords: 1950s, affection, american-abroad, american-express, anger, aristocrat, assumed-identity, bank-account, based-on-book, based-on-novel
Genres: Crime, Drama, Music, Thriller,
Taglines: How far would you go to become someone else. Everybody should have one talent... what's yours? It's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody.

Quotes:

Tom Ripley: I always thought it would be better, to be a fake somebody... than a real nobody.

Peter: Sorry, I'm completely lost.::Tom Ripley: I know. I'm lost, too. I'm going to be stuck in the basement, aren't I, that's my, that's my... terrible, and alone, and dark, and I've lied about who I am, and where I am, and now no-one will ever find me.::Peter: What do you mean... lied about who you are?::Tom Ripley: I always thought it'd be better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody.::Peter: What are you talking about? You're not a nobody. That's the last thing you are.

Freddie Miles: In fact the only thing that looks like Dickie is you.::Tom Ripley: Hardly.::Freddie Miles: Have you done something to your hair?::Tom Ripley: Freddie, do you have something you'd like to say?::Freddie Miles: What? I think I'm saying it. Something's going on. He's either converted to Christianity... or to something else.::Tom Ripley: I suggest you ask Dickie that yourself. Otello's is on delle Croce, just off the Corso.::Freddie Miles: Is it on "delle Croce, just off the Corso?" You're a quick study, aren't you? Last time you didn't know your ass from your elbow, now you're giving me directions. That's not fair, you probably do know your ass from your elbow. I'll see you.

[first lines]::Tom Ripley: If I could just go back... if I could rub everything out... starting with myself.

Dickie Greenleaf: Everybody should have one talent, what's yours?::Tom Ripley: Forging signatures, telling lies... impersonating practically anybody.::Dickie Greenleaf: That's three, nobody should have more than one talent.

Tom Ripley: [imitating Dickie's father] "Oh yes, Jazz... it's just insolent noise."::Dickie Greenleaf: I feel like he's here. Horrible. Like the old bastard is here right now! [pause in disbelief, Dickie moves in to hold Tom's hand] Brilliant. How do you know him ?

Dickie Greenleaf: You know, without the glasses you're not even ugly.

Meredith: [sheepish] I'm sorry, I wouldn't have made a joke if...::Tom Ripley: [cuts her off] Don't be sorry. I've never been happier. I feel like I've been handed a new life.

Tom Ripley: You're the brother I never had. I'm the brother you never had. I would do anything for you, Dickie.

Tom Ripley: First of all I know there's something. That evening when we played chess for instance it was obvious.::Dickie Greenleaf: What evening?::Tom Ripley: Oh sure, no, no, it's too dangerous for you to take on. Oh, no, no, we're brothers. Hey. And then you do this sordid thing with Marge. Fucking her on the boat while we all have to listen. Which was excruciating, by the way! And you follow your cock around and now you're getting married! I'm bewildered, forgive me. You're lying to Marge and then you're getting married to her. You're knocking up Silvana. You're ruining everybody. You wanna play the sax, you wanna play the drums. What is it, Dickie? What do you actually play?::Dickie Greenleaf: Who are you? Huh? Some third class mooch? Who are you? Who are you to say anything to me? I really, really don't want to be on this boat with you right now. I can't move without you moving. Gives me the creeps. [enraged by his on-the-fly suspicions] You give me the creeps!