list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Dead Man Walking on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Dead_Man_Walking/92750/default.aspx Title: Dead Man Walking
Year: 1995
Director: Tim Robbins
Plot: Tim Robbins' second directorial effort (after the political satire Bob Roberts) was this drama based on a true story, which explores the issue of capital punishment. Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) is a nun and teacher living in rural Louisiana. One day, she receives a letter from Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn), who is scheduled to be executed soon for the rape and murder of two teenagers. After meeting Matthew, Sister Helen agrees to serve as spiritual counselor and see what she can do to stay the execution. However, Matthew's claims of innocence seem shaky at best, and it's clear he's a reprehensible, amoral racist. When it becomes obvious that Matthew's sentence will be carried out, Sister Helen offers what comfort she can to Matthew, but also tries to guide him to an open admission of the extent of his crimes and an acceptance of divine forgiveness, telling him "I want the last face you see to be the face of love." Susan Sarandon won an Oscar for her performance as Sister Prejean, and Sean Penn was similarly nominated for Best Actor as Matthew. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 14
Number of Lists: 17
Number of blog posts: 1
Number of discussion threads: 4
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:03:58 GMTDead Man Walking1995Tim Robbins<a href="/players/P___108437/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Tim Robbins</a>' second directorial effort (after the political satire <a href=/films/3911/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Bob Roberts</a>) was this drama based on a true story, which explores the issue of capital punishment. Sister Helen Prejean (<a href="/players/P____63158/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Susan Sarandon</a>) is a nun and teacher living in rural Louisiana. One day, she receives a letter from Matthew Poncelet (<a href="/players/P___106027/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Sean Penn</a>), who is scheduled to be executed soon for the rape and murder of two teenagers. After meeting Matthew, Sister Helen agrees to serve as spiritual counselor and see what she can do to stay the execution. However, Matthew's claims of innocence seem shaky at best, and it's clear he's a reprehensible, amoral racist. When it becomes obvious that Matthew's sentence will be carried out, Sister Helen offers what comfort she can to Matthew, but also tries to guide him to an open admission of the extent of his crimes and an acceptance of divine forgiveness, telling him "I want the last face you see to be the face of love." <a href="/players/P____63158/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Susan Sarandon</a> won an Oscar for her performance as Sister Prejean, and <a href="/players/P___106027/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Sean Penn</a> was similarly nominated for Best Actor as Matthew. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide14Tag Target (>10)17143http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t04635rb7ax.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Dead_Man_Walking/92750/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/14/36308.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/14/2008 5:01:12 PM
Body: Oliver Stone has long been synonymous with political passion projects, but his latest film, W., may be his most ambitious effort yet, if only because of how quickly the thing came together and got made. Now the serio-comic biopic about our sitting president is about to hit theaters, less than ten months after anyone had heard of its inception, and it’s getting a number of favorable reviews, will possibly rule the box office this weekend, and could even garner an Oscar nomination for Josh Brolin, who portrays the man with the titular initial, George W. Bush. But not all political passion projects are quite as successful as W. is expected to be. Some such films have been banned, while some have simply failed to acquire an audience on more democratic grounds, whether in terms of box office, critical or awards recognition. Yet regardless of the reception of a political passion project, either at the time of release (or intended release) or decades later, it may be regarded as an achievement merely for being made, because it can be a difficult task for a filmmaker, no matter how famous or powerful, to completely, without compromise, express his or her politics using such a collaborative and populist form of art as cinema. We’ve put together a list of 10 political passion projects that were (and are) successful on both levels. They’ve been embraced by a wide audience, a majority of critics and/or the Academy, and they also manage to be as uncompromising in their political passion as is possible in Hollywood. The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin, 1940) For his first “talkie”, Chaplin took on Hitler and the Nazis when it was still taboo for American media to do so. And it became his biggest hit ever in spite of its controversial subject matter. Considering one of the major problems with W. is reportedly Oliver Stone’s inability to mix the serious scenes with the comic, he might have benefitted from looking again at this film, one of the greatest political satires of all time. Meet John Doe (Frank Capra, 1941) Capra had already made a number of greater films with political subject matter, but this was pretty much his ultimate passion project, a culmination of themes he’d worked with on similar films like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But as successful as those films were in terms of Capra’s political expression, and as free as the filmmaker seemed to be throughout his illustrious career at Columbia Pictures, he always felt at least a little stifled by studio head Harry Cohn, and so with this, his first semi-independent project (co-produced and distributed by Warner Bros.), he had the most creative control yet. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t nearly as popular as his past films and the film is also not nearly as tight a work. However, more than 65 years later, it’s still one of the best displays of a filmmaker attempting to work out and express his political ideals in a mainstream film. Wilson (Henry King, 1944) Long before Oliver Stone and political documentarians made it more common and acceptable to make a movie about disliked politicians, producer and 20th Century Fox founder Darryl F. Zanuck developed this passion project about his favorite president, Woodrow Wilson. And the result would seem to have been a great success based on its reception by critics and the Academy Awards (nominated for 10, it won 5 Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay), yet it was a terrible, terrible flop at the box office, apparently because the public didn’t like or care about Wilson as much as Zanuck did. And legend has it that Zanuck was so embarrassed by the failure that he forbade his staff to ever mention its title again. Despite it’s Oscar success, it is unfortunately unavailable on DVD. The Green Berets (Ray Kellogg, John Wayne, John Gaddis and Mervyn LeRoy, 1968) Regardless of whether or not you agree with John Wayne’s politics, you have to give the guy some respect for making a stand with this film, which displays his support for the Vietnam War. It was a bold move for anybody, even one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, to dare go up against the zeitgeist of the times. And of course it was and is very much hated because of its heavy handed pro-war message. Reds (Warren Beatty, 1981) Beatty had already shown himself to be something of a politically minded celebrity, and he would go on to a greater reputation for being a liberal actor/filmmaker, but here with his first solo directing effort, he made an ambitious epic about the American communist John Reed and released it in a year that ushered in the most conservatively materialistic decade of the 20th century. Despite the political climate of the country, though, it was relatively successful at the box office, and it went on to recieve 12 Oscar nominations, of which it won 3, including a Best Director trophy for Beatty. Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992) Whether or not you believe it should have been nominated for more Oscars or if it was politically and racially ignored, the success of Malcolm X, both financially and culturally, was a terrific achievement for Spike Lee, who had made and has made less ambitious political passion projects before and since, some even arguably better than this one. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins, 1995) Robbins had already begun making political statement films a few years earlier with Bob Roberts, but this film, which he also produced, is the greater passion project. It may occasionally put off supporters of the death penalty, but those performances by Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon (who won an Oscar) simply can not be ignored. The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson, 2004) You can’t think about passion projects without this film immediately coming to mind –– and not just because it has the word passion right there in the title. As for the political part, as much as some of us would prefer not to think of religion as being a part of politics, it certainly is, and both the marketing and reception of Gibson’s film were very much from political perspectives, possibly even more so than from straight religious perspectives. Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005) Perhaps the best cinematic celebration of journalism since All the President’s Men, Clooney’s film is also possibly the classiest political passion project since guys like Beatty, Robbins and Clooney decided to go behind the camera and express their ideals. Darfur Now (Ted Braun, 2007) At a time when famous people like George Clooney and the double duty of “Brangelina” get equal respect and flak for being so political, it’s refreshing to see this documentary defend celebrity action while also examining the film’s specific cause. Produced by and featuring Don Cheadle (and also featuring Clooney), the doc is not technically the actor’s project as much as it is Braun’s, yet due to Cheadle’s passionate interest in the Darfur issue and his involvement with and in the film, and because he’s the biggest name on the production, it can certainly be accepted as equally his political effort. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:01:12 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/14/2008 5:01:12 PMOliver Stone has long been synonymous with political passion projects, but his latest film, W., may be his most ambitious effort yet, if only because of how quickly the thing came together and got made. Now the serio-comic biopic about our sitting president is about to hit theaters, less than ten months after anyone had heard of its inception, and it’s getting a number of favorable reviews, will possibly rule the box office this weekend, and could even garner an Oscar nomination for Josh Brolin, who portrays the man with the titular initial, George W. Bush. But not all political passion projects are quite as successful as W. is expected to be. Some such films have been banned, while some have simply failed to acquire an audience on more democratic grounds, whether in terms of box office, critical or awards recognition. Yet regardless of the reception of a political passion project, either at the time of release (or intended release) or decades later, it may be regarded as an achievement merely for being made, because it can be a difficult task for a filmmaker, no matter how famous or powerful, to completely, without compromise, express his or her politics using such a collaborative and populist form of art as cinema. We’ve put together a list of 10 political passion projects that were (and are) successful on both levels. They’ve been embraced by a wide audience, a majority of critics and/or the Academy, and they also manage to be as uncompromising in their political passion as is possible in Hollywood. The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin, 1940) For his first “talkie”, Chaplin took on Hitler and the Nazis when it was still taboo for American media to do so. And it became his biggest hit ever in spite of its controversial subject matter. Considering one of the major problems with W. is reportedly Oliver Stone’s inability to mix the serious scenes with the comic, he might have benefitted from looking again at this film, one of the greatest political satires of all time. Meet John Doe (Frank Capra, 1941) Capra had already made a number of greater films with political subject matter, but this was pretty much his ultimate passion project, a culmination of themes he’d worked with on similar films like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But as successful as those films were in terms of Capra’s political expression, and as free as the filmmaker seemed to be throughout his illustrious career at Columbia Pictures, he always felt at least a little stifled by studio head Harry Cohn, and so with this, his first semi-independent project (co-produced and distributed by Warner Bros.), he had the most creative control yet. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t nearly as popular as his past films and the film is also not nearly as tight a work. However, more than 65 years later, it’s still one of the best displays of a filmmaker attempting to work out and express his political ideals in a mainstream film. Wilson (Henry King, 1944) Long before Oliver Stone and political documentarians made it more common and acceptable to make a movie about disliked politicians, producer and 20th Century Fox founder Darryl F. Zanuck developed this passion project about his favorite president, Woodrow Wilson. And the result would seem to have been a great success based on its reception by critics and the Academy Awards (nominated for 10, it won 5 Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay), yet it was a terrible, terrible flop at the box office, apparently because the public didn’t like or care about Wilson as much as Zanuck did. And legend has it that Zanuck was so embarrassed by the failure that he forbade his staff to ever mention its title again. Despite it’s Oscar success, it is unfortunately unavailable on DVD. The Green Berets (Ray Kellogg, John Wayne, John Gaddis and Mervyn LeRoy, 1968) Regardless of whether or not you agree with John Wayne’s politics, you have to give the guy some respect for making a stand with this film, which displays his support for the Vietnam War. It was a bold move for anybody, even one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, to dare go up against the zeitgeist of the times. And of course it was and is very much hated because of its heavy handed pro-war message. Reds (Warren Beatty, 1981) Beatty had already shown himself to be something of a politically minded celebrity, and he would go on to a greater reputation for being a liberal actor/filmmaker, but here with his first solo directing effort, he made an ambitious epic about the American communist John Reed and released it in a year that ushered in the most conservatively materialistic decade of the 20th century. Despite the political climate of the country, though, it was relatively successful at the box office, and it went on to recieve 12 Oscar nominations, of which it won 3, including a Best Director trophy for Beatty. Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992) Whether or not you believe it should have been nominated for more Oscars or if it was politically and racially ignored, the success of Malcolm X, both financially and culturally, was a terrific achievement for Spike Lee, who had made and has made less ambitious political passion projects before and since, some even arguably better than this one. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins, 1995) Robbins had already begun making political statement films a few years earlier with Bob Roberts, but this film, which he also produced, is the greater passion project. It may occasionally put off supporters of the death penalty, but those performances by Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon (who won an Oscar) simply can not be ignored. The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson, 2004) You can’t think about passion projects without this film immediately coming to mind –– and not just because it has the word passion right there in the title. As for the political part, as much as some of us would prefer not to think of religion as being a part of politics, it certainly is, and both the marketing and reception of Gibson’s film were very much from political perspectives, possibly even more so than from straight religious perspectives. Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005) Perhaps the best cinematic celebration of journalism since All the President’s Men, Clooney’s film is also possibly the classiest political passion project since guys like Beatty, Robbins and Clooney decided to go behind the camera and express their ideals. Darfur Now (Ted Braun, 2007) At a time when famous people like George Clooney and the double duty of “Brangelina” get equal respect and flak for being so political, it’s refreshing to see this documentary defend celebrity action while also examining the film’s specific cause. Produced by and featuring Don Cheadle (and also featuring Clooney), the doc is not technically the actor’s project as much as it is Braun’s, yet due to Cheadle’s passionate interest in the Darfur issue and his involvement with and in the film, and because he’s the biggest name on the production, it can certainly be accepted as equally his political effort. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Top_5/Re_Top_5_movies_directed_by_an_actor_or_actress/190/26347/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: leeroy711
Post To: Top 5
Post Date: 3/18/2008 11:37:13 AM
Body: [quote user="Jymkata"]I'm sure I'm missing a great one, but I have got to say I was blown away by last year's Gone Baby Gone. I am stunned that the actor that has consistently disappointed me since he became a leading man came up with such a solid film. I usually hate Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford's directed efforts and I respect their acting much more than Affleck's, but Ben Affleck may have found a true talent for directing. [quote user="leeroy711"] And no, M. Night Shamylan movies don't count. I'm looking for movies directed by people that are much better known as actors than directors.5. The War Zone (Tim Roth) 4. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins)3. Nil By Mouth (Gary Oldman) 2. Illuminata (John Turturro)1. Romance & Cigarettes (John Turturro)[/quote][/quote]As far as Eastwood and Redford go, I think they are both thought of first as directors and not actors. I like some of Redford, especially Quiz Show, and I loved Unforgiven but I don't really think they fit into this catagory because the y both have directed more in the past 10 or 15 years than they have acted. Mel Gibson is the next to make that transition.
]]>Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:37:13 GMTleeroy711Top 53/18/2008 11:37:13 AM[quote user="Jymkata"]I&#39;m sure I&#39;m missing a great one, but I have got to say I was blown away by last year&#39;s Gone Baby Gone. I am stunned that the actor that has consistently disappointed me since he became a leading man came up with such a solid film. I usually hate Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford&#39;s directed efforts and I respect their acting much more than Affleck&#39;s, but Ben Affleck may have found a true talent for directing. [quote user="leeroy711"] And no, M. Night Shamylan movies don&#39;t count. I&#39;m looking for movies directed by people that are much better known as actors than directors.5. The War Zone (Tim Roth) 4. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins)3. Nil By Mouth (Gary Oldman) 2. Illuminata (John Turturro)1. Romance &amp; Cigarettes (John Turturro)[/quote][/quote]As far as Eastwood and Redford go, I think they are both thought of first as directors and not actors. I like some of Redford, especially Quiz Show, and I loved Unforgiven but I don&#39;t really think they fit into this catagory because the y both have directed more in the past 10 or 15 years than they have acted. Mel Gibson is the next to make that transition. http://www.spout.com/groups/Top_5/Re_Top_5_movies_directed_by_an_actor_or_actress/190/26284/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Jymkata
Post To: Top 5
Post Date: 3/16/2008 7:32:17 PM
Body: I'm sure I'm missing a great one, but I have got to say I was blown away by last year's Gone Baby Gone. I am stunned that the actor that has consistently disappointed me since he became a leading man came up with such a solid film. I usually hate Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford's directed efforts and I respect their acting much more than Affleck's, but Ben Affleck may have found a true talent for directing. [quote user="leeroy711"] And no, M. Night Shamylan movies don't count. I'm looking for movies directed by people that are much better known as actors than directors.5. The War Zone (Tim Roth) 4. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins)3. Nil By Mouth (Gary Oldman) 2. Illuminata (John Turturro)1. Romance & Cigarettes (John Turturro)[/quote]
]]>Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:32:17 GMTJymkataTop 53/16/2008 7:32:17 PMI&#39;m sure I&#39;m missing a great one, but I have got to say I was blown away by last year&#39;s Gone Baby Gone. I am stunned that the actor that has consistently disappointed me since he became a leading man came up with such a solid film. I usually hate Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford&#39;s directed efforts and I respect their acting much more than Affleck&#39;s, but Ben Affleck may have found a true talent for directing. [quote user="leeroy711"] And no, M. Night Shamylan movies don&#39;t count. I&#39;m looking for movies directed by people that are much better known as actors than directors.5. The War Zone (Tim Roth) 4. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins)3. Nil By Mouth (Gary Oldman) 2. Illuminata (John Turturro)1. Romance &amp; Cigarettes (John Turturro)[/quote] http://www.spout.com/groups/Top_5/Top_5_movies_directed_by_an_actor_or_actress/190/26280/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: leeroy711
Post To: Top 5
Post Date: 3/16/2008 6:50:26 PM
Body: And no, M. Night Shamylan movies don't count. I'm looking for movies directed by people that are much better known as actors than directors.5. The War Zone (Tim Roth) 4. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins)3. Nil By Mouth (Gary Oldman) 2. Illuminata (John Turturro) 1. Romance & Cigarettes (John Turturro)
]]>Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:50:26 GMTleeroy711Top 53/16/2008 6:50:26 PMAnd no, M. Night Shamylan movies don&#39;t count. I&#39;m looking for movies directed by people that are much better known as actors than directors.5. The War Zone (Tim Roth) 4. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins)3. Nil By Mouth (Gary Oldman) 2. Illuminata (John Turturro) 1. Romance &amp; Cigarettes (John Turturro) http://www.spout.com/groups/Grew_up_in_the_80_s/famous_stars_in_the_80_s_with_famous_siblings_just/38/10488/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: lukasblu
Post To: Grew up in the 80's
Post Date: 6/9/2007 5:19:00 AM
Body: your favorite stars back then that have a famous brother or sister now or a sibling that was starting out back then;name the stars and their siblings;you can also name some of your fave movies that they have madeexample mat dillion(the outsiders,employee of the month) and kevin dillionriver phoenix(1970-1993)my fave back then (running on empty,little nikita,my own private idaho) and joaquin phoenix (gladiator ,buffalo soldiers)meg tilly(agnes of god) and jennifer tilly(bound)sean penn(fast times at ridgemont high,the falcon and the snowman,racing with the moon,we're no angels,dead man walking,she's so lovely,sweet and lowdown.i am sam,the assasination of richard nixon )and chris penn(1965-2006)(reservoir dogs)
]]>Sat, 09 Jun 2007 09:19:00 GMTlukasbluGrew up in the 80's6/9/2007 5:19:00 AMyour favorite stars back then that have a famous brother or sister now or a sibling that was starting out back then;name the stars and their siblings;you can also name some of your fave movies that they have madeexample mat dillion(the outsiders,employee of the month) and kevin dillionriver phoenix(1970-1993)my fave back then (running on empty,little nikita,my own private idaho) and joaquin phoenix (gladiator ,buffalo soldiers)meg tilly(agnes of god) and jennifer tilly(bound)sean penn(fast times at ridgemont high,the falcon and the snowman,racing with the moon,we&#39;re no angels,dead man walking,she&#39;s so lovely,sweet and lowdown.i am sam,the assasination of richard nixon )and chris penn(1965-2006)(reservoir dogs)