Lash Extensions 101: Faux And Fabulous
Happy Birthday, Mr. T!
Although he had leading roles in 'Repo Man' and 'Our Family Wedding,' Oscar winner Forest Whitaker has had more films go straight to home video in recent times
His latest film, 'The Experiment,' will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD on Sept. 21 through Sony Pictures.
Since the Texas native won the Academy Award for best actor in 2006 for his role in 'The Last King of Scotland,' five of his films have either been released in limited theaters or gone straight to DVD, including 'Winged Creatures' with Jennifer Hudson, 'Powder Blue' with Sanaa Lathan, and most recently, 'Hurricane Season' with Taraji P. Henson.
Directed by Paul Scheuring, 'The Experiment' stars Whitaker with Oscar winner Adrien Brody, Cam Gigandet, Clifton Collins Jr. and Maggie Grace in a remake of the 2001 German psychological thriller 'Das Experiment.'
The story is based on the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment, in which 24 men were pushed to the brink of madness when an experiment simulating life within a state prison spins horribly out of control.
Selected to participate in a two-week research project, a group of men agree to play inmates and guards in a simulation. But as the 24 volunteers slip deeper into their roles, power corrupts, fears escalate and the experiment spins horribly out of control.
Brody's latest film, 'Predators,' grossed more than $25 million this past weekend.
The high-profiled films that featured Whitaker were 'The Great Debaters' with Denzel Washington, 'Vantage Point' with Dennis Quaid, 2009's 'Where the Wild Things Are' with James Gandolfini, 2010's 'Repo Man' and 'Our Family Wedding.'
The last two films received negative reviews from critics.
This fall, Whitaker will star in the spinoff of TV's 'Criminal Minds.'
Comments: (16)
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By: Sallie on 7/13/2010 7:55AM
It is a shame that so many of Forest Whitaker's movies have been going straight to DVD. He is an incredible actor. IMO one not to be missed. I think he needs a new agent, or something.
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By: ennui on 7/13/2010 8:36AM
films go directly to dvd when the studios know they are garbage...just say it.
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By: fin on 7/13/2010 9:37AM
not true.
some amazing films have gone straing to dvd - it's about how much it costs to market it and distribute. Whitaker is not a bad director - hope floats was his first film and did relativly well - but so many films get made and if their is a black lead female (like Hudson, Laathan and Hensen) trhen closed-minded studios don't want to spend the money.
I actually think the idea for the experiment is crazy and will look out for the dvd. Brody and whitaker together should be great.
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By: Diane on 7/13/2010 9:03AM
Saw the spinoff of Criminal Minds, and THAT sucks too. It was hokey and I couldn't believe an actor of his caliber would do something like that. The original show is pretty good, but the spinoff is not.
Maybe right, he needs a new agent.
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By: BTDT on 7/13/2010 9:05AM
This man is a very good actor.
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By: Norm on 7/13/2010 9:24AM
It is a shame that these films or any films have to go straight to dvd release. There was a time when films were not just made to make millions but to tell stories and entertain. There is nothing like the theater experience. Too bad. Mr. Whitaker as well as Mr. Brody ate fine actors would have loved to have seen this on the big screen.
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By: james russell on 7/13/2010 9:52AM
It a shame that the film didn't make the theaters. However it is a shame that the only vehilce to put him in was a retread film. They need to stop making remakes of films from other countries that are not more than twenty years old. No one in the right mind would remake "CASABLANCA" OR "GONE WITH THE WIND" you just don't remake those films and shouldn't remake any film that is not old enough to have spin off grandchildren.
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By: bunny69 on 7/13/2010 10:15AM
I've seen many straight to dvd films and truth be told most of them need to go straight to the trashcan! Many of the std's (haha!)are so subpar in plot, script and acting that I'm surprised studios would waste precious time and money making this junk rather than funneling those funds and actors to better quality films. What a waste of talent and especially money....
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By: Steven Mark Pilling on 7/13/2010 10:38AM
Once you've become proclaimed an A-list actor, the big trick is to consolidate yourself there. Like many these days, Whitaker's agent decided to place his client in a number of fairly minor indie films to keep his name visible and, therefore, viable. Unfortunately, his choices were less than viable. The first was "Winged Creatures" (now called "Fragments"); an "episodic drama" about the stories of the survivors of a senseless mass murder. Whitaker's co-stars were mostly fading former A-listers looking for a comeback (like Jeanne Tripplehorn, Dakota Fanning, etc.) who just dragged him down with over-the-top melodramatic performances. That formula just keeps repeating itself. Whitaker, I DO believe, needs a new agent.
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By: John F.C. Taylor on 7/13/2010 10:38AM
What I've got to ask is, who decides if a movie is going straight to DVD? Do they show a test audience first or just decide to not make the effort to release it to theatres? Does the proliferation of the megaplexs have more than a little to do with the decision?
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