The man who teamed with Michael Douglas to launch Columbia-based production outfit Stonebridge Entertainment died today of cancer in L.A. Peter McAlevey was 58. The Suffern, NY, native was working as a Newsweek entertainment writer when Jeffrey Katzenberg recruited him to the new Disney team. During McAlevey’s tenure there, he partnered with Michael Douglas on Stonebridge, where they produced such films as Flatliners (1990), Double Impact (1991), and Radio Flyer (1992). Outside of Stonebridge, McAlevey also produced the romantic comedy Hard Promises (1991), starring Sissy Spacek and future CSI star William Petersen, which bowed at the Toronto International Film Festival. After Stonebridge shuttered in 1994, McAlevey launched Thunderbrid Pictures, which made such pics as Klash (1995) and the boxing remake Body And Soul (2000). Other credits include Shadow Hours (2000) and the System of a Down docu Screamers (2006). The Columbia University grad, who roadied for the New York Dolls during their 1970s heyday, also produced last year’s horror pic Kill Her,...
- 8/16/2014
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline
Peter McAlevey, a film producer who partnered with Michael Douglas’ production company Stonebridge Entertainment in the late 1980s, died Friday in Los Angeles after a short battle with liver cancer. He was 58. Survivors include his wife, Melissa Hufjay McAlevey, vp publicity at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, and their 4-year-old twin daughters, Rowan and Bailey. During his tenure at Stonebridge, the company produced such films as Joel Schumacher’s Flatliners (1990), starring Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Roberts; Double Impact (1991), the first studio hit for Jean-Claude Van Damme; and Richard Donner’s Radio Flyer (1992), starring Lorraine Bracco and
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- 8/15/2014
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
By Peter McAlevey
Wow! As if it wasn’t tough enough dealing with the passings of people like Dan Melnick or Dennis Hopper (each chronicled here), who were, of course, of another generation.
Now we’ve got to start dealing with our own. I can never forget Steve Reuther for several reasons, not the least of which was that we were supposed to be best friends. I don’t say that lightly -- when people like myself and Steve came of age in Hollywood in the ‘70s, there was one road to the top. And that was (following in the footsteps of Barry Diller and David Geffen before us) throug...
Wow! As if it wasn’t tough enough dealing with the passings of people like Dan Melnick or Dennis Hopper (each chronicled here), who were, of course, of another generation.
Now we’ve got to start dealing with our own. I can never forget Steve Reuther for several reasons, not the least of which was that we were supposed to be best friends. I don’t say that lightly -- when people like myself and Steve came of age in Hollywood in the ‘70s, there was one road to the top. And that was (following in the footsteps of Barry Diller and David Geffen before us) throug...
- 6/8/2010
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
All right, so I’m ripping off Yogi Berra with that headline. Who doesn’t? What kid can’t remember a Little League coach reminding him, “Half the game is 90 percent mental” … which actually makes sense if you think about it! But that’s a story for another time.
Unfortunately, this is a sad story … and the results are likely to be as confusing for many in the industry for years to come.
But let’s recap: In 1947, the Justice Department entered into the so-called Paramount Consent Decrees, which banned “block booking&rd...
All right, so I’m ripping off Yogi Berra with that headline. Who doesn’t? What kid can’t remember a Little League coach reminding him, “Half the game is 90 percent mental” … which actually makes sense if you think about it! But that’s a story for another time.
Unfortunately, this is a sad story … and the results are likely to be as confusing for many in the industry for years to come.
But let’s recap: In 1947, the Justice Department entered into the so-called Paramount Consent Decrees, which banned “block booking&rd...
- 5/18/2010
- by Lisa Horowitz
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
If Dennis Hopper had never directed a film, you’d still know who he was — before he was 20 he’d played a key role opposite James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause.” Later, he also provided color and humor to such famous, important films as “Apocalypse Now,” “Blue Velvet” and “Hoosiers.” And, of course, if you were a drug dealer or hooker on the West Side of L.A. for many of those years, he was, by his own admission, a key customer.
I know a little bit about ...
If Dennis Hopper had never directed a film, you’d still know who he was — before he was 20 he’d played a key role opposite James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause.” Later, he also provided color and humor to such famous, important films as “Apocalypse Now,” “Blue Velvet” and “Hoosiers.” And, of course, if you were a drug dealer or hooker on the West Side of L.A. for many of those years, he was, by his own admission, a key customer.
I know a little bit about ...
- 5/2/2010
- by Josh Dickey
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
Who said American lives (or those of transplanted Englishmen) have no second acts?
That’s right, it was F. Scott Fitzgerald, after his most acclaimed novel, “The Great Gatsby.” Just a few years later, he published what he considered his best novel, “Tender Is the Night.” Unfortunately, at the height of the Depression, America was less interested of the travails of the rich. It sank without a trace. Hence his melancholia.
If Scott Fitz had lived only a couple more years, he might have revised his opinion. His posthumous Hollywood novel “The L...
Who said American lives (or those of transplanted Englishmen) have no second acts?
That’s right, it was F. Scott Fitzgerald, after his most acclaimed novel, “The Great Gatsby.” Just a few years later, he published what he considered his best novel, “Tender Is the Night.” Unfortunately, at the height of the Depression, America was less interested of the travails of the rich. It sank without a trace. Hence his melancholia.
If Scott Fitz had lived only a couple more years, he might have revised his opinion. His posthumous Hollywood novel “The L...
- 4/28/2010
- by Lisa Horowitz
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
News item: TheWrap 4/17: “As Film Futures Trading Clears One Hurdle, New Battle Flares.” “The move came the same day the Commodity Futures Trading Commission unanimously approved the creation of one of two proposed markets that backers say would allow movie studios and financiers to hedge the risk of their investments in motion pictures.”
News item: L.A. Times, Monday, 4/19 “Not Much of a ‘Kick’: The teen superhero film ends up in a tie with the 3-D ‘How to Train Your Dragon.’”...
News item: TheWrap 4/17: “As Film Futures Trading Clears One Hurdle, New Battle Flares.” “The move came the same day the Commodity Futures Trading Commission unanimously approved the creation of one of two proposed markets that backers say would allow movie studios and financiers to hedge the risk of their investments in motion pictures.”
News item: L.A. Times, Monday, 4/19 “Not Much of a ‘Kick’: The teen superhero film ends up in a tie with the 3-D ‘How to Train Your Dragon.’”...
- 4/19/2010
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
Now that Pam Anderson is back in the “news” as one of the (truly) hot stars of “Dancing with the Stars,” it may be time to revisit her career — or at least her as a friend.
Now, I’m not saying I’m her closest friend — though her then-husband Tommy Lee did once babysit for my kids; and her later husband Kid Rock and my son did play on the same flag-football team. But I have known her for a while and like her a lot. She’s a good mama and a fine next-door neighbor. And that’s probably not anything you heard on Howard Stern ...
Now that Pam Anderson is back in the “news” as one of the (truly) hot stars of “Dancing with the Stars,” it may be time to revisit her career — or at least her as a friend.
Now, I’m not saying I’m her closest friend — though her then-husband Tommy Lee did once babysit for my kids; and her later husband Kid Rock and my son did play on the same flag-football team. But I have known her for a while and like her a lot. She’s a good mama and a fine next-door neighbor. And that’s probably not anything you heard on Howard Stern ...
- 3/29/2010
- by Josh Dickey
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
Alright, this one is too weird even for me -- and anyone who has read these posts knows, I can find connections everywhere … at least in Hollywood. (Or, as my friend George says, it’s like being a character in that old game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” though I did make a movie with Kevin and had a deal with he and Gail Ann Hurd, another of Jim Cameron’s ex-wives while I lived near Jim on Point Dume in Malibu … oh, forget it!)
But, honestly, if it weren’t for Noah Baumbach, the director of the cult hit “The Squid and the ...
Alright, this one is too weird even for me -- and anyone who has read these posts knows, I can find connections everywhere … at least in Hollywood. (Or, as my friend George says, it’s like being a character in that old game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” though I did make a movie with Kevin and had a deal with he and Gail Ann Hurd, another of Jim Cameron’s ex-wives while I lived near Jim on Point Dume in Malibu … oh, forget it!)
But, honestly, if it weren’t for Noah Baumbach, the director of the cult hit “The Squid and the ...
- 3/17/2010
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
Who would have thought, all these years later, that Joseph Mazzello and James Badge Dale would be working together!
After all, Badge was the original star of the infamous (though now lauded) Guber/Peters fiasco “Radio Flyer.” And when Jon Peters' vision of the film failed to pass muster, and everyone from writer-director David Mickey Evans to my friend Rosanna Arquette (who played the mom before Lorraine Brac...
Who would have thought, all these years later, that Joseph Mazzello and James Badge Dale would be working together!
After all, Badge was the original star of the infamous (though now lauded) Guber/Peters fiasco “Radio Flyer.” And when Jon Peters' vision of the film failed to pass muster, and everyone from writer-director David Mickey Evans to my friend Rosanna Arquette (who played the mom before Lorraine Brac...
- 3/11/2010
- by Lisa Horowitz
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
It’s hard to think of a more disparate connection than Tinsel Town and the ancient college on the Thames, Oxford University. But believe it or not, there is one, a quarter-century old, that has yielded numerous stars, Academy Awards, hit films and hit-film makers. And I have some little personal knowledge.
Now, this goes back till the baby boomers were all still in college. While I was studying in New York, my friend Billy Levy headed off to Oxford, the ancient market town that, since the Dark Ages, had been home to a number of colleges that collected themselves into what we know ...
It’s hard to think of a more disparate connection than Tinsel Town and the ancient college on the Thames, Oxford University. But believe it or not, there is one, a quarter-century old, that has yielded numerous stars, Academy Awards, hit films and hit-film makers. And I have some little personal knowledge.
Now, this goes back till the baby boomers were all still in college. While I was studying in New York, my friend Billy Levy headed off to Oxford, the ancient market town that, since the Dark Ages, had been home to a number of colleges that collected themselves into what we know ...
- 2/26/2010
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
Not to step into Steve Pond’s, well, pond, but I have this terrible feeling that, in fact, despite the vicissitudes of Academy voting, Harvey Weinstein may actually pull it off and get Quentin Tarantino an Academy Award.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying he will -- though clearly with eight, count them, eight Academy nominations, Quentin’s picture “Inglorious Basterds” is guaranteed to win a few, most obviously for Christoph Waltz as Best Supporting Actor. But that won’t satisfy Harvey or his creditors. (And, as we all know...
Not to step into Steve Pond’s, well, pond, but I have this terrible feeling that, in fact, despite the vicissitudes of Academy voting, Harvey Weinstein may actually pull it off and get Quentin Tarantino an Academy Award.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying he will -- though clearly with eight, count them, eight Academy nominations, Quentin’s picture “Inglorious Basterds” is guaranteed to win a few, most obviously for Christoph Waltz as Best Supporting Actor. But that won’t satisfy Harvey or his creditors. (And, as we all know...
- 2/10/2010
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
I don’t know what’s scarier: That most of my recent blogs have either been about dead people (Dan Melnick); books largely about dead people (“Pictures at a Revolution”); or the living dead (my story about the Rolling Stones and the creation of “Exile on Main Street”).
Actually, now that I think about it, with Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards’ -- who many have assumed to be a walking cadaver for years -- announcement Monday that he was quitting drinking (he didn’t mention anything about heroin or cocaine but, hey, we take what sobr...
I don’t know what’s scarier: That most of my recent blogs have either been about dead people (Dan Melnick); books largely about dead people (“Pictures at a Revolution”); or the living dead (my story about the Rolling Stones and the creation of “Exile on Main Street”).
Actually, now that I think about it, with Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards’ -- who many have assumed to be a walking cadaver for years -- announcement Monday that he was quitting drinking (he didn’t mention anything about heroin or cocaine but, hey, we take what sobr...
- 2/1/2010
- by Josh Dickey
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
I’d never pretend to be a book reviewer. On the other hand, it’s been years since I’ve read a book like Mark Harris’ “Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood” (Penguin), now out in paperback.
Now, you have to understand, there’s a lot of jealousy here -- for one thing, it seems like virtually everyone I know has already won a Pulitzer Prize: my college roommate Tim Page (for criticism for the Washington Post), Ric Burns (for his documentary “The Civil War”), Columbia College classmate playwrig...
I’d never pretend to be a book reviewer. On the other hand, it’s been years since I’ve read a book like Mark Harris’ “Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood” (Penguin), now out in paperback.
Now, you have to understand, there’s a lot of jealousy here -- for one thing, it seems like virtually everyone I know has already won a Pulitzer Prize: my college roommate Tim Page (for criticism for the Washington Post), Ric Burns (for his documentary “The Civil War”), Columbia College classmate playwrig...
- 12/20/2009
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
By Pete McAlevey
Let’s be honest here -- it’s easy to tell the truth about David Ansen, picked last week to be the new artistic director of the annual Los Angeles Film Festival, held every June (right around my birthday … I’m hoping that helps the next time he has to screen one of my movies; he killed my last one!).
Now, truth in advertising: Yes, he killed it (a movie called “Screamers” featuring the No. 1 heavy-metal band in the world, Glendale’s legendary System of a Down.) Still, I can’t say I really blame him for killing it -- ...
Let’s be honest here -- it’s easy to tell the truth about David Ansen, picked last week to be the new artistic director of the annual Los Angeles Film Festival, held every June (right around my birthday … I’m hoping that helps the next time he has to screen one of my movies; he killed my last one!).
Now, truth in advertising: Yes, he killed it (a movie called “Screamers” featuring the No. 1 heavy-metal band in the world, Glendale’s legendary System of a Down.) Still, I can’t say I really blame him for killing it -- ...
- 11/16/2009
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
Honestly, I’d kinda forgotten what a landmark movie it was -- “Flatliners,” that is.
Next year is its 20th anniversary, and what amazes me is that people still use the word as a noun, not a verb (as in, “He’s flatlining” ... meaning all those monitors you see in TV shows are beeping and the patient is dying). Which is what writer Peter Filardi meant when he created the phrase in the 1989 script “Flatliners.”
I know. I was the...
Honestly, I’d kinda forgotten what a landmark movie it was -- “Flatliners,” that is.
Next year is its 20th anniversary, and what amazes me is that people still use the word as a noun, not a verb (as in, “He’s flatlining” ... meaning all those monitors you see in TV shows are beeping and the patient is dying). Which is what writer Peter Filardi meant when he created the phrase in the 1989 script “Flatliners.”
I know. I was the...
- 11/10/2009
- by Lisa Horowitz
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
A couple of months ago, I posted a blog in this space “Is it a Wrap for Quentin Tarantino?”
To be modest, it inspired a firestorm of, shall we say, misplaced controversy. In it, I mentioned that I had been one of Quentin’s earliest supporters, thought that he had directed two of the three best movies of the ‘90s, and what I was furious about was the mendacities of the Weinstein Company which, in a desperate attempt to save itself, was trying to turn a good movie into some sort of godsend. To that end, they began an attack campaign on the press (me i...
A couple of months ago, I posted a blog in this space “Is it a Wrap for Quentin Tarantino?”
To be modest, it inspired a firestorm of, shall we say, misplaced controversy. In it, I mentioned that I had been one of Quentin’s earliest supporters, thought that he had directed two of the three best movies of the ‘90s, and what I was furious about was the mendacities of the Weinstein Company which, in a desperate attempt to save itself, was trying to turn a good movie into some sort of godsend. To that end, they began an attack campaign on the press (me i...
- 10/29/2009
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
So there I was with Raquel Welch at Alana Stewart’s book-signing party at the Art House one night last week. Now, I love Raquel -- I mean, I must have been 12 or so when she posed for that publicity shot in a fur-bikini for “One Million Years B.C.” so you can imagine I was more than thrilled. We probably spent half-an-hour or so chatting, and I found her charming and way smarter than you would think. The problem -- Raquel and I agreed -- was that there was no one there to chronicle it ... not us, but Alana’s party, ...
So there I was with Raquel Welch at Alana Stewart’s book-signing party at the Art House one night last week. Now, I love Raquel -- I mean, I must have been 12 or so when she posed for that publicity shot in a fur-bikini for “One Million Years B.C.” so you can imagine I was more than thrilled. We probably spent half-an-hour or so chatting, and I found her charming and way smarter than you would think. The problem -- Raquel and I agreed -- was that there was no one there to chronicle it ... not us, but Alana’s party, ...
- 9/14/2009
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
Dear Mr. Iger; As a former Disney executive and stockholder (I think I still have some shares kicking around in my Ira), I understand why you might want to put Diane Sawyer in Charles Gibson’s seat as the face of ABC News. Heck, I wasn’t even a huge Charlie Gibson fan. But to replace him with “Nixon Weathergirl” Sawyer is inexplicable -- save that you want to destroy what credibility you have left as a network! Let’s look at Diane Sawyer -- America’s “Junior Miss” in 1963 (wasn’t that before the hip...
Dear Mr. Iger; As a former Disney executive and stockholder (I think I still have some shares kicking around in my Ira), I understand why you might want to put Diane Sawyer in Charles Gibson’s seat as the face of ABC News. Heck, I wasn’t even a huge Charlie Gibson fan. But to replace him with “Nixon Weathergirl” Sawyer is inexplicable -- save that you want to destroy what credibility you have left as a network! Let’s look at Diane Sawyer -- America’s “Junior Miss” in 1963 (wasn’t that before the hip...
- 9/8/2009
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
My blog post last Friday on Quentin Tarantino, The Weinstein Company and “Inglourious Basterds” seems to have set off a firestorm of controversy.
I’ve never responded to a reader (or readers) before -- heck, in 30-some years with Newsweek, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, I’ve never even read a “letter to the editor.” After all, why should I? What could you, back in Omaha (who got your knowledge of the industry from “Entertainment Tonight”!) know that I, who’s spent 25 years in the film business, don&rsq...
My blog post last Friday on Quentin Tarantino, The Weinstein Company and “Inglourious Basterds” seems to have set off a firestorm of controversy.
I’ve never responded to a reader (or readers) before -- heck, in 30-some years with Newsweek, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, I’ve never even read a “letter to the editor.” After all, why should I? What could you, back in Omaha (who got your knowledge of the industry from “Entertainment Tonight”!) know that I, who’s spent 25 years in the film business, don&rsq...
- 8/31/2009
- by Michael Speier
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
Is this a wrap for Quentin Tarantino? That may sound bizarre, given the bluster Harvey Weinstein was spewing last weekend, but let’s examine the facts. Everyone has been proclaiming that Tarantino’s new, WWII monstrosity, which opened to an “unheard-of" $37.6 million, his “biggest opening to date.” But wait a minute --
Every picture that “opens” breaks some record -- according to Harvey, “Basterds” is #1 in “the last two-weeks of August” (but only the #11 picture for <...
Is this a wrap for Quentin Tarantino? That may sound bizarre, given the bluster Harvey Weinstein was spewing last weekend, but let’s examine the facts. Everyone has been proclaiming that Tarantino’s new, WWII monstrosity, which opened to an “unheard-of" $37.6 million, his “biggest opening to date.” But wait a minute --
Every picture that “opens” breaks some record -- according to Harvey, “Basterds” is #1 in “the last two-weeks of August” (but only the #11 picture for <...
- 8/29/2009
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
By Peter McAlevey
Everyone "knows" that the space program yielded Tang -- not true -- and the personal computer -- true. (One could argue the Internet as well, but that's another story.) Few people imagine, however, that without the Woodstock Festival -- which happened a mere three weeks after man landed on the moon (and was widely celebrated last weekend) -- we wouldn't have "Batman" (both Tim Burton's version and the newer "Dark Knight"), "Superman" HBO and "The Sopranos" and "Entourage," Time-Warner Cable (maybe the less sa...
Everyone "knows" that the space program yielded Tang -- not true -- and the personal computer -- true. (One could argue the Internet as well, but that's another story.) Few people imagine, however, that without the Woodstock Festival -- which happened a mere three weeks after man landed on the moon (and was widely celebrated last weekend) -- we wouldn't have "Batman" (both Tim Burton's version and the newer "Dark Knight"), "Superman" HBO and "The Sopranos" and "Entourage," Time-Warner Cable (maybe the less sa...
- 8/18/2009
- by Lew Harris
- The Wrap
Singer LeAnn Rimes is prepping to take her Grammy Award-winning talents to a new field -- the baseball field. Rimes is attached to star for director Rocky Lang ("Nervous Ticks") in "The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth," the first project from newly launched independent film outfit 'bel Films. The project, which is based on a true story, would see Rimes star as Tennessee native Jackie Mitchell, who, in 1931, became the only woman to strike out baseball legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig back-to-back, then was tossed out of the major leagues for being a woman. 'Bel Films, which will focus on family fare, was launched by Wall Street bond trader Joseph Burga. Joining Burga in the company are former Walt Disney Co. executive Peter McAlevey, who serves as West Coast president; East Coast vp Carolyn Dahm Mulrey; and Ivy Brooks, a creative associate in the Santa Monica office with McAlevey. Burga named the company after his 2-year-old daughter, Isabel, who was lost for nearly 12 hours in New York on Sept. 11 after the terrorist attacks. The ordeal led Burga to invest in the film business in hopes of providing entertainment to be enjoyed by entire families.
Singer LeAnn Rimes is prepping to take her Grammy Award-winning talents to a new field -- the baseball field. Rimes is attached to star for director Rocky Lang (Nervous Ticks) in The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth, the first project from newly launched independent film outfit 'bel Films. The project, which is based on a true story, would see Rimes star as Tennessee native Jackie Mitchell, who, in 1931, became the only woman to strike out baseball legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig back-to-back, then was tossed out of the major leagues for being a woman. 'Bel Films, which will focus on family fare, was launched by Wall Street bond trader Joseph Burga. Joining Burga in the company are former Walt Disney Co. executive Peter McAlevey, who serves as West Coast president; East Coast vp Carolyn Dahm Mulrey; and Ivy Brooks, a creative associate in the Santa Monica office with McAlevey. Burga named the company after his 2-year-old daughter, Isabel, who was lost for nearly 12 hours in New York on Sept. 11 after the terrorist attacks. The ordeal led Burga to invest in the film business in hopes of providing entertainment to be enjoyed by entire families.
He's a man of wealth and taste, the devil in this life and death. Set in the deadly nighttime hours of Hollywood Boulevard east of Las Palmas, "Shadow Hours" shows a struggle between good and evil and, more poignantly, one man's struggle with his inner demons. Starring Balthazar Getty and Peter Weller, "Shadow Hours" has a Fellini-like feel and will win fans on the art house circuit and appeal to indie channel viewers.
With his black Porsche and shiny sunglasses, Stuart (Weller) tools around Hollywood as a modern-day version of the devil, looking for converts and preying on the vulnerable and destitute. In his prowling, he stops to refuel and finds a young night-shift station attendant, Michael (Getty), who catches his whimsical and sadistic fancy. Even by Hollywood standards, Michael is down on his luck. He's recently out of rehab for coke and booze addictions and has a deep personal pit to crawl out of. The only shining light in his dismal life is his new wife, a veritable angel who has seen him through the darkest hours.
Intermingling Michael's personal struggle with a sensational string of murders that has frightened nighttime Hollywood, screenwriter-director Isaac H. Eaton has skillfully hot-wired an incendiary story line. Fueled with all the slimy trappings of present-day Hollywood, and further juiced by the satanic presence of Stu, "Shadow Hours" is an entertaining depiction of both a place and a mindset. It works as an allegory and a sharply honed personal story as we sympathize with Michael's struggles to stay clean and assume the responsibilities of his new marriage. Although the film sometimes wallows in melodrama, it invariably swerves back to the nearest mean street.
"Shadow Hours" oozes with hellish temptations as Michael tries to keep on the straight and narrow. Ultimately, it's Getty's empathetic performance as the struggling newlywed/recovering junkie that makes the film work. He's vulnerable and strong, and we root for him to resist his overwhelming temptations. Even more invincible in his Porsche and shades than he was in his Robocop gear, Weller's Mephistophelean malice is perfect for an L.A.-style devil. Rebecca Gayheart is peaches-and-cream dreamy as Michael's pregnant wife, certainly a guiding light. Once again, Brad Dourif does a terrific turn as a scummy night creature.
Technical contributions are well-realized, given the obvious budgetary constraints. The blight-night is searingly visualized by Frank Byers' eerie, smudgy cinematography, while the rank seediness of good ol' Hollywood is conveyed by Francis J. Pezza's sure-eyed production design.
SHADOW HOURS
Newmark Films Inc.
In association with 5150 Prods.
Producers: Peter McAlevey, Isaac H. Eaton
Screenwriter-director: Isaac H. Eaton
Co-executive producer: Andrea Mia
Executive producer: Michael Thomas Shannon
Co-producers: Balthazar Getty, Shon Greenblatt
Line producer: Donald West
Director of photography: Frank Byers
Production designer: Francis J. Pezza
Editors: Annamaria Szanto,
Clayton Halsey, Bill Yarhaus
Music: Brian Tyler
Costumes: Luke Reichle
Casting: Cathy Henderson-Martin,
Dori Zuckerman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Michael Holloway: Balthazar Getty
Stuart Chappel: Peter Weller
Chloe Holloway: Rebecca Gayheart
Detective Steve Andrianson: Peter Greene
Sean: Frederic Forrest
Roland Montague:: Brad Dourif
Detective Thomas Greenwood: Michael Dorn
Vincent: Corin Nemec
Running time -- 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
With his black Porsche and shiny sunglasses, Stuart (Weller) tools around Hollywood as a modern-day version of the devil, looking for converts and preying on the vulnerable and destitute. In his prowling, he stops to refuel and finds a young night-shift station attendant, Michael (Getty), who catches his whimsical and sadistic fancy. Even by Hollywood standards, Michael is down on his luck. He's recently out of rehab for coke and booze addictions and has a deep personal pit to crawl out of. The only shining light in his dismal life is his new wife, a veritable angel who has seen him through the darkest hours.
Intermingling Michael's personal struggle with a sensational string of murders that has frightened nighttime Hollywood, screenwriter-director Isaac H. Eaton has skillfully hot-wired an incendiary story line. Fueled with all the slimy trappings of present-day Hollywood, and further juiced by the satanic presence of Stu, "Shadow Hours" is an entertaining depiction of both a place and a mindset. It works as an allegory and a sharply honed personal story as we sympathize with Michael's struggles to stay clean and assume the responsibilities of his new marriage. Although the film sometimes wallows in melodrama, it invariably swerves back to the nearest mean street.
"Shadow Hours" oozes with hellish temptations as Michael tries to keep on the straight and narrow. Ultimately, it's Getty's empathetic performance as the struggling newlywed/recovering junkie that makes the film work. He's vulnerable and strong, and we root for him to resist his overwhelming temptations. Even more invincible in his Porsche and shades than he was in his Robocop gear, Weller's Mephistophelean malice is perfect for an L.A.-style devil. Rebecca Gayheart is peaches-and-cream dreamy as Michael's pregnant wife, certainly a guiding light. Once again, Brad Dourif does a terrific turn as a scummy night creature.
Technical contributions are well-realized, given the obvious budgetary constraints. The blight-night is searingly visualized by Frank Byers' eerie, smudgy cinematography, while the rank seediness of good ol' Hollywood is conveyed by Francis J. Pezza's sure-eyed production design.
SHADOW HOURS
Newmark Films Inc.
In association with 5150 Prods.
Producers: Peter McAlevey, Isaac H. Eaton
Screenwriter-director: Isaac H. Eaton
Co-executive producer: Andrea Mia
Executive producer: Michael Thomas Shannon
Co-producers: Balthazar Getty, Shon Greenblatt
Line producer: Donald West
Director of photography: Frank Byers
Production designer: Francis J. Pezza
Editors: Annamaria Szanto,
Clayton Halsey, Bill Yarhaus
Music: Brian Tyler
Costumes: Luke Reichle
Casting: Cathy Henderson-Martin,
Dori Zuckerman
Color/stereo
Cast:
Michael Holloway: Balthazar Getty
Stuart Chappel: Peter Weller
Chloe Holloway: Rebecca Gayheart
Detective Steve Andrianson: Peter Greene
Sean: Frederic Forrest
Roland Montague:: Brad Dourif
Detective Thomas Greenwood: Michael Dorn
Vincent: Corin Nemec
Running time -- 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
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