Saturday, May 29, 2010

Sneaking the Script...


Joe Fisk: So, uh, what were you doing out in the forest?

Lisa Taylor: That's my secret hobby. Photography.

Joe Fisk: Really?

Lisa Taylor: I was taking pictures of myself.

Joe Fisk: Why?

Lisa Taylor: Well, I was supposed to be Ophelia.

Joe Fisk: Oh, right. That's, um... the painting out in the hallway. Right?

Lisa Taylor: Yeah. You're very observant.

Joe Fisk: Well, I saw you in the forest... Did you see me?

Lisa Taylor: Of course I saw you. That's why you're here.

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TV Guide Review


Technically, this film should be classified as a fantasy: the folks behind it ask the viewer to swallow so many unlikely premises that it boggles the mind. Sheffer is a resident at a reform camp for handsome and muscular juvenile delinquents. While out on an athletic outing in the Oregon woods where the camp is located, Sheffer sees a beautiful woman floating in a pond. This lady of the lake is Madsen, a student at a nearby Catholic girls' school who is working on a photography project. Of course, it's young love at first sight, but there remains the problem of getting these kids together.

Director Gibbons makes his feature debut here after cutting his teeth in rock videos. The aesthetics of his former medium are evident throughout, including artfully lit shots, beautiful actors, and plenty of pop tunes. Missing are characters of any reasonable intelligence or believability. There's no real point to the film other than to watch Sheffer and Madsen make out. Their brief and boring lip locks aren't enough to base a film on, despite the promised passion of a poorly chosen title.

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Baxter

Daniel Bernard (D.B.) Sweeney plays Thomas Baxter, the Barracudas's lider.

Born November 14, 1961, in Shoreham, New York. He has two sisters and one brother. Before he thought about acting he wanted to be a professional baseball player, but a motorcycle accident ended that dream. He graduated from Tulane University. He has made four theater appearances on both Broadway and in L.A. productions. He used the name Danny Sweeney at the beginning of his acting career, but since there was another actor with that name on the SAG/AFTRA productions, he had to change his name, and chose D.B. Sweeney.

He first started out with small roles, gradually increasing the size of his parts as he began appearing in mini-series and TV shows. He has been a voice for two Disney children movies. His love of baseball did land him two roles, playing Shoeless Joe Jackson in Eight Men Out (1988) and a baseball coach in Hard Ball (2001). He has appeared in science-fiction movies including Fire in the Sky (1993) and he appealed to female fans in the romantic The Cutting Edge (1992), in which he played an ex-hockey layer turned figure skater. That role led to his playing hockey in celebrity games.

Recently he has moved from actor to writer/director with his film _Dirt Nap (2006/II)_ , which has been a big hit at film festivals. He is married and has one child.

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She's a Twitter!


Virginia Madsen loves Twitter. So you can follow her at Madly V and try to send her a message. With lucky, maybe she'll answer you.

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Howard Shore, The New Twilight Saga Composer


Howard Leslie Shore is a Canadian composer, notable for his film scores. He has composed the scores for over 40 films, most notably the scores for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he won three Academy Awards. He is also a consistent collaborator with director David Cronenberg, having scored all but one of his films since 1979.

Shore is a three-time winner of the Academy Award, and has also won two Golden Globe Awards and four Grammy Awards. He is the uncle of film composer Ryan Shore.

So it's hard to believe he did «Fire with Fire» score for the 1986 Duncan Gibbins 's movie. Some of the most romantic and emotional scenes between Lisa and Joe are signed by this great composer, who recently worked with David Slave preparing the score for the next chapter of Twilight Saga «Eclipse».

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Friday, May 28, 2010

French Cover

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Myron


Jeffrey Jay Cohen plays the ingenious and slightly offbeat mapmaker in «Fire With Fire», who is Joe Fisk best friend at the probation camp and provides the plan for Joe and Lisa to be together.
"Mapmaker is the kind of guy who will stand up to anyone and everybody, despite the fact he will get his butt kicked bt anyone and everyone. Still, he won't back down", says Cohen.

«Fire with Fire» marks the third film in a row where Cohen has played the sidekick to the lead character. He played Skinhead in Steven Spielberg's «Back to the Future» and the C. Thomas Howell's best buddy in «Secret Admirer».

"This role in Fire with Fire is much larger in scope than anything else I have ever done. Mapmaker is sort of nerdy, but he's also sensitive, intelligent and sentimental. With those aspects to a character, you're able to find more colors than in a leading man role", Cohen maintains.

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Thursday, May 27, 2010

The New Work Times Review


Can a girl from a Roman Catholic boarding school find happiness with a guy from a minimum-security prison down the road? That is the question posed by ''Fire With Fire,'' which opens today at Loews State and other theaters. If you think the question is uninteresting, wait till you see the movie.

This is the first try at directing a feature by Duncan Gibbins, who comes to us from music video. Symptoms of that condition emerge, but without any of the fever that has been known to accompany it. Much time is given to moody music and moony shots of the young lovers (Virginia Madsen and Craig Sheffer) doting on each other. ''You smell great,'' he says. ''You're very observant,'' she says.

The boarding school is full of good-looking girls; the ''honor detention camp'' is full of rowdy youths. They get together at a dance that drags along like a marathon. In charge of the boys is a mean-talking character who goes nowhere without his shotgun (Jon Polito). In charge of the girls is Sister Victoria (Kate Reid), who has no discernible character at all. This movie even makes the accomplished Miss Reid boring.

What action there is has to do with the young lovers attempting to escape together. A fire breaks out toward the end, but it does not explain the title. The damp script is in no danger of igniting. The question with which viewers may be left is why it took four people to write this thing.

''Fire With Fire'' is rated PG-13 (''Special Parental Guidance Suggested for Those Younger Than 13''), owing to some naughty language. False Alarm FIRE WITH FIRE, directed by Duncan Gibbins; screenplay by Bill Phillips, Warren Skaaren, Paul Boorstin and Sharon Boorstin; director of photography, Hiro Narita; edited by Peter Berger; music by Howard Shore; produced by Gary Nardino; a Paramount Pictures release. At Loews State, Broadway and 45th Street; Loews New York Twin, Second Avenue and 66th Street; Loews 84th Street Six, at Broadway, and other theaters. Running time: 104 minutes. This film is rated PG-13. Lisa TaylorVirginia Madsen Joe FiskCraig Sheffer MapmakerJeffrey Jay Cohen Sister VictoriaKate Reid William (Boss) DechardJon Polito Sister MarieJean Smart Jerry WashingtonTim Russ BaxterD. B. Sweeney Ben HalseyDavid Harris.

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Community Review


About why it is my favorite of all. I was intrigued by the advertising on TV and was hooked when I actually went to the theater to see it. I would say my favorite scene is when Joe sneaks into Lisa's dorm and gets on top of her in bed. I have a color photo that was taken of that scene, one that is different from the photo in the press kit. The color photo I have was taken directly above
them, while the photo in the press kit was taken from the side. I also like the scene where Lisa is disguised in a black cape when she surprises Joe at the cemetary ("Young man, could you ever have the hots for an older woman?"}.
Some of the items I am looking for are unique promotional items, such as pre-release screening passes and anything else unique that was made to promote the film.

Bill Brown (USA)

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Gary Nardino ( 1935 - 1998)

Executive producer Gary Nardino headed Paramount Studios' television division from 1977 to 1983 and oversaw the production of some of that era's most popular and acclaimed TV series, including Happy Days, Taxi, Family Ties, and Cheers. He was also behind the Emmy-winning miniseries Shogun (1989), Golda, and The Winds of War (1983). One of the things that made Nardino such a powerhouse was his belief in the quality of his series and his affection for the characters within them. At one point during Nardino's reign, Paramount produced more shows than any other American studio. Nardino was also occasionally involved in feature film production. He was production supervisor of one of Paramount's biggest hits of the early '80s, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and he executive-produced Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). Known by colleagues as a real showman, Nardino flaunted his wealth and power; his opulent Thursday-night poker games were legendary in Hollywood.

A native of Garfield, NJ, Nardino obtained a business degree from Seton Hall University before entering the entertainment world as an agent in 1959. In this capacity, he has managed companies like Lorimar Products, Granada Television, and Filmways, and individuals such as Dick Clark, Arthur Godfrey, David Frost, and Allan Funt. He subsequently moved on to become senior vice president of the New York TV department of ICM at the William Morris Agency. There, he packaged variety specials.

Nardino launched his own studio and switched to feature film production after leaving Paramount in 1983. His company's films include Brothers, a made-for-cable effort, and two NBC network television movies, Marblehead Manor and Hard Knocks. He became the CEO and chairman of Orion Television Entertainment in 1988. In this capacity, Nardino supervised such series as Equal Justice and Lifestories. When Orion's television production wing closed in 1991, Nardino joined Lorimar to create independent television programming. He stayed with the company when it merged with Warner Bros. and became the executive producer of Time Trax. In the mid-'90s, Nardino moved up to become the co-president of North Hall Productions. Nardino died on January 31, 1998, after suffering a stroke; he was 62.

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Warren Edward Skaaren (1946 - 1990)

Screenwriter Warren Edward Skaaren, son of Morris and Pearl, was born in Rochester, Minnesota, on March 9, 1946. He graduated from Rochester Community College in 1966 and enrolled at Rice University in Houston, Texas. There he met Helen Griffin, whom he married on March 7, 1969 (separated, 1989). Upon his graduation from Rice in 1969 with a degree in art, Skaaren, who had served as student body president during his final year of college, moved to Austin to work for Texas governor Preston Smith first as a human resources program analyst and then as an urban development coordinator. Skaaren lived in Austin for the remainder of his life.

In 1971, while working for Smith, Skaaren wrote a formal proposal to establish the Texas Film Commission and was influential in its creation. He served as the Commission's first executive director and remained in that position until March 1974, when he resigned to form the Skaaren Corporation, a media consulting firm. At the same time, he was a founder of FPS, Inc., a Dallas-based television and film production company, and later served as chairman of its board of directors. Skaaren also worked on documentaries, commercials, and various other projects. BREAKAWAY, a documentary about Walter Yates' life in the Alaskan wilderness which Skaaren wrote and directed, was released in 1978.

In 1983, under the sponsorship of Fred Fox, Skaaren completed the script OF EAST AND WEST, about the Nepalese soldiers the Gurkhas. Although the script was never produced, it gained Skaaren an agent, Mike Simpson at the William Morris Agency, and attracted the attention of Dawn Steel at Paramount, who hired Skaaren to rewrite the screenplay of FIRE WITH FIRE. Following that, Skaaren was hired to rewrite the script of TOP GUN; its box-office success established his reputation as a "script doctor." Skaaren went on to work on the scripts of BEVERLY HILLS COP II, BEETLEJUICE, and BATMAN.

Skaaren and his wife had seven foster children, and he was a founding director of the Travis County Foster Parents Association. In addition, he served on the board of directors of the Deborah Hay Dance Company. Skaaren established the Laurel Foundation, a private charitable trust, in 1986, and was also involved with the East West Center, a macrobiotic dietary provider.

Skaaren died of bone cancer in Austin, Texas, on December 28, 1990. His papers were donated to the HRHRC in 1993.

More information about Skaaren and his works may be found in "The Man Hollywood Trusts" by Emily Yoffe (TEXAS MONTHLY, vol. 17, no. 9, Sept. 1989) and "Death of a Screenwriter" by Kevin Phinney (PREMIERE, vol. 4, no. 7, March 1991).

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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

German Cover

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US Poster

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Turkish Poster

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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

UK Cover

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Duncan Gibbins (1953 - 1993)


Make his feature film directorial debut with Paramount Pictures «Fire With Fire» after an enormously sucessful career as a producer and director of music videos. He has created videos for such blockbuster groups as the Eurythmics, WHAM as well as scores of others. It was Gibbins work on his "Smuggler's Blues" to Glen Frey's clip that won him the 1985 MTV Award for the Best Concept Video.

Gibbins also came to realize that his work is rather long range in it's rewards unlike videos which provide a sense of immediacy. "You can be sitting at your desk on Monday morning with a blank piece of paper. You get an idea and have a meeting with the record company the next day and with no luck you could shooting the video on Thursday morning. By Saturday night you can have a copy of what you did in your hands. Then your friends come over during the weekend and ask ; so what did you do this week? You pop in a cassette in the VCR and tell them; This is what I did. Then you edit the work the next week and it's played on MTV and people either love it or hate it. It's all rather direct."

"I always wanted to direct movies, but I figured my vehicle would be my writing. Some studio would want my script and wouldn't give it to them unless I could direct it. Then all this Fire with Fire came along and well I suppose it has worked out rather nicely."

"The ironic aspect of that concern is that as a video clip director, you have the chance to experiment with the story, actors and camera. I've been able to use every piece of equipment there is to use. In addition to all that, in a video clip you must be able to tell a story within four minutes and within the constraints of the music itself."

Video is not however the entire scope of Gibbins experience. He was a reporter for BBC in his native England, and then he became a producer and director of documentaries for network. He also was a writer for a number of dramatic and comedy programs in episodic television. During the pre production and the filming of «Fire with Fire», Gibbins experience a sense of timelessness to the work process. "On a video you work for five days and then you can collapse. Here you work five days during the week and then work one day on the weekend in preparation for the coming weeks shooting and then you work another five days. The process keeps going on the mouths and if you feel like collapsing at any time the train just keeps on going without you."

Duncan Gibbins Music Videos:

Wham! - Wake me up before you go-go / Carless Whisper

Glenn Frey - Sexy Girl / The Heat Is On / Smuggler's Blues

Eurythimcs - Who's That Girl

Communards - Never Can say Goodbye

Duncan Gibbins died in the massive wildfires that plagued the Southern California region in 1993 because of hazardous and dry conditions. Gibbins at first got out safely, but he went back to the area where he was living because he was trying to rescue his cat, Elsa, and perished. The cat was found days later, alive, but with the tips of its ears burned off and hiding in the bottom area of a shed.

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Joe Fisk

Craig Sheffer, stars as the street-smart Joe Fisk in Fire With Fire somewhat unjustly confined to an honor probation camp in Oregon, who when running through the woods in the midst of a competitive race, comes across Lisa (Virginia Madsen).

Backstage one night, Sheffer slipped and reinjured the knee he initially had hurt when he was quarterback for East Strousberg College (Pennsylvania). Reconstructive surgery was the only route to prevent permanent damage to the knee.

"A couple of days before surgery, my agent called said that Jackie Burch (the casting director) wanted me to read for this filme Fire With Fire, I said the surgery would keep me on crutches past the start date...I finally broke down, read for Jackie Burch and director Duncan Gibbins and then took a cab to the hospital and had a knee surgery the next morning".

He had not bothered to read the script for the movie, for the meeting and instead did improvisational material with Gibbins, who immediately decided, as did the others involved, that Sheffer was their man for the part of Joe Fisk, surgery or not.

"The minut i could take phone calls, everyone wanted to come by and bring different actresses to read with me right in the hospital. I put everyone off for a week and then did a screen test where no one could tell I was on crutches".

The filming on Fire with Fire did start on time, which forced the actor to wear a brace under his pant's leg durining filming. All scenes that required physical activity on his part were pushed back as far as possible. Like his co-start Virginia Madsen for her role, Sheffer was able to draw parallels from his own life to develop Joe Fisk. "For Joe, The Story is about Leaning how to trust, which quite frankly has been a problem in my own life".

Despite where Joe Fisk is and what has brought him to the detention camp, Sheffer sees him as someone teenagers can look up to "first of all he's only in the detention camp for driving his mom's car though a sears auto store window. Joe has an amazing lack of prejudice for someone his age. He takes people at face value, like mapmaker who no one else likes, and is also friends with Ben Halsey who is rather disturbed over certain personal things".

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Lisa Taylor

Virginia Madsen portrays the beautiful and intelligent Lisa Taylor who takes matters into her own hands after seeing Joe Fisk (Craig Sheffer) first in the woods, then at a local movie theatre. It is Lisa who initiates the idea of a school dance with the boys from the nearby prison camp.

Virginia Pulled a lot out of her own life to help develop Lisa in Fire with Fire because "like Lisa, I was pretty much of a loner in high school, some would have had stronger words".

"Lisa has a lot of questions about life and is not getting the answers in the existence she's leading, so she's ready for someone like Joe to come into her life".

This chance encounter ignites a spontaneous emotional reation in each of them, and sets them on a path that will change their lives forever. Together, they break the rules, defy the establishment, and they must fight fire with fire all the way!

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Something's Coming, Something's Good

In July 17, 1978, New West Magazine published a Sharon Boorstin article «Something's Coming, Something's Good». 8 Years later we would fall for «Fire With Fire» the movie inspired in this article.

Here's how the article starts...


"The girls at Pasadena's Private Alverno High School have invited the boys from LA Counte Probation Camp Afflerbaugh for a dance.Will it be the start of a rumble...or a romance? The names of both Los Angeles Country Wards and and Alverno High School students have been changed to protect their anonymity." (DOWNLOAD FULL ARTICLE)

Sharon Boorstin writes for publications including The Los Angeles Times, Bon Appetit, More, Town & Country Travel, Smithsonian, Sunset and Jewish Woman. She was the Restaurant Critic of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, and she is a contributing editor of Los Angeles Confidential, Porthole and Bel-Air magazines. Sharon has edited over a dozen guidebooks and restaurant guides for cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and New York. With her husband Paul, she has written dozens of screenplays for feature films and television including “Fire With Fire” starring Virginia Madsen (Paramount) and “Angel of Death” (ABC) starring Jane Seymour.

Sharon has spoken to over 75 women’s groups throughout the U.S. and has been interviewed on dozens of radio and television programs. Her memoir/cookbook “Let Us Eat Cake: Adventures in Food and Friendship” and her novel with recipes “Cookin’ for Love” both have been selections of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club.

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