American actors Ben Gazzara and Willem Dafoe will receive lifetime achievement awards at the San Sebastian Film Festival, Spain’s top cinema showcase.
Gazzara, 75, and Dafoe, 50, “have both chosen parts in high-risk films not toeing the line” with typical Hollywood expectations, organizers said Saturday.
The festival runs from Thursday to Sept. 24.
Gazzara’s career has spanned nearly 50 years, and he has worked with such directors as John Cassavetes, Peter Bogdanovich and Lars von Trier. He has appeared in dozens of films, including “Anatomy of a Murder” (1959), “They All Laughed” (1981) and “Happiness” (1998). Dafoe has worked with directors such as David Lynch, Oliver Stone and Martin Scorsese, and his films include “Platoon” (1986), “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988) and “The English Patient” (1996).
Kansas had dozens of Old West cow towns.
Yet only one – Dodge City – is recognized around the world, thanks to the 20-year television run of “Gunsmoke.”
This past weekend, fans came to pay homage on the 50th anniversary of the start of the show, which drew on the town’s Old West history, including the likes of Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and Doc Holliday.
None of the leading “Gunsmoke” actors could attend. At 82, James Arness, who played Marshall Matt Dillon, doesn’t travel. Others like Amanda Blake, who played feisty saloon owner Miss Kitty, and Milburn Stone, who played Doc Adams, have died.
But one familiar face was Morgan Woodward, who played a variety of bad guys.
“I don’t think I survived many of those episodes. Usually, I was shot by Matt Dillon,” Woodward recalled.
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Cameron Crowe will attend the first U.S. screening of his new movie, “Elizabethtown,” Saturday in Elizabethtown, Ky.
Co-star Orlando Bloom will be on hand for a screening later that night in Louisville, Ky.
“Elizabethtown” is director Crowe’s nod to his Kentucky roots; his father was raised in Powell County. Scenes for the movie, also starring Kirsten Dunst, were shot in Elizabethtown, Versailles, Louisville and Winchester.
“Elizabethtown,” which debuted last week at the Venice Film Festival in Italy, will be released Oct. 14.
Lee’s life imitates his TV character
Just like his character on his new NBC comedy, “My Name Is Earl,” Jason Lee says he tries to do good things in real life.
“Good things happen when you keep yourself open like that, definitely,” Lee told reporters recently, according to AP Radio. Lee, whose screen credits include “Almost Famous” and “Chasing Amy,” said he hadn’t considered doing a TV series until now.
“I just wanted to do films,” he said, “so that I could bounce around, take long breaks, work with different directors, play different characters and be known for being an actor … as opposed to being known as a character on a show.”
