ENTERTAINMENT
June 20, 2013 | By David Kipen, Special to the Los Angeles Times
William Friedkin is sorry. In his new memoir of a career in the director's chair, he's sorry he almost got that stunt driver on "The French Connection" killed. He's sorry he fired all those cinematographers, except for the ones who deserved it. He must be sorry he directed "Deal of the Century," or he'd have found someplace in the book to mention it. And he can't be too proud of the three ex-wives, or he'd have given them each their own sentence, instead of making them share. Friedkin's not sorry he became a director, though - just amazed.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 21, 2013 | By Rebecca Trounson, Los Angeles Times
Long before the age of computer-generated special effects, Marcel Vercoutere helped create a scene widely considered among the most terrifying in movie-going history. In "The Exorcist," the 1973 horror film that became a pop-culture phenomenon, the head of a helpless young girl twists completely around as a young priest battles the demon that inhabits her body. With its wild, animated eyes, the life-size robot used as a stand-in for actress Linda Blair was built by Vercoutere, the film's special effects director, with help from its chief makeup artist, Dick Smith.
ENTERTAINMENT
July 13, 2012 | By Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times Theater Critic
Two questions immediately presented themselves when it was announced that "The Exorcist" was going to be done onstage: How? And why? At the show's premiere Wednesday at the Geffen Playhouse, the creators seemed to be searching for answers to these challenges. God doesn't appear to be on their side. The how, at least on a visual level, turns out to be far more interesting than the why, which leads to all kinds of armchair moralizing and faux philosophizing. But fans of William Friedkin's 1973 film - a work that has caused more bad dreams than any other movie in Hollywood history, if my childhood is any guide - shouldn't expect any ostentatious spinning of heads.
ENTERTAINMENT
July 10, 2012 | By Gina McIntyre, Los Angeles Times
Few films conjure up the nightmarish movie memories that"The Exorcist"does. William Friedkin's 1973 adaptation of William Peter Blatty's bestselling novel famously spurred reports of screaming, fainting and even moviegoers running from theaters as 12-year-old Regan MacNeil, possessed by an ancient, powerful evil, spat out obscenities and ugly rivers of dark green bile. Religious leaders condemned the movie as sacrilegious; some cautioned that watching the film and its head-spinning imagery would endanger the soul.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 29, 2012 | By Chris Barton
Always a man of few (if any) words, the latter half of the enduring comedy-magic duo Penn & Teller will help give a visual voice to the Geffen Playhouse's upcoming stage adaptation of "The Exorcist. " Scheduled to open July 11, the adaptation features Teller as "creative consultant," which sounds a little like he'll be responsible for honing the production's wordless reactions given his day job as silent but game foil to his longtime partner, the garrulous Penn Jillette. In reality, however, this isn't the first time Teller has ventured behind the stage, where Penn & Teller have made a home in Vegas for six nights a week since 2001.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 17, 2012 | By David Ng
The power of Christ has compelled Richard Chamberlain and Brooke Shields to take two of the lead roles in a new stage version of William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist," which is scheduled to open at the Geffen Playhouse on July 11. Chamberlain will play Father Merrin, the priest who attempts to exorcise a little girl possessed by a demon. The role was played by Max von Sydow in the 1973 film version of Blatty's book. Shields will take on the role of Chris MacNeil, an actress and the girl's mother, who was played by Ellen Burstyn in the movie.