‘Er’ Performer To Star In New Action Movie
“ER” star George Clooney will make his starring feature debut in “From Dusk Till Dawn,” to be directed by Robert Rodriguez.
The action film will also star Academy Award-winning Quentin Tarantino, who wrote the script. Tarantino co-wrote and directed the box office hit “Pulp Fiction.”
Clooney and Tarantino will portray notorious thieves who enlist the aid of a preacher and his family to flee into Mexico, where the group encounters a pack of vampires in a seedy saloon.
Rodriguez, who made a splash with his low-budget debut feature “El Mariachi,” recently completed an “El Mariachi” sequel and a segment in the upcoming “Four Rooms.”
“From Dusk Till Dawn” will begin filming this fall in Southern California.
Kaelin on ‘Roseanne’ May 17
Hold on to your remote controls, you O.J. trial groupies, and get yourself ready for the May 17 installment of “Roseanne.” That’s the night the network has picked to air the episode of the sitcom that guest stars Brian “Kato” Kaelin.
It has been reported that Kaelin secured the role following his several days on the stand in the double murder trial, apparently winning the heart of the series star because of his looks and her sympathies as a result of ongoing media attacks. Apparently Roseanne felt she could relate to the harassment Kato received at the hands of the press and decided she’d like to give the would-be actor a shot.
Casper the ghost videos
That friendly ghost Casper will get the big-movie treatment in May, with - you guessed - “Casper: The Movie.” This is not to be confused with “The Friendly Ghost,” the 1946 movie that introduced Casper to filmgoers.
To remind baby-booming video viewers how much Casper has meant to them over the years, Universal is releasing 16 titles from Casper’s TV days in the ‘50s and ‘60s. They range in length from 23 to 25 minutes, and the titles run the gamut from “Casper’s Animal Friends” to “Casper’s Travels.”
Just the bare facts
One of the more unusual video reference books in print remains “The Bare Facts Video Guide,” just out in its fifth edition. Written and edited by Craig Hosoda, the 960-page book lists the nude scenes of top Hollywood celebrities in about 2,700 films.
This is not a porno guide. Rather, Hosoda concentrates on mainstream performers who have exposed themselves for the cause of cinematic art.
Did you know, for example, that all of last year’s Academy Award nominess for best actress except Winona Ryder have done nude scenes? Each instance of celebrity skin is noted by Hosoda with a brief description and its location in the movie by elapsed time.
“The Bare Facts Video Guide” is sold by major book chains or can be purchased directly from Hosoda for $17.95 plus $3 shipping (check or money order) by writing to The Bare Facts, P.O. Box 3255, Santa Clara, Calif. 95055-3255.
‘Die Hard’ video package
FoxVideo, home of “Star Wars” and “Alien,” learned long ago that a new installment in a hit theatrical series ignites demand in video stores for the older titles. So a rebirth surely awaits the first two “Die Hards” with the release of “Die Hard: With a Vengeance,” scheduled for May 19.
To make “Die Hard” and “Die Hard 2” easy to find, Fox is reissuing them in a package with a third cassette, a 24-minute featurette on the making of “Vengeance.” The three-pack will go on sale May 2 and is priced at $29.98.
“The Making of With a Vengeance” will be sold only in this “limited edition collector’s set,” as Fox describes it. The short contains interviews with, among others, director John McTiernan and stars Bruce Willis and Samuel Jackson.
O’Connor on ‘PrimeTime’
Tonight the whole of ABC’s “PrimeTime Live” will be devoted to an interview with actor Carroll O’Connor and his wife, Nancy, whose adopted son, Hugh, killed himself on March 28 after a 16-year battle with drug addiction.