Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Antonio Banderas

Looks like Antonio Banderas is going to expand his directorial career:

Spanish actor Antonio Banderas said on Tuesday his second stint at the helm of a movie, a coming-of-age piece set in his native Malaga, had sharpened his appetite to spend more time directing.

Speaking at a news conference at the Berlin film festival after a screening of the film, in Spanish "El Camino de los Ingleses" and in English "Summer Rain", Banderas said he was also likely to be the writer on the next project he undertakes.

As an actor, he is known for his portrayal of Zorro and his voice role as Puss in Boots in "Shrek 2" and he made his debut as a director with 1999's "Crazy in Alabama", starring his wife, Melanie Griffith.

I'll admit that I've never really quite understood this. Why do people think that being a good actor will make you a good director, or a good writer?

 

Friday, February 2, 2007

Harry Potter Doesn't Die

Or at least so claims an American academic:

Harry Potter's days may be numbered.
J.K. Rowling, author of the popular fantasy series about the boy wizard and his battle with the evil Lord Voldemort, announced Thursday that the final book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," will be released on July 21.
And Rowling has a more ominous warning: two main characters will die before the series ends.
But James Krasner, a professor of British literature at the University of New Hampshire, believes Harry will ultimately live to tell another tale.
Why?
Because "good has to win."
"Certain art forms are meant to fulfill expectations, to give gratification," Krasner said. "If you read a romance novel and the lovers don't get together in the end, you're not interested."
Krasner said Rowling's threat to kill off at least two main characters in the final book is a way of "taking control" of her creations. It's not uncommon for authors whose characters have become wildly popular to engage in a tug-of-war with readers over who the characters belong to, he said
.

That stories are supposed to work in a particular way would seem to me to be a fairly weak piece of evidence to use.

 

Technorati tags: