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BOB HOSKINS NEWS ARCHIVE
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J. Lo meets B. Ho in the movie
MAID IN MANHATTAN (formerly known as THE CHAMBERMAID
and UPTOWN
GIRL). The movie
wrapped filming in Chicago and New York
in late spring 2002, and opened in the US on December
13.
It has been released on video/DVD in the US.
The film co-stars Ralph Fiennes and was directed by
Wayne Wang. Bob has a supporting role as a
the hotel butler
who acts as Lopez's confidant.
The
movie's official site is all set up, it would seem,
and there are a couple brief video clips of Bob discussing his role
(and stirring his tea) here:
Clip 1: Windows Media Player:
low-bandwidth /
high-bandwidth
RealPlayer
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high-bandwidth
Clip 2: Windows Media Player
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RealPlayer
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high-bandwidth
And in case there's any question about why he took on a
small role, he explains:
"I've
really served my time. When you get to
my age, what you want is the cameo. You get paid a lot of money. You fly
in for a couple of weeks. Everybody treats you like the crown jewels.
It's all great and if the film turns out to be a load of s---, nobody
blames you."
[Reviews] |
 Bob co-stars in THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY, a film from Fine Line
Features originally scheduled for a US release in 2001, but
which was scheduled and bumped several
times, and finally debuted in the US on video/DVD on February 18, 2003.
Oh well - the movie actually picked up several 2003 DVD Exclusive awards, including one for Bob as Best Supporting Actor. Dark
Angel Jessica Alba, Brenda Blethyn, and Hugh Dancy also star.
The film was shot in Malaysia in May and June 2000.
[click photo for larger version]
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 Bob returned to both the BBC and the jungle once
more - he was in New Zealand in Spring 2001 starring in an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle's story THE LOST WORLD. Peter Falk, James Fox, Matthew Rhys, and Bob's FELICIA'S JOURNEY co-star Elaine Cassidy also
appear (along with some high-tech dinosaurs). The BBC aired the
two-part miniseries over Christmas 2001, and
the A&E network
screened it in the US in October 2002. The series has already
been released on video and DVD in the UK, and A&E has
released a US version. Visit the BBC's
web page for the miniseries for more information on the series -
there's even a Flash game in which you can make a miniature Bob
run around in a museum. Whee! Also check out an
interview about the filming,
and an article
from the set that includes an interview with Bob.
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 Bob joins old cohorts
Michael Caine, Helen Mirren and Ray Winstone as well as countrymen Tom Courtenay and
David Hemmings in an adaptation of Graham Swift's novel LAST ORDERS. Sony
Pictures Classics is distributing the film in North America, and
has put up an
official website with lots of info and photos from the film. The
film was released in the US on February 15 and is slowly making its way
around. The film was released in
the UK in January 2002. It was released on video and DVD
in the US on August 13.
Fred Schepisi wrote and directed the film, which had its
World
Premiere during the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival in
September. It has also played numerous other festivals, including the
2001 London
Film Festival - see the BBC's
coverage for photos and brief video clips from the film's after-party - and has earned mostly positive notices. The
film was recently noted by the National Board of Review for the best
Ensemble Performance for 2001. According to Variety, "'Orders' concerns a group of
old friends who meet up to carry out the dying wish of one of their number
-- to carry his ashes from London to the sea. The film unfolds through
flashbacks as the bizarre day trip leads them to take stock of their
lives." [Reviews]
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| Bob was in Poland in early 2000
starring
in an independent feature film titled WHERE ESKIMOS LIVE. He plays an unscrupulous businessman involved in selling poor children to
rich couples, who then meets one orphaned boy he decides to help. The
film had its world premiere at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival in
January, as
part of the World Cinema sidebar. I don't think it ever played any theaters, but a Region 2 DVD has been released.
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The US can finally check out THE WHITE RIVER KID,
in which Bob co-starred with Antonio Banderas, as it was released on video
and DVD on October 2, 2001 (retitled as simply WHITE RIVER, for whatever
reason). There is a trailer of the film available on the Internet
Movie Database, and more stills from the film can be found
here.
The movie was filmed in 1998 but then more or less disappeared, playing
only in a few European countries and Brazil. It recently resurfaced, and
played on the Starz!
cable network in the US in February, 2001. Read
the Starz!
Press Release for more information and a plot synopsis.
Also I recently received an article
from the Hot Springs, Arkansas Sentinel-Record (the movie was filmed
around Hot Springs), which focuses on a local actor's experience with the
production. (Sounds like there may be good reasons it's never come out,
but oh well...)
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| Bob
added another to his
string of historical roles (as he told Reuters, "Fortunately for me, most of the world's dictators have been short, fat, middle-aged men with a bald head.")
by playing Nikita Khrushchev in ENEMY
AT THE GATES, which opened theatrically in the US on March 16, 2001.
It was released on video and DVD in August 2001.
The WWII epic, filmed in Germany during the spring of 2000, was directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and features Jude Law, Joseph
Fiennes, Rachel Weisz and Ed Harris.
The film had its world premiere on February 7 as the
opening film of the 2001 Berlin Film Festival. The film's official
site is still running, and includes a few photos and a bio of
Bob, as well as a wealth of other information on the film.
[Reviews]
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Okay, I think this is exciting: A
Criterion Collection DVD of MONA LISA
was released in the US on March 13, 2001. This DVD includes a commentary audio track
with Bob and
writer/director Neil Jordan, and other features from the Criterion Laser Disc of the
film that was released a few years back.
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CAPTAIN JACK, a
1998 UK film
starring Bob that was never released theatrically in the United States, has now been released on
video and DVD. It is available from Lance Entertainment's web
site.
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AMERICAN VIRGIN, a film
featuring Bob that was filmed a couple years ago, somewhat suddenly
and mysteriously reappeared on
the scene in the summer of 2000 and played briefly in New York City and San Francisco. (Well, maybe it
isn't that mysterious - the film also features then-unknown, now-hot Mena
Suvari.) It was released on video and DVD in the US in late 2000.
[Reviews]
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 Bob
plays Wilkins Micawber in a BBC television production of
DAVID
COPPERFIELD. The miniseries aired on April 16, 2000 in the US, as part of PBS's
ExxonMobil Masterpiece
Theatre, and is now available on video.
Other
stars include Pauline Quirke, Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Maggie Smith, Dawn French,
Trevor Eve, Zoe Wanamaker, and Daniel Radcliffe, pictured at left
(he's the child set to play Harry Potter).
Quotes from various reviews
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DON QUIXOTE - Bob stars as Sancho Panza to
John Lithgow's Don in this TNT
original production. It premiered on April 9th, 2000.
Reviews: [New York Times]
Read about how he bonded
with his donkey...
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 FELICIA'S JOURNEY
was released on video and DVD on May 16, 2000 in the US. Info about it has moved to its own page... |
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Bob has lent himself to a fund-raising campaign in the UK to provide aid to victims of the
floods
in Mozambique earlier in 2000: "Imagine if this disaster had happened in England and that the Thames and the
Avon had overflowed, cutting the country in half and destroying the garden of
England. If people had been drowning and flooded out of their homes or
giving birth in trees then something would have been done. Having just
five helicopters to rescue everybody is a bloody ridiculous situation. I have
sat like everyone else watching this diabolical situation grow and it's time to
help. People do get charity fatigue but this is an emergency - if we do
not get them out they are doing to die."
Look here for more information
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The British film magazine Empire honored Bob
in 1999 with their Lifetime Achievement Award. [Details] See also the accompanying interview. |
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Bob directed a segment of an anthology film called TUBE TALES which
screened at the London Film Festival
in November, 1999. It played in the UK on Sky TV, which hosts the
film's web site as well, and though details are sketchy the film may be released theatrically as well. Bob's segment,
entitled "My Father, The Liar," features Ray Winstone.
Ewan McGregor, Jude Law and Stephen Hopkins, among others, also directed segments.
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Bob received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the
NORIEGA: GOD'S FAVORITE - Bob plays Manuel Noriega in this film made for 
