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Oliver Stone Working On A Fourth Director's Cut Of 'Alexander,' Will Be Shorter This Time

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • November 8, 2012 3:57 PM
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  • 8 Comments
News
When Oliver Stone dropped "Alexander" amid much fanfare in the fall of 2004, it was a critical and commercial flop. The picture earned a tepid $34 million domestically (it cost $150 million), was savaged in the reviews, and wound up earning six Razzie nominations. Overseas, it fared a bit better, and it seemed to find an audience on home video, and Warner Bros. gave Stone permission to tinker. And Lord, did he ever tinker.
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More: Oliver Stone, Alexander

Review: 'Greystone Park' Yet Another Found Footage Piece of Junk

  • By Gabe Toro
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  • October 18, 2012 8:02 PM
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  • 1 Comment
Reviews
Acclaimed filmmaker Oliver Stone famously began his career directing schlock like “The Hand” and having associations with the likes of Lloyd Kaufman. It seems only fitting that son Sean Stone would follow a similar path into filmmaking. But while yesterday’s up-and-comers make their bones in skeevy genre filmmaking, today’s film school brats are a bit more formalistic, emerging out of the directing womb with autocritical theories and refuting of accepted tropes. When James Cameron was making “Piranha 2,” the attempt was to build a new wheel. With Sean Stone, the attempt is to subtly tweak it. So forgive expectations for being a bit higher for the progeny of the man behind “JFK” with new thriller "Greystone Park."
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More: Oliver Stone, Review, Sean Stone, Greystone Park

The Films Of Oliver Stone: A Retrospective

  • By The Playlist Staff
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  • July 5, 2012 11:05 AM
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  • 16 Comments
Features
Oliver Stone loves his country, but he is also its loudest critic. Whether tackling history head-on in films like "Platoon" or "Born On The Fourth Of July," or profiling presidents in "JFK," "W." and "Nixon," and even in seemingly genre-centered material like "Natural Born Killers" or "Any Given Sunday," Stone views America in his own unique, if sometimes contradictory ways. His track record is certainly marked by tremendous highs, definite lows and curious middles (mostly with genre excursions like "U-Turn," "Any Given Sunday" and "The Doors") but he is never one to sit still. For evidence of Stone's constantly changing priorities one can look to his last few films — "World Trade Center," "W.," "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" — and truly get a sense of a director driven both by passion and finance, and by a love for his country that is also pained by its failings.
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More: Oliver Stone, Features, The Essentials, Savages

Review: Oliver Stone's Hard-Boiled Crime Saga 'Savages' A Muddled & Messy Disappointment

  • By Benjamin Wright
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  • July 3, 2012 1:04 PM
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  • 35 Comments
Reviews
It’s always unfortunate to watch a filmmaker slip further away from his better work with age – but even more so when it’s one who exhibited the sort of storytelling craft that could both frustrate and engage his audience all at once. Director Oliver Stone has always been one to challenge his viewers. From his days of illustrating with his pen the brutal confines of a Turkish prison in “Midnight Express” to the conspiracy-minded reels of “JFK,” Stone has honed an ability to tell seemingly documentary-ready material in a more compelling cinematic narrative – treating fiction like reality (and occasionally blurring the line between the two).
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More: Savages, Oliver Stone, Blake Lively, Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Review

Exclusive: Meet Taylor Kitsch's Chon Character In Oliver Stone's 'Savages'

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • June 27, 2012 11:22 AM
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  • 3 Comments
News
Featuring a massive ensemble including Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Johnson, John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch and Demian Bichir, Oliver Stone's upcoming "Savages," based on Don Winslow’s best-selling crime novel, is bringing a lot of talent and a crackling story to the big screen. And to help ease you into the film, we've got an exclusive video below all about Taylor Kitsch's character Chon to get you started.
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More: Taylor Kitsch, Oliver Stone, Savages

Watch: 2 TV Spots & Interrogation Videos From Oliver Stone's 'Savages' Starring Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson & Blake Lively

  • By Simon Dang
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  • June 8, 2012 10:19 AM
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  • 8 Comments
News
An Oliver Stone crime-actioner starring Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson, Blake Lively, Emile Hirsch, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Demian Bichir, Benicio Del Toro and Salma Hayek -- you'd think there would be a bit more excitement for "Savages" with the film set to hit theaters in just over a month. But on the marketing end, things have been fairly underwhelming.
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More: Oliver Stone, Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Savages

Watch: Full Trailer For Oliver Stone's 'Savages' Arrives Starring Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively & More

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • April 5, 2012 12:42 PM
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  • 21 Comments
News
Look out, Spider-Man, because Oliver Stone is on your tail with one helluva cast. Opening just a few days after the webbed one goes 3D, "Savages" is hoping to cater to adults looking for a break from spidey slinging and this first full trailer certainly promises quite the diversion.
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More: Film Trailers, Savages, Oliver Stone, Blake Lively, Taylor Kitsch, Aaron Johnson

Guns, Tattoos & Blades: Poster For Oliver Stone's 'Savages' With Blake Lively, Benicio Del Toro, John Travolta & More

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • April 2, 2012 2:24 PM
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  • 15 Comments
News
Recently moved to a release date right in the middle of summer, just a few days after "The Amazing Spider-Man," Universal has high hopes that Oliver Stone's "Savages" will be a pulpy multiplex diversion. And the first poster has dropped giving us a much better look at the array of characters we'll meet in the gritty thriller.
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More: Savages, Blake Lively, Oliver Stone, Taylor Kitsch, Don Winslow, Shane Salerno

Author Don Winslow Talks Latest Thriller 'Satori' & The Brewing Film Adaptation With Leonardo DiCaprio

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • April 2, 2012 10:05 AM
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  • 1 Comment
News
"Not to be preachy about it, but discipline is everything for a working writer, at least for this one. I can’t just wander around fields of flowers or sit brooding in coffee houses waiting for the muse to land on my shoulder and whisper in my ear.  That would nice, but it ain’t gonna happen. I treat writing like a factory job – the whistle blows and I’m at work. This thing always comes down to someone sitting down with some kind of writing instrument and getting it done," author and screenwriter Don Winslow told us recently. And he's not kidding around. That focus and drive has allowed Winslow to write 16 books over the past two decades or so, including "Satori" (hitting bookstores in paperback last week) and his upcoming "Savages" prequel "The Kings Of Cool." And this doesn't even include the television work or the brewing movie adaptations he has in development. And though he commits to a strong worth ethic, it's never at the mercy of challenging himself as a writer or compromising his own standards.
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More: Satori, Don Winslow, Leonardo DiCaprio, Oliver Stone, Savages, Shane Salerno

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