Hollywood, CA —27 year-old Jennifer Lawrence was gorgeous, seriously talented and her smile captivated millions just like me. What could possibly go wrong?   Our nation became even more divided politically as well as emotionally since the 2016 election and Hollywood overwhelmingly chose the loosing side of the Left.   Lawrence got caught up in the wild clammer and used her ample media face time to promote her raw hatred for our duly elected president and his supporters instead of promoting her work products.  Expressed hatred is never pretty.  We all have a First Amendment right to say what we please.  However people selling products run huge financial risks of offending large percentages of their customers or in this case ticket buying fans.  I was a diehard fan of Lawrence.  She captured my full attention when she appeared in, American Hustle. I meet her very briefly at a screening of that terrific film. I then watched her young ...

Carice van Houten Guest Stars on THE SIMPSONS! Los Angeles, CA —It was no secret that my favorite actress, Carice van Houten loves The Simpsons ! I knew she made a stop on her last visit to L.A. to the Pico Ave Fox Studios to the Simpsons sound stage.   Van Houten left proudly sporting a Simpson’s souvenir jacket. Carice van Houten is probably best known as the Red Witch, Melisandre in the wildly popular HBO series, Game of Thrones .    She’s also the winner of five, Golden Calf awards (The Dutch equivalent of our Oscar Award).    Van Houten’s amazing talent first blew me away as the star of my all time favorite dramatic film, Paul Verhoeven’s, Black Book .    Now van Houten has found herself as guest star on the Simpsons.     Her character named Anneke van Houten will debut on the May 3rd episode. This incredibly talented actress comes from a gifted Dutch family that’s deeply routed in in art, music, television and the...

Los Angeles, CA — My favorite film of all times is Paul Verhoeven’s, Black Book .  It’s a subtitled German/Dutch film primarily in the Dutch language that’s based on a true story.  The principal protagonist is a sexy Jewish nightclub singer, Rachel Stein that fled the Nazis in Berlin for the Netherlands during the war.  She somehow winds up in the Dutch Resistance for some incredibly dangerous adventures.  It’s also a love story. The leading lady playing that character is my absolute favorite actress, Carice van Houten who won this role of a lifetime.  The role required acting in different languages, singing and some dancing.  Van Houten was magnificent.  This was Verhoeven’s best film ever and the entire cast and crew were absolutely awesome.  Van Houten was jaw dropping terrific! There was no emotion she did not absolutely own in this thriller film.  That kind of talent takes years of serious discipline and hard work to develop a...

Los Angeles, CA —We’ve all seen Mel Gibson at his best on the silver screen. We’ve seen him at his worst when he was arrested for DUI and in a much over reported disastrous relationship with an unfortunate gold-digger. Hollywood has blackballed this terrific actor and director.  Mel Gibson wants to work and he deserves the ability to create more blockbuster films.  Like it or not there is only one Mel Gibson. Robert Downey, Jr . hit bottom and did a prison stretch too. Downey got out cleaned up but was unemployable.  He had more chapters to write in his interrupted career.  Downey was no longer insurable and despite his immense talent was through as an actor.  That was until Mel Gibson stepped in and covered the insurance for Downey. Downey rebounded like a slingshot and film audiences and were never disappointed.  That was because of Gibson’s generosity and humanity.  I know that Gibson is looking for new sources of fundi...

Amsterdam, NL —I read a rude and troubling story in Amsterdam's Metro News this morning.   It said that that the Netherlands’s most accomplished and award winning actress Carice van Houten is past her prime and probably won’t be able to make waves in Hollywood. First let me say that van Houten looks young, wonderful and works out religiously to stay fit.  This beautiful and talented Dutch actress still has exactly what it takes to take Hollywood by storm. Currently van Houten plays the role of Melisandre in HBO’s Game of Thrones .   She has starred in a terrific Paul Verhoeven film, Black Book as a Dutch Resistance spy and hero.  Along the way she made several other films. If there is something unfortunate about van Houten’s Game of Thrones role is that hoods, capes and a long red wig cover her.  That made van Houten nearly unrecognizable to American journalists when she walked the Red Carpet for the show’s third season premier in Hol...

The multi-talented Carice van Houten Los Angeles, CA — Carice van Houten is not well known yet in the USA.  She’s well represented at CAA by Tracy Brennan and managed by Janey van Ierland at Nummer19 in the Netherlands.  This very beautiful actress has both a pretty agent and gorgeous manager too!  I hope to meet this delightful trio someday! Van Houten won the role of a lifetime in Paul Verhoeven’s film Black Book based on a true story.  That happens to be my all time favorite film about a young and sexy Jewish nightclub singer who was hiding from the Nazis in the Netherlands during the war.   Van Houten’s character by circumstances was recruited to join the Dutch Underground in this great thriller.  By all means get the film from Netflix or Amazon.com and see it. Van Houten also landed a somewhat small but important role as Nina Von Stauffenberg , the wife of Tome Cruise’s character in the Brian Singer, Chris McQuarrie film V...

Berlin, Germany — The principal Berlin photography involved with, The Fifth Estate is finished and now they are off to Belgium for the rest of the production.  I can’t wait to see the final product. This is yet another milestone for Studio Bablesberg located in one of my favorite cities. Governments have a terrible habit of lying to their citizens, as they get involved in deadly adventures and intrigue that few rational people would approve.   This is a story about the failure of civilized nations to engage in honorable diplomacy. Investigative Journalist, hacker and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange risked his life and liberty to expose the truth to the citizens of the world.  Today there is a price on Assange’s head.  The government and people of Ecuador are protecting him from imprisonment in any number of nations. Any great effort like the wildly successful WikiLeaks website brings conflict even among friends and this film explores that and...