On this day in movie history - Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2003)

 

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Motonori Sakakibara,

written by Al Reinert, Jeff Vintar, Jack Fletcher, Bruce B.L. Jurgens and Ramin Mebdy,

based on the Final Fantasy game franchise by Hironobu Sakaguchi,

was released in the United States on July 2, 2003.

Music by Elliot Goldenthal.

Cast:

Ming-Na Wen, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Peri Gilpin, Donald Sutherland, James Woods, Keith David, Jean Simmons, Matt McKenzie, John DeMita, Matt Adler, Steve Alterman, David Arnott, Cathy Cavadini, Lanei Chapman, Vicki Davis, Judi M. Durand, Greg Finley, Jack Fletcher, Julia Fletcher, Barbara Harris, David McCharen, Tracy Metro, David Michie, Richard Penn, David Randolph, Andrea Baker, Atsushi Goto, Tsutomu Isobe, Jun Karasawa, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Rikiya Koyama, Keiko Toda, Akio Ôtsuka, Eric Aten, John DiMaggio, Alex Fernandez, David Rasner, Dwight Schultz, Annie Wu.

On this day in movie and book history - Dead Man (1995 and 2000)

Dead Man

directed and written by Jim Jarmusch,

was released at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 27, 1995.

Music by Neil Young.

Cast:

Johnny Depp, Mili Avital, Gary Farmer, Crispin Glover, Lance Henriksen, Michael Wincott, Eugene Byrd, John Hurt, Robert Mitchum, Iggy Pop, Gabriel Byrne, Jared Harris, Jimmie Ray Weeks, Mark Bringelson, John North, Peter Schrum, Mike Dawson, Billy Bob Thornton, Michelle Thrush, Gibby Haynes, Richard Boes, George Duckworth, Thomas Bettles, Alfred Molina, Daniel Chas Stacy, Todd Pfeiffer, Leonard Bowechop, Cecil Cheeka, Michael McCarty, Steve Buscemi, John C. Carlucci.

Recommended reading:

Dead Man

by Jonathan Rosenbaum.

Published by British Film Institute.
Published 2000.
 
ISBN-10: 0851708064
ISBN-13: 9780851708065
 
Description:

“The book follows the narrative and picks out some of the stand-out cameos as well as some of the choice of dialogue, music, style and violence within. Just another good choice from the BFI/Palgrave on another solid film with heavy content.” – Filmwerk.

When it was released in 1995, Dead Man puzzled many audiences and critics. Jim Jarmusch's reputation was for directing slick, hip contemporary films. And Dead Man was a black-and-white Western. As time has passed, though, the number of its admirers has grown rapidly. Indeed, Dead Man, with its dark and unconventional treatment of violence, racism and capitalism, may be Jarmusch's finest work to date.

This is Jonathan Rosenbaum's view. For him, Dead Man is both a quantum leap and a logical next step in Jarmusch's career. Starring Johnny Depp as the uprooted accountant William Blake and Gary Farmer as his enigmatic Native American companion, Nobody, and with startling cameos from Robert Mitchum, John Hurt and Iggy Pop, Dead Man is by turns shocking, comic and deeply moving. This book explores and celebrates a masterpiece of 1990s American cinema.

On this day in movie history - Fargo (1996)

Fargo

directed by Joel Coen,

written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen,

was released in the United States on March 8, 1996.

Music by Carter Burwell.

Cast:

Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Harve Presnell, Kristin Rudrüd, Tony Denman, Steve Reevis, Larry Brandenburg, John Carroll Lynch, Steve Park, Bruce Bohne, Larissa Kokernot, David S. Lomax, Melissa Peterman, Michelle Suzanne LeDoux, Bain Boehlke, Warren Keith, James Gaulke, José Feliciano, Michelle Hutchison, Cliff Rakerd, Gary Houston, Steve Edelman, Sally Wingert, Bruce Campbell.