I had actually completely forgotten about Joe Dante’s EXPLORERS until just this moment, but it all came flooding back immediately. The 1985 coming-of-age sci-fi film starred Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, and Jason Presson as three young teenagers who came together to build a spaceship after one of them had recurring dreams about a blueprint of some kind. The film eventually gathered a cult following but was considered a box-office flop as Paramount Pictures forced Dante to finish the film before he was ready. Read More here
The untold story of lost star River Phoenix – 25 years after his death
Phenomenally talented and famously caring, River Phoenix’s death shocked the world. His girlfriend Samantha Mathis talks for the first time about that awful night, and the man behind the myth. Read More here
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New Icons Added
Added 89 icons from Stand By Me / here
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Remembering River Phoenix And His Timeless Style
Before Timothée Chalamet and Harry Styles, there was River Phoenix. In the brief span of his career, which lasted less than a decade, the American actor reached a cult status that was only reinforced by his untimely death in 1993. On what would have been his 48th birthday, Vogue looks back on his most memorable style moments. Read More here
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Flashback Trailer: ‘Running on Empty’
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North Bend Film Fest 2018: Final Slate of Films Confirmed For Inaugural Edition
This year will see the inaugural edition of the North Bend Film Fest in North Bend, WA, which was once the original shooting location for David Lynch’s iconic television series Twin Peaks. From August 23 through 26, the town, located just outside of Seattle, will host a film festival that sees genre fare from around the world. Confirmed today is the full line-up, which will see the fest bring festival darlings such as Anna and the Apocalypse, Don’t Leave Home, and Braid to the screen.
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Set in the 1990’s runaway-dominated streets of the Pacific Northwest and loosely based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV, this seminal film by Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING, MILK) tells the tale of a narcoleptic street kid named Mike (River Phoenix) who befriends a fellow hustler (Keanu Reeves) on his journey to find his estranged mother. Film presented in collaboration with Three Dollar Bill Cinema
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‘Absolutely kills me’: you pick your saddest movie scenes
Our writers picked their peaks of cinematic sadness and you responded with animated elephants, Christmas melancholy and emotional reunions. Spoilers ahead
Running on Empty
The end of Running on Empty when Judd Hirsch realises he needs to let River Phoenix have a better life than being constantly on the run and tells him to cycle off to his grandparents. It’s about that point where you have to leave an old life behind. The tragically early death of River Phoenix makes it even more poignant.
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‘Running on Empty’ Screening @ BFI, London
26 May @ 20:30 – Running on Empty [NFT2]
30 May @ 20:40 – Running on Empty [NFT2]
Website: here
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My Own Private Idaho: Premium Collection (Blu-ray Review)
My Own Private Idaho is the sort of film that really shouldn’t work. The movie apparently came about when writer/director Gus Van Sant was working on three separate scripts and then decided to merge them all together. The result is a movie that ought to be a mess. The tone and story jump about, some of its pretty random and surreal, and its Shakespearean pretentions are a bit bizarre. However, it works. These disparate elements and tones come together, helped by an astonishing performance by River Phoenix as young hustler Mike. His character – an outsider living a marginal and disintegrating existence – is a reflection of the film itself. It ultimately becomes an unexpected masterclass of montage – where by placing seemingly disparate things side-by-side and throwing in unexpected imagery (not least the famous falling barn), it creates something unique and pulls you into a character and world in a way few other films have ever managed. Read More here
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Neil Patrick Harris Put His ‘Heart’ Into His First Film in 1987
Who were your early idols or role models? As contemporaries were concerned, I thought River Phoenix was a really great actor. I always looked up to Tom Hanks too; he was kind of an everyman who didn’t need to be the hyper-romantic lothario lead to be successful. I certainly didn’t feel like the lothario at a chubby prepubescent 13, so I looked up to him a lot and his career choices.
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