For several years now, Bill Murray (“The French Dispatch”) has been a good luck charm for director Wes Anderson, a perennial member of his troupe, but he’s a notoriously hard get. You need a killer script and an “in” to get him to read it.
04.02.2022 - 01:25 / deadline.com
In the birthplace of Western philosophy, Bill Murray dropped some wisdom on a receptive audience.
“I swear to you,” he told the crowd in Athens, quoting Walt Whitman, “there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.”
Divine things, like the music of Bach, Shostakovich and Ravel, the melodies of Gershwin and Bernstein, the songs of Stephen Foster and Van Morrison.
For one magical evening in 2018, on terrain once walked by Socrates and Plato, Murray was joined by cellist Jan Vogler, violinist Mira Wang, and pianist Vanessa Perez for a concert combining music and poetry. The film New Worlds: The Cradle of Civilization captures that performance at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus near the Acropolis, the culmination of a tour that took the quartet to Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, the U.S., and across Europe to their final date in Greece.
The show grew out of a friendship between Murray and Vogler, who originally met on a flight from Berlin to New York. They bonded over a shared appreciation of the arts.
“We hit it off and then we kept crashing into each other and sharing each other’s experiences in music and movies and art and poetry,” Murray explains of their early encounters. “Jan texted me one day, said, ‘Hey, you know, we could do a show. We could travel the whole world.’ I thought, ‘My God, whoever gets a text like that? Whoever gets a message that we could travel the whole world?’ I mean, only a liar says that kind of stuff. But I thought, ‘Holy cow. I’m in for that. That sounds good.’”
The next step was to come up with a program that would knit poetry and prose, recited by Murray, with musical performances by Vogler, Wang, and Perez.
“Jan invited me to his home, where I met Mira Wang, his wife, who’s the violinist,
For several years now, Bill Murray (“The French Dispatch”) has been a good luck charm for director Wes Anderson, a perennial member of his troupe, but he’s a notoriously hard get. You need a killer script and an “in” to get him to read it.
Bill Murray and Aziz Ansari have teamed up for a new movie based on Atul Gawande’s novel Being Mortal: Medicine And What Matters In The End.It is unclear what Murray’s role is at this stage but as well as starring in the Searchlight Pictures comedy, Ansari also wrote the script and is on board to direct and produce the as-yet-untitled movie.“Aziz Ansari is an incredible talent and, with this script, he brings a singular combination of insightful humour and pathos,” said Searchlight Presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with him on his feature directorial debut which is long overdue, and of course working with the genius Bill Murray once again.”Murray most recently starred in Ghostbusters: Afterlife alongside Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson.Describing the movie as “a spook-nuking sequel” which “brings the franchise back from the dead”, NME awarded the long awaited sequel four stars.It added: “The result is a sequel that feels like an authentic Ghostbusters movie without quite slipping into retread mode.”Ansari meanwhile, recently directed and appeared in season three of Netflix series Master Of None and released his latest stand up special Nightclub Comedian on the streaming service.In other news, a clip of Murray putting his own spin on Tom Waits‘ ‘The Piano Has Been Drinking’ was recently shared.
Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms this week.MOVIES— The Ryan Reynolds action comedy “Free Guy,” one of the few big-budget original movies to come out in theaters last year, arrives Wednesday on Disney+. And in Shawn Levy's genially self-aware film, which racked up $331 million at the box office, originality is very much at the heart of a story about a nonplayer videogame character (Reynolds) who breaks free of his coding.
“Aziz Ansari is an incredible talent and, with this script, he brings a singular combination of insightful humor and pathos,” Searchlight presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with him on his feature directorial debut which is long overdue, and of course working with the genius Bill Murray once again.”Taylor Friedman and Cameron Chidsey are overseeing the project for Searchlight Pictures.
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAziz Ansari has been appointed to direct an untitled comedic-drama for Searchlight Pictures. He will co-star in the movie with Bill Murrary.Ansari, who created the Netflix series “Master of None,” is making his feature directorial debut.
Aziz Ansari (Master of None, Parks and Recreation) is making his feature directorial debut with an untitled dramedy for Searchlight, based on the 2014 non-fiction book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by surgeon Atul Gawande, in which he’ll star alongside Oscar nominee Bill Murray (The French Dispatch, Lost in Translation), Deadline has confirmed.
Bill Maher zeroed in on China during the latest edition of “Real Time”, targeting the winter Olympics in Beijing during the “New Rules” segment.
recall effort in San Francisco that led to the ousting of three school board members for prioritizing wokeness over the well-being of their students. Maher then asked Brooke Jenkins, the former assistant San Francisco district attorney who is leading the recall effort against liberal DA Chesa Boudin, if it was “about time to chuck” the masks on kids. Jenkins agreed. “Having a 5-year-old in school right now, I would like to see them go,” Jenkins said. “They don’t need them,” Maher responded, referring to face coverings. “I mean, kids are the least, least vulnerable.
Bill Maher couldn’t hide his contempt for the country hosting the Winter Olympics on his Friday Real Time.
Political comedy prince Bill Maher will be featured in a new, one-hour HBO comedy special, #Adulting, which will air sometime this spring, exact date TBA. It will debut on the network and will stream on HBO Max.
Sasha Urban editorBill Maher has a new HBO comedy special on the way. Slated for release this spring, “#Adulting” will mark Maher’s 12th special with the network and is scheduled to be taped on March 4 and 5 at the Fillmore Theater in Miami.Maher’s first HBO special dates back to 1989, and he’s since starred in the hour-long presentations “Bill Maher: Live From Oklahoma,” “Bill Maher: Live from D.C.,” “Bill Maher… But I’m Not Wrong,” “Victory Begins at Home,” “Be More Cynical,” “The Golden Goose Special,” “Stuff That Struck Me Funny” and the Emmy-nominated comedy specials “The Decider” and “I’m Swiss.” He also appeared in two half-hour stand-up specials as well as the specials “30 Seconds Over Washington” and “Comic Relief VI.” Maher is best known for hosting the talk show “Real Time with Bill Maher” on HBO, which is currently in its 20th season.
CBS Sunday Morning, Chase explained how it didn’t bother him when he heard that his former costars had bad experiences while working with him.“I guess you’d have to ask them. I don’t give a crap!” he laughed.“I am who I am. And I like where — who I am.
Bill Maher’s Real Time on HBO this Friday was about waking up to various scenarios and recognizing the hypocrisy around us.
Super Smalls, a children’s accessories brand that prioritizes wonder and self-expression. Jacobs found that she could mix her love of beautiful things (honed by all those years as an Accessories Editor) with her passion for bringing joy both to her girls and to kids everywhere. We caught up with this special family at their new home in the West Village.
The star of “Caddyshack” is proving his bona fides.
You’ve heard of the no-look pass in basketball. Now, meet the no-look putt in golf.
Bill Maher weighed in on ABC News’ suspension of Whoopi Goldberg from “The View” following controversial comments she made about the Holocaust.
You are allowed to disagree, Bill Maher argued during his Friday Real Time on HBO. And he brought up two instances of news this week from the world of television to underline his point.