AMC Newsletter - 11/1/06

Russell Crowe heads into theatres this week in the drama, A Good Year (2006). Based on the novel by Peter Mayle, the movie tells the story of Max Skinner, a workaholic who inherits a small vineyard in Provence from his late uncle. As Max settles into life at the vineyard, he becomes cloaked in the memories he has of the property as a child. Ridley Scott, who carries a reputation of working with stunning visuals as well as actors who have theatre backgrounds, directed the film. He has directed films such as White Squall (1996), Black Hawk Down (2001), and Gladiator (2000). It was on the set of Gladiator where he first worked with Crowe. Crowe caught the acting bug early in life. At the age of 4, his family moved to Australia from their native New Zealand to pursue a business of catering on film sets. On the set of Spyforce, an Australian TV series, Crowe was hired to read one line of dialogue and fell in love with acting. He appeared in many other TV series over the next years including Neighbours, Living with the Law, and The Late Show in Australia. He was then cast in his first film, The Crossing (1990), and later starred in Romper Stomper (1992), which made him widely known throughout the Australian acting community. Then, he starred in The Sum of Us (1994), and The Quick and the Dead (1995), which introduced his name to American cinema. L.A. Confidential (1997), his third American film, brought him the recognition from the American public many thought he deserved. The movie was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture, but Crowe himself was not nominated. However, he went on to be a three-time consecutive Academy Award nominee for his roles in The Insider (1999), Gladiator (2000), and A Beautiful Mind (2001). He took home an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for his role in Gladiator, and a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his performance in A Beautiful Mind (2001) the following year. Off set, Crowe is a musician. In the mid-1980s, he had a single in New Zealand, “I Wanna be Marlon Brando,” under the stage name Russ Le Roq. He also performed in stage productions of Grease and The Rocky Horror Picture Show in New Zealand. In 1992, he started to perform lead vocals and guitar for an Australian rock band, 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. They played their first concert in America following his success in Gladiator (2000), in August 2000 in Austin, Texas. Tickets for the concert were in high demand, selling for over $500 on eBay. Crowe collaborated with Alan Doyle, of the Canadian band Great Big Sea, and released a new single, Raewyn in April. They also put out an album entitled My Hand, My Heart, which has been released on iTunes to download. In March 2006, Crowe performed with his new band, The Ordinary Fear of God, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Thanks, Allison