On Thursday evening, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival opened with the premiere of DARLING COMPANION. Director Lawrence Kasdan was accompanied by his wife (co-screenwriter) as well as Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline and Ayelet Zurer. Oops, I forgot Casey, the dog! On the red carpet, Kasdan remarked, "The biggest challenge of making the film was that we had very little time or money." With the absence of a poster (yes, the budget is tight), I lost patience and dashed off one myself!

The Santa Barbara Independent reports, "It’s a pleasant enough lark of a Kasdan-ian project, but dog people may be dismayed by the fact that the bulk of the screen time is sans dog, which has gone missing... In short, Kasdan works up some of that old smarmy charm, and calls in some fine thespian voltage — including Kline, Keaton Richard Jenkins, Diane Wiest, and Sam Sheperd — to take on a script which wavers wildly between big warmth and sentimental hokum. When we finally, inevitably catch sight of the collie again, a real modern-day Lassie Moment, we kinda wish this had been more of a true dog picture."

Am I the only one starting to believe this is strictly a dog-lovers movie? Here is an invitation from the New York Observer for a private NY screening on Tuesday evening. Lael Loewenstein of Variety points out that the cinematography by Michael McDonough evokes the best aspects of the Utah locations, which fill in for Colorado. [Park City also substitutes for Telluride]. He does admit it disappoints to see such a fine cast "underserved by a script that doesn't optimize their talents." Sam plays what is described as a "no-nonsense sheriff". I'm not sure how much screen time he gets, but we can hope that however many lines he has, Shepard movie fans will be entertained.

On Thursday evening Lawrence Kasdan's DARLING COMPANION will open the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and will have a limited theatrical release on April 20th. The trailer has just been made available but, unbelievably, no film poster has surfaced as of this date. Picked up by Sony Classics, this indie obviously has a very limited budget though the star-studded cast is impressive. It includes two Academy Award nominees (Richard Jenkins and Sam), three Academy Award winners (Diane Keaton, Dianne Wiest and Kevin Kline), as well as the talented "Mad Men" actress, Elizabeth Moss. Screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan and his wife, Meg, are both Oscar nominees as well. However, these accolades do not necessarily spell success. After viewing the trailer, I'm a bit apprehensive. Nothing sparked my interest but it might appeal to dog lovers.

Here's a new poster and a new photo of Sam and co-star Vera Farmiga.

As we await the screening of Larry Kasdan's "Darling Companion" at the Santa Barbara Film Festival later this month, let's turn our attention to the third Keaton/Shepard collaboration made in 1996. I've just added the film page for THE ONLY THRILL. I can't say I'm enamoured with the title but it sure beats "Tennessee Valley", which was the original title and was released in some European countries with that name as well. Truth be told, it was filmed in Austin, Texas, by director Peter Masterson.

Besides Diane Keaton, the cast of this romantic drama includes Robert Patrick and Diane Lane. All four put in remarkable performances considering the material they have to work with. I can understand why some audiences might not care for this film because you can't help but seethe with major frustration with these four characters, who are unable to verbalize their feelings. Kevin Thomas of the LA Times calls Sam "the actor of choice if you want reticence in spades." I'll second that. You can rent it or view it via streaming if you're a Netflix member.

It doesn't surprise me that when the Goya nominations (Spain's Oscars) were announced this week, the Butch Cassidy western received eleven nominations! However, it did surprise and disappoint me that there was no recognition for Sam as best actor. It did receive nominations for best film, director, original script, original score, production design, photography, editing, artistic director, make-up & hair, wardrobe and sound. The awards ceremony will take place on February 19th in Madrid.

The Blu-ray disc for BLACKTHORN became available for purchase on December 20th. If you're a Shepard fan, this is a must-see film featuring one of his best performances of his career. You also have the option of either renting it through Amazon Instant Video for $3.99, which gives you a 48-hour time period to view it or you can purchase it outright through Amazon Instant Video for $14.99.

You may recall a couple years ago that Sam was slated to star in a series pilot called "Tough Trade" for Epix channel. The contemporary one-hour drama was to feature the Tucker family, a three-generational Nashville music dynasty whose penchant for drink, debauchery and divorce had left them morally corrupt and on the verge of bankruptcy. Sam was to play the patriarch of the Tucker Clan. Filming took place in Nashville at the end of 2009 and the project appeared on track with an order for 4 more scripts and an extension of the actors' options. The pilot, which was recut several times, was reportedly screened around the country and did well. But Epix officially passed on it in the fall of 2010. Epix CEO Mark Greenberg announced, "At the end of day, it just didn’t work." The producers had been quite enthused about casting Sam commenting that he would bring "great authenticity to the project". Perhaps we'll see it re-tooled in the future but for now, here's one photo released of Sam in full costume. He sure fits the role, guitar and all!

We all know that Sam takes a notebook with him wherever he goes and he continually jots down thoughts and ideas that may take shape in the future as poetry, a short story, a play. Here he is in 2006 in the Big Apple enjoying his lunch with his trusty notebook by his side. I often dine alone and find myself taking out my journal. I write nothing profound but more than anything, it takes the place of companionship.

I remember what Patti Smith said about Sam: "He fiercely guards his privacy, but if he's talking to you and lets you in the door, he offers everything. You can sit at his table. You can ride his horse. You can look in his notebook."  Yeah, right....

Here's a very short story by Sam that was published in the 1996 edition of "Microfiction: An Anthology of  Really Short Stories, edited by Jerome Stern. It's called "Guadalupe in the Promised Land".

Guadalupe hit the skids and fishtailed into a ditch, crawled out of the wreck bleeding from the neck, saw the moon, laid his head in a mud puddle, said “Todo el Mundo” three times and snuffed out. Him and Manolete got together after that and Manolete told him it wasn’t enough just to be a man. The thing was to shoot for sainthood. He said he almost hit it. A saint of the cape. Jackson Pollock joined them and told Manolete he was full of shit. A man was good enough. That was harder than sainthood. There’s too many saints anyway. Guadalupe didn’t know what to think. He ran into Jimmy Dean and Jimmy just looked confused. Marilyn Monroe had no opinion. Brecht kept talking about Germany and shame. Satchmo kept wiping his sweat and shuffling. Janis wanted more. Crazy Horse said: “Fight and die young.” Brian Jones just played the harpoon. Dylan Thomas said “Rage.” Jimi Hendrix said “Slide.” Big Bopper said “What?” Johnny Ace said “Shoot.” And Davey Moore said “Take it all on.” That made sense to Guadalupe. And with that he lay down for a nice long rest.

While scanning the Net, I came across this blog regarding Sam's appearance at the "Blackthorn"  premiere in NYC back in September. Apparently, this young man from the Patrick McMullan photo agency crashed the after-party that evening and wrote about his experience. He introduced himself to Sam and asked, "You do so few movies. (Hello! He does an average of two to three per year!) What does it take to get you out of hiding." Sam laughed and replied, "A good script. It's always about the script. I read this script and knew immediately that I wanted to do it... I always say that dismissing the importance of a script is like having a closet with no hangers. What are you going to hang your clothes on?" This guy then bravely (or stupidly) asked Sam if he would mind having his photo taken with his pal, some Eastern European wannabe. Sam looked at him as if he were insane. (Would you expect any other reaction?) Since the guy had his camera ready, his  pal quickly jumped into the frame and here's what was eventually posted on Facebook. You're certainly not going to find words like gracious and generous when it comes to Sam's response to his fans (but we love him anyway).

I also discovered another blog on the Wild Magazine web site where photographer Sabine "Sam" Mirlesse gets some early morning shots of Sam at NYC's Mercer Hotel on the morning of the "Blackthorn" premiere. By comparison to the above story, you'll note that our man is unexpectantly cordial. Check it out!

In some of Sam's interviews recently, he has mentioned working at the Sante Fe Institute in New Mexico and I just wanted to clarify his connection to the Institute. A year ago Sam was made a Miller Scholar, which gave him a very prestigious visiting position. At the time of the appointment, SFI Faculty Chair David Krakauer said, "Sam is a very accomplished, thoughtful person, and I know he will challenge us, and provide us with another unique perspective to think from". Sam arrived at the Institute in late December 2010 and conducted research and wrote at SFI intermittently through May.

The position ranges from a few months to a year and offers a unique environment for highly accomplished, creative thinkers to catalyze transdisciplinary collaboration, synthesize ideas and methods from many disciplines, and enhance, or even define, new fields of inquiry. Miller Scholars both benefit from and contribute to ongoing scholarly research at SFI. During their stay, Miller Scholars are free to devote their time to scholarship on any topic and are encouraged to collaborate with SFI resident faculty and postdoctoral researchers, and make use of the working group- and workshop-convening power of the Institute.

Sam gave this update recently - "I did that a year ago for six months, and then I was invited back as a kind of resident. It’s without any stipend or anything, but they give me a place to work. And I really liked that somehow it’s time for me to be institutionalized. [Laughs] So far it’s worked out good, and I want to continue it as long as I’m productive. I’ve got my farm in Kentucky, but sometime it gets a little bit remote, and I wonder what I’m doing. New Mexico feels like home to me now."

This is a wonderful photo taken in Sante Fe back in 1984. You might at first think the photographer was Bruce Weber but it's still a famous name - try Annie Liebowitz!

In its 2012 Best of the West Source Book, True West magazine listed a number of Santa Fe and New Mexico people and places in the honors roster - including both locals and visitors. "Blackthorn" was named the Best Indie Western. Star Sam Shepard was named Best Western Film Actor and director Mateo Gil scored as Best Western Film Director.

Here's another photo of Sam taken in New Mexico - not with fans - but with Jaimie Alexander (on the left), one of his co-stars from "Savannah" due out in 2012.

According to People magazine, Jessica Lange's rep has confirmed that Jessica and Sam have ended their long-time relationship. You may remember I had posted this news on October 1 when columnist Liz Smith reported it but there was no confirmation at that time from either party.  Sources report they parted ways two years ago and are now "pursuing independent lives." They fell in love while filming "Frances" (1982) and have two grown children, Hannah and Walker.

Lawrence Kasdan's DARLING COMPANION has been selected as the opening-night film at the 27th Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The Sony Pictures Classics release stars Diane Keaton as a woman who saves a stray dog on the side of a freeway in Denver. Besides Sam, the cast includes Kevin Kline, Dianne Wiest and Elisabeth Moss. Sony describes it as "comic, harrowing and sometimes deeply emotional." The film will screen on Thursday, January 26. You'll note on the film page (above link) that the movie stills they've released thus far are rather uninteresting with mostly dog images.

CIA thriller SAFE HOUSE, directed by Daniel Espinosa, will open in theaters on February 10, 2012. Denzel Washington plays the most dangerous renegade from the CIA who comes back onto the grid after a decade on the run. When the South African safe house he’s remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative (played by Ryan Reynolds) escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.

Sam co-stars in the action-packed film along with Brendan Gleason, Vera Farmiga, Robert Patrick, Liam Cunningham and Ruben Blades. Perhaps Universal's budget is tight because their publicity campaign is inconsequential with a rather boring web site with little information. They haven't even released the roles or names for most of the cast! And as far as the title, it's been used so many times before, you'd think the producers could have been more imaginative. Anyway, here's our first glimpse of Sam:

I could not resist posting this "Blackthorn" review published by the San Diego Reader:

A real Western is riding our way from South America. Up in the high Andes, Blackthorn is much more than an exotic footnote to 1969’s "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"....  In this better sequel, Sam Shepard never strives for charm as the aging Cassidy. Known as James Blackthorn in Bolivia, and thought to have died there with his pal in 1908, Butch lives on in a deep backland. In 1927 he is a rugged old bone, raked by memories, raising horses, comforted by a native woman, and imagining a son he has never seen.

And he is Shepard, crowning his acting career. At a certain slant the gray, bearded actor looks so much like Walter Huston’s prospector in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" that I almost gasped a welcoming laugh. To the film’s great advantage, director Mateo Gil and writer Miguel Barros are Spanish. They stake their claim away from the Bob & Paul myth.

Their Bolivia is shot with powerful sensuality by the great Spanish cinematographer Juan Ruiz Anchía and rooted in Shepard’s hardbitten, scraped-down magnetism. Along with some sketchy plot involving an alcoholic consul, we have fabulous mountains, a desert that is death made visible, and Blackthorn igniting his true Cassidy whenever he rides a fast horse or fires a rifle. He also sings a bit like a mule with a muse.

Most central is friendship. Loyalty haunts Blackthorn, making him stay true to the woman, his horse, the unseen son, the memory of Sundance. And, perhaps, the Spanish mining engineer who hauls the old fugitive back into danger. Their alliance is the spring of tension in a terrific, full-hearted Western.

The film is still available thru video on demand but it will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 20th. There are no details if the disc will include any extras.

Last night La MaMa's gala event celebrated the 50th anniversary of its Manhattan theatre. Our playwright was honored with the first Ellen Stewart Award although the honoree was not present. Possibly his absence was due to the Arkansas shoot of his latest film, MUD. No excuse was given in the media coverage. It was reported that Sam sent a video message of remembrance. He related how as a young man, he wanted to put on a play and he didn't know where to do it. He was pointed in the direction of Stewart who told him she would do his play before he had even finished asking her. "She always wore these tight pants and these green, flowing shirts... she was very sexy," he said. He also remembered selling coffee in the cafe. As the recipient of this award, Sam was given the opportunity to choose a young artist who will then create and present a new work to be produced during La MaMa's 51st season next year. Sam chose Matthew Paul Olmos, who was recently awarded the "Top Prize for the Americas" by the BBC 2011 International Playwriting Competition for his play "The Nature of Captivity."

You can now watch Sam's brilliant performance in BLACKTHORN in your own living room through video on demand. That's exactly what I did and it was worth every penny! The cinematography alone brings esoteric pleasures but certain images of 'Cowboy Sam' as the weathered but rugged James Blackthorn (aka Butch Cassidy) will linger with you long after the film is over. Yes, images like the scene where Blackthorn, dressed in his long auburn coat, sits quietly cross-legged on the desert floor across from his enemy. His craggy-lined face and chiseled looks capture a man with character written all over him. Even his raspy rendering of some old cowboy songs will bring you smiles. It's a must-see!!! The film has been warmly received by critics and Sam's performance has received heaps of praise - check out the BLACKTHORN film page!

 "I have two manual typewriters that I use. I prefer them. I started out that way. I get habitual about stuff. I just prefer it over the computer because it doesn't feel like you're doing anything. You're looking at a screen and clicking the keys, but the keys - they're just representative. They don't actually hammer a letter down on the page. I like the page a lot. I don't relate to the screen so much."

There's a Patti Smith album in the works - and it will include some songs with Sam. Yes, singing, not drumming. Apparently, the pair have been recording "old tunes" together. Asked if "old tunes" means songs from Patti's early career, Sam laughed. "No, no, old songs before we met," rattling off names of bluesmen, gospel singers and banjo players, most from the dawn of the recording era. "Ivory Joe Hunter, Richard 'Rabbit' Brown, Washington Phillips, Charlie Poole - those guys." Fans of the Holy Modal Rounders, the folk group Sam once recorded with, will be happy to hear that “Hesitation Blues” (a traditional tune they famously covered) is on the set list. I recently came across this rare old photo of the twosome probably taken close to 40 years ago. 

Back in February, there was some kind of jam session going on with Patti in Soho, which also included Sam's 24-year-old son, Walker, who plays with the Dust Busters band.

And here are some interesting comments from Patti that describe her friendship with Sam:

"Our friendship transcended any youthful difficulties; it transcended all our different periods of life. We're just the same. When Sam and I are together, it's like no particular time. People part and people die, but to be able to have such a rich history with a human being as a friend is beautiful... He fiercely guards his privacy, but if he's talking to you and lets you in the door, he offers everything. You can sit at his table. You can ride his horse. You can look in his notebook. It's just a matter of walking through the door."

Our playwright is presently working on a couple works. He just finished the bones of a three-act play, which he began writing during a six-month residency at the Sante Fe Institute in New Mexico. He says he had earlier sworn off writing longer works, but this one just came to him. He doesn't expect it will be finished for another year and rumor has it that it might eventually be produced by New York's Signature Theater.

Sam turned out for the premiere of his Butch Cassidy western in NYC on September 29th. The following photos show him with BLACKTHORN's director, Mateo Gil, and his companion for the evening, producer Heather Rae. Yes, those beautiful high cheekbones are authentic - she's part Cherokee.  Ms. Rae has been a Sundance Film Festival fixture for years and is considered a good friend. However, according to gossip columnist Liz Smith, Sam and long-time partner Jessica Lange have parted ways. Not that anybody asked our playwright. He is hardly the type to confirm or deny it. Same goes for Ms. Lange.

Good news! Sam has joined the cast of the feature film MUD, written and to be directed by Jeff Nichols.  His co-stars are Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Tye Sheridan, Ray McKinnon, Joe Don Baker and Paul Spars. Filming will begin shortly in Arkansas.

MUD is a coming-of-age drama centered around two fourteen-year-old boys who encounter a mysterious fugitive hiding out on an island in the Mississippi. Intrigued by this man, they enter into a pact to help him evade capture and reconnect with the love of his life.

Sam will play the reclusive character of Tom Blankenship, an ex-sharpshooter from the army who lives alone on a riverboat house and is a sort of protector of the Matthew McConaughey character.
 

Sam will be the recipient of the first-ever "Ellen Stewart Award", named in honor of the late founder of Manhattan's experimental theatre company La MaMa. Ms. Stewart passed away on January 13th of this year at the age of 91. He will be honored during the company's 2011 gala on October 17 in the Ellen Stewart Theatre. Sam's relationship with La MaMa dates back to the 1960's when he was a young playwright and La MaMa had just opened its doors. In a remembrance about Ms. Stewart in The New York Times at the time of her passing, Mr. Shepard commented, "I walked up to her and said, 'I have this play.' And she said 'Let's do it, baby.' And she did. She just put on shows. I could bring something written on an envelope, and Ellen would put it on the next day." His numerous productions at La Mama through the years included the 1983 rock concert version of his "The Tooth of the Crime", which La MaMa remounted in 2006 on the occasion of the company's 45th anniversary season.

This honor is presented "to an artist who embodies the courage and pioneering spirit that Ms. Stewart encouraged at La MaMa, an artist who carries on her ideal of challenging conventional theatrical boundaries and expanding our understanding of human potential." As part of the honor, the recipient will also select a young theatre artist to create a new work to be presented and produced at La MaMa.

The gala will include entertainment from actors and writers with ties to La MaMa, including Wallace Shawn, Estelle Parsons, John Kelly, Justin Bond, Scott Wittman, Taylor Mac and Elizabeth Swados. The evening of cocktails, dinner and performance will begin at 6:30 p.m.

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