**November 30**
Crowe finally controls leagues club
Peter Holmes a Court and Russell Crowe have won the battle for control of South Sydney Leagues Club, with members voting overwhelmingly for the football club backed proposal to redevelop the licenced premises opposite Redfern Oval. The decision ensures the links between the Rabbitohs and their leagues club are maintained, and will provide a source of funding to the football club that is 75 per cent owned by Holmes a Court and Crowe. Souths officials have announced that 67 per cent of the leagues club members that voted on seven different proposals over the past three days backed the football club's plan, which includes a hall of fame, merchandise outlet and the construction of a balcony overlooking the Rabbitohs new $19 million training facility at Redfern Oval. Among the other proposals was one favoured by the leagues club administrator and board to relocate the licenced premises to Botany Rd, Alexandria. An AGM is now expected to be held next month and it is unlikely given the result that the current leagues club board or former powerbroker George Piggins, who is bitterly opposed to Holmes a Court and Crowe's takeover of Souths, would stand for election. (thewest.com.au)

American Humane Concludes Investigation Into Horse Accident On Set of Russell Crowe Film
Two investigations into an accident that caused severe injury to -- and required the subsequent euthanasia of -- a horse used in the filming of the Lionsgate movie western 3:10 to Yuma have been completed. The findings indicate that the accident likely was the result of two factors: a dual-training approach and instinctual responses for the horse, and the rider's newness to his particular mount. During filming on Oct. 23, 2006, a quarter horse ran into a camera-carrying vehicle, severely injuring itself and its rider, Deryle Lujan, a professional rider/stuntman. Lujan was taken to the hospital in critical condition, and the horse's injuries were severe enough to warrant euthanasia on the set. The accident occurred in Diablo Canyon, west of Santa Fe, N.M. American Humane, which monitors the safety and welfare of animals on the sets of film and TV productions, ordered two investigations of this tragic and unfortunate incident. American Humane will not suggest that charges be filed in this incident, given that appropriate guidelines and processes were followed, although an accident occurred on the set nonetheless. American Humane is reviewing its own guidelines for monitoring horse action in filmed entertainment and may initiate revisions dealing with horse training and/or rider familiarity with the animals to be used. In the film, Russell Crowe plays a desperado whose accomplices stage an ambush after he is taken into custody by a determined local sheriff in this remake of the 1957 film. (starpulse.com)

**November 29**
From Ivani:
Contigo magazine, a Brazilian weekly magazine, brings this week an article about Russell and A Good Year, with a good review of the movie that will be released in Brazil next Friday, November 1st. In the article there is a mistake about Danielle being American, I have already written to the magazine about it. The article and the review are online  HERE and  HERE
I have translated the article and the review, please see them below:
Russell Crowe, at heart, the actor is a sweet.
Contigo magazine, Brazil, No. 1628, November 30th issue.
By Márcia Pereira
New Zealander actor, who stars A Good Year in the theaters next Friday, makes out to be a tough star, but behind this cloak he is educated, generous and a big daddy. The image Russell Crowe, 42 years, passes is of a tough man. Beyond this New Zealander of 1,82 meter tall/high physically leading us to this prejudgment, the news that popped until sometime ago on his misunderstandings and fights - as the assault to the Mercer hotelŽs helpdesk Nestor Estrada, with a telephone – contributed for the starŽs irascible image But it seems paternity calmed down his spirits. He, who is married to American actress Danielle Spencer, 36, for the second time became father of the boy Tennyson, 4 months. Russell and Danielle also are parents of Charles, 2 years. Serene
There is already an year that Russell calmed down. And what has been propagated in the press is the big daddyŽs image. “My son Charles is adorable, and now he has a little brother to play. My familiar moment could not be better”, said the actor. Now, Crowe always is photographed carrying in his arms loading or on the shoulders the first-born, with who plays sufficiently when he has a recess in the shootings – right now he is shooting the western “3:10 To Yuma”, in Santa Fe, United States. Cinema has always exploited his virile image so far too – see his roles in LA Confidential (1997) and Gladiator (2000). This has changed since Ridley Scott, 70, called him to act in A Good Year, that is premiering next Friday, November 1st, adaptation of the book of the same name from English Peter Mayle – released here by Rocco Publisher. In the movie he portrays a man who one day was sensible and that rediscover the delicacy, the subtlety, the simplicity - it seems even auto-biographic . Sensible male.
Exceptional actor, Crowe is very comfortable in the comic role of the former-scoundrel Max, the protagonist of the movie. The actor says he enjoyed a lot the work because he stayed for sometime in the castle located in Luberon, France, where the film was shot. “We went before shootings to enter in the rhythm of life of the wonderful place.” Thrilled, he discloses he accepted to portray Max also because Max was very different of his last roles. “My character rediscover the love and what is really important in life. The movie shows the importance of keeping alive in our hearts the people we love, even when they passed away”, summarizes “the new” Crowe. A Good Year – Opinion: Very Good!
Max (Russell Crowe when adult, at rare comic moment) is an aggressive English broker. When receiving the news of his beloved Uncle HenryŽs death (Albert Finney), owner of a vineyard in Provence, he returns to France to deal with the estate/assets. There, he goes to meet again a charming past, but that he buried when he became a swindler. Delicious movie, thanks to the location and to the talented cast. Watch the movie, read the book and listen to the soundtrack.

**November 23**
Top five movies on "St. Petersburg Times" (tampabay.com)
TOP FIVE
Current movies recommended by the Times:
1 Stranger Than Fiction
An IRS auditor (Will Ferrell) discovers someone else is writing his life; one of 2006's best films.
2 Casino Royale
James Bond returns, meaner than ever thanks to a star-making turn by Daniel Craig (above) as British secret agent 007.
3 The Departed
Martin Scorsese proves again that nobody commits crime like his characters, played in award-worthy turns by Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon.
4 Babel
Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett lead an international cast that weaves four stories into thought-provoking drama.
5 A Good Year
A self-centered stockbroker (Russell Crowe) finds peace and love in France's wine country.

**November 21**
Update  screencaps: "Russell on 60 minutes"

**November 17**
A beautiful pics of Crowe's family  HERE (Do a search for Russell Crowe)

**November 16**
"A good year" in Germany
In the first week " A Good Year "(Ein gutes Jahr) has more spectators than "Cinderella Man"("Das Comeback").
(Tanks cassy)









**November 15**
Movie Reviews - "A Good Year" - And A Good Movie!
Actor Russell Crowe and Director Ridley Scott combined their talents to bring us "Gladiator." Now they have reunited on a movie that is entirely different in content. It is titled "A Good Year" and it is a slow moving, romantic comedy about life in France. Whereas "Gladiator" was all about the roar of the arena, "A Good Year" is all about good food, good friends, good wine and good love. (applegateoregonnews.com)
(Tanks Ivani)

Russell Crowe, Steve Irwin to be honoured
By Businessofcinema.com Team
MUMBAI: From Oscar winners to Australia's iconic Royal Surf Life Savers, a heap of celebrities, athletes and Australian chefs are saying G'Day to Americans as they celebrate G'Day USA: Australia Week 2007 in New York and Los Angeles from 11 - 20 January 2007. Over 10 days, 15 events will focus on industries as diverse as entertainment, tourism, food, wine, energy, education, investment and fashion. The Australia Week Steering Committee announced that Steve Irwin and Russell Crowe will be two of the 2007 honorees at the Penfolds Icon Gala Dinner in Los Angeles on 13 January 2007. The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin will be honoured by many friends and celebrities for his work in tourism and nature conservation in a special tribute and presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award. Another of Irwin's mates, Russell Crowe will also receive an Excellence in Film Award for his contribution to the movie industry. The committee also announced that the popular signing duo, The Veronicas will be performing at the gala dinner. The 20-year identical twins, Jess and Lisa Origliasso have been gaining attention for their edgy yet free-spirited rock music and debut album, The Secret Life of the Veronicas. Other attendees and performers will be announced in December 2006. Over the past three years, the G'Day LA: Australia Week celebration in Los Angeles has grown into what may well be the largest foreign country promotion in the US and is expanding in 2007 with both national and New York (under the name G'DAY NY) events. Australia Week is produced by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Tourism Australia, Qantas Airways and Austrade in conjunction with State Governments and key private sector sponsors.

**November 14**
On  www.myspace.com/russellcroweandtheordinaryfearofgod the video di "Weight of a man"

**November 13**
CROWE'S ODE TO THE WOMAN WHO MADE HIM A STAR
RUSSELL CROWE has paid tribute to the drama teacher who inspired him to become a performer at the tender age of 10. Crowe claims Australian ELIZABETH MORGAN discovered his creative talents and gave him the confidence to express himself with MICHAEL JACKSON songs and plays he had written about death and destruction in which "everyone was dead by the end". The actor gushes, "I'll always value what she did for me. She activated all the creative things inside me. "Ms Morgan asked me to sing once. I sang BEN by MICHAEL JACKSON. She looked me in the eye and said: 'That was a very special performance.'" (contactmusic.com)

**November 12**
Russell Crowe wants a third child
Australian Oscar winner and bad boy Russell Crowe wants to have a third child. "I have two beautiful children and I hope to have a third one, but probably will not bring that up with the wife just yet," Crowe said on the Nine Network's 60 Minutes program. The movie star suggested his wife Danielle Spencer may want a break before another pregnancy, following the birth of their youngest child, Tennyson Spencer Crowe, on July 7. In the interview, originally broadcast on the US show 60 Minutes, Crowe talked about his explosive temper. Crowe was charged with assault last year after throwing a telephone at a concierge at the Mercer Hotel in New York when he was unable to complete a call to his wife in Sydney. The phone struck the man in the face. He was fined $US160 ($A218) and given a conditional discharge, which meant he must stay out of trouble - and not be arrested - for 12 months. He admitted he had a temper, adding it ran in his family. But, he said, the New York incident would not have attracted nearly as much attention had it happened in Australia. "It was a $160 fine ... so it wasn't important (enough to warrant the) 200 press people turning up to a courthouse, was it," he said of last November's court case. "Where I come from, a confrontation like that, as basic and simple as that, would have been satisfied with a handshake and an apology." Asked to describe Hollywood in one word he said: "Employment". Crowe said his way of talking straight, both during interviews and when in public, came from the heart but, perhaps, was not be the best approach these days. "So I'd never make a politician," he said.(thewest.com.au)

**November 11**
 Bad critics in USA for "A good year" (It's incredible!! This is my comment!)

 Video of a German interview. (Tanks Cassy)

A lovely  video of Russell and Ridley behind the scenes of "A good year". (Tanks Cassy)

A report on "A good year" from my friend Plaska from Poland
Today I went to the cinema with my friends... I was very excited... and you know why!!! This film was another... Russell never played a guy so funny and I don't know how him maybe light-hearted. He's a superbly Max. I like france and vineyard, I think it's a very romatic place... the film is so light.. people in the cinema was amused. The jokes were intelligent. And MUSIC!!! it was very importent. I think that music make good film!!! Russell music jokes! Ridley Scott is genius too! :) I've never seen so good romatic comedy!!! Russell again showed that he can make everything with his talent... It is beautiful and I am glad that in the whole world there is a man that has good job for me and you.. and and and...

Crowe's second son was conceived in a chapel!
London, Nov 11 : Russell Crowe' second son probably has a very special guardian angel watching over him, for the Aussie star recently let slip that baby Tennyson was conceived on Holy ground i.e a chapel. The Oscar winning actor revealed that his younger son, who is now four months old, was conceived while he and wife Danielle were staying in France while he was shooting for the movie A Good Year in Provence. "To tell you a little secret, my second son Tennyson was conceived in the chapel of that house," The Sun quoted him, as saying. Crowe also admitted that he didn't want to miss a moment of his kids' life, and that he was considering taking a break from his movie career to spend more time with Tennyson, and his elder son Charlie "I want to be present all the time," the 'Gladiator' star said.
(world news)

**November 8**
CROWE BLASTS PRESS LIES
RUSSELL CROWE has accused the media of exaggerating his violent reputation for dramatic effect. The actor is open about the mistakes he has made - including an incident last year (05) when he threw a telephone at a hotel employee in New York City. But he is frustrated about reports he read that are untrue. Crowe says, "There is a lot of just intentional misinformation, as well. I've never had a fight with a photographer, for example, but you can find hundreds of articles on the net which will list me fighting with paparazzi, something I do apparently on a regular basis. "But that's just not true. I just don't bother letting it bug me anymore, and because it doesn't bug me, in this odd way, it happens less." (contactmusic.com)

SCOTT: 'CROWE IS A PUPPY DOG'
Oscar-winning director RIDLEY SCOTT has attacked RUSSELL CROWE's Hollywood hardman image - insisting he is a "puppy dog". Scott, who has worked with Crowe on GLADIATOR, A GOOD YEAR and the forthcoming AMERICAN GANGSTER, isn't fazed by the star, famous for his off-screen temper tantrums. The British film maker says, "Really, what it is is Russell is very smart and therefore asks all sorts of intelligent questions, so if you're not ready you're going to get caught in the crossfire. So you'd better be ready. "I'm used to him now. He's fundamentally a bit of a puppy dog." (Contactmusic.com)

CROWE REUNITED WITH OFFICER FROM NEW YORK ASSAULT ARREST
RUSSELL CROWE was shocked while he was filming AMERICAN GANGSTER in New York City when he found out the movie's police supervisor was the same person that took his mug shot when he was arrested for assault last year (05). The Oscar-winner was arrested and charged with second degree assault in connection with an incident at the Mercer Hotel where he threw a telephone at clerk NESTOR ESTRADA, who refused to help him phone his wife in Australia. Crowe explains, "Oddly, right at the beginning of the shoot, there was a guy walking around the set a lot that I just thought I recognised from somewhere. "He came over on about the third or fourth day and he said, 'Hi, I'm SCOTTY. I'm the police advisor on the movie.' I said, 'Great, cool, we'll have a bit of a chat later on...' "And he said, 'No, no, I, uh, you know that night you had your problem? I took your mug shot.' "I'm looking at him and I actually thought I recognised him and I had this sort of flashback to the very thing the guys said to me so I said, 'Mate, if you're that guy, you said a very specific thing to me.' "And he goes, 'Oh, yeah, yeah. I said put your jewellery away, it makes you look like a Hispanic gangsta' and don't smile so much, buddy!' "And I said, 'Yeah, Scott! Good to see you again!" (contactmusic.com)

**November 7**
Family Man Russell Crowe Has 'A Good Year'
TORONTO, November 7, 2006 - Though not yet three, Russell Crowe's oldest son already is adept at packing for long overseas trips. After two months on his own shooting a film in New York City, Crowe was eager to see his wife and kids, who had stayed home in Australia. The feeling was mutual, Crowe said, relating a telephone conversation he had with his wife a couple of weeks before the family was to join him in New York for the rest of the shoot. "She was saying she heard all this noise in the corridor, so she went to check out what it was, and there's my son dragging a laden suitcase down the corridor," Crowe said in an interview at September's Toronto International Film Festival, where his latest movie, "A Good Year," premiered. "She said, `What are you doing?' He said, `I'm going to America to see Daddy.' So they turned it into a game. Every day, he packs his bag now." Since marrying longtime girlfriend Danielle Spencer in 2003, Crowe, 42, has gone from Aussie bad boy with a reputation for throwing punches and the occasional telephone to sturdy, loving family man. The sweet romance "A Good Year" reflects that, tracing an investment shark's transition from ruthless competitor to laid-back lover who takes the time to smell the grapes on the Provence vineyard he inherits. The film reunites him with Ridley Scott, who directed Crowe to a best-actor Academy Award for the savagely violent "Gladiator." "A Good Year" shows the soft, romantic face of Crowe, a side he continually shows in conversation as he gushes about his wife and children. After their second son was born last July, Crowe had to leave for New York almost immediately to work on another film with Scott, "American Gangster." Following a weekend of publicity for "A Good Year" in Toronto, Crowe was heading back to New York, where his family was to arrive a week later. "I'm away from them at the moment, so it's a little difficult right now. But a minute ago it was eight weeks, but now it's eight days and I'm gonna see them, and that's fantastic," Crowe said. After "American Gangster," in which Crowe plays a cop going after a Harlem drug lord (Denzel Washington) in the 1970s, Crowe and his family planned some time off in Europe. Then they were off to New Mexico, where Crowe was shooting the Western remake "3:10 to Yuma." Despite the busy schedule, Crowe said he's far less consumed by work now that he has a family. As a single man, "I was a gypsy, I could leave in 30 seconds," Crowe said. Now the work has to fit with his top priority, his wife and kids. "I don't think I expect what I used to expect out of my job, and that certain level of intensity that I would bring to the job," Crowe said. "That kind of intensity, that energy to be that intense has to be filtered now through my wife, through my boys and through all these other things that I've learned over time are far more important than making a movie. "That doesn't mean I have a negative attitude. I love being on a film set. It's a really privileged place to be," Crowe said. His wife "doesn't want to stop me being creative. She doesn't want to stop me enjoying and filling myself in that side of my life. But she doesn't want me to be that man who doesn't know where the fallout is." Crowe has had to deal with public fallout from his temper in the past. He has a reputation for scuffling with photographers, and he pleaded guilty to third-degree assault last year for throwing a telephone that hit a Manhattan hotel concierge. "My life is full of some days that are diamonds and some days that are not, the same as everybody else," Crowe said. "Unfortunately, you have that thing of when you have a (bad) day it makes the front page, and somebody else can get away with it. "But there is a lot of just intentional misinformation, as well. I've never had a fight with a photographer, for example, but you can find hundreds of articles on the Net which will list me fighting with paparazzi, something I do apparently on a regular basis. But that's just not true. ... I just don't bother letting it bug me anymore, and because it doesn't bug me, in this odd way, it happens less." It all seems to come back to Crowe as a happy family guy. Even the telephone incident was family related. It happened after Crowe became frustrated that the phone would not work as he tried to call his wife back home in Australia. "I think it comes to us all at a certain point. ... You get your priorities in place," "A Good Year" director Scott said. "I think he's really enjoying being a dad." Scott said he went for a simple poster to promote "A Good Year" a tight shot of Crowe with a tranquil air and a broad grin because it toyed with audience expectations. "That poster of him is kind of disarming, because you're going, who is that? Oh my gosh, Russell Crowe looking relaxed and happy?" Scott said of the actor known for heavy dramas such as "The Insider" and "A Beautiful Mind," which earned Oscar nominations for Crowe. "A Good Year" parallels the choices Crowe made to keep family life ahead of career. His character, Max Skinner, finds himself torn between his take-no-prisoners life as a London investment whiz and the idyllic world he finds in Provence. For Max, it's an agonizing decision. For Crowe, it was easy, except for the occasional separations such as the two months away from his family on "American Gangster." "I don't want to be in a situation where we're apart, but this is just about practicalities. If you want to, you can take a newly born baby onto a plane. Is it safe? No. Is it the best thing for the baby? No," Crowe said. "Last week, he got his first series of immunizations. It was the right time to wait. Wait until Danni was comfortable about herself and about traveling and stuff. She's really enjoyed this, because she's gotten to do all the Pilates and stuff without me being around. So she's really enjoying the thought of walking back into my actual eyes and eye-line and not having any residue of being pregnant. So she can be magic girl again." (mercurynews.com)

Russell in some german's reviews. (Tanks Cassy)
If someone of you can traslate this page please send the translation to me by mail. Tanks!!!
       
     
     

**November 6**

The video of "60 minutes" is on   Darrin' site

From Ivani:
I am watching BBC World channel and they have just announced this week tv show Talking Movies will talk its celebration of 400o. tv show and also about A Good Year, but itŽs not clear if we have some RussellŽs interview in it.
Talking Movies can be seen on BBC World TV at the following times (GMT):
Tuesday ti19:30
Wednesday 09:30
Thursday 15:30 (South Asia only)
Friday 01:30 (not South Asia or Asia Pacific) | 07:30 | 12:30 (Asia Pacific only)
Anyway,  HERE is the page of the tv show.
(Tanks Ivani)

Explaining Russell Crowe
Actor Chalks Up Phone-Throwing Incident To Temper, Believes Tendency Is Vital To His Health
You can read the interview   HERE
You can see the video   HERE
Screencaps   HERE (Tanks to crowecrossing)









CROWE'S KID ENJOYS HEALTHY HALLOWE'EN
RUSSELL CROWE's two-year-old son had a very healthy first Hallowe'en on the set of his dad's new movie 3:10 TO YUMA because all his treats were pre-arranged. Little CHARLIE CROWE spent Hallowe'en dressed as a pumpkin but his health-conscious mum, DANIELLE SPENCER, didn't want the lad to pick up candy, sweets and chocolate. Crowe explains, "We trick or treated seven different doors but... the treats were pre-arranged. Charlie got magic radishes, he got carrot sticks, he got rice crackers. "These are all the things that he loves and he was able to take all these treats home and eat them. With the addition of a little bit of chicken they made up a really nice dinner." But it wasn't all healthy - little Charlie did get to sample a little chocolate. The actor adds, "The very last he got was one section of Toblerone. You've never seen the definition of paroxysm of joy and delight as clearly defined as it was in that moment that he was eating that Toblerone." (contactmusic.com)

**November 5**

Russell Crowe works way through `A Good Year'
By Michael Phillips (chicago tribune)
TORONTO -- The half-hour before the interview is like being in the middle of a presidential security detail and a space shuttle launch. Brisk, sotto voce headset-to-headset conversations, conducted by women only a few yards from each other, fill the air on this floor of a Toronto hotel, a floor given over to those involved with the selling of the Twentieth Century Fox release "A Good Year," which opens Friday in Chicago. Then you're whisked into an eerily still and impressively large suite, and a minute later there's Russell Crowe. He wears jogging sweats and a civil air. You calculate the distance from where Crowe sits to the nearest of the suite's several phones. The rapidity with which he lights his first cigarette is remarkable. The actor took the role of hotshot London financier Max Skinner in "A Good Year" because he thought it would be fun to shoot a movie set mostly in Provence in the south of France. Crowe's wife, Danielle Spencer, and their sons, 2-year-old Charles and 4-month-old Tennyson, stayed in a house not far from where most of "A Good Year" was shot. In the story the callow workaholic Skinner inherits a tumbledown chateau and a minimally productive vineyard from his beloved uncle (Albert Finney in flashbacks). Thanks to the magical Provence light as well as the light in the eyes of a local waitress (Marion Cotillard), Skinner's plans to hurry back to London are derailed. Crowe reunites with director Ridley Scott, who has a second home in Provence and with whom Crowe made "Gladiator" six years back. Crowe won an Oscar for "Gladiator." He and Scott have already filmed another picture, a 1970s New York crime thriller called "American Gangster," co-starring Denzel Washington. While it was "slightly frustrating" not to share any scenes with Finney, he says, "we shared a couple of bottles of wine instead, so it was all right." Crowe: A while back Ridley and I sat with the writer Akiva Goldman ["A Beautiful Mind," "Cinderella Man"] and had a state-of-the-nation chat one Saturday morning. We roughly went through about 17 different possible projects. There was a lot of pressure on us to do a particular big-budget studio film at that time, but we all considered it to be a page-one rewrite. And didn't really want to do that. In passing, really, Ridley mentioned this one. We talked about it for about 15 minutes. And of all the projects we discussed it was the only one that stayed in my mind. So I called Ridley the next day and said, "That could be fun, man." [Marc Klein ended up adapting "A Good Year" from Peter Mayle's novel, which Mayle originally mapped out with Scott.] When you've done something like "Gladiator" together, there's a level of expectation. And doing something like this, I think, neutralizes that level of expectation, and allows us to then go on to do other films, and cover whatever genre we want to cover.
Tribune: Scott's not a director you immediately associate with this sort of comedy.
Crowe: Yeah, but the other way of looking at that is: Is he a director who is limited in any way? No. And is it a complete world? Yes, because that's what Ridley's best at. It was very funny, the French crew, after one week, they had to have a meeting with the producer -- they were protesting how many setups we did in a day. Zis is supposed to be a comedy? How can you do 75 setups? You will keel us if you keep going like zees! And we were like, boys, it's going to be fun, don't worry about it. You'll get your red wine at lunchtime and you'll have your weekends off. They heard "low-budget comedy" so they weren't expecting us to be so vigorous about it. ... It's a very vigorous comedy. The days were not languid.
Tribune: Was this a good film to take on at this point in your life?
Crowe: Yeah. There's stuff about the uncle character that really resonated with me. With the costumes I leaned toward a particular relative of mine, who had the same sort of lust for life that Albert's character has. There are things my uncle told me when I was a kid that are on my mind all the time.
Tribune: How about an example?
Crowe: There's an old English theater saying that says ... well, first, I should say this particular uncle was the only one in my family who had any aspirations toward being an actor. He played Uncle Vanya in 1969 and every year that went by his reviews got better, somehow. There was this old saying that I'd heard from a number of other actors: "Never, ever give the audience 100 percent. Because if they see 100 percent of you, they'll never buy another ticket." I used to contemplate that, thinking that it was really stupid, that it was an empty way of approaching your work. But it seemed to be the standard thought process everybody had. So I'd been working as a professional actor for a few years, and I went back to New Zealand and I brought it up with my uncle. And he said, "No, no, no. Whenever the opportunity arises, give 110 percent. Because the thing is, Russell, you can. And other people can't."
Tribune: It'd be hard to apply the less-than-100 percent theory to something like "Romper Stomper," where you played a skinhead.
Crowe: Or to anything, really. You're on stage thinking, "I'll only give 60 percent of this emotion?" [Forget] that. It's ludicrous. It's like the guys who get graph paper and make a chart and say, "My character will be five-tenths happier today than he was in the scene set two days previous." It's not how you do it. You have to get fully involved in being that person. Whoever that person is.

A lot of pics from "Jay leno"   HERE
(Tanks to Crowecrossing)

Russell Crowe learns to smile
With an effortless performance in 'A Good Year,' the actor transforms his image from troubled soul to charming rascal.
By Wesley Morris, Globe Staff (The Boston Globe)
TORONTO -- Movie stardom does not become Russell Crowe, and he'd be the first to tell you so . But he makes the best of what he has. When the media assaults him for, say, assaulting a hotel employee with a telephone, as he did two summers ago, he apologizes and moves on. But the timing of his latest movie, "A Good Year," which opens Friday, is ideal as it reminds us that Crowe is not moody and violently irritable. He's funny and charming. For a change. As a matter either of shrewd planning or cosmic career intervention, Crowe plays a London banker who inherits a French villa he doesn't want. It's a light, seductive performance that, whether the actor likes it or not, is good PR. In fact -- one hates to say it, but it's true -- this is the sort of part Cary Grant would have played as a similar cocktail of conceitedness and suave self-deprecation. Recently, during an animated conversation in a large, bizarrely empty hotel suite (there was no phone and, in the adjacent room, a headboard but no bed), Crowe looked less than debonair. He wore three layers of clothing -- a hooded sweatshirt over another sweatshirt and a T-shirt beneath those. He was in sweatpants and sneakers, and he smoked and anxiously pumped his legs while he talked. For the premiere of "A Good Year," he had taken a break from shooting "American Gangster," a 1970s crime epic in which he stars as a detective turned prosecutor and Denzel Washington plays a Harlem heroin lord. Crowe appeared to bring that production's energy with him up to Canada, and he seemed eager to get back to the set. What drew him to both "American Gangster" and "A Good Year" was the movies' maker, Ridley Scott, who directed him in 2000's "Gladiator." They had tried to work together since that film, but their schedules never harmonized. "We ended up doing things with other people that we would have preferred to do together," Crowe said. But timing wasn't the only problem. There was the nagging pressure of expectation. Crowe said he and Scott would visit studios to pitch a second film together, and the executives would get nervous about besting the success of "Gladiator," which made piles of money and won four Oscars, including best picture and best actor for Crowe. But Crowe found the hemming and hawing ridiculous. "All we wanted to do is make a movie," he said. "We were going to work together and have fun like we did before." The two sat down with a bunch of scripts and settled on the lightest of the lot, an adaptation of Peter Mayle's comic novel, which was set mostly in the vineyards of Provence. Crowe remembered telling Scott, forget "all the big things with the blood. Let's do this." To Crowe's mind, such a modest picture would "neutralize all those expectations and totally free us up." And, indeed, the film is Scott's loosest and most buttery. It's as much a tickling hors d'oeuvre as "Black Hawk Down" was a harrowing war picture. The light shimmers like Chardonnay, and the character actors in both London and France are big and colorful. And at the center of the picture is Crowe, who has never seemed more at ease. He lounges around, looks dashing, does some slapstick, and falls in love with the local waitress (Marion Cotillard), whom his character unwittingly runs off the road with his car Crowe's mirth in the film is unusual. The movie is a break from the unhappiness, instability, and anger (both bottled and uncorked) he has tapped for "Proof of Life," "Gladiator," "The Insider," "A Beautiful Mind," and to a lesser extent, "Cinderella Man." The explanation for his obvious comfort was his chemistry with Scott. Occupationally, what these two have is mutual admiration. By the fourth day of filming "A Good Year," Crowe knew they hadn't missed a beat in their time away from each other. "We're really heavily connected now," he said, "We have a connection in aesthetic. We have a connection in work ethic. We have a connection in our senses of humor. He knows the thing that no one gets in articles: I'm a great lieutenant. I work for the boss." Scott is in complete agreement. "I love to work quickly, and he does as well. We keep it fresh," the director said, calling near the New York City set of "American Gangster." Amiably, he echoed Crowe's sentiments about the importance of logic and truth, insisting that he and Crowe really are easy-breezy types. Scott also suggested that "A Good Year" appealed to Crowe for the simple reason that it's different from the sorts of roles Crowe typically chooses. "It's not as heavy." Crowe said tales of his being a dominant personality during production are false. "On the set I don't require people to look away when I walk in or bring me grapes peeled on the end of a toothpick," he said, taking a moment to laugh at the idea. If Crowe becomes cross on a shoot it's because the director doesn't know what he wants. Or worse, he's changed his mind. If directors "start to go back into something which is just a standard movie or something that has no thought of what the humanity is in this moment or the logistics of that moment, then they're breaking that deal." Unsurprisingly, Crowe said that his reputation as a brute is unearned. But in defending himself, he doesn't sound defensive. "I couldn't do the types of roles that I've done without being a sensitive person," he said, which implies, of course, that he's also sensitive to his unflattering treatment in the media. He mentions trying to "put bad times in a box" -- including his notorious relationship with Meg Ryan, that flap at the hotel with the phone, and the recent death of his friend Steve Irwin. Crowe is philosophical about the phone incident and the roasting he took. "It was my time to be on the dartboard." If Crowe's performance in "A Good Year" seems effortless, making it was easy. "There was no striving," he said. "You have to feel everything that's around you, be light on your feet, trippingly off the tongue" -- that phrase made him chuckle -- "that's how you do good work." Crowe said this approach to acting is nothing new for him, even though he's often portrayed as an actor whose preparation is obsessive. "When they focus in on how you achieved your performance, you get caught up in talking about research, and it can make you seem a bit odd," Crowe said. "But if you're going to play the physical tics of a schizophrenic, then you've got to learn what they are." While Crowe, in an interview, seemed resistant to the idea that there's something enjoyably movie-starry about the banker he plays in "A Good Year" (few humble actors would cop to that, anyway), Scott said that is exactly what he wanted from Crowe -- "something classic." The director said that Cary Grant had crossed his mind during the film's production. "The Cary Grant character is hard to find today," he said. "Not too many actors can actually pull that off. The original Cary Grant was remarkable in that that's who he was. Although he did comedy, he was always trying to play drama, and no one would let him. And thank God. Russell crosses that border because he can do anything." But, like Grant at his finest, Scott said Crowe is "a charming rascal." Scott admits he's never had a relationship like this with another actor. Crowe never repeats himself, which prevents Scott from doing the same. "Russell keeps surprising me. And I want to keep surprising him."

**November 4**

The Tonight Show 11-03-2006 from  Darrin first 3 yellow squares

A new "Testify" video on   TOFOG myspace page

A full-bodied film, but the bouquet is off
Crowe's 'A Good Year' gives vintners a reason to whine
By MARTY WINGATE
Dust off your dreams of moving to Provence and having lunch on the terrace while gazing out over your own vineyard and drinking wine made from your own grapes. A new movie, "A Good Year," is about to revive that longing. English author Peter Mayle first took us there when he wrote "A Year in Provence" (Vintage reprint, 224 pages, $13) and has followed that up with more true anecdotes about life in the south of France, plus several novels, including "A Good Year" (Vintage, 304 pages, $13). The movie, which opens Friday, is based on his book and stars hazy warm sunshine filtering through the trees, an old chateau that is cozy in spite of needing some refurbishing, and a culture where you can take your own bottle of wine to an outdoor concert and nobody thinks anything of it. Among those seductive images is an entertaining story about a successful London bond trader (Max Skinner, played by Russell Crowe) who has no life, inherits his uncle's vineyard in France and flies off to get it in shape so he can sell fast at a high price. Circumstances intervene, including the aforementioned "stars" of the movie and a romantic story line with Max and a gorgeous local woman. But this is no movie review, you'll be happy to know -- despite the fact that I believe Crowe could be the reincarnation of Cary Grant in such romantic comedies as "Indiscreet" with Ingrid Bergman and "Father Goose" with Leslie Caron. This is about wine and the grapes whence it comes and the "gardening" it takes to produce them. Max apparently has forgotten much of what his uncle (Albert Finney, in flashbacks) taught him about wine, because the fact that the vineyard is heavily mulched with fresh, smelly chicken manure doesn't bother him. He needs to read the Washington State University Cooperative Extension material about growing grapes. The vines don't need excessive soil fertility, and heavy applications of manure are not recommended. Next to the chicken manure vineyard is another area where Max finds the vines looking remarkably healthy, although he doesn't understand why. He sees the ground covered in limestone rocks, and he is encouraged by a man who worked with his uncle to believe that this is bad, unfertile soil for the vines. Get a clue, Max! Vines grow well in slightly alkaline soil (a pH between 5.5 and 6.5), which the limestone would encourage, and all that reflected light and radiated heat help ripen the grapes. Plus, it keeps down weeds. Your dreams of Provence may not come true anytime soon, but you can start on the winemaking immediately. Growing your own wine grapes in Western Washington is possible. Check out these publications from the WSU Extension: "Growing Grapes for Wine and Table in the Puget Sound Region" (goto.seattlepi.com/r386) and "Training and Trellising Grapes for Production in Washington" (goto.seattlepi.com/r387). If you'd prefer someone else grow the grapes for you, you can take over just after harvesting. Buy grapes or buy the juice and then get started. Get the "how-to" from WSU: goto.seattlepi.com/r388. Even easier: go see the movie, then buy a good, reasonably priced bottle of your favorite wine and enjoy.(seattlepi.nwsource.com)
(Tanks Ivani)

**November 3**

CROWE BLASTS US LEGAL SYSTEM
Hollywood hardman RUSSELL CROWE has blasted the US legal system for making a big deal of his phone assault in a New York City hotel last year (05). The GLADIATOR star managed to escape serious criminal charges with a conditional discharge in a Manhattan court last November (05) after pleading guilty to the third-degree assault of Mercer Hotel employee NESTOR ESTRADA with a telephone handset. Speaking on US TV show 60 MINUTES, the actor said the incident wouldn't have been treating so seriously in his native Australia. He says, "Where I come from, a confrontation like that, as basic and simple as that, would have been satisfied with a handshake and an apology... "Your (US) legal system is very open to be misused." (contactmusic.com)

**November 2**

First pic on set "3:10 to yuma" from  crabbieshollywood











AGY is one of the movies of  Yahoo Holiday Movie Guide (Tanks Ivani)

Denzel Washington due in Thailand next week for new movie
BANGKOK - Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington is set to arrive in Thailand next week to shoot "American Gangster", the movie's local coordinator said Thursday. "All together, there will be 40 people accompanying Denzel Washington to Thailand," said Santa Pestony of Santa International Film Productions Co, which provides production services for foreign films shooting here. "The film will be shooting from November 8 to 13 in the northern Chiang Mai province," he told AFP. The $100 million film is about a drug lord who smuggles heroin into the United States by hiding it inside the coffins of American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War. Producer Branko Lustig, who was behind the multi-Oscar winner "Gladiator", came to Bangkok late last month to prepare for the film's production. The Universal Pictures movie is directed by Ridley Scott, who directed "Gladiator." The movie also stars Russell Crowe, but he will not come to Thailand for filming, Santa said. Thailand has recently attracted a slate of big Hollywood movies. Sylvester Stallone is due to come next year for Rambo's fourth outing. "Rambo IV: In the Serpent's Eye" is set to shoot in Chiang Mai as well as Bangkok. The film sees Stallone again play the Vietnam War veteran who is forced out of his cozy retirement salvaging boats and tanks in Bangkok when he is asked to rescue a stricken aid worker in Myanmar. Nicolas Cage came to Bangkok in September to film his new movie "Bangkok Dangerous". Thailand earned 1.37 billion baht ($36 million) from 372 film shoots in the first nine months of this year, an increase of 45 percent from the same period last year. (abs-cbnnews.com)
(Tanks Ivani)

Thanks to Jessie at  Crowemagik, more scans of the book "AGY: A Portrait of a Film".(Tanks Ivani)

UK release date on   IMDB for AG has already suffered a change, from January to November.
(Tanks Ivani)