Anthony Hopkins

One Day In Port Talbot...

An Anthony Hopkins Tribute by Serrart:

On December 31st Anthony Hopkins (who was born in Port Talbot, Wales, in 1937) will celebrate his 70th birthday. After the one I made last year, here's another small tribute to this fantastic actor's talent.

Port Talbot, Margam Orangery

From: swansea.co.uk 12/29/07

Port Talbot-born screen legend Sir Anthony Hopkins is coming home on Monday to celebrate his 70th birthday.

The Hollywood Oscar winner became a naturalised US citizen in 2000, but will toast his landmark birthday with a bash at Margam Orangery.

The venue is expected to be awash with stars for the New Year's Eve event.

Details of the party have remained tightly under wraps, but it is understood Sir Anthony also hopes to round up pals from his pre-stardom school and teenage days, to help him celebrate.

Among the famous names who have been invited is fellow Port Talbot actor Michael Sheen, who will be attending with his parents.

And Richard Burton's brother, Graham Jenkins and his wife, have also been invited.

Sir Anthony, who came to international recognition in the film The Silence of the Lambs, visited the Margam venue in August to make sure preparations were going smoothly for his milestone birthday.

Finishing touches were today being put in place for the bash, although it is not yet known if Chianti and fava beans will be on the menu.

Are you going to Sir Anthony's bash?
Contact the Evening Post newsdesk on 01792 514616

Tommy Cooper Society

From: icWales.co.uk
12/28/07 by Jean Parry, South Wales Echo

Since the Port Talbot-born actor – and huge admirer of the late Tommy Cooper – agreed to unveil a statue of the iconic comedian, fans of both have been bombarding the organisers for a date when it will all happen.
But members of the Tommy Cooper Society are as much in the dark as everyone else, as they wait for Sir Anthony to find a date in his packed diary.

Tudor Jones, secretary of the society, said: “I can tell everyone that we are still waiting for a date from Sir Anthony, although he has been on the Jonathan Ross show and on BBC Wales saying he will be coming in February or March.

“So we are waiting with bated breath but will let Echo readers know as soon as we hear. We are getting a lot of phone calls from all over the country asking when the statue will be unveiled.”
It was Mr Jones’ pursuit of Sir Anthony to Los Angeles which led to him agreeing to travel to Caerphilly at some point to unveil the statue, as he had publicly declared his great admiration for the comedian, who was born in Caerphilly in 1921.

He agreed to become the Tommy Cooper Society patron and is one of a legion of famous and ordinary people who are devoted to the comedian’s unique style. His bronze, nine-feet-tall statue – for which the society raised £40,000 – will stand on a plinth at the Twyn, overlooking the town and castle. It is being completed in Pembrokeshire.

The Magic Box

In September 1999 Siegfried & Roy: The Magic Box premiered in Los Angeles to a VIP audience, followed by premieres in New York, Munich, Berlin, Tokyo, Montreal and Toronto.

Narrated by Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins, the IMAX 3-D film traces the tough years Siegfried & Roy experienced growing up. It tells the stories of Siegfried's fascination with magic, Roy's love of animals, and how they used these escapes to cope with a homeland and fathers traumatized by the war. And it recounts their chance meeting while both were working on a cruise ship, leading to a partnership that would make entertainment history.

"Their story tells you if you dream big enough and hard enough, anything can happen," says director Brett Leonard. Siegfried & Roy's rise from postwar Germany to the most successful live entertainers in the world seems to have been the perfect subject for only the eighth IMAX 3-D film ever produced. The Magic Box was named best movie of the year at the 1999 Maxi Awards.

Check out their website for clips:
Siegfried & Roy

Speed painting Anthony Hopkins By Anders Alfredsson

Speed painting, Anthony Hopkins By Anders Alfredsson in photoshop with a regular mouse!

This is pretty cool...

Slipstream on DVD

Sony Pictures will release "Slipstream" on DVD this February 26th.

Synopsis:
Aging screenwriter Felix Bonhoeffer has lived his life in two states of existence--the world of reality and the world inside his head. Hired to rewrite a murder mystery set in a desert diner and unaware that his brain is on the verge of implosion, Felix is politely baffled when the characters from his movie start showing up in his life and vice versa. Felix tries to maintain his equanimity as reality and fantasy collide in an increasingly whirling slipstream, while his memory banks fire off seemingly random references to songs and sci-fi movies from the Fifties.

Extras will include: an "Audio Commentary with Director Anthony Hopkins," a "Dreaming Slipstream Making Of Featurette," and "Deleted Scenes."

Ahhh....audio commentary by Director Anthony Hopkins. I saw this film twice already and even though I got alot of what was going on the second viewing, I'm looking forward to hearing what Sir Tony has to say scene by scene...and well, to be honest, I love his voice.

Most reviewers called "Slipstream" a vanity film but as far as I'm concerned, it sure was a nice trip down the rabbit hole of Anthony Hopkins' mind. Heck, the dude will be 70 on New Year's Eve and still is an "A" list Hollywood actor, musician, writer, painter and all around a nice guy. Vanity, nah, he's recently vowed never to go under the plastic surgeon's knife.

"Slipstream" is Anthony Hopkins just having fun. Seems to me, Hopkins is the kind of guy who gets into trouble when he is bored. His wife, Stella Arroyave, is the one who suggested he write a screenplay and then when it was done, told him to make the movie. She is a smart lady, he must be a handful at home!

Hopkins In Concert?

Some recent buzz on Hopkins going on a concert tour...

From: LiveNews, 11/30/07
by: Peter Mitchell
Hopkins' not so exciting life may include musical trip to Australia

Little excites Sir Anthony Hopkins these days. The 69-year-old Welshman says he lives in a "state of Zen".
It's the result of an immaculate career, capped by Hopkins' best actor Oscar win in 1992 for his unnerving portrayal of the human body part nibbling serial killer Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, three other Oscar nominations in the 1990s and a knighthood awarded to him in 1993 by Queen Elizabeth II. Acting, it has emerged, is not his only talent.

Hopkins turned to painting and his works are sold for tens of thousands of dollars and he also has a talent for composing music. His latest work was creating the score for Slipstream, an independent feature he wrote and directed that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival this year. The success of that has led to job offers from afar. "I have been offered a deal to work in Australia," Hopkins reveals with little enthusiasm during an interview in Los Angeles with AAP. "It is to write some music for some orchestra down there." Hopkins, who celebrates his 70th birthday on New Year's Eve, did not know much more about the offer and was unsure if he would take it up. "I was asked about it a few nights ago," Hopkins said. "I'd be interested in performing some music in Australia. "Maybe in Perth or somewhere like that. He says he does not know the name of the orchestra. "I have no idea," Hopkins dismisses, when probed for more details. "I don't know where it's going to be." Sensing that his Australian fans and music lovers Downunder would be excited about the prospect of him working in Australia, he moves forward in his chair, reaches over and lightly grabs his interviewer's wrist to quell any enthusiasm. "Don't get too excited about it," he smiles.

Hopkins was in Los Angeles to promote Beowulf, his new action adventure film set in Denmark in the 6th century AD and based on the oldest known English language poem, believed to have been written in the 7th century AD. The film is historic in Hollywood terms because it uses the latest in motion-caption technology, with real actors acting in each scene, but the results appear on screen in an animated-like fashion.
The actors - Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Ray Winstone, John Malkovich and Robin Wright-Penn - were covered with tiny sensors and computers captured their movement in each scene. Ask Hopkins, who plays the slovenly, half-naked drunken King of Denmark, Hrothgar, if it was exciting to be a pioneer of the new technology, and he gives a brutally honest answer, not common for an actor who is supposed to be talking up a film project. "Not really, to give you an honest answer," Hopkins replies. It's not that he did not enjoy making the film or did not like the finished product, it's just after almost 100 films in 30 years, Hopkins just does not get excited. "I don't use the word excitement too much these days," he explains. "I've been around too long." The attitude may not light up a room, but it works for him, he says. "It's an interesting philosophy," Hopkins continues. "I suppose it is a state of Zen. "The more disconnected you are or detached you are about the results, the more interesting life is. "It's a great blessing because it's not asking for much or expecting anything. "So, when surprises do come, they are extraordinary. "I'm going to be 70 at the end of the year and I am appearing in Beowulf, a big blockbuster movie half naked. "It's a surprise."

Happy 70th Sir Tony

Back in January when I heard that Anthony Hopkins would celebrate his 70th birthday on December 31, 2007, I had an idea. I wanted to edit a video/music montage of his films and photographs to celebrate his over 40 year film career and life. Of course, I had all year to do this, but, inevitably, I waited until the last minute to do it. I don't know, there is something about crashing a project to air that thrills me. Must be my 23 years in broadcast television.
Happy 70th Birthday Sir Tony.

A bit of trivia about the project:

It took 3 weeks to edit, mostly between the hours of 2AM - 7AM...when, for some reason my creative flow runs wild.

There are clips from 26 films which I ripped from the DVD’s (which I own), please don’t tell the FBI.

There are 72 photographs which I culled down from the thousands I found while surfing the net. A big thanks goes to WireImage and Corbis for their amazing collections, you should check them out. Hopefully, with that advertising plug, they won’t call the FBI either.

Any other photographs I used, please accept my thanks for taking such an amazing image that I had to include it on this project.

I listen to music on my iPhone while commuting to work and was twisting my brain trying to figure what tune to use for the project. Finally, a few months ago, it came to me, the song I would use, “Speed Of Sound” by Coldplay, it had the perfect mood and lyrics to go with the film clips and photographs. I had the rough cut in my head before I ever started editing the piece.

For the techno-nerds, all the media and renders needed to complete this project filled up my LaCie 1TB harddrive.

Sir Yoda Hopkins?

A few posts ago the buzz was that Hopkins liked “Star Wars” and said he could play Obi Wan. Well, check out the Photoshop contest at Worth 1000, where you create a “Star Wars” character using a celebrity. The image posted here is “Grabthar’s” entry. Surf over to Worth 1000 and check out the rest. They are creative and entertaining.

Don’t Miss: “The Paintings of Sir Anthony Hopkins”

From: The Orlando Sentinal
Mary Frances Emmons/Sentinel Staff Writer
November 23, 2007

WHAT: Twenty-five canvases by Hopkins will be on display, the first exhibit of the artist's work in Florida. Hopkins, who has won too many acting awards to count, gives credit to his wife, Stella Arroyave Hopkins, for encouraging his painting -- they met in her art gallery. Consisting of abstracted landscapes and portraits, Hopkins' work is full of bold color; the landscapes come from his memories of South Wales. "I just follow the pen," he says. "It's in my memory. It's all stored in there, and you find a way to release it."



WHEN: Through Dec. 31. Regular hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, weekends by appointment.


WHERE: Millenia Fine Art, 555 S. Lake Destiny Road, Orlando.

COST: Free.
CALL: 407-304-8100

I’ll be in the Orlando area before Christmas to visit my Dad. I’m hoping to check it out.