Point Blank director John Boorman says 'health and safety' would have ruined his films

John Voight in Deliverance Photo: WARNER BROS By Tim Walker

7:15AM GMT 27 Mar 2013

John Boorman, after being presented with a BFI Fellowship — the highest honour that the nation’s leading film organisation can bestow — told me that he counts himself lucky that he began his career when he did.

“Could I go off with a few actors into the wilds and make a film like Deliverance now?” the 80-year-old director mused. “If I were to, I’d have the health and safety people crawling all over me, and they’d make damn sure the film turned out mind-numbingly boring and uneventful.”

Jon Voight, the star of the great 1972 film, used to say that, while it helped to save his career, the eight weeks that he spent making it with Boorman came perilously close to ending his life.

Sophie’s choice

Sophie Raworth is training for the London Marathon in deadly earnest. The BBC newsreader pitched up at the Prince’s Trust and Samsung Celebrate Success Awards in a dress that she had rolled up in her rucksack for her eight-mile morning jog to work.

Related Articles

Excalibur star Nicol Williamson dies in penury

25 Jan 2012

The Winslow Boy: The best of British

20 Mar 2013

“It was a bit of a military operation,” she told me. “I rolled it up and ironed it when I got to the office. You need to plan ahead.” She is raising sponsorship money for the Prince’s Trust by running her third marathon in a row, having raised £17,000 for Cancer Research and £9,000 for St John Ambulance in her previous runs.

She was coy about how generous her fellow newsreaders were being.

Ruta wants to keep her clothes on

It’s all very well for Rooney Mara to say she is not ashamed of showing off her body, but Ruta Gedmintas, left, the star of The Tudors, tells me actresses should put up some resistance when directors ask them to disrobe.

“It is something we are all up against,” she laments at the launch of the Biker Project at All Saints in Covent Garden. “But it is so much sexier to suggest things than to show them. I am not saying I would rule it out, but it would have to be really relevant to the story for me to do it.”

Follow Tim Walker on Twitter https://twitter.com/MandrakeTim

 Celebrity newsNews »UK News »Mandrake »Film news »

Elsewhere

View the Original article

Justin Bieber Films Anti-Text and Drive PSA - Gather Celebs News Channel

Justin Bieber was spotted outside of Atlanta, Georgia on Monday, filming a public service announcement warning teens and others about the horrible dangers of texting while driving.

According to a report from Celebrity-Gossip.net, Justin was actually in Avondale Estates, Georgia--not far from Atlanta, and he was putting his celebrity status to very good use. Hopefully those who see his latest PSA will give some serious thought before texting while driving.

Texting While Driving is a web site that defines the perils of sending text messages while operating a motor vehicle. Their studies concluded that people who text while driving often turn their eyes away from the road for five seconds--and that is plenty long enough to cause a fatal car accident. Add to that the fact that the driver's mind is concentrating far more on the text than on his or her driving, and reaction time is slowed considerably more.

Hopefully Justin Bieber can convince teens that texting while driving is truly a matter of taking their lives--and those of others--into their own hands in a very reckless way. The subject is all over the news. Drivers education programs stress the importance of eliminating all driving distractions--including text messaging--but teens, and adults as well, still do it every single day. Perhaps fans of the Biebs will give it a bit more thought if someone of his celebrity status urges them not to text and drive.

While filming the PSA, Justin Bieber mingled with fans and even posed for pictures with them. Even though many of these fans are way too young to be licensed drivers, perhaps they will take Justin's message home and share it with their parents, older siblings and caregivers.

What do you think? Are teens more likely to listen to someone like Justin Bieber telling them not to text and driver than their driving instructors or their parents? Do you think his PSA can really make a difference?

At the very least, one must give Justin Bieber credit for making this public service announcement. He doesn't need to donate his time in this way, and hopefully by doing so at least one life may be saved from this dangerous distraction that takes place in epidemic proportions on U.S. streets and highways.

Photo Source: Facebook

Please provide details below to help Gather review this content. If it is found to be inappropriate and in violation of the Gather Terms of Service, action will be taken.Please select the part of the post you are reporting.Please select why you are reporting this content.Please enter a description.

View the original article here