* Other releases Mar 28, 2008
From Kevin Macdonald, the Oscar-winning director of One Day in September and The Last King of Scotland, this is an incendiary documentary about Nazi monster Klaus Barbie, whose alleged postwar protection by Washington in particular and travels in Europe and South America come under the microscope. The first "enemy" of the title is the Communist bloc, which Western powers considered such a threat that people of Barbie's ilk and their knowledge could be useful and remain at large - and continue to... (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Macdonald to direct 'Bobby Fischer' Jan 31, 2008
Macdonald won an Oscar for the documentary "One Day in September" before making his scripted directing debut on "The Last King of Scotland." His next pic, "State of Play," is an adaptation of the British miniseries that stars Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Helen Mirren. Links posted in this story. (Variety)
Barbie 'boasted of hunting down Che' Dec 24, 2007
The evidence appears inconclusive, but Macdonald, who won an Academy Award for One Day in September, about the killing of Israeli athletes by the Palestinian group Black September at the 1972 Munich Olympics, told The Observer: 'The Che claim came from several sources. I think it makes total sense when you understand what Barbie was doing and who he was working for in the Bolivian military, and how they admired him as a Nazi officer and what he had done in the war. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
Young Muslims tuning in to upbeat religious message Dec 6, 2007
Then one day in September, she flipped on her satellite TV and saw Moez Masoud. A Muslim televangelist not much older than herself, in a stylish goatee and Western clothes, Masoud, 29, was preaching about Islam in youthful Arabic slang. (Boston Globe)
Final siren to blow on best season ever Sep 29, 2007
There are so many highlights to chew over, on this one day in September, that if we locked the doors until Scotty "Big Blower" McLaren bounced the Sherrin this afternoon, we would get through only 1/27th of what has made 2007 great. And if, for some idiotic astrological reason, the season had to be done all over again, there are only two changes that wold be required. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Sport)
Soccer star Kristin Lilly shares a special bond with Brookline firefighters Sep 22, 2007
She met Heavey one day in September 2003 while walking her golden retriever, Scribner, along Babcock Street. As the couple dated, she became a regular at the firehouse, telling the guys about her international matches. (Boston Globe)
The sloppy start Swans May 8, 2007
We'll be there again for that one day in September. Posted by: Loyal Swan at May 7, 2007 3:25 PM. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Sport)
Rowing the extra mile Apr 16, 2007
Then one day in September 2005, after leaving New Orleans, the 5-foot-11 Gosling was walking along UCSD's Library Walk, past a booth where women were passing out flyers to recruit prospective rowers. Gosling decided it was time to rediscover the athlete within. (San Diego Union-Tribune -- Sports)
Last King director takes on State of Play Mar 20, 2007
MacDonald, who won a best documentary Oscar for 1999's One Day in September, says he took up the project because it mixed fiction with the topical subject of journalism and politics. "I was absolutely hooked on the six-hour TV drama, and I know it's a hard act to follow, but I wanted to do something that tackles the way we as a society in America and Europe learn what's going on, and how much we can trust newspapers and the nightly news," he told Variety. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
Macdonald to direct 'State of Play' Mar 20, 2007
"Scotland" marked the first dramatic outing for Macdonald, director of the Oscar-winning 1999 documentary "One Day in September," about the terrorist siege and slaughter of the Israeli Olympic Team at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Macdonald also directed the docu "Touching the Void" and just completed "My Enemy's Enemy," an investigation into how the CIA protected Klaus Barbie and other Nazi war criminals in Latin America, under the guise they could help battle communism. (Variety)
Dramatic conversion pays off for documentary purist Jan 10, 2007
"The real difference for me was working with the actors," says Macdonald, comparing the film with his best known documentaries, Touching the Void and One Day in September ... The earlier One Day in September revisited the day Palestinian terrorists took Israeli athletes hostage during the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. (The Australian)
The king and I: the winning ways of a mass murderer Jan 7, 2007
He won an Oscar for One Day In September and a Bafta for Touching The Void. Now, he makes the leap from documentaries to dramas with a confident, beautifully paced adaptation of the Giles Foden novel in which a naive Scottish doctor becomes the new playmate of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. (Scotsman)
King of the contenders Jan 6, 2007
Kevin Macdonald, the Glaswegian director of the Oscar-winning Munich Olympics documentary One Day in September, artfully blends fact and fiction in The Last King of Scotland, which is based on the novel by Giles Foden. It opens in 1970 as a young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), impulsively decides to practice at a small clinic in rural Uganda. (Irish Times)
Eye on the Oscars: True Stories Dec 22, 2006
"It's the same question I always got about why documentaries are so popular," says Macdonald, who won a docu Oscar for "One Day in September." "It's partly because true life can be more interesting and extraordinary than anything you can make up.". . (Variety)
The House of Death Dec 3, 2006
One day in September 2003, 'Santillan called to ask me to bury a guy who had apparently died of a heart attack at the moment he was kidnapped', Lalo's statement says. Another execution I remember was on 23 November. (Guardian Unlimited)
BAFTA Update Nov 27, 2006
Other strong Korda contenders that might also break out into the other categories include Working Title's docudrama "United 93" by Paul Greengrass; Roger Michell's geezer romantic comedy "Venus"; Nicholas Hytner's stage-to-screen transfer of "The History Boys" (despite mixed reviews in Blighty); "The Last King of Scotland" by Oscar winner (for docu "One Day in September") Kevin Macdonald; Dench starrer "Notes on a Scandal," directed by Richard Eyre; Andrea Arnold's gritty-poetic Cannes... (Variety)
In brief: Mel loses hunger for Mad Max IV Nov 6, 2006
Macdonald won an Oscar for One Day in September, his harrowing film about the 1972 Munich Olympics killings. The Weinsteins bought My Enemy's Enemy through their studio, the Weinstein Co.. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
King of all he portrays Oct 23, 2006
The production marks the first dramatic feature film from Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, Kevin Macdonald (One Day In September, Touching The Void). Other actors considered for the role reportedly included Ewan McGregor, Dougray Scott and Robert Carlyle. (Scotland on Sunday)
The Last King of Scotland | Whitaker stuns as a tyrant Oct 13, 2006
Director Kevin Macdonald, an accomplished maker of documentaries (Touching the Void, One Day in September) making his feature-film debut, gives The Last King of Scotland the pace and crackle of a thriller, albeit a thriller with substance. Through its very specific story, the movie illustrates how absolute power can corrupt those who wield it, resulting in a man who, once ensconced as a nation's leader, uses all his available resources to ensure his own survival. (The Miami Herald)
In Iraq, chaos of war on four fronts Oct 8, 2006
In all, 57 people died and 17 were injured in violence that one day in September. They were all killed in the same country, but not in the same war. (Newsday -- World)
The Last King of Scotland Oct 5, 2006
Last King marks the feature debut of accomplished documentarian Kevin Macdonald, who chronicled the Munich Olympics massacre in One Day in September and daredevil mountain climbers in Touching the Void. The theme running through these Macdonald films is that the nearer we get to death, the more powerfully we feel the life force. (San Jose Mercury News -- Entertainment)
EW review: Whitaker amazing as Amin in 'King' Oct 4, 2006
Drawing on a documentary visual style he deftly employed in "One Day in September" and "Touching the Void," director Kevin Macdonald uses McAvoy's boyishness to treat Garrigan's apolitical foolishness as yet another damn mess in one African country's hell. Indeed, the existence of people like Garrigan is one more reason why someone like Amin prevailed for as long, and as tragically, as he did. (CNN -- Showbiz)
In 'Last King of Scotland,' Idi Amin's story watered down is with a soapy solution Oct 4, 2006
In this sense, ``The Last King of Scotland" joins the ranks of nightmarish innocents-abroad movies, from ``Midnight Express" to ``Hostel," where the disillusioned hero fights to return to civility.This being an African version, the filmmakers deploy all the savage trimmings, including Nick's trip to a bleating, haunted house of a hospital, which, gallingly enough, is paired with erotic moaning on the soundtrack. The only person in the movie with any sense is a blond Gillian Anderson, as a... (Boston Globe)
Becoming a 'King' Oct 2, 2006
For Kevin Macdonald, 38, a Scottish documentarian (One Day in September) who makes his feature directing debut with The Last King, the search for the right man to bring Amin to life was far from simple. "I came out to Los Angeles and met with a dozen African-American actors, and Forest was on the list," Macdonald says. (USA Today -- Life)
Forest Whitaker stressed specifics in playing a general Oct 1, 2006
Forest was just living, eating, breathing, sleeping Amin, " says Kevin Macdonald, an Oscar-winning documentarian (``One Day in September " ) making his feature debut with ``Last King. " ``He immersed himself so much in the role I was almost worried for his sanity.". (Boston Globe)
All the Kings Men and The Last King of Scotland. Sep 25, 2006
The director, Kevin Macdonald, a Scot who had previously made documentaries ( One Day in September and Touching the Void ), concentrates on the relationship of the two men, and makes something tense and alive out of it. Every time Nick escapes danger, he feels relieved. (New Yorker)
Some big guns hit their target while others just made noise Sep 21, 2006
Elsewhere on the regal front, however, The Last King of Scotland was seen as a solid effort from director Kevin Macdonald (Oscar winner for the documentary One Day in September) about 1970s Ugandan dictator Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker). Based on a novel, the movie looks at Amin's life from the perspective of a Scottish doctor (James McAvoy, The Chronicles of Narnia) who becomes his adviser and "white monkey". (The Star Online, Malaysia)
A neighbourhood living on the edge Sep 3, 2006
One day in September 1989 armed men came out of the jungle and it all stopped. Nine years of separatist guerilla war by the Bougainville Revolutionary Army resulted in an estimated 20,000 deaths from conflict and the breakdown of medical services. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Tragedy gets graphic retelling Aug 22, 2006
Like the original 9/11 Report, the graphic version is less about one day in September 2001 than about what led up to it and the inner workings of government agencies, often at cross-purposes. When the report, by a bipartisan commission, was released two years ago, it was published in three paperback editions. (USA Today)
One Day in September Aug 9, 2006
The director of 'JFK' was plotting his latest countermyth in 2001 Film. Meet the Parents' goes Middle East in 'Only Human' Film. (City Pages)
Olympics Massacre: Munich - The real story Jan 22, 2006
Simon Reeve is the author of 'One Day in September', the full story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, Faber & Faber, 6. 99. (The Independent, UK)
Gable remembers the '72 Olympics in Munich Jan 8, 2006
"One Day in September: The Full Story of the 1972 Olympics Israeli Massacre and the Olympic Revenge Operation Wrath of God," by Simon Reeve Reeve's book originated with research conducted for an Oscar-winning documentary of the same name ... "One Day in September" Kevin Macdonald's 1999 Academy Award-winning documentary reconstructs the events of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, pairing what the world saw on television with the exasperating revelation of behind-the-scenes blunders. (Des Moines Register)
