Groundbreaking ceremonies were held today on the Nu Image-Millenium films studio in Shreveport's Ledbetter Heights neighborhood.

The company, which is now working on its seventh film to be shot in the area, was one of the first to set up shop in Shreveport after Hurricane Katrina chased moviemakers out of New Orleans.

"I don't think any of us had an idea that we would ever find ourselves making hundreds of millions in film production in our little corner of Northwest Louisiana," Mayor Cedric Glover said during the ceremony just west of downtown Shreveport.

The city is leasing the land to the film company. Part of it was bought years ago for a park that was never developed. The city has also expropriated land to make way for the studio if it expands. The studio will begin with six and a half acres. They could expand to 20 acres.

The first two buildings, including the warehouse, should be up by the end of this year. The studio probably won't be ready until next April at the earliest.

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I'm not big on discipline and neither was he. I'm much more focused on talking and showing affection. I think that way you can understand your children a lot better. In Stella's case, we've had an easy ride, but now she's entering a new stage. I've had experience with my other children, Alexander and Dakota. Alexander's 22, and lives his own life in New York where he's studying music. But they both suffered. It's the hormones!

[Stella] wants independence and thinks she's right for it. It's a balancing act. I think discipline which kids don't understand properly leads them to distance themselves even faster and more radically. Having said that, I don't believe in being their friend. You've got to go gently, but you've got to go carefully.

When he was young, Antonio wanted to play soccer professionally, but he broke his foot at 14. He turned to the theatre, studying at the School of Dramatic Art and working with an independent theater company in Malaga. He supported himself as a waiter and advertising model before making his stage debut in 1981. He moved to Madrid and became an ensemble member of the prestigious National Theater of Spain, where he stayed on through 1986. 
International acclaim came to Banderas in films such as Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989). He made his American debut in 1992 (as a young Cuban musician in The Mambo Kings), but it wasn't until he appeared in another Oscar-winning film (as Tom Hanks's lover in Philadelphia) that American audiences began to recognize him. His next film, Interview With The Vampire, strengthened that recognition and led to leading roles in films such as Desperado, Assassins, and Never Talk To Strangers. During the filming of Two Much he became romantically involved to co-star Melanie Griffith. His divorce from Ana Leza was completed in 1996. He and Melanie were married in May of 1996 and had a baby, Estella, in September.

Spanish actor ANTONIO BANDERAS is convinced his presence in a movie is a good luck charm - because most of his co-stars have gone on to achieve Hollywood success.
The 47-year-old insists that many of the actors he has worked with shot to fame when they starred alongside him, and those who were already famous went on to win big at industry awards ceremonies.
He says, "I bring a lot of luck to my co-stars. Catherine Zeta Jones got her big break with Zorro, Salma (Hayek) with Desperado, Madonna got a Golden Globe for Evita.
"Even Tom Hanks, who was my boyfriend in Philadelphia, got an Oscar!"
Zeta Jones worked with Banderas on 1998 hit movie The Mask of Zorro and went on to carve out a career as an A-list actress. Hayek also achieved international stardom following 1995's Desperado, while Madonna's starring role in Evita was her only critically-acclaimed acting venture to date.
And despite nearly 10 years as a successful actor, Tom Hanks did not win an Academy Award until he starred in 1993's Philadelphia - scooping the Best Actor gong for his role in the AIDS-based courtroom drama.

Spanish actor ANTONIO BANDERAS and his wife MELANIE GRIFFITH are planning to move back to his native country as soon as their work commitments ease off.
The couple try to spend as much time in Spain as possible, but Banderas' movie roles always bring the family back to Los Angeles.
But The Mask Of Zorro star is determined to move back to his home city of Malaga, on Spain's Costa del Sol, and hopes to do it before the couple's 12-year-old daughter Stella gets too old to appreciate her Spanish heritage.
He says, "The amount of time we spend in Spain is limited, but I want her (Stella) to be able to one day recognise herself in it and not see it as something distant.
"We spend at least two months a year here. Melanie is in love with my country. She wouldn't mind living in Malaga.
"For now, work dictates, but eventually we'll end up here."

When Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas stopped off for a romantic lunch at celeb-haunt Matsuhisa yesterday, they cut the date short, leaving after only about 20 minutes.

Did they intend on getting take-out? Or was it the uncomfortable confrontation with Melanie’s ex, Don Johnson (who was also dining there at the same time) that drove them away?

Hollywood heavyweights Liam Neeson and Antonio Banderas go head to head in a movie called 'The Other Man' now filming in London. With Laura Linney in the middle of these two alpha males and a tantalizing plot, we're hoping this one delivers...

Irish actor Liam Neeson is fast becoming the finest actor of his generation. He has really come into his own of late... His roles have been hit and miss since 'Schindler's List' but he reinvented himself as Henri Ducard in 'Batman Begins'. Big Liam is one of those rare thespians who attract people to the cinema just because he's in a particular film. We don't care what the movie is - if Liam's in it, we're there.

Neeson's next move, after this one, will see him bidding for Oscar glory when he teams up again with Steven Spielberg on the epic 'Lincoln' - one of the most anticipated movies of the last five years... It’s going to be HUGE folks!

But before he steps into Abe's big boots, Liam is chasing down Antonio Banderas in 'The Other Man'. A tale of adultery, suspicion and the elusive spectre of the other man in the life of Neeson's wife.

Antonio Banderas plays the focus of the big fella's suspicions, with production being shot between London and Italy... Someone once commented that if Antonio Banderas had of grown up on the Northside of Dublin his name would have been "Anto Bananas". Okaaay.

Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas is set to star in a new digital outdoor advertising campaign for eyewear brand Police, taking over from David Beckham.

Created by Grand Visual, working alongside communications agency The ComFederation, ‘Be Younique’ will roll out across seven UK networks  spanning London, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool from 5 April.

Booked by Kinetic the multi-network campaign will run on sites including CBS Outdoor’s D-EP network, Arsenal FC, City Gateway and the Piccadilly Lite site in London.

Banner Ad
 
Three separate executions have been created for each network, all starring Banderas with a female companion set against a futuristic city landscape.

Dan Dawson, digital director at Grand Visual, said: “Digital outdoor provides a great opportunity for Police to reach their target. Animating this lifestyle brand has created a striking landscape which will be visually dramatic on a large scale against the urban backdrop that these digital outdoor formats deliver.”

Mark Hobson, managing director at Police, added: “The brand strategy was to move away from the very cluttered press arena enabling us to deliver a strong outdoor digital campaign.”

Banderas featured in Marks & Spencer’s ‘Christmas Belles’ television campaign at the end of last year alongside the brand’s regular faces Twiggy, Erin O’Connor, Laura Bailey, Noemie Lenoir and Lizzie Jagger. 

For the umpteenth time in as many years, the powers that be have blessed mankind with another telling of “Beowulf.” 

 Unfortunately, Antonio Banderas and Gerard Butler were too busy for respective sequels, so director Robert Zemeckis got low-balled into an obvious plan B: sweet animation, blood, guts and a naked Angelina Jolie—bummer.
Usually I’d use the following lines to review the plot, but if you’ve ever taken a literature class, or spent more than five minutes with Dr. Pamela Shaffer, you pretty much get the gist.
There’s a king, there’s a warrior, there’s a hall with a pissed off monster; the monster loses his arm, its mom seeks revenge and then Chuck Norris roundhouse kicks her in the face. 
OK, so I lied about that last part, but everything else is spot on. 
Zemeckis doesn’t tamper with the basic people and points; he just adds some twists of flavor.
For instance, after Grendel’s opening attack on Heorot, the hall, he returns to his lair and is confronted by his mother.
Although enraged by his actions, Grendel’s mother eventually backs off after her son reveals that he left Hrothgar untouched which fills the air with the rancid aroma of foreshadowing.
Viewers are clued into and later introduced to a romantic history between the king and the killer beauty.
In the original poem, the unsightly Grendel seems to be the hero’s primary antagonist; mom, also a victim from a long fall down the ugly tree, makes a quick appearance at the end.
But this version paints her as the primary villain and grants her the sensual seduction powers—very nice—to make it work.
The whole idea is so far fetched, I couldn’t even pass it as B.S. on an exam, but it’s pretty intriguing.
Furthermore, some of the action sequences, like the notorious yet traditionally unadorned arm-rip scene, were taken to an entirely new level of gore via animation.

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Antonio Banderas has stepped back behind the camera to direct a new Spanish film which will be screened as part of the Irish Film Institute's Spanish Film Festival.

The annual festival is returning to the Temple Bar venue from 19 to 30 March and will showcase films from Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay and Spain.

Banderas' film, 'Summer Rain'/'El Camino de los Ingleses' has already earned the actor-turned-director an award at this year's Berlin Film Festival. Set in the 1970s, the drama is a coming-of-age tale about a couple's first love, lust and obsessions.

This is the Málaga-born star's second time to direct a feature following 'Crazy in Alabama', the 1999 comedy which starred his wife Melanie Griffith.

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