AURORA RETURNS IN SHINING `STAR' : MACLAINE REVIVES FAVORITE CHARACTER IN SEQUEL TO `TERMS OF ENDEARMENT'.Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Film Writer She's baaack - the movies' most overbearing o·ver·bear·ing adj. 1. Domineering in manner; arrogant: an overbearing person. See Synonyms at dictatorial. 2. Overwhelming in power or significance; predominant. matriarch, the fiercest mama lion who ever fought for her cubs, the swingin' Houston sexpot sex·pot n. Informal A woman considered to have sex appeal. Noun 1. sexpot - a young woman who is thought to have sex appeal sex bomb, sex kitten with a string of suitors who met her match when Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22 1937), known as Jack Nicholson, is a three time Academy Award winning American actor internationally renowned for his often dark-themed portrayals of neurotic characters. , as a playboy astronaut, moved in next door. Aurora Greenway, the heroine of Larry McMurtry's novel ``Terms of Endearment'' and of the movie that won an Oscar for Best Picture in 1984, is the role that finally won six-time nominee Shirley MacLaine an Academy Award. Is it any wonder the actress felt a little nervous about doing the role again in the new movie ``The Evening Star''? ``I did not agree to it quickly,'' says MacLaine, who comes across as disarmingly youthful at 62 - direct, curious, vivacious and frank, with the same pixie-cut red hair and sparkling eyes she had in ``The Apartment'' 32 years ago. ``I missed her. She is so full of life. I missed her energy. I missed having her in my bloodstream,'' says MacLaine. ``But I was concerned about what they were going to do with her.'' When the idea was first presented by producer David Kirkpatrick, it was in the form of McMurtry's manuscript for the book. The Texas author (``Lonesome lone·some adj. 1. a. Dejected because of a lack of companionship. See Synonyms at alone. b. Producing such dejection: a lonesome hour at the bar. 2. Dove,'' ``The Last Picture Show'') wasn't interested in writing the screenplay, and James L. Brooks, who made his directing debut with the first movie, wasn't interested in returning for the second. After her friend, Robert Harling This article is about the 15th century knight. For the American writer, see Robert Harling (writer). Sir Robert Harling (died 9 September, 1435) was an early member of the landed gentry, soldier and political strongman. (``Steel Magnolias,'' ``Soapdish''), was hired to write the screenplay, MacLaine became one of the guiding forces in shaping the movie. She was the one who suggested Harling to direct - after five other directors (including Michael Hoffman of ``Soapdish'' and ``One Fine Day'') had come and gone from the project. ``I think they were all afraid of following Jim Brooks and of messing with this thing that had won all the awards,'' says MacLaine. ``So it kept getting off track. Bobby (Harling) kept turning in drafts to suit these directors, and he was getting more and more intimately involved with the whole thing.'' ``Finally I just turned to everyone and said, `I think Bob should direct. He understands this emotional landscape of women and the South. He has gone through the whole thing of struggling to get the tone that's required. And Jim Brooks was a first-time director. I'll help him.' '' Harling came through brilliantly. A compassionate writer with a marvelous sense of how comedy and tragedy blend together, he creates a fast-paced, funny movie brimming with conflict and emotional event. MacLaine's performance is a triumph, and there are memorable turns by Miranda Richardson as a Houston socialite, Juliette Lewis Juliette L. Lewis (born June 21, 1973[1]) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress and musician. Biography Early life Lewis was born in Los Angeles, California. as Aurora's willful, self-destructive granddaughter and Jack Nicholson in a brief but delectable return as ex-astronaut Garrett Breedlove. Even so, there is reason to wonder if the movie, which opened Christmas Day, can find a crucial early audience in a period so crowded with other new movies, including ``Marvin's Room,'' ``Evita,'' ``Mother,'' ``The Whole Wide World,'' ``Hamlet'' and ``The People vs. Larry Flynt,'' among others. It's a situation that MacLaine has not failed to take notice of. ``Five women's pictures opening on Christmas Day? It's insane,'' says MacLaine. (After its first five days, ``Star'' landed in 10th place at the crowded box office. Not stellar, but not terrible, either.) But if ``The Evening Star'' works at the box office, MacLaine has hopes that it will mean something for the kind of movies that get financed. ``Maybe they'll invest more development money in doing things for women, things that are about families and feeling and human contradiction, instead of this science fiction, action-adventure stuff,'' she says. In ``The Evening Star,'' Aurora is coping with the disappointing outcome of her attempts to raise the three grandchildren that were left behind by her late daughter Emma (Debra Winger Debra Winger (born May 16, 1955) is an Academy Award- nominated American actress. Biography Early life Born Mary Debra Winger in Cleveland Heights, Ohio to a Jewish family, she spent several years in Israel, and served in the Israel Defense Forces. ) in ``Terms of Endearment en·dear·ment n. 1. The act of endearing. 2. An expression of affection, such as a caress. endearment Noun an affectionate word or phrase Noun 1. .'' ``I had to catch up with her,'' MacLaine says of the character. ``So much has happened since her daughter died. The country has deteriorated, and her grandchildren have become these ne'er-do-well nonworkers who are on drugs, in prison or flunking out of school. Aurora is having to cope with all this stuff, but her values are still the same.'' How would MacLaine describe those values? ``Well, her family is dysfunctional like everybody else's. But I think she's liberal, I think she's fair, I think she's sometimes insensitive in the stridency with which she commands high standards, but she'll do anything to make sure her family stays intact. And in the end, she's triumphant.'' Not at first, of course. Early in the movie, Aurora finishes off a sob SOB shortness of breath. SOB abbr. shortness of breath sob, n a short, convulsive inspiration, attended by contraction of the diaphragm and spasmodic closure of the glottis. session by tossing a used Kleenex out of the car window. ``Don't mess with Texas The phrase Don’t Mess with Texas is a slogan for the Texas Department of Transportation, and was developed to reduce littering on Texas roadways used as part of a statewide advertising campaign in 1986. ,'' says her nephew Teddy (Mackenzie Astin Mackenzie Alexander Astin (born 12 May, 1973) is an American actor. Biography Early life Astin was born on May 12, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Patty Duke and actor John Astin. His older brother is actor Sean Astin. ), who's driving, reminding her of the state's anti-littering campaign. ``Texas certainly has messed with me,'' sniffs Aurora. Aurora gets so stressed out that her housekeeper Rosie (Marion Ross Marion Ross (born October 25, 1928) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress. Born Marian Ross in Albert Lea, Minnesota, she grew up there, and in nearby Waconia and Willmar. ) slyly sets her up with a therapist (Bill Paxton) who urges her to get her thoughts in order by creating a chronicle of her life, pieced together from snapshots and keepsakes Keepsakes - A Collection is an anthology by All About Eve released on 13 March 2006. It is available either as a double CD or as a limited edition double CD and DVD set (the DVD containing the band's videos and television performances). . It's a process MacLaine is deeply familiar with, being the author of no less than eight published memoirs, including the recent ``My Lucky Stars: A Hollywood Memoir,'' which includes anecdotes about making both ``Terms of Endearment'' and its continuation. ``Aurora saves all the matchbook covers and napkins, all the things from her childhood,'' says MacLaine. ``I'm a little bit like that, but it gets to be a fire hazard fire hazard fire n that's a fire hazard → das ist feuergefährlich fire hazard n that's a fire hazard → comporta rischi in caso d'incendio when you're my age. I send all my mementos to Boston University Boston University, at Boston, Mass.; coeducational; founded 1839, chartered 1869, first baccalaureate granted 1871. It is composed of 16 schools and colleges. , and they keep them in archives, because it's hard to throw away a letter from a president, even though I know it could turn yellow and burst into flame.'' The movie takes one of its most enjoyable turns when Breedlove (Jack Nicholson) returns to town for a reunion of Apollo astronauts This is a list of all astronauts directly associated with NASA's Apollo program. A total of thirty-eight astronauts flew in an Apollo spacecraft, twenty-nine of whom were part of the Apollo program, the rest being Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz astronauts. and comes by to take his old flame old flame Noun Informal, old-fashioned a person with whom one once had a romantic relationship to lunch. The two stars appear to be having so much fun together, one wonders if they share a relationship off screen. ``We don't,'' says MacLaine. ``I see him at parties, and we talk, but there's a detachment. Then as soon as we're on the set, and he becomes Garrett and I become Aurora, there's this mysterious chemical thing that happens. I blush, I giggle, I fix my hair, I check my lipstick, I cross and uncross my legs. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what the hell goes on, but it seems to work. I think we should do a whole movie together, and so does he, but I don't think we could play anybody but Garrett and Aurora.'' Does MacLaine have any theories about what Aurora wishes for in a scene with Garrett on the beach when the evening star appears? ``She would wish to find the love of her life,'' says MacLaine. ``She thought it might have been Garrett, but now he's married and living somewhere else. So I think that what's she was wishing for, and soon she gets it - is her new grandson.'' In real life, MacLaine has also become a grandparent recently - her only child, daughter Sachi Parker Murray, 40, is now married and the mother of a 2-month-old son. ``I'm going to give him everything he wants and just spoil the dickens out of him,'' says MacLaine. During the filming of ``The Evening Star,'' MacLaine says she insisted on occupying the same bed at the Houstonian Hotel that she slept in during the filming of ``Terms of Endearment.'' ``Aurora wouldn't change,'' says MacLaine knowingly. One senses that she has more to say with Aurora, but since the new movie goes all the way to the end of Aurora's life, that isn't possible. Then again, we're talking about Shirley MacLaine, who has written books about time travel and out-of-body experiences. Having brought Aurora back to larger-than-life once now, she can probably do it again. ``Well, she has many lives, so we'll see,'' says MacLaine matter-of-factly. Having purchased the furniture and rugs from Aurora's house and transferring it all to her home in Santa Fe Santa Fe, city, Argentina Santa Fe, city (1991 pop. 341,000), capital of Santa Fe prov., NE Argentina, a river port near the Paraná, with which it is connected by canal. , she is literally living with the character's memory. ``She hasn't left me, though I'm not exactly sure what I mean by that,'' says MacLaine. ``Maybe we'll do another one from the Aurora wing in New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). , from beyond heaven.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--Cover--Color) `Star' quality Shirley Maclaine returns to her Oscar-winning role (2) ``I missed her. She is so full of life. I missed her energy. I missed having her in my bloodstream,'' Shirley MacLaine says of Aurora in ``Terms of Endearment'' and ``The Evening Star.'' |
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