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It’s the re-imagining of the last days of Jim Morrison.

The upcoming “The Last Beat” is described as an erotic, lyrical and music-filled portrait of a fictionalized character that was inspired by Jim Morrison’s last days in Paris. It follows an American rock star Jay Douglas with poetic ambitions and living in Paris who becomes involved in a love triangle.

The indie film stars Shawn Andrews (“Dazed and Confused”), Cameron Richardson (“Shameless”), Martha Higareda (“Street Kings”), Kevin Corrigan (“The Departed”), and Seymour Cassell (“Rushmore”). It is directed by Robert Saitzyk.

Latino-Review received an exclusive four-minute extended opening scene for “The Last Beat.”

There will be a crowd raising campaign for film fans to part of the project, which will be posted on its Facebook site at www.facebook.com/thelastbeatmovie. You can also follow its Twitter or visit its web site at www.lastbeatmovie.com.

Check out the exclusive clip and still below.

Cyndi Lauper has joined the cast of Robert Saitzyk's musician flick "The Last Beat" says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story follows Jay Douglas, a rock star who goes to Paris in a search for a more artistic existence as a poet and writer. Lauper will play Bebe Markham.

Shawn Andrews, Virginie Ledoyen, Cameron Richardson and Seymour Cassel also star. The film will start shooting in Paris later this year.

We’ve got a couple of casting stories for you this evening. First up, Variety reports that Diego Luna is in talks to join director Neill Blomkamp’s (District 9) highly anticipated upcoming sci-fi flick Elysium. The cast now includes Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, William Fichtner, Wagner Moura, Sharlto Copley and Alice Braga. Plot details are under wraps, but Foster recently stated that she plays the head of an alien planet, and we know that the story is set 100 years in the future on a distant planet. Blomkamp wrote and will direct the film which is set to begin filming this summer. Elysium hits theaters on March 1st, 2013. Additionally, the perpetually crazy-haired Cyndi Lauper has joined the cast of Robert Saitzyk’s music-centered flick The Last Beat. Written and directed by Saitzyk, the film centers on “a rock star who goes to Paris in a search for a more artistic...

French actress Virginie Ledoyen ("The Beach") will star in the indie drama "The Last Beat" for Bohemia Group reports Variety.

The story centres on a world-weary self-exiled rock star (Shawn Andrews) searching in the early 1970s for a more artistic existence as a poet and writer in Paris, with the hope of erasing his tarnished former stardom.

Ledoyen will play a French countess involved in a turbulent love triangle. Robert Saitzyk ("Godspeed") is directing from his own script,

Susan Ferris and Alison Buck will produce. Shooting kicks off late spring on location in Paris.

French actress Virginie Ledoyen ("The Beach") will star in the indie drama "The Last Beat" for Bohemia Group reports Variety.

The story centres on a world-weary self-exiled rock star (Shawn Andrews) searching in the early 1970s for a more artistic existence as a poet and writer in Paris, with the hope of erasing his tarnished former stardom.

Ledoyen will play a French countess involved in a turbulent love triangle. Robert Saitzyk ("Godspeed") is directing from his own script,

Susan Ferris and Alison Buck will produce. Shooting kicks off late spring on location in Paris.

Independent director Robert Saitzyk, director of films like "Godspeed," is putting together the cast for his upcoming 60s/70s set film called "The Last Beat." Shawn Andrews isn't the only person who's part of the cast anymore with the addition of Virginie Ledoyen. Read on to see a bit more of what this film's all about.Writer and Director Robert Saitzyk (“Godspeed”) dives deeply into the torrid world of rock and roll to craft the realm that is the last days of rock star Jay Douglas in the film “The Last Beat.” Leading the cast in this powerful drama as the famous and tortured Douglas is Shawn Andrews, whose screen credits include the award winning “Fix” opposite Olivia Wilde, “Dazed and Confused” and “City of Ghosts,” and now attached is the Césarnominated French actress Virginie Ledoyen, who has been seen in films such as “Tout ce qui brille”, “The Army...

Godspeed was recently in New York for a premiere (March 26) and then in Los Angeles (April 9); now, the film is available to a wider audience on DVD. The film releases April 20th and fans of the dramatic will enjoy this family based thriller. Seems like the isolation of Alaska leads to the dissolution of one man's marriage at the end of a bottle. Things don't get much happier when this same man, Charles, is asked to help a dying man whose son's gun-toting ways put everyone on edge (Godspeed). Have a look at the trailer and then buy yourself a copy of Godspeed at the link below.

A very long synopsis for Godspeed here:

"Charlie Shepard (Joseph McKelheer) is a modern day faith healer, a man who claims that if you let go and believe, then his power to heal is very real indeed. Living hand-to-mouth with his young son...

This week:

Dragons get to Kick Ass at the box office again; Avatar breaks records…again; Olivia Wilde and Hugh Jackman spread some Butter; Samuel L. Jackson and Kellan Lutz play Deathgames; there is A Haunting in Georgia; Shawn and Robert Saitzyk’s listen to The Last Beat and is Jamie Kennedy Randy in Scream 4?

Box Office

It has been a tight weekend at the box office. Kick-Ass and How To Train Your Dragon are neck and neck for the number one position and we had to wait until Monday to discover if the violent superhero flick scored the top spot . At the very least, Kick-Ass has underperformed. The comic book adaptation was expected to maybe hit the high 20’s, dollar wise. With roughly $20 million in the kitty so far, it looks like Kick-Ass will be profitable – but international grosses will tell if we see…

Click to continue reading...

-- Harrison Ford returns to the "Star Wars" universe with a special appearance at a Los Angeles event honoring the 30th anniversary of "The Empire Strikes Back." The event is intended to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. [Los Angeles Times]

-- "The Blind Side" actress Lily Collins will appear opposite "Twilight" star Taylor Lautner in "Abduction," the erstwhile Jacob Black's upcoming action thriller about a teenager who suddenly learns that his parents aren't really his parents at all. [Variety]

-- Director Curtis Hanson and screenwriter Clark Gregg are teaming up for a new film that tells the true story of a small Missouri town plagued by drugs and crime. A mystery law man appears out of the blue and cleans the streets of criminal activity, but this is no ordinary law man — this is a bank security guard with a phony badge. [Deadline]

-- Keep your ear out for "The Silent Flute," an upcoming...

Remember Kevin Pickford? In Dazed and Confused, he was the stoner dude itching to have an end-of-the-year blowout. He ordered some kegs and got stoned with his buds, but the parental units didn't hit the road for their vacation early enough, and Pickford's party dreams were dashed quickly and savagely. That being said, he did have the arms of girlfriend Michelle (Milla Jovovich) to fall into, so it's hard to really pity him ... especially when he, as in Shawn Andrews, got to marry her in real life. (She was just 16 back then, so the marriage was annulled pretty quickly.)

Now The Hollywood Reporter posts that he will star in The Last Beat -- a fictional account of Jim Morrison's final days. The brainchild of writer/director Robert Saitzyk, the drama will look into the last days of a famous American rock star in the '70s named Jay Douglas,...

It looks like Jim Morrison is one hell of a hot commodity in Hollywood these days.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Lizard King himself is set to get the fictional take, by writer/director Robert Saitzyk, in a new film called The Last Beat, which will look at Jim Morrison’s last days in Paris, alongside his then girlfriend, Pamela Courson.

Read more on The Last Beat to follow the last days of Jim Morrison…...

Writer-director Robert Saitzyk (”White of Winter” and “Godspeed”) wrote and will be directing “The Last Beat,” a drama inspired by the last days of the legendary Doors frontman Jim Morrison. Shawn Andrews (”City Of Ghosts”, “Dazed And Confused”, “Big Heart City”), who has previously worked with Saitzyk in his directorial debut “After the Flood,” is slated to star as Jay Douglas, a famous American rock star in the early 1970’s in relationships with two women in Paris, France. Zero Gravity Management’s Mark Holder and Christine Holder will be producing the project, which begins shooting in Paris this October. No other casting news has been released yet. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for more [...]...

A movie inspired by the last days of The Doors frontman Jim Morrison has been confirmed. The Last Beat, which is to be written and directed by Robert Saitzyk, will follow the lead of Gus Van Sant's depiction of Kurt Cobain in Last Days, avoiding potential legal issues in a similar fashion by only basing the main character on the ill-fated Doors singer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will feature a Morrison-esque lead named Jay Douglas - a famous American rock star who purportedly rose to fame in the early '70s. The picture will centre around his final days (more)...

Robert Saitzyk ("Godspeed") is set to direct a drama about the final days of The Doors frontman Jim Morrison entitled "The Last Beat" says The Hollywood Reporter.

Much like "I'm Not There", the project is described as a "nontraditional biopic" that tracks the final days of Jay Douglas, a famous American rock star in the early '70s as he navigates his relationships with two women in Paris.

Shawn Andrews is attached to star in the project which Saitzyk penned. Shooting kicks off in Paris this October.

To say the least, Jim Morrison was an interesting person. His lyrics, as nonsensical as they could be at times, reached out to a legion of fans and his on-stage behavior became that of rock and roll legend. The lead singer of The Doors has already been the subject of both a 1991 film, The Doors, and most recently a documentary, When You're Strange, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. But just like any major personality, it's hard to keep him contained. THR is reporting that writer-director Robert Saitzyk has finished a script based on the final days of Morrison's life, and will direct it for Zero Gravity Management. Titled The Last Beat, the film is being described as a fictional account, much like Gus Van Sant's Last Days was about Kurt Cobain. Lesser known actor Shawn Andrews, who has worked with the director previously, will play the...

Writer-director Robert Saitzyk (White of Winter, Godspeed) is developing a movie "inspired by" (Read: names have been changed to avoid the lawsuit) the final days of the Doors frontman Jim Morrison. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film, titled The Last Beat, will star Shawn Andrews (Dazed and Confused, City of Ghosts, pictured), as Jay Douglas, "a famous American rock star in the early '70s, as he navigates his relationships with two women in Paris -- a glamorous French Countess named Clemence and his California 'soulmate,' Valerie Eason." The project is being described as similar to Gus Van Sant's Last Days,...

Robert Saitzyk will helm the Jim Morrison inspired flick In a story from The Hollywood Reporter, Robert Saitzyk (Godspeed) is going to direct The Last Beat. The film is a drama inspired by the final days Jim Morrison.

Saitzyk wrote the screenplay. Shawn Andrews (who starred in Saitzyk's After the Flood) is attached to star.

The film will start shooting in Paris this October.

Being called a "nontraditional biopic", the movie "will track the final days of Jay Douglas, a famous American rock star in the early '70s, as he navigates his relationships with two women in Paris."

The Last Beat comes to theaters in 2011 and stars Shawn Andrews. The film is directed by Robert Saitzyk.

It's twenty years since Oliver Stone's The Doors played fast and loose with the facts surrounding Jim Morrison's life and death. Since then Tom De Cillo's excellent documentary When You're Strange has put the record reasonably straight, but we're heading back to "print the legend" territory with Robert Saitzyk's The Last Beat.The film sounds like it's very much in the tradition of Gus Van Sant's not-Cobain film The Last Days. The Morrison character will be "Jay Douglas", an American rock star in Paris in the early seventies, negotiating complicated relationships with his "California soulmate, Valerie Eason" (read Pamela Courson) and "glamorous French countess, Clemence".The real Jim Morrison took up residence in Paris in March 1971, made some disastrous recordings with street musicians, and was dead by July in still not quite explained circumstances. He's buried in a famously scruffy grave in the Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Writer-director Robert Saitzyk wants to break on through to the other side.

Saitzyk wrote and will direct "The Last Beat," a drama inspired by the last days of Jim Morrison, for Zero Gravity Management ("The Cooler"). Shawn Andrews, who starred in Saitzyk's debut feature "After the Flood," is attached to star.

Zero Gravity's Mark Holder and Christine Holder are producing the project, which begins shooting in Paris in October.

A nontraditional biopic, "Beat" will track the final days of Jay Douglas, a famous American rock star in the early '70s, as he navigates his relationships with two women in Paris -- a glamorous French Countess named Clemence and his California "soulmate," Valerie Eason.

Gus Van Sant used a similar approach in his 2005 film "Last Days," in which he envisioned a fictionalized portrait of the days leading to Kurt Cobain's suicide.

Saitzyk is the writer-director of "White of Winter" and "Godspeed.

In addition to interviewing the director of Godspeed, Robert Saitzyk, Jeremy also got to talk one of the films writers and lead actors, Joseph McKelheer. The guys talk about working with Cory Knauf over many projects, selecting Robert as a director and much more. Again, please check out the trailer and look for the film at a theater near you!

Godspeed: Movie Trailer – Watch more top selected videos about: Godspeed, Ed_Lauter, Cory_Knauf, Joseph_McKelheer, Jessie_Ward, Hallock_Beals, Courtney_Halverson, Robert_Saitzyk...

Jeremy had a chance to interview director Robert Saitzyk about his new film Godspeed. The guys talk about the making of the film in luscious Alaska, the concepts of the story and characters and much more! Check out the interview and trailer below where our own Jeremy Kirk is quoted!

Godspeed: Movie Trailer – Watch more top selected videos about: Godspeed, Ed_Lauter, Cory_Knauf, Joseph_McKelheer, Jessie_Ward, Hallock_Beals, Courtney_Halverson, Robert_Saitzyk...

Originally ran June 8th, 2009 as part of CineVegas coverage

Faith in the eyes of revenge and vice-versa. This is the subject at the heart of the thriller Godspeed. It is an intense thriller that digs much deeper than the tale of violent retribution on the surface, and its themes are such that the film leaves a lasting impression on you long after the credits roll.

Joseph McKelheer plays Charlie Shepherd, a faith healer who lives in the Alaskan backwoods with his wife and young son. Charlie is anything but a saint, and his infidelity and addiction to alcohol are slowly pulling his family apart. All of that become irrelevant one night when a pair of unknown assailants break into his home and brutally murder his wife and son. Their actions seem random, and much of the community seems to go one with their lives.

Six months later, as Charlie is...

Godspeed is a thriller that faces off one faith healer against another. Those with an eye for the intense and living in Los Angeles, Anchorage, or New York can test the waters on this project March 26th. The trailer reveals two troubled souls who do battle at the ends of rifles. Action-oriented and dramatic the trailer for Godspeed is below.

The long synopsis for Godspeed and worth a read:

"Charlie Shepard is a modern day faith healer, a man who claims that if you let go and believe, then his power to heal is very real indeed. Living hand-to-mouth with his young son and wife Rebecca, Charlie ekes out a meager living from his healing sessions in a small Alaskan town. With his marriage failing, and an old drinking habit coming back to haunt him. His family is brutally murdered by unknown assailants for seemingly no reason whatsoever.

Six months later,...

Head over to Festival Ambassador to see Mike Jones's coverage of the festival (part 1, part 2 & part 3), which wrapped over the weekend with Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s Easier With Practice winning the Grand Prize of $10,000. Other winners include: Best Documentary: Douglas Tirola’s All In: The Poker Movie Best Short: Destin Daniel’s Short Term 12 Special Grand Jury Prize for Directing: Justin Nowell’s Acting for the Camera Special Documentary Jury Prize for Artistic Vision: Jessica Oreck's Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo Robert Saitzyk (director) and Cory Knauf and Joseph McKelheer (screenwriters) Exceptional Artistic Achievement Award for Godspeed Filmmaker to Watch Award: Jeff Mizushima's Etienne!

More CineVegas coverage at Risky Biz blog

Las Vegas -- CineVegas, the annual gathering of indie film powerbrokers amid the slot machines and black-jack tables, wound down Sunday after providing several breakouts -- and more than a few surreal spectacles.

Among the world premieres to make a splash were Jeff Mizushima's "Etienne!," Frankie Latina's "Modus Operandi" and Kyle Patrick Alvarez's "Easier With Practice."

Mizushima's "Etienne!" was a conversation piece for many over the weekend. The film, a spiritual cousin to "Lars and the Real Girl," centers on a pudgy loner who has only one friend -- the titular dwarf hamster -- whom he decides to take on a bike trip up the California coast after the critter is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

"Operandi," meanwhile, was the talk of the festival among media and execs after its premiere Saturday night. Nominally a thriller involving a revenge-bent CIA agent,...

Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of interviews with directors whose films are screening at the 2009 CineVegas Film Festival. “Godspeed” (USA, 2009) Director: Robert Saitzyk Cast: Joseph McKelheer, Cory Knauf, Courtney Halverson, Ed Lauter, Jessie Ward, Hallock Beals An intense, dramatic thriller set in the lingering light of the Alaskan midnight sun. What initially attracted you to filmmaking and how has that evolved since starting out? When I …...

We brought you the first trailer for indie thriller Godspeed - featuring Joseph Mckelheer and Cory Knauf from The Hamiltons - a little while back and while that trailer certainly showed some promise it was a fairly early effort cut together for international sales purposes and not the most polished in the world. Well, the film will soon premiere at the Cinevegas Festival in June and in preparation for that the powers that be have just cut together a brand new trailer for the film. This one still has a couple edges - the audio doesn’t seem to have been through post yet - but it is much improved on the whole, a very unsettling little piece of work. Here’s the synopsis:

Charlie Shepard (Joseph Mckelheer, The Hamiltons) is a modern day faith healer, a man who claims that if you let go and believe, then his power...

[Updated with new and improved version of the trailer.]

Indie horror picture The Hamiltons was a solid sleeper hit on the festival circuit a couple years back and a film that we covered extensively in these pages, so we’re more than a little curious to get a look at what stars Joseph Mckelheer and Cory Knauf have been doing since. The answer is Godspeed, a film the duo not only star in but also co-wrote and produced with Sundance alum Robert Saitzyk (After The Flood) in the director’s chair. Here’s the synopsis:

Charlie Shepard (Joseph Mckelheer, The Hamiltons) is a modern day faith healer, a man who claims that if you let go and believe, then his power to heal is very real indeed. Living hand-to-mouth with his young son and wife Rebecca (Jessie Ward, Rest Stop: Don’T Look Back), Charlie ekes out a meager living from his “healing” sessions in a small Alaskan town.

Hue Rhodes' "Saint John of Las Vegas" will have its world premiere as the opening-night film at the 11th annual CineVegas Film Festival, which will be held June 10-15 at the Palms Casino Resort and Brenden Theatres in Las Vegas. The film stars Steve Buscemi as an ex-gambler-turned-fraud investigator who returns to Vegas to investigate an insurance claim.

"Saint John" also stars Sarah Silverman, Romany Malco, Peter Dinklage, Tim Blake Nelson, John Cho and Emmanuelle Chriqui.

Eight other films will have their world premieres at the fest, overseen by artistic director Trevor Groth.

Slated in the narrative competition, they are Rania Ajami's "Asylum Seekers," a story of six people trying to escape modern life; David Barker's "Daylight," about a pregnant woman caught in a life-or-death situation; Kyle Patrick Alvarez's "Easier With Practice," based on the true story of a writer's long-distance relationship with a mysterious woman; Jeff Mizushima's "Etienne!