Dino Ladki Coaching and Taping

04/03/2025

Natalie Portman on acting tics and the value in watching yourself.

04/02/2025

Gift Cards Available Here:
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02/07/2025

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12/28/2024

12/16/2024

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12/03/2024

Thanks for the acknowledgment BusinessRate! #1 🙌🏼

11/22/2024

Betty White forever. 🥹

The USPS will honor the iconic actor and SAG Life Achievement recipient with her own stamp in 2025. What a golden opportunity to send a letter! 💛

11/19/2024

11/16/2024

Still of James Dean in East of Eden, 1955. He only made 3 films in his lifetime but his work still reverberates today, 70 years later.

11/13/2024

On this date in 1993, "Carlito's Way" was released.

Al Pacino first heard about the character Carlito Brigante in a YMCA gym in New York City in 1973. Pacino was working out for his movie "Serpico" (1973) when he met New York State Supreme Sourt Judge Edwin Torres (the author who was writing the novels "Carlito's Way" and "After Hours"). When the novels were completed Pacino read them and liked them, especially the character of Carlito. Inspiration for the novels came from Torres' background: the East Harlem barrio where he was born and its atmosphere of gangs, drugs and poverty.

In 1989, Pacino faced a $6 million lawsuit from producer Elliott Kastner. Kastner claimed Pacino had gone back on an agreement to star in his version of a "Carlito" movie with Marlon Brando as criminal lawyer David Kleinfeld. The suit was dropped and the project was abandoned.

Pacino went to producer Martin Bregman with the intention of getting a Carlito Brigante film made and showed him an early draft of a screenplay, which Bregman rejected. Both Bregman and Pacino agreed that the character of Brigante would provide a suitable showcase for Pacino's talents. Bregman approached screenwriter David Koepp, who had just finished writing the script for Bregman's forthcoming "The Shadow" (1994), and asked him to write the script for "Carlito's Way." The decision came that the screenplay would be based on the second novel "After Hours." Carlito at this stage would match closer with Pacino's age. Although based primarily on the second novel, the title "Carlito's Way" remained, mainly because of the existence of Martin Scorsese's movie "After Hours" (1985). Bregman would work closely with Koepp for two years to develop the shooting script for "Carlito's Way."
To get into the character, Pacino accompanied Torres through East Harlem to absorb the sights and atmosphere. Pacino first envisioned Carlito with a ponytail, but, after visiting Harlem, he quickly realized such a hairstyle was uncommon among the local men. The beard was Pacino's idea. The black leather coat fitted into the period setting.

For the pivotal role of Carlito's sleazy lawyer and best friend Kleinfeld, Sean Penn was lured back from what he considered to be an early retirement by the challenge of playing the corrupt lawyer. Taking the role meant that he could finance his movie "The Crossing Guard" (1995), and work with Pacino. Director Brian De Palma and Penn sat down and discussed what '70s mob lawyers looked like. Often, men in the entertainment business can look more bizarre than the talent they represent. Penn shaved the hair on the front of his forehead to give the appearance of a receding hairline. He permed the rest. Alan Dershowitz, believing that Penn was attempting to look like him, threatened the filmmakers with a defamation lawsuit. (Wikipedia)