Home Movies George Hickenlooper, RIP

I am so sad about the passing of George Hickenlooper, the fine director and a great guy. He was only 47. Reports say he died of “natural causes” Saturday morning in Denver. It’s unbelievable.

I got to know George when he made “Factory Girl” starring Sienna Miller. There were many cuts, and he had a crazy time. Ultimately he was ok with the finished product. I still love that movie. It was just rushed into release. Somewhere there’s a montage he cut to Donovan’s “Wear Your Hair Like Heaven” that should have stayed in the film. It was so cool.

This year George invited me to a screening of “Casino Jack,” the film he made about Jack Abramoff starring Kevin Spacey. It was back during Oscar week, and they showed it at CAA. Spacey has had kind of a negative vibe in recent years, but I thought George put him back where he belongs, playing great, weaselly characters. The film is very, very good and should be seen by a wide audience.

My condolences to George’s family and close friends. He was way too young, had much to do, and will be very, very missed.

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Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
3 replies to this post
  1. Blondie: yes, Simon and George were at war over Factory Girl writers credit – I believe simon sued for having his script stolen?!?! Very very very bizarre indeed.

  2. Isn’t George Hickenlooper the director who got into a war of words with Simon Monjack after Brittany Murphy died? How sad, and eerie, that they are all gone now. Not even a year.

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