Moore, John (V)

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biography of Moore, John

1970, Dundalk, Ireland
5' 11"
John Moore was born in Dundalk, Ireland in 1970, a small town situated about 60 miles from the country's capital Dublin. Moore attended a technical college in Dublin where he studied filmmaking and after completing the school he went on to direct and write a series of short films all produced in his native Ireland. These include _Jack's Bicycle (1990)_ (qv) which has been broadcasted on Irish TV channel RTV on occasion. Moore then was hired to make a series of commercials and ended up making the launch advertisement for the Sega Dreamcast, the ad was so bombastic and visually impressive that Twentieth Century Fox ended up offering him the job on _Behind Enemy Lines (2001)_ (qv), a $40 million action film centered around the conflict in Bosnia. The film starred 'Gene Hackman' (qv) and 'Owen Wilson (I)' (qv). Whilst a modest box-office success the film fared only average with critics who varied in their opinions, and in later years Moore himself admitted that perhaps his approach had been to lightweight and a conflict of that scope required a more deep and thoughtful motion picture. On the set of _Behind Enemy Lines (2001)_ (qv) Moore was nearly killed via a Tank in an action sequence and had his life saved in the last moment by a stuntman who dragged him from harm's way. Moore's next film was a remake of _The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)_ (qv) and shared the same name only dropping the "the" at the titles beginning. _Flight of the Phoenix (2004)_ (qv) starred 'Dennis Quaid' (qv) and 'Miranda Otto' (qv) and told virtually the same story as the original, a group of people stranded in the desert after a plane crash. The picture was a huge box-office flop making just slightly over $21 million worldwide on a considerably larger budget. Critics showed the same unsure reaction to the film as they had on Behind Enemy Lines (2001), lavishing praise on certain aspects but harshly criticizing others. Moore himself was more pleased with the finished article on this occasion but the public's financial rejection suggests others weren't. After this Moore was involved with two other films one entitled "The last mission" which collapsed due to script issues and the 2006 smash _X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)_ (qv). In the end it was not Moore who directed the third in the X-Men trilogy but _Rush Hour 2 (2001)_ (qv) director 'Brett Ratner' (qv). However Moore did manage to get a film into cinemas during Summer 2006 in the end, he remade _The Omen (1976)_ (qv) and had it released on the 06/06/06, a gimmick associated with the films satanic plot. _The Omen (2006)_ (qv) was a fairly faithful remake and starred 'Julia Stiles' (qv) along with 'Liev Schreiber' (qv) and 'David Thewlis' (qv). Moore agreed to make the film as he names the 1976 original among his all time favorite movies along with _Jaws (1975)_ (qv) and _Freaks (1932)_ (qv). The film made a worldwide $120 million from a $25 million budget and thus had to be considered a success in terms of box-office. The critics were once more split, most criticized the picture for following the original too closely but by the same token generally a kind word was spared for Moore's impressive visuals and the strong cast. This marked the director's third collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox, a fourth arriving in the form of video-game adaptation _Max Payne (2008)_ (qv) in October 2008. Moore currently resides with his son and partner, 'Fiona Connon' (qv) in Los Angeles occasionally returning home to Ireland.
eternal sea

- 'Fiona Connen' (December 2005 - present); 1 child

- Strong use of the colour red

- Choppy and quick edits

- He set up the innovative production company, Clingfilms, with among others 'Damien O'Donnell (I)' (qv), who went on to direct _East is East (1999)_.

- Went straight from directing ads to making the $40 million _Behind Enemy Lines (2001)_ (qv).

- Was almost killed by a tank bursting through a wall while filming Behind Enemy Lines. He was pulled out of the way at the last moment by a stuntman.

- Directors who he has stated he admires include, 'Steven Spielberg' (qv), 'Tony Scott (I)' (qv) and 'M. Night Shyamalan' (qv).

- Has named _Jaws (1975)_ (qv), _Superman (1978)_ (qv), _Freaks (1932)_ (qv) and _The Omen (1976)_ (qv) as some of his favorite movies.

- Has collaborated with composer 'Marco Beltrami (I)' (qv) on three projects: They are _Flight of the Phoenix (2004)_ (qv), _The Omen (2006)_ (qv) and _Max Payne (2008)_ (qv).

- Was a huge Photography enthusiast as a child and teenager growing up in Ireland.

- Became a father in December 2006, when he and his partner 'Fiona Connon' (qv) gave birth to a boy named Joseph "buzz" Moore.

- Is engaged to be married to 'Fiona Connon' (qv) after meeting whilst working on _The Omen (2006)_ (qv).

- Was considered for the directors job on the remake of _Friday the 13th (2009)_ (qv). The job eventually went to 'Marcus Nispel' (qv).

- Directed the "Apocalypse" TV commercial (a 90 second mini-movie) for Sega during its September 1999 launch of the Dreamcast Video Game System

- Owen's a really relaxed, good fun guy. If he has a problem he's going to take you into a corner and discuss it, he won't make a fool out of you because he's a decent human being. - On working with Owen Wilson

- He has to be able to do all the heavy lifting just by turning his head and looking at you. But he's a very effective little actor. We found him in New York. We cast in London and America and initially I was worried that people weren't going to turn up because I can imagine parents might struggle with the notion of asking their kids to play this part. It's like when Bruno Ganz brilliantly played Hitler in The Downfall, it was a hell of a choice. - On Seamus Davey Fitzpatrick and casting for the role of Damien in The Omen.

- Behind Enemy Lines, my first movie, was... well as some critics quite fairly described it, an awful Hollywood swing at a complex political situation in Bosnia. You know, there are subject matters that a lot of people in the world would be horrified to think that a director like me would be approaching, but I still have ambitions to make some movies that are entertaining and touch on some of the stuff we're dealing with now. - On his first movie Behind Enemy Lines

- It continues to be a challenge. We're right in the middle of it now. We're suffering from what I call Batman blowback. The Motion Picture Association of America gave The Dark Knight a PG-13 rating and basically sucked Warner Bros. cock. I have a serious amount of issues with the MPAA. Did you know it was made up of volunteers? As if that somehow excludes them from some type of wrongdoing. You can't serve on it if you're a homosexual or if you didn't grow up in a shared parenthood home. Go to their website and read their charter about what gives a fair and balanced view for typical parents. We're still strangled by an association that's straight out of the House Un-American Activities Committee. - On the MPAA and Max Payne initially getting an R rating

- (June 2006) Attends worldwide opening of The Omen (2006) days before its 06/06/06 release date.

- (July 2008) Completes work on _Max Payne (2008)_ (qv) and goes to Comic-Con in San Diego with cast to promote it.

- (November 2008) Attends worldwide premiere of Max Payne with Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis and Ludacris.