Jan Haag, who a half-century ago founded the landmark Directing Workshop for Women at the American Film Institute, has died. She was 90.
The remarkable Haag, who also was an actress, painter, poet, novelist, playwright, writer of travel stories and creator of needlepoint canvases, some of which required hundreds of hours to complete, died Monday in Shoreline, Washington, according to the AFI and the Mb Abram agency.
Haag had directed dozens of educational films for the John Tracy Clinic and the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare when she became the first woman accepted into the Academy Intern Program at the AFI in 1970, three years after it was founded by George Stevens Jr.
She was assigned to Paramount’s Harold and Maude (1971), directed by Hal Ashby, then joined the AFI staff in 1971, and among her duties was to administer the nonprofit’s film grant program funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
The remarkable Haag, who also was an actress, painter, poet, novelist, playwright, writer of travel stories and creator of needlepoint canvases, some of which required hundreds of hours to complete, died Monday in Shoreline, Washington, according to the AFI and the Mb Abram agency.
Haag had directed dozens of educational films for the John Tracy Clinic and the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare when she became the first woman accepted into the Academy Intern Program at the AFI in 1970, three years after it was founded by George Stevens Jr.
She was assigned to Paramount’s Harold and Maude (1971), directed by Hal Ashby, then joined the AFI staff in 1971, and among her duties was to administer the nonprofit’s film grant program funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
- 5/2/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Few creative talents have the breadth of a career equal to Lee Grant. The 98-year-old director, actor, and writer has a storied body of work, debuting on screen in 1951 in William Wyler’s Detective Story, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination and Cannes Best Actress win, while also receiving a Supporting Actress Oscar for Shampoo. Grant, who has also appeared in Mulholland Drive, Valley of the Dolls, and In the Heat of the Night, has also set a few records: she’s the oldest living film director, while 1980’s Tell Me a Riddle was the first major American film to be entirely written, produced and directed by women, and she’s the only Academy Award-winning actor to also direct an Academy Award-winning documentary with 1986’s Down and Out in America.
Among the most revelatory repertory cinema I saw last year, the much-deserved 4K restorations of Grant...
Among the most revelatory repertory cinema I saw last year, the much-deserved 4K restorations of Grant...
- 5/2/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The red carpet will soon roll out for the 77th Festival de Cannes. The international film festival, playing out May 14-25, has a distinct American voice this year. “Barbie” filmmaker Greta Gerwig is the first U.S. female director name jury president. Many veteran American helmers are heading to the French Rivera resort town. George Lucas, who turns 80 on May 14, will receive an honorary Palme d’Or. Francis Ford Coppola’s much-anticipated “Megalopolis” is screening in competition, as is Paul Schrader’s “Oh Canada.” Kevin Costner’s new Western “Horizon, An American Saga” will premiere out of competition and Oliver Stone’s “Lula” is part of the special screening showcase.
Fifty years ago, Coppola was the toast of the 27th Cannes Film Festival. His brilliant psychological thriller “The Conversation” starring Gene Hackman won the Palme D’Or and well as a Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury. The film would earn three Oscar nominations: picture,...
Fifty years ago, Coppola was the toast of the 27th Cannes Film Festival. His brilliant psychological thriller “The Conversation” starring Gene Hackman won the Palme D’Or and well as a Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury. The film would earn three Oscar nominations: picture,...
- 4/25/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston, Brady Hepner, Ian Dolley, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, Tate Donovan | Written by David Hemingson | Directed by Alexander Payne
Having not released a film since 2017’s Downsizing, director Alexander Payne follows up what is considered the weakest film of his career with an absolutely wonderful work. At the Barton boarding school, bad-tempered professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is forced to remain on campus during the Christmas break to look after a handful of students with nowhere to go – collectively known as The Holdovers. Across the break, he forms a bond with student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and head cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
From the opening moments where the studio logos and ratings title card appear in retro styles, Payne recreates the feel of a ‘70s feature throughout his latest work. The combination of aesthetic and story brings to mind a Hal Ashby film,...
Having not released a film since 2017’s Downsizing, director Alexander Payne follows up what is considered the weakest film of his career with an absolutely wonderful work. At the Barton boarding school, bad-tempered professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is forced to remain on campus during the Christmas break to look after a handful of students with nowhere to go – collectively known as The Holdovers. Across the break, he forms a bond with student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and head cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
From the opening moments where the studio logos and ratings title card appear in retro styles, Payne recreates the feel of a ‘70s feature throughout his latest work. The combination of aesthetic and story brings to mind a Hal Ashby film,...
- 4/23/2024
- by James Rodrigues
- Nerdly
“An Officer and a Gentleman” star Louis Gossett Jr.’s cause of death was Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Copd), per Friday’s report from the coroner.
The report, which was first obtained by TMZ, lists Copd as his main cause of death, with heart failure and atrial fibrillation as contributing conditions. The actor, who made Hollywood history as the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar, died on March 29 in Santa Monica, Calif.
Gossett Jr. got his start on the stage with roles in plays in the 1950s and ’60s before breaking big with his Emmy-winning role as Fiddler in the 1977 miniseries “Roots.”
In 2022, on the 45th anniversary of the landmark miniseries, Gossett Jr. told TheWrap he never expected that “Roots” would be made.
“The story about [slavery] was we knew it, we heard it from our parents and our aunts and uncles and stuff, but we knew it...
The report, which was first obtained by TMZ, lists Copd as his main cause of death, with heart failure and atrial fibrillation as contributing conditions. The actor, who made Hollywood history as the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar, died on March 29 in Santa Monica, Calif.
Gossett Jr. got his start on the stage with roles in plays in the 1950s and ’60s before breaking big with his Emmy-winning role as Fiddler in the 1977 miniseries “Roots.”
In 2022, on the 45th anniversary of the landmark miniseries, Gossett Jr. told TheWrap he never expected that “Roots” would be made.
“The story about [slavery] was we knew it, we heard it from our parents and our aunts and uncles and stuff, but we knew it...
- 4/20/2024
- by Sharon Knolle
- The Wrap
If Criterion24/7 hasn’t completely colonized your attention every time you open the Channel––this is to say: if you’re stronger than me––their May lineup may be of interest. First and foremost I’m happy to see a Michael Roemer triple-feature: his superlative Nothing But a Man, arriving in a Criterion Edition, and the recently rediscovered The Plot Against Harry and Vengeance is Mine, three distinct features that suggest a long-lost voice of American movies. Meanwhile, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Antiwar Trilogy four by Sara Driver, and a wide collection from Ayoka Chenzira fill out the auteurist sets.
Series-wise, a highlight of 1999 goes beyond the well-established canon with films like Trick and Bye Bye Africa, while of course including Sofia Coppola, Michael Mann, Scorsese, and Claire Denis. Films starring Shirley Maclaine, a study of 1960s paranoia, and Columbia’s “golden era” (read: 1950-1961) are curated; meanwhile, The Breaking Ice,...
Series-wise, a highlight of 1999 goes beyond the well-established canon with films like Trick and Bye Bye Africa, while of course including Sofia Coppola, Michael Mann, Scorsese, and Claire Denis. Films starring Shirley Maclaine, a study of 1960s paranoia, and Columbia’s “golden era” (read: 1950-1961) are curated; meanwhile, The Breaking Ice,...
- 4/17/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
When none of us are generous enough to just buy an album (or join his notoriously unwieldy streaming service) there’s been a surge of reinterest as Neil Young makes his dizzyingly dense catalog freshly available on Spotify. Likely coinciding with his greatest exposure in years is the uncovering, by Creep director Patrick Brice, of Hal Ashby’s 1984 concert film Solo Trans, which spans some of Young’s earliest recorded music to then-new masterpiece Trans––my pick for his greatest work, which devoted fans have characterized with words such as “untenable” and “insane”––and controversial rockabilly period, which indeed sounds like a joke from Walk Hard.
Among these performances are skits in the tone of Young’s more-than-a-little-amazing feature film Human Highway, albeit (like most things) not as good as Human Highway. More devoted Ashby auteurists will surely find things to identify as distinctly his; it’s easier to admire...
Among these performances are skits in the tone of Young’s more-than-a-little-amazing feature film Human Highway, albeit (like most things) not as good as Human Highway. More devoted Ashby auteurists will surely find things to identify as distinctly his; it’s easier to admire...
- 4/2/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Louis Gossett Jr., the celebrated An Officer and a Gentleman actor who became the first Black man to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, has died at the age of 87.
“It is with our heartfelt regret to confirm our beloved father passed away this morning,” the actor’s family said in a statement Friday (via CNN). “We would like to thank everyone for their condolences at this time. Please respect the family’s privacy during this difficult time.” No cause of death was provided.
Over an onscreen career that spanned seven decades,...
“It is with our heartfelt regret to confirm our beloved father passed away this morning,” the actor’s family said in a statement Friday (via CNN). “We would like to thank everyone for their condolences at this time. Please respect the family’s privacy during this difficult time.” No cause of death was provided.
Over an onscreen career that spanned seven decades,...
- 3/29/2024
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
We are sad to report that legendary African-American actor Louis Gossett Jr. passed away on March 28, 2024 in Santa Monica, CA. He was 87 years old at the time of death, and was on his way to celebrate his 88th birthday in May this year. No official cause of death has been given, but Gosset has had health issues in the recent decade, being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010 and being hospitalized for Covid-19 during the pandemic. The news was confirmed by Gossett’s first cousin Neal L. Gossett.
A true acting legend, Louis Gossett Jr. was born in New York on May 27, 1936. His mother was a nurse, and his father was a porter. Although he was proficient in sports as well, after his stage debut at the age of 17, his teacher encouraged him to pursue an acting career. Although he obtained a sports scholarship at the NYU and was offered to play basketball,...
A true acting legend, Louis Gossett Jr. was born in New York on May 27, 1936. His mother was a nurse, and his father was a porter. Although he was proficient in sports as well, after his stage debut at the age of 17, his teacher encouraged him to pursue an acting career. Although he obtained a sports scholarship at the NYU and was offered to play basketball,...
- 3/29/2024
- by Arthur S. Poe
- Fiction Horizon
Louis Gossett Jr., the tough guy with a sensitive side who won an Oscar for his portrayal of a steely sergeant in An Officer and a Gentleman and an Emmy for his performance as a compassionate slave in the landmark miniseries Roots, has died. He was 87.
Gossett’s nephew told the Associated Press that the actor died Thursday night in Santa Monica. The cause of death is unknown, but Gossett announced in 2010 that he had prostate cancer.
With his sleek, bald pate and athlete’s physique, Gossett was intimidating in a wide array of no-nonsense roles, most notably in Taylor Hackford’s Officer and a Gentleman (1982), where as Gunnery Sgt. Emil Foley he rides Richard Gere’s character mercilessly (but for his own good) at an officer candidate school and gets into a memorable martial arts fight.
He was the second Black man to win an acting Oscar, following Sidney Poitier in 1964.
For the role,...
Gossett’s nephew told the Associated Press that the actor died Thursday night in Santa Monica. The cause of death is unknown, but Gossett announced in 2010 that he had prostate cancer.
With his sleek, bald pate and athlete’s physique, Gossett was intimidating in a wide array of no-nonsense roles, most notably in Taylor Hackford’s Officer and a Gentleman (1982), where as Gunnery Sgt. Emil Foley he rides Richard Gere’s character mercilessly (but for his own good) at an officer candidate school and gets into a memorable martial arts fight.
He was the second Black man to win an acting Oscar, following Sidney Poitier in 1964.
For the role,...
- 3/29/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Before he even had a dozen movies on his directing resume, Elia Kazan had seen nine different actors to Oscar victories. Nearly seven decades later, he remains one of only two filmmakers associated with that many or more winning performances (along with William Wyler) and one of four responsible for at least one victor in each of the four acting categories. Check out our complete photo gallery of Oscar-winning turns in Kazan films, which also includes a rundown of the unsuccessful nominees directed by him.
Between 1945 and 1976, Kazan directed 19 narrative feature films, 13 of which earned a collective total of 59 Oscar nominations and 21 wins. Prior to his death in 2003, he was personally recognized seven times across three categories, winning Best Director for “Gentleman’s Agreement” (1948) and “On the Waterfront” (1955). He also received an honorary award in 1999 “in appreciation of a long, distinguished and unparalleled career.”
The performances included in this gallery are listed in chronological order,...
Between 1945 and 1976, Kazan directed 19 narrative feature films, 13 of which earned a collective total of 59 Oscar nominations and 21 wins. Prior to his death in 2003, he was personally recognized seven times across three categories, winning Best Director for “Gentleman’s Agreement” (1948) and “On the Waterfront” (1955). He also received an honorary award in 1999 “in appreciation of a long, distinguished and unparalleled career.”
The performances included in this gallery are listed in chronological order,...
- 3/22/2024
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Before he even had a dozen movies on his directing resume, Elia Kazan had seen nine different actors to Oscar victories. Nearly seven decades later, he remains one of only two filmmakers associated with that many or more winning performances (along with William Wyler) and one of four responsible for at least one victor in each of the four acting categories. Check out our complete photo gallery of Oscar-winning turns in Kazan films, which also includes a rundown of the unsuccessful nominees directed by him.
Between 1945 and 1976, Kazan directed 19 narrative feature films, 13 of which earned a collective total of 59 Oscar nominations and 21 wins. Prior to his death in 2003, he was personally recognized seven times across three categories, winning Best Director for “Gentleman’s Agreement” (1948) and “On the Waterfront” (1955). He also received an honorary award in 1999 “in appreciation of a long, distinguished and unparalleled career.”
The performances included in this gallery are listed in chronological order,...
Between 1945 and 1976, Kazan directed 19 narrative feature films, 13 of which earned a collective total of 59 Oscar nominations and 21 wins. Prior to his death in 2003, he was personally recognized seven times across three categories, winning Best Director for “Gentleman’s Agreement” (1948) and “On the Waterfront” (1955). He also received an honorary award in 1999 “in appreciation of a long, distinguished and unparalleled career.”
The performances included in this gallery are listed in chronological order,...
- 3/22/2024
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
American Dreamer deserves better than it has gotten. Shot three years ago during the pandemic this delirously black comedy premiered at Tribeca 2022 and got lost in the crowd. The filmmakers including first time feature director Paul Dektor and screenwriter/producer Theodore Melfi decided to then hold it back and recut and tighten it eliminating 10 minutes of the original running time. In early 2023 it turned up at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, still largely ignored, and then its distribution hunt was further delayed by the Hollywood strikes. Finally Vertical has wisely picked it up and it will be opening in theatres and VOD Friday.
I saw the Tribeca cut and I have seen the final cut. Both worked for me but it was great to experience it a second time in an actual theatre with a very appreciative audience. Comedies work best that way and this one...
I saw the Tribeca cut and I have seen the final cut. Both worked for me but it was great to experience it a second time in an actual theatre with a very appreciative audience. Comedies work best that way and this one...
- 3/7/2024
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Since the beginning of the Academy Awards in the late 1920s, Hollywood filmmakers have been making socially conscious films. Many of the best of those have scored the film town’s top honor — Oscar best picture.
This year, that winner could be “Oppenheimer,” a film that boldly and starkly dramatizes the creation of man’s most dangerous invention: atomic weapons.
It could be “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a film that brought a lost and dreadful piece of American history into the sunlight of the Cannes Film Festival and ultimately the spotlights of awards season.
It could be either “Barbie” or “Poor Things,” two of the wildest, most colorful and inventive investigations of feminist and/or post-feminist womanhood to ever hit the big screen.
It could be “American Fiction,” a wry and witty look at Black American middle-class identity and family relations under preposterous, dispiriting cultural pressures.
But will the...
This year, that winner could be “Oppenheimer,” a film that boldly and starkly dramatizes the creation of man’s most dangerous invention: atomic weapons.
It could be “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a film that brought a lost and dreadful piece of American history into the sunlight of the Cannes Film Festival and ultimately the spotlights of awards season.
It could be either “Barbie” or “Poor Things,” two of the wildest, most colorful and inventive investigations of feminist and/or post-feminist womanhood to ever hit the big screen.
It could be “American Fiction,” a wry and witty look at Black American middle-class identity and family relations under preposterous, dispiriting cultural pressures.
But will the...
- 2/16/2024
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Carrie Preston, Brady Hepner, Ian Dolley, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, Tate Donovan | Written by David Hemingson | Directed by Alexander Payne
Having not released a film since 2017’s Downsizing, director Alexander Payne follows up what is considered the weakest film of his career with an absolutely wonderful work. At the Barton boarding school, bad-tempered professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is forced to remain on campus during the Christmas break to look after a handful of students with nowhere to go – collectively known as The Holdovers. Across the break, he forms a bond with student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and head cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
From the opening moments where the studio logos and ratings title card appear in retro styles, Payne recreates the feel of a ‘70s feature throughout his latest work. The combination of aesthetic and story brings to mind a Hal Ashby film,...
Having not released a film since 2017’s Downsizing, director Alexander Payne follows up what is considered the weakest film of his career with an absolutely wonderful work. At the Barton boarding school, bad-tempered professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is forced to remain on campus during the Christmas break to look after a handful of students with nowhere to go – collectively known as The Holdovers. Across the break, he forms a bond with student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and head cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
From the opening moments where the studio logos and ratings title card appear in retro styles, Payne recreates the feel of a ‘70s feature throughout his latest work. The combination of aesthetic and story brings to mind a Hal Ashby film,...
- 2/1/2024
- by James Rodrigues
- Nerdly
As Hollywood neared the midpoint of the 1980s, the industry had abandoned the risk-taking ethos of the 1970s and unabashedly embraced formula filmmaking. Stars still mattered, but the pitch was king. Studio executives keen on becoming their generation's Jack Warner, Daryl Zanuck and Louis B. Mayer were through humoring unpredictable auteurs like Martin Scorsese and Hal Ashby. They wanted can't-miss high-concept projects powered by high-wattage stars that could play for months on end in theaters because, despite the skyrocketing value of home video and pay cable channels, theatrical was still king.
"Beverly Hills Cop" traversed a rocky path from inception to production, but producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer doggedly developed and re-developed the project until they paired a 23-year-old comedy superstar with a once-hot director who'd two years prior gotten himself fired off "WarGames." The particulars of the fish-out-of-water plot shifted many times over the years (it was nearly...
"Beverly Hills Cop" traversed a rocky path from inception to production, but producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer doggedly developed and re-developed the project until they paired a 23-year-old comedy superstar with a once-hot director who'd two years prior gotten himself fired off "WarGames." The particulars of the fish-out-of-water plot shifted many times over the years (it was nearly...
- 1/30/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Comedies often depend on precision, with jokes popping off like synchronized gunfire, though in Between the Temples, Nathan Silver stretches moments out to revel in texture and give his actors room to breathe. The film, written by Silver and C. Mason Wells, is a marvel of lived-in shagginess, of clashing, cacophonous tones that reveal characters’ inner furies. Between the Temples is funny and even suspenseful in its unpredictability, as you never quite know when and where the punchlines will land. The film revels in the volatile human comedy of which John Cassavetes, an obsessive miner of neurotic minutiae, might approve.
Take a scene in which a grieving widower, Ben (Jason Schwartzman), goes to lunch with his childhood music teacher, Carla (Carol Kane). Silver captures them eating in close-up, as they talk about their wonderful burgers, for much longer than most filmmakers would dare. The scene’s punchline—that Ben, the cantor at his local synagogue,...
Take a scene in which a grieving widower, Ben (Jason Schwartzman), goes to lunch with his childhood music teacher, Carla (Carol Kane). Silver captures them eating in close-up, as they talk about their wonderful burgers, for much longer than most filmmakers would dare. The scene’s punchline—that Ben, the cantor at his local synagogue,...
- 1/28/2024
- by Chuck Bowen
- Slant Magazine
Plot: A cantor (Jason Schwartzman), grieving his wife’s loss a year earlier, strikes up an unlikely friendship with an elderly bat mitzvah student (Carol Kane).
Review: Between the Temples is a rather quirky, offbeat comedy. The latest from indie director Nathan Silver, it marks his most accessible, mainstream work to date, although the romantic pairing at the movie’s heart is rather unusual. Indeed, the film has heavy shades of Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude, although the romantic pairing of Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane (28-year age difference) isn’t as eye-brow-raising as it was in that film.
Granted, the romantic aspect of the movie is underplayed for the most part, with their romance ultimately being a chaste one. The two leads play two lost souls who find each other at a difficult time in their lives. Schwartzman’s Ben is a cantor who’s been unable to...
Review: Between the Temples is a rather quirky, offbeat comedy. The latest from indie director Nathan Silver, it marks his most accessible, mainstream work to date, although the romantic pairing at the movie’s heart is rather unusual. Indeed, the film has heavy shades of Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude, although the romantic pairing of Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane (28-year age difference) isn’t as eye-brow-raising as it was in that film.
Granted, the romantic aspect of the movie is underplayed for the most part, with their romance ultimately being a chaste one. The two leads play two lost souls who find each other at a difficult time in their lives. Schwartzman’s Ben is a cantor who’s been unable to...
- 1/26/2024
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Oscar-nominated film director and producer Norman Jewison, who steered the 1967 racial drama “In the Heat of the Night” to a best picture Oscar and also helmed such popular films as “Moonstruck,” “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” and “The Thomas Crown Affair,” as well as film musicals “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Jesus Christ Superstar,” died Saturday at his Los Angeles residence. He was 97.
His film career began with fluffy Doris Day comedies like “The Thrill of It All.” But Jewison’s social conscience began to surface with “In the Heat of the Night” and, later, the labor union drama “F.I.S.T.” and other films focusing on racial tensions such as “A Soldier’s Story” and “The Landlord” (the latter of which he only produced), though he never abandoned comedies and romances.
Jewison had his share of box office hits and was usually attuned to the audience pulse, but did...
His film career began with fluffy Doris Day comedies like “The Thrill of It All.” But Jewison’s social conscience began to surface with “In the Heat of the Night” and, later, the labor union drama “F.I.S.T.” and other films focusing on racial tensions such as “A Soldier’s Story” and “The Landlord” (the latter of which he only produced), though he never abandoned comedies and romances.
Jewison had his share of box office hits and was usually attuned to the audience pulse, but did...
- 1/22/2024
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Norman Jewison is dead at the age of 97. For over four decades he sustained a career of films that became major box office hits as well as others that presented current social issues in a Hollywood context (with some combining the two). He died peacefully at his home on Saturday January 20.
“In the Heat of the Night,” which beat “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Graduate” for the Best Picture Oscar for 1967, is the most obvious example of Jewison’s talent for turning tough subjects into hit movies. It grossed (adjusted to current prices) over $200 million, with it already having become a major success before it won five Oscars. Ironically, the racially-charged story about a Northern Black detective (Sidney Poitier) investigating a murder and confronting a racist Southern police chief wons its Oscars in a ceremony delayed by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Norman Frederick Jewison was born on July 21, 1926 in Toronto,...
“In the Heat of the Night,” which beat “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Graduate” for the Best Picture Oscar for 1967, is the most obvious example of Jewison’s talent for turning tough subjects into hit movies. It grossed (adjusted to current prices) over $200 million, with it already having become a major success before it won five Oscars. Ironically, the racially-charged story about a Northern Black detective (Sidney Poitier) investigating a murder and confronting a racist Southern police chief wons its Oscars in a ceremony delayed by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Norman Frederick Jewison was born on July 21, 1926 in Toronto,...
- 1/22/2024
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Norman Jewison, who directed Best Picture Oscar winner In the Heat of the Night and nominees Fiddler on the Roof, A Soldier’s Story, Moonstruck and The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, also producing the latter four, died peacefully Saturday, January 20. He was 97.
Jewison’s film career spanned more than four decades and seven Oscar nominations — three for Best Director and the four for Best Picture. His films received a total of 46 nominations and 12 Academy Awards. In 1999, Jewison was honored with the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award at the Academy Awards. He also collected three Emmy Awards for his work in television.
A smattering of his other wide-ranging work includes The Hurricane, Agnes of God, Rollerball (1975) and Jesus Christ Superstar, all of which he also produced. As a producer, Jewison had an eye for talent, as well.
Jewison’s film career spanned more than four decades and seven Oscar nominations — three for Best Director and the four for Best Picture. His films received a total of 46 nominations and 12 Academy Awards. In 1999, Jewison was honored with the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award at the Academy Awards. He also collected three Emmy Awards for his work in television.
A smattering of his other wide-ranging work includes The Hurricane, Agnes of God, Rollerball (1975) and Jesus Christ Superstar, all of which he also produced. As a producer, Jewison had an eye for talent, as well.
- 1/22/2024
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
In a grimy, awkward world that painfully resembles our own, Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman) isn’t coping very well. His wife passed away and he’s living back at home with his two overbearing mothers in upstate New York, isolated from the energy of the city. He’s a cantor at the local temple, but he can’t sing anymore. While he keeps kosher and remains devout, Ben struggles to feel the same connection to his faith that he once had. Ben isn’t really connecting to anything these days, not even his own body. He’s schlubby, unshaven with blemishes on his face, plodding through life in a depressed daze. It’s like he’s completely given up. In one early scene, he lays out in the middle of the road beckoning for a truck to run him over.
Then he has a chance encounter with his childhood music teacher,...
Then he has a chance encounter with his childhood music teacher,...
- 1/21/2024
- by Jourdain Searles
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There’s a very young, very online contingent of Generation Z that propagates repeated cycles of so-called “age gap discourse”: heated, often condemnatory debate over the rights or wrongs of people dating, or merely socializing, outside their immediate age group. The discussion often takes quaintly prudish forms, permitting no adult age at which such differences cease to matter, but if it circulates most heatedly among the young, it’s been handed down to them via age-old social rules and biases — ones to which Nathan Silver’s delightful “Between the Temples” gives a cheerfully flippant middle finger. Collapsing divides between old age, middle age and adolescence into a universally relatable paean to doing whatever the hell feels right for you in your own weird situation, this scruffy shoestring indie won’t be seen by the internet’s most hawkish age-gap monitors, though it has much to gently teach them.
Premiering in the U.
Premiering in the U.
- 1/20/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Alexander Payne's story of a cantankerous teacher holed up for Christmas with a wayward teen and the school cook is expertly told with gentle, grownup comedy
The year’s best Christmas movie arrives in the UK a bit late for Christmas: it is a genial, gentle, redemptive dramedy from Alexander Payne which hits the happy/sad sweet spot with Payne’s sure aim. It is taken from TV writer David Hemingson’s impeccably crafted screenplay, a masterclass in incremental, indirect character revelations and plot transitions. The Holdovers is set in 1970, consciously (or maybe self-consciously) crafted to look like a film which its characters could have gone to see at the time, with the funny, rueful dialogue and melancholy sense of place that you might find in something by Hal Ashby or Bob Rafelson, and a madeleine soundtrack from Cat Stevens, Labi Siffre and more.
But of course it also...
The year’s best Christmas movie arrives in the UK a bit late for Christmas: it is a genial, gentle, redemptive dramedy from Alexander Payne which hits the happy/sad sweet spot with Payne’s sure aim. It is taken from TV writer David Hemingson’s impeccably crafted screenplay, a masterclass in incremental, indirect character revelations and plot transitions. The Holdovers is set in 1970, consciously (or maybe self-consciously) crafted to look like a film which its characters could have gone to see at the time, with the funny, rueful dialogue and melancholy sense of place that you might find in something by Hal Ashby or Bob Rafelson, and a madeleine soundtrack from Cat Stevens, Labi Siffre and more.
But of course it also...
- 1/17/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
When Nathan Silver’s mother was in her mid-60s, she decided to have a bat mitzvah. As the indie filmmaker started telling people that his mother was embarking on a rite of passage usually reserved for teenagers, a friend urged him to turn her story into a movie. Now, “Between the Temples,” a screwball comedy inspired by mom’s coming-of-age ceremony, will premiere at Sundance, with Carol Kane and Jason Schwartzman playing an elderly bat mitzvah student and a depressed cantor who forge an unlikely bond.
“It’s one from the heart,” says Silver. “It’s a story that touches on many aspects of my life.”
It also gives Kane and Schwartzman, who so often steal scenes in supporting roles, a chance to shine as leads. Signing on required a leap of faith for Kane because Silver’s scripts, which he calls “scriptments” and likens to novellas, aren’t traditional.
“It’s one from the heart,” says Silver. “It’s a story that touches on many aspects of my life.”
It also gives Kane and Schwartzman, who so often steal scenes in supporting roles, a chance to shine as leads. Signing on required a leap of faith for Kane because Silver’s scripts, which he calls “scriptments” and likens to novellas, aren’t traditional.
- 1/12/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Steve Carell in director Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features
Augie Steenbeck: I still don’t understand the play.
Schubert Green: Doesn’t matter. Just keep telling the story. – Asteroid City’
2023 was a year full of stories with highs and lows. The year brought about ChatGPT, more news about Uap’s aka UFO’s, Technologists warned of “doomsday” style scenarios in which AI grows an ability to think on its own and attempts to destroy humanity, Baldur’s Gate 3 was crowned the Best Video Game of the Year, England saw the coronation of new king, Fran Drescher led SAG-AFTRA through the actors’ strike and it paid off with the 2023 TV/Theatrical billion-dollar deal, while the Writers Guild’s strike ended in October when they ratified a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) https://www.
Augie Steenbeck: I still don’t understand the play.
Schubert Green: Doesn’t matter. Just keep telling the story. – Asteroid City’
2023 was a year full of stories with highs and lows. The year brought about ChatGPT, more news about Uap’s aka UFO’s, Technologists warned of “doomsday” style scenarios in which AI grows an ability to think on its own and attempts to destroy humanity, Baldur’s Gate 3 was crowned the Best Video Game of the Year, England saw the coronation of new king, Fran Drescher led SAG-AFTRA through the actors’ strike and it paid off with the 2023 TV/Theatrical billion-dollar deal, while the Writers Guild’s strike ended in October when they ratified a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) https://www.
- 1/6/2024
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
J.J. Abrams touts Warren Beatty’s Bonnie and Clyde and Shampoo for must-see viewing as part of the January 2024 Turner Classic Movies lineup in his own TCM Picks video that dropped on Tuesday.
“They could not be more different,” Abrams says of Arthur Penn’s 1967 crime spree drama Bonnie and Clyde, which also starred Faye Dunaway, and Hal Ashby’s Oscar-winning dramedy Shampoo. Bonnie and Clyde “portrayed violence in a way that had not typically been seen in American cinema and really ushered in a new age of bold graphic storytelling in a way that you really hadn’t seen before,” Abrams says in the video.
Having made a name for himself in Hollywood with television and popular series like Felicity, Alias and Lost, you can see the grounds for Abrams’ eventual success making action tentpole movies, given his love for classic Hollywood pics.
Shampoo becomes a time capsule movie for Abrams,...
“They could not be more different,” Abrams says of Arthur Penn’s 1967 crime spree drama Bonnie and Clyde, which also starred Faye Dunaway, and Hal Ashby’s Oscar-winning dramedy Shampoo. Bonnie and Clyde “portrayed violence in a way that had not typically been seen in American cinema and really ushered in a new age of bold graphic storytelling in a way that you really hadn’t seen before,” Abrams says in the video.
Having made a name for himself in Hollywood with television and popular series like Felicity, Alias and Lost, you can see the grounds for Abrams’ eventual success making action tentpole movies, given his love for classic Hollywood pics.
Shampoo becomes a time capsule movie for Abrams,...
- 1/2/2024
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As 2023 comes to a close, we here at JoBlo.com would like to take a moment to pay tribute to some of the people who sadly passed away this year. Our deepest respect goes out to everyone in the industry we have lost, and our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of those who died in 2023. These talented individuals will always be remembered for their impact on the world of film and television.
In Memory Of…
Earl Boen
Earl Boen died at the age of 81 on January 5th. The actor was best known as Dr. Peter Silberman in The Terminator, a role he reprised in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, making him the only other actor aside from Arnold Schwarzenegger to appear in the first three movies.
Boen always wanted to inject a little more humour into his performance, but director James Cameron kept telling him no…...
In Memory Of…
Earl Boen
Earl Boen died at the age of 81 on January 5th. The actor was best known as Dr. Peter Silberman in The Terminator, a role he reprised in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, making him the only other actor aside from Arnold Schwarzenegger to appear in the first three movies.
Boen always wanted to inject a little more humour into his performance, but director James Cameron kept telling him no…...
- 1/1/2024
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
“Discomfort and joy,” what a tremendously fitting tagline for “The Holdovers,” the new Alexander Payne film that takes place over the holidays. We haven’t updated our Best Christmas Movies of All Time list in a while—it was created years ago—but Payne’s “The Holdovers” would be a fitting addition to it. Set in the 1970s and highly influenced by filmmaker Hal Ashby, “The Holdovers” is an entertaining but also melancholy wintry tale about a trio of an unlikely collection of people who are trapped together during the holidays (read our review).
Continue reading ‘The Holdovers’: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph & Dominic Sessa Discuss Their Acclaimed Throwback Drama [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘The Holdovers’: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph & Dominic Sessa Discuss Their Acclaimed Throwback Drama [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
- 12/28/2023
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
In The Holdovers, a professor, a student and a grief-stricken cook are stranded together at a New England boarding school over the holidays. The story takes place in the early 1970s, an era whose films are beloved by both Holdovers director Alexander Payne and cinematographer Eigil Bryld. However, they took opposing philosophical perspectives in imbuing their movie with the spirit of that epoch. Though he looked at the work of Hal Ashby for inspiration – particularly The Landlord and The Last Detail – rather than attempt to replicate it, Payne’s approach found him imaging what kind of film he himself […]
The post “If I Had Been Working in the 1970s [But With Today’s Technology], I Would Have Used Digital, I Would Have Used LED Technology”: The Holdovers Cinematographer Eigil Bryld first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “If I Had Been Working in the 1970s [But With Today’s Technology], I Would Have Used Digital, I Would Have Used LED Technology”: The Holdovers Cinematographer Eigil Bryld first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 12/22/2023
- by Matt Mulcahey
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In The Holdovers, a professor, a student and a grief-stricken cook are stranded together at a New England boarding school over the holidays. The story takes place in the early 1970s, an era whose films are beloved by both Holdovers director Alexander Payne and cinematographer Eigil Bryld. However, they took opposing philosophical perspectives in imbuing their movie with the spirit of that epoch. Though he looked at the work of Hal Ashby for inspiration – particularly The Landlord and The Last Detail – rather than attempt to replicate it, Payne’s approach found him imaging what kind of film he himself […]
The post “If I Had Been Working in the 1970s [But With Today’s Technology], I Would Have Used Digital, I Would Have Used LED Technology”: The Holdovers Cinematographer Eigil Bryld first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “If I Had Been Working in the 1970s [But With Today’s Technology], I Would Have Used Digital, I Would Have Used LED Technology”: The Holdovers Cinematographer Eigil Bryld first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 12/22/2023
- by Matt Mulcahey
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers is my favorite film of the year. I saw it at TIFF this year and was blown away. The story of a crusty teacher at a New England prep school in 1970, who’s stuck watching a bunch of his students over the Christmas holidays, seems legitimately fated to become a holiday classic. The film’s heart revolves around the friendship that grows between Giamatti’s Paul Hunham and a rebellious student named Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), whose mother has ditched him at school to go on vacation with her new, rich husband. Initially at each other’s throats, the two find a bit of common ground and, along with the school’s heartbroken cook, Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), whose son was just killed in Vietnam, they form an impromptu family over the holidays.
The movie has been a solid word-of-mouth hit in theatres but now...
The movie has been a solid word-of-mouth hit in theatres but now...
- 11/27/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Godzilla Minus OnePhoto: Toho Studios
Nearly 70 years and more than 35 films into the series, it’s a testament to the enduring appeal of a skyscraper-sized lizard that Godzilla movies can still surprise you. He may not be the most flexible nuclear-powered dinosaur, but the concept is undeniably malleable. In this century alone,...
Nearly 70 years and more than 35 films into the series, it’s a testament to the enduring appeal of a skyscraper-sized lizard that Godzilla movies can still surprise you. He may not be the most flexible nuclear-powered dinosaur, but the concept is undeniably malleable. In this century alone,...
- 11/27/2023
- by Matt Schimkowitz
- avclub.com
Actor Kirk Douglas hoped to star in an onscreen adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest after doing the stage version. But his father Kirk Douglas didn’t think much of the casting decision, especially when he wanted Nicholson’s starring role for himself.
Kirk Douglas had no idea who Jack Nicholson was Kirk Douglas and Michael Douglas | Kypros/Getty Images
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was a film that both Douglas and his son Michael were extremely passionate about. Douglas famously starred in the Broadway play of Cuckoo’s Nest back in the early 1960s as Randle McMurphy. He also owned the rights to the play, and had hopes of translating it to the big screen. But he had a hard time finding a studio that was willing to make the movie.
Eventually, he handed over the rights to his son Michael, who was able to secure funding for the feature.
Kirk Douglas had no idea who Jack Nicholson was Kirk Douglas and Michael Douglas | Kypros/Getty Images
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was a film that both Douglas and his son Michael were extremely passionate about. Douglas famously starred in the Broadway play of Cuckoo’s Nest back in the early 1960s as Randle McMurphy. He also owned the rights to the play, and had hopes of translating it to the big screen. But he had a hard time finding a studio that was willing to make the movie.
Eventually, he handed over the rights to his son Michael, who was able to secure funding for the feature.
- 11/22/2023
- by Antonio Stallings
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
As the weather dips colder and the sky turns gray (plus daylight savings has us all out of whack), why not bundle up and binge some beloved films?
The cozy film is an oft-overlooked and arguably under-appreciated genre, usually lumped into a Venn diagram of classic rom-coms, campy noirs, and coming-of-age tales. Well, the defining traits of a cozy film — aside from chunky sweaters — is just that intangible feeling that all will be right in the world. The plots aren’t too complicated, the aesthetics are warm, and the characters seem to exist to just hang out onscreen alongside the viewer.
The defense of the cozy film label is key not only going into the holiday season, but also to clarify that it is in no way an insult. “The Holdovers” director Alexander Payne slammed the category of coziness as a “nauseating” way to describe his academia-set feature. The film...
The cozy film is an oft-overlooked and arguably under-appreciated genre, usually lumped into a Venn diagram of classic rom-coms, campy noirs, and coming-of-age tales. Well, the defining traits of a cozy film — aside from chunky sweaters — is just that intangible feeling that all will be right in the world. The plots aren’t too complicated, the aesthetics are warm, and the characters seem to exist to just hang out onscreen alongside the viewer.
The defense of the cozy film label is key not only going into the holiday season, but also to clarify that it is in no way an insult. “The Holdovers” director Alexander Payne slammed the category of coziness as a “nauseating” way to describe his academia-set feature. The film...
- 11/21/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson and Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
by Cláudio Alves
Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl was the last performance William Wyler directed to an Oscar win.
As stated in the Scorsese at the Oscars write-up, the Killers of the Flower Moon auteur is one of only four directors to have helmed Academy Award-winning performances in all acting categories. The others are William Wyler, Elia Kazan, and Hal Ashby, with the former having the record to end all records. Across 32 years, Wyler directed fourteen victorious turns, including multiple champions in the four races. Such a feat won't likely be equaled, but that doesn't mean the quartet is bound to stay put forever. Some directors are on the cusp of joining the ranks of Wyler, Kazan, Ashby, and Scorsese…...
Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl was the last performance William Wyler directed to an Oscar win.
As stated in the Scorsese at the Oscars write-up, the Killers of the Flower Moon auteur is one of only four directors to have helmed Academy Award-winning performances in all acting categories. The others are William Wyler, Elia Kazan, and Hal Ashby, with the former having the record to end all records. Across 32 years, Wyler directed fourteen victorious turns, including multiple champions in the four races. Such a feat won't likely be equaled, but that doesn't mean the quartet is bound to stay put forever. Some directors are on the cusp of joining the ranks of Wyler, Kazan, Ashby, and Scorsese…...
- 11/17/2023
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
The Criterion Channel is closing the year out with a bang––they’ve announced their December lineup. Among the highlights are retrospectives on Yasujiro Ozu (featuring nearly 40 films!), Ousmane Sembène, Alfred Hitchcock (along with Kent Jones’ Hitchcock/Truffaut), and Parker Posey. Well-timed for the season is a holiday noir series that includes They Live By Night, Blast of Silence, Lady in the Lake, and more.
Other highlights are the recent restoration of Abel Gance’s La roue, an MGM Musicals series with introduction by Michael Koresky, Helena Wittmann’s riveting second feature Human Flowers of Flesh, the recent Sundance highlight The Mountains Are a Dream That Call To Me, the new restoration of The Cassandra Cat, Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, and more.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Terry Gilliam, 1988
An American in Paris, Vincente Minnelli,...
Other highlights are the recent restoration of Abel Gance’s La roue, an MGM Musicals series with introduction by Michael Koresky, Helena Wittmann’s riveting second feature Human Flowers of Flesh, the recent Sundance highlight The Mountains Are a Dream That Call To Me, the new restoration of The Cassandra Cat, Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, and more.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Terry Gilliam, 1988
An American in Paris, Vincente Minnelli,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Filmmaker Alexander Payne doesn’t exactly have the corner on curmudgeonly Paul Giamatti performances, or unexpected road trip movies that result in deeply emotional bonds, or stories about found families, or even tales about high school teachers who really, really need to get their lives in order. Still, those do tend to be his most recognizable hallmarks.
They’re all on display in his latest, the Christmastime dramedy “The Holdovers,” which stars Paul Giamatti as, yes, a curmudgeonly high school teacher who needs to get his life in order, and ends up (sort of) doing that by way of an unexpected road trip and the forging of a found family (including Da’Vine Joy Randolph and newbie Dominic Sessa).
“The Holdovers” sounds like pure Payne, right? It is, but it’s also a David Hemingson effort, with the longtime television writer picking up his first film credit with the script, which...
They’re all on display in his latest, the Christmastime dramedy “The Holdovers,” which stars Paul Giamatti as, yes, a curmudgeonly high school teacher who needs to get his life in order, and ends up (sort of) doing that by way of an unexpected road trip and the forging of a found family (including Da’Vine Joy Randolph and newbie Dominic Sessa).
“The Holdovers” sounds like pure Payne, right? It is, but it’s also a David Hemingson effort, with the longtime television writer picking up his first film credit with the script, which...
- 11/8/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Plot: At an elite prep school in 1970, the students prepare to leave for their Christmas holidays, but a handful cannot be with their families. To their dismay, they’re left in charge of the much-disliked teacher, Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti). When all of the boys are given a last-minute reprieve by one of their fathers and are whisked away on a ski trip, Hunham is left behind for the holidays with the one kid, Angus (Dominic Sessa), who can’t get permission to go, along with the school’s cook, Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
Review: Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers is a very welcome return to form for the director. Playing out like a lost film from the early seventies, complete with a simulated 35mm feel to the lensing (with the wear and team of a film print), it’s a low-key but deeply moving character drama with some hilariously profane dialogue.
Review: Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers is a very welcome return to form for the director. Playing out like a lost film from the early seventies, complete with a simulated 35mm feel to the lensing (with the wear and team of a film print), it’s a low-key but deeply moving character drama with some hilariously profane dialogue.
- 11/3/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Alexander Payne is holding out over calling “The Holdovers” a “cozy” film.
The director, who recently told IndieWire‘s Anne Thompson that the film’s holiday-set premise is in part based on the fact that a “very large percentage of suicides happen between Christmas and New Years,” examined why the label “cozy” has been applied to the period piece.
Set in 1970 with the Vietnam War looming over Christmas, “The Holdovers” is centered around people who remain at a boarding school over the winter break without homes to go to. Paul Giamatti portrays a professor in the period piece from “Sideways” helmer Payne, marking the director’s first film in six years.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Payne said he is “always a little surprised” about the word “cozy” being applied to the film in reviews and marketing materials.
“‘Oh, it’s like a cozy movie, or a warm hug,...
The director, who recently told IndieWire‘s Anne Thompson that the film’s holiday-set premise is in part based on the fact that a “very large percentage of suicides happen between Christmas and New Years,” examined why the label “cozy” has been applied to the period piece.
Set in 1970 with the Vietnam War looming over Christmas, “The Holdovers” is centered around people who remain at a boarding school over the winter break without homes to go to. Paul Giamatti portrays a professor in the period piece from “Sideways” helmer Payne, marking the director’s first film in six years.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Payne said he is “always a little surprised” about the word “cozy” being applied to the film in reviews and marketing materials.
“‘Oh, it’s like a cozy movie, or a warm hug,...
- 11/3/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
We just finished that spooky holiday and now we (mostly the retailers) are gearing up for the big two end-of-the-year family holidays. And if you’re at school and far away from family you’re looking forward to taking a break from academia to reunite with those loved ones. But what if that’s not possible, and you’re stuck for a couple of weeks with your least favorite teacher? That’s the premise of this dramedy, which is a cause for celebration for film lovers. That’s because it’s the latest directorial effort from a filmmaker who has been delighting us for over thirty years now. And for a little extra treat in our stocking, this reunites him with an actor who has been quite a scene stealer in supporting character roles. Well now, he’s front-and-center along with a talented acting duo as the the trio that...
- 11/3/2023
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The angriest filmmaking fights that I’ve witnessed over the years have not been about cost or cast; they were about length. The movies were too long but so were the fights.
I re-lived some of them this week when I saw Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. It’s is a big success with audiences at 3 hours and 26 minutes. That’s about an hour longer than Napoleon, Ridley Scott’s epic that opens next month, and half an hour longer than Oppenheimer.
My confession: I start getting twitchy when movies lunge pass the two-hour mark — an attention deficit problem that supposedly affects Gen Z more than geriatrics. I’ve been influenced by filmmakers like Hal Ashby, who started as an editor and believed that “films should tell their story and move on” (I worked with him on Harold & Maude and Being There).
Given my twitchiness, I suspected...
I re-lived some of them this week when I saw Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. It’s is a big success with audiences at 3 hours and 26 minutes. That’s about an hour longer than Napoleon, Ridley Scott’s epic that opens next month, and half an hour longer than Oppenheimer.
My confession: I start getting twitchy when movies lunge pass the two-hour mark — an attention deficit problem that supposedly affects Gen Z more than geriatrics. I’ve been influenced by filmmakers like Hal Ashby, who started as an editor and believed that “films should tell their story and move on” (I worked with him on Harold & Maude and Being There).
Given my twitchiness, I suspected...
- 10/26/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
With both Disney and Warner Bros. turning 100 this year, it’s a great time to remember the Golden Age of moviemaking. The business is changing at a precipitous rate, and recent studio mergers have forever altered the longtime map of Hollywood production.
Actors and crew members, like armies, march on their stomachs, and since the dawn of the industry, it’s been up to the studios where they’re shooting to keep them well fortified. Studio executives and office workers, too, needed a convenient place to eat on the lots.
While researching the recent Culinary Historians presentation “Lunching on the Lot,” a 1997 quote from Variety story turned up which deftly explained what studio commissaries meant to the business. “After a gourmet tour of studio eateries, however, one thing is clear — It ain’t the chow that’s important. When the tribe hunkers down for its daily repast, ritual and symbolism are the rule.
Actors and crew members, like armies, march on their stomachs, and since the dawn of the industry, it’s been up to the studios where they’re shooting to keep them well fortified. Studio executives and office workers, too, needed a convenient place to eat on the lots.
While researching the recent Culinary Historians presentation “Lunching on the Lot,” a 1997 quote from Variety story turned up which deftly explained what studio commissaries meant to the business. “After a gourmet tour of studio eateries, however, one thing is clear — It ain’t the chow that’s important. When the tribe hunkers down for its daily repast, ritual and symbolism are the rule.
- 10/16/2023
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
In Hollywood, the spotlight is often reserved for the latest blockbusters and star-studded casts, so there’s always something truly refreshing about a movie that dares to be different. And that’s precisely what actress-turned-director Robin Wright is set to deliver with her upcoming directorial venture, Bingo.
A Modern Twist on a Timeless Theme
Looking at the film’s title, one would have assumed it has something to do with playing bingo games like these, but that is so not the case. It is, in fact, a story about the unexpected twists and turns that life can take, much like this game of chance.
At the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Wright spilt the beans about her exciting new project, and it’s creating quite a buzz. Bingo promises to be a delightful and modernised take on the classic theme of May-December romance. For those not in the know, that’s...
A Modern Twist on a Timeless Theme
Looking at the film’s title, one would have assumed it has something to do with playing bingo games like these, but that is so not the case. It is, in fact, a story about the unexpected twists and turns that life can take, much like this game of chance.
At the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, Wright spilt the beans about her exciting new project, and it’s creating quite a buzz. Bingo promises to be a delightful and modernised take on the classic theme of May-December romance. For those not in the know, that’s...
- 10/5/2023
- by Movies Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Every Christmas movie has to have its scrooge. In Alexander Payne’s holiday-set dramedy The Holdovers, the curmudgeon is Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), a long-time teacher at Barton Academy, an elite Massachusetts boarding school. Paul treats the affluent students in his ancient history class with contempt, gleefully terrorizing them with poor grades in order to trip up their otherwise smooth rides to fancy colleges. He’s the kind of teacher who flunks almost everyone on their end-of-semester exam and then assigns the class extra homework over the holidays as prep for yet another exam as soon as they get back. Bah humbug, indeed.
It’s not just the students at Barton who loathe Paul. So does the school’s administration. Hence Paul being saddled with holdover duty over the winter break—that is, to supervise any students who, for whatever reason, can’t go on lavish vacations like the rest of their peers,...
It’s not just the students at Barton who loathe Paul. So does the school’s administration. Hence Paul being saddled with holdover duty over the winter break—that is, to supervise any students who, for whatever reason, can’t go on lavish vacations like the rest of their peers,...
- 9/16/2023
- by Mark Hanson
- Slant Magazine
In the midst of a festival setting, catching up with all the best of world cinema and the contemporary avant-garde, you basically hope––sometimes even luckily have––your notion of the moving image genuinely challenged. So you might forget what it’s like to engage with a well-made “nice and normal” movie that frankly works. Basically exactly what you would expect, Alexander Payne’s newest film The Holdovers, directed from a script not written by him––the signs of a good-behavior assignment to make up the critical and commercial failure of his ambitious passion project Downsizing––lives up that notion.
A heavily nostalgic project scored to non-stop Cat Stevens and featuring retro production logos, it blatantly positions itself in the “they don’t make movies like this anymore” camp, recalling Hal Ashby and his ilk’s character-driven dramedies of the ’70s. In fact, its retro appeal went so far I...
A heavily nostalgic project scored to non-stop Cat Stevens and featuring retro production logos, it blatantly positions itself in the “they don’t make movies like this anymore” camp, recalling Hal Ashby and his ilk’s character-driven dramedies of the ’70s. In fact, its retro appeal went so far I...
- 9/11/2023
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
September 8 marks the birthday of actor and comic legend Peter Sellers. The British star had achieved acclaim on the stage, in recordings and most famously on the radio, particularly for the “The Goon Show,” the popular comedy series regularly heard on the BBC.
However, it was in film where Sellers achieved his greatest worldwide success. He was nominated for his first Academy Award in 1959 for co-writing and producing the live-action short “The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film.” Sellers also received two other Oscar nominations, as Best Actor for 1964’s “Dr. Strangelove” (from Stanley Kubrick) as well as for 1979’s “Being There” (from Hal Ashby).
Sellers won the Best Actor Golden Globe for “Being There” and was nominated on five other occasions, including three times for “The Pink Panther” series (from Blake Edwards) in which he portrayed bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau, the role for which he will likely be best remembered.
However, it was in film where Sellers achieved his greatest worldwide success. He was nominated for his first Academy Award in 1959 for co-writing and producing the live-action short “The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film.” Sellers also received two other Oscar nominations, as Best Actor for 1964’s “Dr. Strangelove” (from Stanley Kubrick) as well as for 1979’s “Being There” (from Hal Ashby).
Sellers won the Best Actor Golden Globe for “Being There” and was nominated on five other occasions, including three times for “The Pink Panther” series (from Blake Edwards) in which he portrayed bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau, the role for which he will likely be best remembered.
- 9/1/2023
- by Tom O'Brien, Misty Holland and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
“The Holdovers,” director Alexander Payne’s first film since his 2017 flop “Downsizing,” scored strong reviews as a return to form for the two-time Oscar winner following its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on Thursday.
“We’ve all seen our share of stories about inspirational teachers. ‘The Holdovers’ is dedicated to the opposite sort: a hard-ass named Paul Hunham whom everyone hates,” Variety critic Peter Debruge wrote in his positive notice. “The feeling is mutual, as Mr. Hunham considers most of the kids enrolled at Barton Academy to be entitled little monsters, and the administration to be even more corrupt. Judging by the evidence director Alexander Payne provides, Mr. Hunham’s not wrong. But he is uncharitable, and on that count, the movie couldn’t be more different: It’s a generous drama about three wounded souls stranded at Barton over Christmas break, during which this coldhearted private school...
“We’ve all seen our share of stories about inspirational teachers. ‘The Holdovers’ is dedicated to the opposite sort: a hard-ass named Paul Hunham whom everyone hates,” Variety critic Peter Debruge wrote in his positive notice. “The feeling is mutual, as Mr. Hunham considers most of the kids enrolled at Barton Academy to be entitled little monsters, and the administration to be even more corrupt. Judging by the evidence director Alexander Payne provides, Mr. Hunham’s not wrong. But he is uncharitable, and on that count, the movie couldn’t be more different: It’s a generous drama about three wounded souls stranded at Barton over Christmas break, during which this coldhearted private school...
- 9/1/2023
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
We’ve all seen our share of stories about inspirational teachers. “The Holdovers” is dedicated to the opposite sort: a hard-ass named Paul Hunham whom everyone hates. The feeling is mutual, as Mr. Hunham considers most of the kids enrolled at Barton Academy to be entitled little monsters, and the administration to be even more corrupt. Judging by the evidence director Alexander Payne provides, Mr. Hunham’s not wrong. But he is uncharitable, and on that count, the movie couldn’t be more different: It’s a generous drama about three wounded souls stranded at Barton over Christmas break, during which this coldhearted boarding school Scrooge gets a welcome chance to thaw.
The year is 1970, but “The Holdovers” is not your typical period movie. Instead, it feels as if Payne (a heroic film preservation advocate) unearthed this vintage artifact from the era in which it takes place. From the old-school...
The year is 1970, but “The Holdovers” is not your typical period movie. Instead, it feels as if Payne (a heroic film preservation advocate) unearthed this vintage artifact from the era in which it takes place. From the old-school...
- 9/1/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
With his long hair, sunglasses and bellbottoms, Hal Ashby was the epitome of the 1970s flower child, even though he was a decade older than most of the filmmakers working at the time. Though his flame burned brightly and briefly, he left behind a series of classics that signified the nose-thumbing, countercultural attitude of the era, with a bit of humanism and heart thrown in for good measure. Let’s take a look back at all 12 of his films, ranked worst to best.
Born on September 2, 1929 in Utah, Ashby ambled around before becoming an apprentice editor for Robert Swink, working for Hollywood legends William Wyler and George Stevens. He moved up the ranks to become an editor for Norman Jewison, with whom he shared a fraternal and professional relationship. They cut five films together, including “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!” (1966), which earned him his first Oscar nomination,...
Born on September 2, 1929 in Utah, Ashby ambled around before becoming an apprentice editor for Robert Swink, working for Hollywood legends William Wyler and George Stevens. He moved up the ranks to become an editor for Norman Jewison, with whom he shared a fraternal and professional relationship. They cut five films together, including “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!” (1966), which earned him his first Oscar nomination,...
- 8/25/2023
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
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