Comb through the Oscar nominations this year and you’ll find that there records being broken left, right, and center while more records could be matched or broken at the ceremony this coming Sunday on March 10.
One of those such records concerns the Best Original Screenplay category, in which the nominees are “Anatomy of a Fall” (Justine Triet and Arthur Harari), “The Holdovers” (David Hemingson), “Maestro” (Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer), “May December” (Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik), and “Past Lives” (Celine Song).
It’s “Maestro” co-scribe Singer we’re looking at here for his work in penning the Netflix biopic. This is his second nomination. His first bid came in 2016, when he won this very category, Best Original Screenplay, alongside director Tom McCarthy for “Spotlight.” It’s interesting that Singer now has two nominations in the same category, both of which came for co-writing a script based on a...
One of those such records concerns the Best Original Screenplay category, in which the nominees are “Anatomy of a Fall” (Justine Triet and Arthur Harari), “The Holdovers” (David Hemingson), “Maestro” (Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer), “May December” (Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik), and “Past Lives” (Celine Song).
It’s “Maestro” co-scribe Singer we’re looking at here for his work in penning the Netflix biopic. This is his second nomination. His first bid came in 2016, when he won this very category, Best Original Screenplay, alongside director Tom McCarthy for “Spotlight.” It’s interesting that Singer now has two nominations in the same category, both of which came for co-writing a script based on a...
- 3/6/2024
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Following up her Best Picture-nominated Past Lives, Celine Song has officially unveiled her next feature. Starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal, The Materialists is a romantic comedy that follows “a professional matchmaker who gets involved with a wealthy man but still harbors feelings for the broke actor-waiter she left behind,” Deadline reports. Once again backed by A24, producers Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler of Killer Films, and 2Am’s David Hinojosa, the project is aiming to start shooting this spring, so expect a 2025 release.
Also on the 2025 release calendar is likely Kogonada’s third feature following Columbus and After Yang. Reteaming with Colin Farrell with Margot Robbie also starring, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is said to be an “imaginative tale of two strangers and the unbelievable journey that connects them,” Deadline reports. With production beginning this spring in California, it’ll be Robbie’s second project after Barbie,...
Also on the 2025 release calendar is likely Kogonada’s third feature following Columbus and After Yang. Reteaming with Colin Farrell with Margot Robbie also starring, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is said to be an “imaginative tale of two strangers and the unbelievable journey that connects them,” Deadline reports. With production beginning this spring in California, it’ll be Robbie’s second project after Barbie,...
- 2/8/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Deadline is reporting on the new project from Stephen Frears, the director of Dangerous Liasons, The Queen and Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight. Frears is set to make Wilder & Me, which will be a screen adaptation of Jonathan Coe’s popular novel Mr. Wilder and Me. The screenplay for the film will be penned by two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (The Father), with Oscar winner Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) producing the film. Frears has assembled his impressive cast for the film, which will include Christoph Waltz as legendary movie director Billy Wilder, who has helmed such films as Some Like it Hot and The Apartment. Waltz is set to be joined by Maya Hawke, Jon Hamm and John Turturro.
According to Deadline, “The story starts out during a heady Greek summer, and sees Calista fall in love with cinema and life on a journey of self-discovery. Thrilled by her new adventure,...
According to Deadline, “The story starts out during a heady Greek summer, and sees Calista fall in love with cinema and life on a journey of self-discovery. Thrilled by her new adventure,...
- 2/2/2024
- by EJ Tangonan
- JoBlo.com
Maya Hawke and Jon Hamm have joined Christoph Waltz in the starry cast for Stephen Frears’ upcoming drama, Wilder & Me.
Stephen Frears has managed to assemble quite a formidable cast for his upcoming drama, Wilder & Me, based on Jonathan Coe’s novel Mr Wilder And Me.
Christoph Waltz has long been cast in one of the title roles as the legendary director Billy Wilder, who wrote and directed some of America’s all-time great films across his long career – Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment... we could go on, but there’s a news post we ought to be getting on with.
Wilder & Me’s other major role, though, has gone to Maya Hawke, who’ll play the young composer Calista (essentially the ‘Me’ of the title). The film will be set during the latter stages of Wilder’s career – specifically in late 1970s Greece,...
Stephen Frears has managed to assemble quite a formidable cast for his upcoming drama, Wilder & Me, based on Jonathan Coe’s novel Mr Wilder And Me.
Christoph Waltz has long been cast in one of the title roles as the legendary director Billy Wilder, who wrote and directed some of America’s all-time great films across his long career – Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment... we could go on, but there’s a news post we ought to be getting on with.
Wilder & Me’s other major role, though, has gone to Maya Hawke, who’ll play the young composer Calista (essentially the ‘Me’ of the title). The film will be set during the latter stages of Wilder’s career – specifically in late 1970s Greece,...
- 2/2/2024
- by Ryan Lambie
- Film Stories
Exclusive: Two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds), Stranger Things and Maestro star Maya Hawke, Cannes Best Actor winner John Turturro (Severance), and Emmy winner Jon Hamm (Mad Men) are set to star in Oscar-nominated director Stephen Frears’ (The Queen) Wilder & Me, which will be a buzzy package at this month’s EFM market.
Hawke will play Calista, a young musician whose life takes on a whole new meaning while working on the set of Billy Wilder’s film Fedora. Waltz will play legendary film director Wilder, known for classics including Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard and The Apartment. Turturro will play his lifelong friend and screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond. Hamm will play famed actor William Holden.
Described as a “bittersweet drama”, the project has been adapted for the screen by two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (The Father) with Oscar winner Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) producing and shoot scheduled for early 2025 in Greece.
Hawke will play Calista, a young musician whose life takes on a whole new meaning while working on the set of Billy Wilder’s film Fedora. Waltz will play legendary film director Wilder, known for classics including Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard and The Apartment. Turturro will play his lifelong friend and screenwriting partner I.A.L. Diamond. Hamm will play famed actor William Holden.
Described as a “bittersweet drama”, the project has been adapted for the screen by two-time Oscar winner Christopher Hampton (The Father) with Oscar winner Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) producing and shoot scheduled for early 2025 in Greece.
- 2/2/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
James Sanders with Matt Ducharme (of Woods Bagot) at the Rizzoli book launch in New York of Renewing The Dream: The Mobility Revolution And The Future Of Los Angeles Photo: Anne Katrin Titze
In the second instalment with architect, author, filmmaker James Sanders (co-writer with Ric Burns on the PBS series New York: A Documentary Film), we discuss the Billy Wilder connection to producer Jeremy Thomas and Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me; Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch and The Apartment (co-written with I.A.L. Diamond and starring Jack Lemmon); Woody Allen’s Manhattan, Mariel Hemingway, and apartment sounds; Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and the stoop; the office building and Jean Negulesco’s The Best of Everything; Daniel Mann’s Butterfield 8 and and the canopy; Blake Edwards’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and how certain stories can...
In the second instalment with architect, author, filmmaker James Sanders (co-writer with Ric Burns on the PBS series New York: A Documentary Film), we discuss the Billy Wilder connection to producer Jeremy Thomas and Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me; Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch and The Apartment (co-written with I.A.L. Diamond and starring Jack Lemmon); Woody Allen’s Manhattan, Mariel Hemingway, and apartment sounds; Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and the stoop; the office building and Jean Negulesco’s The Best of Everything; Daniel Mann’s Butterfield 8 and and the canopy; Blake Edwards’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and how certain stories can...
- 12/29/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
As Matthew López prepared for the London debut of “The Inheritance,” his epic drama about the AIDS epidemic and its painful aftershocks, he was simultaneously outlining a first draft of “Some Like It Hot,” an effervescent re-imagining of the classic Billy Wilder film. The two shows could not have been more radically different. But López enjoyed toggling between comedy and tragedy.
“I like working in extremes,” he says. “I like working in different modes.”
Plus, he thinks that both productions benefitted from their author’s double act. “I got to live in both worlds at once,” López argues. “One helped the other. Doing the shows at the same time kept both projects in check. It prevented ‘The Inheritance’ from getting too dour and kept ‘Some Like It Hot’ from getting too lightweight. It brought some gravity to ‘Some Like It Hot’ and some levity to ‘The Inheritance.'”
Something worked.
“I like working in extremes,” he says. “I like working in different modes.”
Plus, he thinks that both productions benefitted from their author’s double act. “I got to live in both worlds at once,” López argues. “One helped the other. Doing the shows at the same time kept both projects in check. It prevented ‘The Inheritance’ from getting too dour and kept ‘Some Like It Hot’ from getting too lightweight. It brought some gravity to ‘Some Like It Hot’ and some levity to ‘The Inheritance.'”
Something worked.
- 6/5/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The folly of youth!
When Goldie Hawn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1970, for the 1969 comedy “Cactus Flower,” the 24-year-old was so sure she wouldn’t win she didn’t even go to the ceremony. What’s more, she didn’t even bother watching it on television. She had no idea she won until she got a phone call in the middle of the night.
At the time, she was filming “There’s A Girl In My Soup,” opposite Peter Sellers in London, but to fly back for the big night would not have been unheard of, even at a time when “Awards Season” was not yet quite the thing it is today.
But here’s where it gets weirder. According to a recent interview with Variety, Hawn had never even seen the moment from the telecast where her name was called. She didn’t even know it...
When Goldie Hawn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1970, for the 1969 comedy “Cactus Flower,” the 24-year-old was so sure she wouldn’t win she didn’t even go to the ceremony. What’s more, she didn’t even bother watching it on television. She had no idea she won until she got a phone call in the middle of the night.
At the time, she was filming “There’s A Girl In My Soup,” opposite Peter Sellers in London, but to fly back for the big night would not have been unheard of, even at a time when “Awards Season” was not yet quite the thing it is today.
But here’s where it gets weirder. According to a recent interview with Variety, Hawn had never even seen the moment from the telecast where her name was called. She didn’t even know it...
- 3/9/2023
- by Jordan Hoffman
- Gold Derby
Comedy is what we need right now, says Nicholas Hytner, who ran London’s National Theatre for a decade.
It’s fine to have heavy-lifting dramas by Ibsen or Schiller, but boy-oh-boy laughter is an increasingly uplifting necessity.
Which is where Guys & Dolls and James Corden, post his life on The Late Late Show, come in.
Hytner, partnered with longtime executive Nick Starr, now own and control London’s Bridge Theatre and is overseeing a fully immersive revival of the classic Broadway musical Guys & Dolls, choreographed by Dame Arlene Phillips (Strictly Come Dancing) and now in early previews.
It stars Daniel Mays as Nathan Detroit, Andrew Richardson (A Call to Spy) as Sky Masterson, Celinde Schoenmaker (Rocketman) as Sarah Brown and Marisha Wallace (Aladdin) as long-suffering Miss Adelaide. Cedric Neal plays Nicely-Nicely Johnson. Also in the cast are Jordan Castle,...
It’s fine to have heavy-lifting dramas by Ibsen or Schiller, but boy-oh-boy laughter is an increasingly uplifting necessity.
Which is where Guys & Dolls and James Corden, post his life on The Late Late Show, come in.
Hytner, partnered with longtime executive Nick Starr, now own and control London’s Bridge Theatre and is overseeing a fully immersive revival of the classic Broadway musical Guys & Dolls, choreographed by Dame Arlene Phillips (Strictly Come Dancing) and now in early previews.
It stars Daniel Mays as Nathan Detroit, Andrew Richardson (A Call to Spy) as Sky Masterson, Celinde Schoenmaker (Rocketman) as Sarah Brown and Marisha Wallace (Aladdin) as long-suffering Miss Adelaide. Cedric Neal plays Nicely-Nicely Johnson. Also in the cast are Jordan Castle,...
- 3/4/2023
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
With his 1959 comedy "Some Like It Hot," director Billy Wilder crafted a Prohibition-era fantasia, telling a wild, exaggerated story of dangerous gangsters on the tail of witless witnesses. Those two male musicians (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in one of the great cinematic double acts) end up masquerading as women to evade being found out by the mob, and in the process fall in love with a fellow musician, a singer who sparks the interest of both men.
It's that wacky screwball cross-dressing comedy that makes "Some Like It Hot'' the classic that it is, but the movie's first act actually draws from a tragic and violent historical event. While the musical comedy comprises most of the meat of the movie (as well as what most viewers remember), the Prohibition-era backdrop of speakeasies and dirty dealings was very important for Wilder.
The movie's basic premise came from a French film from 1935, "Fanfare of Love,...
It's that wacky screwball cross-dressing comedy that makes "Some Like It Hot'' the classic that it is, but the movie's first act actually draws from a tragic and violent historical event. While the musical comedy comprises most of the meat of the movie (as well as what most viewers remember), the Prohibition-era backdrop of speakeasies and dirty dealings was very important for Wilder.
The movie's basic premise came from a French film from 1935, "Fanfare of Love,...
- 1/25/2023
- by Anthony Crislip
- Slash Film
As Billy Wilder prepared to make "Some Like It Hot," his classic comedy about two jazz musicians forced to go on the run as women after they witness a gangland massacre, he found himself in a bit of a casting quandary. His first choices for the roles of the casanova saxophone player Joe and nervy bassist Jerry were, respectively, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Though he eventually cast the stars he wanted, getting United Artists to accede to his demands was a circuitous process.
The primary stumbling block was Lemmon. The then 34-year-old actor was very much in demand after winning Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Ensign Pulver in John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy's blockbuster "Mister Roberts," but he was under contract to Columbia Pictures at the time, and considered unbankable as a leading man. Though Lemmon had given Wilder a verbal commitment to star alongside the already signed Tony Curtis,...
The primary stumbling block was Lemmon. The then 34-year-old actor was very much in demand after winning Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Ensign Pulver in John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy's blockbuster "Mister Roberts," but he was under contract to Columbia Pictures at the time, and considered unbankable as a leading man. Though Lemmon had given Wilder a verbal commitment to star alongside the already signed Tony Curtis,...
- 1/22/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
There's something weirdly nostalgic about the titular character of "Wednesday." Overly independent, confident, and unapologetically dark, Jenna Ortega's version of the character is more than just an older take on Christina Ricci's surly, '90s-era Wednesday Addams. She's the embodiment of who an awful lot of moody teenage girls want to be.
Watching Ortega sleuth around Nevermore is almost freeing — it's fun to live vicariously through fantastical characters, especially when they're such uncanny representations of who you wanted to be — but it's also easy to feel bad for Ortega. After all, she had massive shoes to fill. It's enough to make anyone feel nervous.
Fortunately, the actor had an incredibly positive experience while playing "Wednesday." In fact, in an interview with Netflix's Tudum, Ortega even revealed that the role was much more liberating than her previous work.
Permission To Be Honest
As it turns out, Wednesday and...
Watching Ortega sleuth around Nevermore is almost freeing — it's fun to live vicariously through fantastical characters, especially when they're such uncanny representations of who you wanted to be — but it's also easy to feel bad for Ortega. After all, she had massive shoes to fill. It's enough to make anyone feel nervous.
Fortunately, the actor had an incredibly positive experience while playing "Wednesday." In fact, in an interview with Netflix's Tudum, Ortega even revealed that the role was much more liberating than her previous work.
Permission To Be Honest
As it turns out, Wednesday and...
- 12/21/2022
- by Demetra Nikolakakis
- Slash Film
This knockout comedy rates as one of Hollywood’s funniest ever — although it could be ‘cancelled’ any day now, so get ready to deny ever having laughed at it. Ultimate movie star glamour meets the apex of screenwriting hilarity: liberated by 101 cross-dressing jokes Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond jam sly sex innuendo into almost word spoken. We still don’t know how the censors passed one of of Marilyn Monroe’s costumes: Raymond Durgnat described the resulting visual effect as ‘The Hanging Gardens of Marilyn.’ Everybody’s tip top in this one: Jack Lemmon prances, Tony Curtis does his Cary Grant imitation, and Billy Wilder tosses in a score of his favorite 1920s tunes.
Some Like It Hot 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1959 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date February 8, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Pat O’Brien, Joe E. Brown.
Some Like It Hot 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1959 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date February 8, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, George Raft, Pat O’Brien, Joe E. Brown.
- 5/10/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Writer-director Billy Wilder’s favorite and perhaps best movie takes the leap to 4K, revealing even more beauty in the images of Joseph Lashelle and the designs of Alexandre Trauner . . . we all feel like we’ve lived in C.C. Baxter’s New York flat. Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s ‘dirty fairy tale’ best expresses the difficulty of keeping both a job and one’s self-respect — fitting in a love life seems altogether too much to ask. It all comes down to Shirley MacLaine’s sweet smile and Jack Lemmon’s eagerness to be a ‘mensch’ — when he’s discovering that a moral compromise is like selling one’s soul.
The Apartment 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1960 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Street Date March 15, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens,...
The Apartment 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1960 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Street Date March 15, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens,...
- 4/2/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Billy Wilder's "The Apartment" is a classic film that continues to corral new generations of fans even six decades removed from its original 1960 release. Though its central premise of an insurance clerk lending out his apartment to his bosses for their affairs was considered risque at the time, the black-and-white rom-com, starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray, won Best Picture at the 33rd Academy Awards. It also won Wilder Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for the script that he co-wrote with I.A.L. Diamond.
"The Apartment" is now in the National Film Registry and the American Film Institute put it at #80 on its list...
The post The Idea For The Apartment Came From One Simple Question appeared first on /Film.
"The Apartment" is now in the National Film Registry and the American Film Institute put it at #80 on its list...
The post The Idea For The Apartment Came From One Simple Question appeared first on /Film.
- 3/16/2022
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s comeback comedy performed decently enough at the box office, but its real accomplishment is vaulting Walter Matthau into mainline stardom. Matthau embodies the most venal ambulance chaser alive: Whiplash Willie Gingrich. His sad insurance scam scramble for unearned, undeserved loot is more of an exposé of sagging American values than anything particularly satirical. Jack Lemmon is the straight man this time around. He spends much of the movie in a medical collar, being victimized to make a fast buck. But Matthau hits the laughs out of the park — it’s an inspired performance that won him a Best Supporting Oscar. “You know Willie. He could find a loophole in the Ten Commandments.”
The Fortune Cookie
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1966 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Meet Whiplash Willie / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ron Rich, Judi West, Cliff Osmond, Lurene Tuttle.
Cinematography:...
The Fortune Cookie
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1966 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Meet Whiplash Willie / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ron Rich, Judi West, Cliff Osmond, Lurene Tuttle.
Cinematography:...
- 10/9/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
At the height of her stardom, Marilyn Monroe took an 18-month hiatus from Hollywood. The screen icon, who would have turned 95 on June 1, was battling ill health, which was linked to her barbiturate dependency and fragile psyche, and she was recovering from a miscarriage. So Monroe turned her back on movies for a time, and sought refuge with Arthur Miller, her playwright husband, holing up in their homes in New York City, Connecticut and Long Island.
In April 1958, Monroe was finally ready to return to the medium that had made her globally famous, with Variety proclaiming “Monroe to Do ‘Hot.'” The Hollywood trade went on to report that after a “two-year absence” Monroe was slated to play “a band singer in the 20s period comedy,” which would be directed by Billy Wilder and was entitled “Some Like It Hot.” Monroe’s two male co-stars had yet to be cast...
In April 1958, Monroe was finally ready to return to the medium that had made her globally famous, with Variety proclaiming “Monroe to Do ‘Hot.'” The Hollywood trade went on to report that after a “two-year absence” Monroe was slated to play “a band singer in the 20s period comedy,” which would be directed by Billy Wilder and was entitled “Some Like It Hot.” Monroe’s two male co-stars had yet to be cast...
- 6/1/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. This week, the Mills Family – John, Haley and Juliet.- not to be confused with the Mills Brothers. How many holiday meals will have face masks as a side dish?
1959’s Tiger Bay stars John Mills and daughter Hayley Mills, in her first movie role. It’s a tasty role for a young actress, as she gets to expose a killer while at the same time generating sympathy for him. There is a murder – a crime of passion – committed by a sailor played by Horst Buchholz. He returns from a sea voyage to find his girlfriend has taken up with a sportscaster. Pause here for uproarious laughter, at the mere thought that a 1950s sportscaster was able to steal someone’s girlfriend. I knew plenty of sportscasters in my broadcast days and,...
1959’s Tiger Bay stars John Mills and daughter Hayley Mills, in her first movie role. It’s a tasty role for a young actress, as she gets to expose a killer while at the same time generating sympathy for him. There is a murder – a crime of passion – committed by a sailor played by Horst Buchholz. He returns from a sea voyage to find his girlfriend has taken up with a sportscaster. Pause here for uproarious laughter, at the mere thought that a 1950s sportscaster was able to steal someone’s girlfriend. I knew plenty of sportscasters in my broadcast days and,...
- 11/20/2020
- by Randy Fuller
- Trailers from Hell
A bigger and brighter film debut couldn’t be imagined … Doris Day became America’s sweetheart in Michael Curtiz’s peppy production, graced with a witty script and several catchy, radio-ready song hits. And the color is better than new in this impressive Blu-ray remastering job — Woody Bredell’s Technicolor hues are literally eye-popping. It’s great fun seeing Ms. Day invent her natural, fresh-faced screen persona right before our eyes.
Romance on the High Seas
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1948 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 99 min. / It’s Magic / Street Date June 16, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Doris Day, Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Don DeFore, Oscar Levant, S.Z. Sakall, Fortunio Bonanova, Eric Blore, Franklin Pangborn, Sir Lancelot, Barbara Bates, George N. Neise, Maila Nurmi, Grady Sutton.
Cinematography: Elwood Bredell
Film Editor: Rudi Fehr
Art Direction: Anton Grot
Special Effects: Robert Burks, Wilfrid M. Cline, David Curtiz
Original Music: Ray Heindorf, Oscar Levant
Written by Julius J. Epstein,...
Romance on the High Seas
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1948 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 99 min. / It’s Magic / Street Date June 16, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Doris Day, Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Don DeFore, Oscar Levant, S.Z. Sakall, Fortunio Bonanova, Eric Blore, Franklin Pangborn, Sir Lancelot, Barbara Bates, George N. Neise, Maila Nurmi, Grady Sutton.
Cinematography: Elwood Bredell
Film Editor: Rudi Fehr
Art Direction: Anton Grot
Special Effects: Robert Burks, Wilfrid M. Cline, David Curtiz
Original Music: Ray Heindorf, Oscar Levant
Written by Julius J. Epstein,...
- 7/21/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s ingenious but somewhat plot-heavy black comedy is mainly remembered today for the demure Juliet Mills’ cheery skinny-dipping scene with the eternally flustered Jack Lemmon. Lemmon travels to Naples to investigate the peculiar demise of both his father and his father’s mistress (Mills’ mother). Naturally our two leads begin to emulate their parents’ hedonistic ways.
The post Avanti! appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Avanti! appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 6/24/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
“Before #Metoo There Was…The Apartment”
By Raymond Benson
One wonders if Billy Wilder’s magnificent comedy-drama, The Apartment, could be made today in the age of #MeToo. Probably not, despite its brilliant script, exceptional cast and performances, perfect direction, and its positive message against sexual harassment in the workplace.
Even so, in some circles The Apartment was considered controversial upon its release in 1960. Hollis Alpert in the Saturday Review called it a “dirty fairy tale.” Then again, The Apartment was coming off the heels of the hugely successful and popular Some Like it Hot, which the more-Puritan side of America may have called illicit and tawdry, too. Or perhaps co-writer and director Wilder was simply good at telling grown-up tales for adults within the context of a rapidly-maturing culture that was on the verge of a decade known for its freedom of expression. The 1960s was an explosion in...
By Raymond Benson
One wonders if Billy Wilder’s magnificent comedy-drama, The Apartment, could be made today in the age of #MeToo. Probably not, despite its brilliant script, exceptional cast and performances, perfect direction, and its positive message against sexual harassment in the workplace.
Even so, in some circles The Apartment was considered controversial upon its release in 1960. Hollis Alpert in the Saturday Review called it a “dirty fairy tale.” Then again, The Apartment was coming off the heels of the hugely successful and popular Some Like it Hot, which the more-Puritan side of America may have called illicit and tawdry, too. Or perhaps co-writer and director Wilder was simply good at telling grown-up tales for adults within the context of a rapidly-maturing culture that was on the verge of a decade known for its freedom of expression. The 1960s was an explosion in...
- 12/12/2018
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
This article marks Part 4 of the Gold Derby series reflecting on films that contended for the Big Five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted). With “A Star Is Born” this year on the cusp of joining this exclusive group of Oscar favorites, join us as we look back at the 43 extraordinary pictures that earned Academy Awards nominations in each of the Big Five categories, including the following six films that took home a trio of prizes among the top races.
With a total of 13 nominations, the most of any Oscar contender that year, “From Here to Eternity” (1953) towered over the 26th Academy Awards. At the ceremony, the Fred Zinnemann film dominated, earning eight prizes, including three in the Big Five categories. It earned Best Picture, plus Best Director honors for Zinnemann and Best Adapted Screenplay (Daniel Taradash). While Frank Sinatra and...
With a total of 13 nominations, the most of any Oscar contender that year, “From Here to Eternity” (1953) towered over the 26th Academy Awards. At the ceremony, the Fred Zinnemann film dominated, earning eight prizes, including three in the Big Five categories. It earned Best Picture, plus Best Director honors for Zinnemann and Best Adapted Screenplay (Daniel Taradash). While Frank Sinatra and...
- 10/15/2018
- by Andrew Carden
- Gold Derby
Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s lavish movie boils down to a dirty party joke, but they struck gold just the same. Audiences flocked to see Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine reunited in a fantasy Parisian red light district, in a show that looks like Disneyland for fans of Playboy cartoons.
Irma La Douce
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 143 min. / Street Date July 17, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Lou Jacobi, Herschel Bernardi, Hope Holiday, Bruce Yarnell, Joan Shawlee, Grace Lee Whitney, Paul Dubov, Howard McNear, Cliff Osmond, Diki Lerner, Ruth & Jane Earl, Tura Satana.
Cinematography: Joseph La Shelle
Art Director: Alexander Trauner
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Marguerite Monnot, André Previn
Written by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond from a play by Alexandre Breffort
Produced by Edward L. Alperson, I.A.L. Diamond, Billy Wilder
Directed by Billy Wilder
Although there’s...
Irma La Douce
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 143 min. / Street Date July 17, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Lou Jacobi, Herschel Bernardi, Hope Holiday, Bruce Yarnell, Joan Shawlee, Grace Lee Whitney, Paul Dubov, Howard McNear, Cliff Osmond, Diki Lerner, Ruth & Jane Earl, Tura Satana.
Cinematography: Joseph La Shelle
Art Director: Alexander Trauner
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Marguerite Monnot, André Previn
Written by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond from a play by Alexandre Breffort
Produced by Edward L. Alperson, I.A.L. Diamond, Billy Wilder
Directed by Billy Wilder
Although there’s...
- 7/14/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”) and Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) joined an elite group of filmmakers who received Oscar nominations for writing, directing and producing the same film. In the academy’s 90-year history, only 26 other people pulled off this hat trick. Peele is the first black filmmaker to do so, while del Toro is only the second Latin American after his filmmaking amigo Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
Now del Toro and Peele are hoping to join the even more exclusive club of seven filmmakers who won all three prizes in one night. Considering they’re in direct competition with each other for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay (where del Toro competes alongside co-writer Vanessa Taylor), it’ll be an especially tricky feat to pull off.
Leo McCarey was the first person to win the big three for “Going My Way” (1944), a lighthearted comedy starring Bing...
Now del Toro and Peele are hoping to join the even more exclusive club of seven filmmakers who won all three prizes in one night. Considering they’re in direct competition with each other for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay (where del Toro competes alongside co-writer Vanessa Taylor), it’ll be an especially tricky feat to pull off.
Leo McCarey was the first person to win the big three for “Going My Way” (1944), a lighthearted comedy starring Bing...
- 2/8/2018
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
Savant’s vote for the best romantic comedy ever goes to a sordid fable about problems in the big city Rat Race: keeping both a job and one’s self-respect. Picking up where 1930s pre-Code movies left off, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s ‘how to succeed’ thesis divides people into two groups, Takers and those that Get Took. And yet the message it delivers is life & love- affirming.
The Apartment
Blu-ray
Arrow Video USA
1960 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Limited Edition / Street Date December 12 (29?) (?), 2017 / Available from Arrow Video
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens, Edie Adams, Johnny Seven, Joyce Jameson, Willard Waterman, David White.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Adolph Deutsch
Written by I.A.L. Diamond and Billy Wilder
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
… and it’s also the all-time champion New Years’ movie.
The Apartment
Blu-ray
Arrow Video USA
1960 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Limited Edition / Street Date December 12 (29?) (?), 2017 / Available from Arrow Video
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens, Edie Adams, Johnny Seven, Joyce Jameson, Willard Waterman, David White.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Adolph Deutsch
Written by I.A.L. Diamond and Billy Wilder
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
… and it’s also the all-time champion New Years’ movie.
- 12/30/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“When you’re in love with a married man, you shouldn’t wear mascara.”
The Apartment (1960) starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine is available on Blu-ray from Arrow Films December 26th. It can be ordered Here.
In 1960, following on from the success of their collaboration on Some Like it Hot, director Billy Wilder (Ace in the Hole, Sunset Boulevard) reteamed with actor Jack Lemmon (The Odd Couple) for what many consider the pinnacle of their respective careers: The Apartment.
C.C. ”Bud” Baxter (Lemmon) is a lowly Manhattan office drone with a lucrative sideline in renting out his apartment to adulterous company bosses and their mistresses. When Bud enters into a similar arrangement the firm’s personnel director, J.D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray, Double Indemnity), his career prospects begin to look up… and up. But when he discovers that Sheldrake’s mistress is Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), the girl of his dreams,...
The Apartment (1960) starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine is available on Blu-ray from Arrow Films December 26th. It can be ordered Here.
In 1960, following on from the success of their collaboration on Some Like it Hot, director Billy Wilder (Ace in the Hole, Sunset Boulevard) reteamed with actor Jack Lemmon (The Odd Couple) for what many consider the pinnacle of their respective careers: The Apartment.
C.C. ”Bud” Baxter (Lemmon) is a lowly Manhattan office drone with a lucrative sideline in renting out his apartment to adulterous company bosses and their mistresses. When Bud enters into a similar arrangement the firm’s personnel director, J.D. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray, Double Indemnity), his career prospects begin to look up… and up. But when he discovers that Sheldrake’s mistress is Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), the girl of his dreams,...
- 12/19/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: In honor of “The Florida Project,” which has just started its platform release across the country, what is the greatest child performance in a film?
Jordan Hoffman (@JHoffman), The Guardian, Vanity Fair
I can agonize over this question or I can go at this Malcolm Gladwell “Blink”-style. My answer is Tatum O’Neal in “Paper Moon.” She’s just so funny and tough, which of course makes the performance all the more heartbreaking. She won the freaking Oscar at age 10 for this and I’d really love to give a more deep cut response, but why screw around? Paper Moon is a perfect film and she is the lynchpin.
This week’s question: In honor of “The Florida Project,” which has just started its platform release across the country, what is the greatest child performance in a film?
Jordan Hoffman (@JHoffman), The Guardian, Vanity Fair
I can agonize over this question or I can go at this Malcolm Gladwell “Blink”-style. My answer is Tatum O’Neal in “Paper Moon.” She’s just so funny and tough, which of course makes the performance all the more heartbreaking. She won the freaking Oscar at age 10 for this and I’d really love to give a more deep cut response, but why screw around? Paper Moon is a perfect film and she is the lynchpin.
- 10/9/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Need a break from violence, misery, and injustice? Or maybe just the network TV news? Billy Wilder’s last great comic romance is an Italian vacation soaked in music, food, scenery and sunshine. It’s the best movie ever about Love and Funerals.
Avanti!
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1972 / Color/ 1:85 widescreen / 140 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills, Clive Revill, Edward Andrews, Harry Ray, Guidarino Guidi, Franco Acampora, Sergio Bruni, Ty Hardin.
Cinematography: Luigi Kuveiller
Film Editor: Ralph Winters
Art direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti
Music Arranger: Carlo Rustichelli
Italian standards by Gino Paoli, Giuseppi Capaldo, Vittoriao Fassone, Don Backy, Detto Mariano, Sergio Brui, Salvatore Cardillo, Umberto Bertini, Paolo Marchetti.
Written by I.A.L Diamond and Billy Wilder from a play by Samuel L. Taylor
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
When Billy Wilder was reaching advanced old age, good friends rallied to make sure...
Avanti!
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1972 / Color/ 1:85 widescreen / 140 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills, Clive Revill, Edward Andrews, Harry Ray, Guidarino Guidi, Franco Acampora, Sergio Bruni, Ty Hardin.
Cinematography: Luigi Kuveiller
Film Editor: Ralph Winters
Art direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti
Music Arranger: Carlo Rustichelli
Italian standards by Gino Paoli, Giuseppi Capaldo, Vittoriao Fassone, Don Backy, Detto Mariano, Sergio Brui, Salvatore Cardillo, Umberto Bertini, Paolo Marchetti.
Written by I.A.L Diamond and Billy Wilder from a play by Samuel L. Taylor
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
When Billy Wilder was reaching advanced old age, good friends rallied to make sure...
- 10/7/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Some like their comedy hot and some like it cold. Billy Wilder opted to step on the joke accelerator to see what top speed looked like. One of the most finely tuned comedies ever made, this political satire crams five hours’ worth of wit and sight gags into 115 minutes. The retirement-age James Cagney practically blows a fuse rattling through Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s high-pressure speeches, without slurring so much as a single syllable.
One, Two, Three
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1961 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date May 30, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Arlene Francis,
Howard St. John, Hanns Lothar, Lilo Pulver
Cinematography Daniel L. Fapp
Production Designers Robert Stratil, Heinrich Weidemann
Art Direction Alexander Trauner
Film Editor Daniel Mandell
Original Music André Previn
Written by Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond from the play by Ferenc Molnar
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
How...
One, Two, Three
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1961 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date May 30, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Arlene Francis,
Howard St. John, Hanns Lothar, Lilo Pulver
Cinematography Daniel L. Fapp
Production Designers Robert Stratil, Heinrich Weidemann
Art Direction Alexander Trauner
Film Editor Daniel Mandell
Original Music André Previn
Written by Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond from the play by Ferenc Molnar
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
How...
- 5/27/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Love in the Afternoon
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, John McGiver, Van Doude, Lise Bourdin, Louis Jourdan, Betty Schneider.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Film Editor: Leonid Azar
Art Direction: Alexandre Trauner
Adapted Music: Franz Waxman
Written by: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond from a novel by Claude Anet
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
A favorite of Billy Wilder-philes, Love in the Afternoon is a strong expression of the ‘romantic-Lubitsch’ vein in Wilder’s work. It’s essentially a return to the early ’30s Lubitsch comedies with Maurice Chevalier, but played in a more bittersweet Viennese register. It’s also Wilder’s first collaboration with the comedy screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond. Together they fashion the predominantly verbal comedy machine that will carry them through three or four big hits, and a few losers that have become classics anyway.
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring Gary Cooper, Audrey Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, John McGiver, Van Doude, Lise Bourdin, Louis Jourdan, Betty Schneider.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Film Editor: Leonid Azar
Art Direction: Alexandre Trauner
Adapted Music: Franz Waxman
Written by: Billy Wilder, I.A.L. Diamond from a novel by Claude Anet
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
A favorite of Billy Wilder-philes, Love in the Afternoon is a strong expression of the ‘romantic-Lubitsch’ vein in Wilder’s work. It’s essentially a return to the early ’30s Lubitsch comedies with Maurice Chevalier, but played in a more bittersweet Viennese register. It’s also Wilder’s first collaboration with the comedy screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond. Together they fashion the predominantly verbal comedy machine that will carry them through three or four big hits, and a few losers that have become classics anyway.
- 1/31/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
From the factory-like offices of the 1960s to the endlessness of the internet in the 21st century, The Apartment is an evergreen classic that endures to remind us that a little companionship can go a long way.
Billy Wilder made a career out of making timeless classics. From the noir groundbreaker Double Indemnity to the boundary-pushing comedy Some Like It Hot, his run cemented him as an all-time great. But it's his five-time Oscar winning film The Apartment that unsentimentally tackled love, sex, and loneliness in modern America without knowing it would stay modern for at least fifty more years.
The Apartment was released in the summer of 1960. And with the new decade brought a new shift in the United States in the way we approached sex in film and culture. The Motion Picture Production Code (sometimes referred to as “The Hays Code”) was loosening its grip, and the cultural...
Billy Wilder made a career out of making timeless classics. From the noir groundbreaker Double Indemnity to the boundary-pushing comedy Some Like It Hot, his run cemented him as an all-time great. But it's his five-time Oscar winning film The Apartment that unsentimentally tackled love, sex, and loneliness in modern America without knowing it would stay modern for at least fifty more years.
The Apartment was released in the summer of 1960. And with the new decade brought a new shift in the United States in the way we approached sex in film and culture. The Motion Picture Production Code (sometimes referred to as “The Hays Code”) was loosening its grip, and the cultural...
- 9/7/2016
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Collin Llewellyn)
- Cinelinx
Billy Wilder’s Buddy Buddy (1981) might be one of the most obvious go-to examples in the annals of conventional wisdom when it comes to the cinephile’s parlor game of pointing out a great director’s greatest foible. Upon release the movie was summarily dismissed by critics and ignored by audiences—it managed a paltry $7 million domestically, three million less than its production budget.
Roger Ebert, in his review, called Buddy Buddy “a comedy without laughs,” one apparently so vile that it could inspire not only audience indifference but also one of the revered reviewer’s laziest pieces of criticism. Ebert’s short piece quickly degenerates into name-calling-- “This movie is appalling” is the first sentence of the review, and the movie’s name goes unmentioned until the second paragraph—sans much in the way of actual insight. And unfortunately the critic’s disdain ends up functioning as a substitute...
Roger Ebert, in his review, called Buddy Buddy “a comedy without laughs,” one apparently so vile that it could inspire not only audience indifference but also one of the revered reviewer’s laziest pieces of criticism. Ebert’s short piece quickly degenerates into name-calling-- “This movie is appalling” is the first sentence of the review, and the movie’s name goes unmentioned until the second paragraph—sans much in the way of actual insight. And unfortunately the critic’s disdain ends up functioning as a substitute...
- 2/20/2016
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
By Patrick Shanley
Managing Editor
With a number of big Golden Globe wins last night, including best director and best dramatic picture for The Revenant, director Alejandro G. Inarritu finds himself once more in the thick of the Oscar hunt. The Mexican-born filmmaker won big last year with three Oscars for his avant garde drama Birdman, which scored him the best original screenplay, best director, and best picture awards.
This year, with the western revenge thriller The Revenant, Inarritu has once more directed a film that he wrote himself, this time adapting the screenplay from the novel by Michael Punke with co-writer Mark L. Smith.
Inarritu is not the only writer/director with films in the race this year, however, as a number of other contenders boast a director who also penned the film’s script. The original screenplay hopefuls include Spotlight (directed and written by Tom McCarthy with co-writer...
Managing Editor
With a number of big Golden Globe wins last night, including best director and best dramatic picture for The Revenant, director Alejandro G. Inarritu finds himself once more in the thick of the Oscar hunt. The Mexican-born filmmaker won big last year with three Oscars for his avant garde drama Birdman, which scored him the best original screenplay, best director, and best picture awards.
This year, with the western revenge thriller The Revenant, Inarritu has once more directed a film that he wrote himself, this time adapting the screenplay from the novel by Michael Punke with co-writer Mark L. Smith.
Inarritu is not the only writer/director with films in the race this year, however, as a number of other contenders boast a director who also penned the film’s script. The original screenplay hopefuls include Spotlight (directed and written by Tom McCarthy with co-writer...
- 1/12/2016
- by Patrick Shanley
- Scott Feinberg
This one's a keeper, a film that generates a meaningful emotional charge. Ian McKellen and director Bill Condon re-team for an intensely felt portrait of Sherlock Holmes in his sunset years, holding on to his intellectual capacities as he reappraises a tragic case from years before. Laura Linney is his housekeeper, who fears Holmes is a bad influence on her son -- but the relationship is mutually beneficial. Mr. Holmes Blu-ray + Digital HD Lionsgate/Miramax 2015 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date November 10, 2015 / 24.99 Starring Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Milo Parker , Hiroyuki Sanada, Hattie Morahan, Patrick Kennedy, Roger Allam, Philip Davis, Frances de la Tour, Charles Maddox, Takako Akashi, Zak Shukor, John Sessions, Nicholas Rowe, Frances Barber, Colin Starkey, Sarah Crowden. Cinematography Tobias A. Schleisser Film Editor Virginia Katz Original Music Carter Burwell Written by Jeffrey Hatcher from a novel by Mitch Cullin from characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Produced by Iain Canning,...
- 11/14/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Film buffs who have argued long into the night over the funniest screenplays in the history of cinema no longer need to quarrel. That.s because the helpful folks over at The Writers Guild Of America have compiled a list of the 10 funniest screenplays ever written. And, as you.d expect, the usual suspects feature prominently. The East and West contingents of The Writers Guild Of America were able to put their differences aside to release their official list, which you can have a gander at below: 1. Annie Hall . 1977 . Written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman 2. Some Like It Hot . 1959 . Written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond 3. Groundhog Day . 1993 . Written by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis 4. Airplane! . 1980 . Written by James Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker 5. Tootsie . 1982 - Written by Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal 6. Young Frankenstein . 1974 . Written by Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks 7. Dr Strangelove or: How ...
- 11/12/2015
- cinemablend.com
Billy Wilder directed Sunset Blvd. with Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett movies Below is a list of movies on which Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder worked together as screenwriters, including efforts for which they did not receive screen credit. The Wilder-Brackett screenwriting partnership lasted from 1938 to 1949. During that time, they shared two Academy Awards for their work on The Lost Weekend (1945) and, with D.M. Marshman Jr., Sunset Blvd. (1950). More detailed information further below. Post-split years Billy Wilder would later join forces with screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond in movies such as the classic comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), the Best Picture Oscar winner The Apartment (1960), and One Two Three (1961), notable as James Cagney's last film (until a brief comeback in Milos Forman's Ragtime two decades later). Although some of these movies were quite well received, Wilder's later efforts – which also included The Seven Year Itch...
- 9/16/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Kiss Me, Stupid
Written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA, 1964
How good was Billy Wilder? So good that this film, Kiss Me, Stupid—largely entertaining, frequently witty, beautifully shot, and with at least two noteworthy performances—probably wouldn’t figure in most lists of his top 10 movies. Yet it is a good Billy Wilder film, if not a great one.
Starting in Las Vegas, we are introduced to Dino, a womanizer, a drunk, an accomplished singer, and a clever jokester. Dean Martin, in a bit of curiously inspired and rather daring casting, plays the rapscallion; not surprisingly, he does so very well. On his way to Los Angeles, he stops in Climax, Nevada (with all the sexual innuendo built into this film, the town’s name almost seems the least obvious). There he encounters Orville (Ray Walston), a nebbish piano teacher and amateur songwriter who...
Written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA, 1964
How good was Billy Wilder? So good that this film, Kiss Me, Stupid—largely entertaining, frequently witty, beautifully shot, and with at least two noteworthy performances—probably wouldn’t figure in most lists of his top 10 movies. Yet it is a good Billy Wilder film, if not a great one.
Starting in Las Vegas, we are introduced to Dino, a womanizer, a drunk, an accomplished singer, and a clever jokester. Dean Martin, in a bit of curiously inspired and rather daring casting, plays the rapscallion; not surprisingly, he does so very well. On his way to Los Angeles, he stops in Climax, Nevada (with all the sexual innuendo built into this film, the town’s name almost seems the least obvious). There he encounters Orville (Ray Walston), a nebbish piano teacher and amateur songwriter who...
- 3/10/2015
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
With the slightest excuse, I can go on and on about how Some Like It Hot is truly the perfect comedy if not the perfect movie. Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond's script has a perfect symmetry -- every setup is paid off, every gag is repeated bigger, better and often with a kind of lyricism ("we have the same type blood, type O"). The timing of the maracas scene is breathtakingly brilliant. People like to gossip about director Wilder's difficulty in working with Marilyn Monroe but you see none of that onscreen. Most importantly, I've seen the movie countless times but it's still funny, every single time.
Recently I've been interested in -- and vastly entertained by -- comedies that aren't perfect, and that don't quite work for one reason or another. The thin, ridiculous plot is just an excuse for strings and strings of gags. You can see...
Recently I've been interested in -- and vastly entertained by -- comedies that aren't perfect, and that don't quite work for one reason or another. The thin, ridiculous plot is just an excuse for strings and strings of gags. You can see...
- 2/26/2015
- by Jette Kernion
- Slackerwood
Luis Buñuel movies on TCM tonight (photo: Catherine Deneuve in 'Belle de Jour') The city of Paris and iconoclastic writer-director Luis Buñuel are Turner Classic Movies' themes today and later this evening. TCM's focus on Luis Buñuel is particularly welcome, as he remains one of the most daring and most challenging filmmakers since the invention of film. Luis Buñuel is so remarkable, in fact, that you won't find any Hollywood hipster paying homage to him in his/her movies. Nor will you hear his name mentioned at the Academy Awards – no matter the Academy in question. And rest assured that most film critics working today have never even heard of him, let alone seen any of his movies. So, nowadays Luis Buñuel is un-hip, un-cool, and unfashionable. He's also unquestionably brilliant. These days everyone is worried about freedom of expression. The clash of civilizations. The West vs. The Other.
- 1/27/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
As we continue to move forward through the list, let us consider: how do you define an original screenplay? In theory, everything is based on something. Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine is basically a modern A Streetcar Named Desire. But, somehow, Jasmine is classified as an original screenplay. When a film is wholly original, nothing like it had been done before, and others have tried to copy it since. Plenty of original screenplays (some in this list) take on tired genres, but flip the script. But the ones that really catch the audience by surprise are the ones that feel imaginative, creative, and different.
40. Spirited Away (2001)
Written by Hayao Miyazaki
That’s a good start! Once you’ve met someone, you never really forget them. It just takes a while for your memories to return.
No writer/director on this list may be more fantastical than the great Hayao Miyazaki,...
40. Spirited Away (2001)
Written by Hayao Miyazaki
That’s a good start! Once you’ve met someone, you never really forget them. It just takes a while for your memories to return.
No writer/director on this list may be more fantastical than the great Hayao Miyazaki,...
- 2/24/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
Clint Eastwood Western persona co-creator dead at 87: Luciano Vincenzoni (photo: Clint Eastwood in ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’) Screenwriter Luciano Vincenzoni, whose nearly five-decade career included collaborations with Mario Monicelli, Pietro Germi, and Sergio Leone, died of cancer on Sunday, September 22, 2013, in Rome. Vincenzoni (born on March 7, 1926, in Treviso, near Venice) was 87. In the late ’50s, Luciano Vincenzoni co-wrote Mario Monicelli’s The Great War / La Grande guerra (1959), a humorous (if overlong) World War I comedy-drama starring Vittorio Gassman and Alberto Sordi as reluctant conscripts that earned a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award nomination and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival (tied with Roberto Rossellini’s Il Generale della Rovere). Vincenzoni was also partly responsible for the screenplay of two well-regarded Pietro Germi movies: the omnibus comedy of manners The Birds, the Bees and the Italians / Signore & signori (1966), featuring Virna Lisi and Franco Fabrizi,...
- 9/26/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Billy Wilder movies, Johnny Carson interviews tonight on TCM Billy Wilder is Turner Classic Movies’ Director of the Evening tonight, July 8, 2013. But before Wilder Evening begins, TCM will be presenting a series of brief interviews from The Tonight Show, back in the old Johnny Carson days — or rather, nights. The Carson interviewees this evening are Doris Day, Charlton Heston, Tony Curtis, Chevy Chase, and Steve Martin. (See also: Doris Day today.) (Photo: Billy Wilder.) As for Billy Wilder, TCM will be showing the following: Some Like It Hot (1959), The Fortune Cookie (1966), The Spirit of St. Louis (1958), and The Seven Year Itch (1955). Of course, all of those have been shown before and are widely available. Some Like It Hot vs. The Major and the Minor: Subversive and subversiver Some Like It Hot is perhaps Billy Wilder’s best-known film. This broad comedy featuring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis...
- 7/8/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
It was a magical evening at the New York Times Center last night for those lucky enough to be in attendance, for at long last, Jason Reitman brought his “Live Read” Series to NYC. The series began about six months ago when the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) asked Reitman if he had any ideas for programs. His idea was a simple one: to stage readings of classic screenplays live on stage, one time only for an audience of a few hundred people. As he told the NY Times recently, “I’d done table reads for my own screenplays, and I always thought they were so much fun. [So I thought], ‘Why couldn’t we do these for other classic screenplays and bring them to life?’ You can experience live theater, where you get to see plays produced by different directors and different casts, but there’s really nothing like that for movie scripts.
- 4/28/2012
- by Cory Everett
- The Playlist
Jason Reitman’s popular Live Read series is based on a simple equation: Take a screenplay, hand it to a smattering of actors running the gamut from “high-profile” to “awesome emeritus” to “internet famous,” and watch the sparks fly.
Tomorrow, Reitman expands the franchise to New York with a staged reading of The Apartment, and the cast he announced via Twitter should bring the Billy Wilder/I.A.L. Diamond to life splendidly. Paul Rudd and Emma Stone will take over from Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in the lead roles. Even better, James Woods will play Sheldrake, the sleazy exec originally incarnated by Fred MacMurray.
Tomorrow, Reitman expands the franchise to New York with a staged reading of The Apartment, and the cast he announced via Twitter should bring the Billy Wilder/I.A.L. Diamond to life splendidly. Paul Rudd and Emma Stone will take over from Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in the lead roles. Even better, James Woods will play Sheldrake, the sleazy exec originally incarnated by Fred MacMurray.
- 4/26/2012
- by Darren Franich
- EW.com - PopWatch
Jason Reitman’s popular series of live performances of beloved screenplays is coming to New York City later this month. After staging The Breakfast Club, The Apartment, The Princess Bride, Shampoo, The Big Lebowski, and Reservoir Dogs with all-star casts, Reitman is planning to host a reading of The Apartment in Manhattan on April 27. According to the New York Times, Reitman will use a different cast than he did in the original Apartment reading — where Steve Carell played the Jack Lemmon part and Natalie Portman filled in for Shirley MacLaine — so feel free to start throwing out your best guesses...
- 4/3/2012
- by Darren Franich
- EW.com - PopWatch
"I want to thank three persons,” said Michel Hazanavicius, accepting the 2012 Best Picture Oscar for “The Artist.” “I want to thank Billy Wilder, I want to thank Billy Wilder and I want to thank Billy Wilder.” He wasn’t the first director to namecheck Wilder in an acceptance speech. In 1994, Fernando Trueba, accepting the Foreign Language Film Oscar for "Belle Epoque" quipped, "I would like to believe in God in order to thank him. But I just believe in Billy Wilder... so, thank you Mr. Wilder." Wilder reportedly called the next day "Fernando? It's God."
So just what exactly was it that inspired these men to expend some of the most valuable seconds of speechifying airtime they'll ever know, to tip their hats to Wilder? And can we bottle it?
Born in a region of Austria/Hungary that is now part of Poland, Wilder's story feels like an archetype of...
So just what exactly was it that inspired these men to expend some of the most valuable seconds of speechifying airtime they'll ever know, to tip their hats to Wilder? And can we bottle it?
Born in a region of Austria/Hungary that is now part of Poland, Wilder's story feels like an archetype of...
- 3/27/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Every now and then, we here at ComicMix like to look at books and movies beyond our normal pop culture purview to examine people who helped build the foundations of modern storytelling. We were reminded of this when 20th Century Home Entertainment sent us a Blu-ray edition of The Apartment for review. This 1960 release, out now, won five Academy Awards including Best Picture, and is a brilliant assemblage of director, performers, and story.
The movie comes from Billy Wilder who directed, produced and co-wrote the screenplay (with I.A.L. Diamond) and is a bit of settling old business. Back in the 1940s, he wanted to deal with adultery but the Hays Production Code forbade that so he finally got his chance in this story, partly inspired by Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter.
The story features Consolidated Life Insurance’s C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon), who has been lending his conveniently located...
The movie comes from Billy Wilder who directed, produced and co-wrote the screenplay (with I.A.L. Diamond) and is a bit of settling old business. Back in the 1940s, he wanted to deal with adultery but the Hays Production Code forbade that so he finally got his chance in this story, partly inspired by Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter.
The story features Consolidated Life Insurance’s C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon), who has been lending his conveniently located...
- 2/8/2012
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
Shirley MacLaine, Irma la Douce on TCM Shirley MacLaine is Turner Classic Movies' "Summer Under the Stars" star of the day today, August 10. This evening, TCM is presenting its last four Shirley MacLaine movies: Billy Wilder's Oscar winner The Apartment (1960), which is on right now; Vincente Minnelli's Some Came Running (1958), which earned MacLaine her first Best Actress Academy Award nomination; Lewis Milestone's Ocean's Eleven (1960), in which MacLaine has a mere cameo; and Anthony Asquith's omnibus feature The Yellow Rolls Royce (1964), in which MacLaine is one of about a dozen stars in several individual stories. [Shirley MacLaine Movie Schedule.] It's too late for me to recommend The Apartment, though recommendable it is. For one thing, this collaboration between Billy Wilder and screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond features what is, in my view, Fred MacMurray's best performance by far. Usually an intolerable leading man — macho, reactionary, humorless, unsexy, dull — MacMurray could be a fascinating slimeball,...
- 8/11/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Some Like It Hot Blu-RayMGM Home Entertainment1959/Not Rated/121 MinsList Price: $19.99 – Now AvailableFew films stand the test of time or even remain as humorous as Billy Wilder's 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot. The American Film Institute, named even Wilder's wise-cracking, gender-bending farce as the number one comedy of all time. It is a perfectly pitched comedy of romance and masquerade, with its outrageous scenario constantly kept in check by the finely tuned performance from its stars Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Marilyn Monroe. Joe and Jerry (Curtis and Lemon) are two struggling musicians trying to make ends meet during the Prohibition Era of the late 1920s. After witnessing the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre, in which a Chicago gangster named Spats Columbo (George Raft) machine-guns seven men in a car garage, the pair are forced to flee the city to save their lives. Since they're flat broke they have...
- 6/30/2011
- LRMonline.com
Chicago – In the realm of wasting time watching terrible movies, Adam Sandler provides a nearly 24 hour festival. His latest effort, just released on Blu-ray and DVD, is the horrendous, talent wasting “Just Go with It.”
Blu-Ray Rating: 1.0/5.0
Casting Jennifer Aniston, a decent comic actress, and Nicole Kidman, who worked with Stanley Kubrick (Kubrick!) seems like cruel and unusual punishment for the pair. Also the fact that this was loosely adapted from the far superior stage play and film “Cactus Flower” (1969), adds up to 116 long minutes of Adam Sandler doing the same tired Sandler-esque routine and ruination of an original source.
After running away from a potentially bad marriage as a young man, Danny (Sandler) finds that just wearing a wedding ring allows for relationship free hook-ups (just ask Anthony Weiner). Years later Danny is the best plastic surgeon in Los Angeles, aided in that pursuit by his associate Katherine (Jennifer Aniston). Surprisingly,...
Blu-Ray Rating: 1.0/5.0
Casting Jennifer Aniston, a decent comic actress, and Nicole Kidman, who worked with Stanley Kubrick (Kubrick!) seems like cruel and unusual punishment for the pair. Also the fact that this was loosely adapted from the far superior stage play and film “Cactus Flower” (1969), adds up to 116 long minutes of Adam Sandler doing the same tired Sandler-esque routine and ruination of an original source.
After running away from a potentially bad marriage as a young man, Danny (Sandler) finds that just wearing a wedding ring allows for relationship free hook-ups (just ask Anthony Weiner). Years later Danny is the best plastic surgeon in Los Angeles, aided in that pursuit by his associate Katherine (Jennifer Aniston). Surprisingly,...
- 6/9/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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