Who doesn’t love Carrie Coon? For those of us lucky enough to see her star-turn in Steppenwolf Theater’s production of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” during the early 2010s — a production that also earned her the affections of her now husband, Tracy Letts — there’s always been a slight obsession with her rise to fame. She stunned us in “The Leftovers” with her complex portrayal of a woman who’s lost everything and is dying to feel again. She broke our hearts in Season 3 of “Fargo” as a cop unable to make sense of a world that keeps getting crazier. Now in “The Gilded Age”, she is serving us glamor, history, and a healthy dose of petty vindictiveness. With her role in the latest installment of “The White Lotus” on the horizon, one can’t help but wonder if the sky isn’t the limit for this constantly evolving talent.
- 4/27/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
April’s an uncommonly strong auteurist month for the Criterion Channel, who will highlight a number of directors––many of whom aren’t often grouped together. Just after we screened House of Tolerance at the Roxy Cinema, Criterion are showing it and Nocturama for a two-film Bertrand Bonello retrospective, starting just four days before The Beast opens. Larger and rarer (but just as French) is the complete Jean Eustache series Janus toured last year. Meanwhile, five William Friedkin films and work from Makoto Shinkai, Lizzie Borden, and Rosine Mbakam are given a highlight.
One of my very favorite films, Comrades: Almost a Love Story plays in a series I’ve been trying to program for years: “Hong Kong in New York,” boasting the magnificent Full Moon in New York, Farewell China, and An Autumn’s Tale. Wim Wenders gets his “Adventures in Moviegoing”; After Hours, Personal Shopper, and Werckmeister Harmonies fill...
One of my very favorite films, Comrades: Almost a Love Story plays in a series I’ve been trying to program for years: “Hong Kong in New York,” boasting the magnificent Full Moon in New York, Farewell China, and An Autumn’s Tale. Wim Wenders gets his “Adventures in Moviegoing”; After Hours, Personal Shopper, and Werckmeister Harmonies fill...
- 3/18/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Since their inception, the directing categories at the Tony Awards have mostly been a boys’ club. Not only are the vast majority of winners men, but so are most of the nominees. But the 2024 ceremony could upend these statistics as more women are helming Broadway shows than ever before. This could finally be the year where they make up the majority of directing nominees.
This season there are 13 women directors on Broadway. Four of them will contend for Best Director of a Play: Lila Neugebauer (“Appropriate” and “Uncle Vanya”), Anne Kauffman (“Mary Jane”), Tina Landau (“Mother Play”), and Whitney White (“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”). Another nine women will vie for Best Director of a Musical: Sammi Canold (“How to Dance in Ohio”), Rachel Chavkin (“Lempicka”), Rebecca Frecknall (“Cabaret”), Maria Friedman (“Merrily We Roll Along“), Mari Madrid, Leigh Silverman (“Suffs”), Jessica Stone (“Water for Elephants”), Danya Taymor (“The Outsiders”), and...
This season there are 13 women directors on Broadway. Four of them will contend for Best Director of a Play: Lila Neugebauer (“Appropriate” and “Uncle Vanya”), Anne Kauffman (“Mary Jane”), Tina Landau (“Mother Play”), and Whitney White (“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”). Another nine women will vie for Best Director of a Musical: Sammi Canold (“How to Dance in Ohio”), Rachel Chavkin (“Lempicka”), Rebecca Frecknall (“Cabaret”), Maria Friedman (“Merrily We Roll Along“), Mari Madrid, Leigh Silverman (“Suffs”), Jessica Stone (“Water for Elephants”), Danya Taymor (“The Outsiders”), and...
- 3/11/2024
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
The 96th Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, Mar. 10, celebrating the best films of 2023 in 23 different categories. Scroll down for our official odds with our projected winners highlighted in gold.
Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer” heads into the ceremony with the most nominations of the year with a lucky 13, which means the film ranks as one of the most nominated movies of all time. Although it did not tie the record 14 held by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land,” it is tied with an impressive list of films that also scored 13 bids, including “Gone with the Wind,” “From Here to Eternity,” “Mary Poppins,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “Forrest Gump,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” “Chicago,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “The Shape of Water.” Our experts, editors and users expect it to win 8 Oscars, which would make...
Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer” heads into the ceremony with the most nominations of the year with a lucky 13, which means the film ranks as one of the most nominated movies of all time. Although it did not tie the record 14 held by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land,” it is tied with an impressive list of films that also scored 13 bids, including “Gone with the Wind,” “From Here to Eternity,” “Mary Poppins,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “Forrest Gump,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” “Chicago,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “The Shape of Water.” Our experts, editors and users expect it to win 8 Oscars, which would make...
- 3/7/2024
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Exclusive: Oscar winning Nomadland producer Peter Spears has optioned Mike Nichols: A Life, the 2021 biography of the director by Mark Harris, for development as a dramatic feature film.
The planned adaptation of the book, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, will not be a cradle-to-grave biography but will focus on a young Nichols as he journeys from Broadway to Hollywood to make his first film, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), depicting his high-stakes collaboration with the film’s two married stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
Spears will develop the film for his production company, Cor Cordium. His other producing credits include the Oscar-winning Call Me by Your Name (2017), Bones and All (2022), and On Swift Horses, with Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Diego Calva, and Will Poulter, which will open later this year. Harris is also the author of Pictures at a Revolution (2008) and the World War II filmmaking history...
The planned adaptation of the book, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist, will not be a cradle-to-grave biography but will focus on a young Nichols as he journeys from Broadway to Hollywood to make his first film, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), depicting his high-stakes collaboration with the film’s two married stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
Spears will develop the film for his production company, Cor Cordium. His other producing credits include the Oscar-winning Call Me by Your Name (2017), Bones and All (2022), and On Swift Horses, with Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Diego Calva, and Will Poulter, which will open later this year. Harris is also the author of Pictures at a Revolution (2008) and the World War II filmmaking history...
- 3/2/2024
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Elizabeth Taylor’s son will be interviewed on TV for the first time about his mother in the upcoming Kim Kardashian-produced doc about one of Hollywood’s ultimate leading ladies.
Kari Lia, one of the EPs behind Passion Pictures’ Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar [working title] for the BBC, revealed to Deadline that Chris Wilding, Taylor’s son with her second husband Michael Wilding, will speak after many decades.
Former film editor Wilding will feature in the upcoming doc series alongside Todd Fisher, Carrie Fisher’s brother, and Aileen Getty, Taylor’s daughter-in-law who campaigned alongside her to help those with HIV/Aids. The new interviewees will contribute alongside the likes of Kardashian, Joan Collins and Margaret O’Brien, all of whom knew Taylor personally.
Lia said Wilding had been “shy” in the past to discuss his mother’s legacy but, as what would have been her 92nd birthday approaches, he felt...
Kari Lia, one of the EPs behind Passion Pictures’ Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar [working title] for the BBC, revealed to Deadline that Chris Wilding, Taylor’s son with her second husband Michael Wilding, will speak after many decades.
Former film editor Wilding will feature in the upcoming doc series alongside Todd Fisher, Carrie Fisher’s brother, and Aileen Getty, Taylor’s daughter-in-law who campaigned alongside her to help those with HIV/Aids. The new interviewees will contribute alongside the likes of Kardashian, Joan Collins and Margaret O’Brien, all of whom knew Taylor personally.
Lia said Wilding had been “shy” in the past to discuss his mother’s legacy but, as what would have been her 92nd birthday approaches, he felt...
- 2/27/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Elizabeth Taylor was the glamorous Hollywood icon who starred in dozens of movies throughout her career, collecting two Best Actress trophies at the Oscars and three additional nominations. But how many of those titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 15 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1932, Taylor began her career as a child actress, landing her first leading role when she was just 12-years-old with “National Velvet” (1944). She quickly transitioned into adult stardom, earning her first Oscar nomination as Best Actress for “Raintree County” (1957). Subsequent bids for “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958) and “Suddenly, Last Summer” (1959) quickly followed.
She collected her first statuette playing a prostitute with man troubles in “Butterfield 8” (1960), a film she openly hated. Her win probably had more to do with an emergency tracheotomy she underwent right before the ceremony than the performance, but either way, Taylor was...
Born in 1932, Taylor began her career as a child actress, landing her first leading role when she was just 12-years-old with “National Velvet” (1944). She quickly transitioned into adult stardom, earning her first Oscar nomination as Best Actress for “Raintree County” (1957). Subsequent bids for “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958) and “Suddenly, Last Summer” (1959) quickly followed.
She collected her first statuette playing a prostitute with man troubles in “Butterfield 8” (1960), a film she openly hated. Her win probably had more to do with an emergency tracheotomy she underwent right before the ceremony than the performance, but either way, Taylor was...
- 2/23/2024
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Mike Nichols Made His Movie Directorial Debut with ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ — and Got Fired
Everyone involved with the film adaptation of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” had a lot riding on its success. For star Elizabeth Taylor, this was perhaps her first chance to prove that she could act (certainly the middle-aged Martha was the most demanding role she had ever had). For first-time producer Ernest Lehman, the movie could make or break him as he moved away from writing classics like “North by Northwest” and “Sweet Smell of Success.” And for director Mike Nichols, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” his feature film directorial debut, would either burnish his growing reputation as a boy genius after several smash Broadway hits or prove that he was out of his depth.
The impetus to play things safe must have been strong, and yet none of the film’s major players shied away from choosing the riskier paths. Filming in black-and-white in 1966 was not the indicator of...
The impetus to play things safe must have been strong, and yet none of the film’s major players shied away from choosing the riskier paths. Filming in black-and-white in 1966 was not the indicator of...
- 2/13/2024
- by Mark Peikert
- Indiewire
“Oppenheimer” has surged ahead of its competition, potentially becoming one of the most dominant Oscar winners since “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008), which garnered eight statuettes. Looking at the state of the race post-nominations, the Universal Pictures’ blockbuster could make an even bigger impact.
Christopher Nolan’s historical drama about the father of the Atomic bomb leads the tally with 13, making it the 11th movie to reach such a gargantuan Oscars nomination count. Six of the previous 10 films scored best picture wins, including classics like “Gone with the Wind” (1939), “Forrest Gump” (1994), and “The Shape of Water” (2017). The four that lost are “Mary Poppins” (1964), “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966), “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2008), none of which were heavily favored to triumph in their respective years. But that’s probably not the fate of “Oppenheimer,” particularly after its victories at the Golden...
Christopher Nolan’s historical drama about the father of the Atomic bomb leads the tally with 13, making it the 11th movie to reach such a gargantuan Oscars nomination count. Six of the previous 10 films scored best picture wins, including classics like “Gone with the Wind” (1939), “Forrest Gump” (1994), and “The Shape of Water” (2017). The four that lost are “Mary Poppins” (1964), “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1966), “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2008), none of which were heavily favored to triumph in their respective years. But that’s probably not the fate of “Oppenheimer,” particularly after its victories at the Golden...
- 1/23/2024
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
With the Screen-to-Stage-back to Screen adaptation of Mean Girls landing in first place this weekend, we wanted to know what film based on a play has been your favorite? Are Oscar winning musicals such as Chicago or Amadeus your favorite? Maybe the classics like Grease or Little Shop of Horrors are more your speed? Or perhaps a nice court room drama such as A Few Good Men ranks number one for you? If you don’t see your favorite listed click the “Other” button and let us know what your favorite is in the comments.
Favorite Stage-to-Screen AdaptationCasablanca (1943)West Side Story (1961)My Fair Lady (1964)The Sound of Music (1965)A Man For All Seasons (1966)Oliver! (1968)Amadeus (1984)Driving Miss Daisy (1989)Chicago (2002)Alfie (1966)American Buffalo (1996)Annie (1982)Annie Get Your Gun (1950)A Bronx Tale (1993)Bug (2007)Cabaret (1972)Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)Children of a Lesser God (1986)Closer (2004)The Crucible (1996)Cyrano (2021)Dear Evan Hansen...
Favorite Stage-to-Screen AdaptationCasablanca (1943)West Side Story (1961)My Fair Lady (1964)The Sound of Music (1965)A Man For All Seasons (1966)Oliver! (1968)Amadeus (1984)Driving Miss Daisy (1989)Chicago (2002)Alfie (1966)American Buffalo (1996)Annie (1982)Annie Get Your Gun (1950)A Bronx Tale (1993)Bug (2007)Cabaret (1972)Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)Children of a Lesser God (1986)Closer (2004)The Crucible (1996)Cyrano (2021)Dear Evan Hansen...
- 1/14/2024
- by Brad Hamerly
- JoBlo.com
As she strolls comfortably toward multiple Oscar nominations for “Barbie,” Greta Gerwig is on track to set several Academy Awards records tied to her age, gender and the movie’s financial success. In terms of more general achievements, perhaps the most impressive one in her reach is becoming the first filmmaker to have all of her initial three solo features contend for Best Picture. Over the past 95 years, many directors have had shots at earning that distinction and a few have come remarkably close, but none of their chances have been quite as strong as hers.
Since Gerwig did not produce her first two independently-directed films – “Lady Bird” (2017) and “Little Women” (2019) – and, per academy rules, cannot officially share in a “Barbie” Best Picture nomination due to her screen credit of “executive producer” (rather than the qualifying “producer” or “produced by”), she does not and will not soon have any bids...
Since Gerwig did not produce her first two independently-directed films – “Lady Bird” (2017) and “Little Women” (2019) – and, per academy rules, cannot officially share in a “Barbie” Best Picture nomination due to her screen credit of “executive producer” (rather than the qualifying “producer” or “produced by”), she does not and will not soon have any bids...
- 12/21/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
The Oscar race is coming into focus with the Golden Globes nominations.
Four clear candidates have emerged in the race for best picture – Apple Original “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer” from drama and “Barbie” and “Poor Things” from comedy. Those four movies also received the most nominations of the day.
Greta Gerwig’s meta-comedy “Barbie,” which tied “Cabaret” (1972) for the second-most noms in Globes history with nine, is showing it’s not only the highest-grossing movie of the year, it’s also viable to take home the Academy’s most coveted prize, despite being an unconventional candidate. It’s noteworthy that the three song noms for “Barbie” – “Dance the Night,” “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?” – can’t repeat at the Oscars since there’s a cap of two songs nominated from a single movie. The Warner Bros. blockbuster also had a notable nominations miss,...
Four clear candidates have emerged in the race for best picture – Apple Original “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer” from drama and “Barbie” and “Poor Things” from comedy. Those four movies also received the most nominations of the day.
Greta Gerwig’s meta-comedy “Barbie,” which tied “Cabaret” (1972) for the second-most noms in Globes history with nine, is showing it’s not only the highest-grossing movie of the year, it’s also viable to take home the Academy’s most coveted prize, despite being an unconventional candidate. It’s noteworthy that the three song noms for “Barbie” – “Dance the Night,” “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?” – can’t repeat at the Oscars since there’s a cap of two songs nominated from a single movie. The Warner Bros. blockbuster also had a notable nominations miss,...
- 12/11/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
In the late 1980s, just prior to when Patrick Stewart was alerted to the existence of "Star Trek," the actor was at a crossroads. He had been touring England with a production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and it wasn't going terribly well. He was already 46, he hadn't really found what he considered to be a major breakout role, and he was starting to consider that he simply wasn't ever going to do better than he already had. Middle age brought about the usual malaise, and Stewart seemingly felt idle.
Stewart recalled this time in his new autobiography "Making It So: A Memoir." He recalled taking a job in Los Angeles wherein he would merely read lines of Shakespeare to accompany a series of public lectures at UCLA's Royce Hall. Stewart wasn't giving the lectures. That would be a friend and confidant of Stewart's named David Rodes. Stewart...
Stewart recalled this time in his new autobiography "Making It So: A Memoir." He recalled taking a job in Los Angeles wherein he would merely read lines of Shakespeare to accompany a series of public lectures at UCLA's Royce Hall. Stewart wasn't giving the lectures. That would be a friend and confidant of Stewart's named David Rodes. Stewart...
- 11/8/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Emma Stone won the Best Actress Oscar in 2017 for her role as an actress trying to make it big in Damien Chazelle‘s “La La Land.” Stone has also earned two Best Supporting Actress bids, the first in 2015 for “Birdman” and the second for “The Favourite” in 2019. She reteams with the latter’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos, for Searchlight Pictures’ “Poor Things.” The film, which is out in US theaters on Dec. 8, follows Stone as Bella Baxter — a woman brought back to life by a scientist (Willem Dafoe) and subsequently goes on a journey of self-discovery, meeting a variety of people along the way including a lawyer (Mark Ruffalo) and a potential suitor (Ramy Youssef).
Stone’s performance is remarkable here, as many critics have noted.
Nick Schager (The Daily Beast) declared that Stone will “blow your mind” in the movie, writing: “Nothing overshadows Stone’s odd, amusing and affecting performance as Bella,...
Stone’s performance is remarkable here, as many critics have noted.
Nick Schager (The Daily Beast) declared that Stone will “blow your mind” in the movie, writing: “Nothing overshadows Stone’s odd, amusing and affecting performance as Bella,...
- 10/27/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
For once, Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard aren’t the most dysfunctional pirate couple on the deck of Max’s comedy series “Our Flag Means Death.”
In Season 2’s fourth episode, titled “Fun and Games,” that distinction belongs to legendary pirates Anne Bonny (Minnie Driver) and Mary Read (Rachel House). As the series has done with the shared history between the real-life Stede and Blackbeard, “Our Flag Means Death” interprets the fearsome women pirates as a couple. But they’ve been at the whole dating thing a lot longer than the boys.
Anne and Mary are running a jungle-bound antique shop when Stede (Rhys Darby) and Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) stumble upon them during a lover’s spat. The long-awaited reunion of the couple –– after Stede abandoned their plans to run away to China in the Season 1 finale –– is off a bumpy start to say the least. A barely alive Blackbeard (who...
In Season 2’s fourth episode, titled “Fun and Games,” that distinction belongs to legendary pirates Anne Bonny (Minnie Driver) and Mary Read (Rachel House). As the series has done with the shared history between the real-life Stede and Blackbeard, “Our Flag Means Death” interprets the fearsome women pirates as a couple. But they’ve been at the whole dating thing a lot longer than the boys.
Anne and Mary are running a jungle-bound antique shop when Stede (Rhys Darby) and Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) stumble upon them during a lover’s spat. The long-awaited reunion of the couple –– after Stede abandoned their plans to run away to China in the Season 1 finale –– is off a bumpy start to say the least. A barely alive Blackbeard (who...
- 10/13/2023
- by Hunter Ingram
- Variety Film + TV
Leonardo DiCaprio has reaped an even dozen Oscar nominations for acting. His first bid was back in 1994 in Best Supporting Actor for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.” After a gap of more than a decade (including being snubbed for “Titanic), he contended for Best Actor in 2005 for “The Aviator” and in 2007 for “Blood Diamond.” He then earned two nominations for Martin Scorsese‘s “The Wolf of Wall Street” in 2014 as both producer and star. Two years later, he won Best Actor for “The Revenant.” Most recently he competed in lead in 2020 for Quentin Tarantino‘s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Those five Best Actor nominations match the tallies of the likes of Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, Al Pacino, Sean Penn, and James Stewart.
DiCaprio reunites with Scorsese this year for the historical epic “Killers of the Flower Moon.” The film tells the true story of the Osage reservation in...
DiCaprio reunites with Scorsese this year for the historical epic “Killers of the Flower Moon.” The film tells the true story of the Osage reservation in...
- 9/11/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Gold Derby can exclusively reveal that Matthew Macfadyen is entering the “Succession” episode “Tailgate Party” as his 2023 Emmy Award submission for Best Drama Supporting Actor. “Tailgate Party” aired on May 7, 2023, and is the seventh episode of the HBO drama’s fourth and final season.
In “Tailgate Party,” hoping to work the angles on the GoJo deal, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) ask Shiv (Sarah Snook) to invite a political insider to Logan’s (Brian Cox) pre-election day party. Later, Connor (Alan Ruck) considers whether to adjust his ambitions after receiving intel from the Mencken team, while Kendall and Roman catch wind of a potentially fortuitous scandal. According to Snook, series creator Jesse Armstrong was influenced by “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in approaching a vicious argument between Shiv and her husband Tom (Macfadyen). The episode was written by Will Tracy and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini.
In “Tailgate Party,” hoping to work the angles on the GoJo deal, Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) ask Shiv (Sarah Snook) to invite a political insider to Logan’s (Brian Cox) pre-election day party. Later, Connor (Alan Ruck) considers whether to adjust his ambitions after receiving intel from the Mencken team, while Kendall and Roman catch wind of a potentially fortuitous scandal. According to Snook, series creator Jesse Armstrong was influenced by “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in approaching a vicious argument between Shiv and her husband Tom (Macfadyen). The episode was written by Will Tracy and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini.
- 7/26/2023
- by Ray Richmond and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Lawrence Turman, the principled Oscar-nominated producer of The Graduate who was behind other films including The Great White Hope, Pretty Poison, American History X and the last movie Judy Garland ever made, has died. He was 96.
Turman died Saturday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his family announced.
A former agent, he and producer David Foster began a 20-year partnership in 1974, and the first film to come out of the Turman Foster Co. was Stuart Rosenberg’s The Drowning Pool (1975), starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.
They went their separate ways in 1991 when Turman left to begin an association heading the esteemed Peter Stark Producing Program at USC that lasted until his retirement in 2021.
However, Turman wasn’t done producing, and in 1996 he and John Morrissey launched the Turman-Morrissey Co., which made the Jamie Foxx-starring Booty Call (1997); Tony Kaye’s American History X...
Turman died Saturday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his family announced.
A former agent, he and producer David Foster began a 20-year partnership in 1974, and the first film to come out of the Turman Foster Co. was Stuart Rosenberg’s The Drowning Pool (1975), starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.
They went their separate ways in 1991 when Turman left to begin an association heading the esteemed Peter Stark Producing Program at USC that lasted until his retirement in 2021.
However, Turman wasn’t done producing, and in 1996 he and John Morrissey launched the Turman-Morrissey Co., which made the Jamie Foxx-starring Booty Call (1997); Tony Kaye’s American History X...
- 7/3/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jodie Comer has become the 100th performer to win a Tony Award for their Broadway debut for her performance in the play, “Prima Facie.”
She won Best Actress in a Play for portraying Tess, a lawyer who concentrates in providing legal defense for men who are accused of sexual assault but soon has the unthinkable happen to her. She is the 11th person to win the category for her first outing on a Broadway stage. She joins:
SEE2023 Tony Awards: Every winner (and nominee) in all 26 competitive categories
Martita Hunt, “The Madwoman of Chaillot” (1949)
Beryl Reid, “The Killing of Sister George” (1967)
Phyllis Frelich, “Children of a Lesser God” (1980)
Jane Lapotaire, “Piaf” (1981)
Joan Allen, “Burn This” (1988)
Pauline Collins, “Shirley Valentine” (1989)
Janet McTeer, “A Doll’s House” (1997)
Marie Mullen, “The Beauty Queen of Leeane” (1998)
Jennifer Ehle, “The Real Thing” (2000)
Deanna Dunagan, “August: Osage County” (2008)
Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other...
She won Best Actress in a Play for portraying Tess, a lawyer who concentrates in providing legal defense for men who are accused of sexual assault but soon has the unthinkable happen to her. She is the 11th person to win the category for her first outing on a Broadway stage. She joins:
SEE2023 Tony Awards: Every winner (and nominee) in all 26 competitive categories
Martita Hunt, “The Madwoman of Chaillot” (1949)
Beryl Reid, “The Killing of Sister George” (1967)
Phyllis Frelich, “Children of a Lesser God” (1980)
Jane Lapotaire, “Piaf” (1981)
Joan Allen, “Burn This” (1988)
Pauline Collins, “Shirley Valentine” (1989)
Janet McTeer, “A Doll’s House” (1997)
Marie Mullen, “The Beauty Queen of Leeane” (1998)
Jennifer Ehle, “The Real Thing” (2000)
Deanna Dunagan, “August: Osage County” (2008)
Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other...
- 6/12/2023
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
Tom Stoppard won the Best Play trophy for “Leopoldstadt” at the 2023 Tony Awards. This is his fifth win in the category, breaking his own Tony record. The theater legend maintains an impressive lead as the winningest playwright in the Best Play category.
“Leopoldstadt” is a sprawling epic which traces the lineage of a Jewish family in Vienna from 1899 to 1955. The play considers important questions of assimilation and identity. The show picked up four wins in total, with additional victories for Brandon Uranowitz in Featured Actor in a Play, Patrick Marber in Director of a Play, and Brigitte Reiffenstuel in Costume Design of a Play.
Stoppard has now won the Best Play category five times in his career, more than any other playwright in history. He previously prevailed for “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” (1968), “Travesties” (1976), “The Real Thing” (1984), and the three-part epic “The Coast of Utopia” (2007). The Tony Awards do not...
“Leopoldstadt” is a sprawling epic which traces the lineage of a Jewish family in Vienna from 1899 to 1955. The play considers important questions of assimilation and identity. The show picked up four wins in total, with additional victories for Brandon Uranowitz in Featured Actor in a Play, Patrick Marber in Director of a Play, and Brigitte Reiffenstuel in Costume Design of a Play.
Stoppard has now won the Best Play category five times in his career, more than any other playwright in history. He previously prevailed for “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” (1968), “Travesties” (1976), “The Real Thing” (1984), and the three-part epic “The Coast of Utopia” (2007). The Tony Awards do not...
- 6/12/2023
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Rebecca (Margaret Qualley) is here for legal counsel. But her questions for Hal Porterfield (Christopher Abbott) are getting inappropriate, and fast. She wants to know about the frequency of his masturbation, how much he drinks, if he’s capable of taking on the herculean task of running his father’s massive hotel monopoly. And Hal is getting annoyed. After all, this isn’t the script that he had written for Rebecca to perform.
Rebecca isn’t a lawyer, nor an actress. Not really. She’s a hired dominatrix in a no-contact sexual relationship with Hal, who really is set to step in as CEO of his recently passed father’s company, and who really does write extensive scripts to support his unusual sexual proclivities.
Zachary Wigon’s Sanctuary is a two-hander that sees a power play through the prism of performance, class, and sexual dynamics. As Hal prepares to be...
Rebecca isn’t a lawyer, nor an actress. Not really. She’s a hired dominatrix in a no-contact sexual relationship with Hal, who really is set to step in as CEO of his recently passed father’s company, and who really does write extensive scripts to support his unusual sexual proclivities.
Zachary Wigon’s Sanctuary is a two-hander that sees a power play through the prism of performance, class, and sexual dynamics. As Hal prepares to be...
- 5/13/2023
- by Greg Nussen
- Slant Magazine
What do the 76th annual Tonys have in common with the 17th annual awards?
Stephen Sondheim.
The late, great influential composer is represented in this year’s Tonys with the acclaimed, popular revivals of his 1979 classic “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Street” earning eight nominations and 1987’s “Into the Woods” receiving six.
Sixty years ago, it was Sondheim’s musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” which dominated the Tony Awards with six wins: best musical, best producer for Harold Prince, best director for George Abbott, best author for Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, leading actor for Zero Mostel and featured actor for David Burns. Ironically, Sondheim failed to earn a nomination for best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theater. He would not win for his tunes until “Company” in 1971. Vying in that category were “Stop the World I Wanted...
Stephen Sondheim.
The late, great influential composer is represented in this year’s Tonys with the acclaimed, popular revivals of his 1979 classic “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Street” earning eight nominations and 1987’s “Into the Woods” receiving six.
Sixty years ago, it was Sondheim’s musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” which dominated the Tony Awards with six wins: best musical, best producer for Harold Prince, best director for George Abbott, best author for Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, leading actor for Zero Mostel and featured actor for David Burns. Ironically, Sondheim failed to earn a nomination for best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theater. He would not win for his tunes until “Company” in 1971. Vying in that category were “Stop the World I Wanted...
- 5/8/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The contest for Best Play Revival at this year’s Tony Awards is shaping up to be a true nail-biter, even in the nominations round of voting. Five of the eligible productions — “A Doll’s House,” “Death of a Salesman,” “Ohio State Murders,” “The Piano Lesson,” and “Topdog/Underdog” — all opened to excellent reviews, while a sixth contender, “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window,” just announced its opening on the last day of eligibility.
Of these six productions, four will earn nominations. Four of the six have also already closed, which would seem to give an advantage to “A Doll’s House” and “Sidney Brustein’s Window,” both of which will run through the Tony voting period. Do those two productions thus have an advantage in this top race? How often does a shuttered production actually win Best Revival?
The raw numbers alone clearly demonstrate that shows that are running through...
Of these six productions, four will earn nominations. Four of the six have also already closed, which would seem to give an advantage to “A Doll’s House” and “Sidney Brustein’s Window,” both of which will run through the Tony voting period. Do those two productions thus have an advantage in this top race? How often does a shuttered production actually win Best Revival?
The raw numbers alone clearly demonstrate that shows that are running through...
- 4/6/2023
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Ever since the printing press was invented, there's been no shortage of instances of books being banned. The reasons for these bans run the gamut from the religious to the political to the moral. Because the standards of decency have changed so much over the centuries, books that were once considered obscene are now socially acceptable, and sometimes, it's the other way around.
While the general intent of banning a book is to prevent readers from engaging with it, it often has the opposite effect. Labeling a book "forbidden" can bring more attention to it. This "Streisand Effect" makes a lot of sense. When the powers that be condemn a piece of media, this only increases the audience's curiosity about why it's so controversial. Not only have bans led to books becoming more popular, but it has also led to them getting the big screen treatment. Hollywood has rarely shied away from capitalizing on controversy,...
While the general intent of banning a book is to prevent readers from engaging with it, it often has the opposite effect. Labeling a book "forbidden" can bring more attention to it. This "Streisand Effect" makes a lot of sense. When the powers that be condemn a piece of media, this only increases the audience's curiosity about why it's so controversial. Not only have bans led to books becoming more popular, but it has also led to them getting the big screen treatment. Hollywood has rarely shied away from capitalizing on controversy,...
- 2/22/2023
- by Joe Garza
- Slash Film
Melinda Dillon of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "A Christmas Story" fame passed away early last month at the age of 83. Her family made the announcement that she passed on January 9, 2023.
Dillon had a wonderful and eclectic career on the stage and screen and worked with some of the best directors of her era, including Hal Ashby, Steven Spielberg, Bob Clark, George Roy Hill, Sydney Pollack, and more recently Paul Thomas Anderson and Mike Binder. She originated the role of Honey in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in 1963, a performance that would earn her a Tony nomination before she took a break from performing citing mental health reasons.
In a 1976 interview with The New York Times, Dillon candidly discussed the pressure of the constant schedule of New York theater and the birth of her son after a series of miscarriages that lead to her seeking treatment at a mental health facility,...
Dillon had a wonderful and eclectic career on the stage and screen and worked with some of the best directors of her era, including Hal Ashby, Steven Spielberg, Bob Clark, George Roy Hill, Sydney Pollack, and more recently Paul Thomas Anderson and Mike Binder. She originated the role of Honey in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in 1963, a performance that would earn her a Tony nomination before she took a break from performing citing mental health reasons.
In a 1976 interview with The New York Times, Dillon candidly discussed the pressure of the constant schedule of New York theater and the birth of her son after a series of miscarriages that lead to her seeking treatment at a mental health facility,...
- 2/4/2023
- by Eric Vespe
- Slash Film
Melinda Dillon, the Oscar-nominated actor who sought the truth in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and battled a leg lamp in A Christmas Story, is dead at 83.
Dillon passed away January 9th, her family announced in an obituary. No cause of death was revealed.
Born October 13thth, 1939, Dillon burst onto Broadway in the original 1963 production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, earning a Tony nomination for her work as the naive Honey. Her breakthrough film performance came in Hal Ashby’s Bound for Glory (1976), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe, and she followed that in 1977 with memorable turns in the Paul Newman hockey cult classic Slap Shot and Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters, which brought her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards.
She’d pick up her second Oscar nod reuniting with Newman in Sydney Pollack’s 1981 noir Absence of Malice,...
Dillon passed away January 9th, her family announced in an obituary. No cause of death was revealed.
Born October 13thth, 1939, Dillon burst onto Broadway in the original 1963 production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, earning a Tony nomination for her work as the naive Honey. Her breakthrough film performance came in Hal Ashby’s Bound for Glory (1976), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe, and she followed that in 1977 with memorable turns in the Paul Newman hockey cult classic Slap Shot and Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters, which brought her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards.
She’d pick up her second Oscar nod reuniting with Newman in Sydney Pollack’s 1981 noir Absence of Malice,...
- 2/3/2023
- by Wren Graves
- Consequence - Film News
Melinda Dillon, who was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her roles in Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and Sydney Pollack’s “Absence of Malice,” has died at age 83, her family said in a public obituary.
She died on Jan. 9, but the obituary gave no cause of death.
Dillon memorably played single mother Jillian Guiler, whose son Barry (Cary Guffey), is abducted by aliens in “Close Encounters.” Like Richard Dreyfuss’s lead character, she also becomes obsessed with Devil’s Tower in Wyoming and both their quests lead them there. After running the gauntlet of military obstacles, they are the only two civilians who witness the alien ship landing in the film’s emotional finale.
Also Read:
Lisa Loring, Original Wednesday on ‘The Addams Family,’ Dies at 64
She received her second nomination for playing a Catholic who commits suicide after a reporter (Sally Field) writes about...
She died on Jan. 9, but the obituary gave no cause of death.
Dillon memorably played single mother Jillian Guiler, whose son Barry (Cary Guffey), is abducted by aliens in “Close Encounters.” Like Richard Dreyfuss’s lead character, she also becomes obsessed with Devil’s Tower in Wyoming and both their quests lead them there. After running the gauntlet of military obstacles, they are the only two civilians who witness the alien ship landing in the film’s emotional finale.
Also Read:
Lisa Loring, Original Wednesday on ‘The Addams Family,’ Dies at 64
She received her second nomination for playing a Catholic who commits suicide after a reporter (Sally Field) writes about...
- 2/3/2023
- by Sharon Knolle
- The Wrap
Taylor Russell is drawing comparisons to screen legend Marilyn Monroe thanks to her star-making turn in “Bones and All.”
Russell’s co-star Mark Rylance explained how the up-and-coming actress was reminiscent of “Gentleman Prefer Blondes” icon Monroe in her approach to acting.
“I’ve often read that on set with Marilyn Monroe, people couldn’t see what she was doing,” Rylance told Harper’s Bazaar. “With Taylor, I had a similar feeling.”
He added, “That was the surprise for me: how much the camera digs into the soul of a person.”
“Bones and All” starred Russell opposite Timothée Chalamet as two star-crossed lovers with a penchant for cannibalism. Rylance was one nomad who crosses paths with the couple.
Russell credited Sissy Spacek as her “favorite actress of all time” and a large inspiration.
“Acting is the opposite of running away,” Russell said. “It illuminates something.”
With a similar tone to...
Russell’s co-star Mark Rylance explained how the up-and-coming actress was reminiscent of “Gentleman Prefer Blondes” icon Monroe in her approach to acting.
“I’ve often read that on set with Marilyn Monroe, people couldn’t see what she was doing,” Rylance told Harper’s Bazaar. “With Taylor, I had a similar feeling.”
He added, “That was the surprise for me: how much the camera digs into the soul of a person.”
“Bones and All” starred Russell opposite Timothée Chalamet as two star-crossed lovers with a penchant for cannibalism. Rylance was one nomad who crosses paths with the couple.
Russell credited Sissy Spacek as her “favorite actress of all time” and a large inspiration.
“Acting is the opposite of running away,” Russell said. “It illuminates something.”
With a similar tone to...
- 1/24/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Writer-director Damien Chazelle knew Diego Calva would go big or go home while casting for “Babylon.”
The Oscar winner selected “Narcos: Mexico” alum Calva after a 2020 screen test opposite Margot Robbie. Chazelle filmed the chemistry read on his cellphone and immediately compared Calva’s raw talent to that of legendary actor Al Pacino.
“He had this kind of Al Pacino-level ability to command the camera without seeming to do anything,” Chazelle told The New York Times. Chazelle noted that Pacino’s arc as Michael Corleone in “The Godfather” films in part inspired Calva’s role as Hollywood newcomer Manny.
Co-star Robbie shared of Calva’s performance, “It’s so transformative to act with him because he’s so present that you forget you’re doing a scene. He was the greatest scene partner I could ever wish for.”
Calva, who is nominated for a Golden Globe for his turn in “Babylon,...
The Oscar winner selected “Narcos: Mexico” alum Calva after a 2020 screen test opposite Margot Robbie. Chazelle filmed the chemistry read on his cellphone and immediately compared Calva’s raw talent to that of legendary actor Al Pacino.
“He had this kind of Al Pacino-level ability to command the camera without seeming to do anything,” Chazelle told The New York Times. Chazelle noted that Pacino’s arc as Michael Corleone in “The Godfather” films in part inspired Calva’s role as Hollywood newcomer Manny.
Co-star Robbie shared of Calva’s performance, “It’s so transformative to act with him because he’s so present that you forget you’re doing a scene. He was the greatest scene partner I could ever wish for.”
Calva, who is nominated for a Golden Globe for his turn in “Babylon,...
- 1/4/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Margot Robbie is following in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” co-star Lena Dunham’s red carpet footsteps by surprise-smooching Brad Pitt.
Robbie co-stars opposite Pitt in Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” and revealed to E! News that she really leaned into the spontaneity of the character…and, of course, harnessed that to kiss iconic film star Pitt.
“That wasn’t in the script,” Robbie said, “but I thought, ‘When else am I going to get the chance to kiss Brad Pitt? I’m just gonna go for it.'”
While Robbie said the kiss was “great,” she had to convince director Chazelle to let her go for it in the moment.
“I said, ‘Damien, I think Nellie would just go up and kiss Jack,'” the “Wolf of Wall Street” alum said. “And Damien was like, ‘Well, she could — wait, hold on. You just want to kiss Brad Pitt.’ And I was like,...
Robbie co-stars opposite Pitt in Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” and revealed to E! News that she really leaned into the spontaneity of the character…and, of course, harnessed that to kiss iconic film star Pitt.
“That wasn’t in the script,” Robbie said, “but I thought, ‘When else am I going to get the chance to kiss Brad Pitt? I’m just gonna go for it.'”
While Robbie said the kiss was “great,” she had to convince director Chazelle to let her go for it in the moment.
“I said, ‘Damien, I think Nellie would just go up and kiss Jack,'” the “Wolf of Wall Street” alum said. “And Damien was like, ‘Well, she could — wait, hold on. You just want to kiss Brad Pitt.’ And I was like,...
- 12/6/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Damien Chazelle’s manic vision of a wild, wild west Hollywood heyday, “Babylon,” screened for the very first time November 14 in Los Angeles for Academy members and select press. The collective reaction in a packed, mostly enthusiastic house was, “That was a lot of movie.” Responses on Twitter (social reactions were encouraged while reviews remain under embargo ahead of the film’s wide Christmas Day release) from the press corps ranged from marveling over the film’s druggy over-the-topness to bewilderment over its wildly swinging tones. See them rounded up below.
Indeed, set in a debaucherous mid-1920s when Los Angeles was still a half-formed desert town, “Babylon” is essentially a three-hour-plus bender of a movie that pummels the audience with Boschian-level set pieces of Jazz Era decadence — mountains of cocaine, graphic overdoses, scatological humor, projectile vomiting, horror-movie-style sex dungeons, murder, suicide, and rattlesnake wrestling. Other than breakout Diego Calva,...
Indeed, set in a debaucherous mid-1920s when Los Angeles was still a half-formed desert town, “Babylon” is essentially a three-hour-plus bender of a movie that pummels the audience with Boschian-level set pieces of Jazz Era decadence — mountains of cocaine, graphic overdoses, scatological humor, projectile vomiting, horror-movie-style sex dungeons, murder, suicide, and rattlesnake wrestling. Other than breakout Diego Calva,...
- 11/15/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
As the awards race begins to take shape, one massive wild card remains: “Babylon.”
Damien Chazelle’s sprawling Old Hollywood epic has all the makings of an Oscar darling, but without any festival screenings, the content and quality of the film largely remain a mystery. Still, the A-list cast featuring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, as well as Chazelle’s proven ability to tell stories about Hollywood, make it a formidable contender.
At least, its cast certainly thinks so. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Eric Roberts gushed over Robbie’s performance, comparing it to Elizabeth Taylor and Sandy Dennis’ landmark performances in Mike Nichols’ “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” And even though it’s early in the Oscar race, Roberts is already predicting that Robbie will walk away with the Best Actress trophy.
“I don’t watch myself anymore, because I’ve seen everything I do,” Roberts said.
Damien Chazelle’s sprawling Old Hollywood epic has all the makings of an Oscar darling, but without any festival screenings, the content and quality of the film largely remain a mystery. Still, the A-list cast featuring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, as well as Chazelle’s proven ability to tell stories about Hollywood, make it a formidable contender.
At least, its cast certainly thinks so. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Eric Roberts gushed over Robbie’s performance, comparing it to Elizabeth Taylor and Sandy Dennis’ landmark performances in Mike Nichols’ “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” And even though it’s early in the Oscar race, Roberts is already predicting that Robbie will walk away with the Best Actress trophy.
“I don’t watch myself anymore, because I’ve seen everything I do,” Roberts said.
- 11/6/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Writer / Director / Actor Halina Reijn discusses some of her favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Rrr (2022)
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
Gothic (1986)
Warlock (1989)
Annie (1982)
Midsommar (2019) – Dennis Cozzalio’s 2019 year-end movie roundup
Bambi (1942) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary
Annie (2014)
A Woman Under The Influence (1974)
Husbands (1970) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Opening Night (1977)
The Piano Teacher (2001) – Charlie Largent’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Black Book (2006)
Elle (2016) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review, Dennis Cozzalio’s 2016 year-end movie roundup
The Fourth Man (1983)
Basic Instinct (1992) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary
Showgirls (1995)
Indecent Proposal (1993)
Fatal Attraction (1987) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
9 ½ Weeks (1986)
Fifty Shades Of Grey (2015)
365 Days (2020)
A History Of Violence (2005)
Last Tango In Paris (1972) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary
Chinatown (1974) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary
Marathon Man (1976)
The Abyss (1989)
Apocalypse Now (1979) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Rrr (2022)
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
Gothic (1986)
Warlock (1989)
Annie (1982)
Midsommar (2019) – Dennis Cozzalio’s 2019 year-end movie roundup
Bambi (1942) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary
Annie (2014)
A Woman Under The Influence (1974)
Husbands (1970) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Opening Night (1977)
The Piano Teacher (2001) – Charlie Largent’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Black Book (2006)
Elle (2016) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review, Dennis Cozzalio’s 2016 year-end movie roundup
The Fourth Man (1983)
Basic Instinct (1992) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary
Showgirls (1995)
Indecent Proposal (1993)
Fatal Attraction (1987) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
9 ½ Weeks (1986)
Fifty Shades Of Grey (2015)
365 Days (2020)
A History Of Violence (2005)
Last Tango In Paris (1972) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary
Chinatown (1974) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary
Marathon Man (1976)
The Abyss (1989)
Apocalypse Now (1979) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?...
- 9/6/2022
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Click here to read the full article.
Long before Netflix’s Blonde landed a controversial Nc-17 rating, the Motion Picture Association gave films like Baby Doll (1956) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) “adults only” designations as a way to placate concerned parents and reformers.
Now, when news surfaces of Hollywood allegedly kowtowing to everything from domestic social crusaders to foreign governments, debate lights up headlines and social media conversations. But, historically speaking, industry moguls have most often erred on the side of not ruffling feathers, home or abroad, in order to court consumers — as evidenced in the birth of the MPA 100 years ago.
The lobbying group, which is marking its centennial in 2022, was born as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association in 1922. Mppda counsel C.C. Pettijohn once told a 1929 Public Relations Conference that the film industry was first understood as a three-legged stool that included production, distribution, and exhibition.
Long before Netflix’s Blonde landed a controversial Nc-17 rating, the Motion Picture Association gave films like Baby Doll (1956) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) “adults only” designations as a way to placate concerned parents and reformers.
Now, when news surfaces of Hollywood allegedly kowtowing to everything from domestic social crusaders to foreign governments, debate lights up headlines and social media conversations. But, historically speaking, industry moguls have most often erred on the side of not ruffling feathers, home or abroad, in order to court consumers — as evidenced in the birth of the MPA 100 years ago.
The lobbying group, which is marking its centennial in 2022, was born as the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association in 1922. Mppda counsel C.C. Pettijohn once told a 1929 Public Relations Conference that the film industry was first understood as a three-legged stool that included production, distribution, and exhibition.
- 9/2/2022
- by Chris Yogerst
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“I wanted to approach it as a commentary on the time we live in, and Gen Z, but also myself because I’m totally addicted to my phone,” says Bodies Bodies Bodies director Halina Reijn on what drew her to the Kristen Roupenian story and Sarah DeLappe scripted feature.
The horror comedy, which stars Pete Davidson, Oscar nominee Maria Bakalova, Amandla Stenberg, Myha-la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, and Rachel Sennott follows a group of twentysomething affluent friends who gather at a friend’s mansion for the weekend. A hurricane hits, the lights go out and they decide to play a party game which not only lives up to its name, but exposes how fractured the friends really are. Omg.
The pic made its world premiere at SXSW where it has since racked up a 92 certified fresh critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie excited arthouses last weekend in LA and...
The horror comedy, which stars Pete Davidson, Oscar nominee Maria Bakalova, Amandla Stenberg, Myha-la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, and Rachel Sennott follows a group of twentysomething affluent friends who gather at a friend’s mansion for the weekend. A hurricane hits, the lights go out and they decide to play a party game which not only lives up to its name, but exposes how fractured the friends really are. Omg.
The pic made its world premiere at SXSW where it has since racked up a 92 certified fresh critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie excited arthouses last weekend in LA and...
- 8/8/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
After losing more than 75 pounds for Season 4 of “Stranger Things,” in which his character Jim Hopper was wasting away in a Russian gulag, David Harbour had one thing on his mind.
“As soon as we finished my last shirtless scene, I sent my assistant to this great pasta place for lasagna,” Harbour recalls. “It only came in trays, so I gave her a little section and then I just took the whole tray and dove in like a maniac.”
After battling starvation, Soviet guards and a Demogorgon in the hit Netflix series, Harbour is currently facing some truly scary demons — family. The actor is appearing in Theresa Rebeck’s latest play, “Mad House,” at the Ambassadors Theatre in London, running through Sept. 4. Eight shows a week, Harbour storms and thunders as Michael, a schizophrenic man who is released from a mental institution and thrown into equally harrowing conditions as he...
“As soon as we finished my last shirtless scene, I sent my assistant to this great pasta place for lasagna,” Harbour recalls. “It only came in trays, so I gave her a little section and then I just took the whole tray and dove in like a maniac.”
After battling starvation, Soviet guards and a Demogorgon in the hit Netflix series, Harbour is currently facing some truly scary demons — family. The actor is appearing in Theresa Rebeck’s latest play, “Mad House,” at the Ambassadors Theatre in London, running through Sept. 4. Eight shows a week, Harbour storms and thunders as Michael, a schizophrenic man who is released from a mental institution and thrown into equally harrowing conditions as he...
- 7/25/2022
- by Jenelle Riley
- Variety Film + TV
Scientific research tells us that nearly all of the cells in the human body are renewed every seven years. Personally, I like to think that explains the “seven-year itch,” the phenomenon by which so many of us change jobs, friends and such on a predictable cycle: because you’re literally not the same person anymore.
It’s been eight years since Albee (Amber Midthunder) and Walker (Taylor Gray) got married, and their relationship is running on fumes. A surprisingly serious-minded drama from “Hot Tub Time Machine” helmer Steve Pink (who co-wrote Gen X John Cusack romances “Grosse Pointe Blank” and “High Fidelity”), no-frills indie “The Wheel” follows this couple on a weekend retreat to a remote Airbnb, where the pair plan to hash things out once and for all.
Walker has brought along a self-help book, “Seven Questions to Save Your Marriage.” Albee says she’s game, but seldom looks away from her iPhone.
It’s been eight years since Albee (Amber Midthunder) and Walker (Taylor Gray) got married, and their relationship is running on fumes. A surprisingly serious-minded drama from “Hot Tub Time Machine” helmer Steve Pink (who co-wrote Gen X John Cusack romances “Grosse Pointe Blank” and “High Fidelity”), no-frills indie “The Wheel” follows this couple on a weekend retreat to a remote Airbnb, where the pair plan to hash things out once and for all.
Walker has brought along a self-help book, “Seven Questions to Save Your Marriage.” Albee says she’s game, but seldom looks away from her iPhone.
- 7/22/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" opens with an idyllic scene of an older couple taking a late night stroll around a college campus. A soft tune plays over the scene as the opening credits fade in and out over the picture. If you're a first time watcher, you'd be forgiven for assuming you're about to dive into an easily categorized and digestible movie; a whirlwind romance perhaps, or maybe even a romantic comedy, but you'd be devastatingly wrong.
Before becoming a film, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" was a highly successful Broadway play, written by Edward Albee, that earned five Tony...
The post Elizabeth Taylor Threw Vanity To The Wind For Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? appeared first on /Film.
Before becoming a film, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" was a highly successful Broadway play, written by Edward Albee, that earned five Tony...
The post Elizabeth Taylor Threw Vanity To The Wind For Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? appeared first on /Film.
- 7/15/2022
- by Christian Gainey
- Slash Film
Edward Albee's 1962 play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is one of the sweatiest, most resentful, least pleasant stories about marriage ever seen on a stage. In 1966, director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Ernest Lehman adapted the play into one of the sweatiest, most resentful, least pleasant stories about marriage ever seen on a screen. "Woolf" is a hothouse of wrath and anger designed to make an audience shift uncomfortably in their seats, mentally taking notes as to what they definitely don't want to talk about after the movie is over. Naturally, the film was...
The post Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? Struggled To Keep Its Stars On Set appeared first on /Film.
The post Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? Struggled To Keep Its Stars On Set appeared first on /Film.
- 7/15/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Emmy winner Sarah Paulson (12 Years a Slave), Gotham Award winner Anthony Mackie (Captain America), BAFTA winner Martin Freeman (The Hobbit), and triple Emmy winner Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black) will star in feature Clybourne Park, which is a hot package launching for the Cannes market.
Bruce Norris’ adaptation of his incendiary Pulitzer-, Tony- and Olivier award-winning play about race and real estate in America will to be directed by Pam MacKinnon.
The cast is also joined by Nick Robinson (Maid) and Hillary Baack (Sound of Metal).
Tony Award winner MacKinnon, who makes her feature debut, first launched Norris’ Clybourne Park on Broadway, winning a 2012 Tony Award for Best Play and a nomination for Best Direction.
Producers are Simon Friend (The Father) and BAFTA nominee Kevin Loader (The Death of Stalin), both known for their stage-to-screen adaptations including Friend’s Oscar winner The Father and Loader’s...
Bruce Norris’ adaptation of his incendiary Pulitzer-, Tony- and Olivier award-winning play about race and real estate in America will to be directed by Pam MacKinnon.
The cast is also joined by Nick Robinson (Maid) and Hillary Baack (Sound of Metal).
Tony Award winner MacKinnon, who makes her feature debut, first launched Norris’ Clybourne Park on Broadway, winning a 2012 Tony Award for Best Play and a nomination for Best Direction.
Producers are Simon Friend (The Father) and BAFTA nominee Kevin Loader (The Death of Stalin), both known for their stage-to-screen adaptations including Friend’s Oscar winner The Father and Loader’s...
- 5/11/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
In a Broadway season teeming with exciting plays, musicals, and revivals, a dramatization of a small city council meeting may sound dull. Perhaps in the hands of a lesser playwright than Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts, but his fictional Big Cherry bureaucracy at the center of “The Minutes” is anything but tame. The “August: Osage County” scribe re-teamed with director Anna D. Shapiro for this genre-defying political satire with a horrifying underbelly. The ensemble comprises both New York and Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre mainstays, featuring the likes of Blair Brown, Jessie Mueller, Austin Pendleton, and Letts himself, with Noah Reid making his Broadway debut. “The Minutes” opened at Studio 54 on April 17 for a limited engagement.
Letts’ latest work received overwhelmingly strong notices from critics. In a rave review, Naveen Kumar (Variety) calls the play a “cunning,” “sensational,” and “astonishing feat” handled with “brilliant finesse.” He applauds Letts for penning this “thrilling...
Letts’ latest work received overwhelmingly strong notices from critics. In a rave review, Naveen Kumar (Variety) calls the play a “cunning,” “sensational,” and “astonishing feat” handled with “brilliant finesse.” He applauds Letts for penning this “thrilling...
- 4/20/2022
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
“SNL” host Jake Gyllenhaal and cast member Cecily Strong put their best spin on the classic play and film “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in the sketch “Dinner with the Dean,” which was cut for time from Saturday night’s broadcast.
In the sketch, the “Ambulance” actor and the comedian channeled Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in their portrayal of dysfunctional couple Louis and Vanessa Williams. The “junior dean of the Fine Arts Program at Beige College” and his wife begin to make their dinner guests (played by “SNL” cast members Andrew Dismukes and Chloe Fineman) uncomfortable when they start picking a fight in front of them.
The trouble starts when Fineman’s character announces that they have to leave because “it’s well past nine and we’re trying to have a baby.”
“We almost had one of those once, remember dear?” Vanessa asks her husband. When he blames her,...
In the sketch, the “Ambulance” actor and the comedian channeled Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in their portrayal of dysfunctional couple Louis and Vanessa Williams. The “junior dean of the Fine Arts Program at Beige College” and his wife begin to make their dinner guests (played by “SNL” cast members Andrew Dismukes and Chloe Fineman) uncomfortable when they start picking a fight in front of them.
The trouble starts when Fineman’s character announces that they have to leave because “it’s well past nine and we’re trying to have a baby.”
“We almost had one of those once, remember dear?” Vanessa asks her husband. When he blames her,...
- 4/10/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
Two years ago, siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell shared in four Grammy wins for the album “When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” (Album of the Year; Best Pop Vocal Album) and its single “Bad Guy” (Record of the Year; Song of the Year). Now, they have concurrently earned their first Oscar nominations for co-writing the song “No Time to Die” for the James Bond film of the same name. If they prevail later this month, they will become the fourth brother-sister pair to both be honored by the academy and the first to win for the same film.
The first brother-sister Oscar champs and first sibling winners overall were Douglas Shearer and Norma Shearer. In 1930, he triumphed in the Best Sound category for “The Big House” while she took the Best Actress prize for “The Divorcee.” They were followed by Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore, who respectively...
The first brother-sister Oscar champs and first sibling winners overall were Douglas Shearer and Norma Shearer. In 1930, he triumphed in the Best Sound category for “The Big House” while she took the Best Actress prize for “The Divorcee.” They were followed by Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore, who respectively...
- 3/16/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
In 1972, the ads for the late Peter Bogdanovich’s hilarious throwback “What’s Up, Doc?” promised, “It’s a screwball comedy. Remember those?” If Disney weren’t consigning “Deep Water” to its Hulu streaming service — the fate for most upcoming titles from the 20th Century and Searchlight shingles — they might well have posters that tease, “It’s an erotic thriller. Remember them?”
And who better to save Hollywood cinema from chaste franchises, stolid superheroes, and a general lack of horniness than director Adrian Lyne, returned from a two-decade hiatus to bring heavy breathing back to mainstream movies.
“Deep Water,” a Patricia Highsmith adaptation starring couple-at-the-time Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, doesn’t invoke the beads of sweat that the genre’s best can manage, but it’s a pleasurably trashy reminder of the flashy fun that Lyne and his many imitators once regularly brought to the screen.
Adapted by the...
And who better to save Hollywood cinema from chaste franchises, stolid superheroes, and a general lack of horniness than director Adrian Lyne, returned from a two-decade hiatus to bring heavy breathing back to mainstream movies.
“Deep Water,” a Patricia Highsmith adaptation starring couple-at-the-time Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, doesn’t invoke the beads of sweat that the genre’s best can manage, but it’s a pleasurably trashy reminder of the flashy fun that Lyne and his many imitators once regularly brought to the screen.
Adapted by the...
- 3/16/2022
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Aimee Carrero and Shane Paul McGhie, who had been cast as leads of Prime Video’s college-set spinoff of The Boys, have departed the YA series. Carrero has joined another upcoming Prime Video series, dark comedy The Consultant, as a series regular opposite Christoph Waltz and Nat Wolff. She also has a recurring role in the upcoming Paramount+ limited series The Offer, about the making of The Godfather.
The Boys spinoff, set at America’s only college exclusively for young-adult superheroes, has had a long development history. It’s been in the works at the streamer for about year and a half. The project, originally written by The Boys executive producer Craig Rosenberg, cast its young leads, including Carrero and McGhie, last spring. Several months later, in September 2021, the spinoff received a series greenlight, with Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters coming on board as showrunners.
They have since put...
The Boys spinoff, set at America’s only college exclusively for young-adult superheroes, has had a long development history. It’s been in the works at the streamer for about year and a half. The project, originally written by The Boys executive producer Craig Rosenberg, cast its young leads, including Carrero and McGhie, last spring. Several months later, in September 2021, the spinoff received a series greenlight, with Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters coming on board as showrunners.
They have since put...
- 3/10/2022
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
As of now, there is a lot of uncertainty around Covid when it comes to Broadway. Within the past couple of months, several shows had to suspend performances due to positive cases in their casts, some others had to close permanently, and a couple more are taking hiatuses. The American Theatre Wing also hasn’t announced key dates for this year’s Tony Awards yet.
With that being said, we are now about halfway through the Broadway season, and there are currently 11 productions of plays set to open this spring. Could we be seeing any of them contend at this year’s Tonys? Below is an overview of each play as well as the awards histories of their authors, cast, and directors, plus the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.
“Skeleton Crew” (opened January 26; closes February 20)
This new play by Tony nominee Dominique Morisseau is set in 2008 at a small automotive factory in Detroit,...
With that being said, we are now about halfway through the Broadway season, and there are currently 11 productions of plays set to open this spring. Could we be seeing any of them contend at this year’s Tonys? Below is an overview of each play as well as the awards histories of their authors, cast, and directors, plus the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.
“Skeleton Crew” (opened January 26; closes February 20)
This new play by Tony nominee Dominique Morisseau is set in 2008 at a small automotive factory in Detroit,...
- 2/10/2022
- by Jeffrey Kare
- Gold Derby
Well, if Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz didn’t know who they were taking to the Oscars before, they do now. The married actors earned matching nominations: Best Actor for “Being the Ricardos” and Best Actress for “Parallel Mothers,” respectively. They’re the sixth spouses in Oscar history to earn Oscar acting nominations in the same year.
SEESassy Oscar nominations reactions from our film forum posters: Cheers for Kirsten Dunst, jeers for Lady Gaga snub
Bardem and Cruz join five other couples: Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt; Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner; Elsa Lanchester and Charles Laughton; Rex Harrison and Rachel Roberts; and Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
This is the first time Bardem and Cruz are nominated together, but they have had remarkably similar Oscar track records. Both are nominated for the fourth time. Both won their Oscars on their second try for supporting roles. And both have been...
SEESassy Oscar nominations reactions from our film forum posters: Cheers for Kirsten Dunst, jeers for Lady Gaga snub
Bardem and Cruz join five other couples: Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt; Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner; Elsa Lanchester and Charles Laughton; Rex Harrison and Rachel Roberts; and Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
This is the first time Bardem and Cruz are nominated together, but they have had remarkably similar Oscar track records. Both are nominated for the fourth time. Both won their Oscars on their second try for supporting roles. And both have been...
- 2/9/2022
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
On Thursday, Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz became only the sixth married couple in Oscar history to be nominated in the same year – but when TheWrap told Bardem that the most famous couple to achieve that feat was Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, he had a quick response.
“I hope we don’t end up like they did, right?” he said, laughing as he remembered the famously combative couple who were married in 1964, nominated for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in 1967, divorced in 1974, remarried in 1975 and divorced again in 1976.
In fact, three of the five previous Oscar-nominated couples did split up post-Oscars. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne stayed together after their 1932 nomination, as did Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester after their dual noms in 1957. But in addition to Burton and Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner were nominated in 1953 and divorced four years later, while Rex Harrison and Rachel Roberts...
“I hope we don’t end up like they did, right?” he said, laughing as he remembered the famously combative couple who were married in 1964, nominated for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” in 1967, divorced in 1974, remarried in 1975 and divorced again in 1976.
In fact, three of the five previous Oscar-nominated couples did split up post-Oscars. Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne stayed together after their 1932 nomination, as did Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester after their dual noms in 1957. But in addition to Burton and Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner were nominated in 1953 and divorced four years later, while Rex Harrison and Rachel Roberts...
- 2/8/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
After two years of repeat winners in Best Actress, Oscar voters might go back to yet another familiar face in a few months. Previous Best Actress winners Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) and Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”) are in contention yet again in this category, with some entertaining the possibility that one of them could add a second Oscar to their mantel. Should either of them win, it would end a major Best Actress streak dating back to more than 50 years ago.
Starting in 1967, the Academy began a three-year streak of giving Oscars to leading ladies they had already rewarded before. Elizabeth Taylor kicked off the trend for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and Katharine Hepburn was given her second and third Oscars over the next two years, for “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and “The Lion in Winter,” respectively. Since then, repeat winners in Best Actress have only...
Starting in 1967, the Academy began a three-year streak of giving Oscars to leading ladies they had already rewarded before. Elizabeth Taylor kicked off the trend for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and Katharine Hepburn was given her second and third Oscars over the next two years, for “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and “The Lion in Winter,” respectively. Since then, repeat winners in Best Actress have only...
- 1/31/2022
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
Oscars: Can Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem Be the Fourth Married Couple Nominated in the Same Year?
Penélope Cruz is luxuriously refined in “Parallel Mothers,” a performance that has picked up critical acclaim and notable accolades since debuting at Venice. The voting bloc of the international community is a key demographic that pushed last year’s “The Father” from Florian Zeller, another Sony Pictures Classics feature, to perform exceptionally well with the Academy despite significant misses from key guild groups leading to nominations. Zeller’s film went on to win two major Oscars for adapted screenplay (Zeller and Christopher Hampton) and best actor (Anthony Hopkins).
The awards prospects for Pedro Almodóvar’s Spanish drama have been hindered by the switch in-person to virtual campaigning, which is not unique to all of this year’s contenders. However, the lifeblood of a film like “Parallel Mothers” appeals to and requires the international community’s presence, so the BAFTA snubs nearly across the board are worrisome. Almodóvar, a familiar favorite,...
The awards prospects for Pedro Almodóvar’s Spanish drama have been hindered by the switch in-person to virtual campaigning, which is not unique to all of this year’s contenders. However, the lifeblood of a film like “Parallel Mothers” appeals to and requires the international community’s presence, so the BAFTA snubs nearly across the board are worrisome. Almodóvar, a familiar favorite,...
- 1/27/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
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