Alice Walker published her acclaimed novel “The Color Purple” in 1982. It sold five million copies; Walker became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize and she also received the National Book Club Award. Three years later, Steven Spielberg directed the lauded film version which made stars out of Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. It earned 11 Oscar nominations. The story revolves around a young woman who suffers abuse from her father and husband for four decades until she finds her own identity. Not exactly the stuff of a Broadway musical.
But the 2005 tuner version received strong reviews, ran 910 performances and earned ten Tony nominations, winning best actress for Lachanze. The 2015 production picked up two Tonys for best revival and actress for Cynthia Erivo. The movie musical version opened strong Christmas Day with $18 million and is a strong contender in several Oscar categories especially for Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks.
But the 2005 tuner version received strong reviews, ran 910 performances and earned ten Tony nominations, winning best actress for Lachanze. The 2015 production picked up two Tonys for best revival and actress for Cynthia Erivo. The movie musical version opened strong Christmas Day with $18 million and is a strong contender in several Oscar categories especially for Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks.
- 1/2/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The 2023 Cannes Film Festival just saw the return of Johnny Depp onto the international stage with the premiere of the French language film "Jeanne du Barry" directed by Maïwenn. After dismissing the idea of casting a French actor in the role, Maïwenn turned to Depp to play King Louis Xv in a biopic that focuses on the life of the King of France from September 1715 to his eventual death in 1774. Maïwenn stars alongside Depp as the titular Madame du Barry, a socialite that becomes the favorite concubine of the King in his later years.
Not only is it a surprise to see Depp cast in the role because he's from the U.S., it's somewhat of a shock to see him back on the red carpet at all after he was sent packing from the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise in 2020 due to the domestic abuse allegations raised against him during his...
Not only is it a surprise to see Depp cast in the role because he's from the U.S., it's somewhat of a shock to see him back on the red carpet at all after he was sent packing from the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise in 2020 due to the domestic abuse allegations raised against him during his...
- 5/18/2023
- by Drew Tinnin
- Slash Film
It’s straight in at the deep end with Bertie Carvel. The London actor, who was once the most hated man in the country as Suranne Jones’s cheating suburban hubby in Doctor Foster, is speaking to me about the second season of his Channel 5 detective drama, Dalgliesh. He appears over Zoom from the Hampstead house he grew up in, which he moved back into with his wife during the pandemic. That must have provided some comfort in uncertain times, I proffer. He tilts his head sideways. “Well, it was distressing in some ways, because we moved back here because my mum had passed away.” Oh, right. “It was a lot to encounter all of your history in that way, but amazing, too.” Around the same time, Carvel’s son was born. “I was looking back over my life as he was starting his,” he says. “It was sort...
- 4/24/2023
- by Tom Murray
- The Independent - TV
The films in contention for the 2023 Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar are “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Glass Onion,” “Living,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” and “Women Talking.” Our odds currently indicate that “Women Talking” (10/3) will win the award, followed in order of likelihood by “All Quiet on the Western Front” (37/10), “Glass Onion” (9/2), “Top Gun: Maverick” (9/2), and “Living” (9/2).
“Glass Onion” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” which are, respectively, the first sequels to 2019’s “Knives Out” and 1986’s “Top Gun,” are the first pair of continuation films ever nominated against each other in this category. Included among the seven sequels that have contended here before are winners “The Godfather Part II” (1975) and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004) and nominees “Before Sunset” (2005), “Toy Story 3” (2011), “Before Midnight” (2014), “Logan” (2018), and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (2021).
Of the 11 individual writers in this year’s lineup, only Sarah Polley (“Women Talking”) has competed for this particular award before.
“Glass Onion” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” which are, respectively, the first sequels to 2019’s “Knives Out” and 1986’s “Top Gun,” are the first pair of continuation films ever nominated against each other in this category. Included among the seven sequels that have contended here before are winners “The Godfather Part II” (1975) and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004) and nominees “Before Sunset” (2005), “Toy Story 3” (2011), “Before Midnight” (2014), “Logan” (2018), and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (2021).
Of the 11 individual writers in this year’s lineup, only Sarah Polley (“Women Talking”) has competed for this particular award before.
- 3/11/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Disney has churned out many classic animated hits. However, at the turn of the century, the studio was experiencing a slump and needed something that would revive it. So they decided to take a risk with a movie about an elephant in a nightclub. The movie was in the works for several years, but it eventually got scrapped.
The proposed Disney movie ‘Wild Life’
Production art from Wild Life, an abandoned Disney movie project from the late 1990's. Loosely based on Pygmalion, the movie was the story of an elephant who became a hit on the New York club circuit. pic.twitter.com/sLwdRJAwjF
— Paul Tobin (@PaulTobin) June 3, 2019
During the early 2000s, Disney was not experiencing the incredible success the company was used to. Following hits like The Lion King, the House of Mouse’s releases were not catching on like they used to. And the studio was desperate to...
The proposed Disney movie ‘Wild Life’
Production art from Wild Life, an abandoned Disney movie project from the late 1990's. Loosely based on Pygmalion, the movie was the story of an elephant who became a hit on the New York club circuit. pic.twitter.com/sLwdRJAwjF
— Paul Tobin (@PaulTobin) June 3, 2019
During the early 2000s, Disney was not experiencing the incredible success the company was used to. Following hits like The Lion King, the House of Mouse’s releases were not catching on like they used to. And the studio was desperate to...
- 3/1/2023
- by Andrew Sterrett
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
With the Academy Awards just a month away, it’s the perfect time to look at fun facts, trivia and tidbits for both this year and historically.
John Williams, who just turned 91, reaped his 53rd Oscar nomination for scoring Steven Spielberg’s movie memoir “The Fabelmans.” Three of his five Oscar wins are for Spielberg films. His first Oscar nomination was for Best Music for 1967’s “Valley of the Dolls” and his first win was for Best Music (scoring adaptation and original song score) for 1971’s “Fiddler on the Roof.” And what was the first film he scored? The long-forgotten 1958 Aip release 1958 “Daddy-o.”
In terms of nominations, Williams is second only to Walt Disney. During his 40-plus year film career, he received 26 Oscar — 22 of those were competitive — and a staggering 59 bids. At the 5th Oscars, he won an honorary Oscar for creating Mickey Mouse, while winning the Academy Award for...
John Williams, who just turned 91, reaped his 53rd Oscar nomination for scoring Steven Spielberg’s movie memoir “The Fabelmans.” Three of his five Oscar wins are for Spielberg films. His first Oscar nomination was for Best Music for 1967’s “Valley of the Dolls” and his first win was for Best Music (scoring adaptation and original song score) for 1971’s “Fiddler on the Roof.” And what was the first film he scored? The long-forgotten 1958 Aip release 1958 “Daddy-o.”
In terms of nominations, Williams is second only to Walt Disney. During his 40-plus year film career, he received 26 Oscar — 22 of those were competitive — and a staggering 59 bids. At the 5th Oscars, he won an honorary Oscar for creating Mickey Mouse, while winning the Academy Award for...
- 2/15/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The extremely small group of Nobel laureates who have earned Academy Award nominations grew today by 33. Kazuo Ishiguro, one of the world’s most feted contemporary writers, earned his first Oscar nomination for his adapted screenplay for the film “Living,” which also earned a Best Actor nomination for Bill Nighy. How many other Nobel prize winner have pulled off this feat? And will it help Ishiguro pull off a victory in this competitive category?
Ishiguro is now the fourth winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature to earn an Oscar nomination. The first was George Bernard Shaw, who received the Nobel in 1925 for, in the words of the Nobel committee, “his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty.” He won the Best Screenplay prize in 1939 for adapting his own play “Pygmalion,” sharing the Oscar with Ian Dalrymple,...
Ishiguro is now the fourth winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature to earn an Oscar nomination. The first was George Bernard Shaw, who received the Nobel in 1925 for, in the words of the Nobel committee, “his work which is marked by both idealism and humanity, its stimulating satire often being infused with a singular poetic beauty.” He won the Best Screenplay prize in 1939 for adapting his own play “Pygmalion,” sharing the Oscar with Ian Dalrymple,...
- 1/24/2023
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Fresh from directing several episodes of 2022’s best TV show and Briana Middleton, it’s a twisty, devious little poker game of a film, about trust and betrayal and mysterious sexual politics.
Now that the first trailer has just landed, Caron spoke to Empire to break it down in forensic detail and unveil a few of its delicious secrets — while holding plenty back, too.
Catch me if you Stan
When we first meet Sebastian Stan’s Max, he’s trying to con his new billionaire stepdad Richard (John Lithgow) out of a thousand dollars. This is the film in microcosm, says Caron. “Deception is probably the defining feature of this movie,” he tells Empire. “Sharper is probably less interested in crime specifically and more interested in how people talk, flirt, lie, impersonate, and connive in order to get what they want.” Everyone in this film seems to be engaged in...
Now that the first trailer has just landed, Caron spoke to Empire to break it down in forensic detail and unveil a few of its delicious secrets — while holding plenty back, too.
Catch me if you Stan
When we first meet Sebastian Stan’s Max, he’s trying to con his new billionaire stepdad Richard (John Lithgow) out of a thousand dollars. This is the film in microcosm, says Caron. “Deception is probably the defining feature of this movie,” he tells Empire. “Sharper is probably less interested in crime specifically and more interested in how people talk, flirt, lie, impersonate, and connive in order to get what they want.” Everyone in this film seems to be engaged in...
- 1/12/2023
- by John Nugent
- Empire - Movies
Anthony Asquith’s unusual look at wartime espionage garnered good notices in 1958, perhaps from reviewers rebelling against the trend toward ruthless screen violence. Star Paul Massie is fine as an emotionally-stricken Allied assassin who balks at carrying out his mission; the acting support from Irene Worth and Leslie French is superb. Screenwriter Paul Dehn was an ace at sharp, no-nonsense thrillers, but this story is soft around the edges — it seems to be explaining non-chivalric warfare to your sweet old grandmother. Which reminds us, Lillian Gish has a small role, too.
Orders to Kill
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1958 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 112 93 min. / Street Date September 20, 2022 / available from Amazon / 34.99
Starring: Eddie Albert, Paul Massie, Lillian Gish, James Robertson Justice, Leslie French, Irene Worth, John Crawford, Lionel Jeffries, Sandra Dorne, Lillabea (Lillie Bea) Gifford, Anne Blake, Sam Kydd, Ann Walford, Denyse Alexander, Ralph Nosseck.
Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Art Director: John Howell
Film...
Orders to Kill
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1958 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 112 93 min. / Street Date September 20, 2022 / available from Amazon / 34.99
Starring: Eddie Albert, Paul Massie, Lillian Gish, James Robertson Justice, Leslie French, Irene Worth, John Crawford, Lionel Jeffries, Sandra Dorne, Lillabea (Lillie Bea) Gifford, Anne Blake, Sam Kydd, Ann Walford, Denyse Alexander, Ralph Nosseck.
Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Art Director: John Howell
Film...
- 9/17/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The 2021-2022 Broadway season has been quite a busy one for actor Brandon J. Dirden. First he appeared opposite Phylicia Rashad in Manhattan Theatre Club’s presentation of Dominique Morisseau‘s play “Skeleton Crew” this past winter. Now he can be seen in Second Stage Theater’s revival of Richard Greenberg‘s 2003 Tony-winning play “Take Me Out.” After having previously appeared in award-winning Broadway productions of “Clybourne Park” (2012), “All the Way” (2014), and “Jitney” (2017), will either of Dirden’s two main stem appearances from this past year make him a first-time Tony nominee?
In “Skeleton Crew,” Dirden played Reggie, the manager of one of the last auto stamping plants in Detroit. The company is on shaky ground and the workers have to make choices about how to move forward if their plant goes under. All the while Reggie is torn between doing right by his work family and the red tape in his office.
In “Skeleton Crew,” Dirden played Reggie, the manager of one of the last auto stamping plants in Detroit. The company is on shaky ground and the workers have to make choices about how to move forward if their plant goes under. All the while Reggie is torn between doing right by his work family and the red tape in his office.
- 4/16/2022
- by Jeffrey Kare
- Gold Derby
“This picture is perfect, end of review.” That may not be 100 true, but Leo McCarey’s unabashed leap into romantic Nirvana really hasn’t been bettered, although his color & ‘scope remake is very good. Never was smart adult dialogue this winning — Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer’s cinematic courtship is a highlight of the Big Studio years. And Maria Ouspenskaya’s performance will send you out to pamper the nearest grandmother. The restoration for this one is a revelation, as the show has looked terrible for sixty years- plus. Serge Bromberg and Farran Smith Nehme make the extras especially valuable.
Love Affair
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1114
1939 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 88 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 15, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya, Lee Bowman, Astrid Allwyn, Maurice Moscovitch, Ferike Boros, Scotty Beckett, Bess Flowers, Harold Miller, Dell Henderson, Frank McGlynn, Sr., Joan Leslie.
Cinematography: Rudolph Maté
Art Director: Van Nest Polglase,...
Love Affair
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1114
1939 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 88 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 15, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Maria Ouspenskaya, Lee Bowman, Astrid Allwyn, Maurice Moscovitch, Ferike Boros, Scotty Beckett, Bess Flowers, Harold Miller, Dell Henderson, Frank McGlynn, Sr., Joan Leslie.
Cinematography: Rudolph Maté
Art Director: Van Nest Polglase,...
- 2/26/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
For Gen-x viewers, He’s All That is a story we’ve seen before: Pygmalion or My Fair Lady, but updated with cultural references, settings, and technology that make the story of the lesson behind the plot—that the person you are is more important than the image you put forth—more connected to a modern audience. But digital natives who have grown up with as much with TikTok as with teen movie tropes will have a far richer experience, recognizing the cast not only as actors, but as the same influencers they’re playing.
From director Mark Waters, this update, a gender-bent response to 1999’s iconic She’s All That, features a young influencer who, due to the live broadcast of a messy breakup with her budding rock-star boyfriend, loses her sponsorship (and is outed as the poor girl she truly is). The only way to get her sponsor back and...
From director Mark Waters, this update, a gender-bent response to 1999’s iconic She’s All That, features a young influencer who, due to the live broadcast of a messy breakup with her budding rock-star boyfriend, loses her sponsorship (and is outed as the poor girl she truly is). The only way to get her sponsor back and...
- 8/31/2021
- by Kayti Burt
- Den of Geek
Before anyone labels “He’s All That” as a rote remake, consider this: It’s a reimagining that — unlike “She’s All That” or the source material that inspired it, George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” — is rooted primarily in the female perspective. It’s a shame though that director Mark Waters and returning screenwriter R. Lee Fleming Jr. don’t put a savvier spin on the conventional, frequently-lampooned tropes and clichés. And while it’s possible to make the formulaic and familiar resound fantastically, that concept has evaded these filmmakers here. Neither bland regurgitation nor innovative retelling, the remake falls somewhere in between, suffering greatly by not establishing a more distinctive identity.
Social media influencer Padgett (TikTok superstar Addison Rae) lives the perfect life — at least, that’s what she wants everyone to believe. She has a 4.0 Gpa and dates burgeoning music superstar Jordan (Peyton Meyer), and her besties Alden (Madison Pettis...
Social media influencer Padgett (TikTok superstar Addison Rae) lives the perfect life — at least, that’s what she wants everyone to believe. She has a 4.0 Gpa and dates burgeoning music superstar Jordan (Peyton Meyer), and her besties Alden (Madison Pettis...
- 8/27/2021
- by Courtney Howard
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has shared the first trailer for He’s All That, a reimagined version of the 1999 teen rom-com She’s All That. The new film stars TikTok star Addison Rae and Tanner Buchanan in the lead roles and premieres August 27th on the streaming platform.
In a gender-swapped version of She’s All That (which, in turn, is based on the stage shows Pygmalion and My Fair Lady), the film stars Rae as Padgett Sawyer, an aspiring beauty influencer who is tasked with turning the least popular boy in her high school, Cameron Kweller (Buchanan), into prom king.
In a gender-swapped version of She’s All That (which, in turn, is based on the stage shows Pygmalion and My Fair Lady), the film stars Rae as Padgett Sawyer, an aspiring beauty influencer who is tasked with turning the least popular boy in her high school, Cameron Kweller (Buchanan), into prom king.
- 8/4/2021
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
Few auteurs today have as consistent a track record as German director Christian Petzold, whose enviable output is on display on Mubi this month, hooked to the national release on over 50 screens of his ninth feature, “Undine,” out now from IFC Films. It’s the filmmaker’s second film starring the “Transit” duo of Franz Rogowski and Paula Beer, who won the 2020 Berlin Silver Bear as well as the European Film Award for Best Actress. This time, Petzold twists an ancient mermaid myth into a visually stunning and romantic ecological message movie. After the Berlinale, “Undine” played well in theaters in Germany just under the wire before Covid created a global lockdown.
On a recent IndieWire Zoom from his book-filled office apartment in Berlin, where Petzold completed two pandemic scripts and went on a movie-watching spree as he recovered from Covid-19, he shared some views about how to make entertaining...
On a recent IndieWire Zoom from his book-filled office apartment in Berlin, where Petzold completed two pandemic scripts and went on a movie-watching spree as he recovered from Covid-19, he shared some views about how to make entertaining...
- 6/6/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Few auteurs today have as consistent a track record as German director Christian Petzold, whose enviable output is on display on Mubi this month, hooked to the national release on over 50 screens of his ninth feature, “Undine,” out now from IFC Films. It’s the filmmaker’s second film starring the “Transit” duo of Franz Rogowski and Paula Beer, who won the 2020 Berlin Silver Bear as well as the European Film Award for Best Actress. This time, Petzold twists an ancient mermaid myth into a visually stunning and romantic ecological message movie. After the Berlinale, “Undine” played well in theaters in Germany just under the wire before Covid created a global lockdown.
On a recent IndieWire Zoom from his book-filled office apartment in Berlin, where Petzold completed two pandemic scripts and went on a movie-watching spree as he recovered from Covid-19, he shared some views about how to make entertaining...
On a recent IndieWire Zoom from his book-filled office apartment in Berlin, where Petzold completed two pandemic scripts and went on a movie-watching spree as he recovered from Covid-19, he shared some views about how to make entertaining...
- 6/6/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Producer was longtime BAFTA LA board member.
Paul Heller, the US producer whose credits included Withnail & I and Enter The Dragon and My Left Foot as executive producer, died on December 28 in Los Angeles. He was 93.
Heller, a longtime board member of BAFTA LA, was born in New York on September 25, 1927, and spent many years in England producing some of his most acclaimed films.
His first feature, the 1962 mental health drama David And Lisa directed by Frank Perry, earned two Oscar nominations for directing and for Eleanor Perry’s adapted screenplay.
Encouraged to pursue his career with gusto, Heller...
Paul Heller, the US producer whose credits included Withnail & I and Enter The Dragon and My Left Foot as executive producer, died on December 28 in Los Angeles. He was 93.
Heller, a longtime board member of BAFTA LA, was born in New York on September 25, 1927, and spent many years in England producing some of his most acclaimed films.
His first feature, the 1962 mental health drama David And Lisa directed by Frank Perry, earned two Oscar nominations for directing and for Eleanor Perry’s adapted screenplay.
Encouraged to pursue his career with gusto, Heller...
- 12/31/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Announced deal-making out of the virtual AFM has been deafeningly quiet so far, but Cornerstone Films was among sellers to clock up strong pre-sales, we can reveal.
We’ve heard from buyers that two of Cornerstone’s light-hearted Brit pics were among their favourites: Emma Thompson sex therapy comedy Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, and Helena Bonham Carter-Pierce Brosnan rom-com Not Bloody Likely, exploring the story behind the 1914 West End production of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Buyers flocked to the former despite the script not being available yet.
Not Bloody Likely has pre-sold to Studiocanal for UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand; Dea Planeta for Spain; FilmCoopi for Switzerland; and Terry Steiner International for World Airlines.
Good Luck To You, Leo Grande has been picked up by Wild Bunch for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and France; Scanbox for Scandinavia; Entertainment Bv for Benelux; Forum...
We’ve heard from buyers that two of Cornerstone’s light-hearted Brit pics were among their favourites: Emma Thompson sex therapy comedy Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, and Helena Bonham Carter-Pierce Brosnan rom-com Not Bloody Likely, exploring the story behind the 1914 West End production of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Buyers flocked to the former despite the script not being available yet.
Not Bloody Likely has pre-sold to Studiocanal for UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand; Dea Planeta for Spain; FilmCoopi for Switzerland; and Terry Steiner International for World Airlines.
Good Luck To You, Leo Grande has been picked up by Wild Bunch for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and France; Scanbox for Scandinavia; Entertainment Bv for Benelux; Forum...
- 11/19/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Helena Bonham Carter and Pierce Brosnan are set to star in a romantic comedy called “Not Bloody Likely” that tracks the true story of a 1914 production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” the story that would eventually become the musical “My Fair Lady.”
“Last Chance Harvey” director Joel Hopkins will direct the film that is being presented to buyers at the American Film Market. Production hopes to begin on the film in the U.K. in spring 2021.
Brosnan will star as Shaw, who is determined to get actress Pat Campbell (Bonham Carter) to play the role of Eliza Doolittle in his now-classic play. But his real intention is to woo her and rekindle their past love. The whole story is seen through the eyes of a young producing assistant who is tasked with finding a “real” Flower Girl who might help Campbell become Eliza, only to spark his own romance.
“Last Chance Harvey” director Joel Hopkins will direct the film that is being presented to buyers at the American Film Market. Production hopes to begin on the film in the U.K. in spring 2021.
Brosnan will star as Shaw, who is determined to get actress Pat Campbell (Bonham Carter) to play the role of Eliza Doolittle in his now-classic play. But his real intention is to woo her and rekindle their past love. The whole story is seen through the eyes of a young producing assistant who is tasked with finding a “real” Flower Girl who might help Campbell become Eliza, only to spark his own romance.
- 11/2/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown”) and Pierce Brosnan (“Mamma Mia!”) will star in “Not Bloody Likely,” from writer/director Joel Hopkins (“Hampstead”).
The film will explore the true story behind the 1914 West End production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” which was later re-made into Oscar-winning musical “My Fair Lady.”
Cornerstone Films is handling the worldwide sales rights and will commence sales at the American Film Market.
“Not Bloody Likely” was developed and is produced by Adam Rolston and David Braithwaite (“A Street Cat Named Bob”)
under their new banner Studio Pictures. It will go into production in the U.K. in the spring of 2021.
Rolston and Braithwaite said: “This is exactly the kind of film the world needs right now. A feel-good story that will make you laugh and make you cry for the right reasons.”
Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder of Cornerstone said: “Joel’s wonderfully entertaining script...
The film will explore the true story behind the 1914 West End production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” which was later re-made into Oscar-winning musical “My Fair Lady.”
Cornerstone Films is handling the worldwide sales rights and will commence sales at the American Film Market.
“Not Bloody Likely” was developed and is produced by Adam Rolston and David Braithwaite (“A Street Cat Named Bob”)
under their new banner Studio Pictures. It will go into production in the U.K. in the spring of 2021.
Rolston and Braithwaite said: “This is exactly the kind of film the world needs right now. A feel-good story that will make you laugh and make you cry for the right reasons.”
Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder of Cornerstone said: “Joel’s wonderfully entertaining script...
- 11/2/2020
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Helena Bonham Carter and Pierce Brosnan have been set to lead Not Bloody Likely, a romantic comedy exploring the true story of the 1914 West End production of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion.
In the movie, Shaw (Brosnan) has written his masterpiece Pygmalion (which would later be adapted into the Oscar-winning musical My Fair Lady) and is determined for the great Mrs. Pat Campbell (Bonham Carter) to play the role of Eliza Doolittle. But is her casting just a chance for Shaw to rekindle his once great love, the one that got away?
Joel Hopkins (Hampstead) has written and is directing the film, he previously helmed comedy The Love Punch starring Brosnan. Project is being produced by Adam Rolston and David Braithwaite, the pair behind the successful A Streetcat Named Bob and sequel A Christmas Gift From Bob, through their Studio Pictures banner. Production is set for the UK in...
In the movie, Shaw (Brosnan) has written his masterpiece Pygmalion (which would later be adapted into the Oscar-winning musical My Fair Lady) and is determined for the great Mrs. Pat Campbell (Bonham Carter) to play the role of Eliza Doolittle. But is her casting just a chance for Shaw to rekindle his once great love, the one that got away?
Joel Hopkins (Hampstead) has written and is directing the film, he previously helmed comedy The Love Punch starring Brosnan. Project is being produced by Adam Rolston and David Braithwaite, the pair behind the successful A Streetcat Named Bob and sequel A Christmas Gift From Bob, through their Studio Pictures banner. Production is set for the UK in...
- 11/2/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
TikTok star Addison Rae Easterling has been cast in the upcoming remake of the 1999 teen comedy “She’s All That.”
The gender-swapped reboot, titled “He’s All That,” has been in the works for years and recently started to gain traction again. Mark Waters, the filmmaker behind “Mean Girls” and “Freaky Friday,” is set to direct.
The film will reimagine the plot from a teenage girl’s perspective, with Easterling taking on a role inspired by Freddie Prinze Jr.’s character Zackary Siler from the original. “She’s All That” — a modern-day take on George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” and the 1964 movie “My Fair Lady” — centered a popular high school jock who, after getting dumped by his girlfriend, attempts to transform one of the school’s nerdy outcasts into the next prom queen.
“He’s All That” puts a 21st century spin on the original, with the remake following an influencer who...
The gender-swapped reboot, titled “He’s All That,” has been in the works for years and recently started to gain traction again. Mark Waters, the filmmaker behind “Mean Girls” and “Freaky Friday,” is set to direct.
The film will reimagine the plot from a teenage girl’s perspective, with Easterling taking on a role inspired by Freddie Prinze Jr.’s character Zackary Siler from the original. “She’s All That” — a modern-day take on George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” and the 1964 movie “My Fair Lady” — centered a popular high school jock who, after getting dumped by his girlfriend, attempts to transform one of the school’s nerdy outcasts into the next prom queen.
“He’s All That” puts a 21st century spin on the original, with the remake following an influencer who...
- 9/11/2020
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Diana Rigg, best known for her iconic turn on The Avengers, and memorable roles on Game of Thrones and Theatre of Blood, died Sept. 10, at home with her family at the age of 82, according to Variety. “It is with tremendous sadness that we announce that Dame Diana Rigg died peacefully early this morning. She was at home with her family who have asked for privacy at this difficult time,” her agent Simon Beresford said in a statement. “Dame Diana was an icon of theatre, film, and television. She was the recipient of BAFTA, Emmy, Tony and Evening Standard Awards for her work on stage and screen. Dame Diana was a much loved and admired member of her profession, a force of nature who loved her work and her fellow actors. She will be greatly missed.”
Rigg was diagnosed with cancer in March, according to her daughter Rachael Stirling, who said...
Rigg was diagnosed with cancer in March, according to her daughter Rachael Stirling, who said...
- 9/10/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
The show must go on. At least the Venice Film Festival must go on. Even a pandemic can’t stop the oldest international film festival from taking place Sept. 2 through Sept. 12 in the picturesque of grand canals. Of course, safety is first with masks, social distancing etc. are all in place as critics get a first glance at possible award-winners.
Over the past seven years, the festival has held world premieres of such Oscar-winners as 2013’s “Gravity”; 2014’s “Birdman”; 2015’s “Spotlight”; 2016’s “La La Land”; 2017’s “The Shape of Water”; 2018’s “Roma”; and 2019’s “Joker.” Only two films that won the festival’s top prize have gone on to win Best Picture at the Oscars: 1948’s “Hamlet” and 2017’s “The Shape of Water.”
The festival began in 1932 as part of the Venice Biennale, the city’s legendary exhibition of the arts under the guidance of President of the Biennale, Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata,...
Over the past seven years, the festival has held world premieres of such Oscar-winners as 2013’s “Gravity”; 2014’s “Birdman”; 2015’s “Spotlight”; 2016’s “La La Land”; 2017’s “The Shape of Water”; 2018’s “Roma”; and 2019’s “Joker.” Only two films that won the festival’s top prize have gone on to win Best Picture at the Oscars: 1948’s “Hamlet” and 2017’s “The Shape of Water.”
The festival began in 1932 as part of the Venice Biennale, the city’s legendary exhibition of the arts under the guidance of President of the Biennale, Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata,...
- 9/2/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
“She’s All That” changed Rachael Leigh Cook’s life. The 1999 teen romantic comedy — a modern-day retelling of “Pygmalion” — starred Cook as Laney Boggs, a homely, artsy outcast who transforms, in late ’90s parlance, into a “total hottie” and captures the heart of the high school heartthrob, played by Freddie Prinze Jr.
When the movie opened in theaters, it grossed $103 million worldwide, birthed a chart-topping soundtrack (thanks to Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me”) and made both of its leads into sought-after commodities in Hollywood.
It’s an experience Cook, now 40, looks back on with nostalgic fondness.
“I’m just grateful every day that I didn’t come of age in the era of camera phones, and yet, that makes me sound way more scandalous than I actually was,” says Cook, who started acting professionally at age 14.
But Cook still grapples with how to describe the formative years of her career.
When the movie opened in theaters, it grossed $103 million worldwide, birthed a chart-topping soundtrack (thanks to Sixpence None the Richer’s “Kiss Me”) and made both of its leads into sought-after commodities in Hollywood.
It’s an experience Cook, now 40, looks back on with nostalgic fondness.
“I’m just grateful every day that I didn’t come of age in the era of camera phones, and yet, that makes me sound way more scandalous than I actually was,” says Cook, who started acting professionally at age 14.
But Cook still grapples with how to describe the formative years of her career.
- 9/1/2020
- by Audrey Cleo Yap
- Variety Film + TV
Imagine a Japanese version of “Pygmalion” in which the sculptor continues to caress slabs of marble even after Galatea has come to life. That is the unusual premise of “Romance Doll,” a marital drama in which a sex doll maker’s rapt obssession with his new prototype, leads to rejection of his human muse. Directed by Yuki Tanada, from her own 2009 novel of the same title, the film initially holds promise to become a liberating erotic art film against the objectification of the female body. However,
Although it’s underlying attitudes about female sexuality might be problematic for female and feminist viewers, its suggestive subject matter (handled without offensive kinkiness) will set many an imaginative mind sprinting. “Romance Doll” was snapped up for theatrical release by several Asian territories. Following a premiere at Udine Far East Film Festival, it starts streaming on Netflix on July 24.
Films that make sex dolls their subject,...
Although it’s underlying attitudes about female sexuality might be problematic for female and feminist viewers, its suggestive subject matter (handled without offensive kinkiness) will set many an imaginative mind sprinting. “Romance Doll” was snapped up for theatrical release by several Asian territories. Following a premiere at Udine Far East Film Festival, it starts streaming on Netflix on July 24.
Films that make sex dolls their subject,...
- 7/15/2020
- by Maggie Lee
- Variety Film + TV
In 1964, Variety reviewer Robert J. Landry was over the moon about the Paramount movie “Becket,” which Edward Anhalt scripted from Jean Anouilh’s play. Landry said the film was “invigorated by story substance, personality clash, bright dialogue and religious interest. Patrons and perhaps reviewers will tend to heap credit on the actors. They deserve it … but the film proves again that a great film is the harmoniously combined amalgam of many professional talents.” The result, he said, is “an intellectual as well as an emotional experience.”
He was talking about the Peter Glenville-directed movie, but those exact words also describe Netflix’s “The Two Popes.” The film scored three Oscar noms, for lead actor Jonathan Pryce, supporting for Anthony Hopkins and the script by Anthony McCarten (his fourth Oscar nomination in six years).
In conversation, McCarten cites “Becket” as one of the films that impressed him when he was young,...
He was talking about the Peter Glenville-directed movie, but those exact words also describe Netflix’s “The Two Popes.” The film scored three Oscar noms, for lead actor Jonathan Pryce, supporting for Anthony Hopkins and the script by Anthony McCarten (his fourth Oscar nomination in six years).
In conversation, McCarten cites “Becket” as one of the films that impressed him when he was young,...
- 2/3/2020
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Sam Mendes’ acclaimed World War I epic “1917” graphically shows how the Great War was indeed hell. And numerous actors and filmmakers were there on the front lines or bravely engaging in dogfights in the sky over France. Just as Mendes’ illustrates in “1917,” the combat took its toll on these soldiers who went on to fame in feature films. Numerous were wounded, gassed and even were POWs. Needless to say, the majority were never the same.
Here’s a look at 10 actors, who became stars during the Golden Age of Hollywood, who participated in World War I
Humphrey Bogart
Long before he uttered “Here’s looking at you kid” in 1942’s “Casablanca,” the Oscar-winning superstar was a teenager when he enlisted in the Navy in May of 1918 where he was assigned to the ship the Leviathan. And it was during this time, he suffered the injury that created the scar on...
Here’s a look at 10 actors, who became stars during the Golden Age of Hollywood, who participated in World War I
Humphrey Bogart
Long before he uttered “Here’s looking at you kid” in 1942’s “Casablanca,” the Oscar-winning superstar was a teenager when he enlisted in the Navy in May of 1918 where he was assigned to the ship the Leviathan. And it was during this time, he suffered the injury that created the scar on...
- 12/30/2019
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
He said a strong “personal and professional relationship” had grown-up between him and Haenel.
French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia has responded to public accusations by actress Adèle Haenel that he molested her over a period of three years, after casting her in his 2001 feature The Devils, when she was 12-years old.
Haenel made the revelations in a bombshell interview which French investigative news site Mediapart, which was posted on November 3.
Ruggia, who was 36-years old when the alleged abuse began, was a respected figure in the French film industry. He issued a written response via his lawyer to the Mediapart news...
French filmmaker Christophe Ruggia has responded to public accusations by actress Adèle Haenel that he molested her over a period of three years, after casting her in his 2001 feature The Devils, when she was 12-years old.
Haenel made the revelations in a bombshell interview which French investigative news site Mediapart, which was posted on November 3.
Ruggia, who was 36-years old when the alleged abuse began, was a respected figure in the French film industry. He issued a written response via his lawyer to the Mediapart news...
- 11/7/2019
- by 1100380¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
The Paris prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation Wednesday into Christophe Ruggia, the filmmaker who has been accused by French actress Adele Haenel of sexual harassment and unwanted touching for several years from the time she was 12.
“Following the publication of an article in Mediapart on Nov. 3, the Paris prosecutor’s office has opened a preliminary investigation into sexual aggression against a minor by a person of authority and sexual harassement,” the prosecutor’s spokesperson confirmed to Variety.
Although Haenel has not filed a police complaint and told Mediapart she wouldn’t pursue legal action against Ruggia, the Paris prosecutor went ahead with opening the preliminary investigation, according to the spokesperson.
In the article published in Mediapart, an investigative website, Haenel said that Ruggia, who directed her in the 2002 drama “The Devils” (“Les diables”), repeatedly made advances toward her, including unwanted touching and kisses, and harassed her for three years starting...
“Following the publication of an article in Mediapart on Nov. 3, the Paris prosecutor’s office has opened a preliminary investigation into sexual aggression against a minor by a person of authority and sexual harassement,” the prosecutor’s spokesperson confirmed to Variety.
Although Haenel has not filed a police complaint and told Mediapart she wouldn’t pursue legal action against Ruggia, the Paris prosecutor went ahead with opening the preliminary investigation, according to the spokesperson.
In the article published in Mediapart, an investigative website, Haenel said that Ruggia, who directed her in the 2002 drama “The Devils” (“Les diables”), repeatedly made advances toward her, including unwanted touching and kisses, and harassed her for three years starting...
- 11/6/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Following accusations made by French actress Adele Haenel against director Christophe Ruggia, the Paris prosecutor’s office has opened a preliminary investigation into “sexual aggression of a minor by a person of authority.” Haenel in her initial allegations said she would not pursue legal action. Rather, the case has been opened by authorities themselves, according to reports. This morning, the Minister of Justice, Nicole Belloubet, told France Inter radio it would be advisable for Haenel to go to court.
In an extensive Mediapart piece published this weekend, Portrait Of A Lady star Haenel claimed Ruggia began harassing her after she was cast in his 2002 drama The Devils. She said that advances took place on numerous occasions and continued until she was 15.
Ruggia said in a statement on Sunday that he “categorically refutes” any misconduct and that he and Haenel had a “professional and affectionate relationship.” On Monday, he was expelled...
In an extensive Mediapart piece published this weekend, Portrait Of A Lady star Haenel claimed Ruggia began harassing her after she was cast in his 2002 drama The Devils. She said that advances took place on numerous occasions and continued until she was 15.
Ruggia said in a statement on Sunday that he “categorically refutes” any misconduct and that he and Haenel had a “professional and affectionate relationship.” On Monday, he was expelled...
- 11/6/2019
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Rupert Everett will take over for the previously announced Eddie Izzard as George in director Joe Mantello’s upcoming Broadway staging of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? co-starring Laurie Metcalf as Martha.
The announcement was made today by producers Scott Rudin/Barry Diller/David Geffen, who said Izzard is leaving the production due to scheduling conflicts.
The revival will also feature Russell Tovey and Patsy Ferran, and begins its limited engagement Monday, March 2, 2020, with an official opening night set for Thursday, April 2 at a Shubert Theatre to be announced.
Everett’s casting marks the actor’s return to Broadway after a 10-year absence.
Everett’s stage career began in London’s West End in 1981 with Another Country (he later starred in the film version). Since then he’s appeared on the London stage...
The announcement was made today by producers Scott Rudin/Barry Diller/David Geffen, who said Izzard is leaving the production due to scheduling conflicts.
The revival will also feature Russell Tovey and Patsy Ferran, and begins its limited engagement Monday, March 2, 2020, with an official opening night set for Thursday, April 2 at a Shubert Theatre to be announced.
Everett’s casting marks the actor’s return to Broadway after a 10-year absence.
Everett’s stage career began in London’s West End in 1981 with Another Country (he later starred in the film version). Since then he’s appeared on the London stage...
- 9/11/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Collin Chou, best known for his role as Seraph from The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, will play Edwin Chiu in the Netflix film, The Half of It, written and directed by Alice Wu. The project, the follow up to Wu’s 2004 film, Saving Face, the pic navigates the struggles of an immigrant family against the backdrop of an Americana teenage angst romantic comedy. The plot is said to be a modern day Cyrano-meets-Pygmalion centered on a shy, introverted, Chinese-American, straight-a student who finds herself helping the school jock woo the girl they both secretly love. In the process, each teaches the other about the nature of love as they find a connection in the most unlikely of places. Chou’s Edwin Chiu is struggling immigrant father of Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) who was a highly educated engineer whose promising career was derailed by his poor English skills when he moved to America.
- 6/11/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Girish Karnad was one of the true intellectuals of post Independent India. A polyglot, playwright, actor, film maker, aesthete, scholar, teacher, critic and a humanist Girish was never a close friend but someone whom I always looked forward to meeting.
We came to know each other around 1972 through several common friends like Shyam Benegal, Basu Chatterjee, Satyadev Dubey and B.V. Karanth though I was acquainted with his work from the mid-sixties. His plays 'Yayati' (1961), 'Tughlaq' (1964), 'Hayavadana' (1972) and 'Nagamandala' (1988) rank among the finest Indian plays post-Independence.
A Rhodes scholar, Girish interestingly started by reading Mathematics in college. He was to become a scholar in history, literature, cinema and stagecraft. He was steeped in Indian tradition and had a deep study of our mythology, specially the Mahabharata.
He has won practically every award which an artiste in India can aspire for - Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award, Kalidas Samman, Jnanpith Award,...
We came to know each other around 1972 through several common friends like Shyam Benegal, Basu Chatterjee, Satyadev Dubey and B.V. Karanth though I was acquainted with his work from the mid-sixties. His plays 'Yayati' (1961), 'Tughlaq' (1964), 'Hayavadana' (1972) and 'Nagamandala' (1988) rank among the finest Indian plays post-Independence.
A Rhodes scholar, Girish interestingly started by reading Mathematics in college. He was to become a scholar in history, literature, cinema and stagecraft. He was steeped in Indian tradition and had a deep study of our mythology, specially the Mahabharata.
He has won practically every award which an artiste in India can aspire for - Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award, Kalidas Samman, Jnanpith Award,...
- 6/11/2019
- GlamSham
In Long Shot, Seth Rogan’s goofy loser bags the refined Charlize Theron, following in the footsteps of too many romantic comedies
Long Shot stretches the romcom concept of “opposites attract” to breaking point. In one corner we have Charlize Theron: smart, beautiful, powerful, cultivated. In the other, Seth Rogen, in a teal cagoule. She is Us secretary of state; he is an unemployed journalist. What can he possibly bring to the party? They meet at a glitzy Manhattan fundraiser, to which Rogen rocks up in his cagoule, then falls down a flight of stairs. But still she employs him as her speechwriter and romance inexplicably kindles. He doesn’t even change out of the cagoule until halfway through the film, when one of Theron’s aides asks if he has any “grownup clothes”.
This glaring mismatch is the whole point of Long Shot, of course. It is supposedly an...
Long Shot stretches the romcom concept of “opposites attract” to breaking point. In one corner we have Charlize Theron: smart, beautiful, powerful, cultivated. In the other, Seth Rogen, in a teal cagoule. She is Us secretary of state; he is an unemployed journalist. What can he possibly bring to the party? They meet at a glitzy Manhattan fundraiser, to which Rogen rocks up in his cagoule, then falls down a flight of stairs. But still she employs him as her speechwriter and romance inexplicably kindles. He doesn’t even change out of the cagoule until halfway through the film, when one of Theron’s aides asks if he has any “grownup clothes”.
This glaring mismatch is the whole point of Long Shot, of course. It is supposedly an...
- 4/29/2019
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Netflix has started production on The Half of It, writer-director Alice Wu’s follow-up to her 2004 feature film Saving Face. The new movie joins Netflix’s expanding roster of live-action teen-focused films like Tall Girl and A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting.
As the follow-up to the Sony Pictures Classics release Saving Face, The Half of It is described by Netflix as “a modern day Cyrano-meets-Pygmalion” in which “a shy, introverted, Chinese-American, straight-a student finds herself helping the school jock woo the girl they both secretly love. In the process, each teaches the other about the nature of love as they find connection in the most unlikely of places.”
The cast includes Leah Lewis (Charmed) as Ellie Chu; Daniel Diemer (Sacred Lies) as Paul Munksy; Alexxis Lemire (The Other Mother) as Aster Flores; Becky Ann Baker (Girls) as Mrs. Geselschap; Catherine Curtin (Orange is the New Black) as Colleen Munsky,...
As the follow-up to the Sony Pictures Classics release Saving Face, The Half of It is described by Netflix as “a modern day Cyrano-meets-Pygmalion” in which “a shy, introverted, Chinese-American, straight-a student finds herself helping the school jock woo the girl they both secretly love. In the process, each teaches the other about the nature of love as they find connection in the most unlikely of places.”
The cast includes Leah Lewis (Charmed) as Ellie Chu; Daniel Diemer (Sacred Lies) as Paul Munksy; Alexxis Lemire (The Other Mother) as Aster Flores; Becky Ann Baker (Girls) as Mrs. Geselschap; Catherine Curtin (Orange is the New Black) as Colleen Munsky,...
- 4/22/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s expressive silent filmmaking at its best — Anthony Asquith vies with Alfred Hitchcock for direction in silent-era England. Elissa Landi and Brian Aherne meet in the Tube but become entangled in the jealous scheme of the jealous Cyril McLaglen. Restored just a few years back after being unavailable for generations, this is a beauty: the BFI gives it a full orchestral orchestra score, plus a second avant-garde ‘contextual audio’ track.
Underground
Blu-ray
Kino Classics / BFI
1928 / B&W / 1:33 silent ap. / 93 min. / Street Date April 23, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Elissa Landi, Brian Aherne, Cyril McLaglen, Norah Baring.
Cinematography: Stanley Rodwell
Art Direction: Ian Campbell-Gray
Written and Directed by Anthony Asquith
If one was asked to come up with the name of a ‘tame’ English director, the answer a while back might have been Anthony Asquith, a privileged toff whose post-grad lark was to spend a year in Hollywood, learning all...
Underground
Blu-ray
Kino Classics / BFI
1928 / B&W / 1:33 silent ap. / 93 min. / Street Date April 23, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Elissa Landi, Brian Aherne, Cyril McLaglen, Norah Baring.
Cinematography: Stanley Rodwell
Art Direction: Ian Campbell-Gray
Written and Directed by Anthony Asquith
If one was asked to come up with the name of a ‘tame’ English director, the answer a while back might have been Anthony Asquith, a privileged toff whose post-grad lark was to spend a year in Hollywood, learning all...
- 3/30/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper lead the latest incarnation of the films that have, since 1937, told a simple yet resonant story of life in the impossible spotlight
A man stands on the stage. The sun is setting on his career but he is – for now – still in the spotlight. He suddenly reaches out into the shadows and plucks a woman from the crowd. She takes the spotlight from him, and he self-destructs into oblivion.
Hollywood is built on remakes and reinventions, but the most interesting and certainly the longest-running of these first emerged more than a decade before the first Superman movie. A Star Is Born, which gets its fourth outing next week after months of ecstatic hype, is now 81 years old and has starred, in its various incarnations, increasingly improbable pairings: Janet Gaynor and Fredric March in the 1937 original; Judy Garland and James Mason in the 1954 remake; Barbra Streisand...
A man stands on the stage. The sun is setting on his career but he is – for now – still in the spotlight. He suddenly reaches out into the shadows and plucks a woman from the crowd. She takes the spotlight from him, and he self-destructs into oblivion.
Hollywood is built on remakes and reinventions, but the most interesting and certainly the longest-running of these first emerged more than a decade before the first Superman movie. A Star Is Born, which gets its fourth outing next week after months of ecstatic hype, is now 81 years old and has starred, in its various incarnations, increasingly improbable pairings: Janet Gaynor and Fredric March in the 1937 original; Judy Garland and James Mason in the 1954 remake; Barbra Streisand...
- 9/28/2018
- by Hadley Freeman
- The Guardian - Film News
Foreplays is a column that explores under-known short films by renowned directors. Brian De Palma's Woton's Wake (1962) is free to watch below.Woton’s Wake is Brian De Palma’s third short film, made when he was a student at Columbia University. Watched today, Woton’s Wake signals a strong tendency in the filmmaker’s career: his investment in collage. Collage takes many forms in De Palma’s cinema. It’s in his taste for mosaic-narratives that merge almost-autonomous plot lines. It’s in the way he fits together disparate tones, genres, and styles of acting. It’s in the play with surfaces and depth, fostered by some of his favorite ‘composite’ images—split screens, materialized memory flashes or mental hypotheses, split focus diopter shots. It’s in his very conception of reality as a complex puzzle that can only be grasped via a laborious reconstruction and rearrangement of the pieces.
- 9/3/2018
- MUBI
A starry cast, including Harvey Keitel and Rossy de Palma, can’t save this sentimental tale of super-rich Americans in Paris
Madame is an oddity in some ways: a brisk, cynical-yet-sentimental farce set among super-rich American expatriates in Paris, the first English-language film from French director, dramatist and novelist Amanda Sthers (born Amanda Queffélec-Maruani). It’s weirdly dated, and the Pygmalion plot device and metropolitan sexiness make it look like a movie that could have come out in the mid-60s.
As it stands, Madame is probably destined to be viewed on late-night TV or long-haul flights. Yet it has a very good cast. Harvey Keitel is wealthy Bob, now on his sleek second wife (and former golf instructor) Anne, icily insistent on her newfound social prestige – stylishly played by Toni Collette. Bob is in financial trouble and needs to unload a Caravaggio in his possession. To facilitate this, Anne...
Madame is an oddity in some ways: a brisk, cynical-yet-sentimental farce set among super-rich American expatriates in Paris, the first English-language film from French director, dramatist and novelist Amanda Sthers (born Amanda Queffélec-Maruani). It’s weirdly dated, and the Pygmalion plot device and metropolitan sexiness make it look like a movie that could have come out in the mid-60s.
As it stands, Madame is probably destined to be viewed on late-night TV or long-haul flights. Yet it has a very good cast. Harvey Keitel is wealthy Bob, now on his sleek second wife (and former golf instructor) Anne, icily insistent on her newfound social prestige – stylishly played by Toni Collette. Bob is in financial trouble and needs to unload a Caravaggio in his possession. To facilitate this, Anne...
- 7/19/2018
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
While introducing the first Tony nominee for best revival of a musical, “My Fair Lady,” Amy Schumer paused to throw some general shade at the state of women’s right in America. Not even the show she was speaking about was safe.
The musical, based on George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” is a comedy about class and sexism. In Schumer’s own words, “It tells the story of a scruffy flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, who is transformed by Henry Higgins, a man-splaining expert on dialects.”
Schumer couldn’t help put point out how the production, which first hit Broadway in 1956, still resonates today. “This interpretation celebrates Eliza’s growing self-confidence and highlights equal rights for women. Because we actually don’t have that,” Schumer said.
Schumer added, “In Eliza’s words, ‘The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated.
The musical, based on George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” is a comedy about class and sexism. In Schumer’s own words, “It tells the story of a scruffy flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, who is transformed by Henry Higgins, a man-splaining expert on dialects.”
Schumer couldn’t help put point out how the production, which first hit Broadway in 1956, still resonates today. “This interpretation celebrates Eliza’s growing self-confidence and highlights equal rights for women. Because we actually don’t have that,” Schumer said.
Schumer added, “In Eliza’s words, ‘The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated.
- 6/11/2018
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
When Harry Hadden-Paton was informed by his agent that he’d been asked to audition for the Lincoln Center Theater production of My Fair Lady, his first response thought was Freddy Eynsford-Hill, the lovesick young swain smitten with flower girl Eliza Doolittle. Told they were interested in him for the leading – and older – character, Professor Henry Higgins, Hadden-Paton’s next question was, Will I have to wear a cardigan?
“Because, ultimately, I know they’re just going to go for what they always go for,” he remembers thinking. Assured by his agent that this Higgins was to be something different, something younger than the usual Higgins – Hadden-Paton doesn’t say it, but he’d be entirely justified in hoping for something less Rex Harrison – the 37-year-old London-born actor took a shot.
“And I’m very glad I did,” he says.
Tony-nominated for Best Actor in a Musical, Hadden-Paton portrays a...
“Because, ultimately, I know they’re just going to go for what they always go for,” he remembers thinking. Assured by his agent that this Higgins was to be something different, something younger than the usual Higgins – Hadden-Paton doesn’t say it, but he’d be entirely justified in hoping for something less Rex Harrison – the 37-year-old London-born actor took a shot.
“And I’m very glad I did,” he says.
Tony-nominated for Best Actor in a Musical, Hadden-Paton portrays a...
- 6/6/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2018 Tony Awards will be handed out on Sunday night, June 10, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and CBS has announced the first round of presenters. Uzo Aduba, Matt Bomer, Claire Danes, Armie Hammer, Tatiana Maslany, Leslie Odom Jr., Jim Parsons, Andrew Rannells and Zachary Quinto will take the stage at the 72nd annual event honoring the best in Broadway theater.
Bomer, Parsons, Rannells and Quinto star in the new Broadway production of “The Boys in the Band,” which premieres at the Booth Theater on May 31 for a limited run that is scheduled to end on August 11. This is Bomer’s Broadway debut, though he previously appeared on the rialto in 2011 for a special reading of “8” about the overturning of California’s Proposition 8, which had banned same-sex marriage in the state.
Quinto previously appeared in a 2013 Broadway production of “The Glass Menagerie.” Rannells is a two-time nominee...
Bomer, Parsons, Rannells and Quinto star in the new Broadway production of “The Boys in the Band,” which premieres at the Booth Theater on May 31 for a limited run that is scheduled to end on August 11. This is Bomer’s Broadway debut, though he previously appeared on the rialto in 2011 for a special reading of “8” about the overturning of California’s Proposition 8, which had banned same-sex marriage in the state.
Quinto previously appeared in a 2013 Broadway production of “The Glass Menagerie.” Rannells is a two-time nominee...
- 5/30/2018
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
The Tony-nominated Broadway revivals of My Fair Lady and Carousel, falling squarely in the midst of the MeToo moment, have given creative teams (and theater-goers) a chance to re-evaluate these classic musicals and what they have to say about gender roles. If Carousel has the tougher road, with its repeated references to domestic abuse, My Fair Lady has its own burdens, the musical so often remembered as much for the image of the gruff Rex Harrison bossing around the younger, so-delicate Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 movie version as for its remarkable score.
Indeed, on the day Deadline spoke to My Fair Lady‘s Lauren Ambrose, who stars as flower girl-turned-society lady Eliza Doolittle, Harvey Weinstein was arrested in New York.
“It’s actually one of the things that I find exciting about doing a revival,” Ambrose said, explaining how she...
Indeed, on the day Deadline spoke to My Fair Lady‘s Lauren Ambrose, who stars as flower girl-turned-society lady Eliza Doolittle, Harvey Weinstein was arrested in New York.
“It’s actually one of the things that I find exciting about doing a revival,” Ambrose said, explaining how she...
- 5/30/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The big screen’s Lois Lane has died.
Margot Kidder passed away on Sunday at her home in Livingston, Montana, People has confirmed. She was 69. Her cause of death is unknown.
Funeral arrangements for the Canadian-born actress are pending.
Kidder began acting in the late 1960s, but rose to fame in 1978 for her role as Lois Lane in Superman: The Movie opposite Christopher Reeve. She went on to reprise the part in the movie’s three sequels.
She also starred as Kathy Lutz in The Amityville Horror (1979), and appeared in movies such as Black Christmas (1974) and Heartaches (1981). Kidder acted as...
Margot Kidder passed away on Sunday at her home in Livingston, Montana, People has confirmed. She was 69. Her cause of death is unknown.
Funeral arrangements for the Canadian-born actress are pending.
Kidder began acting in the late 1960s, but rose to fame in 1978 for her role as Lois Lane in Superman: The Movie opposite Christopher Reeve. She went on to reprise the part in the movie’s three sequels.
She also starred as Kathy Lutz in The Amityville Horror (1979), and appeared in movies such as Black Christmas (1974) and Heartaches (1981). Kidder acted as...
- 5/14/2018
- by Stephanie Petit
- PEOPLE.com
The summer movie season is crucial for Hollywood. The four-month period typically accounts for roughly 40 percent of the yearly box office, goosed by out-of-school kids and the lure of both air conditioning and youth-friendly blockbusters.
Studios have even more on the line this year, to make up for last year’s abysmal box office from May through the end of August. The season brought in $3.8 billion, down 15 percent from 2016 and the worst box office in more than a decade.
While there were a handful of pay-offs and surprise hits — such as Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman,” Sony’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and Universal’s “Girls Trip” — last year’s summer season was wrecked by big-budget underperformers, including Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” Universal’s “The Mummy” and Paramount’s “Transformers: The Last Knight” and “Baywatch.”
Also Read: Summer's 5 Biggest Box Office Showdowns, Including 'Deadpool 2' vs. 'Solo' (Photos)
Surely Hollywood doesn’t want a repeat of last year. Here’s some of our picks for riskiest bets, that studios are likely praying pay off:
“Overboard” (Pantelion, May 4)
Even for the beloved Anna Faris, the filmography of Goldie Hawn is sacrosanct and an inherent risk to reboot — to say nothing of the fact that this reverse-Pygmalion has also reversed its gender roles.
Faris plays a blue collar single mom down on her luck. Eugenio Derbez (“How to Be a Latin Lover”) plays a spoiled playboy whose permanent residence is a yacht — a version of Hawn’s character from the original 1987 comedy. Rough seas and a case of amnesia let Faris manipulate Derbez into believing he’s her husband, and he must support her misbehaved family.
When a trailer launched for the Pantelion comedy, social media did not take well to the optics of a white woman forcing a rich Latino male into lower-middle-class grunt work.
However, the film’s relatively low budget and winning stars — plus a rare film crossover for TV veteran Eva Longoria — has us curious to see if this ship will sail.
Also Read: 'Avengers: Infinity War' Expected to Assemble $100 Million During 2nd Weekend
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” (Disney/Lucasfilm, May 25)
The production of Disney’s highly anticipated continuation in its Star Wars extended universe has been wracked with turbulence. The original directors for “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Phil Lord and Chris Miller (“The Lego Movie”), were pushed off the project over creative differences with the studio — replaced by Ron Howard in mid-shoot.
There have been reports of questions about tone and Alden Ehrenreich’s performance in the role that Harrison Ford made famous. As if that weren’t enough, the stakes are higher — for often prickly “Star Wars” fans — given that this is the first of Lucasfilm’s post-Disney movies that revisits one of its most iconic characters (unlike the previous prequel “Rogue One,” which centered on mostly new characters).
The production budget for the film hasn’t been reported, but it’s probably a safe bet to say it’s in the same ballpark as “Rogue One” ($200 million) and “The Force Awakens'” ($245 million) — perhaps a bit more, given the additional shooting. Luckily, “Solo” appears to have a star performance from “Atlanta” creator Donald Glover, and it’s got that little known brand “Star Wars” behind it too, for what it’s worth.
Also Read: 'Solo' Featurette Teases Look at Daily Life in the Galactic Empire (Video)
“Ocean’s 8” (Warner Bros., June 8)
Like most franchises not named Marvel, the “Ocean’s” trilogy saw diminishing returns when George Clooney, Brad Pitt and the crew got together one last time in 2007. But Warner Bros. and writer-director Gary Ross (“The Hunger Games”) will try to breathe new life into the heist team-up with an all-female cast led by Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett.
There are two big challenges here: reigniting a franchise after more than a decade and rebooting a familiar property with female leads (especially after Paul Feig’s “Ghostbusters” disappointment two years ago).
The studio is hedging its bets, though. Despite an A-list cast that also includes Mindy Kaling, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina and Rihanna, the film’s $70 million production budget is just under the $85 million budgets of “Ocean’s 13” and “Ocean’s 11” — and a bargain compared to the middle installment’s $110 million cost.
Disney/Pixar
“The Incredibles 2” (Disney/Pixar, June 15)
What’s most incredible about this animated property is that it took Walt Disney Pictures 14 years to make a sequel. The monolithic film company does not usually let intellectual property with this kind of four-quadrant popularity sit still for long.
Brad Bird returns to direct the sequel with original voice stars Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson and Samuel L. Jackson — about a family or superheroes in a city where sacking the day results in collateral damage like, you know, dismantled skyscrapers and injured bystanders. Forced into hiding by legislation that make it illegal for them to use their special gifts, the family can’t seen to help saving the day when they’re called.
Millennials who watched the film in pajamas may be too old to rekindle significant box office numbers — but the enduring cultural relevance of the film (mostly thanks to a still-referenced character modeled after Vogue editor Anna Wintour) might make this gamble worth it for the mouse house.
“Sicario: Day of the Soldado” (Sony/Columbia, June 29)
Why exactly are we getting a sequel to 2016’s “Sicario”? Did anyone actually ask for this? Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 action thriller grossed $46.9 million domestically on a production budget of $30 million — not the kind of numbers that would ordinarily justify a follow-up.
Riskier still, original star Emily Blunt sits out the sequel — though Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin return for a run-in along the U.S.-Mexico border that may end more happily than their encounter in “Avengers: Infinity War.”
Marvel Studios
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” (Disney/Marvel, July 6)
We should say up top that this movie will likely be fine. There’s probably little to worry about, it being Marvel product and all.
The fact that the studio was even able to make one film based on this third-tier character, and survive its own director upheaval back in 2015 is a testament to Marvel Studios and the Marvel brand.
However, “Ant-Man and the Wasp’s” predecessor is one of Marvel’s worst performing films in the McU. The first “Ant-Man” pulled in a little more than $180 million domestically on a budget of $130 million. The only films in the McU with lower performing domestic totals are “Captain America: The First Avenger” ($176.7 million) and “The Incredible Hulk” ($134.8 million), which people oft forget is even part of the McU.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” is coming just a little more than a month after the Herculean debut of “Avengers: Infinity War,” though. It seems pretty clear that superhero fatigue isn’t really a thing, and Marvel has already begun marketing the film with an “Infinity War” tie-in.
Disney
“Christopher Robin” (Disney, Aug. 3)
Didn’t we see this movie last year? No? It was a different film? After last year’s Fox Searchlight biographical drama “Goodbye Christopher Robin” about Winnie-the-Pooh creator A. A. Milne, Disney will release a fantasy comedic drama, “Christopher Robin,” about a grown up Christopher Robin (played by Ewan McGregor) who’s lost all sense of imagination.
Disney did not spend Marvel bucks on this film, but the studio has not had a great track record when it comes to live-action films that aren’t from Marvel, Lucasfilm or direct adaptations of its vault of animated classics.
“Crazy Rich Asians” (Warner Bros., Aug. 17)
Everything about “Crazy Rich Asians” is decadent summer fun, which makes the adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel perfect for the dog days of August. The risk here would be the same statistic that makes “Cra” so special — it’s the only studio film to feature an entirely-Asian cast in 25 years (last time was the tearjerker “The Joy Luck Club”).
Constance Wu and the hunky Henry Golding play a humble pair of engaged NYU professors, but as wedding plans ratchet up, Wu’s character starts pressuring her beau to meet his parents. Turns out he’s got the same social standing as Prince William in Singapore — and a bank account to match.
If it works, it will be a watershed inclusion moment. If it doesn’t, lagging Hollywood might be hesitant to greenlight anything similar. That can’t wait another 25 years.
“Happytime Murders” (Stx Entertainment, Aug. 17)
What’s risky about a film starring Melissa McCarthy as an alcoholic, world-weary detective in an raunchy R-rated comedy thriller? Well, this time she’s in the buddy of a bright, blue puppet.
Brian Henson, son of Muppets creator Jim Henson, directs the satire of gruesome murder mysteries — which garnered much attention at last month’s CinemaCon for footage of felt puppet hookers snorting ecstasy and engaging in silly-string orgasms.
As long as minors don’t wander into the theater unattended, we don’t see this one losing.
Read original story 9 Riskiest, Priciest Summer Movie Gambles, From ‘Ocean’s 8’ to ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ At TheWrap...
Studios have even more on the line this year, to make up for last year’s abysmal box office from May through the end of August. The season brought in $3.8 billion, down 15 percent from 2016 and the worst box office in more than a decade.
While there were a handful of pay-offs and surprise hits — such as Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman,” Sony’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and Universal’s “Girls Trip” — last year’s summer season was wrecked by big-budget underperformers, including Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” Universal’s “The Mummy” and Paramount’s “Transformers: The Last Knight” and “Baywatch.”
Also Read: Summer's 5 Biggest Box Office Showdowns, Including 'Deadpool 2' vs. 'Solo' (Photos)
Surely Hollywood doesn’t want a repeat of last year. Here’s some of our picks for riskiest bets, that studios are likely praying pay off:
“Overboard” (Pantelion, May 4)
Even for the beloved Anna Faris, the filmography of Goldie Hawn is sacrosanct and an inherent risk to reboot — to say nothing of the fact that this reverse-Pygmalion has also reversed its gender roles.
Faris plays a blue collar single mom down on her luck. Eugenio Derbez (“How to Be a Latin Lover”) plays a spoiled playboy whose permanent residence is a yacht — a version of Hawn’s character from the original 1987 comedy. Rough seas and a case of amnesia let Faris manipulate Derbez into believing he’s her husband, and he must support her misbehaved family.
When a trailer launched for the Pantelion comedy, social media did not take well to the optics of a white woman forcing a rich Latino male into lower-middle-class grunt work.
However, the film’s relatively low budget and winning stars — plus a rare film crossover for TV veteran Eva Longoria — has us curious to see if this ship will sail.
Also Read: 'Avengers: Infinity War' Expected to Assemble $100 Million During 2nd Weekend
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” (Disney/Lucasfilm, May 25)
The production of Disney’s highly anticipated continuation in its Star Wars extended universe has been wracked with turbulence. The original directors for “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Phil Lord and Chris Miller (“The Lego Movie”), were pushed off the project over creative differences with the studio — replaced by Ron Howard in mid-shoot.
There have been reports of questions about tone and Alden Ehrenreich’s performance in the role that Harrison Ford made famous. As if that weren’t enough, the stakes are higher — for often prickly “Star Wars” fans — given that this is the first of Lucasfilm’s post-Disney movies that revisits one of its most iconic characters (unlike the previous prequel “Rogue One,” which centered on mostly new characters).
The production budget for the film hasn’t been reported, but it’s probably a safe bet to say it’s in the same ballpark as “Rogue One” ($200 million) and “The Force Awakens'” ($245 million) — perhaps a bit more, given the additional shooting. Luckily, “Solo” appears to have a star performance from “Atlanta” creator Donald Glover, and it’s got that little known brand “Star Wars” behind it too, for what it’s worth.
Also Read: 'Solo' Featurette Teases Look at Daily Life in the Galactic Empire (Video)
“Ocean’s 8” (Warner Bros., June 8)
Like most franchises not named Marvel, the “Ocean’s” trilogy saw diminishing returns when George Clooney, Brad Pitt and the crew got together one last time in 2007. But Warner Bros. and writer-director Gary Ross (“The Hunger Games”) will try to breathe new life into the heist team-up with an all-female cast led by Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett.
There are two big challenges here: reigniting a franchise after more than a decade and rebooting a familiar property with female leads (especially after Paul Feig’s “Ghostbusters” disappointment two years ago).
The studio is hedging its bets, though. Despite an A-list cast that also includes Mindy Kaling, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina and Rihanna, the film’s $70 million production budget is just under the $85 million budgets of “Ocean’s 13” and “Ocean’s 11” — and a bargain compared to the middle installment’s $110 million cost.
Disney/Pixar
“The Incredibles 2” (Disney/Pixar, June 15)
What’s most incredible about this animated property is that it took Walt Disney Pictures 14 years to make a sequel. The monolithic film company does not usually let intellectual property with this kind of four-quadrant popularity sit still for long.
Brad Bird returns to direct the sequel with original voice stars Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson and Samuel L. Jackson — about a family or superheroes in a city where sacking the day results in collateral damage like, you know, dismantled skyscrapers and injured bystanders. Forced into hiding by legislation that make it illegal for them to use their special gifts, the family can’t seen to help saving the day when they’re called.
Millennials who watched the film in pajamas may be too old to rekindle significant box office numbers — but the enduring cultural relevance of the film (mostly thanks to a still-referenced character modeled after Vogue editor Anna Wintour) might make this gamble worth it for the mouse house.
“Sicario: Day of the Soldado” (Sony/Columbia, June 29)
Why exactly are we getting a sequel to 2016’s “Sicario”? Did anyone actually ask for this? Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 action thriller grossed $46.9 million domestically on a production budget of $30 million — not the kind of numbers that would ordinarily justify a follow-up.
Riskier still, original star Emily Blunt sits out the sequel — though Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin return for a run-in along the U.S.-Mexico border that may end more happily than their encounter in “Avengers: Infinity War.”
Marvel Studios
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” (Disney/Marvel, July 6)
We should say up top that this movie will likely be fine. There’s probably little to worry about, it being Marvel product and all.
The fact that the studio was even able to make one film based on this third-tier character, and survive its own director upheaval back in 2015 is a testament to Marvel Studios and the Marvel brand.
However, “Ant-Man and the Wasp’s” predecessor is one of Marvel’s worst performing films in the McU. The first “Ant-Man” pulled in a little more than $180 million domestically on a budget of $130 million. The only films in the McU with lower performing domestic totals are “Captain America: The First Avenger” ($176.7 million) and “The Incredible Hulk” ($134.8 million), which people oft forget is even part of the McU.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” is coming just a little more than a month after the Herculean debut of “Avengers: Infinity War,” though. It seems pretty clear that superhero fatigue isn’t really a thing, and Marvel has already begun marketing the film with an “Infinity War” tie-in.
Disney
“Christopher Robin” (Disney, Aug. 3)
Didn’t we see this movie last year? No? It was a different film? After last year’s Fox Searchlight biographical drama “Goodbye Christopher Robin” about Winnie-the-Pooh creator A. A. Milne, Disney will release a fantasy comedic drama, “Christopher Robin,” about a grown up Christopher Robin (played by Ewan McGregor) who’s lost all sense of imagination.
Disney did not spend Marvel bucks on this film, but the studio has not had a great track record when it comes to live-action films that aren’t from Marvel, Lucasfilm or direct adaptations of its vault of animated classics.
“Crazy Rich Asians” (Warner Bros., Aug. 17)
Everything about “Crazy Rich Asians” is decadent summer fun, which makes the adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel perfect for the dog days of August. The risk here would be the same statistic that makes “Cra” so special — it’s the only studio film to feature an entirely-Asian cast in 25 years (last time was the tearjerker “The Joy Luck Club”).
Constance Wu and the hunky Henry Golding play a humble pair of engaged NYU professors, but as wedding plans ratchet up, Wu’s character starts pressuring her beau to meet his parents. Turns out he’s got the same social standing as Prince William in Singapore — and a bank account to match.
If it works, it will be a watershed inclusion moment. If it doesn’t, lagging Hollywood might be hesitant to greenlight anything similar. That can’t wait another 25 years.
“Happytime Murders” (Stx Entertainment, Aug. 17)
What’s risky about a film starring Melissa McCarthy as an alcoholic, world-weary detective in an raunchy R-rated comedy thriller? Well, this time she’s in the buddy of a bright, blue puppet.
Brian Henson, son of Muppets creator Jim Henson, directs the satire of gruesome murder mysteries — which garnered much attention at last month’s CinemaCon for footage of felt puppet hookers snorting ecstasy and engaging in silly-string orgasms.
As long as minors don’t wander into the theater unattended, we don’t see this one losing.
Read original story 9 Riskiest, Priciest Summer Movie Gambles, From ‘Ocean’s 8’ to ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ At TheWrap...
- 5/3/2018
- by Trey Williams and Matt Donnelly
- The Wrap
Michael Anderson, the British filmmaker who directed the 1956 Oscar Best Picture winner “Around the World in 80 Days,” died of heart disease in Canada on April 25, according to a spokesperson for the family. He was 98.
In a career that spanned decades, Anderson also won acclaim for the 1955 WWII film “The Dam Busters,” as well as 1976’s influential sci-fi movie “Logan’s Run,” about a dystopian future in which everyone is killed off when they reach the age of 30.
The son of an actor, Anderson landed small acting roles in his teens, and then worked as an office boy and later assistant director at London’s Elstree Studios on films like “Pygmalion” and Noel Coward’s “In Which We Serve,” the Times of London reported.
Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2018 (Photos)
He served in the Royal Signals Corps in WWII, then returned to the British film industry. “The Dam Busters,” starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd as British airmen who help devise an effective system of aerial bombing, won critical raves for its accuracy — and earned an Oscar nomination for special effects.
The success of “The Dam Busters” led Anderson to Hollywood — and the epic scale of “Around the World in 80 Days,” with its star-studded cast, 110 locations and 68,000 extras. The film got middling reviews but was a giant hit, winning five Oscars. (Anderson himself lost to George Stevens for “Giant.”)
Also Read: Ryan Gosling to 'Logan's Run,' Dominic Cooper biting into 'Vampire Hunter'
He followed that success with films like 1965’s “Operation Crossbow,” 1966’s “The Quiller Memorandum” and 1968’s “The Shoes of the Fishermen.”
In the ’70s, Anderson drifted from action thrillers into science fiction with the 1976 hit “Logan’s Run,” starring Michael York. Four years later, he directed Rock Hudson in a TV miniseries adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles.”
Read original story Michael Anderson, ‘Logan’s Run’ and ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ Director, Dies at 98 At TheWrap...
In a career that spanned decades, Anderson also won acclaim for the 1955 WWII film “The Dam Busters,” as well as 1976’s influential sci-fi movie “Logan’s Run,” about a dystopian future in which everyone is killed off when they reach the age of 30.
The son of an actor, Anderson landed small acting roles in his teens, and then worked as an office boy and later assistant director at London’s Elstree Studios on films like “Pygmalion” and Noel Coward’s “In Which We Serve,” the Times of London reported.
Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2018 (Photos)
He served in the Royal Signals Corps in WWII, then returned to the British film industry. “The Dam Busters,” starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd as British airmen who help devise an effective system of aerial bombing, won critical raves for its accuracy — and earned an Oscar nomination for special effects.
The success of “The Dam Busters” led Anderson to Hollywood — and the epic scale of “Around the World in 80 Days,” with its star-studded cast, 110 locations and 68,000 extras. The film got middling reviews but was a giant hit, winning five Oscars. (Anderson himself lost to George Stevens for “Giant.”)
Also Read: Ryan Gosling to 'Logan's Run,' Dominic Cooper biting into 'Vampire Hunter'
He followed that success with films like 1965’s “Operation Crossbow,” 1966’s “The Quiller Memorandum” and 1968’s “The Shoes of the Fishermen.”
In the ’70s, Anderson drifted from action thrillers into science fiction with the 1976 hit “Logan’s Run,” starring Michael York. Four years later, he directed Rock Hudson in a TV miniseries adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles.”
Read original story Michael Anderson, ‘Logan’s Run’ and ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ Director, Dies at 98 At TheWrap...
- 4/28/2018
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
If you’ve got it, flaunt it. The splendid Beaumont stage at Lincoln Center was made for great classic musicals like Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady,” and helmer Bartlett Sher was born to stage them. This jubilant revival is meticulously mounted and entirely welcome – despite the eccentric casting choice of Lauren Ambrose as Eliza Doolittle.
Ambrose, a dramatic actress noted for her style and intelligence in shows like “Awake and Sing!” and “Exit the King” (not to mention her comic flair in “Six Feet Under”), does not leap to mind as the perfect Eliza. She doesn’t even leap to mind as the okay Eliza. It’s a triumph of acting that this non-singer manages to sing like a trouper. But the strain shows.
It comes as a happy shock to be reminded of what a great show this is. The Pygmalion story about romantic transformation is as...
Ambrose, a dramatic actress noted for her style and intelligence in shows like “Awake and Sing!” and “Exit the King” (not to mention her comic flair in “Six Feet Under”), does not leap to mind as the perfect Eliza. She doesn’t even leap to mind as the okay Eliza. It’s a triumph of acting that this non-singer manages to sing like a trouper. But the strain shows.
It comes as a happy shock to be reminded of what a great show this is. The Pygmalion story about romantic transformation is as...
- 4/20/2018
- by Marilyn Stasio
- Variety Film + TV
by Nathaniel R
Tony season is (nearly) upon us so we're reviving the Stage Door column toward the end of March. But before we start reviewing shows, a history lesson.
Julie Andrews and Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Dolittle
My Fair Lady began its classic life in 1956 as a Broadway musical. No, that's not quite right. It began its life as George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, which premiered way back in 1913, over a century ago! That play inspired the stage musical by Lerner & Loewe. On March 15th previews will begin for the latest Broadway revival. Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) headlines as Eliza Dolittle, with Harry Hadden-Paton as Professor Henry Higgins, two time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz (♥︎) as Eliza's father, and showbiz legend Dame Diana Rigg (The Avengers, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Game of Thrones, etc...) as Higgins' mother.
This will be the sixth major incarnation of the hit musical.
Tony season is (nearly) upon us so we're reviving the Stage Door column toward the end of March. But before we start reviewing shows, a history lesson.
Julie Andrews and Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Dolittle
My Fair Lady began its classic life in 1956 as a Broadway musical. No, that's not quite right. It began its life as George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, which premiered way back in 1913, over a century ago! That play inspired the stage musical by Lerner & Loewe. On March 15th previews will begin for the latest Broadway revival. Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) headlines as Eliza Dolittle, with Harry Hadden-Paton as Professor Henry Higgins, two time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz (♥︎) as Eliza's father, and showbiz legend Dame Diana Rigg (The Avengers, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Game of Thrones, etc...) as Higgins' mother.
This will be the sixth major incarnation of the hit musical.
- 3/9/2018
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
In 2009 — when the Academy Awards went to 10 Best Picture nominees for the first time since 1943 — the preferential system of voting, which had been used from 1934 to 1945, was reintroduced. The academy did so as it believed this “best allows the collective judgment of all voting members to be most accurately represented.”
We have detailed how the preferential voting system works at the Oscars in the modern era. So, let’s take a look back at those dozen years early in the history of the academy when it first used this complicated counting to determine the Best Picture winner rather than a simple popular vote. (At the bottom of this post, be sure to vote for the film that you think will take the top Oscar this year.)
See Best Picture Gallery: Every winner of the top Academy Award
1934
This seventh ceremony marked the first time that the Oscars eligibility period was the calendar year.
We have detailed how the preferential voting system works at the Oscars in the modern era. So, let’s take a look back at those dozen years early in the history of the academy when it first used this complicated counting to determine the Best Picture winner rather than a simple popular vote. (At the bottom of this post, be sure to vote for the film that you think will take the top Oscar this year.)
See Best Picture Gallery: Every winner of the top Academy Award
1934
This seventh ceremony marked the first time that the Oscars eligibility period was the calendar year.
- 2/28/2018
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
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