After wayward creative detours with the dreary feature film “Lucy in the Sky” and the over-ambitious fourth season of “Fargo,” Noah Hawley gets back on track with the new season of his FX anthology series.
The latest “Fargo” has all the elements writer-producer-showrunner Hawley knows how to deploy. They may be well-worn tropes at this point: chaos agents, deadpan black comedy, hapless hit men, formidable women, hapless feds, a few good cops, perfectly orchestrated bloodshed beats, hapless wrong kidnap victims, Upper Midwest accents you couldn’t cut with a wood chipper and perhaps a supernatural element or two. But they’ve been craftily reimagined.
New in Season 5 is some ongoing criticism of right-wing extremism — both of the economic Darwinian and Christian patriarchal kind — and other hints that it’s politics as much as people’s inherent stupidity that’s tearing America apart. The implicit message is that those factors are...
The latest “Fargo” has all the elements writer-producer-showrunner Hawley knows how to deploy. They may be well-worn tropes at this point: chaos agents, deadpan black comedy, hapless hit men, formidable women, hapless feds, a few good cops, perfectly orchestrated bloodshed beats, hapless wrong kidnap victims, Upper Midwest accents you couldn’t cut with a wood chipper and perhaps a supernatural element or two. But they’ve been craftily reimagined.
New in Season 5 is some ongoing criticism of right-wing extremism — both of the economic Darwinian and Christian patriarchal kind — and other hints that it’s politics as much as people’s inherent stupidity that’s tearing America apart. The implicit message is that those factors are...
- 11/20/2023
- by Bob Strauss
- The Wrap
Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis are recalling how their infamous Sex and the City characters came to be.
During the recent Satc 25th anniversary special of the And Just Like That… The Writers Room podcast with sequel creator Michael Patrick King, the trio opens up about the audition process before the show’s 1998 debut.
Davis, who ended up taking on the role of gallerist Charlotte York, revealed that Satc creator Darren Star initially asked her to read for Carrie Bradshaw, telling her at the time, “We really wanted Sarah Jessica…[but] we don’t know if Sarah’s going to do it, so will you read for Carrie?”
But Davis said in “the original script, Carrie was much more like Candice and she smoked and she swore…and I was like, I can’t possibly [play that character.] And I remember one line in the script it said, ‘Carrie has the...
During the recent Satc 25th anniversary special of the And Just Like That… The Writers Room podcast with sequel creator Michael Patrick King, the trio opens up about the audition process before the show’s 1998 debut.
Davis, who ended up taking on the role of gallerist Charlotte York, revealed that Satc creator Darren Star initially asked her to read for Carrie Bradshaw, telling her at the time, “We really wanted Sarah Jessica…[but] we don’t know if Sarah’s going to do it, so will you read for Carrie?”
But Davis said in “the original script, Carrie was much more like Candice and she smoked and she swore…and I was like, I can’t possibly [play that character.] And I remember one line in the script it said, ‘Carrie has the...
- 6/16/2023
- by Carly Thomas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Before she was Miranda, Cynthia Nixon auditioned to play Carrie Bradshaw. Speaking on the And Just Like That… The Writers Room podcast Thursday, Nixon revealed that she tried to get the Sex and the City role made famous by Sarah Jessica Parker.
“They brought me in to audition for Carrie. I auditioned and they were like, ‘Yeah, not so much,’” Nixon said on the podcast. “And I said to myself — and I’m usually not so proactive — but I was like, at the time, it didn’t seem like there were four women,...
“They brought me in to audition for Carrie. I auditioned and they were like, ‘Yeah, not so much,’” Nixon said on the podcast. “And I said to myself — and I’m usually not so proactive — but I was like, at the time, it didn’t seem like there were four women,...
- 6/15/2023
- by Tomás Mier
- Rollingstone.com
While it’s hard to imagine anyone but Cynthia Nixon playing Miranda and Sarah Jessica Parker playing Carrie on HBO’s classic comedy “Sex and the City,” Nixon revealed in a new podcast Thursday that she first auditioned to play the role of Carrie on the series — and bombed. Thankfully, producers asked her back to audition for the uptight but well-meaning lawyer Miranda, and just like that… the rest is history.
Sitting for a special “Sex and the City” 25th anniversary episode of “And Just Like That… The Writers Room” podcast — along with costars Parker and Kristin Davis — Emmy winner Nixon recalled how after bombing as Carrie, she pushed to be seen for another role.
Also Read:
Meghan McCain Reverses Decision to Stop Watching ‘And Just Like That': ‘Samantha Is Back… So Am I’
“They brought me in to audition for Carrie. I auditioned and they were like, ‘Yeah, not so much,...
Sitting for a special “Sex and the City” 25th anniversary episode of “And Just Like That… The Writers Room” podcast — along with costars Parker and Kristin Davis — Emmy winner Nixon recalled how after bombing as Carrie, she pushed to be seen for another role.
Also Read:
Meghan McCain Reverses Decision to Stop Watching ‘And Just Like That': ‘Samantha Is Back… So Am I’
“They brought me in to audition for Carrie. I auditioned and they were like, ‘Yeah, not so much,...
- 6/15/2023
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
Cordon bleu is the warmest color in Tràn Anh Hùng’s long but surprisingly light soufflé of a movie The Pot-au-Feu (renamed The Taste of Things ahead of its U.S. release), a highly watchable Aga saga that’s so artful, charming and non-boat-rockingly old-school that it might make you wonder, even in a non-ironic way, what Lasse Hallström has been up to lately. In Cannes Film Festivals gone by, it could arguably have provoked the bidding war of the fortnight, given the track record of such foodie faves as Le Grand Bouffe, Babette’s Feast and Eat Drink Man Woman, which also debuted on the Croisette. But that’s faint praise for a story that, although it’s almost all about fillings, trimmings and toppings, doesn’t seem to have that much content or, more importantly, depth.
Set in late-19th century France, The Pot Au Feu is loosely based...
Set in late-19th century France, The Pot Au Feu is loosely based...
- 5/25/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
While Carrie Bradshaw is the main character in Sex and the City, her three best friends are also major players in the series. Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), a lawyer, didn’t take anyone’s crap, especially not men. Samatha Jones (Kim Cattrall) lived her life fabulously and out loud, doing who and what she wanted — when she wanted. Finally, Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) was the more demure friend out of the foursome who valued more traditional roles.
Charlotte is an integral part of the success of Satc, but she wasn’t even supposed to be a main character on the show.
Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw and Kristin Davis as Charlotte York in ‘Sex and The City’| HBO Kristin Davis was originally asked to audition for Carrie on ‘Sex and the City’
When it came to putting the show together, Sex and the City creator Darren Star initially sent...
Charlotte is an integral part of the success of Satc, but she wasn’t even supposed to be a main character on the show.
Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw and Kristin Davis as Charlotte York in ‘Sex and The City’| HBO Kristin Davis was originally asked to audition for Carrie on ‘Sex and the City’
When it came to putting the show together, Sex and the City creator Darren Star initially sent...
- 4/16/2023
- by Aramide Tinubu
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) was always the more traditionally-minded friend on Sex and the City. While Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), and Samatha Jones (Kim Cattrall) often embraced their singleness, Charlotte was determined to get her husband and children.
Interestingly enough, Davis was initially asked to audition for the role of Carrie. However, the actor quickly discovered that Charlotte would be a much better fit for her.
Kristin Davis and Nicole Ari Parker are seen filming “And Just Like That…” | Jason Howard/Bauer-Griffin/Gc Images Charlotte York was only supposed to be a recurring character in ‘Sex and the City’
When the creators and producers were first developing Sex and the City, they wanted to focus on the core three, Carrie, Samantha, and Miranda. Initially, Charlotte was just supposed to be a friend of Carrie’s who was around sometimes.
Charlotte was slated to initially be a recurring character,...
Interestingly enough, Davis was initially asked to audition for the role of Carrie. However, the actor quickly discovered that Charlotte would be a much better fit for her.
Kristin Davis and Nicole Ari Parker are seen filming “And Just Like That…” | Jason Howard/Bauer-Griffin/Gc Images Charlotte York was only supposed to be a recurring character in ‘Sex and the City’
When the creators and producers were first developing Sex and the City, they wanted to focus on the core three, Carrie, Samantha, and Miranda. Initially, Charlotte was just supposed to be a friend of Carrie’s who was around sometimes.
Charlotte was slated to initially be a recurring character,...
- 4/14/2023
- by Aramide Tinubu
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
WME co-chairman and power agent Richard Weitz was invited to yet another podium alongside daughter Demi, this time to receive the Dorothy Parker Ally Award during the NAACP Image Awards Nominees Luncheon in Century City on Feb. 4.
Honored for the pandemic phenomenon RWQuarantunes — the star-studded private Zoom concert series that raised 37 million for a slew of organizations including the NAACP — the Weitzes took turns at the microphone to accept the award, with Demi calling their nearly two-year run “an unbelievable journey” during which they rallied in support of vulnerable populations in one of the most challenging time of the modern era.
“We are no Dorothy Parker, but with this honor we hope to continue to do the work to live up to her legacy, that warrants this award,” said the Stanford student. “As I continue my college journey, I will use my voice to rally for movements of change and...
Honored for the pandemic phenomenon RWQuarantunes — the star-studded private Zoom concert series that raised 37 million for a slew of organizations including the NAACP — the Weitzes took turns at the microphone to accept the award, with Demi calling their nearly two-year run “an unbelievable journey” during which they rallied in support of vulnerable populations in one of the most challenging time of the modern era.
“We are no Dorothy Parker, but with this honor we hope to continue to do the work to live up to her legacy, that warrants this award,” said the Stanford student. “As I continue my college journey, I will use my voice to rally for movements of change and...
- 2/15/2023
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Before James Stewart was sent off to fight in the Second World War, he was one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars. He’d appeared in 28 films, had been nominated for an Oscar for Mr Smith Goes to Washington, and even won one for Best Actor a year later for The Philadelphia Story. He was riding high.
But after spending three years fighting the Nazis in the US Air Force, the 37-year-old returned home in 1945 to find that everything had changed. His contract with MGM had run out, his agent had left the movie business, and he was suffering from what would later be recognised as post-traumatic stress disorder. “I was just a little bit scared,” he later recollected of his newfound circumstance. Then Frank Capra called.
Capra – who had directed Stewart twice before, including on Mr Smith Goes to Washington – wanted to pitch a film called It’s a Wonderful Life.
But after spending three years fighting the Nazis in the US Air Force, the 37-year-old returned home in 1945 to find that everything had changed. His contract with MGM had run out, his agent had left the movie business, and he was suffering from what would later be recognised as post-traumatic stress disorder. “I was just a little bit scared,” he later recollected of his newfound circumstance. Then Frank Capra called.
Capra – who had directed Stewart twice before, including on Mr Smith Goes to Washington – wanted to pitch a film called It’s a Wonderful Life.
- 12/24/2022
- by Alexandra Pollard
- The Independent - Film
Before James Stewart was sent off to fight in the Second World War, he was one of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars. He’d appeared in 28 films, had been nominated for an Oscar for Mr Smith Goes to Washington, and even won one for Best Actor a year later for The Philadelphia Story. He was riding high.
But after spending three years fighting the Nazis in the US Air Force, the 37-year-old returned home in 1945 to find that everything had changed. His contract with MGM had run out, his agent had left the movie business, and he was suffering from what would later be recognised as post-traumatic stress disorder. “I was just a little bit scared,” he later recollected of his newfound circumstance. Then Frank Capra called.
Capra – who had directed Stewart twice before, including on Mr Smith Goes to Washington – wanted to pitch a film called It’s a Wonderful Life.
But after spending three years fighting the Nazis in the US Air Force, the 37-year-old returned home in 1945 to find that everything had changed. His contract with MGM had run out, his agent had left the movie business, and he was suffering from what would later be recognised as post-traumatic stress disorder. “I was just a little bit scared,” he later recollected of his newfound circumstance. Then Frank Capra called.
Capra – who had directed Stewart twice before, including on Mr Smith Goes to Washington – wanted to pitch a film called It’s a Wonderful Life.
- 12/24/2022
- by Alexandra Pollard
- The Independent - Film
Scads of books have been written on the subject of screenwriting by people who purport to know the tricks of the trade. Some of these folks become industries unto themselves, charging close to 1,000 to attend their intensive, multi-day seminars. Readers and attendees hang on their every word, believing that total adherence to their methods will result in a finished script and a studio deal.
It's a complete sham. All of it.
There are certainly exercises and processes that can help an aspiring writer to be more productive, but the only tried-and-true approach to completing a screenplay is, as Frank Darabont bluntly put it to /Film's Eric Vespe in his fascinating oral history of the filmmaker's "The Mist," to "sit your ass in the chair and do it every day." You can study three-act structure and Joseph Campbell's monomyth all you want, but nothing gets done if you don't sit your...
It's a complete sham. All of it.
There are certainly exercises and processes that can help an aspiring writer to be more productive, but the only tried-and-true approach to completing a screenplay is, as Frank Darabont bluntly put it to /Film's Eric Vespe in his fascinating oral history of the filmmaker's "The Mist," to "sit your ass in the chair and do it every day." You can study three-act structure and Joseph Campbell's monomyth all you want, but nothing gets done if you don't sit your...
- 11/21/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
As its title suggests, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law is a subversive delight.
Unleashing a healthy serving of Dorothy Parker tinged satire, and lovingly pulling on the decades of network legal drama tropes, the Tatiana Maslany-led comedy from Rick and Morty vet Jessica Gao rapturously cavorts around the superhero genre, breaking the fourth wall and expectations. Now, addressing the audience here, is lifted from the comics where the character originated back in 1980. So, Deadpool and Fleabag fans, that’s true to the source material. There’s also a lot of high quality CGI, transparent deriding of City of Angels superficiality, and dating app rituals.
Amidst all that, the overriding takeaway is She-Hulk is really funny – which might be exactly what we all need right now.
The fact is humor has long been Marvel’s secret weapon.
Truly inaugurated by the genius of Robert Downey Jr’s insecure and simultaneously arrogant...
Unleashing a healthy serving of Dorothy Parker tinged satire, and lovingly pulling on the decades of network legal drama tropes, the Tatiana Maslany-led comedy from Rick and Morty vet Jessica Gao rapturously cavorts around the superhero genre, breaking the fourth wall and expectations. Now, addressing the audience here, is lifted from the comics where the character originated back in 1980. So, Deadpool and Fleabag fans, that’s true to the source material. There’s also a lot of high quality CGI, transparent deriding of City of Angels superficiality, and dating app rituals.
Amidst all that, the overriding takeaway is She-Hulk is really funny – which might be exactly what we all need right now.
The fact is humor has long been Marvel’s secret weapon.
Truly inaugurated by the genius of Robert Downey Jr’s insecure and simultaneously arrogant...
- 8/17/2022
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
“A Rise And A Fall In Technicolor”
By Raymond Benson
A Star is Born has been made many times—as four Hollywood feature films, one television movie, and one Bollywood picture. The 1937 original, produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William A. Wellman, is often forgotten amongst the more recent versions, such as the celebrated 2018 remake starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
For this reviewer’s money, the 1937 A Star is Born is superior to them all. Granted, it is obviously dated and one must place oneself within the context of the period in which the movie was released. It is also not a musical, as all the others are. The first version also deals exclusively with the motion picture industry. The second one, released in 1954 and starring Judy Garland and James Mason, did as well… but following adaptations went more into the...
“A Rise And A Fall In Technicolor”
By Raymond Benson
A Star is Born has been made many times—as four Hollywood feature films, one television movie, and one Bollywood picture. The 1937 original, produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William A. Wellman, is often forgotten amongst the more recent versions, such as the celebrated 2018 remake starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
For this reviewer’s money, the 1937 A Star is Born is superior to them all. Granted, it is obviously dated and one must place oneself within the context of the period in which the movie was released. It is also not a musical, as all the others are. The first version also deals exclusively with the motion picture industry. The second one, released in 1954 and starring Judy Garland and James Mason, did as well… but following adaptations went more into the...
- 3/25/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
They’ve hit us with three remakes of this one, one about another actress and two about music stars — maybe the next will be about a TikTok star. Thanks to an unexpected full digital restoration from original Technicolor elements, this 1937 original once again plays like a winner. Silent legend Janet Gaynor is Esther Blodgett, soon to become the famous Vicki Lester. Fredric March gives one of his best performances as a matinee idol running his career into the ground with drink. David O. Selznick’s classy production takes some cynical jabs at The Biz yet characterizes Adolph Menjou’s producer as an all-wise, all-forgiving saint. The Wac adds great extras in full HD — a swing musical short and a sarcastic Merrie Melodie cartoon that spoofs the main feature.
A Star is Born (1937)
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1937 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 111 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date March 29, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March,...
A Star is Born (1937)
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1937 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 111 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date March 29, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March,...
- 3/19/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
” His work is beginning to interfere with his drinking.”
Janet Gaynor and Frederick March in A Star Is Born (1937)-Restored Edition will be available on Blu-ray March 29th from Warner Archive. It can be ordered at the Warner Archive store Here
Producer David O. Selznick turned his attention to Hollywood with this 1937 original classic directed by William A. Wellman. Its Academy Award-winning screenplay co-written by Dorothy Parker tells the story of hopeful, young would-be actress Esther Blodgett (Academy Award winner Janet Gaynor) whose career is launched by movie star Norman Maine (Academy Award winner Fredric March), who also wins the young actress’ heart. Esther becomes leading lady Vicki Lester and Mrs. Norman Maine, but as Maine’s career flounders, he sinks into an abyss of alcoholism. Esther chooses to sacrifice her stardom to care for her husband, but he will not allow Esther to abandon her dreams for him. Remade three times in years ahead,...
Janet Gaynor and Frederick March in A Star Is Born (1937)-Restored Edition will be available on Blu-ray March 29th from Warner Archive. It can be ordered at the Warner Archive store Here
Producer David O. Selznick turned his attention to Hollywood with this 1937 original classic directed by William A. Wellman. Its Academy Award-winning screenplay co-written by Dorothy Parker tells the story of hopeful, young would-be actress Esther Blodgett (Academy Award winner Janet Gaynor) whose career is launched by movie star Norman Maine (Academy Award winner Fredric March), who also wins the young actress’ heart. Esther becomes leading lady Vicki Lester and Mrs. Norman Maine, but as Maine’s career flounders, he sinks into an abyss of alcoholism. Esther chooses to sacrifice her stardom to care for her husband, but he will not allow Esther to abandon her dreams for him. Remade three times in years ahead,...
- 3/7/2022
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Sally Kellerman, who was Oscar nominated for her supporting role as Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in Robert Altman’s “Mash” feature film, died Thursday in Woodland Hills, Calif. She was 84.
Her publicist Alan Eichler confirmed her death, and her daughter Claire added that she had been suffering from dementia for the past five years.
Among her other roles were a cameo in Altman’s “The Player,” a professor in Rodney Dangerfield’s “Back to School” and a Starfleet officer in the “Star Trek” episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
The willowy blonde actress with the characteristically throaty voice appeared in two Altman films in 1970; the other was the more experimental “Brewster McCloud,” in which she starred with Bud Cort and Michael Murphy. In this film, which did not have a conventional narrative, Kellerman played Louise, the mother of Cort’s bewinged character, Brewster.
She next starred opposite Alan Arkin...
Her publicist Alan Eichler confirmed her death, and her daughter Claire added that she had been suffering from dementia for the past five years.
Among her other roles were a cameo in Altman’s “The Player,” a professor in Rodney Dangerfield’s “Back to School” and a Starfleet officer in the “Star Trek” episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
The willowy blonde actress with the characteristically throaty voice appeared in two Altman films in 1970; the other was the more experimental “Brewster McCloud,” in which she starred with Bud Cort and Michael Murphy. In this film, which did not have a conventional narrative, Kellerman played Louise, the mother of Cort’s bewinged character, Brewster.
She next starred opposite Alan Arkin...
- 2/24/2022
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh, classic novels by Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie and hundreds of thousands of pre-1923 sound recordings are among the works that entered that public domain on New Year’s Day 2022.
Dorothy Parker’s first poetry collection Enough Rope, William Faulkner’s first novel Soldiers’ Pay, and books by Langston Hughes, Willa Cather, T.E. Lawrence and more also joined Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in the public domain, the Associated Press reported.
“When works go into the public domain,...
Dorothy Parker’s first poetry collection Enough Rope, William Faulkner’s first novel Soldiers’ Pay, and books by Langston Hughes, Willa Cather, T.E. Lawrence and more also joined Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in the public domain, the Associated Press reported.
“When works go into the public domain,...
- 1/1/2022
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
by Cláudio Alves
During the past years, the Criterion Channel has highlighted the careers of many Old Hollywood stars. After Carole Lombard, Mae West, Joan Crawford, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, and many more, it's time to celebrate Jean Harlow. In this case, the selection of titles entices because of how encompassing it is. The Criterion Channel presents 14 films, every feature the starlet did while on contract with MGM, from 1932 to her untimely death in 1937. By watching these works, one can get a good sense of Harlow's meteoric rise, how her persona evolved, how it changed to accommodate personal and physical transformations, a transfiguration of industry ideals and popular tastes. Furthermore, the movies showcase other great stars and the work of such vital 1930s screenwriters as Anita Loos and Dorothy Parker. It's a perfect treasure trove of Old Hollywood moviemaking, history, and scandal…...
During the past years, the Criterion Channel has highlighted the careers of many Old Hollywood stars. After Carole Lombard, Mae West, Joan Crawford, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, and many more, it's time to celebrate Jean Harlow. In this case, the selection of titles entices because of how encompassing it is. The Criterion Channel presents 14 films, every feature the starlet did while on contract with MGM, from 1932 to her untimely death in 1937. By watching these works, one can get a good sense of Harlow's meteoric rise, how her persona evolved, how it changed to accommodate personal and physical transformations, a transfiguration of industry ideals and popular tastes. Furthermore, the movies showcase other great stars and the work of such vital 1930s screenwriters as Anita Loos and Dorothy Parker. It's a perfect treasure trove of Old Hollywood moviemaking, history, and scandal…...
- 8/23/2021
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
Fran Lebowitz is a brilliant writer, thinker and talker. A sardonic wit in the vein of Dorothy Parker whose writer’s block has prevented her from producing new written material for the last 40 years, but who regularly churns out gems on the speaker circuit and during TV appearances, she is now, at the age of 70, as associated with the city of New York as just about anyone. She is also the subject of Pretend It’s a City, a new Netflix docuseries directed by Martin Scorsese, which comes 11 years after Public Speaking, a prior Scorsese documentary about her. During a recent episode of THR’s Awards ...
- 6/21/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Fran Lebowitz is a brilliant writer, thinker and talker. A sardonic wit in the vein of Dorothy Parker whose writer’s block has prevented her from producing new written material for the last 40 years, but who regularly churns out gems on the speaker circuit and during TV appearances, she is now, at the age of 70, as associated with the city of New York as just about anyone. She is also the subject of Pretend It’s a City, a new Netflix docuseries directed by Martin Scorsese, which comes 11 years after Public Speaking, a prior Scorsese documentary about her. During a recent episode of THR’s Awards ...
- 6/21/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The lobbies are too quiet and the streets too empty. The maître d’s are too polite and a taxi driver even opened a door for me. Revisiting New York after an 18-month absence is a disquieting adventure.
When I informed Los Angeles friends of my trip they looked at me as though I was heading for Pompeii – that was even more unsettling. My mission was not archeological: Gotham, as we used to call it, is buoyant. It’s coming alive. Not really.
Sal, my bartender at newly reopened Smith & Wollensky, poured me a martini before I even asked. “Everyone is drinking at lunch again,” he advises. “It’s for survival.” Drinks can be served without food now, but elbows at the bar must still be 6 feet apart.
Gotham will officially be “open” on May 19, and Broadway shows started selling tickets this week for their September bows. But social distancing rules still prevail,...
When I informed Los Angeles friends of my trip they looked at me as though I was heading for Pompeii – that was even more unsettling. My mission was not archeological: Gotham, as we used to call it, is buoyant. It’s coming alive. Not really.
Sal, my bartender at newly reopened Smith & Wollensky, poured me a martini before I even asked. “Everyone is drinking at lunch again,” he advises. “It’s for survival.” Drinks can be served without food now, but elbows at the bar must still be 6 feet apart.
Gotham will officially be “open” on May 19, and Broadway shows started selling tickets this week for their September bows. But social distancing rules still prevail,...
- 5/7/2021
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
With the Super Bowl behind us and the Oscars looming (and a pandemic-dampened Valentine’s Day as a marketing peg), American distributors are releasing their most robust slate of new releases in months this weekend.
Awards contenders “Judas and the Black Messiah” (about the FBI-sanctioned murder of Fred Hampton) and “Land” (starring and directed by Robin Wright) arrive in theaters, hot off their premieres at this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival. Also on the awards-worthy indie front, A24 releases last year’s Sundance winner “Minari” on demand. Steven Yuen stars in this immigrant story with universal appeal. And if theaters are open (and safe) near you, consider catching Michelle Pfeiffer in the wickedly funny “French Exit.”
Targeting teens with Valentine’s offerings, Amazon delivers the “Groundhog Day”-esque romance “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” to Prime subscribers, while Netflix completes its “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” trilogy with “Always and Forever.
Awards contenders “Judas and the Black Messiah” (about the FBI-sanctioned murder of Fred Hampton) and “Land” (starring and directed by Robin Wright) arrive in theaters, hot off their premieres at this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival. Also on the awards-worthy indie front, A24 releases last year’s Sundance winner “Minari” on demand. Steven Yuen stars in this immigrant story with universal appeal. And if theaters are open (and safe) near you, consider catching Michelle Pfeiffer in the wickedly funny “French Exit.”
Targeting teens with Valentine’s offerings, Amazon delivers the “Groundhog Day”-esque romance “The Map of Tiny Perfect Things” to Prime subscribers, while Netflix completes its “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” trilogy with “Always and Forever.
- 2/13/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar winner and multiple Emmy winner Cloris Leachman, best remembered as the delightfully neurotic Phyllis Lindstrom on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and her own subsequent sitcom, died of natural causes on Tuesday in Encinitas, Calif. She was 94.
“It’s been my privilege to work with Cloris Leachman, one of the most fearless actresses of our time,” her longtime manager Juliet Green said. “There was no one like Cloris. With a single look she had the ability to break your heart or make you laugh ’till the tears ran down your face. You never knew what Cloris was going to say or do and that unpredictable quality was part of her unparalleled magic.”
The daffy, self-absorbed Phyllis, a character she claimed was close to her own persona, brought the actress two Emmys as a featured actress in a series during the mid-’70s and made Leachman a household name.
Leachman...
“It’s been my privilege to work with Cloris Leachman, one of the most fearless actresses of our time,” her longtime manager Juliet Green said. “There was no one like Cloris. With a single look she had the ability to break your heart or make you laugh ’till the tears ran down your face. You never knew what Cloris was going to say or do and that unpredictable quality was part of her unparalleled magic.”
The daffy, self-absorbed Phyllis, a character she claimed was close to her own persona, brought the actress two Emmys as a featured actress in a series during the mid-’70s and made Leachman a household name.
Leachman...
- 1/27/2021
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Frances Price married well, if one’s notion of success in that department is defined more by financial comfort than by romance. Her marriage wasn’t so much loveless as moneyful, and that arguably works out better for the wealthy Manhattan wife Michelle Pfeiffer so memorably embodies in Azazel Jacobs’ “French Exit,” a sophisticated closing night choice for this year’s virtual-hybrid New York Film Festival, which “The Sisters Brothers” author Patrick deWitt adapted from his own novel.
After the death of her husband — whose corpse she left to rot for several days, giving herself time to take a short ski vacation in Vail, before reporting it to the authorities — Frances pulled her son, Malcolm, out of boarding school, drove him home in her silver Rolls-Royce, and decided to express an interest in his life. “Did you drink to the brink of sound reasoning?” she queries her son (now a...
After the death of her husband — whose corpse she left to rot for several days, giving herself time to take a short ski vacation in Vail, before reporting it to the authorities — Frances pulled her son, Malcolm, out of boarding school, drove him home in her silver Rolls-Royce, and decided to express an interest in his life. “Did you drink to the brink of sound reasoning?” she queries her son (now a...
- 10/11/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
When it comes to Old Hollywood screenwriters, there are few names that loom larger than Mankiewicz. That is probably because between two very different Mankiewicz brothers, some of the greatest screenplays of all-time were penned. In the case of Herman J. Mankiewicz that included The Wizard of Oz (1939), San Francisco (1936), The Pride of the Yankees (1942), and a little movie called Citizen Kane (1941). And it’s in the latter’s style filmmaker David Fincher is visiting Mank’s life.
In Fincher’s first film at Netflix, the modern filmmaker is teaming with Gary Oldman, still fresh off his Oscar win for playing Winston Churchill, to offer a highly stylized and intriguing interpretation of the life and times of Herman “Mank” Mankiewicz at time when the silver screen was still black and white, and life in a smoke-filled Tinseltown took on an ambiguous gray.
With a teaser trailer absolutely dripping with atmosphere,...
In Fincher’s first film at Netflix, the modern filmmaker is teaming with Gary Oldman, still fresh off his Oscar win for playing Winston Churchill, to offer a highly stylized and intriguing interpretation of the life and times of Herman “Mank” Mankiewicz at time when the silver screen was still black and white, and life in a smoke-filled Tinseltown took on an ambiguous gray.
With a teaser trailer absolutely dripping with atmosphere,...
- 10/8/2020
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
This month’s 10th anniversary of “The Social Network” has been accompanied by memorable set stories (click here for David Fincher’s apology over replacing actor Josh Pence with Armie Hammer’s face), several of which can be found in Empire magazine’s behind-the-scenes feature on the beloved Facebook drama. Empire made its decade-old “Social Network” set report available online over the weekend to mark the anniversary and it includes one revealing tidbit where Fincher would get Jessie Eisenberg into the mindset of Zuckerberg by directing Andrew Garfield to hurl insults at the actor.
As Empire observed on set: “[Garfield] leaves to change into his own, casual clothes, before returning to crouch behind the camera as it hovers close to Eisenberg. Just before the camera rolls, he leans toward the ‘Zombieland’ star and hisses, ‘You’re a fucking dick and you betrayed your best fucking friend. Live with that.’ It’s shocking to hear.
As Empire observed on set: “[Garfield] leaves to change into his own, casual clothes, before returning to crouch behind the camera as it hovers close to Eisenberg. Just before the camera rolls, he leans toward the ‘Zombieland’ star and hisses, ‘You’re a fucking dick and you betrayed your best fucking friend. Live with that.’ It’s shocking to hear.
- 10/5/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
As Disney quietly disappears huge swathes of film history into its vaults, I'm going to spend 2020 celebrating Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox Film Corporation's films, what one might call their output if only someone were putting it out.And now they've quietly disappeared William Fox's name from the company: guilty by association with Rupert Murdoch, even though he never associated with him.***"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars," Oscar Wilde as purred by George Sanders, is enough to make any film worth while.A friend of mine once appeared on a daytime quiz show, on which he was required to complete the quote from the word "...but..." His heroic stab at an answer was, "...but some of us belong there?" I suppose one of the achievements of Otto Preminger's The Fan, a 1950 film of Wilde's 1892 play Lady Windermere's Fan,...
- 6/23/2020
- MUBI
“I’m working in the outhouse again.” That’s how Ben Hecht, the fabled screenwriter, used to describe toiling in Hollywood. “And the nitwits are still in charge,” he assured his friends.
Hecht wrote terrific movies like Scarface and Notorious but he hated studio chiefs, and it was mutual. His name came to mind last week when Don Winslow posted his poignant piece on Deadline reminding producers and executives that writers of books and scripts these days could use a little more love. Given the tensions of the moment, he argued, a few friendly phone calls (and even checks) would bolster sagging writer morale.
More from DeadlineDon Winslow: Top 10 Things Studios, Networks and Streamers Could Do To Treat Authors BetterDon Winslow: My First Experience With Hollywood MathDon Winslow's Take On Scorsese & De Niro Doing 'The Irishman' Over 'Frankie Machine:' 'I Blame Eric Roth'
Winslow is responsible for...
Hecht wrote terrific movies like Scarface and Notorious but he hated studio chiefs, and it was mutual. His name came to mind last week when Don Winslow posted his poignant piece on Deadline reminding producers and executives that writers of books and scripts these days could use a little more love. Given the tensions of the moment, he argued, a few friendly phone calls (and even checks) would bolster sagging writer morale.
More from DeadlineDon Winslow: Top 10 Things Studios, Networks and Streamers Could Do To Treat Authors BetterDon Winslow: My First Experience With Hollywood MathDon Winslow's Take On Scorsese & De Niro Doing 'The Irishman' Over 'Frankie Machine:' 'I Blame Eric Roth'
Winslow is responsible for...
- 4/16/2020
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Times are rough right now under self-quarantine, so maybe it’s time to stop begging for scraps from Disney and watch some fantastic Lgbtqia+ cinema instead. Why not watch some smaller films that haven’t been talked to death by every pop culture website on the planet?
The purpose of this list is to cheer people up, especially during a time when people really can’t go out and decompress. All we can do right now is curl up under our blankets with a libation or two and try to forget our troubles by streaming movies nonstop.
Queer cinema is not a monolith, but I do prefer to prioritize the films that depict queer life as it is. This is a list big on laughs, keeping the sadness to a minimum. There are some recognizable titles in here, mixed in with lesser-known gems that deserve public attention. Luckily, film critics...
The purpose of this list is to cheer people up, especially during a time when people really can’t go out and decompress. All we can do right now is curl up under our blankets with a libation or two and try to forget our troubles by streaming movies nonstop.
Queer cinema is not a monolith, but I do prefer to prioritize the films that depict queer life as it is. This is a list big on laughs, keeping the sadness to a minimum. There are some recognizable titles in here, mixed in with lesser-known gems that deserve public attention. Luckily, film critics...
- 3/20/2020
- by Jourdain Searles
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Two-time Emmy and two-time Tony winner Bebe Neuwirth is set as a recurring opposite Zosia Mamet in HBO Max’s thriller drama series The Flight Attendant, starring and executive produced by Kaley Cuoco.
The Flight Attendant is a story of how an entire life can change in one night. A flight attendant (Cuoco) wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man – and no idea what happened.
Neuwirth will play Diana Carlisle, a senior partner at the law firm where Annie (Mamet) works. Graceful and hard like polished marble, she’s a real mentor to Annie.
Cast also includes Sonoya Mizuno, Michiel Huisman, Rosie Perez, Colin Woodell, T.R. Knight, Griffin Matthews, Merle Dandridge and Nolan Funk.
The dark comedic thriller is based on the novel by New York Times best-selling author Chris Bohjalian. Greg Berlanti, Cuoco, Sarah Schechter, Steve Yockey, Meredith Lavender and Marcie Ulin are executive producers.
The Flight Attendant is a story of how an entire life can change in one night. A flight attendant (Cuoco) wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man – and no idea what happened.
Neuwirth will play Diana Carlisle, a senior partner at the law firm where Annie (Mamet) works. Graceful and hard like polished marble, she’s a real mentor to Annie.
Cast also includes Sonoya Mizuno, Michiel Huisman, Rosie Perez, Colin Woodell, T.R. Knight, Griffin Matthews, Merle Dandridge and Nolan Funk.
The dark comedic thriller is based on the novel by New York Times best-selling author Chris Bohjalian. Greg Berlanti, Cuoco, Sarah Schechter, Steve Yockey, Meredith Lavender and Marcie Ulin are executive producers.
- 2/20/2020
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
This week’s one-two punch of the Golden Globes and SAG Awards nominations have thrown awards season prognosticators into a frenzy, but they actually help to provide some clarification for the streaming wars.
HBO received nine SAG Awards nominations Wednesday morning; meanwhile, Warner Bros. Television, also owned by AT&T, was among several studios that tied for second place with four SAG Award nominations. Given that these award-nominated properties will have a direct line of distribution to AT&T-owned streaming, their success bodes well for the 2020 launch of HBO Max.
HBO was among the studios behind well-received projects such as “Chernobyl,” “Barry,” which each received two SAG Award nominations; though critics and viewers were divided on the final season of “Game of Thrones,” the show still earned three nominations. HBO’s production successes were also elevated by “Big Little Lies” and “True Detective,” which each received one nomination. “Big Little Lies...
HBO received nine SAG Awards nominations Wednesday morning; meanwhile, Warner Bros. Television, also owned by AT&T, was among several studios that tied for second place with four SAG Award nominations. Given that these award-nominated properties will have a direct line of distribution to AT&T-owned streaming, their success bodes well for the 2020 launch of HBO Max.
HBO was among the studios behind well-received projects such as “Chernobyl,” “Barry,” which each received two SAG Award nominations; though critics and viewers were divided on the final season of “Game of Thrones,” the show still earned three nominations. HBO’s production successes were also elevated by “Big Little Lies” and “True Detective,” which each received one nomination. “Big Little Lies...
- 12/11/2019
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
Musso & Frank Grill has catered to Hollywood players for 100 years and the venerable establishment is celebrating its centennial anniversary on Sept. 27. A book about the restaurant will be released. The Hollywood Award of Excellence, the first of its kind for a restaurant, will be presented by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.
Musso’s is also expanding, with three new private dining rooms set to open in early 2020.
“Our family and the Hollywood community can’t even measure the historic importance of the restaurant reaching its 100th anniversary,” says COO-cfo-proprietor and fourth-generation owner Mark Echeverria. “We’re so proud of the entire team and what the generations before us did. It’s an unbelievable milestone.
“We grew up with Hollywood. In 1919, Hollywood Boulevard was a dirt road and the industry was just starting to take off.”
When Musso & Frank opened its doors on the now iconic boulevard in 1919, it was in...
Musso’s is also expanding, with three new private dining rooms set to open in early 2020.
“Our family and the Hollywood community can’t even measure the historic importance of the restaurant reaching its 100th anniversary,” says COO-cfo-proprietor and fourth-generation owner Mark Echeverria. “We’re so proud of the entire team and what the generations before us did. It’s an unbelievable milestone.
“We grew up with Hollywood. In 1919, Hollywood Boulevard was a dirt road and the industry was just starting to take off.”
When Musso & Frank opened its doors on the now iconic boulevard in 1919, it was in...
- 9/27/2019
- by Nick Clement
- Variety Film + TV
What, exactly, are we to make of Bernadette Fox (Cate Blanchett), the dysfunctional slacker architect with the racing tongue and the porcupine disposition who’s at the center of Richard Linklater’s “Where’d You Go, Bernadette”? Bernadette lives in a beautiful crumbling mansion, perched on a Seattle hilltop, that she spends her days indolently renovating. Everywhere in the house, there are signs of her visual imagination (printed pamphlets folded into cones and stacked as wallpaper; splashes of surreal color). But it’s clear that the project stalled a long time ago, because the place is a half-finished wreck, with chipped paint and scarred moldings and barely furnished rooms.
What does Bernadatte do? Basically, she does nothing at all, except talk a blue streak of manic invective. She’s a drop-dead misanthrope who spends all day, every day, putting down everybody and everything. She hates the neighbors. She hates the...
What does Bernadatte do? Basically, she does nothing at all, except talk a blue streak of manic invective. She’s a drop-dead misanthrope who spends all day, every day, putting down everybody and everything. She hates the neighbors. She hates the...
- 8/15/2019
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
David Crow Jul 11, 2019
Gary Oldman will play Herman Mankiewicz for David Fincher in Mank. It will cover the making of Citizen Kane and The Wizard of Oz.
David Fincher and Gary Oldman finally working together feels like it’s destined to be movie history, but the fact that it’s occurring for a Herman Mankiewicz biopic is doubly on-the-nose. The film, which will reveal how a newspaper man became the screenwriter of what many consider to be the finest film ever produced, 1941’s Citizen Kane, is set-up for Fincher at Netflix, indicative of an ever growing relationship between the streaming service and Oscar nominated auteur. It also promises to be a personal film for the director as his own father, Jack Fincher, wrote the screenplay.
The film, which is currently titled Mank, is one Fincher has wanted to make since 1997—so after Se7en and The Game but before Fight Club...
Gary Oldman will play Herman Mankiewicz for David Fincher in Mank. It will cover the making of Citizen Kane and The Wizard of Oz.
David Fincher and Gary Oldman finally working together feels like it’s destined to be movie history, but the fact that it’s occurring for a Herman Mankiewicz biopic is doubly on-the-nose. The film, which will reveal how a newspaper man became the screenwriter of what many consider to be the finest film ever produced, 1941’s Citizen Kane, is set-up for Fincher at Netflix, indicative of an ever growing relationship between the streaming service and Oscar nominated auteur. It also promises to be a personal film for the director as his own father, Jack Fincher, wrote the screenplay.
The film, which is currently titled Mank, is one Fincher has wanted to make since 1997—so after Se7en and The Game but before Fight Club...
- 7/11/2019
- Den of Geek
Image Source: MTV / Everett Collection
Of all the TV shows to get a reboot or spinoff, Daria might be the one I'm most excited about. I was obsessed with the show growing up - I was just 12 when it premiered - and it reminds me of a time before Teen Mom and Teen Wolf, when you could watch shows like The Real World and Singled Out between a string of actual music videos. I could close my bedroom door, settle into my beanbag chair, and spend my evening chuckling at sarcastic, biting one-liners while I probably should have been doing my homework.
So, there was Daria. The show was a spinoff of MTV's other massive hit cartoon Beavis and Butt-Head, in which she appeared as a running character. It followed Daria Morgendorffer and her family's move to Lawndale, where the 16-year-old would begin her sophomore year in high school. In a 1999 New York Times article,...
Of all the TV shows to get a reboot or spinoff, Daria might be the one I'm most excited about. I was obsessed with the show growing up - I was just 12 when it premiered - and it reminds me of a time before Teen Mom and Teen Wolf, when you could watch shows like The Real World and Singled Out between a string of actual music videos. I could close my bedroom door, settle into my beanbag chair, and spend my evening chuckling at sarcastic, biting one-liners while I probably should have been doing my homework.
So, there was Daria. The show was a spinoff of MTV's other massive hit cartoon Beavis and Butt-Head, in which she appeared as a running character. It followed Daria Morgendorffer and her family's move to Lawndale, where the 16-year-old would begin her sophomore year in high school. In a 1999 New York Times article,...
- 6/21/2019
- by Britt Stephens
- Popsugar.com
Fran Lebowitz said she regrets that “everyone misinterpreted” her comment onb Bill Maher’s Real Time Friday night, when she suggested the U.S. turn President Donald Trump “over to the Saudis, his buddies – the same Saudis who got rid of that reporter.”
“Maybe they could do the same for him,” she told Maher, who had asked if she favored impeaching the president.
Lebowitz apologized later in the show, after producers alerted Maher her remark had triggered “blowback” on Twitter.
“I saw your face when I said it,” she told Maher. “I didn’t realize that I had said it. I had 12 cups of coffee. I regret saying it,” Lebowitz said after the broadcast, during on the online-only ‘Overtime’ segment HBO presents via YouTube.
“It’s a live show,” Maher sighed. “You don’t really want to see the president dismembered by the Saudis. I don’t like Donald Trump either…...
“Maybe they could do the same for him,” she told Maher, who had asked if she favored impeaching the president.
Lebowitz apologized later in the show, after producers alerted Maher her remark had triggered “blowback” on Twitter.
“I saw your face when I said it,” she told Maher. “I didn’t realize that I had said it. I had 12 cups of coffee. I regret saying it,” Lebowitz said after the broadcast, during on the online-only ‘Overtime’ segment HBO presents via YouTube.
“It’s a live show,” Maher sighed. “You don’t really want to see the president dismembered by the Saudis. I don’t like Donald Trump either…...
- 5/18/2019
- by Lisa de Moraes
- Deadline Film + TV
In the immortal words of Dorothy Parker… Err, maybe we shouldn’t go there.
Sorry it’s been a while. September until May constitutes a while, cause it’s a bit longer than a little while. Between out of town comic book conventions, trips to Chicago, family vacations, trips to Chicago, holidays, even more trips to Chicago – including a lengthy one to help my daughter when, first, she pulled a rib muscle and couldn’t lift her two-year-old and another lengthy one when she gave birth of my grandson – and various and sundry other sundries that I can’t talk about quite yet; I just haven’t had much time to write a column.
But I’m back with a vengeance. The vengeance being what the fine and patient folks at ComicMix will demand if I go this long between columns again. So, as the Prufrock is in the puttin...
Sorry it’s been a while. September until May constitutes a while, cause it’s a bit longer than a little while. Between out of town comic book conventions, trips to Chicago, family vacations, trips to Chicago, holidays, even more trips to Chicago – including a lengthy one to help my daughter when, first, she pulled a rib muscle and couldn’t lift her two-year-old and another lengthy one when she gave birth of my grandson – and various and sundry other sundries that I can’t talk about quite yet; I just haven’t had much time to write a column.
But I’m back with a vengeance. The vengeance being what the fine and patient folks at ComicMix will demand if I go this long between columns again. So, as the Prufrock is in the puttin...
- 4/29/2019
- by Bob Ingersoll
- Comicmix.com
A list of Manhattan's greatest gatherings of wits would have to include the 1970s Saturday Night Live writers room; the late-1950s meetings between Mike Nichols and Elaine May; and the 1920s Algonquin Round Table. The last was a group of sharp-tongued literati that included Dorothy Parker, Alexander Woollcott, George S. Kaufman (who co-wrote You Can't Take It With You and several Marx Bros. movies) and Robert Benchley.
Beginning in 1919, the "Vicious Circle," as they dubbed themselves, met daily for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel on West 44th Street. They were portrayed in Alan Rudolph's 1994 film,...
Beginning in 1919, the "Vicious Circle," as they dubbed themselves, met daily for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel on West 44th Street. They were portrayed in Alan Rudolph's 1994 film,...
A list of Manhattan's greatest gatherings of wits would have to include the 1970s Saturday Night Live writers room; the late-1950s meetings between Mike Nichols and Elaine May; and the 1920s Algonquin Round Table. The last was a group of sharp-tongued literati that included Dorothy Parker, Alexander Woollcott, George S. Kaufman (who co-wrote You Can't Take It With You and several Marx Bros. movies) and Robert Benchley.
Beginning in 1919, the "Vicious Circle," as they dubbed themselves, met daily for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel on West 44th Street. They were portrayed in Alan Rudolph's 1994 film,...
Beginning in 1919, the "Vicious Circle," as they dubbed themselves, met daily for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel on West 44th Street. They were portrayed in Alan Rudolph's 1994 film,...
With wins for queer characters in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Green Book” and “The Favourite,” the 2019 Oscars were unprecedented when it comes to Lgbt representation — though some feel the representations in “Rhapsody” and “Green Book” are problematic. But despite those visibility breakthroughs, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” didn’t get to join the party. It lost all three of its nominations on Sunday night. But it’s not alone. Scroll through our gallery above of 35 great Lgbt movies that were snubbed by the motion picture academy.
SEE2019 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 91st Academy Awards
“Forgive Me” tells the true story of lesbian author Lee Israel (played by Melissa McCarthy), who made her living as a biographer but whose career hit a snag due to changing public tastes as well as her own alcoholism and caustic personality. To pay her bills she resorted to forging letters by literary...
SEE2019 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 91st Academy Awards
“Forgive Me” tells the true story of lesbian author Lee Israel (played by Melissa McCarthy), who made her living as a biographer but whose career hit a snag due to changing public tastes as well as her own alcoholism and caustic personality. To pay her bills she resorted to forging letters by literary...
- 2/25/2019
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
In my over-confident, thoroughly wrong pre-event analysis of the nominations for Sunday’s Writers Guild awards, I drew an analogy between screenwriters and architects, the first providing blueprints for movies and the second for buildings. I had in mind bigger buildings than “Eighth Grade” and “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
I was thinking of towering, or mini-towering, achievements — “Roma” in the original screenplay category won by “Eighth Grade,” and “BlackKlansman” or “A Star is Born” or “Black Panther” for the adapted category won by “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Both wins last night were shockers, but Bo Burnham’s win for “Eighth Grade” is the kind that brings down. . .oh yeah, big buildings. Neither the screenplay nor the movie is nominated for an Oscar and that hasn’t happened with a WGA winner since Steve Martin won for the 1987 “Roxanne.”
Its failure with academy voters is why I discounted “Eighth Grade”‘s chances,...
I was thinking of towering, or mini-towering, achievements — “Roma” in the original screenplay category won by “Eighth Grade,” and “BlackKlansman” or “A Star is Born” or “Black Panther” for the adapted category won by “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Both wins last night were shockers, but Bo Burnham’s win for “Eighth Grade” is the kind that brings down. . .oh yeah, big buildings. Neither the screenplay nor the movie is nominated for an Oscar and that hasn’t happened with a WGA winner since Steve Martin won for the 1987 “Roxanne.”
Its failure with academy voters is why I discounted “Eighth Grade”‘s chances,...
- 2/18/2019
- by Jack Mathews
- Gold Derby
Several of this year’s SAG Awards film contenders have already had long, fruitful careers, so as we wait to find out who wins on January 27, take a walk down memory lane by checking out our photo galleries celebrating the careers of seven contenders.
See 2019 Oscars calendar: SAG Awards on January 27
Amy Adams (“Vice”): Adams stars in this satirical political biopic as Lynne Cheney, the wife of former Vice President Dick Cheney (Christian Bale). Adams has an additional SAG nomination this year for her starring role in the HBO limited series “Sharp Objects.” (Click here to be taken to her gallery)
Christian Bale (“Vice”): Bale plays Dick Cheney, the shadowy, cunning vice president under George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell). Bale has already won Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice prizes for this performance, and he also competes for Best Actor at the Oscars. He previously won at the SAG...
See 2019 Oscars calendar: SAG Awards on January 27
Amy Adams (“Vice”): Adams stars in this satirical political biopic as Lynne Cheney, the wife of former Vice President Dick Cheney (Christian Bale). Adams has an additional SAG nomination this year for her starring role in the HBO limited series “Sharp Objects.” (Click here to be taken to her gallery)
Christian Bale (“Vice”): Bale plays Dick Cheney, the shadowy, cunning vice president under George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell). Bale has already won Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice prizes for this performance, and he also competes for Best Actor at the Oscars. He previously won at the SAG...
- 1/26/2019
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
Marielle Heller was in her therapist's office on New York's Upper West Side, talking about a new directing gig she'd just landed, when she noticed her shrink started looking a little funny. As Heller explained the film's plot — about a real-life down-on-her-luck New York writer in the 1990s, who bailed herself out of financial straits by forging letters from famous dead authors like Noel Coward and Dorothy Parker, her therapist suddenly stiffened in her chair.
"Not Lee Israel?" she asked Heller. "She lived in this building. You do not want to know what I ...
"Not Lee Israel?" she asked Heller. "She lived in this building. You do not want to know what I ...
Marielle Heller was in her therapist's office on New York's Upper West Side, talking about a new directing gig she'd just landed, when she noticed her shrink started looking a little funny. As Heller explained the film's plot — about a real-life down-on-her-luck New York writer in the 1990s, who bailed herself out of financial straits by forging letters from famous dead authors like Noel Coward and Dorothy Parker, her therapist suddenly stiffened in her chair.
"Not Lee Israel?" she asked Heller. "She lived in this building. You do not want to know what I ...
"Not Lee Israel?" she asked Heller. "She lived in this building. You do not want to know what I ...
It was a year of belly laughs, guffaws and giggles at the multiplex in 2018 as movies like “Incredibles 2,” “Deadpool 2” and “Crazy Rich Asians” proved that comedies are no joke at the box office, where they raked in more than $1 billion in North America.
That trio also delivered three of the most amusing scenes of the year, while several industry members also chose scenes from “Can You Ever Forgive Me,” “The Favourite,” “Game Night,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “A Simple Favor,” “Death of Stalin,” “A Simple Favor” and “Blockers” for this informal survey.
Participants include Sally Kirkland, nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for “Anna”; Carl Kurlander, who wrote “St. Elmo’s Fire”; Adele Lim, co-writer of the “Crazy Rich Asians” script; actress Stephanie Erb, whose credits include “Ray Donovan”; “Sully” screenwriter and “Elf” producer Todd Komarnicki; producer Jude S. Walko; publicist Andrew Cohen; and standup comedians Andy Au,...
That trio also delivered three of the most amusing scenes of the year, while several industry members also chose scenes from “Can You Ever Forgive Me,” “The Favourite,” “Game Night,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “A Simple Favor,” “Death of Stalin,” “A Simple Favor” and “Blockers” for this informal survey.
Participants include Sally Kirkland, nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for “Anna”; Carl Kurlander, who wrote “St. Elmo’s Fire”; Adele Lim, co-writer of the “Crazy Rich Asians” script; actress Stephanie Erb, whose credits include “Ray Donovan”; “Sully” screenwriter and “Elf” producer Todd Komarnicki; producer Jude S. Walko; publicist Andrew Cohen; and standup comedians Andy Au,...
- 12/22/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Melissa McCarthy landed an Oscar nomination for her breakout turn in Paul Feig’s Bridesmaids, which started a string of comedy blockbusters for the pair. Now she’s back in the conversation with Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which may be considered one of her first dramatic turns, but only to those who have failed to catch the deftness of her talent on display even in the most outrageous comedies. She plays Lee Israel, a respected biographer struggling to pay the bills who turns to a new form of writing: meticulously forging letters from famous writers like Ernest Hemingway, Dorothy Parker and Noel Coward for $400 a pop to pay rent and medicine for her sick cat, until her scheme unravels and the FBI is knocking at her door. Whether comedy or drama, McCarthy explains why it’s all the same to her, and allowed her to frame a picture perfect...
- 11/30/2018
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Few composers have as close a relationship with their directors as Nate Heller does with Marielle Heller, who happens to be his big sister. “One of the benefits of that is I’m able to sort of see what’s coming down the pike for her,” he explains. So when she signed on to helm “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” he got “a look at the script” earlier than usual. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
See Richard E. Grant (‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’) based his grifter character on a friend ‘who still owes me money’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
This Fox Searchlight release tells the true story of Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy), a celebrity biographer who turned to literary forgery when her drinking and abrasive personality caused her career to decline. She penned letters in the names of legendary figures like Noel Coward and Dorothy Parker and enlisted her friend Jack Hock (Richard E.
See Richard E. Grant (‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’) based his grifter character on a friend ‘who still owes me money’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
This Fox Searchlight release tells the true story of Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy), a celebrity biographer who turned to literary forgery when her drinking and abrasive personality caused her career to decline. She penned letters in the names of legendary figures like Noel Coward and Dorothy Parker and enlisted her friend Jack Hock (Richard E.
- 11/27/2018
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
Melissa McCarthy as “Lee Israel” and Richard E. Grant as “Jack Hock” in the film Can You Ever Forgive Me? Photo by Mary Cybulski. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved
In Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Melissa McCarthy gives a stunning dramatic performance in the strange but true story of Lee Israel, an one-time bestselling author of celebrity biographies fallen on hard times, who turns to a life of crime forging letters from famous literary figures such as Dorothy Parker, which she sells to collectors with the help of a boozy friend, played wonderfully by Richard E. Grant.
Lee Israel (McCarthy) is a New Yorker who has made a career out of writing biographies of celebrities such Katherine Hepburn and Tallulah Bankhead. As interest in the celebrities of that earlier time, the one’s Lee prefers as subjects, fades in the 1980s, she struggles to get published and make a living.
In Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Melissa McCarthy gives a stunning dramatic performance in the strange but true story of Lee Israel, an one-time bestselling author of celebrity biographies fallen on hard times, who turns to a life of crime forging letters from famous literary figures such as Dorothy Parker, which she sells to collectors with the help of a boozy friend, played wonderfully by Richard E. Grant.
Lee Israel (McCarthy) is a New Yorker who has made a career out of writing biographies of celebrities such Katherine Hepburn and Tallulah Bankhead. As interest in the celebrities of that earlier time, the one’s Lee prefers as subjects, fades in the 1980s, she struggles to get published and make a living.
- 11/2/2018
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
With three films already in release this year and another coming, Melissa McCarthy has been wallowing in worshipful media coverage. “Has anyone ever worked so hard to make us laugh?” the New York Times Magazine asked in this week’s cover story. Having established that she “owns” comedy, however, McCarthy, in true movie star fashion, has now switched to high drama. Mirthless Melissa’s new film, appropriately titled Can You Ever Forgive Me?, is best described by the New Yorker as “a mournful film suffused with an air of doom.”
I don’t want to pick on Melissa McCarthy, but the compulsion of stars to shed their true persona has always intrigued me. The pages of Hollywood history are steeped in examples of famed actors who want to prove that they can “stretch” — code for self-destruct.
On occasion, of course, the results have been inspiring: Remember how Tom Hanks, obviously...
I don’t want to pick on Melissa McCarthy, but the compulsion of stars to shed their true persona has always intrigued me. The pages of Hollywood history are steeped in examples of famed actors who want to prove that they can “stretch” — code for self-destruct.
On occasion, of course, the results have been inspiring: Remember how Tom Hanks, obviously...
- 10/25/2018
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
In her new film, Can You Ever Forgive Me? Melissa McCarthy, 48, portrays Lee Israel, a celebrity biographer who turned to crime when her writing career faltered in the 1990s.
The real-life story is darkly riveting and McCarthy said she jumped at the chance to take on the role.
“I found her fascinating,” says McCarthy.
For more on Melissa McCarthy pick up this week’s issue of People on newsstands now.
Lee was a successful New York writer who profiled the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estée Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. But after her book on Lauder wasn’t well received,...
The real-life story is darkly riveting and McCarthy said she jumped at the chance to take on the role.
“I found her fascinating,” says McCarthy.
For more on Melissa McCarthy pick up this week’s issue of People on newsstands now.
Lee was a successful New York writer who profiled the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Tallulah Bankhead, Estée Lauder and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen. But after her book on Lauder wasn’t well received,...
- 10/19/2018
- by Mia McNiece
- PEOPLE.com
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