Oscar-winning producer and influential motion picture executive Alan Ladd Jr., who ushered in the “Star Wars” era of motion pictures, died Wednesday. He was 84.
“With the heaviest of hearts, we announce that on March 2, 2022, Alan Ladd, Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family. Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed. His impact on films and filmmaking will live on in his absence,” his daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones, who directed the documentary “Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies,” wrote on the film’s Facebook page.
During his tenure at 20th Century Fox in the late 1970s, Ladd greenlit “Star Wars,” a $10 million sci-fi film that would become the yardstick for blockbuster movies and tentpole film franchises thereafter. He was the son of golden age film star Alan Ladd, best remembered for “Shane,” but in many ways, Ladd Jr. had a more substantial effect on Hollywood than did his famous dad.
“With the heaviest of hearts, we announce that on March 2, 2022, Alan Ladd, Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family. Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed. His impact on films and filmmaking will live on in his absence,” his daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones, who directed the documentary “Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies,” wrote on the film’s Facebook page.
During his tenure at 20th Century Fox in the late 1970s, Ladd greenlit “Star Wars,” a $10 million sci-fi film that would become the yardstick for blockbuster movies and tentpole film franchises thereafter. He was the son of golden age film star Alan Ladd, best remembered for “Shane,” but in many ways, Ladd Jr. had a more substantial effect on Hollywood than did his famous dad.
- 3/2/2022
- by Richard Natale
- Variety Film + TV
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar and Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. The eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and is subject to change.
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Oscars Collective
Visit each category, per the individual awards show from The Oscars Hub
Revisit the prediction archive of the 2021 season The Archive
Link to television awards is atTHE Emmys Hub
2022 Oscars Predictions:
Best Animated Feature
Updated: Feb 17, 2022
Awards Prediction Commentary:
Walt Disney Pictures’ “Encanto,” directed by Jared Bush...
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Oscars Collective
Visit each category, per the individual awards show from The Oscars Hub
Revisit the prediction archive of the 2021 season The Archive
Link to television awards is atTHE Emmys Hub
2022 Oscars Predictions:
Best Animated Feature
Updated: Feb 17, 2022
Awards Prediction Commentary:
Walt Disney Pictures’ “Encanto,” directed by Jared Bush...
- 2/18/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Alfred Sole, the prolific television production designer of Veronica Mars, Castle and MacGyver who had achieved cult-horror status with his 1976 film Alice, Sweet Alice featuring a 10-year-old Brooke Shields in a supporting role, died Feb. 14 at his home in Salt Lake City. He was 78.
His death was announced in a Facebook post by his cousin, filmmaker Dante Tomaselli. A cause of death was not specified.
Sole had already written and directed the 1972 sexually explicit, low-budget film Deep Sleep when several years later – and after the first film had been pulled from theaters on charges of obscenity – he turned to the horror genre. Originally titled Communion, Sole’s second movie premiered at the Chicago Film Festival in 1976 and was released by Allied Artists the following year as Alice, Sweet Alice, a name change disliked by Sole.
Inspired in part by Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 moody thriller Don’t Look Now, Sole’s Alice,...
His death was announced in a Facebook post by his cousin, filmmaker Dante Tomaselli. A cause of death was not specified.
Sole had already written and directed the 1972 sexually explicit, low-budget film Deep Sleep when several years later – and after the first film had been pulled from theaters on charges of obscenity – he turned to the horror genre. Originally titled Communion, Sole’s second movie premiered at the Chicago Film Festival in 1976 and was released by Allied Artists the following year as Alice, Sweet Alice, a name change disliked by Sole.
Inspired in part by Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 moody thriller Don’t Look Now, Sole’s Alice,...
- 2/17/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The most shocking snub of the Oscar noms was Denis Villeneuve’s omission from the best directing category for his science-fiction epic “Dune.”
The film’s 10-nomination haul includes best picture and adapted screenplay, the latter perceived to be its most difficult to attain. Yet, Villeneuve’s lack of recognition for directing could rally widespread support from Academy voters and result in the film tying or surpassing a 50-year record held by “Cabaret” (1972).
Bob Fosse’s classic adaptation of the Broadway stage musical set a record at the 45th Academy Awards for the most Oscars received without winning best picture. Fosse’s film took eight trophies: for directing, actress (Liza Minnelli), supporting actor (Joel Grey), sound, art direction (now called production design), cinematography, film editing and the now defunct score adaptation and original song score. Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” walked away with three major prizes at the ceremony: picture,...
The film’s 10-nomination haul includes best picture and adapted screenplay, the latter perceived to be its most difficult to attain. Yet, Villeneuve’s lack of recognition for directing could rally widespread support from Academy voters and result in the film tying or surpassing a 50-year record held by “Cabaret” (1972).
Bob Fosse’s classic adaptation of the Broadway stage musical set a record at the 45th Academy Awards for the most Oscars received without winning best picture. Fosse’s film took eight trophies: for directing, actress (Liza Minnelli), supporting actor (Joel Grey), sound, art direction (now called production design), cinematography, film editing and the now defunct score adaptation and original song score. Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” walked away with three major prizes at the ceremony: picture,...
- 2/17/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar and Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. The eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and is subject to change.
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Oscars Collective
Visit each category, per the individual awards show from The Oscars Hub
Revisit the prediction archive of the 2021 season The Archive
Link to television awards is atTHE Emmys Hub
2022 Oscars Predictions:
Best Original Screenplay
Updated: Feb 17, 2022
Awards Prediction Commentary:
Paul Thomas Anderson is up to a whopping...
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Oscars Collective
Visit each category, per the individual awards show from The Oscars Hub
Revisit the prediction archive of the 2021 season The Archive
Link to television awards is atTHE Emmys Hub
2022 Oscars Predictions:
Best Original Screenplay
Updated: Feb 17, 2022
Awards Prediction Commentary:
Paul Thomas Anderson is up to a whopping...
- 2/17/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Michael Moore has been unsurprisingly outspoken this election season. Last year he was among the first to predict that Donald Trump would win the Republican nomination for president, and late last month he listed five reasons why the Gop candidate could actually win. Today he’s in the Huffington Post with a new article titled “Trump Is Self-Sabotaging His Campaign Because He Never Really Wanted The Job In The First Place,” which posits that the Republican standard-bearer only ran in order to increase his media profile — and now the situation has gone further than even Trump thought it would.
Read More: Michael Moore’s 12-Year Project: How His Film Festival Changed a City
Others have suggested similarly over the past year, owing largely to Trump’s unorthodox (to put it mildly) campaign strategy. Despite never intending to make it this far, Moore argues, “Trump, to his own surprise, ignited the country,...
Read More: Michael Moore’s 12-Year Project: How His Film Festival Changed a City
Others have suggested similarly over the past year, owing largely to Trump’s unorthodox (to put it mildly) campaign strategy. Despite never intending to make it this far, Moore argues, “Trump, to his own surprise, ignited the country,...
- 8/16/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Olivia de Havilland picture U.S. labor history-making 'Gone with the Wind' star and two-time Best Actress winner Olivia de Havilland turns 99 (This Olivia de Havilland article is currently being revised and expanded.) Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Olivia de Havilland, the only surviving major Gone with the Wind cast member and oldest surviving Oscar winner, is turning 99 years old today, July 1.[1] Also known for her widely publicized feud with sister Joan Fontaine and for her eight movies with Errol Flynn, de Havilland should be remembered as well for having made Hollywood labor history. This particular history has nothing to do with de Havilland's films, her two Oscars, Gone with the Wind, Joan Fontaine, or Errol Flynn. Instead, history was made as a result of a legal fight: after winning a lawsuit against Warner Bros. in the mid-'40s, Olivia de Havilland put an end to treacherous...
- 7/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Turning Point
Written by Warren Duff and Horace McCoy (story)
Directed by William Dieterle
U.S.A., 1952
It is with much hoopla and media coverage that district attorney John Conroy (Edmond O’Brien) is tasked with bringing a decisive end to the alarming crime wave and corruption that has swept Los Angeles in recent years. One crime syndicate has been singled out, an organization so foul that a palpable fear has stricken law enforcement and the public, a fear for their very lives as well as a fear towards knowing the truth as to how its nefarious influence has seeped into the city’s fine institutions. Old friend and current hard-nosed newspaper reporter Jerry McKibbon (William Holden) has a knack for sniffing out trouble and good news stories, the two of which often go hand in hand. His presence irks John’s assistant and current main squeeze Amanda Waycross...
Written by Warren Duff and Horace McCoy (story)
Directed by William Dieterle
U.S.A., 1952
It is with much hoopla and media coverage that district attorney John Conroy (Edmond O’Brien) is tasked with bringing a decisive end to the alarming crime wave and corruption that has swept Los Angeles in recent years. One crime syndicate has been singled out, an organization so foul that a palpable fear has stricken law enforcement and the public, a fear for their very lives as well as a fear towards knowing the truth as to how its nefarious influence has seeped into the city’s fine institutions. Old friend and current hard-nosed newspaper reporter Jerry McKibbon (William Holden) has a knack for sniffing out trouble and good news stories, the two of which often go hand in hand. His presence irks John’s assistant and current main squeeze Amanda Waycross...
- 12/5/2014
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Doctor Who show-runner Steven Moffat reveals his plan for more online mini-episodes…
Extra online content is on Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who agenda, we’ve learned.
"I think we now have to accept that online stuff isn't a spin-off anymore," he told SFX. "We used to treat it as a spin-off that maybe some people would watch.”
Admitting that he often used online content as a way to bolster budgets, Moffat explained that "they'd give me some money to do an online thing and I'd say, 'Right, what crew do we already have, what actors do we already have, what set do we already have?' So we'd spend no money on it at all, whack it out in a day, pump the money into the episode and off you go."
The turning point wasn’t The Night Of The Doctor as you might expect though, but comedy series 7 tie-in Pond Life.
Extra online content is on Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who agenda, we’ve learned.
"I think we now have to accept that online stuff isn't a spin-off anymore," he told SFX. "We used to treat it as a spin-off that maybe some people would watch.”
Admitting that he often used online content as a way to bolster budgets, Moffat explained that "they'd give me some money to do an online thing and I'd say, 'Right, what crew do we already have, what actors do we already have, what set do we already have?' So we'd spend no money on it at all, whack it out in a day, pump the money into the episode and off you go."
The turning point wasn’t The Night Of The Doctor as you might expect though, but comedy series 7 tie-in Pond Life.
- 8/7/2014
- by rleane
- Den of Geek
I live in New Jersey -- go ahead, get the jokes out of the way now. ("Which exit?" Heh heh heh.) After all, for much of its history, Jersey's been the butt of jokes, not just because easy targets like Chris Christie and Snooki live here, but also because of a tradition of unflattering portrayals in movies and TV shows. Lately, however, a more complex picture of my much-maligned state has emerged, thanks in part to movies like those released 10 years ago this week: "Garden State" (on July 28, 2004) and "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" (July 30, 2004).
The turning point actually began earlier, on TV, with the 1999 debut of "The Sopranos," which found in the Jersey suburbs inhabited by its fictional mobsters a metaphor for nothing less than the state of the American Dream at the turn of the millennium. A decade later, reality shows like "Jersey Shore," "Jerseylicious," and...
The turning point actually began earlier, on TV, with the 1999 debut of "The Sopranos," which found in the Jersey suburbs inhabited by its fictional mobsters a metaphor for nothing less than the state of the American Dream at the turn of the millennium. A decade later, reality shows like "Jersey Shore," "Jerseylicious," and...
- 7/31/2014
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Happy Birthday Arthur Laurents Laurents' first play, Home of the Brave, opened on Broadway in 1945, followed by many others. He wrote his first musical, West Side Story, in 1957, followed by Gypsy and others. His first screenplay was The Snake Pit in 1948, followed by others including Rope, Anastasia, The Way We Were and The Turning Point. His own play, Invitation to a March in 1960, was the first of several he directed. I Can Get It for You Wholesale in 1961 was the first musical he directed, followed by others including La Cage aux Folles and Gypsy with Angela Lansbury, then Tyne Daly and most recently, Patti LuPone. He pased away in May 2011.
- 7/14/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
One of this year's best indies Test is about a young understudy dancer in San Francisco. Though it's only made a teensy bit of money in a microscopic theatrical run (that's happening to more and more indies) at one point it climbed to the top 15 on iTunes' indie chart.
Test's dance troupe at rehearsal
It's a topic for another time perhaps but I wonder how far we are away from box office reports that include money from On Demand and iTunes now that so many films hit all three venues at once or in quick succession?
The following are unused excerpts (edited for length) from my Towleroad interview last week with Chris Mason Johnson the director. I thought they were well suited to you cinephile savvy musical-friendly nuts anyway. It's rare that we get such attentively filmed and beautiful dancing onscreen so I had to ask him about the...
Test's dance troupe at rehearsal
It's a topic for another time perhaps but I wonder how far we are away from box office reports that include money from On Demand and iTunes now that so many films hit all three venues at once or in quick succession?
The following are unused excerpts (edited for length) from my Towleroad interview last week with Chris Mason Johnson the director. I thought they were well suited to you cinephile savvy musical-friendly nuts anyway. It's rare that we get such attentively filmed and beautiful dancing onscreen so I had to ask him about the...
- 6/24/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
When a lonely new mom and a lonely, newly-handicapped high schooler bond over similar taste in music and a shared distaste for their current lifestyles, the result is going to be an interesting friendship. In Jen McGowan’s Kelly & Cal, that friendship extends beyond the bounds that are considered appropriate for a married woman and a teenage boy and the result is a fascinating look at an unconventional relationship.
Co-starring in the film are Juliette Lewis and Jonny Weston and both of them turn in excellent performances. They have a remarkable chemistry on screen and that’s a major part of what makes the film so enjoyable. For more on why Kelly & Call works so well, feel free to check out our review.
Last week at South by Southwest, I had the opportunity to chat with Lewis and Weston about the film. We discussed the process of preparing for these complex characters,...
Co-starring in the film are Juliette Lewis and Jonny Weston and both of them turn in excellent performances. They have a remarkable chemistry on screen and that’s a major part of what makes the film so enjoyable. For more on why Kelly & Call works so well, feel free to check out our review.
Last week at South by Southwest, I had the opportunity to chat with Lewis and Weston about the film. We discussed the process of preparing for these complex characters,...
- 3/18/2014
- by Alexander Lowe
- We Got This Covered
"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long," muses Dr Eldon Tyrell in Blade Runner. This statement doesn't apply to a startling list of classic movies that faded fast at the box office on initial release, but whose flames have been burning with more intensity as the years have passed...
Blade Runner (1983)
Budget: $28 million
Box office: $33.7 million (including re-releases)
While androids dream of electric sheep, accountants must have endured hellish nightmares in the aftermath of Blade Runner's dismal run at the box office in the summer of 1982. An opening weekend of barely $6 million (£3.61 million) was attributed to an ill-conceived advertising campaign, the competition of Et for bums on seats and a mixed reception from viewers who felt stunned by the imagery but alienated by the narrative.
It's hard not to wonder whether the film would have fared better if the studio had faith in director Ridley Scott's original vision,...
Blade Runner (1983)
Budget: $28 million
Box office: $33.7 million (including re-releases)
While androids dream of electric sheep, accountants must have endured hellish nightmares in the aftermath of Blade Runner's dismal run at the box office in the summer of 1982. An opening weekend of barely $6 million (£3.61 million) was attributed to an ill-conceived advertising campaign, the competition of Et for bums on seats and a mixed reception from viewers who felt stunned by the imagery but alienated by the narrative.
It's hard not to wonder whether the film would have fared better if the studio had faith in director Ridley Scott's original vision,...
- 3/15/2014
- Digital Spy
Unless you're prediction-loving, number-crunching wizard Nate Silver, you probably find statistics pretty boring. But stats concerning the Academy Awards have always been fascinating, mostly because the Oscars are just plain weird, and riddled with anomalies.
The ceremony got its start in the late 1920s, when movies were just making their transition into sound, and early nominees and categories reflected the sheer chaos of those halcyon days of what would eventually become Hollywood's golden age. (Though, of course, any film aficionado worth his/her salt would have a strong opinion about the exact dates that that age entailed.)
As the Oscars tradition continued, the awards became a bit more traditional themselves, settling into a predictable pattern of narratives that have stayed relatively consistent to this day. But there are always idiosyncrasies hiding in the woodwork, and the Academy Awards have them in spades. Here, we've collected some of the most distinctive...
The ceremony got its start in the late 1920s, when movies were just making their transition into sound, and early nominees and categories reflected the sheer chaos of those halcyon days of what would eventually become Hollywood's golden age. (Though, of course, any film aficionado worth his/her salt would have a strong opinion about the exact dates that that age entailed.)
As the Oscars tradition continued, the awards became a bit more traditional themselves, settling into a predictable pattern of narratives that have stayed relatively consistent to this day. But there are always idiosyncrasies hiding in the woodwork, and the Academy Awards have them in spades. Here, we've collected some of the most distinctive...
- 2/28/2014
- by Katie Roberts
- Moviefone
I’ve finally made it to the grand master of the bravura sequence, or, more specifically, of the ending bravura sequence, King Vidor.
It isn’t surprising that a producer as knowledgeable as Selznick often ran to the services of the two major champions of “slice of cake” cinema and strong sequences, Hitchcock (Rebecca, Spellbound, Notorious, The Paradine Case) and Vidor (Bird of Paradise, Duel in the Sun, Light’s Diamond Jubilee, even Ruby Gentry), who, without a doubt, made the best films for Selznick.
Love Never Dies, Wild Oranges, Hallelujah, Our Daily Bread, Comrade X, Duel in the Sun, The Fountainhead, Ruby Gentry and their terrific denouements once made me write that Vidor was a director of film endings. No doubt I was exaggerating, but it isn’t for nothing that he hesitated for a long time between several different endings for The Crowd. I was also exaggerating because...
It isn’t surprising that a producer as knowledgeable as Selznick often ran to the services of the two major champions of “slice of cake” cinema and strong sequences, Hitchcock (Rebecca, Spellbound, Notorious, The Paradine Case) and Vidor (Bird of Paradise, Duel in the Sun, Light’s Diamond Jubilee, even Ruby Gentry), who, without a doubt, made the best films for Selznick.
Love Never Dies, Wild Oranges, Hallelujah, Our Daily Bread, Comrade X, Duel in the Sun, The Fountainhead, Ruby Gentry and their terrific denouements once made me write that Vidor was a director of film endings. No doubt I was exaggerating, but it isn’t for nothing that he hesitated for a long time between several different endings for The Crowd. I was also exaggerating because...
- 12/12/2011
- MUBI
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