Most fans of "The Twilight Zone" know that there's typically nothing funny about the show's attempts to do comedy. As a storyteller, Rod Serling was part poet, part prophet, part pioneer, and though he had the ability to create a seemingly endless supply of profound moral tales and prescient horror stories, he wasn't exactly a humorist. Many of the seminal sci-fi series' comedic episodes go down like a lead balloon, and the season 1 outing "The Mighty Casey" is no exception.
The episode follows a failing underdog baseball team called the Hoboken Zephyrs, which gets a surprising new advantage in the form of a pitcher named Casey (Robert Sorrells), who happens to be a robot. With Casey on the mound, the Zephyrs are undefeatable, but in typical "Twilight Zone" fashion, anything that sounds too good to be true is. The wheel of fortune turns when Casey is given a heart that makes him start to feel.
The episode follows a failing underdog baseball team called the Hoboken Zephyrs, which gets a surprising new advantage in the form of a pitcher named Casey (Robert Sorrells), who happens to be a robot. With Casey on the mound, the Zephyrs are undefeatable, but in typical "Twilight Zone" fashion, anything that sounds too good to be true is. The wheel of fortune turns when Casey is given a heart that makes him start to feel.
- 10/28/2023
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
These last few years the Criterion Channel have made October viewing much easier to prioritize, and in the spirit of their ’70s and ’80s horror series we’ve graduated to––you guessed it––”’90s Horror.” A couple of obvious classics stand with cult favorites and more unknown entities (When a Stranger Calls Back and Def By Temptation are new to me). Three more series continue the trend: “Technothrillers” does what it says on the tin, courtesy the likes of eXistenZ and Demonlover; “Art-House Horror” is precisely the kind of place to host Cure, Suspiria, Onibaba; and “Pre-Code Horror” is a black-and-white dream. Phantom of the Paradise, Unfriended, and John Brahm’s The Lodger are added elsewhere.
James Gray is the latest with an “Adventures in Moviegoing” series populated by deep cuts and straight classics. Stonewalling and restorations of Trouble Every Day and The Devil, Probably make streaming debuts, while Flesh for Frankenstein,...
James Gray is the latest with an “Adventures in Moviegoing” series populated by deep cuts and straight classics. Stonewalling and restorations of Trouble Every Day and The Devil, Probably make streaming debuts, while Flesh for Frankenstein,...
- 9/28/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest movie makers of all time, with titles such as “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas,” and “The Irishman.” The Academy Awards think that highly of him, too. Scorsese has reaped nine Best Director nominations. That tally ties him with Steven Spielberg. Here’s the breakdown of Best Director bids for both of them:
Scorsese:
“Raging Bull” in 1981 — lost to Robert Redford for “Ordinary People.” “The Last Temptation of Christ” in 1989 — lost to Barry Levinson for “Rain Man.” “Goodfellas” in 1991 — lost to Kevin Costner for “Dances With Wolves.” “Gangs of New York” in 2003 — lost to Roman Polanski for “The Pianist.” “The Aviator” in 2005 — lost to Clint Eastwood for “Million Dollar Baby.” “The Departed” in 2007 — Won. “Hugo” in 2012 — lost to Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist.” “The Wolf of Wall Street” in 2014 — lost to Alfonso Cuarón for “Gravity.” “The Irishman” in 2020 — lost to Bong Joon Ho for “Parasite.
Scorsese:
“Raging Bull” in 1981 — lost to Robert Redford for “Ordinary People.” “The Last Temptation of Christ” in 1989 — lost to Barry Levinson for “Rain Man.” “Goodfellas” in 1991 — lost to Kevin Costner for “Dances With Wolves.” “Gangs of New York” in 2003 — lost to Roman Polanski for “The Pianist.” “The Aviator” in 2005 — lost to Clint Eastwood for “Million Dollar Baby.” “The Departed” in 2007 — Won. “Hugo” in 2012 — lost to Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist.” “The Wolf of Wall Street” in 2014 — lost to Alfonso Cuarón for “Gravity.” “The Irishman” in 2020 — lost to Bong Joon Ho for “Parasite.
- 9/13/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Joseph L. Mankiewicz’ “Cleopatra,” which opened in New York on June 12, 1963 and in Los Angeles a week later, was not a flop. In fact, the 243-minute film was a box office champ making $26 million at the box office, $6 million more than the Cinerama epic “How the West was Won.” But being the most expensive movie of its time — the budget ended up being around $44 million which would be around $429.5 million in 2023 — it took a long time to recoup its staggering costs. The film was such a drain on Twentieth Century Fox, the studio ended up having to sell nearly 300 acres of its backlot. That acreage was transformed into Century City.
The budgets started to soar when the original production with Elizabeth Taylor, who asked for and received $1 million for her services, Peter Finch as Julius Caesar, Stephen Boyd as Marc Antony and veteran filmmaker Rouben Mamoulian as director, stopped production...
The budgets started to soar when the original production with Elizabeth Taylor, who asked for and received $1 million for her services, Peter Finch as Julius Caesar, Stephen Boyd as Marc Antony and veteran filmmaker Rouben Mamoulian as director, stopped production...
- 6/19/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Before the academy expanded the Best Picture race in 2010, the winner of that award almost always picked up the Best Director prize as well. But since then, these two awards have aligned at only seven of the dozen ceremonies. We thought that we’d see another case of double-dipping this year with Jane Campion winning for both directing and producing “The Power of the Dog.” But now it looks like “Coda” will claim the top prize of Best Picture, with Campion consoling herself with being the third woman to win Best Director.
Why the change?
When the decision was made to increase the number of nominees for Best Picture, it was also decided to bring back the preferential ballot that had been used by the academy until the mid 1940s. The rationale was that by ranking the nominees, the winner would be the film that had the broadest level of support.
Why the change?
When the decision was made to increase the number of nominees for Best Picture, it was also decided to bring back the preferential ballot that had been used by the academy until the mid 1940s. The rationale was that by ranking the nominees, the winner would be the film that had the broadest level of support.
- 3/27/2022
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Two years ago, siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell shared in four Grammy wins for the album “When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” (Album of the Year; Best Pop Vocal Album) and its single “Bad Guy” (Record of the Year; Song of the Year). Now, they have concurrently earned their first Oscar nominations for co-writing the song “No Time to Die” for the James Bond film of the same name. If they prevail later this month, they will become the fourth brother-sister pair to both be honored by the academy and the first to win for the same film.
The first brother-sister Oscar champs and first sibling winners overall were Douglas Shearer and Norma Shearer. In 1930, he triumphed in the Best Sound category for “The Big House” while she took the Best Actress prize for “The Divorcee.” They were followed by Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore, who respectively...
The first brother-sister Oscar champs and first sibling winners overall were Douglas Shearer and Norma Shearer. In 1930, he triumphed in the Best Sound category for “The Big House” while she took the Best Actress prize for “The Divorcee.” They were followed by Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore, who respectively...
- 3/16/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
October’s here and it’s time to get spooked. After last year’s superb “’70s Horror” lineup, the Criterion Channel commemorates October with a couple series: “Universal Horror,” which does what it says on the tin (with special notice to the Spanish-language Dracula), and “Home Invasion,” which runs the gamut from Romero to Oshima with Polanski and Haneke in the mix. Lest we disregard the programming of Cindy Sherman’s one feature, Office Killer, and Jennifer’s Body, whose lifespan has gone from gimmick to forgotten to Criterion Channel. And if you want to stretch ideas of genre just a hair, their “True Crime” selection gets at darker shades of human nature.
It’s not all chills and thrills, mind. October also boasts a Kirk Douglas repertoire, movies by Doris Wishman and Wayne Wang, plus Manoel de Oliveira’s rarely screened Porto of My Childhood. And Edgar Wright gets the “Adventures in Moviegoing” treatment,...
It’s not all chills and thrills, mind. October also boasts a Kirk Douglas repertoire, movies by Doris Wishman and Wayne Wang, plus Manoel de Oliveira’s rarely screened Porto of My Childhood. And Edgar Wright gets the “Adventures in Moviegoing” treatment,...
- 9/24/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The hustle of show business means people not-infrequently have two projects hitting the market at the same time.
Even so, filmmaker Nick Davis is the creative force behind one of the more unusual doubleheaders in recent memory. He directed ESPN “30 for 30” limited series Once Upon a Time in Queens, an account of the World Series-winning, earth-scorching 1986 New York Mets. The two-night, four hour docuseries, whose executive producers include Jimmy Kimmel, premieres tonight and concludes tomorrow. Also today, Knopf has published Davis’s book, Competing with Idiots, a dual portrait of Joseph and Herman Mankiewicz that had been in the works for nearly two decades. The Hollywood royals were his great-uncle and grandfather, respectively.
“I’ve thought about what common ground there is between these projects,” Davis said in an interview with Deadline. “And I think what it is is that I have no memory of not being Herman Mankiewicz’s grandson.
Even so, filmmaker Nick Davis is the creative force behind one of the more unusual doubleheaders in recent memory. He directed ESPN “30 for 30” limited series Once Upon a Time in Queens, an account of the World Series-winning, earth-scorching 1986 New York Mets. The two-night, four hour docuseries, whose executive producers include Jimmy Kimmel, premieres tonight and concludes tomorrow. Also today, Knopf has published Davis’s book, Competing with Idiots, a dual portrait of Joseph and Herman Mankiewicz that had been in the works for nearly two decades. The Hollywood royals were his great-uncle and grandfather, respectively.
“I’ve thought about what common ground there is between these projects,” Davis said in an interview with Deadline. “And I think what it is is that I have no memory of not being Herman Mankiewicz’s grandson.
- 9/14/2021
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
“Ah, nothing like fried chicken while it’s still hot and crispy! So the quicker you open that safe and give us the money, the quicker you can get back to that tasty-looking chicken.”
Kirk Douglas in There Was A Crooked Man…(1970) is currently available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive
Kirk Douglas plays a charming inmate scheming to recover $500K in stolen loot he has hidden away, while Henry Fonda looms as his new prison warden. Each man will find the tables turning in this boisterous yet blistering Western packed with brawls, shootouts and wry wit. Hume Cronyn, Burgess Meredith, Warren Oates and Lee Grant provide sterling support in this devilishly entertaining film by Academy Award® winner(Directing and Writing (Screenplay) for Both A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950) Joseph L. Mankiewicz from a script by David Newman and Robert Benton (Bonnie and Clyde).
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The post Kirk...
Kirk Douglas in There Was A Crooked Man…(1970) is currently available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive
Kirk Douglas plays a charming inmate scheming to recover $500K in stolen loot he has hidden away, while Henry Fonda looms as his new prison warden. Each man will find the tables turning in this boisterous yet blistering Western packed with brawls, shootouts and wry wit. Hume Cronyn, Burgess Meredith, Warren Oates and Lee Grant provide sterling support in this devilishly entertaining film by Academy Award® winner(Directing and Writing (Screenplay) for Both A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950) Joseph L. Mankiewicz from a script by David Newman and Robert Benton (Bonnie and Clyde).
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The post Kirk...
- 6/9/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Chloe Zhao won at the Directors Guild of America Awards on April 11 for her helming of “Nomadland.” The guild has a great track record of previewing the Best Director winner at the Academy Awards. Since aligning its awards with the academy, only eight of the DGA picks failed to pick up an Oscar bookend. That stat makes Zhao all but certain to become the second female helmer to prevail at the Academy Awards after Kathryn Bigelow.
Bigelow numbers among the 55 DGA winners for best director of the year who went on to claim bragging rights as the helmer of the Oscar winner for Best Picture. But we are just coming off two of those 17 years when there was a disconnect between the guild and the academy.
In 2020, Sam Mendes won his second Directors Guild Award for helming the WWI drama “1917” but the Oscar went to “Parasite” director Boon Jong Ho,...
Bigelow numbers among the 55 DGA winners for best director of the year who went on to claim bragging rights as the helmer of the Oscar winner for Best Picture. But we are just coming off two of those 17 years when there was a disconnect between the guild and the academy.
In 2020, Sam Mendes won his second Directors Guild Award for helming the WWI drama “1917” but the Oscar went to “Parasite” director Boon Jong Ho,...
- 4/11/2021
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Auteur! Auteur! Four of this year’s Best Director Oscar nominees — Chloe Zhao (“Nomadland”), Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”), Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”) and Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”) — have a writing credit on their films. Zhao, Fennell and Chung reaped bids for their scripting efforts.
Over the past decade, the majority of the Oscar-winning directors were also nominated for their screenplays. Last year, Boon Joon-Ho won Best Director and shared in the Original Screenplay award with Han Jan for their work on the Best Picture champ “Parasite.”
Though writer/directors getting Oscar love is the norm these days, that wasn’t always the case. When nominations were announced for the first Academy Awards, Charlie Chaplin was cited for both Best Actor and Comedy Direction for his 1928 masterpiece “The Circus,” which he also wrote and produced. But the academy decided to withdraw his name from the competitive classes and decided “that...
Over the past decade, the majority of the Oscar-winning directors were also nominated for their screenplays. Last year, Boon Joon-Ho won Best Director and shared in the Original Screenplay award with Han Jan for their work on the Best Picture champ “Parasite.”
Though writer/directors getting Oscar love is the norm these days, that wasn’t always the case. When nominations were announced for the first Academy Awards, Charlie Chaplin was cited for both Best Actor and Comedy Direction for his 1928 masterpiece “The Circus,” which he also wrote and produced. But the academy decided to withdraw his name from the competitive classes and decided “that...
- 3/28/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
There’s a good chance that “Mank,” David Fincher’s stylish black-and-white chronicle of veteran Hollywood screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz’ struggle to write the screenplay for Orson Welles’ 1941 masterpiece “Citizen Kane,” will dominate the Oscar nominations on March 15. Our Oscar experts are predicting the Netflix release could garner has many has 13 nominations including picture, director, screenplay for Fincher’s latest father Jack Fincher, actor for Gary Oldman and supporting actress for Amanda Seyfried.
Exactly 70 years ago Mank’s brother, writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, dominated the Academy Awards. His “All About Eve,” a sophisticated and sharp drama starring Bette Davis as aging theater actress Margo Channing who mistakenly befriends and mentors an ambitious young actress Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), earned 14 Oscar nominations. “All About Eve” actually broke all records for Oscar nominations besting 1939’s “Gone with the Wind” lucky 13 bids.
The younger Mank’s masterpiece went on to win six...
Exactly 70 years ago Mank’s brother, writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, dominated the Academy Awards. His “All About Eve,” a sophisticated and sharp drama starring Bette Davis as aging theater actress Margo Channing who mistakenly befriends and mentors an ambitious young actress Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), earned 14 Oscar nominations. “All About Eve” actually broke all records for Oscar nominations besting 1939’s “Gone with the Wind” lucky 13 bids.
The younger Mank’s masterpiece went on to win six...
- 3/12/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The Directors Guild of America has been handing out awards for 72 years. Fifty-five of its picks for the best director of the year went on to claim bragging rights as the helmer of the Oscar winner for Best Picture. This translates into a success rate of 6%. That eclipses the track record of both the PGA (21/31 = 68%) and SAG (12/25 = 48%).
But we are just coming off back-to-back years when there was a disconnect between the guild and the academy. In 2020, the DGA honored Sam Mendes for his helming of “1917” and the PGA picked it as their pic of the year. SAG saluted the cast of “Parasite,” which went on to sweep the Oscars bagging Best Picture and Best Director for Boon Jong Ho, who also shared in the original screenplay win.
In 2019, Alfonso Cuarón won the DGA prize for “Roma” but “Green Book” took home the top prize at the Academy Awards.
But we are just coming off back-to-back years when there was a disconnect between the guild and the academy. In 2020, the DGA honored Sam Mendes for his helming of “1917” and the PGA picked it as their pic of the year. SAG saluted the cast of “Parasite,” which went on to sweep the Oscars bagging Best Picture and Best Director for Boon Jong Ho, who also shared in the original screenplay win.
In 2019, Alfonso Cuarón won the DGA prize for “Roma” but “Green Book” took home the top prize at the Academy Awards.
- 3/8/2021
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
For this Oscar flashback, we’re throwing it back 70 years to the night of March 29, 1951. The affable Fred Astaire hosted for his first and only time, helming one of the most memorable ceremonies in Academy history. Two now-iconic films battled in a number of categories, with one setting Academy records that hold today. There were surprising wins in the acting categories, with Broadway being well-represented on the night that honors film. It was an especially great year for women, with two grande dames of film facing off for their now-legendary portrayals of aging actresses, and the Best Actress category being one of the best in the history of the Academy. One can almost hear Bette Davis saying, “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”
On a night in which three of the four acting winners triumphed for roles they had also played on Broadway, it’s...
On a night in which three of the four acting winners triumphed for roles they had also played on Broadway, it’s...
- 2/11/2021
- by Susan Pennington
- Gold Derby
For more than 30 years, Aaron Sorkin has maintained a reputation as one of Hollywood’s best writers. His output is consistently topical and thought-provoking, and his unique brand of storytelling has brought him success in every medium. His name is easily associated with his work, which is filled with intelligent characters who expound liberal ideals with emotional heft and often engage in extended bouts of snappy dialogue.
Though his projects all bear his trademark style, each conveys its own distinct message. That is true of his latest film, Netflix’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” which is proving to be a career highlight. As its writer and director, he is on track to potentially score Oscar gold twice in one night. If he pulls off both wins, he will join an exclusive group of solo writer-directors that so far only includes John Huston (“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre...
Though his projects all bear his trademark style, each conveys its own distinct message. That is true of his latest film, Netflix’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” which is proving to be a career highlight. As its writer and director, he is on track to potentially score Oscar gold twice in one night. If he pulls off both wins, he will join an exclusive group of solo writer-directors that so far only includes John Huston (“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre...
- 2/5/2021
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
With David Fincher’s film Mank reviving the legend of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, a descendant of the Citizen Kane scribe and his equally fabled brother, Joseph, will have his dual biography published next summer by Knopf.
Competing with Idiots by Nick Davis takes its title from a telegram Herman Mankiewicz sent after he left his career as a New York theater critic for Hollywood in 1926. “Millions Are To Be Grabbed Out Here And Your Only Competition Is Idiots. Don’T Let This Get Around,” he wrote to Ben Hecht, who would soon join the Westward migration of writing talent.
Davis, who is the grandson of Herman and great-nephew of Joe, followed in the family line and has accumulated a number of writing, producing and directing credits for television and film work. He is directing a multi-part documentary under ESPN’s 30 for 30 banner about the 1986 New York Mets and has also...
Competing with Idiots by Nick Davis takes its title from a telegram Herman Mankiewicz sent after he left his career as a New York theater critic for Hollywood in 1926. “Millions Are To Be Grabbed Out Here And Your Only Competition Is Idiots. Don’T Let This Get Around,” he wrote to Ben Hecht, who would soon join the Westward migration of writing talent.
Davis, who is the grandson of Herman and great-nephew of Joe, followed in the family line and has accumulated a number of writing, producing and directing credits for television and film work. He is directing a multi-part documentary under ESPN’s 30 for 30 banner about the 1986 New York Mets and has also...
- 12/29/2020
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
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.***Dangerous Crossing was directed by Joseph M. Newman in 1953, not long before the one title he's semi-remembered for, This Island Earth. It seems to have been greenlit as a B-picture to take advantage of the sets built for Fox's Titanic, as it's an ocean voyage mystery.Newlywed Jeanne Crain boards ship with her husband, who promptly vanishes, and nobody will admit to ever having seen him. Of course the plot kernel was used before, by writers Launder and Gilliat for director Hitchcock in The Lady Vanishes.
- 7/20/2020
- MUBI
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.***Joseph L. Mankiewicz, former producer at MGM, where Louis B. Mayer called him Joe Monkeybitch, became a top director at Fox, and his films there are spectacularly well-represented on streaming services today, along with Ford and Preminger, but one exception seems to be House of Strangers, his 1949 noir saga starring Richard Conte, Susan Hayward, and Edward G. Robinson.It's an unusual genre to find the urbane Mankiewicz dirtying his hands with. Robinson's presence is a throwback to the pre-Code gangland epics of Warner Bros., while the...
- 7/8/2020
- MUBI
Johnny Mandel, the Oscar- and Grammy-winning songwriter of “The Shadow of Your Smile,” “Emily” and the theme from “Mash,” has died. He was 94.
“I was so sad to learn that a hero of mine, Johnny Mandel, passed away,” wrote Michael Buble on Twitter. “He was a genius and one of my favorite writers, arrangers, and personalities. He was a beast.”
“A dear friend and extraordinary composer arranger and all-around brilliant talent, Johnny Mandel, just passed away,” wrote Michael Feinstein on Facebook. “The world will never be quite the same without his humor, wit and wry view of life and the human condition. He was truly beyond compare, and nobody could write or arrange the way he did. Lord will we miss him. Let’s celebrate him with his music! He would like that.”
Mandel was considered one of the finest arrangers of the second half of the 20th century, providing...
“I was so sad to learn that a hero of mine, Johnny Mandel, passed away,” wrote Michael Buble on Twitter. “He was a genius and one of my favorite writers, arrangers, and personalities. He was a beast.”
“A dear friend and extraordinary composer arranger and all-around brilliant talent, Johnny Mandel, just passed away,” wrote Michael Feinstein on Facebook. “The world will never be quite the same without his humor, wit and wry view of life and the human condition. He was truly beyond compare, and nobody could write or arrange the way he did. Lord will we miss him. Let’s celebrate him with his music! He would like that.”
Mandel was considered one of the finest arrangers of the second half of the 20th century, providing...
- 6/30/2020
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Tony Sokol Feb 5, 2020
Kirk Douglas, an icon of Hollywood's Golden Age, was as heroic as some of the characters he played.
Stage and screen actor, producer, director and writer Kirk Douglas, whose career spanned more than 60 years, died Wednesday at the age of 103, according to Variety.
“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” his son, actor Michael Douglas, said in a statement.
“To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to. But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne,...
Kirk Douglas, an icon of Hollywood's Golden Age, was as heroic as some of the characters he played.
Stage and screen actor, producer, director and writer Kirk Douglas, whose career spanned more than 60 years, died Wednesday at the age of 103, according to Variety.
“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” his son, actor Michael Douglas, said in a statement.
“To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to. But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne,...
- 2/6/2020
- Den of Geek
Sam Mendes won at the Directors Guild of America Awards on January 25 for his helming of the WWI epic “1917.” The guild has a great track record of previewing the Best Director winner at the Academy Awards. Since aligning its awards with the academy, only seven of the DGA picks failed to pick up an Oscar bookend. That stat makes Mendes all but certain to claim his second Oscar for directing. He won both the DGA and Academy Award for his directorial debut, “American Beauty,” back in 2000.
For that film, Mendes numbers among the 55 DGA winners for best director of the year who went on to claim bragging rights as the helmer of the Oscar winner for Best Picture. But we are just coming off one of those 16 years when there was a disconnect between the guild and the academy.
Alfonso Cuarón won the DGA prize for “Roma” but “Green Book...
For that film, Mendes numbers among the 55 DGA winners for best director of the year who went on to claim bragging rights as the helmer of the Oscar winner for Best Picture. But we are just coming off one of those 16 years when there was a disconnect between the guild and the academy.
Alfonso Cuarón won the DGA prize for “Roma” but “Green Book...
- 1/26/2020
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The Directors Guild of America has been handing out awards for 71 years. Fifty-five of its picks for the best director of the year went on to claim bragging rights as the helmer of the Oscar winner for Best Picture. This translates into a success rate of 77%. That eclipses the track record of both the PGA (21/30 = 70%) and SAG (11/22 = 50%).
We are just coming off one of those 16 years when there was a disconnect between the guild and the academy. Alfonso Cuarón won the DGA prize for “Roma” but “Green Book” took home the top prize at the Academy Awards. While that film’s director, Peter Farrelly, had been nominated by the guild he was nubbed by the directors branch of the academy. And his movie did not number among the five nominated for Best Ensemble at the SAG Awards; “Black Panther” took home that prize.
In 2018, Guillermo del Toro bagged the DGA...
We are just coming off one of those 16 years when there was a disconnect between the guild and the academy. Alfonso Cuarón won the DGA prize for “Roma” but “Green Book” took home the top prize at the Academy Awards. While that film’s director, Peter Farrelly, had been nominated by the guild he was nubbed by the directors branch of the academy. And his movie did not number among the five nominated for Best Ensemble at the SAG Awards; “Black Panther” took home that prize.
In 2018, Guillermo del Toro bagged the DGA...
- 1/23/2020
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
In the 71-year history of the DGA Awards, the guild has honored the director of the eventual Oscar Best Picture winner a staggering 55 times. That success rate of 77% far eclipses that of both the PGA (21/30 = 70%) and SAG (11/22 = 50%). This year’s slate of Directors Guild of America Awards nominees will be announced on January 7.
We are just coming off one of those 16 years when there was a disconnect between the guild and the academy. While Alfonso Cuarón won over the DGA for the helming of his memoir “Roma,” it was “Green Book” that claimed the top prize at the Academy Awards. That film’s director, Peter Farrelly, was nominated by the guild but snubbed by the directors branch of the academy. And his movie did not number among the five nominated for Best Ensemble at the SAG Awards; “Black Panther” took home that prize.
In 2018, Guillermo del Toro bagged the DGA...
We are just coming off one of those 16 years when there was a disconnect between the guild and the academy. While Alfonso Cuarón won over the DGA for the helming of his memoir “Roma,” it was “Green Book” that claimed the top prize at the Academy Awards. That film’s director, Peter Farrelly, was nominated by the guild but snubbed by the directors branch of the academy. And his movie did not number among the five nominated for Best Ensemble at the SAG Awards; “Black Panther” took home that prize.
In 2018, Guillermo del Toro bagged the DGA...
- 1/6/2020
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Sam Mendes really knows how to end a decade on a high note. Twenty years ago, he made his feature film directorial debut with “American Beauty” (1999), which went on to win the Best Picture Oscar, along with Best Director for Mendes — the most recent director to prevail for a debut. Now, he’s back with his World War I epic “1917” and is a massive contender to take home a bookend Best Director statuette, which would give him the longest gap between two wins.
Twenty-one people have scored multiple Best Director Oscars — 18 with two, two with three and one with four — but most have typically won two of them within a period of 10 years. Five have a gap of more than 10 years between two victories. The record is currently held by Billy Wilder, who won his two awards 15 years apart for “The Lost Weekend” (1945) and “The Apartment” (1960).
Two have a gap of 13 years: Fred Zinnemann,...
Twenty-one people have scored multiple Best Director Oscars — 18 with two, two with three and one with four — but most have typically won two of them within a period of 10 years. Five have a gap of more than 10 years between two victories. The record is currently held by Billy Wilder, who won his two awards 15 years apart for “The Lost Weekend” (1945) and “The Apartment” (1960).
Two have a gap of 13 years: Fred Zinnemann,...
- 11/27/2019
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Alfonso Cuaron just added another Best Director Oscar to his shelf with his victory for “Roma,” a personal story about growing up in Mexico City in the 1970s. The win came just five years after his first one for “Gravity” (2013). He became the 92nd person in history to clinch that prize, beating out Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Favourite”), Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman”), Adam McKay (“Vice”), and Pawel Pawlikowski (“Cold War”). Tour our photo gallery above of every Academy Award winner for Best Director, from the most recent winner to the very first one.
SEE2019 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 91st Academy Awards
At the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1927, two awards were given for directing: one for comedy (Lewis Milestone for “Two Arabian Nights”), the other for drama (Frank Borzage for “7th Heaven”). The next year, only one prize was given.
Since 1927, only 21 directors have won this category more than once.
SEE2019 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 91st Academy Awards
At the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1927, two awards were given for directing: one for comedy (Lewis Milestone for “Two Arabian Nights”), the other for drama (Frank Borzage for “7th Heaven”). The next year, only one prize was given.
Since 1927, only 21 directors have won this category more than once.
- 2/25/2019
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
Barry Jenkins and Spike Lee made history this year as the first black writers to earn multiple nominations at the Oscars. They’re both up for Best Adapted Screenplay, Jenkins for “If Beale Street Could Talk” and Lee for “BlacKkKlansman.” But Jenkins previously won this category for “Moonlight” (2016), so if he prevails again he will become the first black writer to claim multiple awards, and he would join an elite group of scribes with multiple Best Adapted Screenplay trophies on their mantels.
The auspicious list of multiple champs already includes Joseph L. Mankiewicz (“A Letter to Three Wives” and “All About Eve”), George Seaton (“Miracle on 34th Street” and “The Country Girl”), Robert Bolt (“Doctor Zhivago” and “A Man for All Seasons”), Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo (together for both “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II”), Alvin Sargent (“Julia” and “Ordinary People”), Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (“A Room with a View...
The auspicious list of multiple champs already includes Joseph L. Mankiewicz (“A Letter to Three Wives” and “All About Eve”), George Seaton (“Miracle on 34th Street” and “The Country Girl”), Robert Bolt (“Doctor Zhivago” and “A Man for All Seasons”), Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo (together for both “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II”), Alvin Sargent (“Julia” and “Ordinary People”), Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (“A Room with a View...
- 2/14/2019
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
DGA Award No. 2 is about to make Alfonso Cuaron No. 13. The “Roma” writer/director/cinematographer/editor is the massive favorite to win the Directors Guild of America Award on Saturday, which would propel him onto the short list of two-time champs.
Only 12 people have won the prestigious prize twice, including Cuaron’s good pal Alejandro G. Inarritu, who claimed back-to-back wins for “Birdman” (2014) and “The Revenant” (2015). Steven Spielberg holds the record with three wins, for “The Color Purple” (1985), “Schindler’s List” (1993) and “Saving Private Ryan” (1998).
Cuaron nabbed his first DGA Award for “Gravity” (2013), for which he later won the Best Director Oscar. One of the most accurate Oscar precursors, DGA has lined up with Oscar 63 times in 70 years. Of the two-time DGA winners, thrice has the DGA champ not converted both of their victories into Oscar gold. Francis Ford Coppola lost the Oscar to Bob Fosse (“Cabaret”); Ron Howard was snubbed by Oscar,...
Only 12 people have won the prestigious prize twice, including Cuaron’s good pal Alejandro G. Inarritu, who claimed back-to-back wins for “Birdman” (2014) and “The Revenant” (2015). Steven Spielberg holds the record with three wins, for “The Color Purple” (1985), “Schindler’s List” (1993) and “Saving Private Ryan” (1998).
Cuaron nabbed his first DGA Award for “Gravity” (2013), for which he later won the Best Director Oscar. One of the most accurate Oscar precursors, DGA has lined up with Oscar 63 times in 70 years. Of the two-time DGA winners, thrice has the DGA champ not converted both of their victories into Oscar gold. Francis Ford Coppola lost the Oscar to Bob Fosse (“Cabaret”); Ron Howard was snubbed by Oscar,...
- 2/2/2019
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
So much time, so few movies to see. Scratch that. Reverse it.
Running a little later than usual this year, the 2018 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival gets under way this coming Thursday, screening approximately 88 films and special programs over the course of the festival’s three-and-a-half days, beginning Thursday evening, and no doubt about it, this year’s schedule, no less than any other year, will lay out a banquet for classic film buffs, casual film fans and harder-core cinephiles looking for the opportunity to see long-time favorites as well as rare and unusual treats on the big screen. I’ve attended every festival since its inaugural run back in 2010, and since then if I have not reined in my enthusiasm for the festival and being given the opportunity to attend it every year, then I have at least managed to lasso my verbiage. That first year I wrote about...
Running a little later than usual this year, the 2018 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival gets under way this coming Thursday, screening approximately 88 films and special programs over the course of the festival’s three-and-a-half days, beginning Thursday evening, and no doubt about it, this year’s schedule, no less than any other year, will lay out a banquet for classic film buffs, casual film fans and harder-core cinephiles looking for the opportunity to see long-time favorites as well as rare and unusual treats on the big screen. I’ve attended every festival since its inaugural run back in 2010, and since then if I have not reined in my enthusiasm for the festival and being given the opportunity to attend it every year, then I have at least managed to lasso my verbiage. That first year I wrote about...
- 4/23/2018
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
It used to be pretty much an Academy Awards norm that the film that won Best Picture also took home the Oscar for Best Director. In recent years that has changed, largely due to the preferential ballot that has been implemented for Best Picture voting. These two categories have split in four of the past five years, with “Birdman” (2014) and its director Alejandro G. Inarritu being the last time they lined up. Currently “The Shape of Water” is in first place to win both categories on Gold Derby’s Oscar charts, so might things get back on track this year?
See 2018 Oscar nominations: Full list of Academy Awards nominees in all 24 categories
A year ago Damien Chazelle won Best Director for “La La Land” while “Moonlight” took Best Picture, becoming the fourth time this decade that the Oscar split occurred. In 2015 Inarritu won Best Director for “The Revenent” (his second...
See 2018 Oscar nominations: Full list of Academy Awards nominees in all 24 categories
A year ago Damien Chazelle won Best Director for “La La Land” while “Moonlight” took Best Picture, becoming the fourth time this decade that the Oscar split occurred. In 2015 Inarritu won Best Director for “The Revenent” (his second...
- 2/8/2018
- by Robert Pius
- Gold Derby
Updated: Following a couple of Julie London Westerns*, Turner Classic Movies will return to its July 2017 Star of the Month presentations. On July 27, Ronald Colman can be seen in five films from his later years: A Double Life, Random Harvest (1942), The Talk of the Town (1942), The Late George Apley (1947), and The Story of Mankind (1957). The first three titles are among the most important in Colman's long film career. George Cukor's A Double Life earned him his one and only Best Actor Oscar; Mervyn LeRoy's Random Harvest earned him his second Best Actor Oscar nomination; George Stevens' The Talk of the Town was shortlisted for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. All three feature Ronald Colman at his very best. The early 21st century motto of international trendsetters, from Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro and Turkey's Recep Erdogan to Russia's Vladimir Putin and the United States' Donald Trump, seems to be, The world is reality TV and reality TV...
- 7/28/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
‘La La Land’ and ‘Moonlight’ (Courtesy: Dale Robinette; David Bornfriend/A24)
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
Nothing is certain at the Oscars, and that absolutely applies to the best picture and best director categories. While it is common for films to win both of these trophies in a given year, sometimes they can go to two different works. There’s a chance that La La Land and Moonlight could split these categories at the upcoming ceremony — but how often does that happen?
Both of these films are considered frontrunners in both the best picture and best director category at the upcoming Oscars. This site’s namesake, The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg, lists La La Land — written and directed by Damien Chazelle — and Moonlight — written and directed by Barry Jenkins — as the top two contenders in both categories in his latest check-in on the race. The two films have been...
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
Nothing is certain at the Oscars, and that absolutely applies to the best picture and best director categories. While it is common for films to win both of these trophies in a given year, sometimes they can go to two different works. There’s a chance that La La Land and Moonlight could split these categories at the upcoming ceremony — but how often does that happen?
Both of these films are considered frontrunners in both the best picture and best director category at the upcoming Oscars. This site’s namesake, The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg, lists La La Land — written and directed by Damien Chazelle — and Moonlight — written and directed by Barry Jenkins — as the top two contenders in both categories in his latest check-in on the race. The two films have been...
- 12/24/2016
- by Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
I’m noticing more and more a theme in postwar (especially American) cinema concerning pacifists turning towards violence. A character will introduce him- or herself as someone unable and morally opposed to weapons in general or harming another human being specifically, only to be put in a situation in which violence is presented as the only way out. We’ve covered (at least) two such films on this very website – Shane and Violent Saturday – and, having just seen it, I can add the considerably odd Frank Sinatra vehicle Suddenly to this list.
It’s not hard to see why American filmmakers and moviegoers would be interested in this subject at this time. Many of them had recently returned from war, where they did awful things for a greater good; those who didn’t go to war themselves certainly knew somebody who had. On a much larger scale, the use of...
It’s not hard to see why American filmmakers and moviegoers would be interested in this subject at this time. Many of them had recently returned from war, where they did awful things for a greater good; those who didn’t go to war themselves certainly knew somebody who had. On a much larger scale, the use of...
- 5/12/2016
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
As predicted, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("The Revenant") won Best Director at the Oscars on Sunday. He was Gold Derby's frontrunner with odds of 2/9 to prevail, just one year after winning for "Birdman." The last time someone won back-to-back Oscars for Best Director was Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who prevailed for "A Letter to Three Wives" (1949) and "All About Eve" (1950). Prior to that, John Ford had won two of his record four Oscars consecutively for helming "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940) and "How Green Was My Valley" (1941). -Break- Subscribe to Gold Derby Breaking News Alerts & Experts’ Latest Oscar Predictions Our official odds are derived from the predictions of 28 Expert film journalists along with our seven in-house Editors who cover awards year-round, the Top 24 Users who got the top scores predicting last year's Oscars, the All-Star Users who did the be...
- 2/29/2016
- Gold Derby
Every Academy Awards show provides a little slice of history, but more Oscar records than usual could hang in the balance on Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre. Here are some of the landmarks that could conceivably be reached by the time the final envelope is opened: If Alejandro G. Inarritu wins Best Director for “The Revenant,” he’ll be the third director to win that award in consecutive years, after John Ford for “The Grapes of Wrath” and “How Green Was My Valley” (1940-41) and Joseph L. Mankiewicz for “A Letter to Three Wives” and “All About Eve” (1949-50). If “The.
- 2/27/2016
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("The Revenant") is the frontrunner with odds of 1/4 to win Best Director at the Oscars on Sunday, just one year after winning for "Birdman." The last time someone won back-to-back Oscars for Best Director was Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who prevailed for "A Letter to Three Wives" (1949) and "All About Eve" (1950). Prior to that, John Ford had won two of his record four Oscars consecutively for helming "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940) and "How Green Was My Valley" (1941). -Break- Subscribe to Gold Derby Breaking News Alerts & Experts’ Latest Oscar Predictions Our official odds are derived from the predictions of 27 Expert film journalists along with our seven in-house Editors who cover awards year-round, the Top 24 Users who got the top scores predicting last year's Oscars, the All-Star Users who did the best for the past two years combined and t...'...
- 2/26/2016
- Gold Derby
Wide open race, people. Following The Big Short's win at PGA, Spotlight's ensemble prize at SAG, comes the Director's Guild Award for... The Revenant.
Getty Images
Bonafide three-way race for Best Picture which is not common. Whoever wins we'll know that it was close -- unless a sweep reveals otherwise. Hell, Oscar's Best Director competition is also fierce though the advantage goes to Iñárritu at this point.
Trivia!
Incidentally, this prize for Alejandro González Iñárritu is his second consecutive from his guild. Though several directors have won twice, a consecutive win has never happened before at the DGA. It has happened at the Oscars, though, and twice at that: John Ford won two in a row for The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and How Green Was My Valley (1941). And not quite a decade later Joseph L Mankiewicz pulled off the same trick with A Letter To Three Wives (1949) and All...
Getty Images
Bonafide three-way race for Best Picture which is not common. Whoever wins we'll know that it was close -- unless a sweep reveals otherwise. Hell, Oscar's Best Director competition is also fierce though the advantage goes to Iñárritu at this point.
Trivia!
Incidentally, this prize for Alejandro González Iñárritu is his second consecutive from his guild. Though several directors have won twice, a consecutive win has never happened before at the DGA. It has happened at the Oscars, though, and twice at that: John Ford won two in a row for The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and How Green Was My Valley (1941). And not quite a decade later Joseph L Mankiewicz pulled off the same trick with A Letter To Three Wives (1949) and All...
- 2/7/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Nominations were announced Thursday morning for the 88th annual Academy Awards, and "The Revenant" unexpectedly leads with a whopping 12 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu), Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Best Supporting Actor (Tom Hardy). (Click here for the complete list of nominations.) -Break- Inarritu won the directing prize last year for "Birdman," so if he wins again for "The Revenant," as he recently did at the Golden Globes, he will be the first to win back-to-back Oscars since Joseph L. Mankiewicz in 1949 ("A Letter to Three Wives") and 1950 ("All About Eve"). His nominated cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubezki, previously won for "Gravity" (2013) and "Birdman" (2014), so he may become the first in his field to win three in a row. Subscribe to Gold Derby Breaking News Alerts & Experts’ Latest Oscar Predictions...
- 1/14/2016
- Gold Derby
The last time someone won back-to-back Oscars for Best Director was Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who prevailed for "A Letter to Three Wives" (1949) and "All About Eve" (1950). Prior to that, John Ford had won two of his record four Oscars consecutively for helming "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940) and "How Green Was My Valley" (1941). Now, Oscar's reigning directing champ, Alejandro G. Inarritu ("Birdman"), has a heck of a chance of pulling off a repeat victory this year thanks to his visual masterpiece "The Revenant." Will Inarritu be the first helmer in 65 years to pull off a double-director Oscar whammy? -Break- Photo Gallery: Best Picture Oscar Contenders 2015 Due out on Christmas day, "The Revenant" is the true story of frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) who hunts down the man (Tom Hardy) who left him for dead after a bear attack in the Dakota Territory of 1823. Inar...'...
- 11/25/2015
- Gold Derby
In so many of the discussions (recorded and written) that accompany Masters of Cinema’s new Blu-ray edition of Pickup on South Street, the critic finds some way to make apologies for the fact that not all of the film was shot on the streets. In fact, very little was. Then as now, New York is an unpredictable animal, difficult to harness in a medium that so predicated on reliability that the entire industry surrounding it moved across the country just to ensure the sun would always be out. But studio-set production is not antithetical to Samuel Fuller’s “whole thing.” He’s not the gritty realist perhaps even he’d like to be, even viewing his films in the context of the times. Fuller is more like a political cartoonist without a punchline. He has cleverness to spare, but no jokes. More importantly, his style of expression is dependent...
- 10/16/2015
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Charles Brackett ca. 1945: Hollywood diarist and Billy Wilder's co-screenwriter (1936–1949) and producer (1945–1949). Q&A with 'Charles Brackett Diaries' editor Anthony Slide: Billy Wilder's screenwriter-producer partner in his own words Six-time Academy Award winner Billy Wilder is a film legend. He is renowned for classics such as The Major and the Minor, Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like It Hot, and The Apartment. The fact that Wilder was not the sole creator of these movies is all but irrelevant to graduates from the Auteur School of Film History. Wilder directed, co-wrote, and at times produced his films. That should suffice. For auteurists, perhaps. But not for those interested in the whole story. That's one key reason why the Charles Brackett diaries are such a great read. Through Brackett's vantage point, they offer a welcome – and unique – glimpse into the collaborative efforts that resulted in...
- 9/25/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Crawford Movie Star Joan Crawford movies on TCM: Underrated actress, top star in several of her greatest roles If there was ever a professional who was utterly, completely, wholeheartedly dedicated to her work, Joan Crawford was it. Ambitious, driven, talented, smart, obsessive, calculating, she had whatever it took – and more – to reach the top and stay there. Nearly four decades after her death, Crawford, the star to end all stars, remains one of the iconic performers of the 20th century. Deservedly so, once you choose to bypass the Mommie Dearest inanity and focus on her film work. From the get-go, she was a capable actress; look for the hard-to-find silents The Understanding Heart (1927) and The Taxi Dancer (1927), and check her out in the more easily accessible The Unknown (1927) and Our Dancing Daughters (1928). By the early '30s, Joan Crawford had become a first-rate film actress, far more naturalistic than...
- 8/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Like so many great American films of the era, A Letter to Three Wives has a touch of trash at its core. Writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz crafts well-rounded characters, thoughtful explorations of class via small-town postwar America, and snappy dialogue to spare. But this is still a story that really kicks off when three women receive a letter from another claiming to have run off with one of their husbands, timed to a daylong excursion where she knows they can’t do a damned thing about it. Not that there’s anything wrong with that at all.
The bulk of the movie takes place in flashback, as each woman reflects on the more tumultuous moments in their relationships, and why each husband would be motivated to abandon ship for the highly-desirable Addie Ross. Addie seems to have gotten around often enough to have gotten around to those same husbands in some capacity.
The bulk of the movie takes place in flashback, as each woman reflects on the more tumultuous moments in their relationships, and why each husband would be motivated to abandon ship for the highly-desirable Addie Ross. Addie seems to have gotten around often enough to have gotten around to those same husbands in some capacity.
- 7/30/2015
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
'Father of the Bride': Steve Martin and Kimberly Williams. Top Five Father's Day Movies? From giant Gregory Peck to tyrant John Gielgud What would be the Top Five Father's Day movies ever made? Well, there have been countless films about fathers and/or featuring fathers of various sizes, shapes, and inclinations. In terms of quality, these range from the amusing – e.g., the 1950 version of Cheaper by the Dozen; the Oscar-nominated The Grandfather – to the nauseating – e.g., the 1950 version of Father of the Bride; its atrocious sequel, Father's Little Dividend. Although I'm unable to come up with the absolute Top Five Father's Day Movies – or rather, just plain Father Movies – ever made, below are the first five (actually six, including a remake) "quality" patriarch-centered films that come to mind. Now, the fathers portrayed in these films aren't all heroic, loving, and/or saintly paternal figures. Several are...
- 6/22/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen dead at 48 Nicholas Kallsen, who was featured opposite Brad Pitt in the short-lived television series Glory Days, has died at age 48 in Thailand according to online reports. Their source is one of Rupert Murdoch's rags, citing a Facebook posting by one of the actor's friends. The cause of death was purportedly – no specific source was provided – a drug overdose.* Aired on Fox in July 1990, Glory Days told the story of four high-school friends whose paths take different directions after graduation. Besides Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt, the show also featured Spike Alexander and Evan Mirand. Glory Days lasted a mere six episodes – two of which directed by former Happy Days actor Anson Williams – before its cancellation. Roommates Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt vying for same 'Thelma & Louise' role? The Murdoch tabloid also...
- 5/1/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Above: German poster by Rolf Goetze for The Barefoot Contessa (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, USA, 1954).
Some twenty-two years ago, just a couple of months before Joseph L. Mankiewicz passed away at the age of 83, New York’s Film Forum held a retrospective of his work. The one thing I knew about Mankiewicz back then was that Andrew Sarris had consigned him to The American Cinema’s circle of hell that was “Less Than Meet the Eye.” “The cinema of Joseph L. Mankiewicz is a cinema of intelligence without inspiration” he argued. Needless to say I went rather reluctantly to see his films, but by the end of the series I was a convert to his special brand of literate, sophisticated and genuinely moving cinema.
As a sidebar to the New York Film Festival, the Film Society of Lincoln Center is hosting a new retrospective of Mankiewicz’s films that runs...
Some twenty-two years ago, just a couple of months before Joseph L. Mankiewicz passed away at the age of 83, New York’s Film Forum held a retrospective of his work. The one thing I knew about Mankiewicz back then was that Andrew Sarris had consigned him to The American Cinema’s circle of hell that was “Less Than Meet the Eye.” “The cinema of Joseph L. Mankiewicz is a cinema of intelligence without inspiration” he argued. Needless to say I went rather reluctantly to see his films, but by the end of the series I was a convert to his special brand of literate, sophisticated and genuinely moving cinema.
As a sidebar to the New York Film Festival, the Film Society of Lincoln Center is hosting a new retrospective of Mankiewicz’s films that runs...
- 10/5/2014
- by Adrian Curry
- MUBI
Somewhere in the Night
Written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Directed by Howard Dimsdale and Joseph L. Mankiewizc
USA, 1946
A man (John Hodiak) wakes up in a military hospital, cognizant of the fact that he has been in battle for the United States but entirely oblivious of who he is or where he lives. Only a few cryptic pieces of paper in his pocket inform him of his name George Taylor; that a woman now hates him; and that a good pal of his, Larry Cravat, wants to meet him in Los Angeles transfer a significant amount of saved up funds through a bank account. Thus begins George’s vertiginous journey into the City of Angels, where the clues as to his true identity sometimes add up whilst other times stir further confusion. By all accounts, there are some people who view the name Larry Cravat as either a threat, as in the case of Lt.
Written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Directed by Howard Dimsdale and Joseph L. Mankiewizc
USA, 1946
A man (John Hodiak) wakes up in a military hospital, cognizant of the fact that he has been in battle for the United States but entirely oblivious of who he is or where he lives. Only a few cryptic pieces of paper in his pocket inform him of his name George Taylor; that a woman now hates him; and that a good pal of his, Larry Cravat, wants to meet him in Los Angeles transfer a significant amount of saved up funds through a bank account. Thus begins George’s vertiginous journey into the City of Angels, where the clues as to his true identity sometimes add up whilst other times stir further confusion. By all accounts, there are some people who view the name Larry Cravat as either a threat, as in the case of Lt.
- 4/18/2014
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
The 85-year history of the Academy Awards is rife with statistical oddities, and one that has the potential to play out this Sunday is among the most intriguing: a split between the films that win Best Picture and Best Director.
Though conventional wisdom has long held that only one film will walk away with both prizes on Oscar night, many pundits are predicting that the awards will instead go to two different movies this year, with "Gravity" director Alfonso Cuaron expected to snag the Best Director statuette, while "12 Years a Slave" (or "American Hustle," depending on where your loyalties lie) is the favorite to win Best Picture.
While such a split has occurred just 22 times since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences started handing out trophies in 1929, four of the first five ceremonies produced a divide between the Best Director and Best Picture prizes. "Wings," dubbed the original...
Though conventional wisdom has long held that only one film will walk away with both prizes on Oscar night, many pundits are predicting that the awards will instead go to two different movies this year, with "Gravity" director Alfonso Cuaron expected to snag the Best Director statuette, while "12 Years a Slave" (or "American Hustle," depending on where your loyalties lie) is the favorite to win Best Picture.
While such a split has occurred just 22 times since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences started handing out trophies in 1929, four of the first five ceremonies produced a divide between the Best Director and Best Picture prizes. "Wings," dubbed the original...
- 2/26/2014
- by Katie Roberts
- Moviefone
Washington, Jan 4: Barbara Lawrence of the 'Oklahoma!' fame has passed away due to kidney failure. She was 83.
According to TMZ.com, the veteran actress, who has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, died on November 13, 2013.
Other works of Lawrence include 'The Street With No Name', 'A Letter to Three Wives' and sci-fi flick 'Kronos'. (Ani)...
According to TMZ.com, the veteran actress, who has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, died on November 13, 2013.
Other works of Lawrence include 'The Street With No Name', 'A Letter to Three Wives' and sci-fi flick 'Kronos'. (Ani)...
- 1/4/2014
- by Machan Kumar
- RealBollywood.com
Hollywood legend Barbara Lawrence -- who played Gertie Cummings in the 1955 movie "Oklahoma!" -- has died. She was 83.According to her daughter-in-law, Lawrence passed away from kidney failure on November 13.In addition to "Oklahoma!" Lawrence starred in the films "The Street With No Name," "A Letter to Three Wives," and the 1957 sci-fi classic "Kronos." She also appeared in TV episodes of "Perry Mason" and "Bonanza." Her acting career spanned from the 1940s to the early 1960s.
- 1/3/2014
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
By Mark Pinkert
Contributor
…
If David O. Russell gets nominated for Best Director this year, he will have accomplished something that Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Alfred Hitchcock, Francis Ford Coppola and many other great directors have not–that is, to earn three Best Director nominations in the span of only four years. In fact, only eleven other directors have been on comparable hot streaks in Academy Award history, and only one of those streaks (by Clint Eastwood) has occurred after 1960. (See below for reference.)
This is not a comparison of overall quality or career prolificity (not many can bout with Scorsese, Allen, Hitchcock and Coppola in those categories), but merely a tribute to Russell’s ultra-concentrated efforts in the past four years and a recognition of the difficulty of this feat. It’s also a relevant because it might shed some light on previous Oscar trends and on what we...
Contributor
…
If David O. Russell gets nominated for Best Director this year, he will have accomplished something that Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Alfred Hitchcock, Francis Ford Coppola and many other great directors have not–that is, to earn three Best Director nominations in the span of only four years. In fact, only eleven other directors have been on comparable hot streaks in Academy Award history, and only one of those streaks (by Clint Eastwood) has occurred after 1960. (See below for reference.)
This is not a comparison of overall quality or career prolificity (not many can bout with Scorsese, Allen, Hitchcock and Coppola in those categories), but merely a tribute to Russell’s ultra-concentrated efforts in the past four years and a recognition of the difficulty of this feat. It’s also a relevant because it might shed some light on previous Oscar trends and on what we...
- 12/31/2013
- by Mark Pinkert
- Scott Feinberg
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