“Chances are you’ve never heard of Preston Thomas Tucker; dreamer, inventor, visionary — a man ahead of his time.”
Chances are you’ve never heard of the movie made about him either. Like the car he had created in his name, it came and went in nearly the same breath. And yet, also like the car, the film’s legacy and staying power lies in the strength of its parts, as well as the personal passion put into it by its maker, Francis Ford Coppola. In fact, it’s hard not to watch his 1988 film “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” and discern a link between Coppola and the film’s eponymous character. Played by a still boyish Jeff Bridges with a glint in his eye and a manic energy that veers between zealous enthusiasm and fevered paranoia, Tucker is a man entwined with his dreams. Much like Coppola, he is driven by family,...
Chances are you’ve never heard of the movie made about him either. Like the car he had created in his name, it came and went in nearly the same breath. And yet, also like the car, the film’s legacy and staying power lies in the strength of its parts, as well as the personal passion put into it by its maker, Francis Ford Coppola. In fact, it’s hard not to watch his 1988 film “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” and discern a link between Coppola and the film’s eponymous character. Played by a still boyish Jeff Bridges with a glint in his eye and a manic energy that veers between zealous enthusiasm and fevered paranoia, Tucker is a man entwined with his dreams. Much like Coppola, he is driven by family,...
- 5/21/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
The cherished screen team of William Powell and Myrna Loy met “cute” on their first film together, the gritty 1934 “Manhattan Melodrama.” According to TCM.com, first scene in the film required her to run out a building, maneuver through a crowd of people and jump into a car. The film’s director W.S. “Woody” Van Dyke, who was nicknamed “One Take Woody” because of his efficiency, didn’t bother to introduce the actress to Powell. So, when Van Dyke called “action “Loy recalled jumping into the car and landing “smack on William Powell’s lap. He looked up nonchalantly: Miss Loy, I presume?” I said, Mr. Powell? That’s how I met the man who would be my partner in 14 films.”
It was their next film, the smart screwball comedy/mystery “The Thin Man,” which opened May 25, 1934, transformed the couple into top stars at MGM. Directed by Van Dyke...
It was their next film, the smart screwball comedy/mystery “The Thin Man,” which opened May 25, 1934, transformed the couple into top stars at MGM. Directed by Van Dyke...
- 5/20/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Frank Capra was a three-time Oscar winner who dominated the box office throughout the 1930s with his populist fables, nicknamed “Capra-corn.” Yet how many of these titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 12 of Capra’s greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1897 in Siciliy, Italy, Capra came to the United States with his family in 1903. His work often reflected an idealized vision of the American dream, perhaps spurned by his own experiences as an immigrant. Depression-era audiences lapped up his sweetly sentimental screwball comedies, which often centered on the plight of the common man.
He earned his first Oscar nomination for directing “Lady for a Day” (1933), and his loss was infamously embarrassing: when presented Will Rogers opened the envelope, he said, “Come up and get it, Frank!” Capra bounded to the stage, only to learned that Frank Lloyd (“Cavalcade”) has won instead.
No matter, because...
Born in 1897 in Siciliy, Italy, Capra came to the United States with his family in 1903. His work often reflected an idealized vision of the American dream, perhaps spurned by his own experiences as an immigrant. Depression-era audiences lapped up his sweetly sentimental screwball comedies, which often centered on the plight of the common man.
He earned his first Oscar nomination for directing “Lady for a Day” (1933), and his loss was infamously embarrassing: when presented Will Rogers opened the envelope, he said, “Come up and get it, Frank!” Capra bounded to the stage, only to learned that Frank Lloyd (“Cavalcade”) has won instead.
No matter, because...
- 5/10/2024
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Exclusive: To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Columbia Pictures, the municipality of Cannes will present a free photographic exhibition titled “Lighting the Way: From the Torch Lady to Leading Ladies.” The photos will be on display for the general public on Cours Félix Faure in Cannes from May 13 to June 10.
Led by Columbia Pictures’ iconic Lady with the Torch, the exhibition will consist of over 30 rare photographs from Columbia’s archive and highlighting legendary actresses from Hollywood’s Golden Age and beyond, including Katherine Hepburn, Deborah Kerr, Claudette Colbert, Ann-Margret, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Julia Roberts, Michelle Yeoh and Rita Hayworth. A restored version of Hayworth’s Gilda is screening as part of the Cannes Film Festival’s Cannes Classics program this year.
Said Tom Rothman, Chairman & CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, “Columbia Pictures may have been founded by men, but women have always been vital to its growth and impact.
Led by Columbia Pictures’ iconic Lady with the Torch, the exhibition will consist of over 30 rare photographs from Columbia’s archive and highlighting legendary actresses from Hollywood’s Golden Age and beyond, including Katherine Hepburn, Deborah Kerr, Claudette Colbert, Ann-Margret, Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Julia Roberts, Michelle Yeoh and Rita Hayworth. A restored version of Hayworth’s Gilda is screening as part of the Cannes Film Festival’s Cannes Classics program this year.
Said Tom Rothman, Chairman & CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, “Columbia Pictures may have been founded by men, but women have always been vital to its growth and impact.
- 5/10/2024
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Have you ever watched It’s a Wonderful Life and wished that Frank Capra had paused to show us Clarence the Angel explaining to George Bailey how he was able to present him with the experience of a world in which he was never born?
Chances are good you haven’t — that you appreciate that the surest way to ruin whimsy is to “But actually…” it.
But if you have, indeed, yearned for a version of It’s a Wonderful Life in which “magic” was replaced by a literal black box and “joy and sadness and general wonderment” by “dejection and self-seriousness and general washed-out solemnity,” Apple TV+’s adaptation of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter may be in your wheelhouse. It’s a series that doesn’t lack for ingenuity and, especially in the last two hours, ideas pop up that border on inspired, but the lack of tonal variation ultimately dooms Dark Matter.
Chances are good you haven’t — that you appreciate that the surest way to ruin whimsy is to “But actually…” it.
But if you have, indeed, yearned for a version of It’s a Wonderful Life in which “magic” was replaced by a literal black box and “joy and sadness and general wonderment” by “dejection and self-seriousness and general washed-out solemnity,” Apple TV+’s adaptation of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter may be in your wheelhouse. It’s a series that doesn’t lack for ingenuity and, especially in the last two hours, ideas pop up that border on inspired, but the lack of tonal variation ultimately dooms Dark Matter.
- 5/7/2024
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Every filmmaker and actor, and literally every other person somehow related to the world of cinema is getting extremely nervous when the Oscars season comes around. While there are definitely several movies that are considered to be chosen as best pictures in advance, still the hope is something that can’t be taken away from anybody.
Winning an Academy Award is very prestigious and is literally the highest honor for work done in the movie industry. But can you imagine the happiness and overall excitement that an Oscar sweep can bring to a team?
Winning 5 major nominations is probably every creative team's dream, but there were only three films that managed to make the dream come true. Let's take a look at the movies that took home Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay all at once.
It Happened One Night (1934)
Frank Capra's film was the one that,...
Winning an Academy Award is very prestigious and is literally the highest honor for work done in the movie industry. But can you imagine the happiness and overall excitement that an Oscar sweep can bring to a team?
Winning 5 major nominations is probably every creative team's dream, but there were only three films that managed to make the dream come true. Let's take a look at the movies that took home Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay all at once.
It Happened One Night (1934)
Frank Capra's film was the one that,...
- 5/6/2024
- by info@startefacts.com (Rachel Bailey)
- STartefacts.com
‘Bend It Like Beckham’ helmer Gurinder Chadha is all set to start shooting for her next production, ‘Christmas Karma’, a Bollywood musical set in contemporary London and inspired by Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’.
Kunal Nayyar, who is best known for his role in the popular sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’, is the lead actor in a star-studded global cast, which includes Eva Longoria, Boy George, Billy Porter, Hugh Bonneville, Leo Suter, Charithra Chandran, Pixie Lott, Danny Dyer, Allan Corduner, Bilal Hasna, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Rufus Jones, Eve and Nitin Ganatra.
Chadha, a BAFTA-nominated director, is also the producer and writer, and the music is by the six-time Ivor Novello award-winning singer and songwriter Gary Barlow, apart from Shaznay Lewis and Nitin Sawhney. Shooting for the film will start on April 22.
‘Christmas Karma’ sees Chadha’s return to the big screen following her time working on the Indian historical television...
Kunal Nayyar, who is best known for his role in the popular sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’, is the lead actor in a star-studded global cast, which includes Eva Longoria, Boy George, Billy Porter, Hugh Bonneville, Leo Suter, Charithra Chandran, Pixie Lott, Danny Dyer, Allan Corduner, Bilal Hasna, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Rufus Jones, Eve and Nitin Ganatra.
Chadha, a BAFTA-nominated director, is also the producer and writer, and the music is by the six-time Ivor Novello award-winning singer and songwriter Gary Barlow, apart from Shaznay Lewis and Nitin Sawhney. Shooting for the film will start on April 22.
‘Christmas Karma’ sees Chadha’s return to the big screen following her time working on the Indian historical television...
- 4/19/2024
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
BAFTA Circles Calendar
The British Academy has confirmed the date of the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards, which will now be held on Sunday February. 16.
As per recent scheduling arrangements, the awards — arguably the biggest film awards outside the U.S. — takes place two weeks before the Oscars on March 2, 2025. Regular film festival attendees may note that the BAFTA awards will, once again, be held during the Berlinale, set to run February 13-23, with there likely to be a spike in industry professionals flying back to London on the morning of Feb. 16.
The full timeline and eligibility details for the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards will be announced in due course. Voting will take place over three rounds: longlisting, nominations and winners, by the academy’s global voting film membership which comprises more than 7,800 industry creatives.
The 2024 BAFTA Film Awards, which saw “Oppenheimer” dominate with wins for best film, director and actor, were watched...
The British Academy has confirmed the date of the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards, which will now be held on Sunday February. 16.
As per recent scheduling arrangements, the awards — arguably the biggest film awards outside the U.S. — takes place two weeks before the Oscars on March 2, 2025. Regular film festival attendees may note that the BAFTA awards will, once again, be held during the Berlinale, set to run February 13-23, with there likely to be a spike in industry professionals flying back to London on the morning of Feb. 16.
The full timeline and eligibility details for the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards will be announced in due course. Voting will take place over three rounds: longlisting, nominations and winners, by the academy’s global voting film membership which comprises more than 7,800 industry creatives.
The 2024 BAFTA Film Awards, which saw “Oppenheimer” dominate with wins for best film, director and actor, were watched...
- 4/19/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham) is pushing forward with Christmas Karma, a contemporary Bollywood musical set in London and inspired by Charles Dickens’ seminal A Christmas Carol, with Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory) signed on to lead an ensemble cast.
Nayyar will star as Scrooge in pic alongside an expansive cast, including Eva Longoria, Boy George, Billy Porter, Hugh Bonneville, Leo Suter, Charithra Chandran, Pixie Lott, Danny Dyer, Bilal Hasna, Allan Corduner, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Rufus Jones, Eve, and Nitin Ganatra.
Chadha wrote the pic and is producing alongside directing, with music by Take That alum Gary Barlow alongside Shaznay Lewis and Nitin Sawhney. Financing for Christmas Karma is from Civic Studios. Gurinder Chadha, Celine Rattray, Trudie Styler, and Amory Leader will produce. Zygi Kamasa, Anushka Shah, Paul Mayeda Berges, Sophia Pedlow, and Hannah Leader will serve as executive producers.
Christmas Karma is the fifth scripted project from British distributor True Brit Entertainment,...
Nayyar will star as Scrooge in pic alongside an expansive cast, including Eva Longoria, Boy George, Billy Porter, Hugh Bonneville, Leo Suter, Charithra Chandran, Pixie Lott, Danny Dyer, Bilal Hasna, Allan Corduner, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Rufus Jones, Eve, and Nitin Ganatra.
Chadha wrote the pic and is producing alongside directing, with music by Take That alum Gary Barlow alongside Shaznay Lewis and Nitin Sawhney. Financing for Christmas Karma is from Civic Studios. Gurinder Chadha, Celine Rattray, Trudie Styler, and Amory Leader will produce. Zygi Kamasa, Anushka Shah, Paul Mayeda Berges, Sophia Pedlow, and Hannah Leader will serve as executive producers.
Christmas Karma is the fifth scripted project from British distributor True Brit Entertainment,...
- 4/18/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar will star in Gurinder Chadha’s next film, Christmas Karma. It’s due out this December.
News has emerged about Gurinder Chadha’s next project, confirmed to be an adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
Titled Christmas Karma, the film will star Kunal Nayyar as Scrooge. He’ll be joined by an ensemble cast that includes Eva Longoria, Boy George, Billy Porter, Hugh Bonneville, Leo Suter, Charithra Chandran, Pixie Lott, Danny Dyer, Bilal Hasna, Allan Corduner, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Rufus Jones, Eve, and Nitin Ganatra.
We can’t say we expected to see Danny Dyer, Boy George and Billy Porter in the same film, but there we are. We also reported earlier this year that the film’s Scrooge would be an “Indian Tory who hates refugees”.
Christmas Karma will also be a Bollywood-style musical; Gary Barlow is in charge of music alongside Shaznay Lewis and Nitin Sawhney.
News has emerged about Gurinder Chadha’s next project, confirmed to be an adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
Titled Christmas Karma, the film will star Kunal Nayyar as Scrooge. He’ll be joined by an ensemble cast that includes Eva Longoria, Boy George, Billy Porter, Hugh Bonneville, Leo Suter, Charithra Chandran, Pixie Lott, Danny Dyer, Bilal Hasna, Allan Corduner, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Rufus Jones, Eve, and Nitin Ganatra.
We can’t say we expected to see Danny Dyer, Boy George and Billy Porter in the same film, but there we are. We also reported earlier this year that the film’s Scrooge would be an “Indian Tory who hates refugees”.
Christmas Karma will also be a Bollywood-style musical; Gary Barlow is in charge of music alongside Shaznay Lewis and Nitin Sawhney.
- 4/18/2024
- by Maria Lattila
- Film Stories
Jeanine Basinger, a veteran film professor, historian and author, helped build Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, into a film powerhouse during her 60 years at the institution. On April 20, the esteemed academic will receive the TCM Classic Film Festival’s Robert Osborne Award, which recognizes an individual who has helped keep the cultural heritage of classic film alive for future generations. Its four previous recipients were Martin Scorsese and film historians/authors Kevin Brownlow, Leonard Maltin and Donald Bogle. Basinger, a youthful 88, spoke with THR about her life and career.
How did you fall in love with movies?
Jeanine Basinger
I grew up in South Dakota, and at 11 I got a job as an usher at a local movie theater. My film school was watching movies — and how audiences reacted to them — over and over again. I began visiting film archives and interviewing film personalities who responded to my outreach. I was hooked.
How did you fall in love with movies?
Jeanine Basinger
I grew up in South Dakota, and at 11 I got a job as an usher at a local movie theater. My film school was watching movies — and how audiences reacted to them — over and over again. I began visiting film archives and interviewing film personalities who responded to my outreach. I was hooked.
- 4/12/2024
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
While it was fascinating to see the results of the 2022 Sight & Sound poll, we’re just as curious to see what lies outside the established canon. As part of a comprehensive project at the essential resource They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?, Ángel González polled nearly 839 critics on the best films that didn’t receive a single vote on the Sight & Sound poll, which they’ve now compiled into a massive Beyond the Sight & Sound Canon, which initially features 1,030 films but expands to a whopping 14,558 total films.
As a preview, we’ve collected the films that received at least 20 votes in this new poll, which is 263. It’s led by Spike Jonze’s Her, and they’ve also noted the directors that were most represented. Fritz Lang leads the pack with eight films mentioned, while François Truffaut has seven, and Anthony Mann, Clint Eastwood, Eric Rohmer, John Ford, Samuel Fuller,...
As a preview, we’ve collected the films that received at least 20 votes in this new poll, which is 263. It’s led by Spike Jonze’s Her, and they’ve also noted the directors that were most represented. Fritz Lang leads the pack with eight films mentioned, while François Truffaut has seven, and Anthony Mann, Clint Eastwood, Eric Rohmer, John Ford, Samuel Fuller,...
- 4/8/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
When Mr Bates vs the Post Office, an engaging and enraging David-vs-Goliath docudrama, first aired in the U.K. earlier this year, viewer response was so fierce that Parliament took action to speed the wheels of justice. (Isn’t it nice to know that sometimes TV can have a truly positive impact on society?) You’ll soon understand why when you fall under the spell of Masterpiece‘s four-part presentation, which depicts the plight of working-class sub-postmasters who are inexplicably accused of theft, branded as criminals in towns and villages where they were previously heralded as local pillars of the community. Their nemesis: a monolithic post office that refuses to concede that a software glitch in the fancy new computer system is the actual culprit. Frank Capra (of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington fame) would have loved this everyman-against-the system fable that happens to be true. Grounding the story in...
- 4/6/2024
- TV Insider
Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival will celebrate the centennial of Columbia Pictures with an expansive retrospective titled The Lady with the Torch, mounted in collaboration with the studio’s parent company, Sony.
Organized in partnership with the Cinémathèque suisse, The Lady with the Torch will be curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht, co-director of Il Cinema Ritrovato, an annual festival in Bologna dedicated to film history and film restoration. The official unveiling will take place at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Locarno has said the retrospective will present the studio in “all its glory,” shining a light on lesser-known genre filmmakers like Max Nosseck, Seymour Friedman, and William A. Seiter, as well as celebrating auteurs like Howard Hawks, Frank Borzage, Fritz Lang, Frank Capra, George Stevens, and John Ford. After launching at the 77th Locarno Film Festival, running August 7-17, the retrospective will tour the world. The Retrospective will...
Organized in partnership with the Cinémathèque suisse, The Lady with the Torch will be curated by Ehsan Khoshbakht, co-director of Il Cinema Ritrovato, an annual festival in Bologna dedicated to film history and film restoration. The official unveiling will take place at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Locarno has said the retrospective will present the studio in “all its glory,” shining a light on lesser-known genre filmmakers like Max Nosseck, Seymour Friedman, and William A. Seiter, as well as celebrating auteurs like Howard Hawks, Frank Borzage, Fritz Lang, Frank Capra, George Stevens, and John Ford. After launching at the 77th Locarno Film Festival, running August 7-17, the retrospective will tour the world. The Retrospective will...
- 3/28/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Cass Warner, filmmaker, author and granddaughter of Harry Warner, co-founder of Warner Bros., has died. She was 76.
Her death was announced by her son and Yellowstone actor Cole Hauser on his Instagram page. “Her kindness, love, humor and amazing spirit will be missed by not only my family but the world. You have touched so many,” he wrote.
Cass’ grandfather, Harry Warner, was the eldest Warner brother, a Polish immigrant who co-founded the studio in 1923 after jumping into the early days of movie mania in 1905 with brothers Sam, Albert and Jack. The foursome created a cinematic powerhouse, a dream factory that was the social conscience of Hollywood, one that churned out timely and topical films about the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, the Red Scare and more.
Harry’s daughter, Betty Warner Sheinbaum, wrote of her father as “a very serious man. He was the company’s conscience and driving force.
Her death was announced by her son and Yellowstone actor Cole Hauser on his Instagram page. “Her kindness, love, humor and amazing spirit will be missed by not only my family but the world. You have touched so many,” he wrote.
Cass’ grandfather, Harry Warner, was the eldest Warner brother, a Polish immigrant who co-founded the studio in 1923 after jumping into the early days of movie mania in 1905 with brothers Sam, Albert and Jack. The foursome created a cinematic powerhouse, a dream factory that was the social conscience of Hollywood, one that churned out timely and topical films about the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, the Red Scare and more.
Harry’s daughter, Betty Warner Sheinbaum, wrote of her father as “a very serious man. He was the company’s conscience and driving force.
- 3/18/2024
- by Chris Yogerst
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Stars can be found in the unlikeliest of places. Marilyn Monroe was noticed at a munitions factory and Haley Joel Osment was scouted in Ikea, but the 20th century’s most prolific actor was discovered on a cactus.
In the mid-1930s, ex-cowboy Henry Wagstaff Twiford was walking across the red rust of the Mojave desert when he stumbled upon a baby raven in an abandoned nest. He took him home, named him Jimmy, and reared him on boiled eggs, eggshells, and milk. Over the course of the next two decades, Jimmy became a star that needed no surname, billed alongside Bette Davis and Judy Garland during Hollywood’s Golden Age. Before he died, the raven was said to have appeared in more than 1,000 films.
That is the extent of what most people know about Jimmy — if they’ve heard of him at all. Despite his vast back catalogue, no...
In the mid-1930s, ex-cowboy Henry Wagstaff Twiford was walking across the red rust of the Mojave desert when he stumbled upon a baby raven in an abandoned nest. He took him home, named him Jimmy, and reared him on boiled eggs, eggshells, and milk. Over the course of the next two decades, Jimmy became a star that needed no surname, billed alongside Bette Davis and Judy Garland during Hollywood’s Golden Age. Before he died, the raven was said to have appeared in more than 1,000 films.
That is the extent of what most people know about Jimmy — if they’ve heard of him at all. Despite his vast back catalogue, no...
- 3/12/2024
- by Amelia Tait
- Empire - Movies
Frank Capra: Mr America
One of the special things about the Glasgow Film Festival is that as well as featuring premières and industry programmes which reflect on the future of cinema, it takes the time to look back to the past. This year, alongside retrospectives, it screened Matthew Wells’ new documentary Frank Capra: Mister America, which offers an enthusiastic yet challenging take on one of the industry’s most influential early contributors. Watching it, I told Matthew when we met, I had expected to get an interesting history lesson, but what I hadn’t anticipated was just how relevant the film feels today.
“Yeah, it’s incredibly relevant today,” he agreed. “We should get on to that. The idea was suggested to me by the producer, Nick Varley. I'd seen a load of Capra films and I liked them. But as I started reading more about him, I found...
One of the special things about the Glasgow Film Festival is that as well as featuring premières and industry programmes which reflect on the future of cinema, it takes the time to look back to the past. This year, alongside retrospectives, it screened Matthew Wells’ new documentary Frank Capra: Mister America, which offers an enthusiastic yet challenging take on one of the industry’s most influential early contributors. Watching it, I told Matthew when we met, I had expected to get an interesting history lesson, but what I hadn’t anticipated was just how relevant the film feels today.
“Yeah, it’s incredibly relevant today,” he agreed. “We should get on to that. The idea was suggested to me by the producer, Nick Varley. I'd seen a load of Capra films and I liked them. But as I started reading more about him, I found...
- 3/10/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
At this year’s Oscars, Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese, two of the finest directors working in Hollywood, will go head-to-head in several categories. Nolan’s Oppenheimer leads the race with thirteen nominations while Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon scored ten nominations at the 96th Academy Awards.
Christopher Nolan (Image Credit: BFI/YouTube)
However, despite the fanfare surrounding Nolan and Scorsese’s films at this year’s Oscars, the two acclaimed directors are far away from one record held by Clint Eastwood. Moreover, Eastwood’s run at the Oscars puts him in an elite club of directors, including only two others. Here is the uncanny record Clint Eastwood holds and why Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese might never break it.
Clint Eastwood Shares an Uncanny Oscars Record With Two Other Directors Clint Eastwood in The Mule
As a director, Clint Eastwood has proven himself to be one of the best in business.
Christopher Nolan (Image Credit: BFI/YouTube)
However, despite the fanfare surrounding Nolan and Scorsese’s films at this year’s Oscars, the two acclaimed directors are far away from one record held by Clint Eastwood. Moreover, Eastwood’s run at the Oscars puts him in an elite club of directors, including only two others. Here is the uncanny record Clint Eastwood holds and why Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese might never break it.
Clint Eastwood Shares an Uncanny Oscars Record With Two Other Directors Clint Eastwood in The Mule
As a director, Clint Eastwood has proven himself to be one of the best in business.
- 3/10/2024
- by Pratik Handore
- FandomWire
Much is open-ended about this realist yet dreamlike exploration of midlife crisis and regret set in Vietnam
The question of what the title means, or what the movie means, remain open; even so, this is a quietly amazing feature debut from 34-year-old Thien An Pham, born in Vietnam and based in Houston, Texas. It’s a jewel of slow cinema set initially in Saigon and then the mountainous, lush central highlands far from the city; it is a zero-gravity epic quest, floating towards its strange narrative destiny and then maybe floating up over that to something else. It’s compassionate, intimate, spiritual and mysterious in ways that reminded me of Tsai Ming-liang or Edward Yang.
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell is presented in a calm, unforced realist style with many long, unbroken middle-distance shots, with closeups a rarity. There is a flashback and a dream-sequence presented in exactly the same way,...
The question of what the title means, or what the movie means, remain open; even so, this is a quietly amazing feature debut from 34-year-old Thien An Pham, born in Vietnam and based in Houston, Texas. It’s a jewel of slow cinema set initially in Saigon and then the mountainous, lush central highlands far from the city; it is a zero-gravity epic quest, floating towards its strange narrative destiny and then maybe floating up over that to something else. It’s compassionate, intimate, spiritual and mysterious in ways that reminded me of Tsai Ming-liang or Edward Yang.
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell is presented in a calm, unforced realist style with many long, unbroken middle-distance shots, with closeups a rarity. There is a flashback and a dream-sequence presented in exactly the same way,...
- 3/5/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Few figures in the history of cinema have had as much impact on its development as Frank Capra – nor, for that matter, as much impact on US culture and the country’s perception of itself. Building his career at a time when life for most Americans was really hard and there was little hope around, he recognised Hollywood’s potential to deliver much-needed escapism, but also, in so doing, to provide an antidote to the bitterness and cynicism that was tearing the country apart – to encourage people to see the best in one another. This element of his filmmaking makes Matthew Wells’ documentary, which screened at the 2024 Glasgow Film Festival, feel very timely today. Arguably, we have never needed him more.
That’s one side of the story. On the other is a complicated man with some very unpleasant character traits – an openly racist, anstsemitic man whose private beliefs...
That’s one side of the story. On the other is a complicated man with some very unpleasant character traits – an openly racist, anstsemitic man whose private beliefs...
- 3/2/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Frank Capra’s 1934 charmer helped to set the foundation for the genre with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert bickering and flirting their way into film history
“I was just wondering what makes dames like you so dizzy.” So queries Peter (Clark Gable), a crafty if unemployed newspaper writer, in It Happened One Night. He’s speaking to Ellie (Claudette Colbert), the missing heiress and potential story serving as his traveling companion, and he doesn’t get a definitive answer.
For that matter, Ellie isn’t particularly dizzy on the scale of screwball dames of the 1930s. She’s a little spoiled, sure, not especially wise to the ways of waiting in line with the common folk, and by her own admittance never before alone with a man. But within those parameters, she’s relatively levelheaded and frequently resourceful – she knows her way around hitchhiking, anyway – and Peter’s question seems especially rhetorical.
“I was just wondering what makes dames like you so dizzy.” So queries Peter (Clark Gable), a crafty if unemployed newspaper writer, in It Happened One Night. He’s speaking to Ellie (Claudette Colbert), the missing heiress and potential story serving as his traveling companion, and he doesn’t get a definitive answer.
For that matter, Ellie isn’t particularly dizzy on the scale of screwball dames of the 1930s. She’s a little spoiled, sure, not especially wise to the ways of waiting in line with the common folk, and by her own admittance never before alone with a man. But within those parameters, she’s relatively levelheaded and frequently resourceful – she knows her way around hitchhiking, anyway – and Peter’s question seems especially rhetorical.
- 2/23/2024
- by Jesse Hassenger
- The Guardian - Film News
“It Happened One Night,” which premiered at Radio City Music Hall on Feb. 22, 1934, helped usher in the screwball romantic comedy, changed the careers of stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, director Frank Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin and transformed the Poverty Row Columbia Pictures into a major player. And let’s not forget, “It Happened One Night” also made Oscar history winning five major Oscars: picture, director, adapted screenplay and both actor and actress. It would be 41 years before “One Flew of the Cuckoo’s Nest” would accomplish the same feat at the Academy Awards.
Based on the short story “Night Bus,” the smart, endearing road movie focuses on spoiled rotten Ellie Andrews (Colbert) who has gone against her wealthy father’s (Walter Connelly) wishes by marrying the gold-digging King Westley (Jameson Thomas). Before their wedding night, her father whisked her away to his yacht in Florida. She manages to...
Based on the short story “Night Bus,” the smart, endearing road movie focuses on spoiled rotten Ellie Andrews (Colbert) who has gone against her wealthy father’s (Walter Connelly) wishes by marrying the gold-digging King Westley (Jameson Thomas). Before their wedding night, her father whisked her away to his yacht in Florida. She manages to...
- 2/20/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Clockwise from top left: Notting Hill (Universal Pictures), Love & Basketball (New Line Cinema), Amelie (20th Century Fox),Say Anything (Ugc-Fox Distribution)Graphic: The A.V. Club
Running through the airport to stop a lover’s flight. Making a big speech in front of a crowd of strangers. Picking the perfect song for a serenade.
Running through the airport to stop a lover’s flight. Making a big speech in front of a crowd of strangers. Picking the perfect song for a serenade.
- 2/12/2024
- by Mary Kate Carr, Gabrielle Sanchez, and Saloni Gajjar
- avclub.com
A biopic of James Stewart is being developed for the screen, with the late star’s family involved too: more details here.
One of the most endearingly popular film stars of all time, James Stewart, is now to be the subject of a movie himself.
His life is going to be the subject of a biopic going by the title of A Truly Wonderful Life, although the impression given is that’s a holding name for the minute. An obvious tip of the hat to It’s A Wonderful Life, of course, that’s up there with Jimmy Stewart’s most popular movies (even though all concerned feared it was a misstep).
It’s a good job we’re here to point stuff like this out.
Aaron Burns is part of the team developing the movie, which is going to be a theatrical release. It’s been developed in conjunction with James Stewart’s daughter,...
One of the most endearingly popular film stars of all time, James Stewart, is now to be the subject of a movie himself.
His life is going to be the subject of a biopic going by the title of A Truly Wonderful Life, although the impression given is that’s a holding name for the minute. An obvious tip of the hat to It’s A Wonderful Life, of course, that’s up there with Jimmy Stewart’s most popular movies (even though all concerned feared it was a misstep).
It’s a good job we’re here to point stuff like this out.
Aaron Burns is part of the team developing the movie, which is going to be a theatrical release. It’s been developed in conjunction with James Stewart’s daughter,...
- 2/7/2024
- by Simon Brew
- Film Stories
Exclusive: Burns & Co. Prods. has acquired the exclusive rights to bring James Stewart’s story to the big screen. The theatrical movie, tentatively titled A Truly Wonderful Life, will share Stewart’s inspiring tale of valor, purpose, and faith.
Aaron Burns, who is a director/producer at Burns & Co., and his team have been developing the story with Stewart’s daughter, Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, who is serving as executive producer for the film.
Shortly after winning an Oscar in 1941, Stewart enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and won his wings as a combat pilot. He earned his way to the rank of squadron commander and used his everyman charm to lead fellow Americans through combat missions over Germany.
When he returned from war, Frank Capra asked him to star in It’s A Wonderful Life. When talking about the success of It’s A Wonderful Life, Stewart once said, “It’s...
Aaron Burns, who is a director/producer at Burns & Co., and his team have been developing the story with Stewart’s daughter, Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, who is serving as executive producer for the film.
Shortly after winning an Oscar in 1941, Stewart enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and won his wings as a combat pilot. He earned his way to the rank of squadron commander and used his everyman charm to lead fellow Americans through combat missions over Germany.
When he returned from war, Frank Capra asked him to star in It’s A Wonderful Life. When talking about the success of It’s A Wonderful Life, Stewart once said, “It’s...
- 2/6/2024
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
In a battle of two Universal titles at the U.K., Ireland box office, animation film “Migration” flew to the top, besting star-studded caper “Argylle” in the process.
“Migration” debuted with £3.5 million ($4.4 million), according to numbers from Comscore. “Argylle,” a global under performer, bowed in second place with £2 million.
In third position, in its third weekend, Paramount’s “Mean Girls” earned £843,601 for a total of £6.8 million. Disney’s “All of Us Strangers” collected £797,004 in fourth place in its second weekend for a total of £2.7 million.
Rounding off the top five was A24’s “The Zone of Interest,” which debuted with £585,855. The only other bow in the Top 10 was Curzon-Amazon MGM’s “American Fiction” with £389,375.
Coming up, opening mid-week on Wednesday Feb. 7 is horror-comedy “Dagr” from Fizz and Ginger Films. Feb. 8 sees the release of Tamil-language sports and gangster drama “Lal Salaam,” headlined by Indian superstar Rajinikanth.
There are a plethora of releases on the Friday.
“Migration” debuted with £3.5 million ($4.4 million), according to numbers from Comscore. “Argylle,” a global under performer, bowed in second place with £2 million.
In third position, in its third weekend, Paramount’s “Mean Girls” earned £843,601 for a total of £6.8 million. Disney’s “All of Us Strangers” collected £797,004 in fourth place in its second weekend for a total of £2.7 million.
Rounding off the top five was A24’s “The Zone of Interest,” which debuted with £585,855. The only other bow in the Top 10 was Curzon-Amazon MGM’s “American Fiction” with £389,375.
Coming up, opening mid-week on Wednesday Feb. 7 is horror-comedy “Dagr” from Fizz and Ginger Films. Feb. 8 sees the release of Tamil-language sports and gangster drama “Lal Salaam,” headlined by Indian superstar Rajinikanth.
There are a plethora of releases on the Friday.
- 2/6/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Yorgos Lanthimos. Christopher Nolan. Justine Triet. Jonathan Glazer.
What do these four directors have in common? They were all among the nominees for this year’s Academy Awards, and none of them were born in the United States. Lanthimos is Greek, Triet is French, and Nolan and Glazer are British. Among the nominees, only New Yorker Martin Scorsese is American-born.
The last time only one American-born director made it to that year’s Best Director lineup was back in 1997, when Miloš Forman (Czech), Scott Hicks (Australian), Mike Leigh and Anthony Minghella (both English) received Oscar nominations. Of course, this is only technically true. Joel Coen was the one American in the category, yet it was due to a guild rule that he received sole credit for directing despite his helming “Fargo” with his brother Ethan, who would’ve been the second American among the nominees.
SEEOscars: Justine Triet is 8th...
What do these four directors have in common? They were all among the nominees for this year’s Academy Awards, and none of them were born in the United States. Lanthimos is Greek, Triet is French, and Nolan and Glazer are British. Among the nominees, only New Yorker Martin Scorsese is American-born.
The last time only one American-born director made it to that year’s Best Director lineup was back in 1997, when Miloš Forman (Czech), Scott Hicks (Australian), Mike Leigh and Anthony Minghella (both English) received Oscar nominations. Of course, this is only technically true. Joel Coen was the one American in the category, yet it was due to a guild rule that he received sole credit for directing despite his helming “Fargo” with his brother Ethan, who would’ve been the second American among the nominees.
SEEOscars: Justine Triet is 8th...
- 1/31/2024
- by Sebastian Ochoa Mendoza
- Gold Derby
Clark Gable is the Oscar-winning matinee idol who starred in dozens of films before his untimely death in 1960, but how many of those titles are classics? Let’s take a look back at 12 of Gable’s greatest movies, ranked worst to best.
After appearing in bit parts in a number of films, Gable shot to stardom with his performance in “A Free Soul” (1931) as a gangster who bewitches a young woman (Norma Shearer) whose attorney father (Lionel Barrymore) helped him beat a murder rap. From there forward, the actor’s persona as a raffish leading man who’s every guy’s best friend and every gal’s dream became cemented in a number of subsequent roles.
He won an Oscar just three years later for Frank Capra‘s screwball classic “It Happened One Night” (1934), in which he played a newspaper reporter traveling with a spoiled socialite (Claudette Colbert). The film...
After appearing in bit parts in a number of films, Gable shot to stardom with his performance in “A Free Soul” (1931) as a gangster who bewitches a young woman (Norma Shearer) whose attorney father (Lionel Barrymore) helped him beat a murder rap. From there forward, the actor’s persona as a raffish leading man who’s every guy’s best friend and every gal’s dream became cemented in a number of subsequent roles.
He won an Oscar just three years later for Frank Capra‘s screwball classic “It Happened One Night” (1934), in which he played a newspaper reporter traveling with a spoiled socialite (Claudette Colbert). The film...
- 1/26/2024
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Martin Scorsese has now earned more Oscar nominations for best director than anyone alive.
The Academy nominated the 81-year-old icon for his film Killers of the Flower Moon with Tuesday’s Oscar nominations.
Scorsese now has 10 best director nominations, surpassing Steven Spielberg, who has nine. Scorsese has won the category just once — for 2006’s The Departed. On that front, Spielberg still has one up on Scorsese, having won the category twice (for 1994’s Schindler’s List and 1999’s Saving Private Ryan).
There is one deceased director who has more than 10 Oscar nominations for this category. Care to make a guess?
William Wyler, who was nominated 12 times, and won three times, for films such as 1959’s Ben-Hur.
To win the category this year, Scorsese will have to beat out Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and Jonathan Glazer (Zone of Interest). Surprisingly absent from the...
The Academy nominated the 81-year-old icon for his film Killers of the Flower Moon with Tuesday’s Oscar nominations.
Scorsese now has 10 best director nominations, surpassing Steven Spielberg, who has nine. Scorsese has won the category just once — for 2006’s The Departed. On that front, Spielberg still has one up on Scorsese, having won the category twice (for 1994’s Schindler’s List and 1999’s Saving Private Ryan).
There is one deceased director who has more than 10 Oscar nominations for this category. Care to make a guess?
William Wyler, who was nominated 12 times, and won three times, for films such as 1959’s Ben-Hur.
To win the category this year, Scorsese will have to beat out Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and Jonathan Glazer (Zone of Interest). Surprisingly absent from the...
- 1/23/2024
- by James Hibberd
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Kenya Barris joined the Variety Studio presented by Audible at the Sundance Film Festival and provided some new updates on three of his most high-profile new projects. It was announced back in 2020 that Barris was set to direct a biopic on Richard Pryor, one of the most influential comedians of all time. The project remains in development, only Barris now confirmed that it’s actually a television series.
“It’s a 10-part limited biographical series that takes a look from cradle to grave,” Barris said. “From his earliest upbringing — he grew up in a ho house, or a house of ill repute — and became, at one point, the biggest star in the world.”
Barris said he is “in the room with it right now” as far as the development on the Richard Pryor series, adding, “It is my baby. I love it. He is my comedy god. A super flawed guy,...
“It’s a 10-part limited biographical series that takes a look from cradle to grave,” Barris said. “From his earliest upbringing — he grew up in a ho house, or a house of ill repute — and became, at one point, the biggest star in the world.”
Barris said he is “in the room with it right now” as far as the development on the Richard Pryor series, adding, “It is my baby. I love it. He is my comedy god. A super flawed guy,...
- 1/20/2024
- by Zack Sharf and Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Indie producer Harry Cohn, brother Jack and their associate Joe Brandt created the CBC Film Sales Company in 1918. And on Jan. 10, 1924, the trio formed the Poverty Row studio, Columbia Pictures. According to Enclyclopedia.com, by the mid-20s “Cohn had gained reputation as one of the industry’s toughest businessmen.” That’s putting it mildly.
Though “B” movies and series such as The Three Stooges, “Blondie” and “The Lone Wolf” were the bread and butter of the studio, Cohn slowly attracted top talent and directors and turned such newcomers as Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, William Holden and Kim Novak into stars.
Frank Capra changed the fortunes of the studio. Signing with Columbia in 1928, he made 25 films for Columbia. His optimistic, common man movies attracted critics and audiences alike during the Depression. His 1934 screwball comedy “It Happened One Night,” penned by Robert Riskin and starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, swept the Oscars winning five.
Though “B” movies and series such as The Three Stooges, “Blondie” and “The Lone Wolf” were the bread and butter of the studio, Cohn slowly attracted top talent and directors and turned such newcomers as Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, William Holden and Kim Novak into stars.
Frank Capra changed the fortunes of the studio. Signing with Columbia in 1928, he made 25 films for Columbia. His optimistic, common man movies attracted critics and audiences alike during the Depression. His 1934 screwball comedy “It Happened One Night,” penned by Robert Riskin and starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, swept the Oscars winning five.
- 1/8/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
"It's A Wonderful Life" is an unforgettable classic that renews itself every holiday season. The striking narrative articulates strong morals, like the importance of family and an individual's importance in a community, punctuated by almost hallucinogenic imagery of the ground opening up beneath one's feet. It's a heartwrenching picture made all the emotional by the sentimentality of Christmastime. The Frank Capra film is nostalgic for everyone, from older people who watched it as a child to the generations to follow who passed down the tradition to their children. Most kids aren't dying to sit down and watch a black-and-white talkie from studio-era Hollywood, and yet the film's fanbase gains new members every year.
But as the 1946 film ages, so too does its cast, and many of the main cast members have not made it to 2024, including leading man Jimmy Stewart. In fact, most of the adults in the film passed...
But as the 1946 film ages, so too does its cast, and many of the main cast members have not made it to 2024, including leading man Jimmy Stewart. In fact, most of the adults in the film passed...
- 1/7/2024
- by Shae Sennett
- Slash Film
J.J. Abrams touts Warren Beatty’s Bonnie and Clyde and Shampoo for must-see viewing as part of the January 2024 Turner Classic Movies lineup in his own TCM Picks video that dropped on Tuesday.
“They could not be more different,” Abrams says of Arthur Penn’s 1967 crime spree drama Bonnie and Clyde, which also starred Faye Dunaway, and Hal Ashby’s Oscar-winning dramedy Shampoo. Bonnie and Clyde “portrayed violence in a way that had not typically been seen in American cinema and really ushered in a new age of bold graphic storytelling in a way that you really hadn’t seen before,” Abrams says in the video.
Having made a name for himself in Hollywood with television and popular series like Felicity, Alias and Lost, you can see the grounds for Abrams’ eventual success making action tentpole movies, given his love for classic Hollywood pics.
Shampoo becomes a time capsule movie for Abrams,...
“They could not be more different,” Abrams says of Arthur Penn’s 1967 crime spree drama Bonnie and Clyde, which also starred Faye Dunaway, and Hal Ashby’s Oscar-winning dramedy Shampoo. Bonnie and Clyde “portrayed violence in a way that had not typically been seen in American cinema and really ushered in a new age of bold graphic storytelling in a way that you really hadn’t seen before,” Abrams says in the video.
Having made a name for himself in Hollywood with television and popular series like Felicity, Alias and Lost, you can see the grounds for Abrams’ eventual success making action tentpole movies, given his love for classic Hollywood pics.
Shampoo becomes a time capsule movie for Abrams,...
- 1/2/2024
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Alice Walker published her acclaimed novel “The Color Purple” in 1982. It sold five million copies; Walker became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize and she also received the National Book Club Award. Three years later, Steven Spielberg directed the lauded film version which made stars out of Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. It earned 11 Oscar nominations. The story revolves around a young woman who suffers abuse from her father and husband for four decades until she finds her own identity. Not exactly the stuff of a Broadway musical.
But the 2005 tuner version received strong reviews, ran 910 performances and earned ten Tony nominations, winning best actress for Lachanze. The 2015 production picked up two Tonys for best revival and actress for Cynthia Erivo. The movie musical version opened strong Christmas Day with $18 million and is a strong contender in several Oscar categories especially for Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks.
But the 2005 tuner version received strong reviews, ran 910 performances and earned ten Tony nominations, winning best actress for Lachanze. The 2015 production picked up two Tonys for best revival and actress for Cynthia Erivo. The movie musical version opened strong Christmas Day with $18 million and is a strong contender in several Oscar categories especially for Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks.
- 1/2/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
2023 has felt like things are starting to get back on track for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic. The year has seen some fantastic films and box office numbers hitting some great heights, in particular that phenomena that was the Barbie and Oppenheimer weekend. It’s clear for the first time, in a long time that cinema is starting to look in good shape once again. While there are many films that are yet to be released in the UK that have made many other best of the year lists, here are my 10 favourite films realised in the UK in 2023.
10. Wonka (Paul King)
For many perhaps the biggest surprise of the year, but for fans of Paul King it comes as no surprise that this version of Wonka is the most fun he’s ever been. Invoking some of what makes Frank Capra so brilliant, the film feels like a community coming together,...
10. Wonka (Paul King)
For many perhaps the biggest surprise of the year, but for fans of Paul King it comes as no surprise that this version of Wonka is the most fun he’s ever been. Invoking some of what makes Frank Capra so brilliant, the film feels like a community coming together,...
- 12/28/2023
- by Alex Ginnelly
- Nerdly
The Holdovers director Alexander Payne (in Nirvana T-shirt) with Anne-Katrin Titze on Westward The Women: “It’s as though Jean Renoir and Akira Kurosawa got together to make a Western.”
In the first instalment with Alexander Payne on his intricately layered Golden Globe-nominated The Holdovers (screenplay by David Hemingson with an Oscar-shortlisted score by Mark Orton) we started out discussing a film he recommended, William A Wellman’s Westward The Women (screenplay by Frank Capra and Charles Schnee), starring Robert Taylor and Denise Darcel with a formidable supporting cast of women, led by Hope Emerson.
Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) with Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph)
From there we touched upon his longtime collaborators, Wendy Chuck and Nathan Carlson, production designer Ryan Warren Smith, a scene between (Golden Globe-nominated) Paul Giamatti and Carrie Preston leading to Slavoj Žižek’s comment in Sophie Fiennes’s The Pervert’s Guide To Ideology...
In the first instalment with Alexander Payne on his intricately layered Golden Globe-nominated The Holdovers (screenplay by David Hemingson with an Oscar-shortlisted score by Mark Orton) we started out discussing a film he recommended, William A Wellman’s Westward The Women (screenplay by Frank Capra and Charles Schnee), starring Robert Taylor and Denise Darcel with a formidable supporting cast of women, led by Hope Emerson.
Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) with Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph)
From there we touched upon his longtime collaborators, Wendy Chuck and Nathan Carlson, production designer Ryan Warren Smith, a scene between (Golden Globe-nominated) Paul Giamatti and Carrie Preston leading to Slavoj Žižek’s comment in Sophie Fiennes’s The Pervert’s Guide To Ideology...
- 12/24/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Not since old man Potter stole $8000 from Uncle Billy and the Savings & Loan has poor George Bailey had to deal with so much misfortune on Christmas Eve. At least, that’s what I thought when I was skimming PlutoTV last night and discovered, to my horror, that the version of It’s a Wonderful Life streaming on the service’s 24-hour channel dedicated solely to that movie has an alternate score. Indeed, Dimitri Tiomkin’s classic score has been replaced by a new score that sounds like it was lifted out of a Hallmark holiday movie. No, scratch that. That’s not fair to Hallmark movies. It sounds like the kind of score you’d hear in a Canadian Hallmark rip-off or something on the Great American Family Network. And that’s not it. The movie also has a new title, A Wonderful Life, and the credits claim it’s...
- 12/24/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
It's probably the fault of closed-minded, conservative propaganda that the idea of subversiveness within art received a bad reputation. Just as all art is political, all art is (or at least can be) a little subversive. Certainly the dictionary definition of the term, where a work of art intends to undermine the power and/or authority of an established idea, system or value, is heavily akin to the way plot structure tends to be broken down within plays and screenplays: a period of Stasis being interrupted by an Intrusion or Inciting Action, and so on.
Given how weird a number of people are when it comes to the behavior and attitudes toward the Christmas holiday, it's no real surprise that any art having to do with Christmas tends toward subversion. This can manifest in tangential ways (like the slapstick violence of the "Home Alone" series) or direct ways (Santa Claus...
Given how weird a number of people are when it comes to the behavior and attitudes toward the Christmas holiday, it's no real surprise that any art having to do with Christmas tends toward subversion. This can manifest in tangential ways (like the slapstick violence of the "Home Alone" series) or direct ways (Santa Claus...
- 12/16/2023
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
Christmas movies are one of the most beloved genres in cinema history with every film fan having their own select favorite that they watch and rewatch every year. However, while the genre is treasured, the Oscars haven’t rewarded it as much as you might think or hope. There are several movies, however, that have found their way into Oscars lineups. We’ve detailed just five of those Christmas movies that have managed Oscar nominations or wins.
By the way, “The Apartment” is not included on this list (but might be in a future article). The Billy Wilder movie won five Academy Awards including Best Picture (1961) but there seems to be debate around whether it actually qualifies as a Christmas movie or not. It’s set during the holiday period, but some feel that isn’t enough for it to be an out-and-out Christmas movie. Perhaps that’s one for our forums.
By the way, “The Apartment” is not included on this list (but might be in a future article). The Billy Wilder movie won five Academy Awards including Best Picture (1961) but there seems to be debate around whether it actually qualifies as a Christmas movie or not. It’s set during the holiday period, but some feel that isn’t enough for it to be an out-and-out Christmas movie. Perhaps that’s one for our forums.
- 12/14/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Dan Stevens as Charles Dickens and Christopher Plummer as Ebenezer Scrooge in ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ (Photo by Kerry Brown / Bleecker Street)
Once again, the holidays – or is it holidaze? – are upon us, bringing with it a flurry of Christmas movies.
You have your endless parade of cartoons, specials, Christmas-themed episodes of your favorite TV shows, bad holiday comedies (1996’s Jingle All the Way and 2007’s Fred Claus come to mind), and Christmas-set horror movies (1984’s Gremlins). Then there’s the cheesy yet feel-good Lifetime and Hallmark films. And how can we forget the 24-hour marathon of 1983’s A Christmas Story (celebrating its 40th anniversary this year), beginning on Christmas Eve and ending on Christmas Day?
If those don’t do it for you, maybe these lists of Christmas movies will.
Classic Christmas Movies
You can’t go wrong with these classics, which can lighten the hearts of even the most ardent cynics.
Once again, the holidays – or is it holidaze? – are upon us, bringing with it a flurry of Christmas movies.
You have your endless parade of cartoons, specials, Christmas-themed episodes of your favorite TV shows, bad holiday comedies (1996’s Jingle All the Way and 2007’s Fred Claus come to mind), and Christmas-set horror movies (1984’s Gremlins). Then there’s the cheesy yet feel-good Lifetime and Hallmark films. And how can we forget the 24-hour marathon of 1983’s A Christmas Story (celebrating its 40th anniversary this year), beginning on Christmas Eve and ending on Christmas Day?
If those don’t do it for you, maybe these lists of Christmas movies will.
Classic Christmas Movies
You can’t go wrong with these classics, which can lighten the hearts of even the most ardent cynics.
- 12/9/2023
- by Kurt Anthony Krug
- Showbiz Junkies
“I’m stuck here in this mudhole for life, doing the same full work day after day,” George tells a stranger he meets while leaning over a bridge. George has come to the bridge on a frigid winter night with the intention of throwing himself off and ending it all. “Other men are leading exciting lives, but I – well, I’m just a small-town bank clerk,” he vents. “I never did anything really useful or interesting, and it looks as if I never will. I might just as well be dead. Sometimes I wish I were. In fact, I wish I’d never been born!”
You probably know the above exchange as a scene from It’s a Wonderful Life, the 1946 classic starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey and Henry Travers as the lovable, doddering angel second-class Clarence Odbody. But the above quotation actually comes from the short story “The Greatest Gift,...
You probably know the above exchange as a scene from It’s a Wonderful Life, the 1946 classic starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey and Henry Travers as the lovable, doddering angel second-class Clarence Odbody. But the above quotation actually comes from the short story “The Greatest Gift,...
- 11/30/2023
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
Everyone has their own holiday traditions when it comes to television, whether it’s an annual viewing of Elf or an animated favorite like A Charlie Brown Christmas, but one remains quintessential and that’s Frank Capra‘s black-and-white classic It’s a Wonderful Life. Not originally made as a holiday film, It’s a Wonderful Life wasn’t initially considered a box office success, but it went on to become a holiday classic and TV tradition. Focusing on the story of George Bailey (James Stewart), the film chronicles his life from childhood to a pivotal point in time where he’s poised to lose everything. On the brink of committing suicide to try and salvage his family’s name, legacy, and money, things are dire for the building and loan banker on Christmas Eve. As prayers abound for his safety, angel Clarence (Henry Travers), who has yet to earn his wings,...
- 11/26/2023
- TV Insider
To celebrate next year’s 100th anniversary of Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures has released a new logo of the studio’s famous “Lady with the Torch,” with special events set throughout 2024.
Founded by Harry and Jack Cohn on Jan. 10, 1924, Columbia holds the record for most Best Picture Oscar wins with 12 films, starting with Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night” and continuing with classics like “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “Lawrence of Arabia.”
Over the decades, Columbia’s long list of hit movies and acclaimed classics include “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “On the Waterfront,” “Taxi Driver,” “Ghostbusters,” “Groundhog Day,” “The Social Network,” “Spider-Man” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
“There is one thing that separates a major studio from all other content producers: history. At Columbia, that history is reflected in the countless cultural talismans created by thousands of people over now 100 years. All of us...
Founded by Harry and Jack Cohn on Jan. 10, 1924, Columbia holds the record for most Best Picture Oscar wins with 12 films, starting with Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night” and continuing with classics like “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “Lawrence of Arabia.”
Over the decades, Columbia’s long list of hit movies and acclaimed classics include “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “On the Waterfront,” “Taxi Driver,” “Ghostbusters,” “Groundhog Day,” “The Social Network,” “Spider-Man” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
“There is one thing that separates a major studio from all other content producers: history. At Columbia, that history is reflected in the countless cultural talismans created by thousands of people over now 100 years. All of us...
- 11/14/2023
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Ahead of Columbia Pictures’ 100th anniversary on January 10, 2024, Sony Pictures Entertainment has unveiled a new logo for the company to celebrate the occasion.
The design for the centennial logo, which you can view below, is framed on Columbia Pictures’ historic “Lady with the Torch” iconography. An enhanced glow to the torch symbolizes the vibrancy of the company’s history, having grown from humble beginnings to become one of the leading film studios, renowned for producing award-winning and trailblazing films that have boldly reflected societal issues of the times. With the highest number of Academy Award Best Pictures wins, Columbia Pictures has entertained audiences for ten decades and continues to create cultural impact to this day.
Sony will further celebrate the anniversary with the release of a commemorative book highlighting 100 iconic moments of Columbia Pictures. The studio will also mark the occasion with festival screenings and live concerts of prominent film scores,...
The design for the centennial logo, which you can view below, is framed on Columbia Pictures’ historic “Lady with the Torch” iconography. An enhanced glow to the torch symbolizes the vibrancy of the company’s history, having grown from humble beginnings to become one of the leading film studios, renowned for producing award-winning and trailblazing films that have boldly reflected societal issues of the times. With the highest number of Academy Award Best Pictures wins, Columbia Pictures has entertained audiences for ten decades and continues to create cultural impact to this day.
Sony will further celebrate the anniversary with the release of a commemorative book highlighting 100 iconic moments of Columbia Pictures. The studio will also mark the occasion with festival screenings and live concerts of prominent film scores,...
- 11/14/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
John Wayne’s 1956 Western “The Searchers” will debut a new restoration as part of the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival in April. This marks the second Wayne film to receive a premiere of a restored print at the yearly event which takes place on Hollywood Boulevard; last year’s opening night feature was a 4K restoration of Wayne’s 1959 film “Rio Bravo.”
This year’s festival theme is “Most Wanted: Crime and Justice in Film.” Alongside “The Searchers” TCM announced that Frank Capra’s 1934 film “It Happened One Night,” Elia Kazan’s “On the Waterfront” and the 1974 musical documentary “That’s Entertainment!” will also screen as part of the four-day festival.
It’s unknown if “The Searchers” will be the film’s opening night movie, though considering “Rio Bravo” was also a restoration last year it would make sense that Warner Bros. would continue to debut new 4K prints of their films...
This year’s festival theme is “Most Wanted: Crime and Justice in Film.” Alongside “The Searchers” TCM announced that Frank Capra’s 1934 film “It Happened One Night,” Elia Kazan’s “On the Waterfront” and the 1974 musical documentary “That’s Entertainment!” will also screen as part of the four-day festival.
It’s unknown if “The Searchers” will be the film’s opening night movie, though considering “Rio Bravo” was also a restoration last year it would make sense that Warner Bros. would continue to debut new 4K prints of their films...
- 11/14/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
Phil Alden Robinson's "Field of Dreams" was the sleeper hit of spring 1989. Based on W.P. Kinsella's wistful novel "Shoeless Joe," the film connected with audiences of all ages, but Baby Boomers in particular. Kevin Costner's Ray Kinsella, like many former hippies, became estranged from his parents during the late 1960s. All Ray had was his dad, and all they had in common was baseball, but even that became a contentious issue. A young and fiery Ray finally hit his breaking point, said something awful to his dad, and never saw him again.
That awful utterance and subsequent shunning gets rectified in the waning moments of "Field of Dreams," and if you saw the film during its initial theatrical release, you beheld the heartening spectacle of mainstream moviegoers, especially men, hanging out through the credits longer than usual. Robinson had crafted the most pulverizing male weepie since Buzz Kulik's "Brian's Song,...
That awful utterance and subsequent shunning gets rectified in the waning moments of "Field of Dreams," and if you saw the film during its initial theatrical release, you beheld the heartening spectacle of mainstream moviegoers, especially men, hanging out through the credits longer than usual. Robinson had crafted the most pulverizing male weepie since Buzz Kulik's "Brian's Song,...
- 11/14/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
The Criterion Channel is closing the year out with a bang––they’ve announced their December lineup. Among the highlights are retrospectives on Yasujiro Ozu (featuring nearly 40 films!), Ousmane Sembène, Alfred Hitchcock (along with Kent Jones’ Hitchcock/Truffaut), and Parker Posey. Well-timed for the season is a holiday noir series that includes They Live By Night, Blast of Silence, Lady in the Lake, and more.
Other highlights are the recent restoration of Abel Gance’s La roue, an MGM Musicals series with introduction by Michael Koresky, Helena Wittmann’s riveting second feature Human Flowers of Flesh, the recent Sundance highlight The Mountains Are a Dream That Call To Me, the new restoration of The Cassandra Cat, Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, and more.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Terry Gilliam, 1988
An American in Paris, Vincente Minnelli,...
Other highlights are the recent restoration of Abel Gance’s La roue, an MGM Musicals series with introduction by Michael Koresky, Helena Wittmann’s riveting second feature Human Flowers of Flesh, the recent Sundance highlight The Mountains Are a Dream That Call To Me, the new restoration of The Cassandra Cat, Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, and more.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Terry Gilliam, 1988
An American in Paris, Vincente Minnelli,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
An inverted Christmas tree with as many missed opportunities as you’d find toppled ornaments, “It’s a Wonderful Knife” begins where most slashers end. Our final girl dispatches and unmasks the killer in just a cool 15 minutes before a title card announces the cutlery pun-turned-feature film in earnest. It’s then that director Tyler MacIntyre really gets to work, reimagining the black-and-white holiday classic from 1946 as a middling 2023 slasher satire doomed to fade from memory with the calendar year.
The quaint suburban town of Angel Falls was being terrorized by a demon angel, but not anymore thanks to Winnie Carruthers. Some clever repurposing of jumper cables saved Winnie’s brother Jimmy (Aiden Howard) from a near-stabbing by the Angel in an efficient opening act, but the jolt couldn’t bring back her friend Cara (Hana Huggins) who was slaughtered via winged dagger after her boyfriend (Oscar Chark) got a giant...
The quaint suburban town of Angel Falls was being terrorized by a demon angel, but not anymore thanks to Winnie Carruthers. Some clever repurposing of jumper cables saved Winnie’s brother Jimmy (Aiden Howard) from a near-stabbing by the Angel in an efficient opening act, but the jolt couldn’t bring back her friend Cara (Hana Huggins) who was slaughtered via winged dagger after her boyfriend (Oscar Chark) got a giant...
- 11/10/2023
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Thank goodness Justin Long has stuck around. After breaking out in the frightfully gross road movie “Jeepers Creepers” and popping in aughts comedies like “Dodgeball” and “Accepted,” the 45-year-old has been on screen long enough to be getting genre-movie roles tailor-made for him — or at least uniquely suited to his strength — playing (not so) “nice guys” in all their dishonesty.
Having tested the waters as an East Coast professor on probation in “After Class” and an idiot Hollywood hotshot facing a #MeToo storm in last year’s “Barbarian,” Long follows up as the big bad in the horror comedy “It’s a Wonderful Knife,” released in theaters Nov. 10, before streaming on Shudder down the road. As the murderous mogul Henry Waters, who slices down anyone that stands in the way of his town’s redevelopment, Long steals the show once again. His have-at-it fun and eerie eyes provide a manic glee...
Having tested the waters as an East Coast professor on probation in “After Class” and an idiot Hollywood hotshot facing a #MeToo storm in last year’s “Barbarian,” Long follows up as the big bad in the horror comedy “It’s a Wonderful Knife,” released in theaters Nov. 10, before streaming on Shudder down the road. As the murderous mogul Henry Waters, who slices down anyone that stands in the way of his town’s redevelopment, Long steals the show once again. His have-at-it fun and eerie eyes provide a manic glee...
- 11/10/2023
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
A Christmas miracle turns macabre in time-bending holiday horror It’s A Wonderful Knife. Written by screenwriter remixologist Michael Kennedy (Freaky) and directed by Tyler Macintyre (Tragedy Girls), this snowy slasher bends the bones of Frank Capra’s heart-warming It’s a Wonderful Life (1947) into a stalk & slash tale of hell on earth and ill will toward the inhabitants of an idyllic mountain town. It’s a very on-the-nose re-imagining of the holiday classic that delivers its biggest gifts in the first act but features some silly characters and a send-up of every painfully charming Christmas movie already flooding streaming platforms.
The premise alone is enough to intrigue any modern horror fan. It’s A Wonderful Life is such a celebrated classic that you don’t actually have to have seen it to know everything about it. It’s been spoofed and lampooned for so long that’s it’s just...
The premise alone is enough to intrigue any modern horror fan. It’s A Wonderful Life is such a celebrated classic that you don’t actually have to have seen it to know everything about it. It’s been spoofed and lampooned for so long that’s it’s just...
- 11/8/2023
- by Jonathan Dehaan
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