It’s been 30 years since Mick Jackson’s sensational box-office hit bowled over audiences worldwide, and it still charms despite all its cheese
In all its irresistible absurdity, this colossal 90s studio movie and global smash – like Titanic, mocked by the critics and loved by the public – is revived for its 30th anniversary. Directed by Mick Jackson, written by Lawrence Kasdan and shot by Andrew Dunn, The Bodyguard does sag a bit here and there, and Kevin Costner’s relationship with the “cocky black chauffeur” character jars.
But there’s no doubting the powerhouse punch of Whitney Houston’s showcase musical numbers, especially her passionate, declamatory cover version of I Will Always Love You, an originally a brisker and yet more downbeat country track written by Dolly Parton. Here, it’s radically reimagined – Houston and Costner even have a scene where they dance in a bar to the original version,...
In all its irresistible absurdity, this colossal 90s studio movie and global smash – like Titanic, mocked by the critics and loved by the public – is revived for its 30th anniversary. Directed by Mick Jackson, written by Lawrence Kasdan and shot by Andrew Dunn, The Bodyguard does sag a bit here and there, and Kevin Costner’s relationship with the “cocky black chauffeur” character jars.
But there’s no doubting the powerhouse punch of Whitney Houston’s showcase musical numbers, especially her passionate, declamatory cover version of I Will Always Love You, an originally a brisker and yet more downbeat country track written by Dolly Parton. Here, it’s radically reimagined – Houston and Costner even have a scene where they dance in a bar to the original version,...
- 11/3/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Click here to read the full article.
Downton Abbey: A New Era, Focus Features’ second feature spin-off from the phenomenally successful TV series, jitterbugged its way into cinemas earlier this year.
Bringing back the original ensemble of regulars, plus a few new additions in Dominic West, Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock and Nathalie Baye, the film — directed by Simon Curtis — ramped up the high-society hi-jinx, with sumptuous weddings, luxurious trips to the south of France and the rather meta inclusion of a silent era Hollywood film being shot in Downton itself.
To celebrate the launch of A New Era on home entertainment (it is being released on Blu-Ray and a collector’s edition DVD on July 5), The Hollywood Reporter caught up with the lord of the manor himself, Hugh Bonneville, who discussed rumors of Downton Abbey returning to TV and why he thought that the latest film was a “good note...
Downton Abbey: A New Era, Focus Features’ second feature spin-off from the phenomenally successful TV series, jitterbugged its way into cinemas earlier this year.
Bringing back the original ensemble of regulars, plus a few new additions in Dominic West, Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock and Nathalie Baye, the film — directed by Simon Curtis — ramped up the high-society hi-jinx, with sumptuous weddings, luxurious trips to the south of France and the rather meta inclusion of a silent era Hollywood film being shot in Downton itself.
To celebrate the launch of A New Era on home entertainment (it is being released on Blu-Ray and a collector’s edition DVD on July 5), The Hollywood Reporter caught up with the lord of the manor himself, Hugh Bonneville, who discussed rumors of Downton Abbey returning to TV and why he thought that the latest film was a “good note...
- 6/28/2022
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Stars: Miles Watts, Tony Hipwell, Hannah Bungard, Alan Melikdjanian, Joanne Mitchell, Andrew Dunn, Andrina Carroll, Lyndsey Craine, Victoria Delaney, Peet Torjussen, Gemma-Louise Keane, Jennifer Jordan | Written and Directed by Miles Watts, Tony Hipwell, Hannah Bungard
Zomblogalypse began life as a series of fifteen-minute episodes that ran on YouTube from 2008 to 2011. The tale of Miles (Miles Watts), Tony (Tony Hipwell) and Hannah (Hannah Bungard) three survivors blogging their way through the zombie apocalypse developed a cult following. The trio moved on to other projects before coming back to launching the feature version of Zomblogalypse in 2018.
After ten years of dodging zombies, Miles, Tony and Hannah are bored. Very, very, bored. Even a botched outing to find supplies doesn’t dispel that feeling for long. So what can they do to pass the time? Find any other survivors in the area, and make a movie about surviving the zombie apocalypse.
As much...
Zomblogalypse began life as a series of fifteen-minute episodes that ran on YouTube from 2008 to 2011. The tale of Miles (Miles Watts), Tony (Tony Hipwell) and Hannah (Hannah Bungard) three survivors blogging their way through the zombie apocalypse developed a cult following. The trio moved on to other projects before coming back to launching the feature version of Zomblogalypse in 2018.
After ten years of dodging zombies, Miles, Tony and Hannah are bored. Very, very, bored. Even a botched outing to find supplies doesn’t dispel that feeling for long. So what can they do to pass the time? Find any other survivors in the area, and make a movie about surviving the zombie apocalypse.
As much...
- 9/24/2021
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Lee Daniels joined his “Precious” breakthrough Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe at the Toronto International Film Festival this week (via Entertainment Weekly) to reflect on their 2009 drama, including the moment Daniels had to fire several “disrespectful” crew members only 20 days into production. The filmmaker said he “didn’t feel good” with the “Precious” dailies after two weeks of shooting.
“I had a white line producer, a white Ad, they also read [reviews that said my last film] ‘Shadowboxer’ was the worst film ever made, and they had zero respect for me, my vision, or what it was,” Daniels said. “They were New Yorkers that looked at this as a job. I kept coming home like, this doesn’t feel right, she doesn’t look right, the set looks weird. I felt like I was giving birth to an alien, literally, so I did something that I now don’t even know whether I’d have the courage to do,...
“I had a white line producer, a white Ad, they also read [reviews that said my last film] ‘Shadowboxer’ was the worst film ever made, and they had zero respect for me, my vision, or what it was,” Daniels said. “They were New Yorkers that looked at this as a job. I kept coming home like, this doesn’t feel right, she doesn’t look right, the set looks weird. I felt like I was giving birth to an alien, literally, so I did something that I now don’t even know whether I’d have the courage to do,...
- 9/15/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
For “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” production designer Daniel T. Dorrance, in order to capture the look and feel of the 1940s, “the first thing is getting your head around what movie are we making, what’s the look of it, and what are the marks we want to hit?” That led him to a particular photograph that informed much of the film’s visual approach. Watch our exclusive video interview with Dorrance above.
SEEAndra Day (‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’): ‘I could not find myself’ after playing the legendary singer [Complete Interview Transcript]
“I found a great image of New York in the late ’30s or ’40s, I think, that was colorized by somebody … which just had the right feel and tone to it,” Dorrance explains. “So I did a little Photoshop. I put [lead actress Andra Day] in the shot, gave her a fur coat and an umbrella, and sent...
SEEAndra Day (‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’): ‘I could not find myself’ after playing the legendary singer [Complete Interview Transcript]
“I found a great image of New York in the late ’30s or ’40s, I think, that was colorized by somebody … which just had the right feel and tone to it,” Dorrance explains. “So I did a little Photoshop. I put [lead actress Andra Day] in the shot, gave her a fur coat and an umbrella, and sent...
- 3/4/2021
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Musician Billie Holiday’s troubled life has been the inspiration for many films, including the biopic Lady Sings the Blues, starring Diana Ross. In The United States vs. Billie Holiday, director Lee Daniels takes a different tact, tying the singer’s troubles to a Federal vendetta against her song “Strange Fruit.” Anchored by Andra Day’s remarkable performance as Holiday, the movie offers a vivid account of Black culture from WWII to the singer’s death in 1959. Holiday’s brutal childhood, the pervasive discrimination she experienced, and a milieu that romanticized drugs all contributed to an addiction that landed her in prison. This is […]
The post "The Flash Frames are Like Magic — You Can Almost Smell Them in the Film": Dp Andrew Dunn on Shooting Lee Daniels's The United States vs. Billie Holiday first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "The Flash Frames are Like Magic — You Can Almost Smell Them in the Film": Dp Andrew Dunn on Shooting Lee Daniels's The United States vs. Billie Holiday first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/26/2021
- by Daniel Eagan
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Musician Billie Holiday’s troubled life has been the inspiration for many films, including the biopic Lady Sings the Blues, starring Diana Ross. In The United States vs. Billie Holiday, director Lee Daniels takes a different tact, tying the singer’s troubles to a Federal vendetta against her song “Strange Fruit.” Anchored by Andra Day’s remarkable performance as Holiday, the movie offers a vivid account of Black culture from WWII to the singer’s death in 1959. Holiday’s brutal childhood, the pervasive discrimination she experienced, and a milieu that romanticized drugs all contributed to an addiction that landed her in prison. This is […]
The post "The Flash Frames are Like Magic — You Can Almost Smell Them in the Film": Dp Andrew Dunn on Shooting Lee Daniels's The United States vs. Billie Holiday first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post "The Flash Frames are Like Magic — You Can Almost Smell Them in the Film": Dp Andrew Dunn on Shooting Lee Daniels's The United States vs. Billie Holiday first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/26/2021
- by Daniel Eagan
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
It was serendipitous when director Lee Daniels came to cinematographer Andrew Dunn with the opportunity to collaborate on “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” which tells the story of the famous singer as she struggled against addiction and a hostile federal government after she recorded the song “Strange Fruit” to protest lynchings in America. He has long been familiar with her music, so “to have the chance to make a film about Billie Holiday, I was so thrilled,” Dunn explains. Watch our exclusive video interview with Dunn above.
“My father used to play Billie Holiday records on Sunday morning at home, so I was brought up with this magical sound wafting through the house,” Dunn adds. “It was very intriguing to me who this person was, what sort of life she had … There was something in the back of my head that was enticing me, and I thought one day...
“My father used to play Billie Holiday records on Sunday morning at home, so I was brought up with this magical sound wafting through the house,” Dunn adds. “It was very intriguing to me who this person was, what sort of life she had … There was something in the back of my head that was enticing me, and I thought one day...
- 2/23/2021
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
“
"Altman’S Downton Upstairs Abbey Downstairs”
By Raymond Benson
The magnificent Robert Altman whodunnit, Gosford Park, has received a top-class Blu-ray restoration and re-issue from Arrow Academy, and it is a gem.
Originally released in 2001, Gosford Park took its cue from the immensely popular BBC television series, Upstairs, Downstairs—about the dramas that exist in a stately British manor between the “upstairs” folk—the wealthy upper-class family that owns the property, and the “downstairs” people—the servants and staff who run the household. Throw in a dash of Agatha Christie, and a heaping helping of Robert Altman’s ensemble improvisatory magic, and you have the director’s only full-fledged British production. Interestingly, the screenwriter, Julian Fellowes (who won the Oscar for Original Screenplay) went on to create and write the next immensely popular BBC television series, Downton Abbey, which resembles Gosford Park in many ways.
Film historians will certainly recognize...
"Altman’S Downton Upstairs Abbey Downstairs”
By Raymond Benson
The magnificent Robert Altman whodunnit, Gosford Park, has received a top-class Blu-ray restoration and re-issue from Arrow Academy, and it is a gem.
Originally released in 2001, Gosford Park took its cue from the immensely popular BBC television series, Upstairs, Downstairs—about the dramas that exist in a stately British manor between the “upstairs” folk—the wealthy upper-class family that owns the property, and the “downstairs” people—the servants and staff who run the household. Throw in a dash of Agatha Christie, and a heaping helping of Robert Altman’s ensemble improvisatory magic, and you have the director’s only full-fledged British production. Interestingly, the screenwriter, Julian Fellowes (who won the Oscar for Original Screenplay) went on to create and write the next immensely popular BBC television series, Downton Abbey, which resembles Gosford Park in many ways.
Film historians will certainly recognize...
- 2/1/2019
- by [email protected] (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
At least twenty fine actors and stars make Robert Altman’s period piece about a party in a big English country house into a gala occasion. The show is also a fascinating entree into a classed world of masters and servants. The drama of manners could also be described as a mystery who-dunnit. Either way, we’re floored by excellent work from a stellar cast.
Gosford Park
Blu-ray
Arrow Academy USA
2001 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 131 min. / Street Date , 2018 / Available from Arrow Video
Starring: Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Camilla Rutherford, Charles Dance, Geraldine Somerville, Tom Hollander, Natasha Wightman, Jeremy Northam, Bob Balaban, James Wilby, Claudie Blakley, Laurence Fox, Trent Ford, Ryan Phillippe, Stephen Fry, Ron Webster, Kelly Macdonald, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Eileen Atkins, Emily Watson, Alan Bates, Derek Jacobi, Richard E. Grant.
Cinematography: Andrew Dunn
Film Editor: Tim Squyres
Production Design: Stephen Altman
Original Music: Patrick Doyle
Written by Julian Fellowes,...
Gosford Park
Blu-ray
Arrow Academy USA
2001 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 131 min. / Street Date , 2018 / Available from Arrow Video
Starring: Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas, Camilla Rutherford, Charles Dance, Geraldine Somerville, Tom Hollander, Natasha Wightman, Jeremy Northam, Bob Balaban, James Wilby, Claudie Blakley, Laurence Fox, Trent Ford, Ryan Phillippe, Stephen Fry, Ron Webster, Kelly Macdonald, Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Eileen Atkins, Emily Watson, Alan Bates, Derek Jacobi, Richard E. Grant.
Cinematography: Andrew Dunn
Film Editor: Tim Squyres
Production Design: Stephen Altman
Original Music: Patrick Doyle
Written by Julian Fellowes,...
- 12/1/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Robert Altman’s Gosford Park will be available on Blu-ray November 27th from Arrow Academy
Tea At Four. Dinner At Eight. Murder At Midnight.
In 2001, Robert Altman took the unexpected step into Agatha Christie territory with Gosford Park, a murder-mystery whodunit set in an English country house starring a host of British acting greats and with an Oscar-winning screenplay by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. It would become a huge success with audiences and critics alike.
Set in 1932, the action unfolds during a weekend shooting party hosted by Sir William McArdle (Alan Bates), and his wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas) at his estate, Gosford Park. Among the guests are friends, relatives, the actor and composer Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam), and an American film producer (Bob Balaban). When Sir William is found murdered in the library, everyone and their servants becomes a suspect.
Also starring Charles Dance, Michael Gambon, Richard E. Grant,...
Tea At Four. Dinner At Eight. Murder At Midnight.
In 2001, Robert Altman took the unexpected step into Agatha Christie territory with Gosford Park, a murder-mystery whodunit set in an English country house starring a host of British acting greats and with an Oscar-winning screenplay by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes. It would become a huge success with audiences and critics alike.
Set in 1932, the action unfolds during a weekend shooting party hosted by Sir William McArdle (Alan Bates), and his wife Lady Sylvia (Kristin Scott Thomas) at his estate, Gosford Park. Among the guests are friends, relatives, the actor and composer Ivor Novello (Jeremy Northam), and an American film producer (Bob Balaban). When Sir William is found murdered in the library, everyone and their servants becomes a suspect.
Also starring Charles Dance, Michael Gambon, Richard E. Grant,...
- 11/21/2018
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
If Emma Thompson can’t make “The Children Act,” a drama about a family-court judge conflicted over her own decisions and the precarious state of her own family, into something interesting and meaningful, then no one can. And she can’t.
Screenwriter Ian McEwan, adapting his own novel, and director Richard Eyre (“Notes on a Scandal”) have assembled a fine cast to tackle controversial subjects brimming over with dramatic possibility, but the results are stultifyingly subdued. It’s all so polite, so sober, so convinced of its own importance, that it never has a pulse. This is love and life and death discussed as though they were paint swatches for the guest room.
Thompson stars as Fiona Maye, a high-court judge who specializes in hot-button issues that often put her in the crosshairs of religious fundamentalists. (The “Act” of the title is a noun and not a verb.) As the film opens,...
Screenwriter Ian McEwan, adapting his own novel, and director Richard Eyre (“Notes on a Scandal”) have assembled a fine cast to tackle controversial subjects brimming over with dramatic possibility, but the results are stultifyingly subdued. It’s all so polite, so sober, so convinced of its own importance, that it never has a pulse. This is love and life and death discussed as though they were paint swatches for the guest room.
Thompson stars as Fiona Maye, a high-court judge who specializes in hot-button issues that often put her in the crosshairs of religious fundamentalists. (The “Act” of the title is a noun and not a verb.) As the film opens,...
- 9/13/2018
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
A whimper or a bang. Does it really matter if we snuff the match with our fingers, or a blast of air from our lungs? And when that bomb drops, is that really it for the human race, or will it “rebuild” as we’re so optimistically told in countless disaster flicks? The correct answers are: “bang” is very bad, and if your idea of “rebuild” is devastating nuclear winters and forlorn dirt crops, build away. This bleaker than bleak view comes courtesy of a legendary and sobering BBC Two TV drama from 1984 called Threads, and Severin Films’ stellar Blu-ray shows a new generation what would really happen in the event of a nuclear attack. Spoiler slert: nothing good. At all.
Directed by Mick Jackson (L.A. Story) from a teleplay by Barry Hines (Kes), Threads aired in September of 1984, pulling in 7 million viewers on its initial showing with a...
Directed by Mick Jackson (L.A. Story) from a teleplay by Barry Hines (Kes), Threads aired in September of 1984, pulling in 7 million viewers on its initial showing with a...
- 2/21/2018
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
It’s great when a fancy costume picture really has something to say — Alan Bennett’s crazy tale of a king’s episode of mental illness becomes a highly entertaining comedy of errors, but with serious personal and political ramifications. Nigel Hawthorne is exceptionally good as the sovereign whose brain has de-railed; Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, Rupert Everett and Amanda Donohoe variously try to help him — or steal his crown.
The Madness of King George
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1994 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring: Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, Amanda Donohoe, Rupert Everett, Julian Wadham, Jim Carter, Rupert Graves, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Anthony Calf, John Wood, Robert Swann, Peter Woodthorpe.
Cinematography: Andrew Dunn
Film Editor: Tariq Anwar
Production Design: Ken Adam
Written by Alan Bennett from his play
Produced by Stephen Evans, David Parfitt
Directed by Nicholas Hytner
Every few years the...
The Madness of King George
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1994 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring: Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, Amanda Donohoe, Rupert Everett, Julian Wadham, Jim Carter, Rupert Graves, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Anthony Calf, John Wood, Robert Swann, Peter Woodthorpe.
Cinematography: Andrew Dunn
Film Editor: Tariq Anwar
Production Design: Ken Adam
Written by Alan Bennett from his play
Produced by Stephen Evans, David Parfitt
Directed by Nicholas Hytner
Every few years the...
- 11/18/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
IndieWire reached out to the cinematographers whose films are headlining the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival to find out which cameras they used and, more importantly, why they were the right tools to create their projects.
Read More:Cannes 2017: Here Are the Cameras Used To Shoot 29 of This Year’s Films “55 Steps”
Dir: Bille August, Dp: Filip Zumbrunn
Camera: Arri Alexa Mini and Amira
Lens: Cooke Panchros S2/3
Zumbrunn: “Because of the beautiful skin tones, the good latitude of the Arri-log and the reliability of the body — especially when shooting the entire movie handheld — it was clear, that we wanted to shoot on the Arri Alexa Mini. As a B-Camera body we were using an Arri Amira. We chose the vintage Cooke Panchros S2/3 together with the Tiffen Pearlescent filters to give the movie a warm, filmic and not too clean look to transport the feeling of the early eighties. And...
Read More:Cannes 2017: Here Are the Cameras Used To Shoot 29 of This Year’s Films “55 Steps”
Dir: Bille August, Dp: Filip Zumbrunn
Camera: Arri Alexa Mini and Amira
Lens: Cooke Panchros S2/3
Zumbrunn: “Because of the beautiful skin tones, the good latitude of the Arri-log and the reliability of the body — especially when shooting the entire movie handheld — it was clear, that we wanted to shoot on the Arri Alexa Mini. As a B-Camera body we were using an Arri Amira. We chose the vintage Cooke Panchros S2/3 together with the Tiffen Pearlescent filters to give the movie a warm, filmic and not too clean look to transport the feeling of the early eighties. And...
- 9/8/2017
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
(Courtesy: Kimberley French/20th Century Fox)
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
One of the jobs that the general public doesn’t pay that much attention to — but probably should — is that of the cinematographer. If you think a film looks gorgeous and you’re able to get swept away by what you’re seeing on the screen, that’s all thanks to this man or woman’s work behind the scenes. Turns out, though, you can even see these folks showcase their talent on social media.
Since the role of cinematographer is often referred to as the director of photography — shortened to Dp or Dop — it only makes sense that we hone in Instagram as that’s one popular online platform dedicated specifically to photos. Let’s take a look at 16 of the cinematographers who are utilizing Instagram to showcase more of their work and giving us a glimpse of...
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
One of the jobs that the general public doesn’t pay that much attention to — but probably should — is that of the cinematographer. If you think a film looks gorgeous and you’re able to get swept away by what you’re seeing on the screen, that’s all thanks to this man or woman’s work behind the scenes. Turns out, though, you can even see these folks showcase their talent on social media.
Since the role of cinematographer is often referred to as the director of photography — shortened to Dp or Dop — it only makes sense that we hone in Instagram as that’s one popular online platform dedicated specifically to photos. Let’s take a look at 16 of the cinematographers who are utilizing Instagram to showcase more of their work and giving us a glimpse of...
- 2/4/2017
- by Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
Sony Pictures Classics has released the official trailer and poster for director Nicholas Hytner’s brilliant The Lady In The Van.
Maggie Smith gives the best performance of 2015 and her career.
Alan Bennett’s story is based on the true story of Miss Shepherd (played by a magnificent Maggie Smith), a woman of uncertain origins who “temporarily” parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years. What begins as a begrudged favor becomes a relationship that will change both their lives.
Filmed on the street and in the house where Bennett and Miss Shepherd lived all those years, Hytner reunites with iconic writer Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George, The History Boys) to bring this rare and touching portrait to the screen.
Produced by Kevin Loader, Nicholas Hytner and Damian Jones, The Lady In The Van also stars Alex Jennings as Alan Bennett.
Maggie Smith gives the best performance of 2015 and her career.
Alan Bennett’s story is based on the true story of Miss Shepherd (played by a magnificent Maggie Smith), a woman of uncertain origins who “temporarily” parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years. What begins as a begrudged favor becomes a relationship that will change both their lives.
Filmed on the street and in the house where Bennett and Miss Shepherd lived all those years, Hytner reunites with iconic writer Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George, The History Boys) to bring this rare and touching portrait to the screen.
Produced by Kevin Loader, Nicholas Hytner and Damian Jones, The Lady In The Van also stars Alex Jennings as Alan Bennett.
- 10/30/2015
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Last year we wrote about 9 cinematographers you should follow on Instagram and you should definitely check them out. But why limit ourselves to just nine? So below we highlight seven more cinematographers who are worth following on Instagram. In addition to on-set shots, you'll find family portraits, travel tableaux and more. The cinematographers are listed below in alphabetical order, along with some of our favorite images from their Instagram accounts. Benoit Delhomme: The French cinematographer known for his dazzling photography on the Academy Award-winning "The Theory of Everything," "A Most Wanted Man" and "The Scent of Green Papaya" shares his paintings as well as an outsider's view of American life. Andrew Dunn: From "Precious" and "Lee Daniels' The Butler" to "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and more recently, "Effie Gray," British cinematographer Andrew Dunn has displayed a wide range of...
- 5/21/2015
- by Paula Bernstein
- Indiewire
Coming to theater on April 3rd is the film Effie Gray.
The film explores the fascinating, true story of the relationship between Victorian England’s greatest mind, John Ruskin, and his teenage bride, Euphemia “Effie” Gray, who leaves him for the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais.
Effie Gray is the first original screenplay written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Emma Thompson. In this impeccably crafted period drama, Thompson delicately and incisively probes the marital politics of the Victorian Era, and beyond.
Dakota Fanning stars as Effie Gray Ruskin. The cast includes Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Tom Sturridge, David Suchet, Greg Wise, Claudia Cardinale, James Fox, Sir Derek Jacobi and Robbie Coltrane.
The film is produced by Andreas Roald (Terrence Malick’s Voyage Of Time) and Donald Rosenfeld (Malick’s Tree Of Life and Voyage Of Time).
Producer Donald Rosenfeld spent 1987 to 1998 as President of Merchant Ivory Productions, in charge of the financing...
The film explores the fascinating, true story of the relationship between Victorian England’s greatest mind, John Ruskin, and his teenage bride, Euphemia “Effie” Gray, who leaves him for the Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais.
Effie Gray is the first original screenplay written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Emma Thompson. In this impeccably crafted period drama, Thompson delicately and incisively probes the marital politics of the Victorian Era, and beyond.
Dakota Fanning stars as Effie Gray Ruskin. The cast includes Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Tom Sturridge, David Suchet, Greg Wise, Claudia Cardinale, James Fox, Sir Derek Jacobi and Robbie Coltrane.
The film is produced by Andreas Roald (Terrence Malick’s Voyage Of Time) and Donald Rosenfeld (Malick’s Tree Of Life and Voyage Of Time).
Producer Donald Rosenfeld spent 1987 to 1998 as President of Merchant Ivory Productions, in charge of the financing...
- 4/2/2015
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Exclusive: Tim Grady and Jeff Lipsky’s New York-based Adopt Films has acquired Effie Gray, the period drama penned by Emma Thompson. Dakota Fanning stars as the eponymous character in the biopic of the 19th century Scotswoman who married critic and author John Ruskin as a teenager only to see their six-year relationship finally annulled with Gray still a virgin. She later wed celebrated pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. For Millais, Gray bore eight children and became his muse (along with her younger sister Sophie).
The company plans an early spring 2015 release.
Julie Walters plays Ruskin’s baleful, controlling mother, and David Suchet is Ruskin’s feckless, enabling father. Thompson, Tom Sturridge, Greg Wise, Claudia Cardinale, James Fox, Derek Jacobi and Robbie Coltrane round out the cast.
Richard Laxton (Burton & Taylor) directs from Thompson’s first original screenplay. (She won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for 1995’s Sense And Sensibility.
The company plans an early spring 2015 release.
Julie Walters plays Ruskin’s baleful, controlling mother, and David Suchet is Ruskin’s feckless, enabling father. Thompson, Tom Sturridge, Greg Wise, Claudia Cardinale, James Fox, Derek Jacobi and Robbie Coltrane round out the cast.
Richard Laxton (Burton & Taylor) directs from Thompson’s first original screenplay. (She won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for 1995’s Sense And Sensibility.
- 12/2/2014
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline
Exclusive: Metrodome to give wide UK release to period drama held up by legal disputes.
The long-running legal disputes holding back Emma Thompson’s period-drama Effie Gray would seem to be finally over, as the film is due for UK, Us and international release this autumn.
UK distributor Metrodome has struck a deal for a wide release in October while producers Donald Rosenfeld and Andreas Roald expect a November release in the Us.
Emma Thompson wrote and stars in the long-awaited period drama about the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.
The film’s cast includes Dakota Fanning as Effie, Thompson’s husband Greg Wise as Ruskin, Tom Sturridge as painter Everett Millais as well as David Suchet, Derek Jacobi, Robbie Coltrane, James Fox and Claudia Cardinale.
The UK deal was negotiated by Metrodome’s head of acquisitions Giles Edwards and Norwegian financier Roald of Sovereign Films.
Effie is based...
The long-running legal disputes holding back Emma Thompson’s period-drama Effie Gray would seem to be finally over, as the film is due for UK, Us and international release this autumn.
UK distributor Metrodome has struck a deal for a wide release in October while producers Donald Rosenfeld and Andreas Roald expect a November release in the Us.
Emma Thompson wrote and stars in the long-awaited period drama about the mysterious relationship between Victorian art critic John Ruskin and his teenage bride Effie Gray.
The film’s cast includes Dakota Fanning as Effie, Thompson’s husband Greg Wise as Ruskin, Tom Sturridge as painter Everett Millais as well as David Suchet, Derek Jacobi, Robbie Coltrane, James Fox and Claudia Cardinale.
The UK deal was negotiated by Metrodome’s head of acquisitions Giles Edwards and Norwegian financier Roald of Sovereign Films.
Effie is based...
- 8/14/2014
- by [email protected] (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
This reboot of the 1981 movie of the same name (starring Brooke Shields) was also based on the same book by Scott Spencer that the first film was based on. The movie tells the story of Jade (Gabriella Wilde), a sheltered and well-off girl, and David (Alex Pettyfer), a charismatic and less well-off boy whose instant desire sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them apart. To bring her vision for Endless Love from script to screen, director Shana Feste assembled a behind-the-scenes team led by cinematographer Andrew Dunn, production designer Clay Griffith and … Continue reading →
The post VOD Spotlight: Endless Love appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
The post VOD Spotlight: Endless Love appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
- 5/27/2014
- by Meredith Ennis
- ChannelGuideMag
Although his credits stretch back to modern classics like L.A. Story and The Bodguard , it was about his latest, Lee Daniels' The Butler , that cinematographer Andrew Dunn speaks about with ComingSoon.net in the below interview this year's Camerimage Festival in Bydgoszcz, Poland. If you missed them, be sure to check out our previous Camerimage interviews here . Cs: "Lee Daniel's The Butler" wasn't your first time working with Daniels. How did the two of you come to collaborate? Andrew Dunn: It came about over a long period of time. I had worked with Lee Daniels on "Precious." That had been my previous experience working with him, shooting "Precious" in New York. That was just a great experience. I found my way through into him and he...
- 12/2/2013
- Comingsoon.net
The lensers of Cannes Competition entries Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska and Heli will join such award season hopefuls as The Butler, 12 Years a Slave and Rush at the 21st edition of Poland's Camerimage festival, the world's leading film fest dedicated to the art of cinematography. Such acclaimed cinematographers as Bruno Delbonnel (Inside Llewyn Davis), Phedon Papamichael (Nebraska), Lorenzo Hagerman (Heli), Andrew Dunn (The Butler), Sean Bobbitt (12 Years a Slave) and Anthony Dod Mantle (Rush) will see their work screened in this year's Camerimage competition line-up, announced Tuesday. Photos: '12 Years a Slave': Exclusive Portraits of Star-Producer Brad
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- 10/29/2013
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Films from Ron Howard, Lee Daniels, the Coens, Steve McQueen and Alexander Payne in the line-up of the cinematography festival.
Camerimage, the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography now in its 21st edition, today revealed the line-up of films selected for the festival’s main competition.
The entries are:
Burning Bush, Agnieszka Holland (Cz Rep)
Cinematographer: Martin Strba
Concrete Night, Pirjo Honkasalo (Fin-Swe-Den)
Cinematographer: Peter Flinckenberg
Heli, Amat Escalante (Mex-Fra-Ger-Neth)
Cinematographer: Lorenzo Hagerman
Home from Home (Die andere Heimat – Chronik einer Sehcsucht), Edgar Reitz (Ger-Fra)
Cinematographer: Gernot Roll
Ida, Paweł Pawlikowski (Pol-Den)
Cinematographers: Łukasz Żal, Ryszard Lenczewski
Inside Llewyn Davis, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (Us-Fra)
Cinematographer: Bruno Delbonnel
Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Lee Daniels (Us)
Cinematographer: Andrew Dunn
Life Feels Good (Chce sie zyc), Maciej Pieprzyca (Pol)
Cinematographer: Paweł Dyllus
Mary Queen of Scots, Thomas Imbach (Swi-Fra)
Cinematographer: Rainer Klausmann
Nebraska, Alexander Payne (Us)
Cinematographer: Phedon Papamichael
Paradise for the Damned, Alejandro Montiel (Arg)
Cinematographer:...
Camerimage, the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography now in its 21st edition, today revealed the line-up of films selected for the festival’s main competition.
The entries are:
Burning Bush, Agnieszka Holland (Cz Rep)
Cinematographer: Martin Strba
Concrete Night, Pirjo Honkasalo (Fin-Swe-Den)
Cinematographer: Peter Flinckenberg
Heli, Amat Escalante (Mex-Fra-Ger-Neth)
Cinematographer: Lorenzo Hagerman
Home from Home (Die andere Heimat – Chronik einer Sehcsucht), Edgar Reitz (Ger-Fra)
Cinematographer: Gernot Roll
Ida, Paweł Pawlikowski (Pol-Den)
Cinematographers: Łukasz Żal, Ryszard Lenczewski
Inside Llewyn Davis, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (Us-Fra)
Cinematographer: Bruno Delbonnel
Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Lee Daniels (Us)
Cinematographer: Andrew Dunn
Life Feels Good (Chce sie zyc), Maciej Pieprzyca (Pol)
Cinematographer: Paweł Dyllus
Mary Queen of Scots, Thomas Imbach (Swi-Fra)
Cinematographer: Rainer Klausmann
Nebraska, Alexander Payne (Us)
Cinematographer: Phedon Papamichael
Paradise for the Damned, Alejandro Montiel (Arg)
Cinematographer:...
- 10/29/2013
- by [email protected] (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
★★★☆☆ Equestrian artist Alfred Munnings' love affair and disastrous marriage to aspiring painter Florence Carter-Wood is the subject of Christopher Menaul's involving costume drama Summer in February (2013). It's 1912 and Munnings (Dominic Cooper) is a prominent member of the bohemian Lamorna Group, a colony of artists living and practising their craft in Cornwall. Fleeing London, an oppressive father and an unwanted suitor, Florence (Emily Browning) joins her brother here. Her fragile beauty and sensitive nature consequently attract the attention of local land agent and army officer Gilbert Evans (Dan Stevens).
A prolific painter, Munnings is much admired by others in the colony, including acclaimed artists, Laura (Hattie Morahan) and Harold Knight (Shaun Dingwall). Munnings can have any woman he desires but is also drawn to Florence. She models for him and before long he is proposing marriage. Florence accepts but the couple discover, too late, that their hasty courtship obscures a multitude of differences.
A prolific painter, Munnings is much admired by others in the colony, including acclaimed artists, Laura (Hattie Morahan) and Harold Knight (Shaun Dingwall). Munnings can have any woman he desires but is also drawn to Florence. She models for him and before long he is proposing marriage. Florence accepts but the couple discover, too late, that their hasty courtship obscures a multitude of differences.
- 10/15/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
★★☆☆☆ There's nothing more soul-crushing than a romantic comedy devoid of either of the genre's requisite defining aspects. At least when the love story is lacking, laughs will usually pick up the slack; if it's humourless, the passion can take the weight. Nobody wants to overdose on schmaltz (well, some people might) but shunning it entirely requires an impressively sweet touch, or a piling on of the funny. Sadly, a new British entry into the rom-com canon, Hello Carter (2013), fails to do either and is all the more insipid for it. Charlie Cox of Boardwalk Empire fame takes centre stage as the titular (and recently homeless) Carter.
With no roof over his head and no job, Charlie finds himself still mooning over ex-girlfriend, Kelly, who he's not seen in almost a year. Positively passive in almost every way, he stumbles around sharing clumsy small talk with potential employers and relatives before...
With no roof over his head and no job, Charlie finds himself still mooning over ex-girlfriend, Kelly, who he's not seen in almost a year. Positively passive in almost every way, he stumbles around sharing clumsy small talk with potential employers and relatives before...
- 10/12/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Sir Alfred Munnings, the celebrated equestrian painter, was the first artist I learned to despise courtesy of my sixth-form grammar school teachers, and no doubt largely as a result of his notorious, drunken valedictory speech as president of the Royal Academy, broadcast live in 1949, in which he managed to insult Picasso and Anthony Blunt in the same breath as he buttered up Winston Churchill.
This movie concerns a little-known period in his life just before the first world war, when he was a leading member of the Lamorna group, a branch of the British impressionism better known as the Newlyn school in far western Cornwall. The flamboyant, one-eyed Munnings (Dominic Cooper), who comes across as a boorish bohemian, competed for the hand of the young, mentally disturbed painter Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning) with his reserved friend, the regular army officer Gilbert Evans (Dan Stevens). It's not a particularly interesting or...
This movie concerns a little-known period in his life just before the first world war, when he was a leading member of the Lamorna group, a branch of the British impressionism better known as the Newlyn school in far western Cornwall. The flamboyant, one-eyed Munnings (Dominic Cooper), who comes across as a boorish bohemian, competed for the hand of the young, mentally disturbed painter Florence Carter-Wood (Emily Browning) with his reserved friend, the regular army officer Gilbert Evans (Dan Stevens). It's not a particularly interesting or...
- 6/15/2013
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Here is my complete 2014 Oscar Preview in one complete list, with all 40 Oscar Contenders and my thoughts on each over the course of a massive 13-page spread and over 8,500 words. Trust me, I don't blame you if you take your time, but I think it may serve as a helpful list to look back at throughout the year. And, if you missed Parts 1-4 in which I featured each of these films, ten per installment, and just because it's fun to see them all in one place, here's a list of all 40 films included in this preview: The Great Gatsby, 12 Years a Slave, A Most Wanted Man, The Place Beyond the Pines, August: Osage County, Before Midnight, Blue Jasmine, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Diana, Elysium, The Fifth Estate, Foxcatcher, Frozen, Fruitvale, Grace of Monaco, Gravity, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, Inside Llewyn Davis, Labor Day, Lowlife, Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom,...
- 3/8/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The 2013 Oscars have come to a close, but that doesn't mean us dedicated followers of the almighty awards season stop looking ahead twelve months from now when a new film will be crowned king of the world amidst all the backlash and hate that swirls around the event. Instead of focusing on the negative, let's keep positive. Let's look forward to the next ten months of 2013 and ponder what possible great films we may have in store. While we may second guess the decisions of the Academy and consider them out-of-step with current trends in film, at the very least they give us a chance to consider what may be the best the year has to offer and what will be the most talked about films and performances come this year's awards race. Pushing the build-up aside, my early year 2014 Oscar Preview begins today with the first ten films in a 40 movie preview.
- 3/4/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
There is nothing more important to a teenager than everything. It’s the sly trick when making a high school movie: the stakes are already built in. That’s why you can (theoretically) sustain a film like Prom based solely on the emotional toll of rejection. It’s as emotionally devastating as any bomb Bane could unleash on Gotham. Then the next week comes and with it a new problem to worry about endlessly. It’s a harrowing roller coaster regardless of what’s actually going on in your life.
That’s part of what makes The Perks of Being A Wallflower such a monumental work. Not only are the usual tropes of surviving adolescence involved, but they are merely a base for a number of adult issues that are thrust upon our teenage heroes. This is no doubt aided by the auteurship of Stephen Chbosky, a man who earns...
That’s part of what makes The Perks of Being A Wallflower such a monumental work. Not only are the usual tropes of surviving adolescence involved, but they are merely a base for a number of adult issues that are thrust upon our teenage heroes. This is no doubt aided by the auteurship of Stephen Chbosky, a man who earns...
- 9/10/2012
- by [email protected] (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Leading lensers choose their favourite living cinematographer
Barry Ackroyd on Chris Menges
The documentaries Menges shot of the opium trade in Burma [in 1963 and 1972] were amazing. When he directed a documentary in Harlem about the end route of the drug trade, he was following this young girl who was selling drugs on the street. The shot took him into a brownstone and there was no light, but the camera kept running. He was shooting nothing, and that was a miraculous image in my mind.
It's something I have tried to reproduce: in The Hurt Locker, there is a scene where it is written that they disappear into absolute darkness. Not a "cinematic darkness", an actual darkness. If you can make an image that is nothing, but is more powerful than something, that's something to strive towards.
Seeing his work on Kes, and the link he had with Ken Loach made me think I could achieve something,...
Barry Ackroyd on Chris Menges
The documentaries Menges shot of the opium trade in Burma [in 1963 and 1972] were amazing. When he directed a documentary in Harlem about the end route of the drug trade, he was following this young girl who was selling drugs on the street. The shot took him into a brownstone and there was no light, but the camera kept running. He was shooting nothing, and that was a miraculous image in my mind.
It's something I have tried to reproduce: in The Hurt Locker, there is a scene where it is written that they disappear into absolute darkness. Not a "cinematic darkness", an actual darkness. If you can make an image that is nothing, but is more powerful than something, that's something to strive towards.
Seeing his work on Kes, and the link he had with Ken Loach made me think I could achieve something,...
- 6/30/2011
- by Emine Saner
- The Guardian - Film News
One of the better features around the blogosphere each year is Kris Tapley's "Top 10 Shots" piece, and not because he comes up with ten shots I always agree with -- which doesn't matter in the first place -- but that he so excellently gives his reasons for each choice as well as includes a brief commentary from the director of photography that captured the image.
This year I wasn't at all on the same page with his numbers 6-10, although I do agree with his inclusion of Up in the Air, just not the particular frame. However, his top five is excellent. The shot he chose from Public Enemies is damn near a no-brainer as it is not only emotionally striking, but it also goes to the theme of the entire film. The shot from The Hurt Locker is one that stops your heart the first time you see it,...
This year I wasn't at all on the same page with his numbers 6-10, although I do agree with his inclusion of Up in the Air, just not the particular frame. However, his top five is excellent. The shot he chose from Public Enemies is damn near a no-brainer as it is not only emotionally striking, but it also goes to the theme of the entire film. The shot from The Hurt Locker is one that stops your heart the first time you see it,...
- 2/18/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Underpinned by a towering performance by Gabourey Sidibe as the abused heroine, this tale of parental abuse is grim, yet ultimately affirmative, writes Philip French
The star TV talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey has been involved over the years in three significant movies based on celebrated novels by black authors. In 1985, she appeared as a natural rebel alongside Whoopi Goldberg in Steven Spielberg's skilful, soft-centred adaptation of Alice Walker's The Color Purple about the oppression of black women in the Deep South, the need for sisterhood and the romance of Africa.
In 1998, she produced and starred in Jonathan Demme's film of Toni Morrison's Beloved. In this ambitious failure, Winfrey played the runaway slave who kills her baby rather than see her recaptured by white pursuers and, a decade after the Civil War, is haunted by the child's ghost. Now she is the co-producer of Lee Daniels's Precious,...
The star TV talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey has been involved over the years in three significant movies based on celebrated novels by black authors. In 1985, she appeared as a natural rebel alongside Whoopi Goldberg in Steven Spielberg's skilful, soft-centred adaptation of Alice Walker's The Color Purple about the oppression of black women in the Deep South, the need for sisterhood and the romance of Africa.
In 1998, she produced and starred in Jonathan Demme's film of Toni Morrison's Beloved. In this ambitious failure, Winfrey played the runaway slave who kills her baby rather than see her recaptured by white pursuers and, a decade after the Civil War, is haunted by the child's ghost. Now she is the co-producer of Lee Daniels's Precious,...
- 1/31/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
By Susan Granger - If this reminds you of a TV-disease-of-the-week tearjerker, that's because it's the first theatrical release from CBS Films, a division of the broadcast network that seems to be testing whether audiences will pay for cable-caliber melodramas at the box-office.
John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) is a pharmaceutical executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb. He and his wife Aileen (Keri Russell), have three children. Their oldest son (Sam M. Hall) is fine, but their two younger children, eight year-old Megan (Meredith Droeger), and six year-old Patrick (Diego Velazquez), suffer from a rare, genetic form of muscular dystrophy called Pompe's disease. They live on respirators and in wheelchairs. Medicine offers no treatment and no cure."Extraordinary Measures" (CBS Films)
Terrified that they may die at any moment, John's persistent Internet research leads him to an eccentric University of Nebraska professor, Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford), who believes he has isolated an...
John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) is a pharmaceutical executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb. He and his wife Aileen (Keri Russell), have three children. Their oldest son (Sam M. Hall) is fine, but their two younger children, eight year-old Megan (Meredith Droeger), and six year-old Patrick (Diego Velazquez), suffer from a rare, genetic form of muscular dystrophy called Pompe's disease. They live on respirators and in wheelchairs. Medicine offers no treatment and no cure."Extraordinary Measures" (CBS Films)
Terrified that they may die at any moment, John's persistent Internet research leads him to an eccentric University of Nebraska professor, Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford), who believes he has isolated an...
- 1/24/2010
- Arizona Reporter
Penelope Cruz in Nine as shot by Dion Beebe
Photo: The Weinstein Co. The American Society of Cinematographers (Asc) announced the finalists in contention for their 2010 awards and I am, for the most part, satisfied although while I didn't express my distaste for Avatar's screenplay nomination (which I probably should have), I don't see how Mauro Fiore's work is considered one of the top five cinematographic feats of 2009.
First, for the nominees: Avatar (Mauro Fiore) The Hurt Locker (Barry Ackroyd) Inglourious Basterds (Robert Richardson) Nine (Dion Beebe) The White Ribbon (Christian Berger) Ackroyd's work in The Hurt Locker, Richardson for Basterds and Beebe with Nine are all deserving. I love the black-and-white work and composition Michael Haneke and Berger employed for The White Ribbon whil I know some do not. However, Avatar? Let's think of some replacements.
Looking around at comments on a variety of award-related website boards...
Photo: The Weinstein Co. The American Society of Cinematographers (Asc) announced the finalists in contention for their 2010 awards and I am, for the most part, satisfied although while I didn't express my distaste for Avatar's screenplay nomination (which I probably should have), I don't see how Mauro Fiore's work is considered one of the top five cinematographic feats of 2009.
First, for the nominees: Avatar (Mauro Fiore) The Hurt Locker (Barry Ackroyd) Inglourious Basterds (Robert Richardson) Nine (Dion Beebe) The White Ribbon (Christian Berger) Ackroyd's work in The Hurt Locker, Richardson for Basterds and Beebe with Nine are all deserving. I love the black-and-white work and composition Michael Haneke and Berger employed for The White Ribbon whil I know some do not. However, Avatar? Let's think of some replacements.
Looking around at comments on a variety of award-related website boards...
- 1/11/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
As you may have noticed, I will not be done with my Decade in Review until sometime into the new year. Hopefully we'll wrap up shortly after the Oscars; You know how distractingly all-consuming the Oscars can be! I hope you'll stay with it even though the rest of the media will move on any second now. They're always in such a rush. No stopping and smelling of the flowers. I've still got to update that "Actors of the Aughts" project for final compilation/statement. For now, let's move on to 2003. What follows is my original top ten list, based on films released in NYC in 2003. If I have anything new to say that'll be in red after the original text.
Special Mentions: The Cremaster Cycle and Angels in America
Most Underappreciated: Hulk (Ang Lee), In the Cut (Jane Campion), Anything Else (Woody Allen), Charlies Angels: Full Throttle (McG) and...
Special Mentions: The Cremaster Cycle and Angels in America
Most Underappreciated: Hulk (Ang Lee), In the Cut (Jane Campion), Anything Else (Woody Allen), Charlies Angels: Full Throttle (McG) and...
- 12/8/2009
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Heart-wrenching and bold, hopeful and difficult, shocking and sweet, Precious is the kind of film that may be hard for people to watch. A depiction of the harsh realities that has befallen so many teenagers who have lived and who continue to live in poverty, the film is both a triumph and a tribute to their strength and the strength of those who would reach down from the outside and pull them towards the edge of the cesspool. It is aided by a fantastic sense of style by director Lee Daniels, an unflinching screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher (based on the equally unflinching novel Push by Sapphire), and a cast that, through and through, is simply flawless.
The title character, played by Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe, is a 16-year-old junior high student. Illiterate and overweight, she pushes herself through her day, dealing with the kids who make fun of her on the...
The title character, played by Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe, is a 16-year-old junior high student. Illiterate and overweight, she pushes herself through her day, dealing with the kids who make fun of her on the...
- 11/20/2009
- by Kirk
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Though "inspiring" in an Oprah Book Club kind of way, what's most impressive about Precious is that it's not unintentionally hilarious, which it had the potential to be.
The premise is extreme bordering on outlandish, throwing all kinds of harrowing conditions on Precious in absence of character work. There's a variation of schadenfreude at play—substitute laughs for sobs. It's just too designer-made to satisfy our morbid curiosity, too tearjerky with little else to go on.
This is a capsule review for a film festival. We'll have a full review of the film on opening day.
• • •
Precious opened the Mill Valley Film Festival, and will be on limited released in Us theaters on November 6.
Mvff page
Running time: 109
Country: Us
Category: Us Cinema
Directed by: Lee Daniels
Producers: Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness
Screenwriter: Geoffrey Fletcher
Cinematographer: Andrew Dunn
Editor: Joe Klotz
Cast: Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd,...
The premise is extreme bordering on outlandish, throwing all kinds of harrowing conditions on Precious in absence of character work. There's a variation of schadenfreude at play—substitute laughs for sobs. It's just too designer-made to satisfy our morbid curiosity, too tearjerky with little else to go on.
This is a capsule review for a film festival. We'll have a full review of the film on opening day.
• • •
Precious opened the Mill Valley Film Festival, and will be on limited released in Us theaters on November 6.
Mvff page
Running time: 109
Country: Us
Category: Us Cinema
Directed by: Lee Daniels
Producers: Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness
Screenwriter: Geoffrey Fletcher
Cinematographer: Andrew Dunn
Editor: Joe Klotz
Cast: Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd,...
- 10/9/2009
- by Arya Ponto
- JustPressPlay.net
Photo: AMPAS As I write this it is 11:33 Pm Pst on Tuesday, February 16. In just over 17 hours from now, at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, February 17 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences must return their completed final Oscar ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Yup, the deadline is nigh and we continue to take a peek at the below-the-line categories leading up to the Thursday free-for-all. Today we take a look at Cinematography and Art Direction with Animated, Foreign Language and Documentary films following tomorrow and then the complete field on Thursday along with polls for you to vote for your projected winners. You can take a look at past predictions made long the way by clicking on any of the links below. Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Actress and Director Adapted and Original Screenplay Original Score and Original Song Sound Editing and Sound Mixing Visual Effects...
- 2/17/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Viggo Mortensen in Good
Photo: THINKFilm Good, for all intents and purposes, is a well made film, but it unfortunately must deal with the fact that it is just one of several World War II films this year and the fact that it also bears a similar resemblance to a far more engaging feature hitting cinemas at the same time, The Reader, does not work in its favor. The film hides behind its title, which sticks with you throughout, telling the audience those with even the best intentions were not immune from becoming involved in the atrocities Adolf Hitler bestowed on the world prior to and during World War II. Set in the 1930s, the story centers on John Halder (Viggo Mortenson), a literary professor whose name has attracted the attention of Hitler after a work of fiction he penned four years earlier advocating compassionate euthanasia. The topic is something...
Photo: THINKFilm Good, for all intents and purposes, is a well made film, but it unfortunately must deal with the fact that it is just one of several World War II films this year and the fact that it also bears a similar resemblance to a far more engaging feature hitting cinemas at the same time, The Reader, does not work in its favor. The film hides behind its title, which sticks with you throughout, telling the audience those with even the best intentions were not immune from becoming involved in the atrocities Adolf Hitler bestowed on the world prior to and during World War II. Set in the 1930s, the story centers on John Halder (Viggo Mortenson), a literary professor whose name has attracted the attention of Hitler after a work of fiction he penned four years earlier advocating compassionate euthanasia. The topic is something...
- 12/21/2008
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Film review: 'Addicted to Love'
An unapologetically warped view of romantic obsession, "Addicted to Love" is a blackish comedy that manages to throw a few subversive curves into the traditional boy-meets-girl mix.
Touting a pair of edgier-than-usual performances by the thoroughly likable Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick, this feature debut by actor Griffin Dunne overcomes a shaky start to emerge as a satisfying vengeance fantasy.
Even so, the Warner Bros. release is going to have to rely on Ryan's proven draw power and word-of-mouth in order to function as a successful counterprogrammer to that dinosaur picture.
Broderick is perfectly cast as Sam, a wide-eyed, innocent astronomer from the Midwest whose sunny girlfriend, Linda (Kelly Preston), has gone to New York to find herself, in turn finding herself French lover Anton (Tcheky Karyo).
Determined to find a way to woo her back, Sam sets up camp in an abandoned building across from their Soho loft, drawing on his optic knowledge to construct a simple yet effective Camera Obscura. The device, working on the principles of light and reflection, facilitates Sam's spying process by projecting the view on a back wall.
But it turns out Sam isn't the building's only inhabitant. Enter Maggie (Ryan), a hardened New Yorker who just happened to be jilted by the guy who's shacking up with Sam's girl. Hellbent on bringing the arrogant Anton to his knees, Maggie has devised an elaborate plan to systematically destroy the successful restaurateur, starting with breaking into his apartment to install a surveillance device.
By forming an uneasy alliance with Maggie, Sam now has audio to go with video, and the two watch the lives of their exes unfold in front of them in voyeuristic splendor, united in a common purpose while gradually, and, of course, unwittingly, being drawn closer to each other.
Dunne has put his experience to effective work here -- particularly Martin Scorsese's influence from "After Hours". In both films, the New York backdrop serves as a major character, while seemingly innocent beginnings quickly spiral into dark, chaotic conclusions. Screenwriter Robert Gordon, whose wildly quirky script was originally optioned back in 1989, admirably keeps the characters grounded.
In normal situations, the pairing of the two appealing leads might have generated a chemistry that would have been just a little too cute and cuddly. Here, the characters' outrageous behavior, particularly in Ryan's case, serves to blunt the potential sweetness while the gifted performers still manage to keep them accessible to sympathetic audiences. Also impressive is Karyo ("GoldenEye"), who finally gets a chance to shed the "heavy" image with some brilliant physical comedy.
Visually, the production has an appropriate caffeine-injected jittery energy courtesy of lensman Andrew Dunn ("The Madness of King George") and editor Elizabeth Kling ("Georgia"). Rachel Portman's resilient score gamely reflects the shifting moods.
ADDICTED TO LOVE
Warner Bros.
An Outlaw production
in association with Miramax Films
Director Griffin Dunne
Producers Jeffrey Silver, Bobby Newmyer
Screenwriter Robert Gordon
Executive producers Bob Weinstein
& Harvey Weinstein
Director of photography Andrew Dunn
Production designer Robin Standefer
Editor Elizabeth Kling
Music Rachel Portman
Costume designer Renee Ehrlich Kalfus
Casting Amanda Mackey Johnson,
Cathy Sandrich
Color/stereo
Cast:
Maggie Meg Ryan
Sam Matthew Broderick
Linda Kelly Preston
Anton Tcheky Karyo
Nana Maureen Stapleton
Ed Green Nesbitt Blaisdell
Professor Wells Remak Ramsay
Matheson Dominick Dunne
Running time -- 96 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Touting a pair of edgier-than-usual performances by the thoroughly likable Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick, this feature debut by actor Griffin Dunne overcomes a shaky start to emerge as a satisfying vengeance fantasy.
Even so, the Warner Bros. release is going to have to rely on Ryan's proven draw power and word-of-mouth in order to function as a successful counterprogrammer to that dinosaur picture.
Broderick is perfectly cast as Sam, a wide-eyed, innocent astronomer from the Midwest whose sunny girlfriend, Linda (Kelly Preston), has gone to New York to find herself, in turn finding herself French lover Anton (Tcheky Karyo).
Determined to find a way to woo her back, Sam sets up camp in an abandoned building across from their Soho loft, drawing on his optic knowledge to construct a simple yet effective Camera Obscura. The device, working on the principles of light and reflection, facilitates Sam's spying process by projecting the view on a back wall.
But it turns out Sam isn't the building's only inhabitant. Enter Maggie (Ryan), a hardened New Yorker who just happened to be jilted by the guy who's shacking up with Sam's girl. Hellbent on bringing the arrogant Anton to his knees, Maggie has devised an elaborate plan to systematically destroy the successful restaurateur, starting with breaking into his apartment to install a surveillance device.
By forming an uneasy alliance with Maggie, Sam now has audio to go with video, and the two watch the lives of their exes unfold in front of them in voyeuristic splendor, united in a common purpose while gradually, and, of course, unwittingly, being drawn closer to each other.
Dunne has put his experience to effective work here -- particularly Martin Scorsese's influence from "After Hours". In both films, the New York backdrop serves as a major character, while seemingly innocent beginnings quickly spiral into dark, chaotic conclusions. Screenwriter Robert Gordon, whose wildly quirky script was originally optioned back in 1989, admirably keeps the characters grounded.
In normal situations, the pairing of the two appealing leads might have generated a chemistry that would have been just a little too cute and cuddly. Here, the characters' outrageous behavior, particularly in Ryan's case, serves to blunt the potential sweetness while the gifted performers still manage to keep them accessible to sympathetic audiences. Also impressive is Karyo ("GoldenEye"), who finally gets a chance to shed the "heavy" image with some brilliant physical comedy.
Visually, the production has an appropriate caffeine-injected jittery energy courtesy of lensman Andrew Dunn ("The Madness of King George") and editor Elizabeth Kling ("Georgia"). Rachel Portman's resilient score gamely reflects the shifting moods.
ADDICTED TO LOVE
Warner Bros.
An Outlaw production
in association with Miramax Films
Director Griffin Dunne
Producers Jeffrey Silver, Bobby Newmyer
Screenwriter Robert Gordon
Executive producers Bob Weinstein
& Harvey Weinstein
Director of photography Andrew Dunn
Production designer Robin Standefer
Editor Elizabeth Kling
Music Rachel Portman
Costume designer Renee Ehrlich Kalfus
Casting Amanda Mackey Johnson,
Cathy Sandrich
Color/stereo
Cast:
Maggie Meg Ryan
Sam Matthew Broderick
Linda Kelly Preston
Anton Tcheky Karyo
Nana Maureen Stapleton
Ed Green Nesbitt Blaisdell
Professor Wells Remak Ramsay
Matheson Dominick Dunne
Running time -- 96 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 5/19/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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