SONY PICTURES CLASSICS ACQUIRES STILL ALICE FOR NORTH AMERICA
Sony Pictures Classics announced that they acquired North American rights to STILL ALICE, starring Julianne Moore, Kristen Stewart, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish. The film reunites Co-Directors and Co-Writers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland (THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD) with Sony Pictures Classics, who worked together on QUINCEANERA. STILL ALICE, a BSM Studio Presentation, is produced by Lex Lutzus, James Brown and Pamela Koffler and executive produced by Marie Savare, Christine Vachon of Killer Films, Maria Shriver, Emilie Georges, Nicholas Shumaker, Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler. This also marks a homecoming for Julianne Moore, who worked with the company on VANYA ON 42ND STREET, SAFE and THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS.
The film has received much acclaim while debuting at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. It had its world premiere on Thursday.
Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested in STILL ALICE.
"Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland have made a seamless powerfully moving film. The cast is simply phenomenal. Julianne Moore, one of the world's truly great film actresses, gives here her finest performance to date. It is a privilege to welcome Wash and Richard, Julianne, Alec and the producers back into the Sony Pictures Classics family with a film about family that promises to pack an emotional punch on audiences throughout the country," said Sony Pictures Classics.
"To have unveiled the movie on Monday and have Sony Pictures Classics picking up it up by Friday is a filmmaker's dream. We know STILL ALICE is in the best possible hands with Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and the entire team at SPC and look forward to a great release," added Filmmakers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland.
The deal was negotiated with CAA.
ABOUT SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Michael Barker and Tom Bernard serve as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics—an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment they founded with Marcie Bloom in January 1992, which distributes, produces, and acquires independent films from around the world.
Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 32 Academy Awards® (28 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 140 Academy Award® nominations (114 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for AMOUR, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, AN EDUCATION, CAPOTE, HOWARDS END, AND CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.
ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 142 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com.
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Showing posts with label Julianne Moore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Julianne Moore. Show all posts
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Cannes 2014 Winners - Complete List; Palme d'Or Goes to "Winter Sleep"
The 67th annual Cannes Film Festival was held in Cannes, France from May 14 to May 25, 2014. The closing ceremony and the 2014 awards ceremony were held on Saturday, May 24, 2014.
I’ve included a list of winners from the “In Competition” categories; this is the main competition in which films compete for the festival’s top prize, the “Palme d’Or” (Golden Palm). I’ve included the winners from other Cannes award competitions, including “Un Certain Regard” and the “Golden Camera.”
The “Grand Prix” is the second most prestigious prize given at Cannes, after the Palme d’Or. The competition known as “Un Certain Regard” is a part of Cannes that runs parallel to the competition for the Palme d’Or.
The winner of the Palme d’Or at the 67th annual Cannes Film Festival is Winter Sleep. This is a film from Turkisk director, Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Winter Sleep focuses on a self-absorbed Anatolian hotelier and his uneasy relationships with those around him. Ceylan is a previous Cannes winner. He received the Grand Prix in 2002 (Distant) and 2011 (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) and best director in 2008 (Three Monkeys). Winter Sleep is only the second film by a Turkish director to win the Palme d’Or, after Yilmaz Guney and Serif Goren’s The Way won in 1982.
American Bennett Miller won the best director award for his film, Foxcatcher, which is based on a true story.
2014/67th Cannes Film Festival winners:
IN COMPETITION
FEATURE FILMS:
Palme d’Or: “Winter Sleep” (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey-Germany-France)
Grand Prix: “The Wonders” (Alice Rohrwacher, Italy-Switzerland-Germany)
Director: Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher” (U.S.)
Actor: Timothy Spall, “Mr. Turner” (Mike Leigh, U.K.-France-Germany)
Actress: Julianne Moore, “Maps to the Stars” (David Cronenberg, Canada-Germany)
Jury Prize (tie): “Mommy” (Xavier Dolan, Canada) and “Goodbye to Language” (Jean-Luc Godard, France)
Screenplay: Andrey Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin, “Leviathan” (Russia)
OTHER PRIZES
Camera d’Or: “Party Girl” (Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger, Samuel Theis)
SHORT FILMS:
Short Films Palme d’Or: “Leidi” (Simon Mesa Soto)
Short Films Special Mention: “Aissa” (Clement Trehin-Lalanne)
Ecumenical Jury Prize: “Timbuktu” (Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritania-France)
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Un Certain Regard Prize: “White God” (Kornel Mundruczo, Hungary-Germany-Sweden)
Jury prize: “Force Majeure” (Ruben Ostlund, Sweden-France-Denmark-Norway)
Special Prize: “The Salt of the Earth” (Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, France-Italy)
Ensemble: “Party Girl” (Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger, Samuel Theis, France)
Actor: David Gulpilil, “Charlie’s Country” (Rolf de Heer, Australia)
DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
Art Cinema Award: “Les Combattants” (Thomas Cailley, France)
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “Les Combattants”
Europa Cinemas Label: “Les Combattants”
CRITICS’ WEEK
Grand Prize: “The Tribe” (Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, Ukraine)
Visionary Prize: “The Tribe”
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “Hope” (Boris Lojkine, France)
FIPRESCI
Competition: “Winter Sleep”
Un Certain Regard: “Jauja” (Lisandro Alonso, Denmark-U.S.-Argentina)
Directors’ Fortnight: “Les Combattants”
I’ve included a list of winners from the “In Competition” categories; this is the main competition in which films compete for the festival’s top prize, the “Palme d’Or” (Golden Palm). I’ve included the winners from other Cannes award competitions, including “Un Certain Regard” and the “Golden Camera.”
The “Grand Prix” is the second most prestigious prize given at Cannes, after the Palme d’Or. The competition known as “Un Certain Regard” is a part of Cannes that runs parallel to the competition for the Palme d’Or.
The winner of the Palme d’Or at the 67th annual Cannes Film Festival is Winter Sleep. This is a film from Turkisk director, Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Winter Sleep focuses on a self-absorbed Anatolian hotelier and his uneasy relationships with those around him. Ceylan is a previous Cannes winner. He received the Grand Prix in 2002 (Distant) and 2011 (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) and best director in 2008 (Three Monkeys). Winter Sleep is only the second film by a Turkish director to win the Palme d’Or, after Yilmaz Guney and Serif Goren’s The Way won in 1982.
American Bennett Miller won the best director award for his film, Foxcatcher, which is based on a true story.
2014/67th Cannes Film Festival winners:
IN COMPETITION
FEATURE FILMS:
Palme d’Or: “Winter Sleep” (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey-Germany-France)
Grand Prix: “The Wonders” (Alice Rohrwacher, Italy-Switzerland-Germany)
Director: Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher” (U.S.)
Actor: Timothy Spall, “Mr. Turner” (Mike Leigh, U.K.-France-Germany)
Actress: Julianne Moore, “Maps to the Stars” (David Cronenberg, Canada-Germany)
Jury Prize (tie): “Mommy” (Xavier Dolan, Canada) and “Goodbye to Language” (Jean-Luc Godard, France)
Screenplay: Andrey Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin, “Leviathan” (Russia)
OTHER PRIZES
Camera d’Or: “Party Girl” (Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger, Samuel Theis)
SHORT FILMS:
Short Films Palme d’Or: “Leidi” (Simon Mesa Soto)
Short Films Special Mention: “Aissa” (Clement Trehin-Lalanne)
Ecumenical Jury Prize: “Timbuktu” (Abderrahmane Sissako, Mauritania-France)
UN CERTAIN REGARD
Un Certain Regard Prize: “White God” (Kornel Mundruczo, Hungary-Germany-Sweden)
Jury prize: “Force Majeure” (Ruben Ostlund, Sweden-France-Denmark-Norway)
Special Prize: “The Salt of the Earth” (Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, France-Italy)
Ensemble: “Party Girl” (Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger, Samuel Theis, France)
Actor: David Gulpilil, “Charlie’s Country” (Rolf de Heer, Australia)
DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
Art Cinema Award: “Les Combattants” (Thomas Cailley, France)
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “Les Combattants”
Europa Cinemas Label: “Les Combattants”
CRITICS’ WEEK
Grand Prize: “The Tribe” (Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, Ukraine)
Visionary Prize: “The Tribe”
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “Hope” (Boris Lojkine, France)
FIPRESCI
Competition: “Winter Sleep”
Un Certain Regard: “Jauja” (Lisandro Alonso, Denmark-U.S.-Argentina)
Directors’ Fortnight: “Les Combattants”
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Review: Special Effects Keeps "Evolution" Going (Happy B'day, Orlando Jones)
Evolution (2001)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, and for sci-fi action
DIRECTOR: Ivan Reitman
WRITERS: David Diamond and David Weissman, and Don Jakoby; story by Don Jakoby
PRODUCERS: Daniel Goldberg, Joe Medjuck, and Ivan Reitman
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Chapman (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Wendy Greene Bricmont and Sheldon Kahn
COMPOSER: John Powell
SCI-FI/COMEDY
Starring: David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, Ted Levine, Dan Aykroyd, Ethan Suplee, Ty Burrell, Sarah Silverman, and John Cho
The subject of this movie review is Evolution, a 2001 science fiction comedy from director Ivan Reitman. The film follows four people who are fighting an alien organism that has been rapidly evolving into outlandish creatures ever since its arrival on Earth inside a meteor.
Evolution makes me think of Ghostbusters (the former was released 17 years to the date of the latter’s release). Maybe, that’s because both films share the same director, Ivan Reitman, and maybe because both films seem to have the same ebb and flow. While the latter pretty much realized its promise of being a very funny and popular film, the former pretty much failed on both counts.
Dr. Ira Kane (David Duchovny), a biology teacher (and disgraced government employee), and his colleague Harry Block (Orlando Jones) see fame and fortune when firefighter cadet Wayne Grey (Seann William Scott) alerts them to a meteorite that recently crashed into a local cave. The meteorite emits a bluish fluid, and Dr Kane and Prof. Block are shocked to discover that the fluid contains many single-cell organisms that are evolving before their very eyes. The alien life forms evolve and adapt at such an incredible rate (into countless wonderful animal-like forms) that they threaten to prove Charles Darwin right – the strongest will survive and they will take over the world. When the military suddenly arrives, they only make matters worse. Of course, it’s up to Kane, Block, Grey, and sexy government scientist Dr. Allison Reed (Julianne Moore) to save the world from the fate of this alien evolution.
This film has two things going for it, the comedic performances of the actors and the special effects. Reitman, a veteran of many excellent funny movies, leans on the latter for his new film. Whereas Ghostbusters used SFX in service of a great cast of funnymen, Evolution seems enthralled by the CGI technology that didn’t exist at the time of Ghostbusters. Weird animal aliens fun amok in this film, some resembling dinosaurs and wild animals, others resembling slugs and worms. I was impressed by the visual finesse of the special effects, but I’d hoped that the movie would be funnier, but it only managed to be lukewarm.
The cast only manages to be really on their game for about half of the film’s running time. Seann William Scott and Orlando Jones are seemingly inspired, but Reitman doesn’t really let them reach the heights of which they are capable. Duchovny plays it a bit too cool, but at times he is bursting at the seams to really let his funny side loose. Ms. Moore is almost reduced to being the pretty female attachment, which is an utter waste when one considers are tremendous acting talent. Maybe, she isn’t a comedic actress, but she can do more than just be the female costar.
Occasionally intriguing, sometimes pleasant, and infrequently exciting, Evolution is sadly another mediocre film that only lazily aimed at being special. The filmmakers either didn’t put in the work required to make this film really good, or despite their best efforts, they assembled enough defective parts to ruin what could have been a good film.
5 of 10
B-
Updated: Thursday, April 10, 2014
The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Review: "The Forgotten" - Good Premise, Poor Execution (Happy B'day, James Horner)
The Forgotten (2004)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense thematic material, some violence, and brief language
DIRECTOR: Joseph Ruben
WRITER: Gerald Di Pego
PRODUCERS: Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks, and Joe Roth
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Anastas N. Michos
EDITOR: Richard Francis-Bruce
COMPOSER: James Horner
MYSTERY/THRILLER with elements of sci-fi and horror
Starring: Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Christopher Kovaleski, Anthony Edwards, Gary Sinise, Alfre Woodard, Kathryn Faughnan, Linus Roache, and Robert Wisdom with J. Tucker Smith
The subject of this movie review is The Forgotten, a 2004 mystery and psychological thriller starring Julianne Moore. The film follows a woman who delves into a strange conspiracy after being told that her son never existed.
The Forgotten is a riveting mystery thriller, but as the films moves through its plot, the film becomes ever more fantastical and, at time, eye-rolling ridiculous. Still, the film has it’s moments, enough to earn it a recommendation as something to watch at home, either via DVD, video, or television.
The Forgotten begins with wife and mother Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore) grieving over the loss of her eight-year old son, Sam (Christopher Kovaleski), in a plane accident 14 months prior. However, of the course of a few days, evidence of Sam’s existence starts to disappear, and before long, even Telly’s husband, Jim (Anthony Edwards), claims that they never had a son. But Telly is damn sure she had a boy.
She meets Ash Correll (Dominic West), the father of one of Sam’s best friends, but Ash doesn’t remember having a daughter. Telly eventually convinces Ash to remember his child, and that’s about the time agents from the National Security Agency (NSA) and the police start coming around looking for Telly and Ash. That not only convinces Telly that she did have a son, but that Sam might still be alive. As she delves deeper into the mystery, she discovers that hugely powerful and ominous forces may be behind the abduction of her son.
The premise of a mother fighting to convince other people that the memories of her dead son are the recollections of a real child and not the delusions of a psychotic is actually good. If only The Forgotten had stuck with that. The basic premise becomes an abduction story, a government conspiracy tale, and way-out-there sci-fi trick, and though The Forgotten has its moments, the film is ultimately a warmed over rehash of themes from “The Twilight Zone,” “Outer Limits,” and “The X-Files.” In addition to that, The Forgotten wouldn’t stand out as a “best of” in any of those TV series. The ploy is too make you think you’re getting a good mystery about a woman fighting for her memories of her deceased child, and you’re ultimately getting something else. The “abduction” special effects are admittedly quite neat and a good reason to see the film.
The performances are flimsy, with Moore being the most effective and most annoying. Her Telly Paretta is sometimes sympathetic, but mostly the character does come across as a whiny, obsessed, paranoid delusional. For all that you might want her to find her child, you’d really like her to shut up sometimes. The film also features a few other actors wasted in small, trashy parts including Gary Sinise, Alfre Woodard, and Linus Roache.
5 of 10
C+
Updated: Wednesday, August 14, 2013
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Monday, April 8, 2013
Review: "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" is Both Different and Good
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Running time: 129 minutes (2 hours, 9 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sci-fi terror and violence
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
WRITERS: David Koepp (from a novel The Lost World by Michael Crichton)
PRODUCERS: Gerald R. Molen and Colin Wilson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Janusz Kaminski
EDITOR: Michael Kahn
COMPOSER: John Williams
Academy Award nominee
SCI-FI/ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Arliss Howard, Richard Attenborough, Vince Vaughn, Vanessa Lee Chester, Richard Schiff, Peter Stormare, Harvey Jason, Ariana Richards, and Joseph Mazzello
The subject of this movie review is The Lost World: Jurassic Park, a 1997 science fiction adventure film and thriller from director Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to the 1993 film, Jurassic Park. The Lost World: Jurassic Park is loosely based on the 1995 novel, The Lost World, from author Michael Crichton. The first film is based on Crichton’s 1990 novel, Jurassic Park.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park opens four years after the events depicted in the first film. The story focuses on Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), a mathematician, chaos theorist, and one of the survivors of the disaster at Jurassic Park (located on the island of Isla Nublar). Ian is invited to the home of John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), the billionaire industrialist who created Jurassic Park. Hammond has lost control of his company, InGen, to his unscrupulous nephew, Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard). Hammond asks Ian to lead a team to Isla Sorna; also known as “Site B,” this is where he initially engineered the dinosaurs before moving them to Jurassic Park.
Isla Sorna has become a “lost world,” where dinosaurs have been living free in the wild. Hammond wants the island to become a nature preserve. He needs a team to document the dinosaurs in their natural habitat, documentation Hammond hopes to use to rally support for the creation of a nature preserve. Ian initially refuses, as he has his daughter, Kelly Curtis Malcolm (Vanessa Lee Chester), in his custody. Ian changes his mind and rushes to the island when he learns that his girlfriend, Dr. Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), is part of the team and is already on the island. Once on Isla Sorna, Ian discovers many unexpected visitors to an island full of unpredictable dinosaurs.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park is the only one of the three Jurassic Park films that I did not see during its theatrical release. When it was first released in 1997, I thought about seeing it, but a friend of mine (Pete) told me he hated it. I did see The Lost World when it first arrived on VHS, and though I liked the movie, I could see that it paled in comparison to Jurassic Park: the movie, memories of it, and the feelings it evoked. Since I first saw The Lost World, I have seen it countless other times (as with Jurassic Park). I have either liked it or had mixed feelings, leaning towards the positive, about it. Recently, I have started to like The Lost World more and more with each viewing.
The Lost World and the original Jurassic Park are different films. Jurassic Park is a fantasy adventure, wearing a genre suit that is half science fiction-techno thriller and half action thriller. In spite of its violence and intense elements, Jurassic Park is a family film and juvenile fantasy filled with a sense of wonder and discovery. The Lost World is an adult drama that is part monster movie, part science fiction adventure, and part action-thriller.
The Lost World does not have a sense of wonder and discovery about it. It is darker, where its forebear is light and magical (thanks to the magic of Hollywood visual and special effects). The Lost World is the dark side of the mess adults make of the world with their corporations, schemes, mistakes, and even good intentions. Where is the fun in that? As scary and amazing as the Velociraptors are in the Jurassic Park, they’re just filthy, nasty, ugly things that need to be killed in The Lost World. Even the cameo appearance of Jurassic Park’s child stars, Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello, as, respectively, Lex and Tim Murphy, only serves to remind that this movie is something different from the first movie.
I think when you accept what The Lost World is and also is not (Jurassic Park), you can really enjoy the sequel. I think it is a fine movie, although not the all-time great I think Jurassic Park is. I am also glad that Jeff Goldblum appears in The Lost World. The third film, Jurassic Park III, clearly misses Goldblum’s acerbic, but resourceful Dr. Ian Malcolm. He is the main reason I have come to really like The Lost World: Jurassic Park and why I’ll probably watch it again… soon.
8 of 10
A
NOTES:
1998 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Effects, Visual Effects” (Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Randy Dutra, and Michael Lantieri)
1998 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress” (Vanessa Lee Chester)
1998 Razzie Awards: 3 nominations: “Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property,” “Worst Remake or Sequel,” and “Worst Screenplay” (David Koepp)
Sunday, April 07, 2013
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Monday, January 28, 2013
"Argo" Express Makes Stop at 2013 SAG Awards
At the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Ben Affleck's film, Argo, won "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture," which is essentially SAG's 'best picture" award.
The SAG Awards and the Oscars don't match up exactly, especially in the "Best Picture" race. It's anybody's guess on the acting categories, but the winners in the theatrical categories last night probably are the odds-on favorites to win the Oscars in their respecitve categories. I still think Jessica Chastain will win best actress instead of Jennifer Lawrence, though. I think Christoph Waltz could also win best supporting actor instead of Tommy Lee Jones.
The 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® were simulcast live nationally on TNT and TBS on Sunday, January 27, 2013 from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center.
19th ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® RECIPIENTS:
THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS / Abraham Lincoln - "LINCOLN” (Touchstone Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
JENNIFER LAWRENCE / Tiffany - “SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK” (The Weinstein Company)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
TOMMY LEE JONES / Thaddeus Stevens - “LINCOLN” (Touchstone Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
ANNE HATHAWAY / Fantine - “LES MISÉRABLES” (Universal Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: ARGO (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Awarded Cast:
BEN AFFLECK / Tony Mendez
ALAN ARKIN / Lester Siegel
KERRY BISHÉ / Kathy Stafford
KYLE CHANDLER / Hamilton Jordan
RORY COCHRANE / Lee Schatz
BRYAN CRANSTON / Jack O’Donnell
CHRISTOPHER DENHAM / Mark Lijek
TATE DONOVAN / Bob Anders
CLEA DuVALL / Cora Lijek
VICTOR GARBER / Ken Taylor
JOHN GOODMAN / John Chambers
SCOOT McNAIRY / Joe Stafford
CHRIS MESSINA / Malinov
PRIMETIME TELEVISION
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
KEVIN COSTNER / “Devil Anse” Hatfield - “HATFIELDS & McCOYS” (History)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
JULIANNE MOORE / Sarah Palin - “GAME CHANGE” (HBO)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
BRYAN CRANSTON / Walter White - “BREAKING BAD” (AMC)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
CLAIRE DANES / Carrie Mathison - “HOMELAND” (Showtime)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
ALEC BALDWIN / Jack Donaghy - “30 ROCK” (NBC)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
TINA FEY / Liz Lemon - “30 ROCK” (NBC)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series: DOWNTON ABBEY (PBS)
Awarded Cast:
HUGH BONNEVILLE / Robert, Earl of Grantham
ZOE BOYLE / Lavinia Swire
LAURA CARMICHAEL / Lady Edith Crawley
JIM CARTER / Mr. Carson
BRENDAN COYLE / John Bates
MICHELLE DOCKERY / Lady Mary Crawley
JESSICA BROWN FINDLAY / Lady Sybil Crawley
SIOBHAN FINNERAN / O’Brien
JOANNE FROGGATT / Anna
IAIN GLEN / Sir Richard Carlisle
THOMAS HOWES / William
ROB JAMES-COLLIER / Thomas
ALLEN LEECH / Tom Branson
PHYLLIS LOGAN / Mrs. Hughes
ELIZABETH McGOVERN / Cora, Countess of Grantham
SOPHIE McSHERA / Daisy
LESLEY NICOL / Mrs. Patmore
AMY NUTTALL / Ethel
DAVID ROBB / Dr. Clarkson
MAGGIE SMITH / Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham
DAN STEVENS / Matthew Crawley
PENELOPE WILTON / Isobel Crawley
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series: MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
Awarded cast:
AUBREY ANDERSON-EMMONS / Lily Tucker-Pritchett
JULIE BOWEN / Claire Dunphy
TY BURRELL / Phil Dunphy
JESSE TYLER FERGUSON / Mitchell Pritchett
NOLAN GOULD / Luke Dunphy
SARAH HYLAND / Haley Dunphy
ED O’NEILL / Jay Pritchett
RICO RODRIGUEZ / Manny Delgado
ERIC STONESTREET / Cameron Tucker
SOFIA VERGARA / Gloria Delgado-Pritchett
ARIEL WINTER / Alex Dunphy
SAG AWARDS HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture:
SKYFALL (Columbia Pictures)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series:
GAME OF THRONES (HBO)
LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Screen Actors Guild 49th Annual Life Achievement Award: DICK VAN DYKE
The SAG Awards and the Oscars don't match up exactly, especially in the "Best Picture" race. It's anybody's guess on the acting categories, but the winners in the theatrical categories last night probably are the odds-on favorites to win the Oscars in their respecitve categories. I still think Jessica Chastain will win best actress instead of Jennifer Lawrence, though. I think Christoph Waltz could also win best supporting actor instead of Tommy Lee Jones.
The 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® were simulcast live nationally on TNT and TBS on Sunday, January 27, 2013 from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center.
19th ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® RECIPIENTS:
THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS / Abraham Lincoln - "LINCOLN” (Touchstone Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
JENNIFER LAWRENCE / Tiffany - “SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK” (The Weinstein Company)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
TOMMY LEE JONES / Thaddeus Stevens - “LINCOLN” (Touchstone Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
ANNE HATHAWAY / Fantine - “LES MISÉRABLES” (Universal Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: ARGO (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Awarded Cast:
BEN AFFLECK / Tony Mendez
ALAN ARKIN / Lester Siegel
KERRY BISHÉ / Kathy Stafford
KYLE CHANDLER / Hamilton Jordan
RORY COCHRANE / Lee Schatz
BRYAN CRANSTON / Jack O’Donnell
CHRISTOPHER DENHAM / Mark Lijek
TATE DONOVAN / Bob Anders
CLEA DuVALL / Cora Lijek
VICTOR GARBER / Ken Taylor
JOHN GOODMAN / John Chambers
SCOOT McNAIRY / Joe Stafford
CHRIS MESSINA / Malinov
PRIMETIME TELEVISION
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
KEVIN COSTNER / “Devil Anse” Hatfield - “HATFIELDS & McCOYS” (History)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
JULIANNE MOORE / Sarah Palin - “GAME CHANGE” (HBO)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
BRYAN CRANSTON / Walter White - “BREAKING BAD” (AMC)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
CLAIRE DANES / Carrie Mathison - “HOMELAND” (Showtime)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
ALEC BALDWIN / Jack Donaghy - “30 ROCK” (NBC)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
TINA FEY / Liz Lemon - “30 ROCK” (NBC)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series: DOWNTON ABBEY (PBS)
Awarded Cast:
HUGH BONNEVILLE / Robert, Earl of Grantham
ZOE BOYLE / Lavinia Swire
LAURA CARMICHAEL / Lady Edith Crawley
JIM CARTER / Mr. Carson
BRENDAN COYLE / John Bates
MICHELLE DOCKERY / Lady Mary Crawley
JESSICA BROWN FINDLAY / Lady Sybil Crawley
SIOBHAN FINNERAN / O’Brien
JOANNE FROGGATT / Anna
IAIN GLEN / Sir Richard Carlisle
THOMAS HOWES / William
ROB JAMES-COLLIER / Thomas
ALLEN LEECH / Tom Branson
PHYLLIS LOGAN / Mrs. Hughes
ELIZABETH McGOVERN / Cora, Countess of Grantham
SOPHIE McSHERA / Daisy
LESLEY NICOL / Mrs. Patmore
AMY NUTTALL / Ethel
DAVID ROBB / Dr. Clarkson
MAGGIE SMITH / Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham
DAN STEVENS / Matthew Crawley
PENELOPE WILTON / Isobel Crawley
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series: MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
Awarded cast:
AUBREY ANDERSON-EMMONS / Lily Tucker-Pritchett
JULIE BOWEN / Claire Dunphy
TY BURRELL / Phil Dunphy
JESSE TYLER FERGUSON / Mitchell Pritchett
NOLAN GOULD / Luke Dunphy
SARAH HYLAND / Haley Dunphy
ED O’NEILL / Jay Pritchett
RICO RODRIGUEZ / Manny Delgado
ERIC STONESTREET / Cameron Tucker
SOFIA VERGARA / Gloria Delgado-Pritchett
ARIEL WINTER / Alex Dunphy
SAG AWARDS HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture:
SKYFALL (Columbia Pictures)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series:
GAME OF THRONES (HBO)
LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Screen Actors Guild 49th Annual Life Achievement Award: DICK VAN DYKE
Saturday, January 5, 2013
2012 Satellite Awards - Television Categories
TELEVISION CATEGORIES
Complete List of 2012 Satellite Award Television Winners and Nominees (AnnouncedDecember 16, 2012 ):
Television Series, Drama
Homeland, Showtime WINNER
Justified, FX
Downton Abbey, PBS
Breaking Bad, AMC
The Newsroom, HBO
The Good Wife, CBS
Game of Thrones, HBO
Nashville, ABC
Actress in a Series, Drama
Claire Danes, Homeland, Showtime WINNER
Chloe Sevigny, Hit & Miss, Sky Atlantic
Connie Britton, Nashville, ABC
Hayden Panettiere, Nashville, ABC
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey, PBS
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife, CBS
Actor in a Series, Drama
Damian Lewis, Homeland, Showtime WINNER
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad, AMC
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom, HBO
Jon Hamm, Mad Men, AMC
Timothy Olyphant, Justified, FX
Johnny Lee Miller, Elementary, CBS
Television Series, Comedy or Musical
The Big Bang Theory, CBS WINNER
Girls, HBO
Community, NBC
The Office, NBC
Happy Endings, ABC
Up All Night, NBC
Modern Family, ABC
Parks and Recreation, NBC
Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical
Kaley Cuoco, The Bang Big Theory, CBS WINNER
Laura Dern, Enlightened, HBO
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation, NBC
Lena Dunham, Girls, HBO
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep, HBO
Christina Applegate, Up All Night, NBC
Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory CBS WINNER
Don Cheadle, House of Lies, Showtime
Louis C.K., Louie, FX
Joel McHale, Community, NBC
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory, CBS
Will Arnett, Up All Night, NBC
Miniseries/Motion Picture Made for Television
Hatfields & McCoys, History WINNER
Hemingway & Gellhorn, HBO
Wallander, PBS
Luther, BBC America
Sherlock, PBS
Game Change, HBO
Birdsong, PBS
The Crimson Petal and the White, BBC America
Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Julianne Moore, Game Change, HBO WINNER
Nicole Kidman, Hemingway & Gellhorn, HBO
Gillian Anderson, Great Expectations, PBS
Romola Garai, The Crimson Petal And The White, BBC America
Sienna Miller, The Girl, HBO
Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals, USA Network
Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock, PBS WINNER
Clive Owen, Hemingway & Gellhorn, HBO
Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys, History
Kenneth Branagh, Wallander, PBS
Woody Harrelson, Game Change, HBO
Idris Elba, Luther, BBC America
Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey, PBS WINNER
Maya Rudolph, Up All Night, NBC
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men, AMC
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory, CBS
Sarah Paulson, Game Change, HBO
Mare Winningham, Hatfields & McCoys, History
Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
Neal Mcdonough, Justified, FX WINNER
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones, HBO
Evan Peters, American Horror Story, FX
Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad, AMC
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey, PBS
Powers Boothe, Nashville, ABC
Television Series, Genre
The Walking Dead AMC WINNER
American Horror Story, FX
Once Upon a Time, ABC
Supernatural, TheCW
Fringe, Fox
Arrow, The CW
Grimm, NBC
Best Ensemble, Television: The Walking Dead, AMC
Complete List of 2012 Satellite Award Television Winners and Nominees (Announced
Television Series, Drama
Homeland, Showtime WINNER
Justified, FX
Downton Abbey, PBS
Breaking Bad, AMC
The Newsroom, HBO
The Good Wife, CBS
Game of Thrones, HBO
Nashville, ABC
Actress in a Series, Drama
Claire Danes, Homeland, Showtime WINNER
Chloe Sevigny, Hit & Miss, Sky Atlantic
Connie Britton, Nashville, ABC
Hayden Panettiere, Nashville, ABC
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey, PBS
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife, CBS
Actor in a Series, Drama
Damian Lewis, Homeland, Showtime WINNER
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad, AMC
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom, HBO
Jon Hamm, Mad Men, AMC
Timothy Olyphant, Justified, FX
Johnny Lee Miller, Elementary, CBS
Television Series, Comedy or Musical
The Big Bang Theory, CBS WINNER
Girls, HBO
Community, NBC
The Office, NBC
Happy Endings, ABC
Up All Night, NBC
Modern Family, ABC
Parks and Recreation, NBC
Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical
Kaley Cuoco, The Bang Big Theory, CBS WINNER
Laura Dern, Enlightened, HBO
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation, NBC
Lena Dunham, Girls, HBO
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep, HBO
Christina Applegate, Up All Night, NBC
Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory CBS WINNER
Don Cheadle, House of Lies, Showtime
Louis C.K., Louie, FX
Joel McHale, Community, NBC
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory, CBS
Will Arnett, Up All Night, NBC
Miniseries/Motion Picture Made for Television
Hatfields & McCoys, History WINNER
Hemingway & Gellhorn, HBO
Wallander, PBS
Luther, BBC America
Sherlock, PBS
Game Change, HBO
Birdsong, PBS
The Crimson Petal and the White, BBC America
Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Julianne Moore, Game Change, HBO WINNER
Nicole Kidman, Hemingway & Gellhorn, HBO
Gillian Anderson, Great Expectations, PBS
Romola Garai, The Crimson Petal And The White, BBC America
Sienna Miller, The Girl, HBO
Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals, USA Network
Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock, PBS WINNER
Clive Owen, Hemingway & Gellhorn, HBO
Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys, History
Kenneth Branagh, Wallander, PBS
Woody Harrelson, Game Change, HBO
Idris Elba, Luther, BBC America
Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey, PBS WINNER
Maya Rudolph, Up All Night, NBC
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men, AMC
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory, CBS
Sarah Paulson, Game Change, HBO
Mare Winningham, Hatfields & McCoys, History
Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
Neal Mcdonough, Justified, FX WINNER
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones, HBO
Evan Peters, American Horror Story, FX
Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad, AMC
Jim Carter, Downton Abbey, PBS
Powers Boothe, Nashville, ABC
Television Series, Genre
The Walking Dead AMC WINNER
American Horror Story, FX
Once Upon a Time, ABC
Supernatural, TheCW
Fringe, Fox
Arrow, The CW
Grimm, NBC
Best Ensemble, Television: The Walking Dead, AMC
Monday, September 24, 2012
2012 Primetime Emmy Winners Announced
The Emmy Award is a television production award that is considered the television equivalent of the Academy Awards in film and the Grammy Awards in music. My focus is usually on the Primetime Emmy Awards.
The Primetime Emmys award show aired on Sunday, Sept. 23rd. The list below is not a complete list of the 2012 Primetime Emmy winners. The winners in some Primetime Emmy categories were previously announced as part of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, although I think I have included two or three winners in this list who were already announced at the Creative Arts ceremony.
2012 PRIMETIME EMMY AWARD WINNERS in categories announced Sunday, September 23, 2012:
COMEDY SERIES
“Modern Family”
ABC; Levitan-Lloyd Productions in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television
Steven Levitan, Executive Producer
Christopher Lloyd, Executive Producer
Danny Zuker, Executive Producer
Dan O’Shannon, Executive Producer
Bill Wrubel, Executive Producer
Paul Corrigan, Executive Producer
Brad Walsh, Executive Producer
Jeff Morton, Co-Executive Producer
Jeffery Richman, Co-Executive Producer
Abraham Higginbotham, Co-Executive Producer
Cindy Chupack, Co-Executive Producer
Chris Smirnoff, Producer
COMEDY ACTOR
Jon Cryer as Alan Harper in "Two and a Half Men"
COMEDY ACTRESS
Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer in "Veep"
SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR
Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker in "Modern Family"
SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS
Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy in "Modern Family"
DRAMA SERIES
“Homeland”
Showtime; Showtime Presents, Teakwood Lane Productions, Cherry Pie Productions, Keshet, Fox 21
Alex Gansa, Executive Producer
Howard Gordon, Executive Producer
Michael Cuesta, Executive Producer
Gideon Raff, Executive Producer
Avi Nir, Executive Producer
Ran Tellem, Executive Producer
Chip Johannessen, Co-Executive Producer
Alexander Cary, Co-Executive Producer
Michael Klick, Produced By
DRAMA ACTRESS
Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in "Homeland"
DRAMA ACTOR
Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody in "Homeland"
SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS
Maggie Smith as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham in "Downton Abbey"
SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR
Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman in "Breaking Bad"
MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Game Change
HBO • Playtone and Everyman Pictures in association with HBO Films
Tom Hanks, Executive Producer
Gary Goetzman, Executive Producer
Jay Roach, Executive Producer
Danny Strong, Co-Executive Producer
Steven Shareshian, Co-Executive Producer
Amy Sayres, Produced By
LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in "Game Change"
LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Kevin Costner as 'Devil' Anse Hatfield in "Hatfields & McCoys"
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Jessica Lange as Constance Langdon in "American Horror Story"
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Tom Berenger as Jim Vance in "Hatfields & McCoys"
VARIETY SERIES
“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart”
Comedy Central; Central Productions, LLC
Jon Stewart, Executive Producer/Host
Rory Albanese, Executive Producer
Kahane Cooperman, Co-Executive Producer
Steve Bodow, Co-Executive Producer
Jennifer Flanz, Co-Executive Producer
Adam Lowitt, Co-Executive Producer
Jim Margolis, Co-Executive Producer
Pamela DePace, Supervising Producer
Hillary Kun, Supervising Producer
Timothy Greenberg, Supervising Producer
Stuart Miller, Supervising Producer
Jill Katz, Producer
REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
“The Amazing Race”
CBS; World Race Productions Inc.
Bertram van Munster, Executive Producer
Elise Doganieri, Executive Producer
Jerry Bruckheimer, Executive Producer
Jonathan Littman, Executive Producer
Mark Vertullo, Executive Producer
Dan Coffie, Co-Executive Producer
Giselle Parets, Co-Executive Producer
Phil Keoghan, Co-Executive Producer
Michael Norton, Supervising Producer
Matt Schmidt, Supervising Producer
Patrick Cariaga, Supervising Producer
Michael Miller, Supervising Producer
Darren Bunkley, Senior Producer
Chad Baron, Senior Producer
Neil Jahss, Senior Producer
HOST FOR A REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
Tom Bergeron, "Dancing With the Stars"
DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Steven Levitan, "Modern Family" (“Baby On Board” episode)
WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Louis C.K., "Louie" (Episode: “Pregnant”)
DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Tim Van Patten, "Boardwalk Empire" (“To The Lost” episode)
WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff, "Homeland" (Pilot episode)
DIRECTING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Jay Roach, "Game Change"
WRITING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Danny Strong, "Game Change"
SPECIAL-CLASS PROGRAMS
"65th Annual Tony Awards" (CBS)
DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
Don Roy King, "Saturday Night Live" (“Host: Mick Jagger”)
DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
Glenn Weiss, "65th Annual Tony Awards"
WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
"The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," Tim Carvell (head writer), Rory Albanese, Kevin Bleyer, Rich Blomquist, Steve Bodow, Wyatt Cenac, Hallie Haglund, JR Havlan, Elliott Kalan, Dan McCoy, Jo Miller, John Oliver, Zhubin Parang, Daniel Radosh, Jason Ross, & Jon Stewart
WRITING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
"Louis C.K. Live at the Beacon Theatre," Louis C.K.
The Primetime Emmys award show aired on Sunday, Sept. 23rd. The list below is not a complete list of the 2012 Primetime Emmy winners. The winners in some Primetime Emmy categories were previously announced as part of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, although I think I have included two or three winners in this list who were already announced at the Creative Arts ceremony.
2012 PRIMETIME EMMY AWARD WINNERS in categories announced Sunday, September 23, 2012:
COMEDY SERIES
“Modern Family”
ABC; Levitan-Lloyd Productions in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television
Steven Levitan, Executive Producer
Christopher Lloyd, Executive Producer
Danny Zuker, Executive Producer
Dan O’Shannon, Executive Producer
Bill Wrubel, Executive Producer
Paul Corrigan, Executive Producer
Brad Walsh, Executive Producer
Jeff Morton, Co-Executive Producer
Jeffery Richman, Co-Executive Producer
Abraham Higginbotham, Co-Executive Producer
Cindy Chupack, Co-Executive Producer
Chris Smirnoff, Producer
COMEDY ACTOR
Jon Cryer as Alan Harper in "Two and a Half Men"
COMEDY ACTRESS
Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer in "Veep"
SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR
Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker in "Modern Family"
SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS
Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy in "Modern Family"
DRAMA SERIES
“Homeland”
Showtime; Showtime Presents, Teakwood Lane Productions, Cherry Pie Productions, Keshet, Fox 21
Alex Gansa, Executive Producer
Howard Gordon, Executive Producer
Michael Cuesta, Executive Producer
Gideon Raff, Executive Producer
Avi Nir, Executive Producer
Ran Tellem, Executive Producer
Chip Johannessen, Co-Executive Producer
Alexander Cary, Co-Executive Producer
Michael Klick, Produced By
DRAMA ACTRESS
Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in "Homeland"
DRAMA ACTOR
Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody in "Homeland"
SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS
Maggie Smith as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham in "Downton Abbey"
SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR
Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman in "Breaking Bad"
MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Game Change
HBO • Playtone and Everyman Pictures in association with HBO Films
Tom Hanks, Executive Producer
Gary Goetzman, Executive Producer
Jay Roach, Executive Producer
Danny Strong, Co-Executive Producer
Steven Shareshian, Co-Executive Producer
Amy Sayres, Produced By
LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in "Game Change"
LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Kevin Costner as 'Devil' Anse Hatfield in "Hatfields & McCoys"
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Jessica Lange as Constance Langdon in "American Horror Story"
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Tom Berenger as Jim Vance in "Hatfields & McCoys"
VARIETY SERIES
“The Daily Show With Jon Stewart”
Comedy Central; Central Productions, LLC
Jon Stewart, Executive Producer/Host
Rory Albanese, Executive Producer
Kahane Cooperman, Co-Executive Producer
Steve Bodow, Co-Executive Producer
Jennifer Flanz, Co-Executive Producer
Adam Lowitt, Co-Executive Producer
Jim Margolis, Co-Executive Producer
Pamela DePace, Supervising Producer
Hillary Kun, Supervising Producer
Timothy Greenberg, Supervising Producer
Stuart Miller, Supervising Producer
Jill Katz, Producer
REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
“The Amazing Race”
CBS; World Race Productions Inc.
Bertram van Munster, Executive Producer
Elise Doganieri, Executive Producer
Jerry Bruckheimer, Executive Producer
Jonathan Littman, Executive Producer
Mark Vertullo, Executive Producer
Dan Coffie, Co-Executive Producer
Giselle Parets, Co-Executive Producer
Phil Keoghan, Co-Executive Producer
Michael Norton, Supervising Producer
Matt Schmidt, Supervising Producer
Patrick Cariaga, Supervising Producer
Michael Miller, Supervising Producer
Darren Bunkley, Senior Producer
Chad Baron, Senior Producer
Neil Jahss, Senior Producer
HOST FOR A REALITY OR REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
Tom Bergeron, "Dancing With the Stars"
DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Steven Levitan, "Modern Family" (“Baby On Board” episode)
WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Louis C.K., "Louie" (Episode: “Pregnant”)
DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Tim Van Patten, "Boardwalk Empire" (“To The Lost” episode)
WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon & Gideon Raff, "Homeland" (Pilot episode)
DIRECTING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Jay Roach, "Game Change"
WRITING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Danny Strong, "Game Change"
SPECIAL-CLASS PROGRAMS
"65th Annual Tony Awards" (CBS)
DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
Don Roy King, "Saturday Night Live" (“Host: Mick Jagger”)
DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
Glenn Weiss, "65th Annual Tony Awards"
WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
"The Daily Show With Jon Stewart," Tim Carvell (head writer), Rory Albanese, Kevin Bleyer, Rich Blomquist, Steve Bodow, Wyatt Cenac, Hallie Haglund, JR Havlan, Elliott Kalan, Dan McCoy, Jo Miller, John Oliver, Zhubin Parang, Daniel Radosh, Jason Ross, & Jon Stewart
WRITING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
"Louis C.K. Live at the Beacon Theatre," Louis C.K.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
2nd Annual Critics' Choice Television Award Winners - Complete List
Broadcast Television Journalists Association Announces Winners of the 2nd Annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA), an offshoot of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, today announced the winners of the 2nd annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards. The star-studded gala awards dinner to acknowledge and honor the best in television was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel earlier this evening.
Homeland took home the prize for Best Drama Series while Community won in the Best Comedy Series category. Best Reality Series went to Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, while Best Reality Show-Competition went to The Voice. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon was honored as Best Talk Show, Archer was honored as Best Animated Series, and Sherlock was honored as Best Movie/Miniseries. NBC was the most awarded network with five wins followed by ABC and AMC, which tied with three wins each.
Actors Bryan Cranston and Louis C.K. won Best Actor in a Drama Series for Breaking Bad and Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Louie, respectively. Claire Danes was honored as Best Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Homeland while Zooey Deschanel and Amy Poehler tied for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for their roles in New Girl and Parks and Recreation, respectively. Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series went to Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks for the second year in a row. Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito was named Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Julie Bowen took home the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy and Ty Burrell won Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for their roles in Modern Family. Lucy Liu won Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series for Southland, and Paul Rudd won Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series for his role on Parks and Recreation.
Dancing with the Star’s Tom Bergeron and So You Think You Can Dance’s Cat Deeley tied for Best Reality Host. Benedict Cumberbatch was recognized as Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries for his work in Sherlock, while Julianne Moore was named Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries for her role in Game Change. In addition, The Following, The Mindy Project, Nashville, The Newsroom and Political Animals were honored as Most Exciting New Series.
Acting category nominees in attendance included: Gillian Anderson (Great Expectations), Julie Bowen (Modern Family), Alison Brie (Community), Ty Burrell (Modern Family), Kevin Costner (Hatfields & McCoys), Don Cheadle (House of Lies), Cat Deeley (So You Think You Can Dance), Zooey Deschanel (New Girl), Garret Dillahunt (Raising Hope), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Max Greenfield (New Girl), Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad), Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Cheryl Hines (Suburgatory), Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Gillian Jacobs (Community), Phil Keoghan (The Amazing Race), Regina King (Southland), Lucy Liu (Southland/Elementary), Justin Long (New Girl), Joel McHale (Community), Julianne Moore (Game Change), John Noble (Fringe), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), Carrie Preston (The Good Wife), Danny Pudi (Community), Ashley Rickards (Awkward), Emmy Rossum (Shameless), Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy), Eden Sher (The Middle), Maggie Siff (Sons of Anarchy), RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag U), Damon Wayans Jr. (Happy Endings), Chloe Webb (Shameless) and Casey Wilson (Happy Endings).
Presenters included: Beth Behrs (Two Broke Girls), Chris Colfer (Glee), Josh Dallas (Once Upon a Time), Emily Deschanel (Bones), Patrick Duffy (Dallas), Donald Faison (The Exes), Sharon Gless (Burn Notice), Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time), Josh Hopkins (Cougar Town), Stana Katic (Castle), Cloris Leachman (Raising Hope), Robert Patrick (True Blood), Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story), Busy Philipps (Cougar Town), Hannah Simone (New Girl), Kate Walsh (Private Practice) and Shane West (Nikita).
Stars of the five shows acclaimed as Most Exciting New Series were also in attendance including: Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project), Chris Messina (The Mindy Project), Olivia Munn (The Newsroom), Hayden Panettiere (Nashville), Thomas Sadoski (The Newsroom) and Natalie Zea (The Following).
The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) also partnered with thalo Magazine to recognize Smash with the thalo’s Critics’ Choice Inspiration Award, which honors a television show for illuminating the fine arts in its subject matter and production methods, along with the individuals who infuse those productions with their artistic passions.
The Critics’ Choice Television Awards honored programs and performances that aired between June 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012, except for the Most Exciting New Series, which are shows premiering after June 1, 2012. Six new categories debuted this year including Best Movie or Mini-series, Best Actor in a Movie or Mini-Series, Best Actress in a Movie or Mini-Series, Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series, Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series and Best Animated Series. The full winners tally is included below.
The 2nd annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards were executive produced by Bob Bain for Bob Bain Productions.
About BTJA
The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) is a partner organization to the Broadcast Film Critics Association. BTJA includes TV, radio and Internet journalists who cover television on a regular basis. For more information, visit: http://www.criticschoice.com/
WINNERS OF THE 2nd ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE TELEVISION AWARDS
Best Drama Series
Homeland – Showtime
Best Actor in a Drama Series
Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad – AMC
Best Actress in a Drama Series
Claire Danes – Homeland – Showtime
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Giancarlo Esposito – Breaking Bad – AMC
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Christina Hendricks – Mad Men – AMC
Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series
Lucy Liu – Southland – TNT
Best Reality Series
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations – Travel Channel
Best Reality Series – Competition
The Voice – NBC
Best Reality Show Host - TIE
Tom Bergeron – Dancing with the Stars – ABC
Cat Deeley – So You Think You Can Dance – FOX
Best Talk Show
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon – NBC
Best Comedy Series
Community – NBC
Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Louis C.K. – Louie – FX
Best Actress in a Comedy Series - TIE
Zooey Deschanel – New Girl – FOX
Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation – NBC
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Ty Burrell – Modern Family – ABC
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Julie Bowen – Modern Family – ABC
Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series
Paul Rudd – Parks and Recreation – NBC
Best Animated Series
Archer – FX
Best Movie/Miniseries
Sherlock – Masterpiece on PBS
Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries
Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock – Masterpiece on PBS
Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries
Julianne Moore – Game Change – HBO
Most Exciting New Series
The Following (Fox/Warner Bros.)
The Mindy Project (Fox/Universal)
Nashville (ABC/Lionsgate)
The Newsroom (HBO)
Political Animals (USA/Warner Bros.)
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA), an offshoot of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, today announced the winners of the 2nd annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards. The star-studded gala awards dinner to acknowledge and honor the best in television was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel earlier this evening.
Homeland took home the prize for Best Drama Series while Community won in the Best Comedy Series category. Best Reality Series went to Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, while Best Reality Show-Competition went to The Voice. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon was honored as Best Talk Show, Archer was honored as Best Animated Series, and Sherlock was honored as Best Movie/Miniseries. NBC was the most awarded network with five wins followed by ABC and AMC, which tied with three wins each.
Actors Bryan Cranston and Louis C.K. won Best Actor in a Drama Series for Breaking Bad and Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Louie, respectively. Claire Danes was honored as Best Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Homeland while Zooey Deschanel and Amy Poehler tied for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for their roles in New Girl and Parks and Recreation, respectively. Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series went to Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks for the second year in a row. Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito was named Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Julie Bowen took home the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy and Ty Burrell won Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for their roles in Modern Family. Lucy Liu won Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series for Southland, and Paul Rudd won Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series for his role on Parks and Recreation.
Dancing with the Star’s Tom Bergeron and So You Think You Can Dance’s Cat Deeley tied for Best Reality Host. Benedict Cumberbatch was recognized as Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries for his work in Sherlock, while Julianne Moore was named Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries for her role in Game Change. In addition, The Following, The Mindy Project, Nashville, The Newsroom and Political Animals were honored as Most Exciting New Series.
Acting category nominees in attendance included: Gillian Anderson (Great Expectations), Julie Bowen (Modern Family), Alison Brie (Community), Ty Burrell (Modern Family), Kevin Costner (Hatfields & McCoys), Don Cheadle (House of Lies), Cat Deeley (So You Think You Can Dance), Zooey Deschanel (New Girl), Garret Dillahunt (Raising Hope), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Max Greenfield (New Girl), Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad), Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Cheryl Hines (Suburgatory), Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Gillian Jacobs (Community), Phil Keoghan (The Amazing Race), Regina King (Southland), Lucy Liu (Southland/Elementary), Justin Long (New Girl), Joel McHale (Community), Julianne Moore (Game Change), John Noble (Fringe), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), Carrie Preston (The Good Wife), Danny Pudi (Community), Ashley Rickards (Awkward), Emmy Rossum (Shameless), Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy), Eden Sher (The Middle), Maggie Siff (Sons of Anarchy), RuPaul (RuPaul’s Drag U), Damon Wayans Jr. (Happy Endings), Chloe Webb (Shameless) and Casey Wilson (Happy Endings).
Presenters included: Beth Behrs (Two Broke Girls), Chris Colfer (Glee), Josh Dallas (Once Upon a Time), Emily Deschanel (Bones), Patrick Duffy (Dallas), Donald Faison (The Exes), Sharon Gless (Burn Notice), Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time), Josh Hopkins (Cougar Town), Stana Katic (Castle), Cloris Leachman (Raising Hope), Robert Patrick (True Blood), Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story), Busy Philipps (Cougar Town), Hannah Simone (New Girl), Kate Walsh (Private Practice) and Shane West (Nikita).
Stars of the five shows acclaimed as Most Exciting New Series were also in attendance including: Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project), Chris Messina (The Mindy Project), Olivia Munn (The Newsroom), Hayden Panettiere (Nashville), Thomas Sadoski (The Newsroom) and Natalie Zea (The Following).
The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) also partnered with thalo Magazine to recognize Smash with the thalo’s Critics’ Choice Inspiration Award, which honors a television show for illuminating the fine arts in its subject matter and production methods, along with the individuals who infuse those productions with their artistic passions.
The Critics’ Choice Television Awards honored programs and performances that aired between June 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012, except for the Most Exciting New Series, which are shows premiering after June 1, 2012. Six new categories debuted this year including Best Movie or Mini-series, Best Actor in a Movie or Mini-Series, Best Actress in a Movie or Mini-Series, Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series, Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series and Best Animated Series. The full winners tally is included below.
The 2nd annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards were executive produced by Bob Bain for Bob Bain Productions.
About BTJA
The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) is a partner organization to the Broadcast Film Critics Association. BTJA includes TV, radio and Internet journalists who cover television on a regular basis. For more information, visit: http://www.criticschoice.com/
WINNERS OF THE 2nd ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE TELEVISION AWARDS
Best Drama Series
Homeland – Showtime
Best Actor in a Drama Series
Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad – AMC
Best Actress in a Drama Series
Claire Danes – Homeland – Showtime
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Giancarlo Esposito – Breaking Bad – AMC
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Christina Hendricks – Mad Men – AMC
Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series
Lucy Liu – Southland – TNT
Best Reality Series
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations – Travel Channel
Best Reality Series – Competition
The Voice – NBC
Best Reality Show Host - TIE
Tom Bergeron – Dancing with the Stars – ABC
Cat Deeley – So You Think You Can Dance – FOX
Best Talk Show
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon – NBC
Best Comedy Series
Community – NBC
Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Louis C.K. – Louie – FX
Best Actress in a Comedy Series - TIE
Zooey Deschanel – New Girl – FOX
Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation – NBC
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Ty Burrell – Modern Family – ABC
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Julie Bowen – Modern Family – ABC
Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series
Paul Rudd – Parks and Recreation – NBC
Best Animated Series
Archer – FX
Best Movie/Miniseries
Sherlock – Masterpiece on PBS
Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries
Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock – Masterpiece on PBS
Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries
Julianne Moore – Game Change – HBO
Most Exciting New Series
The Following (Fox/Warner Bros.)
The Mindy Project (Fox/Universal)
Nashville (ABC/Lionsgate)
The Newsroom (HBO)
Political Animals (USA/Warner Bros.)
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Warner Bros.' "Seventh Son" Starts Production in Canada.
Production Begins on “Seventh Son” for Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures
Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore and Ben Barnes Lead the International Cast
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography is underway on Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ fantasy action adventure “Seventh Son.” Shooting began on March 19, under the direction of award-winning filmmaker Sergei Bodrov, director of the Oscar®-nominated foreign language films “Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan” and “Prisoner of the Mountains.” “Seventh Son” stars Academy Award® winner Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart,” “Iron Man”), Oscar® nominee Julianne Moore (“Far From Heaven,” “The Hours”), and Ben Barnes (“The Chronicles of Narnia” films).
In a time long past, an evil is about to be unleashed that will reignite the war between the forces of the supernatural and humankind once more. Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) is a knight who had imprisoned the malevolently powerful witch, Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), centuries ago. But now she has escaped and is seeking vengeance. Summoning her followers of every incarnation, Mother Malkin is preparing to unleash her terrible wrath on an unsuspecting world. Only one thing stands in her way: Master Gregory.
In a deadly reunion, Gregory comes face to face with the evil he always feared would someday return. Now he has only until the next full moon to do what usually takes years: train his new apprentice, Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) to fight a dark magic unlike any other. Man’s only hope lies in the seventh son of a seventh son.
The film’s international cast also includes Alicia Vikander (“The Crown Jewels”), Antje Traue (“Pandorum,” upcoming “Man of Steel”), Olivia Williams (“Hanna”) and Kit Harington (HBO’s “Game of Thrones”).
Bodrov is directing the film from a screenplay by Matt Greenberg, Charles Leavitt and Steve Knight, based on the book The Spook’s Apprentice by Joseph Delaney. “Seventh Son” is being produced by Basil Iwanyk (“The Town,” “Clash of the Titans” upcoming “Wrath of the Titans”), Thomas Tull (“Inception,” “The Dark Knight” upcoming “The Dark Knight Rises”) and Lionel Wigram (“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” the “Harry Potter” films). The executive producers are Jon Jashni, Brent O’Connor and Alysia Cotter, with Jillian Zaks and Erica Lee serving as co-producers.
The behind-the-scenes team collaborating with Bodrov includes director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel (“Drive”); three-time Oscar®-winning production designer Dante Ferretti (“Hugo,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Aviator”); Oscar®-nominated editor Paul Rubell (“Collateral,” “The Insider”); Oscar®-nominated costume designer Jacqueline West (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Social Network”), and Oscar®-winning visual effects supervisor John Dykstra (“Spider-Man,” “Spider-Man 2”).
“Seventh Son” will be filmed entirely on location in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
A presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, “Seventh Son” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore and Ben Barnes Lead the International Cast
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography is underway on Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ fantasy action adventure “Seventh Son.” Shooting began on March 19, under the direction of award-winning filmmaker Sergei Bodrov, director of the Oscar®-nominated foreign language films “Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan” and “Prisoner of the Mountains.” “Seventh Son” stars Academy Award® winner Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart,” “Iron Man”), Oscar® nominee Julianne Moore (“Far From Heaven,” “The Hours”), and Ben Barnes (“The Chronicles of Narnia” films).
In a time long past, an evil is about to be unleashed that will reignite the war between the forces of the supernatural and humankind once more. Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) is a knight who had imprisoned the malevolently powerful witch, Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), centuries ago. But now she has escaped and is seeking vengeance. Summoning her followers of every incarnation, Mother Malkin is preparing to unleash her terrible wrath on an unsuspecting world. Only one thing stands in her way: Master Gregory.
In a deadly reunion, Gregory comes face to face with the evil he always feared would someday return. Now he has only until the next full moon to do what usually takes years: train his new apprentice, Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) to fight a dark magic unlike any other. Man’s only hope lies in the seventh son of a seventh son.
The film’s international cast also includes Alicia Vikander (“The Crown Jewels”), Antje Traue (“Pandorum,” upcoming “Man of Steel”), Olivia Williams (“Hanna”) and Kit Harington (HBO’s “Game of Thrones”).
Bodrov is directing the film from a screenplay by Matt Greenberg, Charles Leavitt and Steve Knight, based on the book The Spook’s Apprentice by Joseph Delaney. “Seventh Son” is being produced by Basil Iwanyk (“The Town,” “Clash of the Titans” upcoming “Wrath of the Titans”), Thomas Tull (“Inception,” “The Dark Knight” upcoming “The Dark Knight Rises”) and Lionel Wigram (“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” the “Harry Potter” films). The executive producers are Jon Jashni, Brent O’Connor and Alysia Cotter, with Jillian Zaks and Erica Lee serving as co-producers.
The behind-the-scenes team collaborating with Bodrov includes director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel (“Drive”); three-time Oscar®-winning production designer Dante Ferretti (“Hugo,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Aviator”); Oscar®-nominated editor Paul Rubell (“Collateral,” “The Insider”); Oscar®-nominated costume designer Jacqueline West (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Social Network”), and Oscar®-winning visual effects supervisor John Dykstra (“Spider-Man,” “Spider-Man 2”).
“Seventh Son” will be filmed entirely on location in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
A presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, “Seventh Son” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Review: "Crazy, Stupid, Love." is Crazy, Stupid, Funny
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for coarse humor, sexual content and language
DIRECTORS: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
WRITER: Dan Fogelman
PRODUCERS: Steve Carell and Denise Di Novi
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Andrew Dunn
EDITOR: Lee Haxall
COMPOSER: Christophe Beck and Nick Urata
COMEDY/ROMANCE/DRAMA
Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Analeigh Tipton, Jonah Bobo, Joey King, Marisa Tomei, Beth Littleford, John Carroll Lynch, Kevin Bacon, Liza Lapira, Josh Groban, and Algerita Lewis
Crazy, Stupid, Love. is a 2011 romantic comedy starring Steve Carell (who is also one of the film’s producers) and Julianne Moore. The film is essentially an ensemble comedy, but the central focus is a couple whose 20-year marriage dissolves. The title fits the film perfectly, and Crazy, Stupid, Love. gets crazy and stupid enough to make me love it, in spite of my best efforts to act as if I were above liking this kind of romantic comedy.
While dining out one night, Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) gets some shocking news from his wife of 20 years, Emily (Julianne Moore). Not only does she want a divorce, but Emily also admits to having sex with one of her coworkers, an accountant named David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon). Cal moves out of their home and begins to frequent a popular bar, where his complaints catch the sympathetic ear of a dashing young womanizer, Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling).
Jacob teaches the fine art of womanizing to Cal, who eventually begins a series of one-night stands. However, Jacob soon meets the one woman that can tame him, Hannah (Emma Stone), a young law student. In the meantime, Jessica Riley (Analeigh Tipton), the 17-year-old girl who baby sits Cal’s children, falls in love with Cal. However, Cal’s 13-year-old son, Robbie Weaver (Jonah Bobo), is madly in love with Jessica. As love goes mad all around him, Cal still can’t stop wanting to reunite with Emily, but does she want the same thing?
Crazy, Stupid, Love. could have the words “awkward” and “misunderstanding,” added to the title, as the film strains credulity with a number of timely coincidences. These lead to set pieces which depict one embarrassing moment after another for one or more characters. By the way, all the characters seem pretty much the same and are shallow; they are lovable, but still shallow. Still, mortification is what makes this movie such a sweet romantic film. Being married and/or being a parent is bittersweet, but you love your loved ones even in those moments when you hate them or when they embarrass and humiliate you.
Crazy, Stupid, Love., for all its contrivances, gets that, and Dan Fogelman’s script weaves the contrived and the coincidental into a lovely tale of committed love. There is a huge and shocking reveal in the movie’s last act and a speech near the end of the film that should both make us cringe. Instead, they exemplify the ability of Crazy, Stupid, Love. to make us stupid, crazy in love with it.
7 of 10
B+
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Review: "The Big Lebowski" is Surreal, Screwy, Unforgettable
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Running time: 117 minutes (1 hour, 57 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive strong language, drug content, sexuality and brief violence
DIRECTOR: Joel Coen
WRITERS: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
PRODUCER: Ethan Coen
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Roger Deakins
EDITORS: Tricia Cooke and Roderick Jaynes (Joel and Ethan Coen)
COMPOSER: Carter Burwell
COMEDY/MYSTERY/THRILLER
Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, Flea, John Turturro, Peter Stormare, Torsten Voges, David Thewlis, Marshall Manesh, Jon Polito, Ben Gazzara, Leon Russom, Ajgie Kirkland, Aimee Mann, and Sam Elliot
For their seventh film together, the Coen Brothers (co-writer/producer Ethan and co-writer/director Joel) tackle the screwball comedy in The Big Lebowski. Coming off their Oscar win for writing the brilliant Fargo, it was a daring project that could have turned off the audiences that were coming as a result of seeing Fargo. I don’t think the Coen’s gave a damn. They have a vision of how to tell a story using film as their medium, and they build a movie around their vision.
In the film, Jeffrey Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), known by everyone as The Dude (in fact, that is the name he prefers), receives a visit from a few thugs looking for money owed to their boss by the missus, Bunny (Tara Reid). Truth is they have the wrong Lebowski; there is another Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston), a millionaire, and Bunny is his trophy wife. One of the intruders takes a whiz on The Dude’s rug, so naturally The Dude seeks recompense from Bunny’s hubby, the other Lebowski. This case of mistaken identity ensnares to The Dude in a web of abduction and competing interests with The Dude and his temperamental homeboy, Walter Sobchak (John Goodman), right in the middle.
The Coen’s are without a doubt two of the premiere creators of surreal films. They embrace classic Hollywood style with a post modern skewed view. The Big Lebowski is part Woody Allen and part David Lynch in the brothers’ approach to character and story. The abduction of Bunny uncoils into a delightful mixture of wacky comedy and film noir whodunit. As in all their films, there is always a sense of dread, however small, and as usual Joel can weave a thriller out of the most benign and ordinary events. It’s as if what seems really obvious and ordinary is also the unknown, and the unknown is so far “out there” and potentially dangerous.
Perhaps the thing that really makes a Coen film is the cast. Without good character actors, the brothers couldn’t sell us their strange brews. Amidst a stellar cast of players, Jeff Bridges and John Goodman, especially Bridges, carry this film. They have great chemistry together, and Bridges, one of the finest actors of the last two decades can carry two films at once on the broad back of his immense talent. This movie is almost totally from his point of view, and we have to buy into his character. If we don’t believe that he is who he says he is and that he believes what he believes, The Big Lebowski would be just a failed mainstream pic playing at being indie cool. The Big Lebowski is bravura work from two great American filmmakers, and they once again show their savvy by picking just the right guy to make this movie really soar.
8 of 10
A
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"The Big Lebowski" Arrives on Limited Edition Blu-ray Tomorrow
EXPERIENCE THE COEN BROTHERS’ CULTURAL PHENOMENON STARRING JEFF BRIDGES NOW ON BLU-RAY™ FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!
THE BIG LEBOWSKI LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY™
August 16, 2011
“The Most Worshipped Comedy of Its Generation” – Rolling Stone
Own the Limited Edition Blu-ray™ Featuring All-New Bonus Features, a Digital Copy of the Film and Collectible Hardcover Book Packaging
Universal City, May 24, 2011 – Bowling, nihilists, a stolen rug and the occasional acid flashback have never been funnier when one of the most popular cult classics in history, The Big Lebowski Limited Edition, debuts on Blu-ray™ August 16, 2011 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. From the Oscar®-winning Coen Brothers (True Grit, Fargo) and starring Academy Award® winner Jeff Bridges (True Grit, Crazy Heart), this acclaimed comedy has been newly remastered in high definition to provide longtime fans and first-time viewers alike with the ultimate Lebowski experience.
Available for a limited time with an all-new 28-page companion book featuring an exclusive interview with Jeff Dowd – the real-life inspiration for The Dude – Jeff Bridges’ personal, on-set photography, a film timeline, trivia and much more, The Big Lebowski Limited Edition Blu-ray™ is a must-own addition to any collection. In addition to all-new features exclusive to the Blu-ray™ release, The Big Lebowski Limited Edition Blu-ray™ also offers a digital copy of the film that can be viewed anywhere at any time on the consumers’ choice of devices including laptops, tablets, smartphones as well as Internet-connected TVs and set-top boxes.
“Since its creation by Ethan and Joel Coen in 1998, The Big Lebowski has transformed from a fan favorite into one of Hollywood’s most celebrated cultural phenomenons,” said Craig Kornblau, President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. “This spectacular new Limited Edition Blu-ray™ combines the most extensive behind-the-scenes materials to date with the latest Blu-ray™ technology, giving devoted fans and newcomers alike a chance to experience the brilliant all-star cast, outrageous storyline and unforgettable quotes like never before.”
Its now iconic characters and instantly recognizable dialogue have made The Big Lebowski “the number-one cult film of all time,” according to The Boston Globe. Since its release, the Coen Brothers’ affectionately addled riff on film noir has snowballed in popularity, becoming “an undeniable pop-cult force” and even, for many, “a way of life,” in the words of the Los Angeles Times. “A masterpiece of anti-storytelling” according to Entertainment Weekly, The Big Lebowski has become a cultural touchstone for fans around the world.
Starring Bridges as the film’s delightfully unlikely hero, “The Dude,” the hilariously twisted comedy thriller also features unforgettable performances by an all-star cast including Golden Globe® winner John Goodman (“Roseanne”), four-time Oscar® nominee Julianne Moore (The Kids are Alright), Golden Globe® winner Steve Buscemi (“Boardwalk Empire”), Oscar® winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt) and Golden Globe® nominee John Turturro (O Brother, Where Art Thou?).
BLU-RAYTM EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURES:
· U-CONTROL: Universal’s exclusive feature that lets the viewer access bonus materials without leaving the movie!
o Scene Companion: Watch cast and crew interviews, behind the scenes footage and more during key scenes with this picture-in-picture companion.
o Mark it Dude: This onscreen counter really ties the film together. Keep track of all the “F-Bombs,” “Dudes,” and “Dude-isms” in the film with this ultimate fan guide.
o The Music of The Big Lebowski: Instantly identify the songs heard while watching the film, create a custom playlist of your favorites and even purchase them from iTunes®!
· WORTHY ADVERSARIES: WHAT’S MY LINE TRIVIA: Test your Lebowski knowledge by finishing lines of dialogue during the film. Play as Walter or The Dude or in two-player mode against friends.
· BD-LIVETM: Access the BD-Live™ Center through your Internet-connected player to watch the latest trailers and more.
· pocket BLU™: The groundbreaking pocket BLU™ app uses iPhone®, iPod® touch, Android™, PC and Macintosh to work seamlessly with a network-connected Blu-ray™ player. Also available on the iPad™, owners can enjoy a new, enhanced edition of pocket BLU™ made especially to take advantage of the tablet's larger screen and high resolution display. Consumers will be able to browse through a library of Blu-ray™ content and watch entertaining extras on-the-go in a way that's bigger and better than ever before. pocket BLU™ offers advanced features such as:
o Advanced Remote Control: A sleek, elegant new way to operate your Blu-ray™ player. Users can navigate through menus, playback and BD-Live™ functions with ease.
o Video Timeline: Users can easily bring up the video timeline, allowing them to instantly access any point in the film.
o Mobile-To-Go: Users can unlock a selection of bonus content with their Blu-ray™ discs to save to their device or to stream from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi network, enabling them to enjoy content on the go, anytime, anywhere.
o Browse Titles: Users will have access to a complete list of pocket BLU™-enabled titles available and coming to Blu-ray™ Hi-Def. They can view free previews and see what additional content is available to unlock on their device.
o Keyboard: Entering data is fast and easy with your device’s intuitive keyboard.
· uHEAR™: Never miss another line of dialogue with this innovative feature that instantly skips back a few seconds on your Blu-ray™ disc and turns on the subtitles to highlight what you missed.
ADDITIONAL BONUS FEATURES:
· JEFF BRIDGES PHOTO BOOK: For more than 30 years, Jeff Bridges has been snapping pictures on movie sets. The accomplished photographer presents exclusive shots taken on the set of The Big Lebowski providing personal commentary on each photo.
· THE DUDE’S LIFE: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi and John Turturro take a look back at their performances and their delivery of the Coen Brothers’ dialogue that became classic movie lines.
· THE DUDE ABIDES: THE BIG LEBOWSKI TEN YEARS LATER: A freewheeling conversation with the cast about the film’s decade-long reign as a cult classic, including a discussion about what ever happened to the “little Lebowski” that the Dude and Maude made that fateful night!
· THE LEBOWSKI FEST: AN ACHIEVER’S STORY: An in-depth look at the popular Lebowski Festival, formed by the legion of fans in honor of the film.
· FLYING CARPETS & BOWLING PIN DREAMS: THE DREAM SEQUENCES OF THE DUDE: From aerial flights over Los Angeles with his bowling ball chasing Maude on a flying carpet, to the large scale “Busby Berkley” dance sequences as The Dude goes flying through the legs of all the bowling pin headed dancers, this piece examines how these “ahead of their time” scenes were constructed.
· THE MAKING OF THE BIG LEBOWSKI: A behind the scenes look featuring interviews with the Coen Brothers.
· PHOTO GALLERY: Slideshow of Jeff Bridges’ on-set photography.
· INTERACTIVE MAP: Take a tour of the locations of The Big Lebowski, then and now.
· AN INTRODUCTION: Featuring Mortimer Young, a practitioner of “non-uptight” film preservation. His restoration of the famous “toe scene” will blow your mind.
SYNOPSIS:
From the Academy Award®-winning Coen brothers, The Big Lebowski is a hilariously quirky comedy about bowling, a severed toe, White Russians and a guy named…The Dude. Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski doesn’t want any drama in his life…heck, he can’t even be bothered with a job. But, he must embark on a quest with his bowling buddies after his rug is destroyed in a twisted case of mistaken identity. Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Turturro, experience the cultural phenomenon of The Dude in the “#1 cult film of all time!” (The Boston Globe)
CAST AND FILMMAKERS:
Cast: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Turturro
Directed By: Joel Coen
Written By: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Executive Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Producer: Ethan Coen
Co-Producer: John Cameron
Director of Photography: Roger Deakins
Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs
Edited By: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Tricia Cooke
Casting By: John S. Lyons
Costume Designer: Mary Zophres
Original Music By: Carter Burwell
TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
Street Date: August 16, 2011
Copyright: 2011 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Selection Number: 61115274
Running Time: 1 hour, 59 minutes
Layers: BD-50
Picture Format: Widescreen
Aspect Ratio: 1:85:1
Rating: R for pervasive strong language, drug content, sexuality and brief violence
Languages/Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French (EU) DTS Surround 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0/2.0 DTS Express
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios http://www.universalstudios.com/. Universal Studios is a part of NBCUniversal , one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. Comcast Corporation owns a controlling 51% interest in NBCUniversal, with GE holding a 49% stake.
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THE BIG LEBOWSKI LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY™
August 16, 2011
“The Most Worshipped Comedy of Its Generation” – Rolling Stone
Own the Limited Edition Blu-ray™ Featuring All-New Bonus Features, a Digital Copy of the Film and Collectible Hardcover Book Packaging
Universal City, May 24, 2011 – Bowling, nihilists, a stolen rug and the occasional acid flashback have never been funnier when one of the most popular cult classics in history, The Big Lebowski Limited Edition, debuts on Blu-ray™ August 16, 2011 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. From the Oscar®-winning Coen Brothers (True Grit, Fargo) and starring Academy Award® winner Jeff Bridges (True Grit, Crazy Heart), this acclaimed comedy has been newly remastered in high definition to provide longtime fans and first-time viewers alike with the ultimate Lebowski experience.
Available for a limited time with an all-new 28-page companion book featuring an exclusive interview with Jeff Dowd – the real-life inspiration for The Dude – Jeff Bridges’ personal, on-set photography, a film timeline, trivia and much more, The Big Lebowski Limited Edition Blu-ray™ is a must-own addition to any collection. In addition to all-new features exclusive to the Blu-ray™ release, The Big Lebowski Limited Edition Blu-ray™ also offers a digital copy of the film that can be viewed anywhere at any time on the consumers’ choice of devices including laptops, tablets, smartphones as well as Internet-connected TVs and set-top boxes.
“Since its creation by Ethan and Joel Coen in 1998, The Big Lebowski has transformed from a fan favorite into one of Hollywood’s most celebrated cultural phenomenons,” said Craig Kornblau, President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. “This spectacular new Limited Edition Blu-ray™ combines the most extensive behind-the-scenes materials to date with the latest Blu-ray™ technology, giving devoted fans and newcomers alike a chance to experience the brilliant all-star cast, outrageous storyline and unforgettable quotes like never before.”
Its now iconic characters and instantly recognizable dialogue have made The Big Lebowski “the number-one cult film of all time,” according to The Boston Globe. Since its release, the Coen Brothers’ affectionately addled riff on film noir has snowballed in popularity, becoming “an undeniable pop-cult force” and even, for many, “a way of life,” in the words of the Los Angeles Times. “A masterpiece of anti-storytelling” according to Entertainment Weekly, The Big Lebowski has become a cultural touchstone for fans around the world.
Starring Bridges as the film’s delightfully unlikely hero, “The Dude,” the hilariously twisted comedy thriller also features unforgettable performances by an all-star cast including Golden Globe® winner John Goodman (“Roseanne”), four-time Oscar® nominee Julianne Moore (The Kids are Alright), Golden Globe® winner Steve Buscemi (“Boardwalk Empire”), Oscar® winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt) and Golden Globe® nominee John Turturro (O Brother, Where Art Thou?).
BLU-RAYTM EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURES:
· U-CONTROL: Universal’s exclusive feature that lets the viewer access bonus materials without leaving the movie!
o Scene Companion: Watch cast and crew interviews, behind the scenes footage and more during key scenes with this picture-in-picture companion.
o Mark it Dude: This onscreen counter really ties the film together. Keep track of all the “F-Bombs,” “Dudes,” and “Dude-isms” in the film with this ultimate fan guide.
o The Music of The Big Lebowski: Instantly identify the songs heard while watching the film, create a custom playlist of your favorites and even purchase them from iTunes®!
· WORTHY ADVERSARIES: WHAT’S MY LINE TRIVIA: Test your Lebowski knowledge by finishing lines of dialogue during the film. Play as Walter or The Dude or in two-player mode against friends.
· BD-LIVETM: Access the BD-Live™ Center through your Internet-connected player to watch the latest trailers and more.
· pocket BLU™: The groundbreaking pocket BLU™ app uses iPhone®, iPod® touch, Android™, PC and Macintosh to work seamlessly with a network-connected Blu-ray™ player. Also available on the iPad™, owners can enjoy a new, enhanced edition of pocket BLU™ made especially to take advantage of the tablet's larger screen and high resolution display. Consumers will be able to browse through a library of Blu-ray™ content and watch entertaining extras on-the-go in a way that's bigger and better than ever before. pocket BLU™ offers advanced features such as:
o Advanced Remote Control: A sleek, elegant new way to operate your Blu-ray™ player. Users can navigate through menus, playback and BD-Live™ functions with ease.
o Video Timeline: Users can easily bring up the video timeline, allowing them to instantly access any point in the film.
o Mobile-To-Go: Users can unlock a selection of bonus content with their Blu-ray™ discs to save to their device or to stream from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi network, enabling them to enjoy content on the go, anytime, anywhere.
o Browse Titles: Users will have access to a complete list of pocket BLU™-enabled titles available and coming to Blu-ray™ Hi-Def. They can view free previews and see what additional content is available to unlock on their device.
o Keyboard: Entering data is fast and easy with your device’s intuitive keyboard.
· uHEAR™: Never miss another line of dialogue with this innovative feature that instantly skips back a few seconds on your Blu-ray™ disc and turns on the subtitles to highlight what you missed.
ADDITIONAL BONUS FEATURES:
· JEFF BRIDGES PHOTO BOOK: For more than 30 years, Jeff Bridges has been snapping pictures on movie sets. The accomplished photographer presents exclusive shots taken on the set of The Big Lebowski providing personal commentary on each photo.
· THE DUDE’S LIFE: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi and John Turturro take a look back at their performances and their delivery of the Coen Brothers’ dialogue that became classic movie lines.
· THE DUDE ABIDES: THE BIG LEBOWSKI TEN YEARS LATER: A freewheeling conversation with the cast about the film’s decade-long reign as a cult classic, including a discussion about what ever happened to the “little Lebowski” that the Dude and Maude made that fateful night!
· THE LEBOWSKI FEST: AN ACHIEVER’S STORY: An in-depth look at the popular Lebowski Festival, formed by the legion of fans in honor of the film.
· FLYING CARPETS & BOWLING PIN DREAMS: THE DREAM SEQUENCES OF THE DUDE: From aerial flights over Los Angeles with his bowling ball chasing Maude on a flying carpet, to the large scale “Busby Berkley” dance sequences as The Dude goes flying through the legs of all the bowling pin headed dancers, this piece examines how these “ahead of their time” scenes were constructed.
· THE MAKING OF THE BIG LEBOWSKI: A behind the scenes look featuring interviews with the Coen Brothers.
· PHOTO GALLERY: Slideshow of Jeff Bridges’ on-set photography.
· INTERACTIVE MAP: Take a tour of the locations of The Big Lebowski, then and now.
· AN INTRODUCTION: Featuring Mortimer Young, a practitioner of “non-uptight” film preservation. His restoration of the famous “toe scene” will blow your mind.
SYNOPSIS:
From the Academy Award®-winning Coen brothers, The Big Lebowski is a hilariously quirky comedy about bowling, a severed toe, White Russians and a guy named…The Dude. Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski doesn’t want any drama in his life…heck, he can’t even be bothered with a job. But, he must embark on a quest with his bowling buddies after his rug is destroyed in a twisted case of mistaken identity. Starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Turturro, experience the cultural phenomenon of The Dude in the “#1 cult film of all time!” (The Boston Globe)
CAST AND FILMMAKERS:
Cast: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Turturro
Directed By: Joel Coen
Written By: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Executive Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Producer: Ethan Coen
Co-Producer: John Cameron
Director of Photography: Roger Deakins
Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs
Edited By: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Tricia Cooke
Casting By: John S. Lyons
Costume Designer: Mary Zophres
Original Music By: Carter Burwell
TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
Street Date: August 16, 2011
Copyright: 2011 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Selection Number: 61115274
Running Time: 1 hour, 59 minutes
Layers: BD-50
Picture Format: Widescreen
Aspect Ratio: 1:85:1
Rating: R for pervasive strong language, drug content, sexuality and brief violence
Languages/Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French (EU) DTS Surround 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0/2.0 DTS Express
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios http://www.universalstudios.com/. Universal Studios is a part of NBCUniversal , one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. Comcast Corporation owns a controlling 51% interest in NBCUniversal, with GE holding a 49% stake.
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Tuesday, August 9, 2011
2011 Lebowski Fest Has "The Big Lebowski" Cast Reunion
In celebration of The Big Lebowski Limited Edition Blu-ray™ debuting on Aug 16th, join Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore + T Bone Burnett for a very special evening celebrating all things Lebowski on August 16, 2011 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. The date will also mark the launch of Jeff Bridges' self-titled album.
The evening will include a special Q & A with Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore and T Bone Burnett, as well as a screening of the film and other festivities.
2011 marks 10 years of beautiful tradition with Lebowski Fest and Universal Studios Home Entertainment has teamed up to bring the Achievers the pop-culture event of the century! This limited seating event at the historic Hammerstein Ballroom will be the ultimate celebration of all things Lebowski.
Tickets are now on sale on Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.com/The-Big-Lebowski-tickets/artist/14764
Mark it 10!
For more information, please visit http://www.lebowskifest.com/.
The evening will include a special Q & A with Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore and T Bone Burnett, as well as a screening of the film and other festivities.
2011 marks 10 years of beautiful tradition with Lebowski Fest and Universal Studios Home Entertainment has teamed up to bring the Achievers the pop-culture event of the century! This limited seating event at the historic Hammerstein Ballroom will be the ultimate celebration of all things Lebowski.
Tickets are now on sale on Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.com/The-Big-Lebowski-tickets/artist/14764
Mark it 10!
For more information, please visit http://www.lebowskifest.com/.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Natalie Portman Wins Best Actress BAFTA for "Black Swan"
LEADING ACTRESS
NATALIE PORTMAN Black Swan
ANNETTE BENING The Kids Are All Right
JULIANNE MOORE The Kids Are All Right
NOOMI RAPACE The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
HAILEE STEINFELD True Grit
NATALIE PORTMAN Black Swan
ANNETTE BENING The Kids Are All Right
JULIANNE MOORE The Kids Are All Right
NOOMI RAPACE The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
HAILEE STEINFELD True Grit
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Annette Bening Wins Best Actress Musical/Comedy Golden Globe
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy:
Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right WINNER
Anne Hathaway for Love and Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie for The Tourist
Julianne Moore for The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone for Easy A
Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right WINNER
Anne Hathaway for Love and Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie for The Tourist
Julianne Moore for The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone for Easy A
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Review: "The Kids Are All Right" is Alright
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some teen drug and alcohol use
DIRECTOR: Lisa Cholodenko
WRITERS: Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg
PRODUCERS: Gary Gilbert, Philippe Hellmann, Jordan Horowitz, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray, and Daniela Taplin Lundberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Igor Jadue-Lillo (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jeffrey M. Werner
COMPOSER: Carter Burwell
DRAMA/COMEDY
Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson, Yaya DaCosta, Kunal Sharma, Eddie Hassell, Zosia Mamet, and Joaquin Garrido
The Kids Are All Right is a domestic drama, but isn’t like other dramas about the American nuclear family. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko, the film focuses on a family lead by sax-sex parents who discover that their children have found their biological father.
Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) are a lesbian couple living in California. Each gave birth to a child via the same anonymous sperm donor. As she prepares to leave for college, 18-year-old Joni (Mia Wasikowska) acquiesces to a request by her brother, 15-year-old Laser (Josh Hutcherson), to discover the identity of their sperm donor dad. What they find is a small businessman living a bohemian lifestyle, and soon this person by the name of Paul (Mark Ruffalo) is part of the family. But how will he fit in, if he should fit in at all?
In some ways, The Kids Are All Right is sly. With its depictions of affairs, couples squabbling, marital sex, sullen teens, and assorted household dynamics and relationship dysfunction, the film seems to be the average family melodrama. However, the family at the heart of this film is not a normal family, as we generally think of what a normal family should be. Perhaps, the film’s writers, Stuart Blumber and director Lisa Cholodenko, tell this story in the way they do to show that a family headed by a same-sex couple will pretty much have the same ups and downs of a family headed by a man and his wife. This may be their sly and clever way of saying that gay couples are the same as straight couples. Well, they’re not, and that’s just fine.
In an attempt to create an average family drama around a same-sex couple, this film often seems contrived and even a little melodramatic. The Kids Are All Right is certainly a good film, with many fine performances. Annette Bening, who gives a layered and textured performance, however, stands out as genuine, real, and gritty in a film that seems too pat. Bening seems to embody the narrative’s urge to be more than just another indie drama, one with a need to be a carbon copy family dramedy with the straight parents swapped out for a gay couple.
In fact, The Kids Are All Right is really not about the children, which is disappointing because they are such good characters. Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson also give the kind of performances as Joni and Laser, respectively, that makes you really want to get to know them much more than you do.
This is not to say that the film is glaringly deficient. One of the things that makes it so attractive is that both the story and the characters seem to be searching for something more or something that is missing. Its charm is the same-sex nuclear family masquerading as straights, but the writers seem reticent about tearing off the masks and showing something different and really new. The Kids Are All Right, but everything could have been so much more.
7 of 10
B+
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
-----------------------------
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Running time: 106 minutes (1 hour, 46 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some teen drug and alcohol use
DIRECTOR: Lisa Cholodenko
WRITERS: Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg
PRODUCERS: Gary Gilbert, Philippe Hellmann, Jordan Horowitz, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray, and Daniela Taplin Lundberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Igor Jadue-Lillo (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jeffrey M. Werner
COMPOSER: Carter Burwell
DRAMA/COMEDY
Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson, Yaya DaCosta, Kunal Sharma, Eddie Hassell, Zosia Mamet, and Joaquin Garrido
The Kids Are All Right is a domestic drama, but isn’t like other dramas about the American nuclear family. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko, the film focuses on a family lead by sax-sex parents who discover that their children have found their biological father.
Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) are a lesbian couple living in California. Each gave birth to a child via the same anonymous sperm donor. As she prepares to leave for college, 18-year-old Joni (Mia Wasikowska) acquiesces to a request by her brother, 15-year-old Laser (Josh Hutcherson), to discover the identity of their sperm donor dad. What they find is a small businessman living a bohemian lifestyle, and soon this person by the name of Paul (Mark Ruffalo) is part of the family. But how will he fit in, if he should fit in at all?
In some ways, The Kids Are All Right is sly. With its depictions of affairs, couples squabbling, marital sex, sullen teens, and assorted household dynamics and relationship dysfunction, the film seems to be the average family melodrama. However, the family at the heart of this film is not a normal family, as we generally think of what a normal family should be. Perhaps, the film’s writers, Stuart Blumber and director Lisa Cholodenko, tell this story in the way they do to show that a family headed by a same-sex couple will pretty much have the same ups and downs of a family headed by a man and his wife. This may be their sly and clever way of saying that gay couples are the same as straight couples. Well, they’re not, and that’s just fine.
In an attempt to create an average family drama around a same-sex couple, this film often seems contrived and even a little melodramatic. The Kids Are All Right is certainly a good film, with many fine performances. Annette Bening, who gives a layered and textured performance, however, stands out as genuine, real, and gritty in a film that seems too pat. Bening seems to embody the narrative’s urge to be more than just another indie drama, one with a need to be a carbon copy family dramedy with the straight parents swapped out for a gay couple.
In fact, The Kids Are All Right is really not about the children, which is disappointing because they are such good characters. Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson also give the kind of performances as Joni and Laser, respectively, that makes you really want to get to know them much more than you do.
This is not to say that the film is glaringly deficient. One of the things that makes it so attractive is that both the story and the characters seem to be searching for something more or something that is missing. Its charm is the same-sex nuclear family masquerading as straights, but the writers seem reticent about tearing off the masks and showing something different and really new. The Kids Are All Right, but everything could have been so much more.
7 of 10
B+
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
-----------------------------
Friday, January 7, 2011
Review: Someone Likes "Next" (Happy B'day, Nicolas Cage)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 141 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux
Next (2007)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some language
DIRECTOR: Lee Tamahori
WRITERS: Gary Goldman, Jonathan Hensleigh, and Paul Bernbaum; from a screen story by Gary Goldman (based upon the short story “The Golden Man” by Philip K. Dick)
PRODUCERS: Nicolas Cage, Norm Golightly, Todd Garner, Arne L. Schmidt, and Graham King
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Tattersall, BSC
EDITOR: Christian Wagner
ACTION/SCI-FI/THRILLER
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel, Thomas Kretschmann, Tory Kittles, and Peter Falk
Starring Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas), Oscar-nominee Julianne Moore (Far From Heaven), and not-hard-on-the-eyes Jessica Biel (The Illusionist), Next is a sci-fi/action flick based upon the 1954 story, “The Golden Man” by the late Philip K. Dick. Dick was the visionary science fiction author whose novels and stories have been adapted into such films as Blade Runner, Minority Report, and Paycheck.
Next focuses on Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage), a Las Vegas magician with a secret gift that is both a blessing and a curse to him. Cris has the uncanny ability to know what will be the next thing that happens to him because he can see two minutes into the future. Performing under the stage name, Frank Cadillac, Cris uses his extrasensory talent to make a living off cheap stage tricks and off his gambling winnings at the blackjack table. His latest project is to find and meet, Liz (Jessica Biel), a young woman who seems to have a strange effect on his powers.
Other eyes, however, have been taking notice of Cris’ talent and dexterity with the portal of time. Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore), an FBI counter-terror agent is eager to tap Cris’ brain to help thwart a terrorist group’s planned attack on Los Angeles with a nuclear time bomb. Using all her wiles, Callie, with the help of a fellow agent, Cavanaugh (Tory Kittles), pursues Cris trying to convince him to help her. When the terrorists, who are also aware of his powers, kidnap Liz, Cris may be forced to put his reluctance aside to save Liz and stop nuclear destruction in California.
Directed by Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors, Die Another Day), Next is an absurd popcorn flick, but easy to watch and enjoy. Of course, it wasn’t really worth a trip to the theatre, as it’s more like a big-budget, prestige “original movie” from the Sci-Fi Channel. Still, it’s occasionally clever, and Tamahori is actually quite good at making action-filled set pieces that somehow manage to catch the attention of an unwary action movie junkie.
Nicolas Cage isn’t very good here, but neither is he very bad. He’s only cheesy bad, as is the rest of the cast. In fact, it’s a good thing that Jessica Biel is easy on the eyes, because her acting talent sure ain’t the thing that is getting her roles. Nicolas Cage is a movie star and there’s something about him on the big screen that is attractive. Put him and Biel together, and that’s not a bad thing, even when it’s not really that good a thing – as in Next.
6 of 10
B
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Next (2007)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some language
DIRECTOR: Lee Tamahori
WRITERS: Gary Goldman, Jonathan Hensleigh, and Paul Bernbaum; from a screen story by Gary Goldman (based upon the short story “The Golden Man” by Philip K. Dick)
PRODUCERS: Nicolas Cage, Norm Golightly, Todd Garner, Arne L. Schmidt, and Graham King
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Tattersall, BSC
EDITOR: Christian Wagner
ACTION/SCI-FI/THRILLER
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel, Thomas Kretschmann, Tory Kittles, and Peter Falk
Starring Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas), Oscar-nominee Julianne Moore (Far From Heaven), and not-hard-on-the-eyes Jessica Biel (The Illusionist), Next is a sci-fi/action flick based upon the 1954 story, “The Golden Man” by the late Philip K. Dick. Dick was the visionary science fiction author whose novels and stories have been adapted into such films as Blade Runner, Minority Report, and Paycheck.
Next focuses on Cris Johnson (Nicolas Cage), a Las Vegas magician with a secret gift that is both a blessing and a curse to him. Cris has the uncanny ability to know what will be the next thing that happens to him because he can see two minutes into the future. Performing under the stage name, Frank Cadillac, Cris uses his extrasensory talent to make a living off cheap stage tricks and off his gambling winnings at the blackjack table. His latest project is to find and meet, Liz (Jessica Biel), a young woman who seems to have a strange effect on his powers.
Other eyes, however, have been taking notice of Cris’ talent and dexterity with the portal of time. Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore), an FBI counter-terror agent is eager to tap Cris’ brain to help thwart a terrorist group’s planned attack on Los Angeles with a nuclear time bomb. Using all her wiles, Callie, with the help of a fellow agent, Cavanaugh (Tory Kittles), pursues Cris trying to convince him to help her. When the terrorists, who are also aware of his powers, kidnap Liz, Cris may be forced to put his reluctance aside to save Liz and stop nuclear destruction in California.
Directed by Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors, Die Another Day), Next is an absurd popcorn flick, but easy to watch and enjoy. Of course, it wasn’t really worth a trip to the theatre, as it’s more like a big-budget, prestige “original movie” from the Sci-Fi Channel. Still, it’s occasionally clever, and Tamahori is actually quite good at making action-filled set pieces that somehow manage to catch the attention of an unwary action movie junkie.
Nicolas Cage isn’t very good here, but neither is he very bad. He’s only cheesy bad, as is the rest of the cast. In fact, it’s a good thing that Jessica Biel is easy on the eyes, because her acting talent sure ain’t the thing that is getting her roles. Nicolas Cage is a movie star and there’s something about him on the big screen that is attractive. Put him and Biel together, and that’s not a bad thing, even when it’s not really that good a thing – as in Next.
6 of 10
B
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
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Monday, December 20, 2010
Steve Carell Comedy, "Crazy, Stupid, Love" Get New Release Date
Press release:
“Crazy, Stupid, Love.” Gets Summer Play Date
The Release of the New Steve Carell Comedy Moves to July 29, 2011
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Responding to overwhelmingly positive test screening results, Warner Bros. Pictures is moving the release date of “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” starring Steve Carell, to July 29, 2011.
The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, who stated, “From our early recruited screenings, we have seen that audiences love ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love.’ From all indications, we feel strongly that the film has a very broad appeal, so we have decided to release it where it will have the widest possible platform. The studio is very excited to include this film in our powerhouse Summer slate, alongside films like ‘The Hangover Part II,’ ‘Green Lantern’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.’”
“Crazy, Stupid, Love.” also stars Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, John Carroll Lynch, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon.
Carell leads the cast as straight-laced, fortysomething Cal Weaver, who is living the dream—good job, nice house, great kids and marriage to his high school sweetheart. But when Cal learns that his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore), has cheated on him and wants a divorce, his perfect life quickly unravels. Worse, in today’s single world, Cal, who hasn’t dated in decades, stands out as the epitome of un-smooth. Now spending his free evenings sulking alone at a local bar, the hapless Cal is taken on as wingman and protégé to handsome, thirtysomething player Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling). In an effort to help Cal get over his wife and start living his life, Jacob opens Cal’s eyes to the many options before him: flirty women, manly drinks and a sense of style that can’t be found at Supercuts or The Gap. But despite Cal’s makeover and his many new conquests, the one thing that can’t be made over is his heart, which seems to keep leading him back to where he began.
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa directed “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” from a screenplay by Dan Fogelman. The film is produced by Carell and Denise Di Novi, with David A. Siegel, Vance DeGeneres and Charlie Hartsock serving as executive producers. Warner Bros. Pictures presents “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” a production of Carousel Productions and DiNovi Pictures. The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and has been rated PG-13 for coarse humor, sexual content and language.
“Crazy, Stupid, Love.” Gets Summer Play Date
The Release of the New Steve Carell Comedy Moves to July 29, 2011
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Responding to overwhelmingly positive test screening results, Warner Bros. Pictures is moving the release date of “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” starring Steve Carell, to July 29, 2011.
The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, who stated, “From our early recruited screenings, we have seen that audiences love ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love.’ From all indications, we feel strongly that the film has a very broad appeal, so we have decided to release it where it will have the widest possible platform. The studio is very excited to include this film in our powerhouse Summer slate, alongside films like ‘The Hangover Part II,’ ‘Green Lantern’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.’”
“Crazy, Stupid, Love.” also stars Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, John Carroll Lynch, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon.
Carell leads the cast as straight-laced, fortysomething Cal Weaver, who is living the dream—good job, nice house, great kids and marriage to his high school sweetheart. But when Cal learns that his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore), has cheated on him and wants a divorce, his perfect life quickly unravels. Worse, in today’s single world, Cal, who hasn’t dated in decades, stands out as the epitome of un-smooth. Now spending his free evenings sulking alone at a local bar, the hapless Cal is taken on as wingman and protégé to handsome, thirtysomething player Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling). In an effort to help Cal get over his wife and start living his life, Jacob opens Cal’s eyes to the many options before him: flirty women, manly drinks and a sense of style that can’t be found at Supercuts or The Gap. But despite Cal’s makeover and his many new conquests, the one thing that can’t be made over is his heart, which seems to keep leading him back to where he began.
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa directed “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” from a screenplay by Dan Fogelman. The film is produced by Carell and Denise Di Novi, with David A. Siegel, Vance DeGeneres and Charlie Hartsock serving as executive producers. Warner Bros. Pictures presents “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” a production of Carousel Productions and DiNovi Pictures. The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and has been rated PG-13 for coarse humor, sexual content and language.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Review: "Far From Heaven" is Heavenly (Happy B'day, Julianne Moore)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 80 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux
Far From Heaven (2002)
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic elements, sexual content, brief violence and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Todd Haynes
PRODUCERS: Jody Patton and Christine Vachon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Edward Lachman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: James Lyons
COMPOSER: Elmer Bernstein
DRAMA/ROMANCE
Starring: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson, Viola Davis, James Rebhorn, Ryan Ward, Lindsay Andretta, Jordan Puryear, and Celia Weston
Last year (2002), a number of people thought that mean old Halle Berry had stolen her Best Actress Oscar for Monster’s Ball from Nicole Kidman for Kidman’s performance in the overblown and somewhat empty Moulin Rouge!. This year, Nicole finally received an Oscar for her performance in the tepid and mediocre The Hours, but she may have been the thief this time. Julianne Moore gives a rich and lush performance as a 1950’s era housewife facing a philandering husband and the era’s strict racial and social mores in Todd Haynes’s Far From Heaven, a film that may have touched too close to home for many in Hollywood's hypocritical, closed, and bigoted community.
Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) is the dream housewife living the dream version of the American dream. Her husband, Frank (Dennis Quaid), has a hot advertising executive job, and together, they have a huge two-story home and two adorable children. They fill their lives with the latest consumer goods, and they throw fancy, catered affairs for their ritzy, upper middle class friends. However, Frank has a skeleton in the closet with him; he’s gay, and he is having an increasingly difficult time suppressing his need to press male flesh. As her marital crisis worsens, Cathy turns to her gardener, Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert), a strapping hunk of black manhood, for comfort. That relationship doesn’t sit well with cracker and spearchunker alike, and racial tensions, which had been on the down low, simmer and threaten to boil over.
Todd Haynes (Velvet Goldmine) made Far From Heaven a kind of homage to the slick melodramatic films of the 1950’s, in particular the work of director Douglas Sirk. Sirk’s work was ignored for years after his heyday, but he always had a cult following. In the last few decades, many have given his films a more critical and careful review, especially his infamous color remake of the old black and white film, Imitation of Life. Far From Heaven apparently borrows liberally from Sirk’s film, All That Heaven Allows, in which a socialite also falls for her gardener.
Heaven magnificently captures the amazingly rich and colorful look of Technicolor films. It’s like watching a movie from another era, from the impressionistic palette of the photography and the opulent art direction to the lavish costumes and Elmer Bernstein’s fabulous score. It is hard to believe that someone could capture the lost look of the Fifties melodrama, but Haynes ably puts it together.
Haynes’s really impressed me with his script. While he manages to capture the social and personal heat that filmmakers hid under the surface of their films in the 50’s, he also writes a story that revels in and openly mocks the hypocrisy of the supposedly enlightened America of that time. By the 1950’s, the United Stated considered itself the greatest nation on the face of the earth, a land awash in freedom and opportunity, when in reality, freedom and opportunity were simply catch phrases for the powerful sold to the powerless.
Although the film is set in the 1950’s and portrays 50’s era prejudices, the film is perfect for this time, as well as a clear reflection of a past time. Watching Frank Whitaker struggle with his sexuality and watching Cathy and Raymond be persecuted for their friendship, you can’t help but realize that things have not changed. Homosexuality is still taboo today, and many well-known political and public figures still refer to homosexuality as the most heinous sin of all. Interracial friendships of any kind are still call attention to themselves and still cause many people to frown. Today, we give the alleged acceptance of the gay lifestyle and color-blind friendships lip service. However, modern American society is still almost as stuck in the mud as the one portrayed in Heaven.
As good as Haynes and his technical cohorts are in recreating a film that looks like it came from an movie era almost half a century gone, the people who make Far From Heaven more than just a grand technical achievement are the actors. Ms. Moore makes Cathy a charming character, a generous woman with an open heart and a good spirit. She easily rides the good times, but she makes it through the tough; she has to, as we know by the title, that all doesn’t end so very chipper. I was amazed by her performance. She made Cathy’s happiness and satisfaction with her life not just a façade, but the real thing.
So often, middle class housewives are played as secretly unhappy, but Cathy is quiet content; in fact, she adores her life, and she does her best to stay happy even when she encounters difficulty. I’m sure many would consider it politically incorrect to portray a housewife as a strong heroine, fighting to save her marriage, family, and lifestyle Julianne Moore makes you believe; she makes you root for Cathy. She even drew me into the character, so that I felt like I was experiencing every joy, every pain, and every slight that Cathy experienced. What more can one ask of a performer other than that she make you believe and feel?
A lot of people always knew that Dennis Quaid was a very good actor; somehow, a fair assessment of his talent kept getting lost because of his good looks and tomcatting lifestyle. It takes a movie like this and The Rookie to show us what an underrated talent he is. Quaid makes Frank both pathetic and sympathetic – quite complex. He doesn’t allow the viewer to always make an easy assessment of Frank. He’s just a man in a complicated situation fighting his own complications within himself.
Next to Cathy, the best character in this film is Raymond the gardener. He’s a noble Negro full of wisdom, and, at first, that might seem so typical – quiet suffering black man, so strong in the face of silly racism. However, that stereotype is a deliberate creation of Haynes, and Haysbert pulls it off with disarming charm and the knack of a skilled movie thespian. In the kind of film Haynes recreates, Raymond would have been noble, like the God-loving housekeeper in Imitation of Life. Here, the point isn’t his nobility; Raymond simply has to be strong, like Cathy, to survive the slings and arrows of outrageous hypocrites. Somehow, the proper acclaim for Haysbert in this role was nonexistent.
Do you realize that of all the post-season film awards, only the Golden Satellite Awards (as of this writing) recognized Haysbert’s performance with even a nomination (which he also won)? What up? Were (dumb) white critics and voters just too color struck (and dense) to notice the subtlety of both character and performance in Raymond’s case? Or do they feel that awards for Halle and Denzel pretty much take care of awarding darkies for film roles for another decade or so?
Give Far From Heaven a viewing. Not only is it relevant, but it’s quite entertaining with beautiful performances; Julianne Moore’s alone is worth a look. It’s also one of the best films about the culture of class and racial hypocrisy that you’ll ever see.
8 of 10
A
NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 4 nominations: “Best Actress in a Leading Role” (Julianne Moore). “Best Cinematography” (Edward Lachman), “Best Music, Original Score” (Elmer Bernstein), “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Todd Haynes)
2003 Black Reel Awards: 1 win: “Theatrical - Best Supporting Actor” (Dennis Haysbert)
2003 Golden Globes: 4 nominations: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Elmer Bernstein), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Dennis Quaid), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Julianne Moore), “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Todd Haynes)
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Far From Heaven (2002)
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic elements, sexual content, brief violence and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Todd Haynes
PRODUCERS: Jody Patton and Christine Vachon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Edward Lachman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: James Lyons
COMPOSER: Elmer Bernstein
DRAMA/ROMANCE
Starring: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson, Viola Davis, James Rebhorn, Ryan Ward, Lindsay Andretta, Jordan Puryear, and Celia Weston
Last year (2002), a number of people thought that mean old Halle Berry had stolen her Best Actress Oscar for Monster’s Ball from Nicole Kidman for Kidman’s performance in the overblown and somewhat empty Moulin Rouge!. This year, Nicole finally received an Oscar for her performance in the tepid and mediocre The Hours, but she may have been the thief this time. Julianne Moore gives a rich and lush performance as a 1950’s era housewife facing a philandering husband and the era’s strict racial and social mores in Todd Haynes’s Far From Heaven, a film that may have touched too close to home for many in Hollywood's hypocritical, closed, and bigoted community.
Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) is the dream housewife living the dream version of the American dream. Her husband, Frank (Dennis Quaid), has a hot advertising executive job, and together, they have a huge two-story home and two adorable children. They fill their lives with the latest consumer goods, and they throw fancy, catered affairs for their ritzy, upper middle class friends. However, Frank has a skeleton in the closet with him; he’s gay, and he is having an increasingly difficult time suppressing his need to press male flesh. As her marital crisis worsens, Cathy turns to her gardener, Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert), a strapping hunk of black manhood, for comfort. That relationship doesn’t sit well with cracker and spearchunker alike, and racial tensions, which had been on the down low, simmer and threaten to boil over.
Todd Haynes (Velvet Goldmine) made Far From Heaven a kind of homage to the slick melodramatic films of the 1950’s, in particular the work of director Douglas Sirk. Sirk’s work was ignored for years after his heyday, but he always had a cult following. In the last few decades, many have given his films a more critical and careful review, especially his infamous color remake of the old black and white film, Imitation of Life. Far From Heaven apparently borrows liberally from Sirk’s film, All That Heaven Allows, in which a socialite also falls for her gardener.
Heaven magnificently captures the amazingly rich and colorful look of Technicolor films. It’s like watching a movie from another era, from the impressionistic palette of the photography and the opulent art direction to the lavish costumes and Elmer Bernstein’s fabulous score. It is hard to believe that someone could capture the lost look of the Fifties melodrama, but Haynes ably puts it together.
Haynes’s really impressed me with his script. While he manages to capture the social and personal heat that filmmakers hid under the surface of their films in the 50’s, he also writes a story that revels in and openly mocks the hypocrisy of the supposedly enlightened America of that time. By the 1950’s, the United Stated considered itself the greatest nation on the face of the earth, a land awash in freedom and opportunity, when in reality, freedom and opportunity were simply catch phrases for the powerful sold to the powerless.
Although the film is set in the 1950’s and portrays 50’s era prejudices, the film is perfect for this time, as well as a clear reflection of a past time. Watching Frank Whitaker struggle with his sexuality and watching Cathy and Raymond be persecuted for their friendship, you can’t help but realize that things have not changed. Homosexuality is still taboo today, and many well-known political and public figures still refer to homosexuality as the most heinous sin of all. Interracial friendships of any kind are still call attention to themselves and still cause many people to frown. Today, we give the alleged acceptance of the gay lifestyle and color-blind friendships lip service. However, modern American society is still almost as stuck in the mud as the one portrayed in Heaven.
As good as Haynes and his technical cohorts are in recreating a film that looks like it came from an movie era almost half a century gone, the people who make Far From Heaven more than just a grand technical achievement are the actors. Ms. Moore makes Cathy a charming character, a generous woman with an open heart and a good spirit. She easily rides the good times, but she makes it through the tough; she has to, as we know by the title, that all doesn’t end so very chipper. I was amazed by her performance. She made Cathy’s happiness and satisfaction with her life not just a façade, but the real thing.
So often, middle class housewives are played as secretly unhappy, but Cathy is quiet content; in fact, she adores her life, and she does her best to stay happy even when she encounters difficulty. I’m sure many would consider it politically incorrect to portray a housewife as a strong heroine, fighting to save her marriage, family, and lifestyle Julianne Moore makes you believe; she makes you root for Cathy. She even drew me into the character, so that I felt like I was experiencing every joy, every pain, and every slight that Cathy experienced. What more can one ask of a performer other than that she make you believe and feel?
A lot of people always knew that Dennis Quaid was a very good actor; somehow, a fair assessment of his talent kept getting lost because of his good looks and tomcatting lifestyle. It takes a movie like this and The Rookie to show us what an underrated talent he is. Quaid makes Frank both pathetic and sympathetic – quite complex. He doesn’t allow the viewer to always make an easy assessment of Frank. He’s just a man in a complicated situation fighting his own complications within himself.
Next to Cathy, the best character in this film is Raymond the gardener. He’s a noble Negro full of wisdom, and, at first, that might seem so typical – quiet suffering black man, so strong in the face of silly racism. However, that stereotype is a deliberate creation of Haynes, and Haysbert pulls it off with disarming charm and the knack of a skilled movie thespian. In the kind of film Haynes recreates, Raymond would have been noble, like the God-loving housekeeper in Imitation of Life. Here, the point isn’t his nobility; Raymond simply has to be strong, like Cathy, to survive the slings and arrows of outrageous hypocrites. Somehow, the proper acclaim for Haysbert in this role was nonexistent.
Do you realize that of all the post-season film awards, only the Golden Satellite Awards (as of this writing) recognized Haysbert’s performance with even a nomination (which he also won)? What up? Were (dumb) white critics and voters just too color struck (and dense) to notice the subtlety of both character and performance in Raymond’s case? Or do they feel that awards for Halle and Denzel pretty much take care of awarding darkies for film roles for another decade or so?
Give Far From Heaven a viewing. Not only is it relevant, but it’s quite entertaining with beautiful performances; Julianne Moore’s alone is worth a look. It’s also one of the best films about the culture of class and racial hypocrisy that you’ll ever see.
8 of 10
A
NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 4 nominations: “Best Actress in a Leading Role” (Julianne Moore). “Best Cinematography” (Edward Lachman), “Best Music, Original Score” (Elmer Bernstein), “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Todd Haynes)
2003 Black Reel Awards: 1 win: “Theatrical - Best Supporting Actor” (Dennis Haysbert)
2003 Golden Globes: 4 nominations: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Elmer Bernstein), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Dennis Quaid), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Julianne Moore), “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Todd Haynes)
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