Amazon Studios Secures Producing Deals with 3 Production Companies

Amazon Studios Secures Producing Deals with Bona Fide Productions, Killer Films and Le Grisbi Productions

Each production company will have two-year deals with the distributor

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ: AMZN) – Amazon Studios announced that it has struck exclusive first-look deals with Bona Fide Productions, Killer Films and Le Grisbi Productions. Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa’s Bona Fide Productions and Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler’s Killer Films will each have an exclusive first-look deal in both film and television for two years. John Lesher’s Le Grisbi Productions will have an exclusive first-look deal for indie-sized films for two years.

Currently, Amazon Studios is working alongside Bona Fide Productions on Marc Webb’s The Only Living Boy in New York, starring Jeff Bridges, Callum Turner and Kate Beckinsale and Killer Films on Wonderstruck, the latest film from Academy Award-nominated director Todd Haynes, starring Julianne Moore. Wonderstruck will screen in competition at the upcoming 70th annual Cannes Film Festival. Both The Only Living Boy in New York and Wonderstruck are slated for release in 2017.

“Bona Fide Productions, Killer Films and Le Grisbi Productions each have a long history of making critically acclaimed and award-winning films with accomplished filmmakers,” said Roy Price, Head of Amazon Studios. “We’re proud to be working with each of them and excited about our future creative collaborations.”

Bona Fide Productions has produced award-winning films such as Little Miss Sunshine, Little Children and Nebraska. Killer Films is the company behind award-winning titles Still Alice, Carol, Wiener-Dog, a film Amazon Studios purchased at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and the Amazon Original Series “Z: The Beginning of Everything.” John Lesher’s Le Grisbi is currently in post-production on Scott Cooper’s Hostiles, starring Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike, and production on White Boy Rick, which is being directed by Yann Demange and starring Matthew McConaughey. Previously, Le Grisbi has produced Fury, Black Mass, End of Watch and Birdman, which won the Oscar for Best Picture at the 2014 Academy Awards.


About Amazon Studios
Amazon Studios launched in 2010 as a new way to develop feature films and episodic series. First announced in January 2015, Amazon Original Movies in an initiative by Amazon Studios to produce and acquire original movies for theatrical release and early window distribution exclusively for Prime members. Like Amazon Original Series, Amazon Original Movies focuses on unique stories, voices and character from top and up-and-coming creators. In 2015 Amazon Studios released its first film, Chi-raq, from critically acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee. Chi-raq is now available for Prime members to stream exclusively. James Gray’s The Lost City of Z is currently in theaters. Up next, Amazon Studios will release Doug Liman’s The Wall on May 12th, Amir Bar-Lev’s Long Strange Trip on May 26th and Michael Showalter’s The Big Sick on June 23rd.

About Amazon Video
Amazon Video is a premium on-demand entertainment service that offers customers the greatest choice in what to watch and how to watch it. Amazon Video is the only service that provides all of the following:

•     Prime Video: Thousands of movies and TV shows, including popular licensed content plus critically-acclaimed and award-winning Amazon Original Series and Movies from Amazon Studios like Transparent, The Man in the High Castle, Love & Friendship, and kids series Tumble Leaf, available for unlimited streaming as part of an Amazon Prime membership. Prime Video is also now available to customers in more than 200 countries and territories around the globe at www.primevideo.com.
•     Amazon Channels: Over 100 video subscriptions to networks like HBO, SHOWTIME, STARZ, PBS KIDS, Acorn TV, and more, available to Amazon Prime members in the US as add-ons to their membership. To view the full list of available channels, visit www.amazon.com/channels.
•     Rent or Own: Hundreds of thousands of titles, including new release movies and current TV shows available for on-demand rental or purchase for all Amazon customers.
•     Instant Access: Customers can instantly watch anytime, anywhere through the Amazon Video app on compatible TVs, mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and Fire tablets, or online. For a list of all compatible devices, visit www.amazon.com/howtostream.
•     Premium Features: Top features like 4K Ultra HD, High Dynamic Range (HDR) and mobile downloads for offline viewing of select content.

In addition to Prime Video, the Prime membership includes unlimited fast free shipping options across all categories available on Amazon, more than two million songs and thousands of playlists and stations with Prime Music, secure photo storage with Prime Photos, unlimited reading with Prime Reading, unlimited access to a digital audiobook catalog with Audible Channels for Prime, a rotating selection of free digital games and in-game loot with Twitch Prime, early access to select Lightning Deals, exclusive access and discounts to select items, and more. To sign-up for Prime or to find out more, visit: www.amazon.com/prime.

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2016 Dorian Award Winnters Announced; "Carol" Dominates

The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA) is an organization that is comprised of critics and entertainment journalists who write on television and film for noteworthy media outlets easily accessible in the U.S.  According to its website, most members identify as a member of the LGBTQ-munity:  lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, but the organization has non-gay “ally” journalists in its ranks, members who tend to work for LGBTQ-targeted outlets).

Through its annual Dorian Awards, GALECA toasts the finest in movies and television, from mainstream to LGBTQ-centric.  Oscar Wilde is the group's patron saint.

2016 Dorian Award winners (for the year in film and television 2015):

Film of the Year
“Carol”

Director of the Year
Todd Haynes, “Carol”

Film Actor of the Year
Leonardo Dicaprio, “The Revenant”

Film Actress of the Year
Cate Blanchett, “Carol”

LGBTQ Film of the Year
“Carol”

Foreign Language Film of the Year
“Son of Saul” (Hungary)

Screenplay of the Year
“Carol”

Documentary of the Year
“Amy”

Visually Striking Film of the Year
“Mad Max: Fury Road”

Unsung Film of the Year
“Tangerine”

Campy Flick of the Year
“Magic Mike XXL”

TV Drama of the Year
(TIE) “Fargo” & “Orange is the New Black”

TV Comedy of the Year
“Transparent”

TV Actor of the Year
Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”

TV Actress of the Year
Taraji P. Henson, “Empire”

LGBTQ Show of the Year
“Transparent”

Unsung TV Show of the Year
“Looking”

TV Current Affairs Show of the Year
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”

Campy TV Show of the Year
“Empire”

TV Musical Performance of the Year
Aretha Franklin

The ‘We’re Wilde About You’ Rising Star Award
Alicia Vikander

Wilde Wit of the Year
Amy Schumer

Wilde Artist of the Year
Todd Haynes

Timeless Award
Jane Fonda (previously announced)

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National Society of Film Critics Name Michael B. Jordan "Best Actor of 2015;" "Spotlight Named "Best Picture"

The National Society of Film Critics was founded in New York City in 1966 and its membership is currently comprise of 56 of the country’s most prominent movie critics.  Known for their highbrow tastes, these critics form one of the most prestigious film groups on the United States.  Current members include some of my favorite film critics, like David Edelstein and J. Hoberman, among others.  The late Roger Ebert, my favorite critic, was also a member.  The society has produced several anthologies about movies, including the must-have for film fans, Produced and Abandoned: The Best Films You’ve Never Seen (1990).

The National Society of Film Critics gathered on Sunday, January 3, 2016 to vote on their annual film awards.  The group chose Tom McCarthy’s film, Spotlight, as Best Picture of the Year 2015.

The group dedicated this meeting to the late Richard Corliss, longtime critic at TIME magazine, writing that Corliss was “not just a writer of extraordinary intelligence, wit, and energy, but also a generous friend and colleague.”

Here is a list of the National Society of Film Critics 2015 winners and runners-up, with vote counts from the final round.

BEST PICTURE:
*1. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy) 23
    Carol (Todd Haynes) 17
    Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller) 13

BEST DIRECTOR:
*1.Todd Haynes (Carol) 21
    Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) 21 (because he was on fewer ballots; a winner must be on a majority of ballots, which are weighted)
    George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road) 20

BEST ACTOR:
*1. Michael B. Jordan (Creed) 29 points
    Geza Rohrig (Son of Saul) 18
    Tom Courtenay (45 Years) 15

BEST ACTRESS:
*1. Charlotte Rampling (45 Years) 57
    Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) 30
    Nina Hoss (Phoenix) 22

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
*1. Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) 56
    Michael Shannon (99 Homes) 16
    Sylvester Stallone (Creed) 14

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
*1. Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria) 53
    Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) 23
    Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs) 17 and Elizabeth Banks (Love & Mercy) 17

BEST SCREENPLAY:
*1. Spotlight (Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy) 21
    Anomalisa (Charlie Kaufman) 15  and The Big Short (Charles Randolph and Adam McKay) 15

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
*1. Carol (Ed Lachman) 25
    The Assassin (Mark Lee Ping-bin) 22
    Mad Max: Fury Road (John Seale) 12

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM:
*1. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako) 22
    Phoenix (Christian Petzold) 20
    The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien) 16

BEST NON-FICTION FILM:
*1. Amy (Asif Kapadia) 23
    In Jackson Heights (Frederick Wiseman) 18
    Seymour: An Introduction (Ethan Hawke) 15

FILM HERITAGE AWARDS:

Film Society of Lincoln Center and the programmers Jake Perlin and Michelle Materre, for the series Tell It Like It Is: Black Independents in New York, 1968-1986

The Criterion Collection and L’Immagine Ritrovata for the restoration and packaging of the reconstructed version of The Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray

Lobster Films and Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna/L’Immagine Ritrovata for the restoration of Charlie Chaplin’s Essanay Films

SPECIAL CITATION for a film awaiting American distribution:   One Floor Below, a Romanian film directed by Radu Muntean.

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Boston Film Critics Name "Spotlight" Best Picture of 2015

The Boston Society of Film Critics (BSFC) was formed in 1981.  The group claims that its mission is to make “Boston's unique critical perspective heard on a national and international level by awarding commendations to the best of the year's films and filmmakers and local film theaters and film societies that offer outstanding film programming.”  One of the society’s members, Wesley Morris, won 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

2015 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Winners:

Best Picture  -  Spotlight

Best Actor – (tie)
Paul Dano for Love & Mercy
Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant

Best Actress -  Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years

Best Supporting Actor - Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies

Best Supporting Actress - Kristen Stewart for Clouds of Sils Maria

Best Director - Todd Haynes for Carol

Best Screenplay - Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer for Spotlight

Best Cinematography - Edward Lachman for Carol

Best Documentary - Amy

Best Foreign-Language Film  (awarded in memory of Jay Carr) -  The Look of Silence (Denmark)

Best Animated Film -  (tie) Anomalisa and Inside Out

Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer) -  Margaret Sixel for Mad Max: Fury Road

Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy) -  Marielle Heller for The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Best Ensemble Cast -  Spotlight

Best Use of Music in a Film -  Love & Mercy

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New York Film Critics Circle Names "Carol" Best Picture of 2015

This film critics group was founded in 1935.  The New York Film Critics Circle is, according to their website, “an organization of film reviewers from New York-based publications that exists to honor excellence in U.S. and world cinema.”  Members are critics from daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, magazines, and online general-interest publications (that meet certain qualifications). Every year in December, Circle members meet in New York to vote on awards for the year's films.  The Circle also puts on an awards presentation, which will be held in January 2015 to honor 2014 winners.

The Circle was the first film critics organization that I encountered as a budding, young movie lover.  The Circle's awards have been predictors of the Oscar nominations. However, The Circle sees it awards “as a principled alternative to the Oscars, honoring esthetic merit in a forum that is immune to commercial and political pressures,” according to their website.

2015 NYFCC Awards:

Best Picture
Carol

Best Director
Todd Haynes - Carol

Best Screenplay
Phyllis Nagy - Carol

Best Actress
Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn

Best Actor
Michael Keaton - Spotlight

Best Supporting Actress
Kristen Stewart - Clouds of Sils Maria

Best Supporting Actor
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies

Best Cinematographer
Edward Lachman - Carol

Best Animated Film
Inside Out

Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary)
In Jackson Heights

Best Foreign Language Film
Timbuktu (Mauritania)

Best First Film
László Nemes - Son of Saul

Special Award
William Becker and Janus Films

Special Award
Ennio Morricone

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Gotham Awards Names "Spotlight" as the "Best Feature" of 2015

Honoring independent films, the Gotham Awards are the first major awards of the film awards season.  The Gotham Awards are presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), an organization which helps independent filmmakers by connected artists with resources at all stages of film development and distribution.

This year, the 2015 Gotham Awards kicks off the 2015-16 season.  The Gotham Awards ceremony was held on Monday, November 30, 2015 at Cipriani Wall Street.

The 2015 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award winners:

Best Feature
Spotlight
Tom McCarthy, director; Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Blye Pagan Faust, producers (Open Road Films)

Best Documentary
The Look of Silence
Joshua Oppenheimer, director; Signe Byrge Sørensen, producer (Drafthouse Films)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Jonas Carpignano for Mediterranea (Sundance Selects)

Best Screenplay
Spotlight, Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Open Road Films)

Best Actor*
Paul Dano in Love & Mercy (Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and River Road Entertainment)

Best Actress*
Bel Powley in The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Sony Pictures Classics)

Breakthrough Actor
Mya Taylor in Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures)


* The 2015 Best Actor/Best Actress nominating panel also voted to award a special “Gotham Jury Award” jointly to Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, and Brian d’Arcy James for their ensemble work in Spotlight. (Open Road Films).

Spotlight on Women Directors ‘Live the Dream’ Grant
For the sixth consecutive year, IFP is proud present the euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Directors ‘Live the Dream’ grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs or IFP’s Screen Forward Lab. In 2015, Screen Forward Lab directors have been included in this opportunity for the first time. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film or episodic series. The nominees are:

Chanelle Aponte Pearson, director, 195 Lewis - WINNER


Gotham Independent Film Audience Award
IFP members will determine the 7th Annual Gotham Independent Film Audience Award with nominees comprised of the 14 nominated films in the Best Feature, Best Documentary, and Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award categories. All IFP current, active members at the Individual Level and above will be eligible to vote.  Voting will take place online from November 18th at 12:01 AM EST and conclude on November 25th at 5:00 PM EST. In addition, IFP will be scheduling screenings of the nominated films for IFP members in the theater at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP in Brooklyn. These screenings will take place from November 4-11. The winner of the Audience Award will be announced at the Gotham Awards Ceremony on November 30, 2015.

Tangerine
Sean Baker, director; Darren Dean, Shih-Ching Tsou, Marcus Cox & Karrie Cox, producers (Magnolia Pictures) - WINNER

Gotham Appreciation Award
A Gothams Appreciation Award is given to Ellen Cotter for her contribution to theatrical distribution, including leadership of the Angelika Film Centers.

Breakthrough Series – Longform
:
A continuing or limited series with episodes running 30 minutes or longer.



Mr. Robot, Sam Esmail, creator (USA Network)
 (WINNER)
Breakthrough Series – Shortform:
A continuing or limited-series new digital media programming comprising five or more episodes with the majority under 20 minutes.  



Shugs and Fats, Nadia Manzoor and Radhika Vaz, creators (ShugsandFats.TV) (WINNER)


Gotham Tributes
The Gotham Independent Film Awards, selected by distinguished juries and presented in New York City, the home of independent film, are the first honors of the film awards season. This public showcase honors the filmmaking community, expands the audience for independent films, and supports the work that IFP does behind the scenes throughout the year to bring such films to fruition.

The "Film Tribute Awards" went to Steve Golin; Todd Haynes; Helen Mirren; and Robert Redford

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2015 Gotham Award Nominations Announced; Winners Announced Nov. 30th

Honoring independent films, the Gotham Awards are the first major awards of the film awards season.  The Gotham Awards are presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), an organization which helps independent filmmakers by connected artists with resources at all stages of film development and distribution.

This year, the 2015 Gotham Awards kicks off the 2015-16 season.  The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 30, 2015 at Cipriani Wall Street.  For information on attending: http://gotham.ifp.org

The 2015 IFP Gotham Independent Film Award nominations:

Best Feature

Carol
Todd Haynes, director; Elizabeth Karlsen, Christine Vachon, Stephen Woolley, producers (The Weinstein Company)

The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Marielle Heller, director; Anne Carey, Bert Hamelinck, Madeline Samit, Miranda Bailey, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)

Heaven Knows What
Josh and Benny Safdie, directors; Oscar Boyson, Sebastian Bear-McClard, producers (RADiUS)

Spotlight
Tom McCarthy, director; Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Blye Pagan Faust, producers (Open Road Films)

Tangerine
Sean Baker, director; Darren Dean, Shih-Ching Tsou, Marcus Cox & Karrie Cox, producers (Magnolia Pictures)

Best Documentary

Approaching the Elephant
Amanda Rose Wilder, director; Jay Craven, Robert Greene, Amanda Rose Wilder, producers (Kingdom County Productions)

Cartel Land
Matthew Heineman, director; Matthew Heineman, Tom Yellin, producers (The Orchard and A&E IndieFilms)

Heart of a Dog
Laurie Anderson, director; Dan Janvey, Laurie Anderson, producers (Abramorama and HBO Documentary Films)

Listen to Me Marlon
Stevan Riley, director; John Battsek, RJ Cutler, George Chignell, producers (Showtime Documentary Films)

The Look of Silence
Joshua Oppenheimer, director; Signe Byrge Sørensen, producer (Drafthouse Films)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Desiree Akhavan for Appropriate Behavior (Gravitas Ventures)
Jonas Carpignano for Mediterranea (Sundance Selects)
Marielle Heller for The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Sony Pictures Classics)
John Magary for The Mend (Cinelicious Pics)
Josh Mond for James White (The Film Arcade)

Best Screenplay
Carol, Phyllis Nagy (The Weinstein Company)
The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Marielle Heller (Sony Pictures Classics)
Love & Mercy, Oren Moverman and Michael Alan Lerner (Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and River Road Entertainment)
Spotlight, Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Open Road Films)
While We’re Young, Noah Baumbach (A24)

Best Actor*
Christopher Abbott in James White (The Film Arcade)
Kevin Corrigan in Results (Magnolia Pictures)
Paul Dano in Love & Mercy (Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and River Road Entertainment)
Peter Sarsgaard in Experimenter (Magnolia Pictures)
Michael Shannon in 99 Homes (Broad Green Pictures)

Best Actress*
Cate Blanchett in Carol (The Weinstein Company)
Blythe Danner in I’ll See You in My Dreams (Bleecker Street)
Brie Larson in Room (A24 Films)
Bel Powley in The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Sony Pictures Classics)
Lily Tomlin in Grandma (Sony Pictures Classics)
Kristen Wiig in Welcome to Me (Alchemy)

Breakthrough Actor
Rory Culkin in Gabriel (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Arielle Holmes in Heaven Knows What (RADiUS)
Lola Kirke in Mistress America (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez in Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures)
Mya Taylor in Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures)


* The 2015 Best Actor/Best Actress nominating panel also voted to award a special “Gotham Jury Award” jointly to Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, and Brian d’Arcy James for their ensemble work in Spotlight. (Open Road Films).

Spotlight on Women Directors ‘Live the Dream’ Grant

For the sixth consecutive year, IFP is proud present the euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Directors ‘Live the Dream’ grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs or IFP’s Screen Forward Lab. In 2015, Screen Forward Lab directors have been included in this opportunity for the first time. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film or episodic series. The nominees are:

Claire Carré, director, Embers
Deb Shoval, director, AWOL
Chanelle Aponte Pearson, director, 195 Lewis
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Gotham Independent Film Audience Award

IFP members will determine the 7th Annual Gotham Independent Film Audience Award with nominees comprised of the 14 nominated films in the Best Feature, Best Documentary, and Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award categories. All IFP current, active members at the Individual Level and above will be eligible to vote.  Voting will take place online from November 18th at 12:01 AM EST and conclude on November 25th at 5:00 PM EST. In addition, IFP will be scheduling screenings of the nominated films for IFP members in the theater at the Made in NY Media Center by IFP in Brooklyn. These screenings will take place from November 4-11. The winner of the Audience Award will be announced at the Gotham Awards Ceremony on November 30, 2015.

Gotham Appreciation Award

A Gothams Appreciation Award will be given to Ellen Cotter for her contribution to theatrical distribution, including leadership of the Angelika Film Centers.

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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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