THE 11TH HOUR, PETE SEEGER: THE POWER OF SONG: Contemporary Documentaries
The environmentally conscious The 11th Hour and the biodoc Pete Seeger: The Power of Song will be screened as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ "Contemporary Documentaries" series on Wednesday, October 22, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission is free.
Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio (above), The 11th Hour features politicians (not Sarah Palin), scientists, and other concerned Earthlings discussing the planet’s near-the-brink state thanks to humankind’s boundless appetite for destruction and pillage. Producer-director Leila Conners Petersen and director Nadia Conners will take questions from the audience following the screening.
Directed by Jim Brown, and produced by Brown, Michael Cohl and William Eigen, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song documents the life of, you guessed it, American singer/songwriter Pete Seeger. The film features archival footage and clips from Seeger’s own personal films.
Part One of the 27th annual Contemporary Documentaries series continues through December 3, showcasing feature-length and short documentaries drawn from the 2007 Academy Award nominations, including the winners, as well as other important and innovative films considered by the Academy that year. Part Two unspools from March through June of 2009.
All films, with the exception of those scheduled for December 3, will screen at the Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. All seating is unreserved.
The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. Free parking is available through the entrance on Homewood Avenue (one block north of Fountain Avenue). For additional information, visit www.oscars.org or call (310) 247-3600.
SENATOR OBAMA GOES TO AFRICA Screening in the Bay Area
National Film Board of Canada Salute
DEADLY DECEPTION, IN THE SHADOW OF THE STARS: Oscar’s Docs
Makeup Artists and Hairstylists: A Forum on Contemporary Technique
Getting Perspective: The Art and Science of 3-D Motion Pictures
DAYS OF WAITING, AMERICAN DREAM: Oscar’s Docs
A TIME FOR BURNING: Monday Nights with Oscar
AUTISM: THE MUSICAL, WAR/DANCE: Contemporary Documentaries
PRELUDE TO WAR Oscar Returned to Army
David Hughes’ Top Ten Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made
THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY Trailer
Co-written by John Travis and Rebecca Sonnenshine, and directed by Mickey Liddell, The Haunting of Molly Hartley follows a teenager at a private girls’ school — the poor, lamented, haunted Molly Hartley of the title (played by Haley Bennett) — who, just as she’s about the become of legal age, discovers what the future has in store for her. Hopefully not to turn into someone like her Mad Mother.
Also in the The Haunting of Molly Hartley cast: Chace Crawford, Jake Weber, Shannon Marie Woodward, and AnnaLynne McCord.
The Haunting of Molly Hartley opens in the US on October 31.
Clip posted by JustReleasedTrailers.
THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS Trailer
Robert De Niro in WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Trailer
Anne Hathaway in PASSENGERS Trailer
Edward Norton, Colin Farrell in PRIDE AND GLORY Trailer
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM Trailer
Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning in THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES Trailer
Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore in HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU Trailer
THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS Trailer
Written and directed by Mark Herman, probably best known for the 1998 drama Little Voice, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is based on John Boyne’s World War II-set novel about a boy, Bruno (Asa Butterfield), whose father (David Thewlis) is the top dog at a Nazi concentration camp. One day, Bruno befriends a Jewish boy (Jack Scanlon) on the wrong side of the fence. Life will never be the same…
Also in the The Boy in the Striped Pajamas cast: Vera Farmiga, Rupert Friend, Amber Beattie, and veterans Richard Johnson and Sheila Hancock.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas opens in the US on November 14.
Clip posted by TheMoviePreviews.
Robert De Niro in WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Trailer
Anne Hathaway in PASSENGERS Trailer
Edward Norton, Colin Farrell in PRIDE AND GLORY Trailer
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM Trailer
Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning in THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES Trailer
Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore in HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU Trailer
GÉRARD PHILIPE: A MAN NOT AN ANGEL Clip
BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA Tops BODY OF LIES
Beverly Hills Chihuahua clung to the top spot at the North American box office this weekend, with US$17.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Walt Disney’s adventure tale outran its competition by gaining momentum Saturday, lifting its domestic total to $52.5 million after two weeks in release. Directed by Raja Gosnell, the story centers on a spoiled chihuahua ending up astray in Mexico.
Debuting in second place with $14.2 million was Screen Gems’ horror remake Quarantine, which follows a group of people struggling to survive [...] Continue Reading…
Guillaume Depardieu
Guillaume Depardieu, best known, perhaps, as the eldest son of superstar Gérard Depardieu, has died of complications from pneumonia at a hospital in the Greater Paris area. He was 37.
Among Guillaume Depardieu’s credits are Alain Corneau’s period drama Tous les matins du monde (1991), playing Gérard Depardieu’s character in his youth; Pierre Salvadori’s Les Apprentis (1995), opposite François Cluzet; Leos Carax’s sexually explicit drama Pola X (1999); and, more recently, Josée Dayan’s Château en Suède (2008), a made-for-TV feature based on Françoise Sagan’s play, and co-starring Jeanne Moreau. Depardieu’s voice will shortly be heard in [...] Continue Reading…
SENATOR OBAMA GOES TO AFRICA Screening in the Bay Area
The Tiburon Film Society will present Bob Hercules and Keith Walker’s 52-minute documentary Senator Obama Goes to Africa on Wednesday, November 5, at 6 p.m. at the Bay Model located at 2100 Bridgeway in the Bay Area town of Sausalito.
In Senator Obama Goes to Africa, Barack Obama returns to the land of his ancestors (on his father’s side) in Kisumu, Kenya. As per the Tiburon Film Society’s press release, the documentary is "part personal odyssey and part chronicle of diplomacy in action," as the senator covers a lot of ground in Sub-Saharan Africa, traveling also to South Africa [...] Continue Reading…
Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting 2008 Finalists
Thirteen finalists are vying for the 23rd annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Their scripts will now be judged by the Academy’s Nicholl Committee, which may award as many as five $30,000 fellowships.
This year’s finalists are (listed alphabetically by author):
Jeremy Bandow, Minneapolis, Minnesota, "Hive"
Griffin Broadway, Brooklyn, New York, "An Arabian Tale"
Nancy Froeschle, Portland, Oregon, and Stephen Trow, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, "The Greater Glory"
Patricia Ann Hale, Brooklyn, New York, "The Home of Positive Thinking"
[...] Continue Reading…
Berta Singerman in NOTHING MORE THAN A WOMAN at UCLA
The 1934 melodrama Nada más que una mujer / Nothing More Than a Woman, a unique sample of the many Spanish-language versions of Hollywood films made for export in the 1930s, will be screened at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 19, at UCLA’s Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood. Nothing More Than a Woman will be followed by the 1933 romantic comedy No dejes la puerta abierta / Don’t Leave the Door Open, starring Raul Roulien of Flying Down to Rio. Both restored, 35mm prints will be screened with English subtitles.
"Once sound films had become firmly established in the [...] Continue Reading…
Paul Newman on Turner Classic Movies
Paul Newman, who died this past September 26 at the age of 83, will be the Star of the Day on Turner Classic Movies this Sunday, October 12.
There are no Newman rarities in the program. But come to think of it, I’m not sure if there are any really rare Paul Newman vehicles out there, as most — perhaps all — of his motion picture work is available on either video or DVD, or has been screened on television.
In any case, the top recommendations for Paul Newman Day are Until They Sail (1957) — which I admit I [...] Continue Reading…
BREAKFAST WITH SCOT Trailer
Directed by Laurie Lynd and adapted by Sean Reycraft from Michael Downing’s novel, Breakfast with Scot — which opened today in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York — stars Tom Cavanagh and Ben Shenkman as an upscale, "discreet" gay couple (one of them used to be a hockey player; the other one is a sports attorney) who unexpectedly find themselves parenting an 11-year-old boy (Noah Bernett) with serious pompom tendencies.
Also in the Breakfast with Scot cast: Graham Greene (Academy Award nominee for Dances with Wolves back in 1990), Fiona Reid, Jeananne Goossen, Colin Cunningham, Sheila McCarthy, Megan [...] Continue Reading…
Robert De Niro in WHAT JUST HAPPENED? Trailer
Directed by Barry Levinson, What Just Happened? was adapted by producer Art Linson from his own novel, which in turn was inspired by the goings-on during the making of The Edge, a 1997 thriller directed by Lee Tamahori, written by David Mamet, and starring Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, and Elle Macpherson.
What Just Happened? follows a Hollywood producer (Robert De Niro, who also happens to be one of the What Just Happened? producers) as he tries to salvage one bomb while struggling to get a new picture off the ground. Screened at Sundance, What Just Happened? [...] Continue Reading…
Anne Hathaway in PASSENGERS Trailer
Written by Ronnie Christensen and directed by Rodrigo García, Passengers centers on a grief counselor (Anne Hathaway) working with a group of plane-crash survivors who finds herself up to her neck in some pretty weird mystery when her clients begin to disappear.
Also in the Passengers cast: Patrick Wilson, Andre Braugher, Dianne Wiest, William B. Davis, David Morse, and Ryan Robbins.
Passengers opens in the US on October 24.
Clip posted by watchmoviepreviews.
SAW V Trailer
FEAR(S) OF THE DARK Trailer
Edward Norton, Colin Farrell in PRIDE AND GLORY Trailer
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM Trailer
Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning in THE [...] Continue Reading…
SAW V Trailer
Co-written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, Saw V is the directorial debut of production designer David Hackl. (The last three Saws were directed by Darren Lynn Bousman.) The plot has something to do with the Hoffman character (Costas Mandylor) carrying on "the jigsaw legacy" while trying to "eliminate all loose ends." The film’s tagline reads: "You won’t believe how it ends." What I don’t believe is how it keeps on going.
In the Saw V cast: Toby Bell, Julie Benz, Greg Bryk, Meagan Good, Laura Gordon, and Joris Jarsky.
Saw V opens in the US on [...] Continue Reading…
Leslie Caron Salute + GIGI and LILI Screenings
Leslie Caron will be on hand for the premiere of a new digital restoration of the 1958 best picture Oscar winner Gigi tomorrow, October 10, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Film critic Stephen Farber will host an onstage conversation with Caron. (Note: This event is sold out. More information on additional tickets at the bottom of this article.)
"An Academy Salute to Leslie Caron" is being presented in cooperation with the American Cinematheque and the Santa Monica Puppetry Center. [...] Continue Reading…
FEAR(S) OF THE DARK Trailer
Peur(s) du noir / Fear(s) of the Dark features several intertwined stories focusing on nightmares, phobias, and the like. The Fear(s) of the Dark segments were written and directed by graphic artists Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, and Richard McGuire. Blutch, Burns, and di Sciullo also co-wrote the screenplay, along with Romain Slocombe, Jerry Kramsky, and Michel Pirus.
Among the voices featured in Fear(s) of the Dark are those of Guillaume Depardieu and Nicole Garcia.
Fear(s) of the Dark opens in the US on October 24. It opened in France [...] Continue Reading…
Edward Norton, Colin Farrell in PRIDE AND GLORY Trailer
Co-written and directed by Gavin O’Connor, Pride and Glory chronicles the breaking apart of a family filled with police officers after one family member (Edward Norton) starts investigating the murder of four New York cops. The trail leads to the police department itself and to a web of corruption involving his brother (Noah Emmerich) and brother-in-law (Colin Farrell).
Joe Carnahan co-wrote the screenplay with O’Connor. Also in the Pride and Glory cast: Jon Voight, Jennifer Ehle, and John Ortiz.
Pride and Glory opens in the US on October 24.
Official Site.
Clip posted by mpit55.
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN [...] Continue Reading…
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM Trailer
Believe it or not, there’s a serious global financial crisis going on. So, how about some escapism?
What better video clip to watch at this time than the trailer of Alex Gibney’s 2004 Academy Award-nominated documentary feature Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room? Doesn’t the title alone make you think of those smart guys wearing expensive suits, driving expensive cars, sitting in expensive chairs in expansive offices in expansive high-rises, and living in equally expansive (and expensive) mansions?
What Gibney’s film proves — four years after it was released — is that long after the [...] Continue Reading…
National Film Board of Canada Salute
“A Salute to the National Film Board of Canada” (NFB) will be presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ — in partnership with the Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film and the Foundation for the National Archives — on Thursday, October 23, at 7 p.m. at the William G. McGowan Theater at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The event will be hosted by animation critic and historian Charles Solomon, following an introduction by Academy President Sid Ganis.
The National Film Board of Canada salute will include [...] Continue Reading…
Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning in THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES Trailer
Set in 1964 South Carolina, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of a 14 year-old motherless white girl (Dakota Fanning) who learns about life from several black women, among them Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson, Academy Award nominees Queen Latifah and Sophie Okonedo, and Alicia Keys. Based on Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, The Secret Life of Bees was adapted and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Also in the Secret Life of Bees cast: Paul Bettany and Hilarie Burton.
The Secret Life of Bees opens in the [...] Continue Reading…
Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore in HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU Trailer
In the romantic comedy He’s Just Not That into You young and attractive women fall for guys who don’t seem (I guess seem is the key here) to care all that much about them. Or at least not the way they (the women) want them (the guys) to.
Directed by Ken Kwapis (best known for his work on the TV series The Office), and adapted by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein from Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo’s bestseller, He’s Just Not That into You stars Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Drew Barrymore (who’s also [...] Continue Reading…
Bob Hope: Thanks for the Memories
Although Bob Hope was one of the most popular American (though English-born) entertainers of the 20th century, I’ve always found him hard to swallow. So, why am I so disappointed that I won’t be in New York City this fall (Oct. 7–Nov. 25) to check out the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’ free screenings of the series "Bob Hope: Thanks for the Memories"?
Well, how about the fact that the series, arranged by Joseph Yranski of the New York Library for the Performing Arts’ Reserve Film & Video Collection, will be screening the little-seen, British-made The [...] Continue Reading…
Rock Hudson Was Not
When it was publicly revealed that Rock Hudson was gay — back in the mid-1980s, as the actor became the best-known person with AIDS in the world — I was surprised to learn that people were surprised about the "news." After all, years earlier, when I was a little kid, I remember my mother mentioning that fact to me while we were watching reruns of McMillan and Wife on TV. (The Wife, by the way, was the delightful Susan Saint James. Where the hell is she??)
Anyhow, today’s jaded crowd, looking at the above photograph, will surely assert that [...] Continue Reading…
DEADLY DECEPTION, IN THE SHADOW OF THE STARS: Oscar’s Docs
The two 1991 Oscar-winning documentaries, Debra Chasnoff’s short Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment, and Allie Light and Irving Saraf’s feature In the Shadow of the Stars will be screened as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ series "Oscar’s Docs, Part Four: Academy Award-Winning Documentaries 1988–1997" on Monday, October 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Debra Chasnoff, Irving Saraf, and Allie Light will take part in post-screening discussions.
The documentary short subject Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear [...] Continue Reading…
GÉRARD PHILIPE: A MAN NOT AN ANGEL Clip
Michel Viotte’s Gérard Philipe: Un homme, pas un ange, co-written by Viotte and Gérard Bonal, is a 2003 50-minute documentary made for French television. Gérard Philipe, quite possibly the most celebrated — and best-looking — male French film star of the 1940s and 1950s, died of liver cancer in 1959 at the age of 36.
Among Philipe’s best-known films are Georges Lampin’s L’Idiot, opposite Edwige Feuillère; Claude Autant-Lara’s Le Diable au corps, opposite Micheline Presle; Max Ophüls’ all-star La Ronde; Christian-Jaque’s Fanfan la Tulipe, with Gina Lollobrigida; René Clair’s Les Belles de nuit, with Martine Carol [...] Continue Reading…
CITY OF EMBER Trailer
Directed by Gil Kenan and adapted by Caroline Thompson from Jeanne Duprau’s book, City of Ember is set in the city of the title, whose great lights have begun to fail. At that point, a couple of teens (Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway) set out to find a way to keep the City of Ember’s lights on.
Also in the City of Ember cast: Tim Robbins, Bill Murray, Martin Landau, Toby Jones, Mackenzie Crook, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Mary Kay Place.
City of Ember opens in the US on October 10.
Official site.
Clip posted by BasilHitsManuel.
QUARANTINE Trailer
GOOD DICK Trailer
Mark [...] Continue Reading…
