Federico Fellini’s 8½ Screening
In conjunction with its exhibition “Fellini’s Book of Dreams” — which is definitely worth a visit — the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present a special screening of Federico Fellini’s Academy Award-winning 1963 extravaganza 8½ on Friday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The evening will be hosted by Robert Rosen, dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
There have been homages and imitations ever since (Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz comes to mind), but no self-analytical film that I’ve seen gets even close to what Fellini accomplished in 8½, while very few films about the art of moviemaking have been nearly as artful [...]
by Andre Soares | March 24, 2009
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Tags: 8 1/2, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Anouk Aimee, Barbara Steele, Classic Movies, Claudia Cardinale, Federico Fellini, Fellini's Book of Dreams, Films on Filmmaking, Giulietta Masina, Los Angeles Screenings, Marcello Mastroianni, Oscar 1963, Sandra Milo
THE AVIATOR Screening
Martin Scorsese’s 2004 Best Picture nominee The Aviator is the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ "Great To Be Nominated" series. The handsome but vapid Howard Hughes biopic will be screened on Monday, July 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Following the screening, cast members Alec Baldwin, Jacob Davich, J.C. Mackenzie, and Amy Sloan, production sound mixer Petur Hliddal, special effects supervisor R. Bruce Steinheimer, and miniature effects supervisor Matthew Gratzner will take part in a discussion about the film.
The US$100-million-plus The Aviator wasn’t quite the hoped-for critical and box-office hit, though the biopic won numerous accolades and did good business thanks to the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio [...]
by Andre Soares | July 24, 2008
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Tags: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Adam Scott, Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, Ava Gardner, Biopic, Cate Blanchett, Danny Huston, Dante Ferretti, Edward Herrmann, Errol Flynn, Film Awards, Films on Filmmaking, Gwen Stefani, Howard Hughes, Ian Holm, Jacob Davich, Jean Harlow, John C. Reilly, John Logan, Jude Law, Kate Beckinsale, Katharine Hepburn, Kelli Garner, Leonardo DiCaprio, Los Angeles Screenings, Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, Ralph Owen Brewster, Sandy Powell, Stanley DeSantis, The Aviator, Thelma Schoonmaker, Willem Dafoe
SOULS FOR SALE on Turner Classic Movies
Souls for Sale on Turner Classic Movies. Souls for Sale, a 1923 dramatic comedy written and directed by Rupert Hughes (uncle of magnate Howard Hughes), stars Eleanor Boardman, Richard Dix, Lew Cody, Aileen Pringle, William Haines, Barbara La Marr, and has cameos by numerous stars of silent era.
by Andre Soares | January 24, 2006
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Tags: Barbara La Marr, Classic Movies, Eleanor Boardman, Films on Filmmaking, King Vidor, Lew Cody, Richard Dix, Silent Films, Souls for Sale, TCM, Turner Classic Movies
CALLING HEDY LAMARR d: Georg Misch
Calling Hedy Lamarr (2004)
Direction: Georg Misch
MY PHONE LADY
Shot in digital format, Georg Misch’s entertaining documentary Calling Hedy Lamarr has the look of a well-crafted low-budget movie and the feel of a quirky independent film. That is hardly the sort of approach one would expect to find in a documentary about one of the most beautiful, most glamorous, and most synthetic film stars of the 20th century. Yet, Misch mostly gets away with it. What Calling Hedy Lamarr lacks in terms of style and depth of analysis is compensated for by a sly, offbeat look at the cult of celebrity in American culture.
In Calling Hedy Lamarr, several friends and family members of Austrian-born actress and phone addict Hedy Lamarr (1911 or [...]
by Andre Soares | December 16, 2004
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Tags: Algiers, Calling Hedy Lamarr, Classic Movies, Documentaries, Ecstasy, Films on Filmmaking, Georg Misch, Hedy Lamarr, John Loder, Three-Star Movies
THE AVIATOR – Leonardo DiCaprio – d: Martin Scorsese
The Aviator (2004)
Direction: Martin Scorsese
Screenplay: John Logan
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, Kelli Garner, Gwen Stefani, Ian Holm, Adam Scott, Frances Conroy, Willem Dafoe, Jacob Davich, Jude Law, John C. Reilly, Edward Herrmann, Stanley DeSantis, Danny Huston, Matt Ross
WHAT’S NOT GOOD FOR THE SPRUCE GOOSE. . .
Imagine Citizen Kane directed by Steven Spielberg. The final result would look something like a Barry Levinson film — for instance, the superficial and glitzy Bugsy. Or the superficial, glitzy, and bloated The Aviator. Except, of course, that Levinson is not the man responsible for the mega-production starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the eccentric, billionaire ladies’ man Howard Hughes. Strangely enough, that man is Martin Scorsese, the director of hard-hitting [...]
by Andre Soares | December 15, 2004
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Tags: Alan Alda, Biopic, Cate Blanchett, Film Reviews, Films on Filmmaking, Howard Hughes, Kate Beckinsale, Katharine Hepburn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Oscar 2004, Oscar Movies, The Aviator
MULHOLLAND DR. – Naomi Watts – d: David Lynch
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Direction and screenplay: David Lynch
Cast: Naomi Watts, Justin Theroux, Laura Elena Harring, Dan Hedaya, Ann Miller, Robert Forster, Lee Grant, Chad Everett, Billy Ray Cyrus
Mulholland Dr., David Lynch’s nightmarish take on Hollywood and on the pursuit of the "American Dream," is impossible to pigeonhole as belonging to a particular genre. The film is part black comedy, part mystery thriller, part psychological drama, part horror movie — it boasts one of the most horrific endings ever filmed. The final result is a long, bizarre — and brilliant — journey through an ambitious actress’ psyche; the most haunting such journey since the one undertaken in Sunset Blvd. more than half a century earlier.
Curiously, Mulholland Dr. was to have become a [...]
by Andre Soares | October 17, 2004
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Tags: Angelo Badalamenti, David Lynch, Film Reviews, Films on Filmmaking, Five-Star Gay Movies, Five-Star Movies, Five-Star Oscar Nominees, Justin Theroux, Laura Elena Harring, Lesbian Interest, Mulholland Dr., Naomi Watts, Oscar 2001, Oscar Movies
