Ann Roth.
Ann Roth: Academy Award-winning costume designer to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at The Hamptons Film Festival
Ann Roth, an Academy Award-winning costume designer for The English Patient, will be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Hamptons International Film Festival at the festival’s 20th anniversary. Roth will be handed The Hamptons’ Golden Starfish Award for Lifetime Achievement in Costume Design. Hosted by CNN’s Alina Cho, the event will be held at Guild Hall in East Hampton on Saturday, Oct. 6. In addition to Ann Roth, also scheduled to attend are Nathan Lane and Mike Nichols.
Ann Roth movies: Collaborations with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman
Ann Roth, who’ll turn 81 next Oct. 30, has worked on more than 100 movies since her costume-designing debut in 1964: George Roy Hill’s dramatic comedy The World of Henry Orient, starring Peter Sellers and Paula Prentiss. Among Roth’s other credits are Midnight Cowboy (1969), Klute (1971), The Day of the Locust (1975), The Happy Hooker (1976), Murder by Death (1976), The Goodbye Girl (1977), Hair (1979), Dressed to Kill (1980), Heartburn (1986), Sabrina (1995), and In & Out (1997).
More recent Ann Roth film credits include Closer (2004), The Good Shepherd (2006), The Reader (2008), Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2010), and several Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman vehicles. Streep: The Hours (2002), Evening (2007), Mamma Mia! (2008), Julie & Julia (2009), and Hope Springs (2012). Kidman: The Hours, Cold Mountain (2003), The Stepford Wives (2005), Margot at the Wedding (2008), and Rabbit Hole (2010).
Besides her Oscar for The English Patient, Ann Roth has been nominated for three other efforts: Places in the Heart (1984), : The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999, with Gary Jones), and The Hours. Additionally, Roth has received four Tony Award nominations (most recently for The Book of Mormon) and three Emmy Award nominations (including Mildred Pierce).
A selection of Ann Roth’s “original sketches and renderings” will be exhibited during the week of The Hamptons festival. For ticketing and complete festival information, head to www.hamptonsfilmfest.org.
The 20th Hamptons International Film Festival runs October 4-8.
Ann Roth photo: © A.M.P.A.S.
Screenwriter Robin Swicord Elected to Academy’s Board of Governors
Robin Swicord, an Academy Award nominee for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (shared with Eric Roth), has been elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors, representing the Writers Branch. The announcement was made earlier today by Academy President Hawk Koch. (Image: Robin Swicord and ’40s Paramount star Lizabeth Scott at an Academy screening of the 1946 film noir The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.)
Robin Swicord will fill the seat left open by recent death of governor Frank Pierson (Dog Day Afternoon). The other two current Writers Branch representatives on the Board of Governors are Bill Condon, whose The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 opens next November, and Phil Alden Robinson. Following Academy bylaws, Swicord will remain on the Board until the next scheduled election in June 2013.
Robin Swicord movies
Robin Swicord movie credits Memoirs of a Geisha, Little Women, Shag, The Perez Family, Matilda, Practical Magic, and The Jane Austen Book Club, which she also directed.
Robin Swicord, Lizabeth Scott photo: Todd Wawrychuk / © A.M.P.A.S.
San Sebastian Film Festival: Richard Gere & Susan Sarandon present Arbitrage’
Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon were present at the 2012 San Sebastian Film Festival’s opening night screening of Nicholas Jarecki’s Arbitrage on Friday, Sept. 21. Set in the universe of the very wealthy and very powerful, Arbitrage had a solid opening in North America this past weekend, grossing $2 million at 191 locations and averaging $10,163 per theater according to figures found at Boxofficemojo.com.
“When you play a character like this, you basically have two choices: you play the villain, with a capital V, and I think it becomes a cliche and not very interesting, or you play human beings, which is the choice that we had,” said Richard Gere, whose big-shot character – inspired by real-life hedge fund manager John Paulson – tries to hide both bad investments and a violent past involving a mistress (Laetitia Casta).
“I think it was very important to find what was charming in this character,” Gere explained, “to find the Bill Clinton in this character, who finds the way to swim through all these problems and finally win.”
“It is not as much about money… [as] an addictive game of power,” added Susan Sarandon.
Arbitrage, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon in the running for San Sebastian awards
Arbitrage is one of 14 films in the running for the San Sebastian Film Festival’s Golden Shell. Both Gere and Sarandon are also up for the acting awards – and may turn out to be likely contenders in the upcoming North American awards season as well. The Arbitrage cast also includes Tim Roth, Britt Marling, and Nate Parker.
Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon quotes via Agence France-Presse.
Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon Arbitrage image: Roadside Attractions.
Steven Spielberg Lincoln Trailer
The Lincoln trailer looks like every post-1975 “serious” Steven Spielberg movie ever made, from The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun and Schindler’s List to Amistad and Saving Private Ryan and War Horse. As Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis has only a couple of lines in the trailer; for that reason, it’s impossible to judge his quite emphatic line delivery, as it’s seen (and heard) totally out of context. As for Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tommy Lee Jones, if you blink, you’ll miss them. (Please scroll down to check out the first official Lincoln trailer.)
So, if the Lincoln trailer is indeed a good indication of what the actual movie will be like, then those who appreciate Spielberg’s dramatic touches will surely enjoy the director’s latest foray into historical dramatizations. As for those who find troublesome the director’s handling of real-life drama (or human drama in general) … Well, I believe D.W. Griffith’s staid Abraham Lincoln is available on DVD.
In my view, the most interesting element in the Lincoln trailer is the presence of an 1860s Christian conservative (and surely a firm believer in “traditional family values”) issuing the following warning: “Congress must never declare equal those who GOD created unequal!”
Lincoln cast
Besides Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lincoln also features David Strathairn, James Spader, Lee Pace, Jared Harris, John Hawkes, and others. Tony Kushner is credited for the screenplay based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book. Lincoln opens on November 9.
Abraham Lincoln in the movies
Previous movie Abraham Lincolns include Walter Huston in Griffith’s 1930 drama, Henry Fonda in John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Raymond Massey in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) and How the West Was Won (1962), and Benjamin Walker in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012). In case Daniel Day-Lewis does get a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Lincoln, he won’t be the first actor to achieve that feat: Raymond Massey was shortlisted for Abe Lincoln in Illinois about 71 years ago. (James Stewart won that year for The Philadelphia Story.)
Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln photo: David James / DreamWorks / Disney / 20th Century Fox.
The Lincoln teaser trailer is now available online. (Please scroll down if you feel like listening to a very solemn delivery – by Daniel Day-Lewis? – of a segment from the Gettysburg Address.) Directed by two-time Best Director Oscar winner Steven Spielberg, Lincoln is the eagerly anticipated Spielbergian version of Abraham Lincoln’s life and political career. Also worth noting is that Lincoln is a shoo-in for a Best Picture Academy Award nomination (among other categories) – unless, of course, Spielberg’s biopic turns out to be another Amistad.
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role, Lincoln also features Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who can be spotted in every other 2012 release), Tommy Lee Jones (who could be spotted in every other 1993 release), David Strathairn, James Spader, Lee Pace, Jared Harris, John Hawkes, and dozens of others. Tony Kushner is credited for the screenplay based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book.
Lincoln opens on November 9. The full Lincoln trailer is set to drop on September 13.
Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln photo: David James / DreamWorks / Disney / 20th Century Fox.
‘Lincoln’ international trailer: Daniel Day-Lewis plays gutsy Abe
The international Lincoln trailer begins with the grim title card: “The bloodiest war in American history is raging.” Later on, as in the domestic trailer, we hear a conservative politician, obviously a Man of Faith and a firm believer in Traditional Family Values, proclaim: “Congress must never declare equal, those who God created unequal!” (Please scroll down to check out the international Lincoln trailer. Photo: Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln.)
In other key moments in the international Lincoln trailer, Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field) tells stiff-necked husband Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) not to waste his power (“No one is loved as much by the people”) in attempting to abolish slavery in the United States. The problem is that, as Lincoln is reminded by someone else, “it’s either the amendment or this confederate peace. You can’t have both.”
But then again, there’s nothing a little vote “procuring” can’t achieve – which goes to show that in the world of American politics some things remain exactly the same as they were 150 years ago.
Republicans = Liberals vs. Democrats = Conservatives
But most curious of all in the Lincoln trailer is the reminder that the Liberals / progressives in the United States of the mid-19th century were the Republicans. The Democrats were the conservatives / reactionaries. (Of course, many Democrats are still that way in the early 21st century, but you get my point.)
Abraham Lincoln and censorship
Now, I haven’t watched Lincoln, so I don’t know if director Steven Spielberg and credited screenwriter Tony Kushner will show Abraham Lincoln’s determination to control – and, if necessary, ban – any speech that went against his political strategies, from news outlets to private correspondence. It would be interesting to see Spielberg and Kushner tackling an avowed Defender of Freedom’s utter disregard for two of the most basic of human freedoms, Freedom of Speech and Right to Privacy. (Not to mention the fact that the filmmakers could make – or could have made? – some quite relevant analogies to 21st-century politicians who, in “times of crisis,” would love to have the political control Lincoln had in his day.)
Lincoln movie cast
In addition to Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field, the Lincoln cast includes Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, David Strathairn, James Spader, Lee Pace, Jared Harris, John Hawkes, and tons of others. Tony Kushner is credited for the screenplay based on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book. Lincoln opens in North America next Friday, November 9.
The Hobbit trailer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has another trailer out. If the trailer is any indication, fans of the Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy will likely become fans of The Hobbit movies as well. Just as likely, non-fans of the trilogy will become non-fans of the The Hobbit movies as well. (Please scroll down to check out The Hobbit trailer.) [Photo: Andy Serkis as the Gollum.]
In terms of plot, looks, and atmosphere, The Hobbit trailer is all but interchangeable with The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. True, missing are Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom, but no matter. Ian McKellen has a major role in the trailer, while Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, and Andy Serkis’ Gollum are prominently back as well. And Martin Freeman proves once and for all that he is the one who should star in “The Dudley Moore Story.”
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens Dec. 14 in North America.
“The Hobbit Trailer HD” Gollum (Andy Serkis) photo: New Line Cinema / Warner Bros. / MGM.
Skyfall trailer: blond Javier Bardem is sadistic villain
The Skyfall trailer – for “international” audiences – features not only Daniel Craig as James Bond, but also Javier Bardem as the villainous Silva. Bardem and/or the Skyfall filmmakers apparently believe (and perhaps rightly so) that the Spanish star is at his most eerily effective when his hairdo is really weird, e.g., Joel Coen and Ethan Coen’s No Country for Old Men, which earned Bardem 2007’s Best Supporting Actor Oscar. (Please scroll down to check out the Skyfall trailer HD.) [Photo: Javier Bardem as Silva in Skyfall.]
Now, could Javier Bardem’s bad dye job (or bad wig?) in Skyfall result in another Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination? Possibly.
“How much do you know about fear?” Craig’s Bond is asked. When he replies that he knows “all there is,” he’s told: “Not like this. Not like him.” This “him,” of course, is Javier Bardem’s Silva. Hey, Bardem and his wig could even make this latest James Bond feel fresh.
Directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes, in addition to Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem, Skyfall features Ralph Fiennes, Oscar winner Judi Dench, multiple Oscar nominee Albert Finney, Ben Whishaw, and Naomie Harris. Skyfall opens on Nov. 9.
Javier Bardem as Silva Skyfall photo: MGM / Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures.
Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen in bed: Scary Movie 5
Lindsay Lohan was the best thing in Robert Altman’s rambling A Prairie Home Companion, more memorable than Meryl Streep, Woody Harrelson, Lily Tomlin, and all her fellow co-stars. Now, will Lindsay Lohan also be the best thing about Scary Movie 5? I’d bet on it. Either way, in the above Scary Movie 5 photo, Lohan is seen in bed with Charlie Sheen. (No, it’s not nearly as spicy as it sounds. Note that both are fully – or near-fully – dressed.)
Lindsay Lohan movies
Best-known for her myriad problems with The Law and other “media matters,” most recently a videotape that purportedly proves a hit-and-run accusation against the 26-year-old actress, in the last decade Lindsay Lohan has also kept herself busy while away from the courtrooms.
Besides A Prairie Home Companion, Lohan’s movie credits include the family comedy The Parent Trap, the sleeper hit Mean Girls, the political drama Bobby (directed by Charlie Sheen’s brother, Emilio Estevez), the Jane Fonda / Felicity Huffman vehicle Georgia Rule, the bizarro thriller Machete, the upcoming Elizabeth Taylor TV movie Liz & Dick, and Paul Schrader’s upcoming thriller The Canyons, in which Lohan is featured opposite porn star James Deen and Oscar-nominated director Gus Van Sant.
Ah, the Lindsay Lohan Twitter account is quite busy, too. Lohan currently has 4.32 million followers and about 4,600 tweets.
Scary Movie 5 cast
Directed by Malcolm D. Lee, and written by David Zucker and Pat Proft, in addition to Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen, Scary Movie 5 features (according to various sources) Heather Locklear, Ashley Tisdale, Kate Walsh, Molly Shannon, Craig Bierko, Simon Rex, Terry Crews, and J.P. Manoux. The comedy spoof is scheduled to come out on April 19, 2013.
Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen Scary Movie 5 photo: Dimension Films.