Classic Movie Costumes & L.A. Jewish Film Festival + Liam Neeson in Clash of the Titans

Left to right: Costume worn by Danny Kaye in The Inspector General (1949), designed by Travilla. Costume worn by Viveca Lindfors in The Adventures of Don Juan (1948), designed by Leah Rhodes. Costume worn by Natalie Wood in The Great Race (1965). designed by Edith Head. Costume worn by Judy Garland in A Star is Born (1954), designed by Irene Sharaff. Costume worn by Frank Sinatra in 4 for Texas (1963), designed by Norma Koch.

Costume Design in the Digital Age in Hollywood

“Costume Design in the Digital Age” is the title of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences program presenting the “opportunities and challenges facing motion picture costume designers working in the current era of digital technology.” “Costume Design in the Digital Age” will take place on Friday, April 24, at 8 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.

(Image, right: Costumes designed by Cecil Beaton for My Fair Lady (1964). Dress worn by Audrey Hepburn, left, and suit worn by Rex Harrison.)

The evening will be hosted by Oscar-nominated costume designer Dr. Deborah Nadoolman Landis and Academy Governor Bill Taylor.

Presented by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council, the program will feature a panel of costume designers, including Oscar nominees Jeffrey Kurland (Hidalgo, Collateral, Bullets Over Broadway) and Ruth Myers (The Addams Family, Emma, The Golden Compass) as well as Ellen Mirojnick (Chaplin, Unfaithful, Cloverfield) and Michael Wilkinson (300, Rendition, Babel).

Joining the discussion will be cinematographer Daryn Okada (The X-Files, Mean Girls, Apocalypto) and color scientist Joshua Pines (Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, The Aviator), who won a Scientific and Technical Award (shared with Chris Kutcka) for the design and development of the TDI process for creating archival separations from image data.

The evening also will feature special viewing hours (from 6 to 8 p.m. and following the screening) of the “Dressed in Color: The Costumes” exhibition (see images). The exhibition, which examines the important aspects of costume design for color films from the 1940s through the 1960s, is on display through May 2.

Established in 2003 by the Academy’s Board of Governors, the Science and Technology Council provides a forum for the exchange of information, promotes cooperation among diverse technological interests within the industry, sponsors publications, fosters educational activities and preserves the history of science and technology of motion pictures.

Tickets to “Costume Design in the Digital Age” are $5 each for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. For more information call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

Photos: Richard Harbaugh / © A.M.P.A.S.

Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival

The 4th Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival (website), which runs April 23-30, will kick off with a screening of Joshua Sinclair’s Jump, starring Ben Silverstone (of the coming-of-age gay drama Get Real) and Patrick Swayze.

Jump will screen on Thursday, April 23, at 8:00 pm at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. Based on a real story, the film (co-written by Sinclair and Ryan James) follows the biased murder trial of the young Jew and future celebrity portrait photographer Philippe Halsman (Silverstone), who was accused of murdering his father in late 1920s Austria. Swayze plays the young man’s Jewish attorney.

Also in the Jump cast: Martine McCutcheon, and veterans Stefanie Powers, Richard Johnson, and Sybil Danning.

Among the LA Jewish film festival’s other scheduled entries are:

• Eran Riklis’ David di Donatello nominee Lemon Tree, the story of a Palestinian woman’s fight to preserve her lemon grove whose survival has been threatened by a pesky Israeli defense minister, with Hiam Abbass, Ali Suliman (of Paradise Now), and Doron Tavory;
• Cass Warner’s The Brothers Warner (including Harry Warner, the filmmaker’s grandfather), about the founders of a certain Hollywood studio whose name now escapes me, and featuring the likes of Debbie Reynolds, Tab Hunter, and Angie Dickinson;
• Jim Sherman’s romantic comedy Beau Jest, starring Lainie Kazan as a matchmaking Jewish mama;
• and Cathy Randall’s comedy Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger, starring Toni Collette and Keisha Castle-Hughes in this tale about the travails of a nerdy Australian teen.

Most of the screenings will take place at the Laemmle’s Music Hall in Beverly Hills and at the Laemmle’s Town Center in Encino.

Liam Neeson in Clash of the Titans

Liam Neeson, 56, whose wife Natasha Richardson died about three weeks ago (March 18), is set to begin work on a remake of Clash of the Titans. Neeson will play Zeus, the ancient Greeks’ top god (Zeus is akin to the Latin Deus, God), a role played by Laurence Olivier in the 1981 film.

Louis Leterrier, of The Incredible Hulk, is set to direct the new version, which is scheduled to begin production in the United Kingdom later this month. Also in the new Clash of the Titans are Ralph Fiennes playing Hades, ruler of the underworld, Luke Treadaway (of Brothers of the Head), Mads Mikkelsen, Sam Worthington, Gemma Arterton, and Alexa Davalos. This will mark Neeson’s and Fiennes’ first film reunion since Schindler’s List back in 1993.

Directed by Desmond Davis, the original Clash of the Titans featured stop-motion visual effects by Ray Harryhausen (who also co-produced the film), and starred Harry Hamlin and Judi Bowker.

Olivier, Maggie Smith, Ursula Andress (at the time Hamlin’s off-screen companion), Claire Bloom, Flora Robson, Sian Phillips, Burgess Meredith, and Freda Jackson had supporting roles (at times mere cameos) as assorted gods, goddesses, monsters, and their fellow ancient Greeks. Though hardly a cinematic masterpiece, the old Clash of the Titans has its charms.

Liam Neeson has just finished work on Atom Egoyan’s Chloe, which he was in the middle of shooting when Natasha Richardson died after falling and hitting her head while taking skiing lessons in Quebec’s Mont Tremblant.

Gen Art Film Festival Awards 2009

In David Lee Miller’s comedy My Suicide, Gabriel Sunday (above) stars as teenager whose final school video project will be his own suicide. Also in the My Suicide cast: David Carradine, Mariel Hemingway, Brooke Nevin (above), Nora Dunn, and Joe Mantegna.

The Gen Art Film Festival ran April 1–7.

Acura Grand Jury Award for Best Feature: My Suicide, by David Lee Miller

Acura Grand Jury Award for Best Short: Adelaide, by Liliana Greenfield-Sanders

Audience Award for Best Feature: My Suicide, by David Lee Miller

Audience Award for Best Short: Adelaide, by Liliana Greenfield-Sanders

“Stargazer Award” for breakout acting: Gabriel Sunday, My Suicide

Special jury prize for best use of music: Punching the Clown, directed by Gregori Viens, music by Henry Phillips

Feature Jury: Kevin Corrigan, Matt Dentler, Mike Landry, Moby, Ted Sarandos

Short Jury: Cary Fukunaga, Dana Brunetti, Kurt Keunne, Matt Stein, Terry Kinney

Stargazer Jury: Izabella Miko, James Calleri, Laura Breckenridge, Paola Mendoza, Sheetal Sheth

In the Los Angeles Times, Michelle Castillo discusses Dragonball Evolution, which, “for right or wrong, may be the most-hated film of 2009 that hasn’t even been released yet.” Fans are reportedly furious because of changes made to the storyline and the characters.

Below is a brief quote from Castillo’s article:

“At 20th Century Fox, the studio behind the Dragonball film, there must be some executives missing the old days when fans just waited for a movie to be released before deciding its fate. The studio leadership watched in horror in recent days as a stolen, near-finished copy of X-Men Origins: Wolverine became a torrid sensation on file-sharing sites. The FBI has stepped in but, like a man watching his gold coins scatter on a crowded street, the Fox team knows deep down that the damage is already done. (In a twist that will have execs groaning, fans claim that they downloaded illegal copies of X-Men Origins: Wolverine solely to punish Fox for its Dragonball folly.)”

***

Dragonball Evolution is scheduled to open in the United States tomorrow, April 10. The film follows Goku, a young man training in martial arts while searching for seven Dragon Balls that are supposed to make wishes come true.

Directed by James Wong and adapted by Ben Ramsey from Akira Toriyama’s novel, the film stars Justin Chatwin, Chow Yun-Fat, Emmy Rossum, Jamie Chung, and James Marsters.

At Screen Rant, Ross Miller sums it up thus: “Dragonball: Evolution is a badly written film with horrible dialogue, lackluster action and a sense of fun that’s nowhere to be found.”

Golden Globes

Jorge Camara, the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, has announced the timetable for the 2010 Golden Globe Awards to be broadcast in HD Sunday, January 17, 2010, from 5-8 PM (PST) and 8-11 PM (EST) live on NBC from The Beverly Hilton Hotel.
This will mark the first time that the Golden Globes ceremony will be broadcast live all over the United States. In previous years, those on the West Coast watched the Globes on tape delay, after already knowing who’d won, what the stars were wearing, and whose speeches were the most long-winded.
Among the 2009 Golden Globe winners were Slumdog Millionaire (best picture – drama), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (best picture – comedy/musical), Waltz with Bashir (best foreign film), and Danny Boyle (best director).
Also, Kate Winslet (best actress – drama for Revolutionary Road and best supporting actress for The Reader), Sally Hawkins (best actress – comedy/musical for Happy-Go-Lucky), Mickey Rourke (best actor – drama for The Wrestler), Colin Farrell (best actor – comedy/musical for In Bruges), and Heath Ledger (best supporting actor).
Key dates for the Golden Globe Awards timetable are as follows:
October 30, 2009 Final date for press conferences for Television entries
Friday

November 6, 2009 Deadline for submission of Golden Globe entry forms
Friday

November, 2009 Cecil B. DeMille Award/Miss Golden Globe Announcement
(Exact date TBA)

December 3, 2009 Deadline for nomination ballots to be mailed by Ernst &
Thursday Young to all HFPA members

December 9, 2009 Final screening date for Motion Pictures
Wednesday

December 10, 2009 Final date for Motion Picture press conferences
Thursday

December 11, 2009 Deadline for receipt by Ernst & Young of
Friday nomination ballots

December 15, 2009 5:00 a.m. Nomination Announcement of “The 67th
Tuesday Annual Golden Globe Awards”

December 18, 2009 Deadline for receipt of media credential applications
Friday applications

December 28, 2009 Final ballots mailed by Ernst & Young to all HFPA
Monday members

January 6, 2010 Deadline for receipt of publicist credential
Wednesday applications

January 13, 2010 Deadline for receipt by Ernst & Young of final ballots
Wednesday

January 17, 2010 Presentation of “The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards”
Sunday Live telecast on NBC at 5 PM PST and 8 PM EST

Photos: © Universal Pictures