Oscar comebacks: Adrien Brody in Roman Polanski’s The Pianist. Generally speaking, most actors, actresses, and directors either get that once-in-a-lifetime Academy Award nomination, or, if they’re lucky, a couple or…
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McCabe & Mrs. Miller with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie: Robert Altman’s anti-Western (a.k.a. “revisionist Western”) is one of 25 movies added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry…
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Julie Christie, easily one of the most compelling performers of the last half-century and an ardent political activist for liberal causes, has her day on Monday, Aug. 2, as part…
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Strangely, Dirk Bogarde never became a major star in the United States. He was well known in the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s, but he wasn’t the superstar he…
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The Genie Awards 2008 ceremony, held last night in Toronto, was dominated by Sarah Polley’s remarkably accomplished directorial debut, Away from Her, which won a total of 7 awards. The…
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Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban. Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban on the red carpet at the 2008 Oscars. Nicole Kidman has been nominated for two Best Actress Academy Awards: Baz…
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As the saying goes, it’s not over until the fat lady sings. Since Amy Adams is anything but fat, that meant another three hours of Oscar give-aways after her rendition…
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Transformers 2007. Without special effects there would have been no Transformers, as Michael Bay’s futuristic action flick offers no acting, no writing, and no direction. Hence, Transformers is our pick…
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Eastern Promises with Viggo Mortensen. David Cronenberg made a name for himself by directing (and sometimes writing) dark, disturbing dramas (The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly) in which violence/gross-out stuff…
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Atonement with Vanessa Redgrave. Having made her big-screen debut in the late 1950s (Behind the Mask) and a steady film actress since the mid-1960s (Blow-Up, Camelot), Vanessa Redgrave was bypassed…
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Control with Sam Riley as Joy Division vocalist Ian Curtis. What are the BAFTA Awards? Don’t be fooled by the inclusion of Anton Corbijn’s low-budget Ian Curtis biopic Control in…
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No Country for Old Men with Javier Bardem: “Critical thinking.” Needless to say, an Academy Award nomination isn’t necessarily an indication of overwhelming critical acclaim; on the other hand, overwhelming…
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No Country for Old Men with Josh Brolin. Joel and Ethan Coen’s somber, brutal thriller is easily this awards season’s top Best Film choice. Besides Josh Brolin, the cast includes…
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Julie Christie: Best Actress in Away from Her. In Sarah Polley’s Canadian drama Away from Her, National Board of Review Best Actress winner Julie Christie plays a woman suffering from…
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Julia with Jane Fonda & Vanessa Redgrave A newly struck print of Fred Zinnemann’s moving and beautifully shot 1977 Academy Award nominee Julia will be screened as part of the…
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Julie Christie today: Critical praise for ‘Away from Her’ Julie Christie today in Away from Her. Via The [London] Guardian - Tim Adams’ “The divine Miss Julie” in The [London] Observer:…
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Director James Ivory’s producing partner Ismail Merchant has died Ismail Merchant, longtime movie producer and sometime director, died today in London. The cause of death was not immediately made available.…
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J.M. Barrie and Peter Pan origins: Marc Forster’s Finding Neverland opts for crowd-pleasing myths instead of a depiction of a darker, more complex reality.
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Johnny Depp is a lifeless, Disneyfied version of Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie in Marc Forster’s feel-good family tragedy Finding Neverland.
Joseph Losey 1963 classic The Servant with Dirk Bogarde and James Fox. Sarah Miles also stars. “Among the greatest things that happened to British cinema were the arrival on our…
Sarah Polley, Tamara Jenkins, Julie Christie At the 2008 Oscar luncheon at the Beverly Hilton hotel on Monday, Academy president Sid Ganis remarked that “regardless of those circumstances, which are…
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly with Marie-Josée Croze: Golden Globe Awards’ non-ceremony eyebrow-raiser. Based on Jean-Dominique Bauby’s book of memoirs – reportedly written after Bauby (1952–1997) suffered a stroke…
Julie Christie in Away from Her. The top Best Actress pick of 2007 by U.S.-based film critics groups, veteran Julie Christie (Doctor Zhivago, Far from the Madding Crowd) brings to…
Doctor Zhivago theme: Lara & the Russian Revolution When bigger isn’t exactly better: Doctor Zhivago – despite its classic music theme – is no masterpiece. Bloated and overlong, it fails…
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Alfonso Cuarón’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2004 adaptation proves that CGI and movie magic aren’t the same thing.