cinema reflections
Crime novel The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding. While her husband is away during World War II, housewife Lucia Holley – the sort of “Everywoman” who looks great in a two-piece bathing suit – does whatever it takes to protect the feeling of “normality” in her bourgeois, suburban household. The Blank Wall is a classic depiction of an attempted cover-up being much more serious […]
Jeremy Irvine Jeremy Irvine, the star (along with the titular character) of Steven Spielberg's World War I drama War Horse, arrives at the 2012 London Film Critics Awards. Irvine was a contender for Young British Performer of the Year, along with John Boyega for Attack the Block, Yasmin Paige for Submarine, Saoirse Ronan for Hanna, and the eventual winner, Craig Roberts for Submarine. Michel Hazanavicius' […]
I Saw the Devil with Lee Byung-hun. Released in August 2010 in South Korea, Kim Jee-woon's psychological action thriller I Saw the Devil stars Blue Dragon Award nominee Lee Byung-hun as a National Intelligence Service agent out to avenge the gory death of his fiancée. Written by Kim and Park Hoon-jung, and co-starring Choi Min-sik as a bus driver and serial killer, I Saw the […]
Best Cast winner Bridesmaids with Rose Byrne, Kristen Wiig, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, and Wendi McLendon-Covey. Early this awards season, two female-centered hit movies topped the Best Cast category: the National Board of Review's choice was Tate Taylor's socially conscious The Help, toplining Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Mary Steenburgen, and Octavia Spencer. Paul Feig's socially anarchic Bridesmaids was the Washington D.C. […]
Melancholia with Kirsten Dunst. The European Film Academy (EFA) Awards' Best Film winner, Melancholia tells the story of two sisters (Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg) as one of them is about to get married and a fast-approaching small planet is about to collide with the Earth. Melancholia became the third Lars von Trier film to win EFA's top award, following Breaking the Waves (1996) and Dancer […]
John Travolta & wife Kelly Preston: Governors Awards Red Carpet. John Travolta & wife Kelly Preston: Governors Awards John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston are seen arriving at the 2011 Governors Awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' ceremony was held in the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood, on Saturday, Nov. 12. Veteran actor James Earl Jones (The Great White […]
Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life Who'll take home the 2011 Palme d'Or? I wonder if Little Fockers star and Official Competition jury president Robert De Niro, and fellow jury members Martina Gusman, Olivier Assayas, Johnnie To, Jude Law, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Uma Thurman, Linn Ullmann, and Nansun Shi have any idea themselves. (See further below list of Cannes 2011 awards predictions.) Strong Palme d'Or possibilities […]
Emily Browning, Sleeping Beauty. Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty divided critics at the Cannes Film Festival – while reminding some of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Presented by Jane Campion, Sleeping Beauty is the story of a young woman (Sucker Punch's and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events' Emily Browning) whose sex-escort job entails taking drugs, passing out, and having wealthy older men do “things” […]
Colin Firth, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Ford, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode. Julianne Moore, Colin Firth, Matthew Goode: 'A Single Man' at the Venice Film Festival Actors Julianne Moore, Colin Firth, Matthew Goode, and Nicholas Hoult, along with fashion designer-turned-filmmaker Tom Ford, are pictured above at the premiere of Queer Lion winner – for Best LGBT Film – A Single Man at the 2009 Venice Film […]
'The Man from London' analysis Style over substance. That is the plaint of many a critic when they come across a film or book or any work of art they do not like, but which has undeniable merit, at least technically, if not in a few other measures as well. But the fact is that my opening words have little to do with most of […]
Zac Efron Werner Herzog Slumdog Millionaire composer A.R. Rahman, Sairaa Rahman Robert Pattinson, Edward Cullen in the Twilight movie franchise. Michael Shannon, Kate Arrington Photos: Bryan Crowe / © A.M.P.A.S. James Franco, Ahna O'Reilly Natalie Portman Jochen Alexander Freydank Milk filmmaker Gus Van Sant, Anne Kronenberg Photos: Jon Didier / © A.M.P.A.S. Photos: Darren Decker / © A.M.P.A.S. Sophia Loren Slumdog Millionaire filmmaker Danny Boyle […]
Meryl Streep & Amy Adams 'Doubt' Premiere: AFI FEST AFI FEST 2008 opening night premiere of Miramax Film's Doubt held at ArcLight Hollywood on October 30, 2008 Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, John Patrick Shanley Meryl Streep Amy Adams Amy Adams, Meryl Streep Photos: Kevin Winter / 2008 Getty Images The images below are from arrivals at AFI Fest 2008 held at Arclight Hollywood on November […]
The images below are from arrivals at AFI Fest 2008 held at Arclight Hollywood on November 6. Marisa Tomei (Photo by Toby Canham/Getty Images for AFI) Mickey Rourke at the Los Angeles premiere of The Wrestler (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for AFI) Evan Rachel Wood (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for AFI) Darren Aronofsky (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for AFI) Jason Priestley (Photo […]
Doubt, the much-anticipated drama directed and adapted by John Patrick Shanley from his own Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, and starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Viola Davis, will be the new Opening Night Gala presentation at AFI FEST 2008. The screening will take place on Thursday, Oct. 30, at ArcLight Hollywood's Cinerama Dome. The AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival […]
George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Joel and Ethan Coen: 'Burn After Reading' photocall at Venice Film Festival. At the Burn After Reading premiere, which opened the 2008 edition of the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 27, the film's contingent posed for the cameras while on the Red Carpet. In the image above are, from left to right, Ethan Coen, Brad Pitt, […]
In Strange Culture, which was released on DVD this past March 25, filmmaker Lynn Hershman-Leeson tackles the bizarre case of Steve Kurtz, an associate professor of art at SUNY/Buffalo and founding member of the award-winning art and theater collective Critical Art Ensemble, whose interactive projects include the examination of biotechnology and the issues surrounding it. Kurtz's life suffered an upheaval of Kafkaesque proportions following the […]
Javier Bardem: Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for Joel and Ethan Coen's 'No Country for Old Men.' Javier Bardem Academy Award winner Javier Bardem was the year's Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winner for his performance as a merciless hired killer in Joel and Ethan Coen's thriller No Country for Old Men. The 2008 Oscar ceremony took place on Feb. 24, '08, at the Kodak […]
Marion Cotillard Photos: Richard Harbaugh / © A.M.P.A.S. (Cotillard) Marion Cotillard. Photo: Armando Flores (Cotillard). See below more images from the 2008 Oscar ceremony – including what looks like a mighty embarrassed Tilda Swinton, Best Supporting Actress winner for Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton, taking part in an four-way Oscar statuette smooching. Marion Cotillard: Best Actress Oscar winner for 'La Vie en Rose.' Among Marion Cotillard's […]
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 of “Happy Working Song” from Enchanted. Nearly four hours into the Oscarcast 2008… And it's finally over. No Country for Old Men has been voted the best film of 2007. I must admit that […]