The Academy picked the right year to give an Honorary Oscar to film editor Carol Littleton. They’re saluting a female editor at a time when three of the year’s major awards contenders —“Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Oppenheimer” and “Maestro” — are edited by Thelma Schoonmaker, Jennifer Lame and Michelle Tesoro, respectively, and when other women in the mix include Hilda Rasula for “American Fiction,” Victoria Boydell for “Saltburn,” Sarah Flack for “Priscilla” and co-editors Claire Simpson (with Sam Restivo) for “Napoleon” and Oona Flaherty (with Nick Moore) for “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.”
“The Editors Guild has about 2,900 picture editors, and 764 women,” said Littleton, a one-time president of that guild. “That’s about a fourth. So isn’t it interesting that these three big prestigious films, ‘Oppenheimer,’ and ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and ‘Maestro,’ are edited by women?”
If all three are nominated for Oscars...
“The Editors Guild has about 2,900 picture editors, and 764 women,” said Littleton, a one-time president of that guild. “That’s about a fourth. So isn’t it interesting that these three big prestigious films, ‘Oppenheimer,’ and ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and ‘Maestro,’ are edited by women?”
If all three are nominated for Oscars...
- 12/29/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Updated with full list of winners: Netflix’s Aaron Sorkin drama The Trial of the Chicago 7 won the marquee Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) honor Saturday to cap the American Cinema Editors’ 71st annual Ace Eddie Awards.
Alan Baumgarten, Ace, edited the pic, about the unrest around the 1968 Democratic National Convention. It puts him and the film in frontrunner status in the Best Film Editing Oscar race, where it is competing against fellow Ace nominees Nomadland and Sound of Metal along with Promising Young Woman and The Father.
Baumgarten in his virtual acceptance speech thanked Sorkin for his “enthusiasm for editing — it was a pleasure to collaborate with you.” He also thanks his wife, with a nod to the pandemic: “I think myself, and as everybody understands, I brought the work home literally — thank you for your patience and understanding.”
Chicago 7 is up for six Oscars this year including Best Picture.
Alan Baumgarten, Ace, edited the pic, about the unrest around the 1968 Democratic National Convention. It puts him and the film in frontrunner status in the Best Film Editing Oscar race, where it is competing against fellow Ace nominees Nomadland and Sound of Metal along with Promising Young Woman and The Father.
Baumgarten in his virtual acceptance speech thanked Sorkin for his “enthusiasm for editing — it was a pleasure to collaborate with you.” He also thanks his wife, with a nod to the pandemic: “I think myself, and as everybody understands, I brought the work home literally — thank you for your patience and understanding.”
Chicago 7 is up for six Oscars this year including Best Picture.
- 4/17/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Palm Springs” have been named the best-edited films of 2020 by the American Cinema Editors, whose 71st annual Ace Eddie Awards took place in a virtual ceremony on Saturday afternoon.
“Chicago 7,” which is nominated for the film-editing Oscar along with “The Father,” “Nomadland,” “Promising Young Woman” and “Sound of Metal,” won in the Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) category. “Palm Springs” won in the comedy category.
Since 2000, when Ace splits its film award into separate drama and comedy categories, one of its winners has gone on to win the Oscar for Best Film Editing 15 times in 21 years. All but one of those wins have come in the drama category.
“Soul” won the award for animated film, while “My Octopus Teacher” took the prize in the documentary category.
In the television categories, winners included “Schitt’s Creek,” “Ted Lasso,” “Better Call Saul,” “Ozark” and “The Queen’s Gambit.
“Chicago 7,” which is nominated for the film-editing Oscar along with “The Father,” “Nomadland,” “Promising Young Woman” and “Sound of Metal,” won in the Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) category. “Palm Springs” won in the comedy category.
Since 2000, when Ace splits its film award into separate drama and comedy categories, one of its winners has gone on to win the Oscar for Best Film Editing 15 times in 21 years. All but one of those wins have come in the drama category.
“Soul” won the award for animated film, while “My Octopus Teacher” took the prize in the documentary category.
In the television categories, winners included “Schitt’s Creek,” “Ted Lasso,” “Better Call Saul,” “Ozark” and “The Queen’s Gambit.
- 4/17/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
When Lynzee Klingman wanted to be an editor, she started looking for an apprenticeship in New York but couldn’t get her foot in the door.
“They would say, ‘You can’t carry a [film] can like a man, and we don’t want to have to watch our language around you. So no, no women.’ The other one was, ‘If we trained you, you would just get married and have a kid and leave.’ ” She finally landed a job, answering phones and cutting negatives. “I didn’t know what I was doing....
“They would say, ‘You can’t carry a [film] can like a man, and we don’t want to have to watch our language around you. So no, no women.’ The other one was, ‘If we trained you, you would just get married and have a kid and leave.’ ” She finally landed a job, answering phones and cutting negatives. “I didn’t know what I was doing....
- 4/16/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
When Lynzee Klingman wanted to be an editor, she started looking for an apprenticeship in New York but couldn’t get her foot in the door.
“They would say, ‘You can’t carry a [film] can like a man, and we don’t want to have to watch our language around you. So no, no women.’ The other one was, ‘If we trained you, you would just get married and have a kid and leave.’ ” She finally landed a job, answering phones and cutting negatives. “I didn’t know what I was doing....
“They would say, ‘You can’t carry a [film] can like a man, and we don’t want to have to watch our language around you. So no, no women.’ The other one was, ‘If we trained you, you would just get married and have a kid and leave.’ ” She finally landed a job, answering phones and cutting negatives. “I didn’t know what I was doing....
- 4/16/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Mank,” “Minari,” “Nomadland,” “Sound of Metal” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” have been nominated in the dramatic-film category at the American Cinema Editors’ 71st annual Ace Eddie Awards, which honors the best in film and television editing.
In the comedy film category, the nominees are “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “I Care a Lot,” “On the Rocks,” “Palm Springs” and “Promising Young Woman.”
The films that were bypassed in the Ace nominations include “Tenet,” “News of the World,” “The Father,” “Da 5 Bloods” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Over the past decade, 90% of the Oscar nominees for Best Film Editing have first been nominated by the American Cinema Editors. The Oscar nominees are heavily weighted toward the Ace dramatic category, with 34 nominees coming from that category since 2010, as opposed to 11 nominees from the comedy category.
The Ace Eddies’ animated feature nominations went to “The Croods: A New Age,” “Onward,” “Over the Moon,...
In the comedy film category, the nominees are “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “I Care a Lot,” “On the Rocks,” “Palm Springs” and “Promising Young Woman.”
The films that were bypassed in the Ace nominations include “Tenet,” “News of the World,” “The Father,” “Da 5 Bloods” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Over the past decade, 90% of the Oscar nominees for Best Film Editing have first been nominated by the American Cinema Editors. The Oscar nominees are heavily weighted toward the Ace dramatic category, with 34 nominees coming from that category since 2010, as opposed to 11 nominees from the comedy category.
The Ace Eddies’ animated feature nominations went to “The Croods: A New Age,” “Onward,” “Over the Moon,...
- 3/11/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This year’s American Cinema Editors (Ace) nominations include “Nomadland,” “Mank,” “Minari,” “Sound of Metal” and “The Trial of Chicago 7.”
The guild, which will hand out its awards in a virtual ceremony on April 17, has a good track record forecasting the Oscar best picture winner — it has predicted 18 out of the last 29 winners. Last year, best edited feature film – dramatic went to “Parasite’s” Yang Jin-mo, and the film went on to win best picture at the Oscars. It also has a good record for predicting who wins the best editing Oscar — 23 out of the last 29 winners.
Nominees in comedy feature include “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “I Care a Lot,” “On The Rocks” “Palm Springs” and “Promising Young Woman.”
As previously announced, Spike Lee will receive the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, recognizing a filmmaker who exemplifies distinguished achievement in the art and business of film. Editors Lynzee Klingman...
The guild, which will hand out its awards in a virtual ceremony on April 17, has a good track record forecasting the Oscar best picture winner — it has predicted 18 out of the last 29 winners. Last year, best edited feature film – dramatic went to “Parasite’s” Yang Jin-mo, and the film went on to win best picture at the Oscars. It also has a good record for predicting who wins the best editing Oscar — 23 out of the last 29 winners.
Nominees in comedy feature include “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “I Care a Lot,” “On The Rocks” “Palm Springs” and “Promising Young Woman.”
As previously announced, Spike Lee will receive the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, recognizing a filmmaker who exemplifies distinguished achievement in the art and business of film. Editors Lynzee Klingman...
- 3/11/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Editors on films ranging from Amazon’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm to Netflix’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 have been nominated for the 71st annual Ace Eddie Awards, presented by the American Cinema Editors to recognize the year’s best in picture editing in 14 film, TV and documentary categories.
Winners will be announced during a virtual awards ceremony April 17, where Spike Lee will receive the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award and Lynzee Klingman and Sidney Wolinsky will receive the group’s Career Achievement Awards.
As for today’s nominees, the marquee film categories are split into Dramatic and Comedy. The former features Chicago 7 along with Netflix’s Mank, A24’s Minari, Searchlight’s Nomadland (edited by writer-director Chloé Zhao) and Amazon’s Sound of Metal. The comedy nominees include Borat, Netflix’s I Care a Lot, Apple’s On the Rocks, Neon/Hulu’s Palm Springs...
Winners will be announced during a virtual awards ceremony April 17, where Spike Lee will receive the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award and Lynzee Klingman and Sidney Wolinsky will receive the group’s Career Achievement Awards.
As for today’s nominees, the marquee film categories are split into Dramatic and Comedy. The former features Chicago 7 along with Netflix’s Mank, A24’s Minari, Searchlight’s Nomadland (edited by writer-director Chloé Zhao) and Amazon’s Sound of Metal. The comedy nominees include Borat, Netflix’s I Care a Lot, Apple’s On the Rocks, Neon/Hulu’s Palm Springs...
- 3/11/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Nominees for the 71st annual Ace Eddie Awards include such Best Picture contenders as Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” David Fincher’s monochromatic “Mank,” Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari,” Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” (as a comedy), and Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal.”
The awards show will be held live on April 17 at 11:00 a.m. Pt.
Overlooked, though, were “News of the World” (edited by “Argo” Oscar-winner William Goldenberg) and “Tenet,” as well as three Black-led dramas, “Da 5 Bloods,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and “One Night in Miami.” However, there’s still the possibility of one or two of these making the final Oscar nominations, along with the buzzy “Minari” and “Promising Young Woman.”
In terms of using the Editing win as an Oscar bellwether for predicting Best Picture, the last time the winners coincided was “Argo” in...
The awards show will be held live on April 17 at 11:00 a.m. Pt.
Overlooked, though, were “News of the World” (edited by “Argo” Oscar-winner William Goldenberg) and “Tenet,” as well as three Black-led dramas, “Da 5 Bloods,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and “One Night in Miami.” However, there’s still the possibility of one or two of these making the final Oscar nominations, along with the buzzy “Minari” and “Promising Young Woman.”
In terms of using the Editing win as an Oscar bellwether for predicting Best Picture, the last time the winners coincided was “Argo” in...
- 3/11/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Lynzee Klingman and Sidney Wolinsky will receive Career Achievement Awards for their outstanding contributions to film editing at the 71st annual American Cinema Editors’ Eddie Awards on April 17. This year’s show will be held virtually due to the pandemic.
“Lynzee and Sidney have cut some of our favorite and most iconic movies and television shows,” said Ace president Kevin Tent. “We’re thrilled to recognize these two extraordinary editors, their hard work and their amazing careers.”
Klingman, who was Oscar-nominated for one of her first films – One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – has had a career in feature films and documentaries that included editing A River Runs Through It, The War of the Roses, Man on the Moon, Hoffa, Hair, Little Man Tate, Ali and dozens of others.
Wollinsky, who was Oscar-nominated for The Shape of Water (2017), won an Emmy for the pilot episode of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.
“Lynzee and Sidney have cut some of our favorite and most iconic movies and television shows,” said Ace president Kevin Tent. “We’re thrilled to recognize these two extraordinary editors, their hard work and their amazing careers.”
Klingman, who was Oscar-nominated for one of her first films – One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) – has had a career in feature films and documentaries that included editing A River Runs Through It, The War of the Roses, Man on the Moon, Hoffa, Hair, Little Man Tate, Ali and dozens of others.
Wollinsky, who was Oscar-nominated for The Shape of Water (2017), won an Emmy for the pilot episode of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.
- 3/9/2021
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Riz Ahmed, Sacha Baron Cohen, Andra Day and More Named as Writers Guild Presenters
The Writers Guild of America West and East today unveiled a line-up of presenters scheduled to appear at the 2021 Writers Guild Awards joint virtual ceremony on Sunday, March 21.
Among the presenters are Oscar contenders Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Sacha Baron Cohen ( “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”) and Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday.”)
Also presenting are Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), WGA and Emmy-nominated writer and educator Jelani Cobb, Adweek and Streamy Award-winning author and comedian Sarah Cooper (“How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings”), Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton”), and Emmy-nominated writer-producer Ava DuVernay (“When They See Us”.)
Late night host Jimmy Fallon (“The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon”), Dominique Fishback (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), WGA and SAG Award-nominated actor-writer Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”), Ryan O’Connell (“Special”),”One Night in Miami” actor Leslie Odom Jr.,...
The Writers Guild of America West and East today unveiled a line-up of presenters scheduled to appear at the 2021 Writers Guild Awards joint virtual ceremony on Sunday, March 21.
Among the presenters are Oscar contenders Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Sacha Baron Cohen ( “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”) and Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday.”)
Also presenting are Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), WGA and Emmy-nominated writer and educator Jelani Cobb, Adweek and Streamy Award-winning author and comedian Sarah Cooper (“How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings”), Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton”), and Emmy-nominated writer-producer Ava DuVernay (“When They See Us”.)
Late night host Jimmy Fallon (“The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon”), Dominique Fishback (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), WGA and SAG Award-nominated actor-writer Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”), Ryan O’Connell (“Special”),”One Night in Miami” actor Leslie Odom Jr.,...
- 3/9/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Lynzee Klingman, whose credits include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and A River Runs Through It; and Sidney Wolinsky, whose work includes The Shape of Water and The Sopranos series finale, will receive career achievement awards during American Cinema Editors’ 71st annual Ace Eddie Awards. The virtual ceremony is scheduled to be held on April 17.
Klingman received a BAFTA Award and Oscar nomination for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and earned Eddie noms for Cuckoo’s Nest and Man on the Moon. Her credits also include True Confessions, Hair, Baby Boom, Little Man Tate, War of the Roses, Ali and Oscar-winning documentary Hearts and ...
Klingman received a BAFTA Award and Oscar nomination for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and earned Eddie noms for Cuckoo’s Nest and Man on the Moon. Her credits also include True Confessions, Hair, Baby Boom, Little Man Tate, War of the Roses, Ali and Oscar-winning documentary Hearts and ...
Lynzee Klingman, whose credits include One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and A River Runs Through It; and Sidney Wolinsky, whose work includes The Shape of Water and The Sopranos series finale, will receive career achievement awards during American Cinema Editors’ 71st annual Ace Eddie Awards. The virtual ceremony is scheduled to be held on April 17.
Klingman received a BAFTA Award and Oscar nomination for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and earned Eddie noms for Cuckoo’s Nest and Man on the Moon. Her credits also include True Confessions, Hair, Baby Boom, Little Man Tate, War of the Roses, Ali and Oscar-winning documentary Hearts and ...
Klingman received a BAFTA Award and Oscar nomination for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and earned Eddie noms for Cuckoo’s Nest and Man on the Moon. Her credits also include True Confessions, Hair, Baby Boom, Little Man Tate, War of the Roses, Ali and Oscar-winning documentary Hearts and ...
Now this is a list that could result in a lot of fascinating dissection and thanks to HitFix it comes to our attention almost three years after it was originally released back in 2012, celebrating the Motion Picture Editors Guild's 75th anniversary. Over at HitFix, Kris Tapley asks, "Is this news to anyone elsec" Um, yes, I find it immensely interesting and a perfect starting point for anyone looking to further explore the art of film editing. In an accompanying article we get the particulars concerning what films were eligible and how films were to be considered: In our Jan-feb 12 issue, we asked Guild members to vote on what they consider to be the Best Edited Films of all time. Any feature-length film from any country in the world was eligible. And by "Best Edited," we explained, we didn't just mean picture; sound, music and mixing were to be considered as well.
- 2/4/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
A random bit of researching on a Tuesday night led me to something I didn't know existed: The Motion Picture Editors Guild's list of the 75 best-edited films of all time. It was a feature in part celebrating the Guild's 75th anniversary in 2012. Is this news to anyone else? I confess to having missed it entirely. Naturally, I had to dig in. What was immediately striking to me about the list — which was decided upon by the Guild membership and, per instruction, was considered in terms of picture and sound editorial as opposed to just the former — was the most popular decade ranking. Naturally, the 1970s led with 17 mentions, but right on its heels was the 1990s. I wouldn't have expected that but I happen to agree with the assessment. Thelma Schoonmaker's work on "Raging Bull" came out on top, an objectively difficult choice to dispute, really. It was so transformative,...
- 2/4/2015
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Women presidents at the Academy: Cheryl Boone Isaacs is only the third one (photo: Angelina Jolie, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Brad Pitt) (See previous post: "Honorary Award Non-Winners: Too Late for Gloria Swanson, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich.") Wrapping up this four-part "Honorary Oscars Bypass Women" article, let it be noted that in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 85-year history there have been only two women presidents: two-time Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis (for two months in 1941, before the Dangerous and Jezebel star was forced to resign) and screenwriter Fay Kanin (1979-1983), whose best-known screen credit is the 1958 Doris Day-Clark Gable comedy Teacher's Pet. Additionally, following some top-level restructuring in April 2011, the Academy created the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, with the CEO post currently held by a woman, former Film Independent executive director and sometime actress Dawn Hudson. The COO post is held...
- 9/4/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Five first-time governors have been elected to the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences board.
The first-time governors are: Kate Amend, documentary branch; Daniel R Fellman, executives branch; Albert Berger, producers branch; Bob Rogers, short films and feature animation branch; and Mark Mangini, sound branch.
Re-elected governors are: Annette Bening, actors branch; Lora Kennedy, casting directors branch; Jeffrey Kurland, costume designers branch; Rick Carter, designers branch; Michael Tronick, film editors branch; Kathryn Blondell, make-up artists and hairstylists branch; Cheryl Boone Isaacs, public relations branch; and Phil Robinson, writers branch.
Returning to the board after a hiatus are: governors Caleb Deschanel, cinematographers branch; Edward Zwick, directors branch; Charles Bernstein, music branch; and Bill Taylor, visual effects branch.
The Academy’s 17 branches are each represented by three governors, who may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms.
Governors who were not up for re-election and who continue on the board are Ed Begley, Jr and [link...
The first-time governors are: Kate Amend, documentary branch; Daniel R Fellman, executives branch; Albert Berger, producers branch; Bob Rogers, short films and feature animation branch; and Mark Mangini, sound branch.
Re-elected governors are: Annette Bening, actors branch; Lora Kennedy, casting directors branch; Jeffrey Kurland, costume designers branch; Rick Carter, designers branch; Michael Tronick, film editors branch; Kathryn Blondell, make-up artists and hairstylists branch; Cheryl Boone Isaacs, public relations branch; and Phil Robinson, writers branch.
Returning to the board after a hiatus are: governors Caleb Deschanel, cinematographers branch; Edward Zwick, directors branch; Charles Bernstein, music branch; and Bill Taylor, visual effects branch.
The Academy’s 17 branches are each represented by three governors, who may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms.
Governors who were not up for re-election and who continue on the board are Ed Begley, Jr and [link...
- 7/18/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Five first-time governors have been elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors. In addition, eight incumbents have been reelected and four previous governors are returning to the Board.
The first-time governors are Kate Amend, Documentary Branch; Daniel R. Fellman, Executives Branch; Albert Berger, Producers Branch; Bob Rogers, Short Films and Feature Animation Branch; and Mark Mangini, Sound Branch.
The reelected governors are Annette Bening, Actors Branch; Lora Kennedy, Casting Directors Branch; Jeffrey Kurland, Costume Designers Branch; Rick Carter, Designers Branch; Michael Tronick, Film Editors Branch; Kathryn Blondell, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch; Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Public Relations Branch; and Phil Robinson, Writers Branch.
Returning to the Board after a hiatus are governors Caleb Deschanel, Cinematographers Branch; Edward Zwick, Directors Branch; Charles Bernstein, Music Branch; and Bill Taylor, Visual Effects Branch.
The Academy’s 17 branches are each represented by three governors, who may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms.
The first-time governors are Kate Amend, Documentary Branch; Daniel R. Fellman, Executives Branch; Albert Berger, Producers Branch; Bob Rogers, Short Films and Feature Animation Branch; and Mark Mangini, Sound Branch.
The reelected governors are Annette Bening, Actors Branch; Lora Kennedy, Casting Directors Branch; Jeffrey Kurland, Costume Designers Branch; Rick Carter, Designers Branch; Michael Tronick, Film Editors Branch; Kathryn Blondell, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch; Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Public Relations Branch; and Phil Robinson, Writers Branch.
Returning to the Board after a hiatus are governors Caleb Deschanel, Cinematographers Branch; Edward Zwick, Directors Branch; Charles Bernstein, Music Branch; and Bill Taylor, Visual Effects Branch.
The Academy’s 17 branches are each represented by three governors, who may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms.
- 7/18/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Los Angeles Film Festival has revealed its jurors for the 2014 summer festival, its 20th, which runs from Wednesday, June 11 to Thursday, June 19 in downtown Los Angeles. The narrative jury:Writer-director Destin Daniel Cretton, whose "Short Term 12" won the Laff Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature in 2013Veteran producer Stuart Cornfeld ("Zoolander," "The Fly") Film critic Ella Taylor (NPR, Elle) The documentary jury:Editor Lynzee Klingman ("Hearts and Minds") Director Margaret Brown ("The Great Invisible," "The Order Of Myths")Film critic and author Justin Chang (Variety) The La Muse jury:Composer-singer-songwriter Kathryn Bostic ("Middle of Nowhere," "Dear White People")Writer-director,-producer Maryam Keshavarz ("Circumstance") Nicole Bernard, Executive Vice President at Laff sponsor Fox Audience Strategy Director Kevin Bray ("Walking Tall") The shorts jury:Writer-actor-director Todd Berger ("It’s a Disaster,"...
- 6/9/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Alex Gibney, Rick Carter among Academy’s new Board of Governors members (photo: Alex Gibney) The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the names of the 2013-2014 Board of Governors contingent. As per the Academy’s press release, ten first-time governors have been elected this time around. Besides, eight current Board of Governors members have been reelected and one previous member is coming back. This year’s election increased the Academy’s Board of Governors from 43 to 48 members. The Academy’s release adds that AMPAS’s "16 branches, including the recently created Costume Designers Branch, are each represented by three governors, who may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms. For the first time, the Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch is represented by three governors; the branch was previously represented by one." First-time Board of Governors members The first-time governors are: Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side,...
- 7/19/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has added ten new governors to its Board of Governors. They have also reelected eight previous governors and one previous governor is coming back. Each of 16 branches votes for three governors who can only serve three consecutive three-year terms. The board is bigger, from 43 to 48, with the addition of the costume branch and three reps for Hair and Makeup, instead of one. The first-time governors are Judianna Makovsky and Deborah Nadoolman, representing the Costume Designers Branch; Rick Carter and Jan Pascale, Designers Branch; Alex Gibney, Documentary; Lynzee Klingman, Film Editors; Amy Pascal, Executives; Kathryn Blondell and Bill Corso, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists; and Nancy Utley, Public Relations. The reelected governors are Ed Begley, Jr., Actors Branch; John Bailey, Cinematographers; Kathryn Bigelow, Directors; Charles Fox, Music; Jon Bloom, Short Films and Feature Animation; Curt Behlmer, Sound; Richard Edlund, Visual...
- 7/16/2013
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal and Fox Searchlight co-president Nancy Utley are among 10 first-time members voted to the board of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences.
This year’s election increases the Academy’s governing body from 43 to 48.
The other inductees are: Judianna Makovsky and Deborah Nadoolman representing the costume designers branch; Rick Carter and Jan Pascale of the designers branch; Alex Gibney for documentary; Lynzee Klingman for film editors; and Kathryn Blondell and Bill Corso from the makeup artists and hairstylists branch.
The re-elected governors are: Ed Begley, Jr, actors branch; John Bailey, cinematographers; Kathryn Bigelow, directors; Charles Fox, music; Jon Bloom, short films and feature animation; Curt Behlmer, sound; Richard Edlund, Visual Effects; and Robin Swicord, writers.
Mark Johnson, representing the producers branch, returns to the board after a break.
The Academy’s 16 branches, including the recently created costume designers branch, are each represented by three governors, who may serve...
This year’s election increases the Academy’s governing body from 43 to 48.
The other inductees are: Judianna Makovsky and Deborah Nadoolman representing the costume designers branch; Rick Carter and Jan Pascale of the designers branch; Alex Gibney for documentary; Lynzee Klingman for film editors; and Kathryn Blondell and Bill Corso from the makeup artists and hairstylists branch.
The re-elected governors are: Ed Begley, Jr, actors branch; John Bailey, cinematographers; Kathryn Bigelow, directors; Charles Fox, music; Jon Bloom, short films and feature animation; Curt Behlmer, sound; Richard Edlund, Visual Effects; and Robin Swicord, writers.
Mark Johnson, representing the producers branch, returns to the board after a break.
The Academy’s 16 branches, including the recently created costume designers branch, are each represented by three governors, who may serve...
- 7/15/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the elected and reelected governors, increasing their governing body from 43 to 48. First time governors include Judianna Makovsky and Deborah Nadoolman, representing the Costume Designers Branch; Rick Carter and Jan Pascale, Designers Branch; Alex Gibney, Documentary; Lynzee Klingman, Film Editors; Amy Pascal, Executives; Kathryn Blondell and Bill Corso, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists; and Nancy Utley, Public Relations. Full list of elected and reelected governors in the press release below. Beverly Hills, CA – Ten first-time governors have been elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors. In addition, eight incumbents have been reelected and one previous governor is returning to the board. This year's election increases the Academy's governing body from 43 to 48. The first-time governors are Judianna Makovsky and Deborah Nadoolman, representing the Costume Designers Branch;...
- 7/15/2013
- by Peter Knegt
- Indiewire
Amy Pascal/Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment - Getty Images North America
Ten first-time governors have been elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors. In addition, eight incumbents have been reelected and one previous governor is returning to the board. This year’s election increases the Academy’s governing body from 43 to 48.
The first-time governors are Judianna Makovsky and Deborah Nadoolman, representing the Costume Designers Branch; Rick Carter and Jan Pascale, Designers Branch; Alex Gibney, Documentary; Lynzee Klingman, Film Editors; Amy Pascal, Executives; Kathryn Blondell and Bill Corso, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists; and Nancy Utley, Public Relations.
The reelected governors are Ed Begley, Jr., Actors Branch; John Bailey, Cinematographers; Kathryn Bigelow, Directors; Charles Fox, Music; Jon Bloom, Short Films and Feature Animation; Curt Behlmer, Sound; Richard Edlund, Visual Effects; and Robin Swicord, Writers.
Mark Johnson, representing the Producers Branch, is returning to the board after a hiatus.
Ten first-time governors have been elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors. In addition, eight incumbents have been reelected and one previous governor is returning to the board. This year’s election increases the Academy’s governing body from 43 to 48.
The first-time governors are Judianna Makovsky and Deborah Nadoolman, representing the Costume Designers Branch; Rick Carter and Jan Pascale, Designers Branch; Alex Gibney, Documentary; Lynzee Klingman, Film Editors; Amy Pascal, Executives; Kathryn Blondell and Bill Corso, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists; and Nancy Utley, Public Relations.
The reelected governors are Ed Begley, Jr., Actors Branch; John Bailey, Cinematographers; Kathryn Bigelow, Directors; Charles Fox, Music; Jon Bloom, Short Films and Feature Animation; Curt Behlmer, Sound; Richard Edlund, Visual Effects; and Robin Swicord, Writers.
Mark Johnson, representing the Producers Branch, is returning to the board after a hiatus.
- 7/15/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
According to an Academy press release, 10 first-time governors have been elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors. In addition, eight incumbents have been reelected and one previous governor is returning to the board. This year's election increases the Academy's governing body from 43 to 48. The first-time governors are Judianna Makovsky and Deborah Nadoolman, representing the Costume Designers Branch; Rick Carter (fresh off an Oscar win for "Lincoln") and Jan Pascale, Designers Branch; Alex Gibney, Documentary; Lynzee Klingman, Film Editors; Amy Pascal, Executives; Kathryn Blondell and Bill Corso, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists; and Nancy Utley, Public...
- 7/15/2013
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Ten first-time governors -- including Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairman Amy Pascal and Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney -- have been elected to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' board of governors, the organization's governing body. Pascal will represent the executives branch, while Gibney will rep the documentary branch. The other first-timers on the board include Judianna Makovsky and Deborah Nadoolman, representing the newly created costume designers branch; Rick Carter and Jan Pascale, the designers branch, Lynzee Klingman, film editors; Kathryn Blondell and Bill Corso, makeup artists and hairstylists; and Nancy Utley, co-president of Fox Searchlight, public
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- 7/15/2013
- by Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In this episode of ABC’s “Behind the Ballot” interview series, former EW writer Adam B. Vary sits down with four successful film editors to talk about how cuts and transitions — what one refers to as “the final rewrite” of a film — can make or break its awards season potential.
“I think your mind kind of works like a puzzle,” says Pamela Martin, who has edited films like Hitchcock, The Fighter, and Little Miss Sunshine. “It’s finding the right pieces of performances and weaving all the elements together to make it seamless.”
Watch the full interview with Martin, Lynzee Klingman...
“I think your mind kind of works like a puzzle,” says Pamela Martin, who has edited films like Hitchcock, The Fighter, and Little Miss Sunshine. “It’s finding the right pieces of performances and weaving all the elements together to make it seamless.”
Watch the full interview with Martin, Lynzee Klingman...
- 2/16/2013
- by Grady Smith
- EW - Inside Movies
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will present “Oscar’s Docs, 1955–2002: American Stories” from February 2 through February 14 at MoMA in New York City. This annual collaboration highlights Oscar®–winning and nominated short and feature-length documentary films that explore the history, culture and politics of the United States. All prints are from the Academy Film Archive’s collection. The filmmakers will be present at several screenings (visit MoMA.org for details).
The schedule is as follows:
Sat., Feb. 2, 2 p.m.
American Dream (1990)
Barbara Kopple. This stirring film depicts the effects of a mid-1980s strike by the workers of a Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota. 98 min.
Sat., Feb. 2, 8 p.m.
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994)
Freida Lee Mock. A profile of Maya Lin, the young artist who created the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington and other politically motivated artistic creations.
The schedule is as follows:
Sat., Feb. 2, 2 p.m.
American Dream (1990)
Barbara Kopple. This stirring film depicts the effects of a mid-1980s strike by the workers of a Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota. 98 min.
Sat., Feb. 2, 8 p.m.
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994)
Freida Lee Mock. A profile of Maya Lin, the young artist who created the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington and other politically motivated artistic creations.
- 1/29/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Related: Oscars: 85th Academy Award Nominations The six-part video series Behind The Ballot that launched today on Oscar.com features panels of experts breaking down what Oscar voters look for in contenders for Production Design, Cinematography, Makeup & Hairstyling, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Costume Design. In the seemingly endless chatter about the marquee categories during an awards season that seems to get longer every year, it’s a refreshing initiative that shines a light on the behind-the-scenes folks that form the backbone of the year’s best movies. A new video will debut each week — the lead-off panel is Cinematography, which features a chat with DPs Daryn Okada, Theo van de Sande and Mandy Walker (check it out below). Here’s the full lineup announced today by the Academy: Production Design: Scott Chambliss, “Cowboys & Aliens,” “Star Trek,” “Mission: Impossible III” Alex McDowell, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Minority Report,...
- 1/24/2013
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
For Oscar fans that just can’t seem to win their Oscar ballot pool because of that one craft category, Oscar.com today launched “Behind The Ballot,” a six-part video series that explores how Academy members view and ultimately determine who’ll win Oscars for Production Design, Cinematography, Makeup and Hairstyling, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Costume Design. Hosted by Entertainment Weekly’s Geoff Boucher, Anthony Breznican and Adam Vary, each episode, shot in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Margaret Herrick Library, features a panel of experts discussing what it takes to be a strong contender in each category. A new video will debut each week for the next five weeks on www.oscar.com, as well as on the official Oscars app for iPhone, iPad, Android and Kindle Fire devices. Link to embeddable video file: http://oscar.go.com/video/PL55161146/_m_VD55266156 Expert...
- 1/24/2013
- by hnblog@hollywoodnews.com (Hollywood News Team)
- Hollywoodnews.com
More a valentine to Chicago's architecture than the aching love story it purports to be, "The Lake House" is a slow-moving, never-igniting tale of calendar-crossed lovers that grows less convincing as it proceeds.
Facing no direct competition from romantic dramas and boasting the marquee allure of Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, it will entice initial interest, particularly among women, before word travels that this tale of frustrated love is an unfulfilling fantasy, lovely to look at and confounding to the core.
Time-slip sagas have a built-in intrigue, and film is a perfect medium for exploring ruptures in the temporal continuum. But concept alone isn't enough. The not-quite fully baked idea at the center of "Lake House" is an appealing metaphor for romantic destiny: Two lonely souls who live in the same house at different times begin communicating across a distance of two years. Adoring shots of building facades notwithstanding, the story's passion is subdued to the point of absence. And even within its wobbly framework of metaphysical logic, the payoff is such a cheat that viewers who aren't punch-drunk from being pingponged between the film's two time periods will be left only with questions -- but not the kind that will bring them back for second viewings.
Adapting "Il Mare", a 2000 South Korean fantasy/romance, Argentine director Alejandro Agresti ("Valentin") and screenwriter David Auburn ("Proof") strain for a sense of portent and wonder. Auburn forsakes dramatic tension and pacing to fill characters' mouths with dialogue that spells out his themes with such obviousness that Vanna White or Akeelah wouldn't be out of place. He further lards the proceedings with forced literary and cinematic allusions.
With the help of Rachel Portman's restrained score, Nathan Crowley's production design and the elegant, sumptuous precision of cinematographer Alar Kivilo's compositions, "Lake House" does capture the way certain places become imbued with feeling. The titular abode is a breathtaking glass box on stilts (built for the film), whose symbolism is helpfully explained by characters using words like "disconnected" and "incomplete." Moving from the North Shore retreat to take a hospital job in Chicago, Dr. Kate Forster (Bullock) leaves a letter for the next tenant requesting that her mail be forwarded. The note's recipient, Alex Wyler (Reeves), having moved into the "abandoned dump" his father designed years earlier, is baffled by her claims. But soon they're exchanging daily missives via the house's mailbox, only to discover that he's writing from 2004 while she lives in 2006.
Introspection and solitude are rich cinematic subjects, but here the reunited "Speed" stars play characters whose personalities are so recessive that they inspire only indifference. Bullock is quite good at conveying Kate's discontent without overstating the matter, even if the script does, pushing the worn notion that single career women are the saddest people on the planet. Kate plays chess with her dog; her only real-world contacts are unsatisfying exchanges with an ex-boyfriend (Dylan Walsh), her mother (Willeke van Ammelrooy) and a colleague (Shohreh Aghdashloo).
Reeves, who like his co-star has done his most interesting recent work in small independent films and whose true forte is comedy, brings an inscrutability to Alex That's a detriment. He's an architect who, unlike his younger brother (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), has taken a gauche detour into condo development. Agresti stops the action, as it were, so that Christopher Plummer, as their imperious father, can deliver a lecture on the quality of light with a mad-artist twinkle in his eye.
But there is no illumination at the end of this time-lapse tunnel, whose participants sense a connection that the audience never does. Though it's not without lovely moments -- a tree Alex plants for Kate in 2004 suddenly appears before her, full-boughed -- too much of this would-be love story unfolds via voiceover readings of letters loaded with backstory, trying to fill in what the film can't bring alive in the present.
THE LAKE HOUSE
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents in association with Village Roadshow Pictures a Vertigo Entertainment production
Credits:
Director: Alejandro Agresti
Screenwriter: David Auburn
Based on the motion picture "Il Mare" produced by Sidus
Producers: Doug Davison, Roy Lee
Executive producers: Erwin Stoff, Dana Goldberg, Bruce Berman, Mary McLaglen
Director of photography: Alar Kivilo
Production designer: Nathan Crowley
Music: Rachel Portman
Co-producer: Sonny Mallhi
Costume designer: Deena Appel
Editors: Lynzee Klingman, Alejandro Brodersohn
Cast:
Alex Wyler: Keanu Reeves
Kate Forster: Sandra Bullock
Simon Wyler: Christopher Plummer
Henry Wyler: Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Kate's mother: Willeke van Ammelrooy
Morgan: Dylan Walsh
Anna: Shohreh Aghdashloo
Mona: Lynn Collins
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 97 minutes...
Facing no direct competition from romantic dramas and boasting the marquee allure of Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, it will entice initial interest, particularly among women, before word travels that this tale of frustrated love is an unfulfilling fantasy, lovely to look at and confounding to the core.
Time-slip sagas have a built-in intrigue, and film is a perfect medium for exploring ruptures in the temporal continuum. But concept alone isn't enough. The not-quite fully baked idea at the center of "Lake House" is an appealing metaphor for romantic destiny: Two lonely souls who live in the same house at different times begin communicating across a distance of two years. Adoring shots of building facades notwithstanding, the story's passion is subdued to the point of absence. And even within its wobbly framework of metaphysical logic, the payoff is such a cheat that viewers who aren't punch-drunk from being pingponged between the film's two time periods will be left only with questions -- but not the kind that will bring them back for second viewings.
Adapting "Il Mare", a 2000 South Korean fantasy/romance, Argentine director Alejandro Agresti ("Valentin") and screenwriter David Auburn ("Proof") strain for a sense of portent and wonder. Auburn forsakes dramatic tension and pacing to fill characters' mouths with dialogue that spells out his themes with such obviousness that Vanna White or Akeelah wouldn't be out of place. He further lards the proceedings with forced literary and cinematic allusions.
With the help of Rachel Portman's restrained score, Nathan Crowley's production design and the elegant, sumptuous precision of cinematographer Alar Kivilo's compositions, "Lake House" does capture the way certain places become imbued with feeling. The titular abode is a breathtaking glass box on stilts (built for the film), whose symbolism is helpfully explained by characters using words like "disconnected" and "incomplete." Moving from the North Shore retreat to take a hospital job in Chicago, Dr. Kate Forster (Bullock) leaves a letter for the next tenant requesting that her mail be forwarded. The note's recipient, Alex Wyler (Reeves), having moved into the "abandoned dump" his father designed years earlier, is baffled by her claims. But soon they're exchanging daily missives via the house's mailbox, only to discover that he's writing from 2004 while she lives in 2006.
Introspection and solitude are rich cinematic subjects, but here the reunited "Speed" stars play characters whose personalities are so recessive that they inspire only indifference. Bullock is quite good at conveying Kate's discontent without overstating the matter, even if the script does, pushing the worn notion that single career women are the saddest people on the planet. Kate plays chess with her dog; her only real-world contacts are unsatisfying exchanges with an ex-boyfriend (Dylan Walsh), her mother (Willeke van Ammelrooy) and a colleague (Shohreh Aghdashloo).
Reeves, who like his co-star has done his most interesting recent work in small independent films and whose true forte is comedy, brings an inscrutability to Alex That's a detriment. He's an architect who, unlike his younger brother (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), has taken a gauche detour into condo development. Agresti stops the action, as it were, so that Christopher Plummer, as their imperious father, can deliver a lecture on the quality of light with a mad-artist twinkle in his eye.
But there is no illumination at the end of this time-lapse tunnel, whose participants sense a connection that the audience never does. Though it's not without lovely moments -- a tree Alex plants for Kate in 2004 suddenly appears before her, full-boughed -- too much of this would-be love story unfolds via voiceover readings of letters loaded with backstory, trying to fill in what the film can't bring alive in the present.
THE LAKE HOUSE
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents in association with Village Roadshow Pictures a Vertigo Entertainment production
Credits:
Director: Alejandro Agresti
Screenwriter: David Auburn
Based on the motion picture "Il Mare" produced by Sidus
Producers: Doug Davison, Roy Lee
Executive producers: Erwin Stoff, Dana Goldberg, Bruce Berman, Mary McLaglen
Director of photography: Alar Kivilo
Production designer: Nathan Crowley
Music: Rachel Portman
Co-producer: Sonny Mallhi
Costume designer: Deena Appel
Editors: Lynzee Klingman, Alejandro Brodersohn
Cast:
Alex Wyler: Keanu Reeves
Kate Forster: Sandra Bullock
Simon Wyler: Christopher Plummer
Henry Wyler: Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Kate's mother: Willeke van Ammelrooy
Morgan: Dylan Walsh
Anna: Shohreh Aghdashloo
Mona: Lynn Collins
MPAA rating PG
Running time -- 97 minutes...
- 6/12/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Down in the Valley" might have come off as conceptually sound on paper, but onscreen the whole idea falls apart. Writer-director David Jacobson ("Dahmer") imagines a man with mental problems and a broken childhood taking refuge in the mythos of the Old West, thereby turning Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley into one big dude ranch. The movie offers up cowboys, outlaw love, fugitives from justice, gunfights, escapes on horseback and a fiery showdown all within sight of freeway overpasses and suburban sprawl.
Edward Norton serves as star and producer, but even his star power won't help this misfire reach a wide domestic audience. The film might play better in Europe, where ambivalence to the American cowboy mentality is part of the cultural dialogue. But even that is a big maybe.
Harlan (Norton) drifts into town in classic Western style with only a few possessions. The movie plays games for a while as to where the story is set since the locations do not immediately read as L.A. Harlan fatefully meets Tobe Evan Rachel Wood), short for October.
Tobe is a young teen in full rebellion against her single dad, Wade (David Morse). Wade, who is a sheriff, is clueless about how to deal with his daughter and her 13-year-old brother Lonnie (Rory Culkin).
On an outing to the beach with her girlfriends, Tobe takes a shine to Harlan, whom everyone calls Tex and picks him up. Before the day is over, she seduces him, and Harlan is smitten.
Tobe's dating a guy twice her age who is obviously a loser doesn't sit well with her dad. For a while, the movie plays a second game with its audience, asking us to guess who is the crazier adult in the story.
Harlan enacts Western movie scenes with a real gun in front of his apartment mirror -- you know, like De Niro's mirror grandstanding in "Taxi Driver". Meanwhile, Wade talks darkly about his contempt for the "meek," and despite being a law officer, he doesn't hesitate to level a gun at Harlan in front of his son.
It's clear soon enough, though, that Harlan is the wacko. When anger gets the better of him, he commits a terrible crime and persuades Lonnie to escape with him on horseback into the hills above the valley. Now in real life, the LAPD would send helicopters and a fleet of squad cars to flush out a dangerous criminal. But Jacobson would have us believe only a carload of officers head after the outlaw for a shootout on, yes, a Western movie set with extras in period costumes.
Norton and Morse are both superb performers, which here is part of the problem. They invest too much actorly angst and moodiness in roles that are more than a little crazy. Bruce Dern, as an old coot quick to reach for his rifle, has a better approach: He plays the campy nuttiness to the hilt.
The two young actors in the more contemporary, non-Western roles come off better. Wood and Culkin are touchingly naive in their acceptance of Harlan's delusions, though the reason for their rebellion against their father is never articulated. Similar plot holes might spring from postproduction problems.
For instance, Ellen Burstyn is listed on the credit crawl but doesn't make the final cut. Transitions are missing, backstories are vague and characters make references to things not in the movie. Even so, the movie goes on too long with false climaxes and a maudlin ending that probably should have been cut.
Wasted are Enrique Chediak's anamorphic widescreen lensing and Franco Carbone's production design, which seeks out the Old West empty spaces that still exist in the San Fernando Valley.
DOWN IN THE VALLEY
Element Films
Credits: Screenwriter/director: David Jacobson; Producers: Holly Wiersma, Adam Rosenfeld, Edward Norton; Executive producer: Sam Nazarian; Director of photography: Enrique Chediak; Production designer: Franco Carbone, Stavros Merjos; Music: Peter Salett; Editors: Lynzee Klingman. Cast: Harlan: Edward Norton; Tobe: Evan Rachel Wood; Wade: David Morse; Lonnie: Rory Culkin; Steve: John Diehl; Charlie: Bruce Dern.
No MPAA rating, running time 125 minutes...
Edward Norton serves as star and producer, but even his star power won't help this misfire reach a wide domestic audience. The film might play better in Europe, where ambivalence to the American cowboy mentality is part of the cultural dialogue. But even that is a big maybe.
Harlan (Norton) drifts into town in classic Western style with only a few possessions. The movie plays games for a while as to where the story is set since the locations do not immediately read as L.A. Harlan fatefully meets Tobe Evan Rachel Wood), short for October.
Tobe is a young teen in full rebellion against her single dad, Wade (David Morse). Wade, who is a sheriff, is clueless about how to deal with his daughter and her 13-year-old brother Lonnie (Rory Culkin).
On an outing to the beach with her girlfriends, Tobe takes a shine to Harlan, whom everyone calls Tex and picks him up. Before the day is over, she seduces him, and Harlan is smitten.
Tobe's dating a guy twice her age who is obviously a loser doesn't sit well with her dad. For a while, the movie plays a second game with its audience, asking us to guess who is the crazier adult in the story.
Harlan enacts Western movie scenes with a real gun in front of his apartment mirror -- you know, like De Niro's mirror grandstanding in "Taxi Driver". Meanwhile, Wade talks darkly about his contempt for the "meek," and despite being a law officer, he doesn't hesitate to level a gun at Harlan in front of his son.
It's clear soon enough, though, that Harlan is the wacko. When anger gets the better of him, he commits a terrible crime and persuades Lonnie to escape with him on horseback into the hills above the valley. Now in real life, the LAPD would send helicopters and a fleet of squad cars to flush out a dangerous criminal. But Jacobson would have us believe only a carload of officers head after the outlaw for a shootout on, yes, a Western movie set with extras in period costumes.
Norton and Morse are both superb performers, which here is part of the problem. They invest too much actorly angst and moodiness in roles that are more than a little crazy. Bruce Dern, as an old coot quick to reach for his rifle, has a better approach: He plays the campy nuttiness to the hilt.
The two young actors in the more contemporary, non-Western roles come off better. Wood and Culkin are touchingly naive in their acceptance of Harlan's delusions, though the reason for their rebellion against their father is never articulated. Similar plot holes might spring from postproduction problems.
For instance, Ellen Burstyn is listed on the credit crawl but doesn't make the final cut. Transitions are missing, backstories are vague and characters make references to things not in the movie. Even so, the movie goes on too long with false climaxes and a maudlin ending that probably should have been cut.
Wasted are Enrique Chediak's anamorphic widescreen lensing and Franco Carbone's production design, which seeks out the Old West empty spaces that still exist in the San Fernando Valley.
DOWN IN THE VALLEY
Element Films
Credits: Screenwriter/director: David Jacobson; Producers: Holly Wiersma, Adam Rosenfeld, Edward Norton; Executive producer: Sam Nazarian; Director of photography: Enrique Chediak; Production designer: Franco Carbone, Stavros Merjos; Music: Peter Salett; Editors: Lynzee Klingman. Cast: Harlan: Edward Norton; Tobe: Evan Rachel Wood; Wade: David Morse; Lonnie: Rory Culkin; Steve: John Diehl; Charlie: Bruce Dern.
No MPAA rating, running time 125 minutes...
- 5/17/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Opens
Friday, Sept. 26
NEW YORK -- The darkly comic situations of "Duplex" remind of Danny DeVito's first two movies as director, except that this time, they're coated with scatological humor. Chances are that the resulting puke and gunge gags, coupled with a romantic pairing of Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore, will connect with teens and twentysomethings at the boxoffice. But more demanding viewers hoping for the cruel wit of DeVito's "Throw Momma From the Train" or "The War of the Roses" will likely be disappointed by its lack of comic bite.
Predictable situations mean that "Duplex" fails to scale any comic heights, though belly laughs will be had by those with an appetite for crass physical humor -- gags about excrement, sick and the like. The film's emotional core also is problematic. It demands that viewers empathize with a young couple who, however appealingly portrayed, are still yuppie upstarts trying to murder an old lady for no greater sin than being a nuisance.
The story, scripted by coproducer Larry Doyle, begins with Alex (Stiller) and Nancy (Barrymore) deciding they need more living space. So they move out of their Manhattan apartment and buy a duplex in Brooklyn. It's a great-looking pad, which comes with only one small problem -- the top floor's a rent-controlled apartment occupied by ninetysomething tenant Mrs. Connelly (86-year-old Brit Eileen Essel).
Alex and Nancy don't anticipate problems with Connelly and joke that she'll probably pass away soon, anyway. But from Night 1, they're kept awake by "Hawaii Five-O" reruns blaring from the old lady's TV. Daytimes aren't much better because Connelly pesters the pair to run errands and do repairs. What's more, she seems very healthy.
Complaints lead to trouble with New York cop Dan (Robert Wisdom from "Storytelling"), Connelly's self-styled guardian angel. So Alex and Nancy decide to rid themselves of the elderly pest by hiring a hit man. They fail. Despondent, they sell up.
The story resembles DeVito's earlier works as director, though he only became involved after Doyle's script was finished. There are clear similarities to "Throw Momma", DeVito's 1987 directorial debut, and his 1989 "Roses". The former tells of a talentless writer trying murder his odious mother. The latter's a bitter story of a husband and wife who duel over possession of their dream house.
Early scenes in which the couple find their house actually play like a rerun of "Roses". But Stiller and Barrymore lack the vengeful barbarity of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in that film. "Duplex" demands that the couple remain very nice people while they're trying to do a very nasty thing, and the director's desire to keep them likable become the film's fatal flaw. Couples who try to kill old ladies aren't good people, yet DeVito works overtime trying to convince us that they are. Some of the comic nastiness of "Roses" or "Train" would have given Alex and Nancy more credibility.
Stiller performs with his usual panache, reprising his accident-prone character from "Meet the Parents". He acts with every bone in his body and manages to make the gags funnier than they really should be. Barrymore hasn't quite got the comic chops to keep up. Essel is fine as the old lady, playing innocence with an undercurrent of grumpiness.
Tech credits are all very good indeed. Camerawork by Anastas Michos ("Death to Smoochy") is stylish. Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch's production design makes the duplex look both desirable and worn-in, and editing (by Lynzee Klingman and Greg Hayden) ensures the film moves at a snappy pace.
DUPLEX
Miramax Films
A Red Hour Films/Flower Films production
Credits:
Director: Danny DeVito
Screenwriter: Larry Doyle
Producers: Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfield, Jeremy Kramer, Nancy Juvonen, Drew Barrymore
Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Meryl Poster, Jennifer Wachtell, Richard N. Gladstein, Alan C. Blomquist
Co-producer: Larry Doyle
Director of photography: Anastas Michos
Production designers: Robin Standefer, Stephen Alesch: Music: David Newman
Costume designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
Editors: Lynzee Klingman, Greg Hayden
Supervising sound editor: Bobby Mackston
Cast:
Alex Rose: Ben Stiller
Nancy Kendricks: Drew Barrymore
Mrs. Connelly: Eileen Essel
Kenneth: Harvey Fierstein
Coop: Justin Theroux
Chick: James Remar
Officer Dan: Robert Wisdom
Running time -- 89 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Friday, Sept. 26
NEW YORK -- The darkly comic situations of "Duplex" remind of Danny DeVito's first two movies as director, except that this time, they're coated with scatological humor. Chances are that the resulting puke and gunge gags, coupled with a romantic pairing of Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore, will connect with teens and twentysomethings at the boxoffice. But more demanding viewers hoping for the cruel wit of DeVito's "Throw Momma From the Train" or "The War of the Roses" will likely be disappointed by its lack of comic bite.
Predictable situations mean that "Duplex" fails to scale any comic heights, though belly laughs will be had by those with an appetite for crass physical humor -- gags about excrement, sick and the like. The film's emotional core also is problematic. It demands that viewers empathize with a young couple who, however appealingly portrayed, are still yuppie upstarts trying to murder an old lady for no greater sin than being a nuisance.
The story, scripted by coproducer Larry Doyle, begins with Alex (Stiller) and Nancy (Barrymore) deciding they need more living space. So they move out of their Manhattan apartment and buy a duplex in Brooklyn. It's a great-looking pad, which comes with only one small problem -- the top floor's a rent-controlled apartment occupied by ninetysomething tenant Mrs. Connelly (86-year-old Brit Eileen Essel).
Alex and Nancy don't anticipate problems with Connelly and joke that she'll probably pass away soon, anyway. But from Night 1, they're kept awake by "Hawaii Five-O" reruns blaring from the old lady's TV. Daytimes aren't much better because Connelly pesters the pair to run errands and do repairs. What's more, she seems very healthy.
Complaints lead to trouble with New York cop Dan (Robert Wisdom from "Storytelling"), Connelly's self-styled guardian angel. So Alex and Nancy decide to rid themselves of the elderly pest by hiring a hit man. They fail. Despondent, they sell up.
The story resembles DeVito's earlier works as director, though he only became involved after Doyle's script was finished. There are clear similarities to "Throw Momma", DeVito's 1987 directorial debut, and his 1989 "Roses". The former tells of a talentless writer trying murder his odious mother. The latter's a bitter story of a husband and wife who duel over possession of their dream house.
Early scenes in which the couple find their house actually play like a rerun of "Roses". But Stiller and Barrymore lack the vengeful barbarity of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in that film. "Duplex" demands that the couple remain very nice people while they're trying to do a very nasty thing, and the director's desire to keep them likable become the film's fatal flaw. Couples who try to kill old ladies aren't good people, yet DeVito works overtime trying to convince us that they are. Some of the comic nastiness of "Roses" or "Train" would have given Alex and Nancy more credibility.
Stiller performs with his usual panache, reprising his accident-prone character from "Meet the Parents". He acts with every bone in his body and manages to make the gags funnier than they really should be. Barrymore hasn't quite got the comic chops to keep up. Essel is fine as the old lady, playing innocence with an undercurrent of grumpiness.
Tech credits are all very good indeed. Camerawork by Anastas Michos ("Death to Smoochy") is stylish. Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch's production design makes the duplex look both desirable and worn-in, and editing (by Lynzee Klingman and Greg Hayden) ensures the film moves at a snappy pace.
DUPLEX
Miramax Films
A Red Hour Films/Flower Films production
Credits:
Director: Danny DeVito
Screenwriter: Larry Doyle
Producers: Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfield, Jeremy Kramer, Nancy Juvonen, Drew Barrymore
Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Meryl Poster, Jennifer Wachtell, Richard N. Gladstein, Alan C. Blomquist
Co-producer: Larry Doyle
Director of photography: Anastas Michos
Production designers: Robin Standefer, Stephen Alesch: Music: David Newman
Costume designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
Editors: Lynzee Klingman, Greg Hayden
Supervising sound editor: Bobby Mackston
Cast:
Alex Rose: Ben Stiller
Nancy Kendricks: Drew Barrymore
Mrs. Connelly: Eileen Essel
Kenneth: Harvey Fierstein
Coop: Justin Theroux
Chick: James Remar
Officer Dan: Robert Wisdom
Running time -- 89 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 10/10/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A creamy, rich Southern Gothic with a molasses-sweet matriarch wreaking psychological havoc, "Hush" is a scrumptious morsel that oozes with perverted textures. Starring Jessica Lange as the domineering woman and Gwyneth Paltrow as her unlucky daughter-in-law, this Sony release may find its most gracious hospitality as a video rental -- the kind of old-style, Crawford/de Havilland-ish dish modern women may snuggle up to on a cold, snowy night in front of the tube.
Usually, when the lady of the manor has bats in her belfry, her abode is an expressionistic dungeon. Not so in this smart and smooth generic time piece. In "Hush", Lange stars as Martha, an aptly named woman whose genteel charms seem to epitomize Southern womanhood. Martha lives alone on the estate her husband left her, a sprawling and sumptuous horse farm that is set back just on the outskirts of town. Despite her radiance, Martha is a barren woman in many ways. She pines for the return of her son, Jackson (Johnathon Schaech), now living in New York and she fills the void in her days with domestic niceties.
The Christmas/New Year's respite brings Jackson back to the "farm," along with his live-in girlfriend, Helen (Paltrow). Mom's a bit strict in an old-fashioned Catholic sense and ultra-traditional, he warns. But once the initial awkwardness subsides, Helen is taken in by the thoughtfulness and charm of this doting Dixie woman.
If Hitchcock were still able to conjure about a blonde with all the vanilla extract he so perversely admired, Lange would fulfill beyond his sickest dreams the potential for venality that such a beautiful delicacy could wreak. In a psychological thriller of this sort, the story is only as strong as the villain, and Lange is marvelously lethal. She conjures up a corrosively gorgeous performance, alternating maternal wisdom, neighborly gentility and outright debauchery. Lange cuts a gracious and scary figure, mixing her throaty laugh with nervous finger twirls through the ends of her hair and furtive deep drags on her cigarette. One can only surmise what deep-dish dessert this woman might serve up to an unsuspecting guest.
Although Lange's performance is the centerpiece, praise goes to Gwyneth Paltrow for her flinty performance as the straightforward daughter-in-law/wife who, ultimately, must prove a worthy foe. Schaech is well-cast as the patrician Jackson who must prove his mettle as well as exorcise some childhood demons.
Fittingly, it's the psychological depictions that are the strong suit of Jonathan Darby and Jane Rusconi's screenplay -- ultimately the mother-in-law-vs.-wife battle over the male caught in the middle of the triangle. Unfortunately, the plotting itself is a bit anemic when compared with the inner juices that are presented. But, it's the textures here, rather than the narrative substance, that are the film's essence.
Aesthetically and compositionally, "Hush" is a full-bodied treat. Under Darby's richly evocative direction, the story swells and pulsates with throbbing clarity. Swathed in a splendid array of creamy/fleshy tones, "Hush" marvelously hints at the sickness such an overripe family setting possesses. Deserving special praise is cinematographer Andrew Dunn for conveying the sense of decay with his vibrant hues. Similarly, production designers Thomas A. Walsh and Michael Johnston have visualized a family setting that beneath its splendid surfaces lurks rot of all sorts. Most eloquently, composer Christopher Young's subdued score, rife with underswells of reeds and piano, clues us to the fragile mental state of the lady of the house.
Filmed in Virginia's horse country, the scrumptiously beautiful setting is a stunning backdrop for this latest variation on an age-old genre.
HUSH
Sony Releasing
TriStar
A Douglas Zwick production
Producer: Douglas Zwick
Director: Jonathan Darby
Screenwriters: Jonathan Darby, Jane Rusconi
Story: Jonathan Darby
Director of photography: Andrew Dunn
Co-producer: Ginny Nugent
Production designers: Thomas A. Walsh,
Michael Johnston
Editors: Dane Rae, Lynzee Klingman,
Robert Leighton
Costume designer: Ann Roth
Music: Chrisopher Young
Casting: Heidi Levitt, Billy Hopkins
Sound mixer: Jay Meagher
Color/stereo
Cast:
Martha: Jessica Lange
Helen: Gwyneth Paltrow
Jackson: Johnathon Schaech
Alice Baring: Nina Foch
Lisa: Debi Mazar
Sister O'Shaughnessy: Kaiulani Lee
Gavin: David Thornton
Dr. Hill: Hal Holbrook
Running time -- 88 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Usually, when the lady of the manor has bats in her belfry, her abode is an expressionistic dungeon. Not so in this smart and smooth generic time piece. In "Hush", Lange stars as Martha, an aptly named woman whose genteel charms seem to epitomize Southern womanhood. Martha lives alone on the estate her husband left her, a sprawling and sumptuous horse farm that is set back just on the outskirts of town. Despite her radiance, Martha is a barren woman in many ways. She pines for the return of her son, Jackson (Johnathon Schaech), now living in New York and she fills the void in her days with domestic niceties.
The Christmas/New Year's respite brings Jackson back to the "farm," along with his live-in girlfriend, Helen (Paltrow). Mom's a bit strict in an old-fashioned Catholic sense and ultra-traditional, he warns. But once the initial awkwardness subsides, Helen is taken in by the thoughtfulness and charm of this doting Dixie woman.
If Hitchcock were still able to conjure about a blonde with all the vanilla extract he so perversely admired, Lange would fulfill beyond his sickest dreams the potential for venality that such a beautiful delicacy could wreak. In a psychological thriller of this sort, the story is only as strong as the villain, and Lange is marvelously lethal. She conjures up a corrosively gorgeous performance, alternating maternal wisdom, neighborly gentility and outright debauchery. Lange cuts a gracious and scary figure, mixing her throaty laugh with nervous finger twirls through the ends of her hair and furtive deep drags on her cigarette. One can only surmise what deep-dish dessert this woman might serve up to an unsuspecting guest.
Although Lange's performance is the centerpiece, praise goes to Gwyneth Paltrow for her flinty performance as the straightforward daughter-in-law/wife who, ultimately, must prove a worthy foe. Schaech is well-cast as the patrician Jackson who must prove his mettle as well as exorcise some childhood demons.
Fittingly, it's the psychological depictions that are the strong suit of Jonathan Darby and Jane Rusconi's screenplay -- ultimately the mother-in-law-vs.-wife battle over the male caught in the middle of the triangle. Unfortunately, the plotting itself is a bit anemic when compared with the inner juices that are presented. But, it's the textures here, rather than the narrative substance, that are the film's essence.
Aesthetically and compositionally, "Hush" is a full-bodied treat. Under Darby's richly evocative direction, the story swells and pulsates with throbbing clarity. Swathed in a splendid array of creamy/fleshy tones, "Hush" marvelously hints at the sickness such an overripe family setting possesses. Deserving special praise is cinematographer Andrew Dunn for conveying the sense of decay with his vibrant hues. Similarly, production designers Thomas A. Walsh and Michael Johnston have visualized a family setting that beneath its splendid surfaces lurks rot of all sorts. Most eloquently, composer Christopher Young's subdued score, rife with underswells of reeds and piano, clues us to the fragile mental state of the lady of the house.
Filmed in Virginia's horse country, the scrumptiously beautiful setting is a stunning backdrop for this latest variation on an age-old genre.
HUSH
Sony Releasing
TriStar
A Douglas Zwick production
Producer: Douglas Zwick
Director: Jonathan Darby
Screenwriters: Jonathan Darby, Jane Rusconi
Story: Jonathan Darby
Director of photography: Andrew Dunn
Co-producer: Ginny Nugent
Production designers: Thomas A. Walsh,
Michael Johnston
Editors: Dane Rae, Lynzee Klingman,
Robert Leighton
Costume designer: Ann Roth
Music: Chrisopher Young
Casting: Heidi Levitt, Billy Hopkins
Sound mixer: Jay Meagher
Color/stereo
Cast:
Martha: Jessica Lange
Helen: Gwyneth Paltrow
Jackson: Johnathon Schaech
Alice Baring: Nina Foch
Lisa: Debi Mazar
Sister O'Shaughnessy: Kaiulani Lee
Gavin: David Thornton
Dr. Hill: Hal Holbrook
Running time -- 88 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
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