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4 items from 2012

27 March 2012 1:44 PM, PDT | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »

"I want to thank three persons,” said Michel Hazanavicius, accepting the 2012 Best Picture Oscar for “The Artist.” “I want to thank Billy Wilder, I want to thank Billy Wilder and I want to thank Billy Wilder.” He wasn’t the first director to namecheck Wilder in an acceptance speech. In 1994, Fernando Trueba, accepting the Foreign Language Film Oscar for "Belle Epoque" quipped, "I would like to believe in God in order to thank him. But I just believe in Billy Wilder... so, thank you Mr. Wilder." Wilder reportedly called the next day "Fernando? It's God."

So just what exactly was it that inspired these men to expend some of the most valuable seconds of speechifying airtime they'll ever know, to tip their hats to Wilder? And can we bottle it?

Born in a region of Austria/Hungary that is now part of Poland, Wilder's story feels like an archetype of »

- Oliver Lyttelton

12 March 2012 10:44 AM, PDT | SoundOnSight | See recent SoundOnSight news »

You’ve never met Saul Bass, but you know him. He is everywhere. He designed the logos of your favourite cereal (Quaker), the phone you use (At&T), the camera you have (Minolta), but most importantly the posters of the films you love. The Bass mid-century minimalist aesthetic is the face of timeless classics such as Vertigo, The Anatomy of a Murder, The Man with the Golden Arm, West Side Story, The Shining, and countless more. With a career that spanned over forty years Saul Bass was a graphic design innovator who moved film posters up the hierarchy from commercial promotional tool to a collectable print based art. In print, his work was the nexus point between metaphor and abstraction. Relying heavily on symbolic references, his visual style of fragmentation and colour blocking proposed the film’s mood, and in doing so provided it with a subliminal and additional identity. »

- Christina Stimpson

13 February 2012 11:46 AM, PST | Moviefone | See recent Moviefone news »

"Funny Face" shouldn't have worked. It was a musical with a borrowed score, based on a stage play its author had failed to sell, with a leading man past his prime and a leading lady, 30 years younger, who had a thin singing voice. Indeed, the film, released 55 years ago today (on February 13, 1957), was not a hit. Yet today, it's regarded as a visually sumptuous classic, with Fred Astaire dancing with impossible grace at 58 and Audrey Hepburn in one of her most stylish, iconic performances. Still, as beloved as "Funny Face" is, many viewers may not know of the real-life love story that inspired the movie, or about the film's ties to such far-flung projects as the "Eloise" novels and the counterculture drama "Five Easy Pieces." Here, then, are 25 little-known facts about "Funny Face." 1. The movie's title and four of its songs came from George Gershwin's 1927 Broadway musical "Funny Face. »

- Gary Susman

9 January 2012 7:15 PM, PST | Alt Film Guide | See recent Alt Film Guide news »

Katharine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi in Oscar nominee (but not DGA nominee) David Lean's Summertime DGA Awards vs. Academy Awards 1948-1952: Odd Men Out George Cukor, John Huston, Vincente Minnelli 1953 DGA (12) Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, Above and Beyond Walter Lang, Call Me Madam Daniel Mann, Come Back, Little Sheba Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Julius Caesar Henry Koster, The Robe Jean Negulesco, Titanic George Sidney, Young Bess DGA/AMPAS George Stevens, Shane Charles Walters, Lili Billy Wilder, Stalag 17 William Wyler, Roman Holiday Fred Zinnemann, From Here to Eternity   1954 DGA (16) Edward Dmytryk, The Caine Mutiny Alfred Hitchcock, Dial M for Murder Robert Wise, Executive Suite Anthony Mann, The Glenn Miller Story Samuel Fuller, Hell and High Water Henry King, King of Khyber Rifles Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, Knock on Wood Don Siegel, Riot in Cell Block 11 Stanley Donen, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers George Cukor, A Star Is Born Jean Negulesco, »

- Andre Soares

4 items from 2012