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6 items from 2010

7 December 2010 7:08 AM, PST | MUBI | See recent MUBI news »

What is an auteur?

The question never goes away, does it? The director Irvin Kershner died last week, and I commemorated his passing by putting up some of my thoughts about his work up at my blog. I discussed a couple of pictures of his that I admired—The Luck of Ginger Coffey and Loving among them, mentioned the George-Lucas-produced elephant, and made an observation concerning the (to my mind) objectively pro-fascist content of RoboCop 2, which Kershner directed, and the seemingly not-fascist character and view of the man himself, which to me suggested a certain late-period disconnect between the director and his material, the sort of thing that is, or can be, interesting to note when making a career assessment or summing-up. The item solicited some comments, including one from the blogger who goes by the nom Flickhead, who had less admiration for even the ostensible high points of Kershner's »

30 November 2010 9:13 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

Chosen to direct The Empire Strikes Back, he turned in one of the best sequels – and highest box-office earners – of all time

The film director Irvin Kershner, who has died aged 87, was known in the trade as a hired gun. His most famous film, The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the fifth episode in the Star Wars saga, is most commonly linked to its executive producer, George Lucas. Never Say Never Again (1983) is celebrated as the film in which Sean Connery made his comeback as James Bond after 12 years away from the role, the director merely providing the vehicle. Kershner's first feature, Stakeout On Dope Street (1958), was made under the aegis of Roger Corman, who usually gained the main credit for the films he produced. Yet, eclectic as Kershner seemed, his best films reveal a visual flair, with an eye for the telling detail and a sympathy for the rebel.

The Philadelphia »

- Ronald Bergan

30 November 2010 6:48 AM, PST | SoundOnSight | See recent SoundOnSight news »

Filmmaker Irvin Kershner died at age 87 Saturday after a three year battle with lung cancer. Kershner began making documentaries for the U.S. Information Service in the early ’50s. After working in television, he co-scripted and directed his first feature, the crime drama Stakeout on Dope Street, for executive producer Roger Corman. Kershner started to make a name for himself in the mid ’60s with the Brian Moore adaptation The Luck of Ginger Coffey, the romantic satire A Fine Madness, and the marital-crisis drama Loving. However the director is best known for his big-budget action and adventure films such as The Empire Strikes Back, the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, and RoboCop II.

Star Wars creator/producer/director George Lucas issued a touching statement in memory of Kershner.

The statement was released on StarWars.com:

“The world has lost a great director and one of the most genuine »

- Ricky

29 November 2010 4:11 PM, PST | The Movie Pool | See recent The Movie Pool news »

Two architects of the internet's collective childhood have recently passed away. Filmmaking legend Irvin Kershner and parody actor-extraordinaire Leslie Nielsen have died.

Nielson, who starred in such films as Airplane!, The Naked Gun trilogy, Dracula: Dead & Loving It, and countless other mirth-inducing movies passed away last night at the age of 84. Mr. Nielson was in a hospital in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida struggling with complications arising out of pneumonia.

Mr. Nielson’s agent issued the following statement:

“We are saddened by the passing of beloved actor Leslie Nielsen, probably best remembered as Lt. Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun series of pictures, but who enjoyed a more than 60 year career in motion pictures and television.”

Kershner, best remembered as the director of the holiest film of the Holy Trilogy (The Empire Strikes Back to the uninitiated) passed away this morning in Los Angeles at age 87. Though the exact cause of death »

29 November 2010 1:00 PM, PST | EW.com - PopWatch | See recent EW.com - PopWatch news »

George Lucas will always be known as the genius behind Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Darth Vader. But it was Irvin Kershner, a professorial and genteel man of the old school, who directed the film most Star Wars aficionados consider the greatest chapter in the saga, 1980′s The Empire Strikes Back. It was to Kershner’s credit that he never jockeyed for the limelight or clawed for the credit. He was a quiet craftsman who believed in letting the images he put on screen speak for him. The news that Kershner passed away earlier today leaves a giant black hole »

- Chris Nashawaty

29 November 2010 7:59 AM, PST | Corona's Coming Attractions | See recent Corona's Coming Attractions news »

When he was hired to direct the sequel to Star Wars, no one in fandom knew the name Irvin Kershner. By the time Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back had rolled out in theaters in the summer of 1980, director Irvin Kershner had been assured of his slice of immortality.

Widely regarded by film critics and the general Star Wars fanbase to be a superior sequel to an already great first movie, The Empire Strikes Back took the characters that George Lucas had created and gave them maturity, inner complexity and raised the personal stakes that they were fighting for. Without Empire the final Star Wars film in the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi, and even the following prequel trilogy, would have turned out differently.

Born in 1923, Kershner began his directing career by working in television in the 1950s. He began to build up a positive reputation as a solid »

- Patrick Sauriol

6 items from 2010