Arnold Schulman, Screenwriter on ‘Goodbye, Columbus’ and ‘Love With the Proper Stranger,’ Dies at 97
Arnold Schulman, who landed Oscar nominations for his screenplays for Love With the Proper Stranger and Goodbye, Columbus and found success with several incarnations of his Broadway hit A Hole in the Head, has died. He was 97.
Schulman died Saturday of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica, his son, Peter Schulman, told The Hollywood Reporter.
In two late-career triumphs, Schulman was recruited by Francis Ford Coppola to write the biopic Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), and he scored an Emmy nomination and a Humanitas Prize in 1994 for his teleplay for HBO’s And the Band Played On, an adaptation of Randy Shilts’ nonfiction book about the onset of AIDS.
An original member of the Actors Studio, Schulman in the 1950s worked alongside the likes of James Dean and Paul Newman on live television. In 1962, he quit as the original screenwriter on the never-completed Marilyn Monroe movie Something’s Got to Give,...
Schulman died Saturday of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica, his son, Peter Schulman, told The Hollywood Reporter.
In two late-career triumphs, Schulman was recruited by Francis Ford Coppola to write the biopic Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), and he scored an Emmy nomination and a Humanitas Prize in 1994 for his teleplay for HBO’s And the Band Played On, an adaptation of Randy Shilts’ nonfiction book about the onset of AIDS.
An original member of the Actors Studio, Schulman in the 1950s worked alongside the likes of James Dean and Paul Newman on live television. In 1962, he quit as the original screenwriter on the never-completed Marilyn Monroe movie Something’s Got to Give,...
- 2/6/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Nehemiah Persoff, who appeared as Barbra Streisand’s rabbi father in “Yentl” and had roles in hundreds of films and TV series including “Some Like It Hot” and “Twins,” died Tuesday in San Luis Obispo, Calif. He was 102.
His death was confirmed by his daughter, Dahlia Reano. Beyond prolific, Persoff racked up almost 200 credits in film and TV in a career that began in the very earliest days of television.
Persoff broke through in the 1959 movie “Some Like It Hot,” in which he played mobster boss Little Bonaparte. (The actor had been the last surviving member of the cast.) Early in his career, he was known for playing villainous tough guys, such as in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Wrong Man,” starring Henry Fonda, and “Al Capone,” starring Rod Steiger, in which he had a substantial role as Johnny Torrio, the mobster who mentored Capone only to be replaced by him.
His death was confirmed by his daughter, Dahlia Reano. Beyond prolific, Persoff racked up almost 200 credits in film and TV in a career that began in the very earliest days of television.
Persoff broke through in the 1959 movie “Some Like It Hot,” in which he played mobster boss Little Bonaparte. (The actor had been the last surviving member of the cast.) Early in his career, he was known for playing villainous tough guys, such as in Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Wrong Man,” starring Henry Fonda, and “Al Capone,” starring Rod Steiger, in which he had a substantial role as Johnny Torrio, the mobster who mentored Capone only to be replaced by him.
- 4/6/2022
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
The Singaporean film industry is experiencing an unprecedented production boom. At least 14 homegrown films are due to release this year, a 50% increase from 2018, with another 15 in development, per the Singapore Film Commission.
Last year saw unprecedented success for Singapore cinema, with Yeo Siew Hua’s “A Land Imagined” winning the Golden Leopard at Locarno, and several more awards globally. The film was released theatrically in Singapore in February 2019 and enjoyed a successful box office run. Jon M. Chu’s Singapore-set blockbuster “Crazy Rich Asians” led to a global uptick in interest in the island country; auteur Eric Khoo’s culinary themed “Ramen Shop” won plaudits at Berlin and Tokyo; and locally, horror films from Gilbert Chan (“23:59: The Haunting Hour”) and Jacen Tan (“Zombiepura”) found favor with audiences.
Local superstar Jack Neo had a 2018 Lunar New Year release with comedy “Wonderful! Liang Xi Mei” from regional powerhouses MM2 Entertainment and J Team Prods.
Last year saw unprecedented success for Singapore cinema, with Yeo Siew Hua’s “A Land Imagined” winning the Golden Leopard at Locarno, and several more awards globally. The film was released theatrically in Singapore in February 2019 and enjoyed a successful box office run. Jon M. Chu’s Singapore-set blockbuster “Crazy Rich Asians” led to a global uptick in interest in the island country; auteur Eric Khoo’s culinary themed “Ramen Shop” won plaudits at Berlin and Tokyo; and locally, horror films from Gilbert Chan (“23:59: The Haunting Hour”) and Jacen Tan (“Zombiepura”) found favor with audiences.
Local superstar Jack Neo had a 2018 Lunar New Year release with comedy “Wonderful! Liang Xi Mei” from regional powerhouses MM2 Entertainment and J Team Prods.
- 3/19/2019
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Ten works in progress also screened at Coming Soon showcase.
Laura Samani’s Italian-Slovakian project Small Body and Mikko Myllylahti’s Finnish drama The Woodcutter Story received the TorinoFilmLab’s two prestigious €40,000 production awards on the final night of Tfl’s Meeting Event which marked the culmination of the 11th edition of the TorinoFilmLab.
The event presented all of the projects developed at Tfl through the year and took place from November 23-24.
Four co-production awards of €50,000 each were also presented to Mounia Akl’s Costa Brava, Lebanon (Lebanon-France-Sweden-Norway), Felipe Gálvez’s The Settlers (Chile-Argentina-Denmark), Jianjie Lin’s Blood And Water...
Laura Samani’s Italian-Slovakian project Small Body and Mikko Myllylahti’s Finnish drama The Woodcutter Story received the TorinoFilmLab’s two prestigious €40,000 production awards on the final night of Tfl’s Meeting Event which marked the culmination of the 11th edition of the TorinoFilmLab.
The event presented all of the projects developed at Tfl through the year and took place from November 23-24.
Four co-production awards of €50,000 each were also presented to Mounia Akl’s Costa Brava, Lebanon (Lebanon-France-Sweden-Norway), Felipe Gálvez’s The Settlers (Chile-Argentina-Denmark), Jianjie Lin’s Blood And Water...
- 11/27/2018
- by Gabriele Niola
- ScreenDaily
The romance with film turned a corner this year with the massive success of Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk.” The World War II actioner had the widest 70mm release in 25 years (125 prints, dominated by IMAX), grabbing $188 million domestically and $525 million worldwide. And the visual impact of the IMAX format was powerful in the best picture frontrunner. Whether by land, by air, or by sea, the imagery was immersive. That is why Dutch-Swedish cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema is the frontrunner in his race as well.
But the impact of film on the cinematography race doesn’t stop there. Also in strong contention are “The Beguiled,” “Call Me By Your Name,” “Wonder Struck,” and “Wonder Woman,” all period pieces shot in a variety of styles that particularly benefited from the texture and warmth of 35mm film. At the same time, “The Post,” “Murder on the Orient Express” (another 70mm spectacle), “The Florida Project,...
But the impact of film on the cinematography race doesn’t stop there. Also in strong contention are “The Beguiled,” “Call Me By Your Name,” “Wonder Struck,” and “Wonder Woman,” all period pieces shot in a variety of styles that particularly benefited from the texture and warmth of 35mm film. At the same time, “The Post,” “Murder on the Orient Express” (another 70mm spectacle), “The Florida Project,...
- 12/15/2017
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
There’s a thrilling scene early on in “Dunkirk” when Fionn Whitehead’s Tommy carries a wounded soldier on a stretcher through a long line of comrades on the beach. What made it work so viscerally is the fact that cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema picked up the 54-pound IMAX 65mm camera on the spur of the moment and feverishly followed the action.
It was part of the “You Are There” ethos of Christopher Nolan’s immersive World War II survival drama about the legendary evacuation of more than 300,000 British and Allied troops under German bombardment. which could only be captured through the IMAX film experience.
“It’s quality and there’s nothing like it,” said van Hoytema. And when it came to “Dunkirk” they upped their game. “We always tried to be as much as possible in some sort of a point of view situation,” van Hoytema said. “To experience...
It was part of the “You Are There” ethos of Christopher Nolan’s immersive World War II survival drama about the legendary evacuation of more than 300,000 British and Allied troops under German bombardment. which could only be captured through the IMAX film experience.
“It’s quality and there’s nothing like it,” said van Hoytema. And when it came to “Dunkirk” they upped their game. “We always tried to be as much as possible in some sort of a point of view situation,” van Hoytema said. “To experience...
- 12/6/2017
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
A winner of both the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and the Big Screen Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, ‘Pop Aye’ was a hit with critics and festival audiences alike, and now has been selected by Singapore as the country’s Official Submission to the 90th Academy Awards. Kino Lorber has now released Kirsten Tan’s Award-Winning Pop Aye on DVD with special features including behind-the-scenes footage and trailer.
Pop Aye was released theatrically by Kino Lorber earlier in 2017, with a two-week run at New York’s Film Forum and engagements in key national markets including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Chicago, and Seattle. International sales are by Cercamon, a sales company based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates headed by Sébastien Chesneau who is French.
This first feature of Kirsten Tan comes from Singapore but it takes place in Thailand.
Pop Aye was released theatrically by Kino Lorber earlier in 2017, with a two-week run at New York’s Film Forum and engagements in key national markets including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Chicago, and Seattle. International sales are by Cercamon, a sales company based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates headed by Sébastien Chesneau who is French.
This first feature of Kirsten Tan comes from Singapore but it takes place in Thailand.
- 11/10/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
You Are There, Doi Boy win awards.
The Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (Seafic) has awarded prizes to projects from Singapore’s Nicole Midori Woodford (pictured) and Thailand’s Nontawat Numbenchapol in its first round of awards.
Midori Woodford’s You Are There won both the Seafic-tfl Award and the Open Sea Fund Award, presented by Vs Service and White Light Post, which came with $25,000 of in-kind services. Through the Seafic-tfl Award, the project’s producer Jeremy Chua will attend this year’s TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event (November 24-26).
Nontawat’s Doi Boy won the Purin Award, which came with a cash prize of $15,000. The award was presented by a jury comprising Cannes director of film department Christian Jeune, former Cj Entertainment executive Kini Kim and Hong Kong producer Nansun Shi.
Produced by Steve Chen and Supatcha Thipsena, Doi Boy is a Thai-Cambodian co-production that marks the first narrative feature from Nontawat whose first two documentaries, Boundary and By...
The Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (Seafic) has awarded prizes to projects from Singapore’s Nicole Midori Woodford (pictured) and Thailand’s Nontawat Numbenchapol in its first round of awards.
Midori Woodford’s You Are There won both the Seafic-tfl Award and the Open Sea Fund Award, presented by Vs Service and White Light Post, which came with $25,000 of in-kind services. Through the Seafic-tfl Award, the project’s producer Jeremy Chua will attend this year’s TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event (November 24-26).
Nontawat’s Doi Boy won the Purin Award, which came with a cash prize of $15,000. The award was presented by a jury comprising Cannes director of film department Christian Jeune, former Cj Entertainment executive Kini Kim and Hong Kong producer Nansun Shi.
Produced by Steve Chen and Supatcha Thipsena, Doi Boy is a Thai-Cambodian co-production that marks the first narrative feature from Nontawat whose first two documentaries, Boundary and By...
- 7/4/2017
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell are the poster couple for young love.
On Tuesday, the Dancing With the Stars alum shared a sweet photo of her boyfriend driving at dusk along with an even sweeter message. "This is one of my favorite photos of you @chandlerpowell. Thank you for being such a light in my life," she captioned the pic of Powell. "You are there for me during the challenging times and the beautiful moments.
On Tuesday, the Dancing With the Stars alum shared a sweet photo of her boyfriend driving at dusk along with an even sweeter message. "This is one of my favorite photos of you @chandlerpowell. Thank you for being such a light in my life," she captioned the pic of Powell. "You are there for me during the challenging times and the beautiful moments.
- 6/21/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
This first feature of Kirsten Tan premiered in Sundance ‘17 World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Its provenance is Singapore but it takes place in Thailand. It continued onward to the Hivos Tiger Competition at Iffr (R’dam).
The thrill of interviewing here in Sundance is that you see a film; you have an impression and while it is still fresh you meet the filmmakers without having much time for any research or reflection. And then you get to see them again as “old friends” when you meet again in Rotterdam.
As Kirsten, her producer Weijie Lai and I sat down at the Sundance Co-op on Main Street here in Park City, I really had little idea of where the interview would take us, somewhat analogously to her film in which an architect, disenchanted with life in general, being put aside as “old” in his own highly successful architectural firm and in a stale relationship with his wife,...
The thrill of interviewing here in Sundance is that you see a film; you have an impression and while it is still fresh you meet the filmmakers without having much time for any research or reflection. And then you get to see them again as “old friends” when you meet again in Rotterdam.
As Kirsten, her producer Weijie Lai and I sat down at the Sundance Co-op on Main Street here in Park City, I really had little idea of where the interview would take us, somewhat analogously to her film in which an architect, disenchanted with life in general, being put aside as “old” in his own highly successful architectural firm and in a stale relationship with his wife,...
- 2/7/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
One of 2016’s best documentaries is another look at a seminal moment in America’s struggle with crime and violence. Like many previous docs, it’s an examination of a mass murder. Now basic cable TV channels (and network “newsmagazines”) are filled with such, now almost commonplace, events. What makes this film unique is the subject, namely the very first mass shooting just over fifty years ago. The other aspect that makes this work is special is its approach and use of a high-tech upgrade of a movie device that dates back over 90 years. This enables the film makers to expertly transport us to that hot summer day in 1966, as a madman spewed death from the top of a college Tower.
Director Keith Maitland, like many documentarians, makes use of archival news footage and radio recordings to convey the horror of Charles Whitman’s rampage at the University of Texas.
Director Keith Maitland, like many documentarians, makes use of archival news footage and radio recordings to convey the horror of Charles Whitman’s rampage at the University of Texas.
- 1/19/2017
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the dogfight.
Soon we will slouch towards the voting polls, most of us with the shellshocked semi-catalepsy of lost souls who've been to Hell, seen the screaming rectum of Lucifer yodel "Fat-Bottomed Girls" into the abyss, and returned from the cancerous intestinal soup of what's left of the cadaverous American political process. All the same, it's a mistake to think that we have merely been traumatized by a system gone feral. Strictly speaking, we are not weary, we are not affronted. We are not confronted...
Soon we will slouch towards the voting polls, most of us with the shellshocked semi-catalepsy of lost souls who've been to Hell, seen the screaming rectum of Lucifer yodel "Fat-Bottomed Girls" into the abyss, and returned from the cancerous intestinal soup of what's left of the cadaverous American political process. All the same, it's a mistake to think that we have merely been traumatized by a system gone feral. Strictly speaking, we are not weary, we are not affronted. We are not confronted...
- 11/7/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Line-up for first Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab includes debut fiction film from Nontawat Numbenchapol, whose documentary #Bkky is premiering at Busan.
The Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (Seafic) has unveiled the five projects selected for its first edition, including the debut fiction film from Nontawat Numbenchapol, whose documentary #Bkky is currently premiering at Busan.
Nontawat’s first two documentaries, Boundary and By The River, premiered at the Berlinale Forum and Locarno Film Festival in 2013, respectively.
Seafic invites first second and third-time filmmakers to work with a script consultant and international experts for nine months to develop their projects. In total, Seafic received 57 applications from nearly every Southeast Asian country.
The inaugural line-up also includes the debut feature from Pham Ngoc Lan, to be produced by Vietnamese filmmaker Phan Dang Di (Bi, Don’t Be Afraid), and the second film from Sivaroj Kongsakul, to be produced by Thai director-producer Pimpaka Towira (The Island Funeral). See full project...
The Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (Seafic) has unveiled the five projects selected for its first edition, including the debut fiction film from Nontawat Numbenchapol, whose documentary #Bkky is currently premiering at Busan.
Nontawat’s first two documentaries, Boundary and By The River, premiered at the Berlinale Forum and Locarno Film Festival in 2013, respectively.
Seafic invites first second and third-time filmmakers to work with a script consultant and international experts for nine months to develop their projects. In total, Seafic received 57 applications from nearly every Southeast Asian country.
The inaugural line-up also includes the debut feature from Pham Ngoc Lan, to be produced by Vietnamese filmmaker Phan Dang Di (Bi, Don’t Be Afraid), and the second film from Sivaroj Kongsakul, to be produced by Thai director-producer Pimpaka Towira (The Island Funeral). See full project...
- 10/9/2016
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
What does it take to succeed in a man’s world? A Los Angeles Film Festival panel of women cinematographers ivealed what it took to make it to the top of a competitive industry.
1. A shot of LSD. Cinema verite shooter Joan Churchill (“Last Days in Vietnam”) started out by recovering from an eight-hour acid trip, she admitted, to shoot some of the most iconic images from the Rolling Stones Altamont doc, “Gimme Shelter.” That led to the assignment of shooting the Louds in PBS’s “An American Family.” A documentary cameraperson, often working with a hand-held camera and natural light, has to have “people skills,” she said. “You have to be interested in your subjects.” When she moved to London, she couldn’t get work until she joined the Asc—and became its first woman member. Her membership card read: “Lady Cameraman.”
2. Read and reread the script. French-born Maryse Alberti...
1. A shot of LSD. Cinema verite shooter Joan Churchill (“Last Days in Vietnam”) started out by recovering from an eight-hour acid trip, she admitted, to shoot some of the most iconic images from the Rolling Stones Altamont doc, “Gimme Shelter.” That led to the assignment of shooting the Louds in PBS’s “An American Family.” A documentary cameraperson, often working with a hand-held camera and natural light, has to have “people skills,” she said. “You have to be interested in your subjects.” When she moved to London, she couldn’t get work until she joined the Asc—and became its first woman member. Her membership card read: “Lady Cameraman.”
2. Read and reread the script. French-born Maryse Alberti...
- 6/6/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Ready to dive into the next life? Developer Ccp Games has rolled out the launch trailer for hotly-anticipated dogfighting simulator Eve: Valkyrie, which can now be picked up on Oculus Rift.
Held up as an early poster child to this new generation of virtual reality, Valkyrie takes place in the sprawling universe of genre-defining Mmo Eve Online – but Dust 514 this is not. In a post outlining the game’s launch plans, Ccp touched base on creating the “best competitive multiplayer game on the Vr platform.”
It’s not just that you can see the world through someone else’s eyes – it’s that you can see other worlds through your own eyes. You are there. In an age where we are always doing multiple things at once this is pure and total immersion. There is nothing else. You are the Valkyrie pilot. All that matters is the guy in front...
Held up as an early poster child to this new generation of virtual reality, Valkyrie takes place in the sprawling universe of genre-defining Mmo Eve Online – but Dust 514 this is not. In a post outlining the game’s launch plans, Ccp touched base on creating the “best competitive multiplayer game on the Vr platform.”
It’s not just that you can see the world through someone else’s eyes – it’s that you can see other worlds through your own eyes. You are there. In an age where we are always doing multiple things at once this is pure and total immersion. There is nothing else. You are the Valkyrie pilot. All that matters is the guy in front...
- 3/29/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Great news for fans of Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys—an auction of Dwayne's leather jacket and costume is going on right now and will continue until February 26th. Also: a Q&A with Refuge director Andrew Robertson and release details for MST3K: Vol. Xxxv, Venom, and The Hours Till Daylight.
The Lost Boys & Other Entertainment Memorabilia Auction: Press Release: "Prop Store is pleased to bring vampire Dwayne’s (Billy Wirth) Death Scene Leather Jacket and Costume from the 80’s classic The Lost Boys to their online auction site. Joel Schumacher’s 1987 vampire classic pitted a deadly group of vampires against a pair of brothers in a battle to save their family. The Dwayne vampire jacket on offer comes from the character’s death scene in which Sam (Corey Haim) shoots the vampire with an arrow, sending him back into a stereo which electrocutes him. Resembling a heavily worn biker outfit,...
The Lost Boys & Other Entertainment Memorabilia Auction: Press Release: "Prop Store is pleased to bring vampire Dwayne’s (Billy Wirth) Death Scene Leather Jacket and Costume from the 80’s classic The Lost Boys to their online auction site. Joel Schumacher’s 1987 vampire classic pitted a deadly group of vampires against a pair of brothers in a battle to save their family. The Dwayne vampire jacket on offer comes from the character’s death scene in which Sam (Corey Haim) shoots the vampire with an arrow, sending him back into a stereo which electrocutes him. Resembling a heavily worn biker outfit,...
- 2/18/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
At last, an adventure movie that does without action-epic superhero Bs. It's simply You Are There with a dozen likeable, determined climbers coping with calamity in a place that, for all the help that can be sent, 'might as well be on the moon.' The excellent depth effects all but nail us to the screen. Everest Blu-ray + DVD Universal Studios Home Entertainment 2015 / Color / 2:40 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date January 19, 2016 / 49.98 Starring Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robin Wright, Martin Henderson, John Hawkes, Naoko Mori, Michael Kelly, Emily Watson, Sam Worthington. Cinematography Salvatore Totino Film Editor Mick Audsley Original Music Dario Marianelli Written by William Nicholson, Simon Beaufroy Produced by Nicky Kentish Barnes, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Baltasar Kormákur, Brian Oliver, Tyler Thompson. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I've heard no Oscar buzz surrounding Baltasar Kormákur's Everest, which makes sense. It isn't the kind of movie that courts awards,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
I've heard no Oscar buzz surrounding Baltasar Kormákur's Everest, which makes sense. It isn't the kind of movie that courts awards,...
- 1/12/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
An excellent complement to the novel, simplifying the science without dumbing it down yet retaining the suspense and urgency of its interplanetary stranding. I’m “biast” (pro): mostly really like the cast and the director
I’m “biast” (con): love the book (and we all know the book is always better than the movie)
I have read the source material (and I love love love it)
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Andy Weir’s novel The Martian is one of those very rare books that I almost literally could not put down. I mostly only have time to read during my relatively brief and nondaily commute, and even books I’m enjoying the hell out of will get put aside out of necessity — because I lack the time — for days or even a week if I don’t have the opportunity of otherwise-useless (ie,...
I’m “biast” (con): love the book (and we all know the book is always better than the movie)
I have read the source material (and I love love love it)
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Andy Weir’s novel The Martian is one of those very rare books that I almost literally could not put down. I mostly only have time to read during my relatively brief and nondaily commute, and even books I’m enjoying the hell out of will get put aside out of necessity — because I lack the time — for days or even a week if I don’t have the opportunity of otherwise-useless (ie,...
- 10/12/2015
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Director John Frankenheimer.
I'm often asked which, out of the over 600 interviews I've logged with Hollywood's finest, is my favorite. It's not a tough answer: John Frankenheimer.
We instantly clicked the day we met at his home in Benedict Canyon, and spent most of the afternoon talking in his den. A friendship of sorts developed over the years, with visits to his office for screenings of the old Kinescopes he directed for shows like "Playhouse 90" during his salad days in live television during the 1950s.
We hadn't spoken for nearly a year in mid-2002 when the phone rang. It was John, who spoke in what can only be described as a "stentorian bark," like a general. "Alex!" he exclaimed. "John Frankenheimer." He could sense something was amiss with me. It was. My screenwriting career had stalled. My marriage was progressing to divorce. I had hit bottom. John knew that...
I'm often asked which, out of the over 600 interviews I've logged with Hollywood's finest, is my favorite. It's not a tough answer: John Frankenheimer.
We instantly clicked the day we met at his home in Benedict Canyon, and spent most of the afternoon talking in his den. A friendship of sorts developed over the years, with visits to his office for screenings of the old Kinescopes he directed for shows like "Playhouse 90" during his salad days in live television during the 1950s.
We hadn't spoken for nearly a year in mid-2002 when the phone rang. It was John, who spoke in what can only be described as a "stentorian bark," like a general. "Alex!" he exclaimed. "John Frankenheimer." He could sense something was amiss with me. It was. My screenwriting career had stalled. My marriage was progressing to divorce. I had hit bottom. John knew that...
- 7/6/2015
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
April 9th will mark the four year anniversary of director Sidney Lumet's passing, at age 86. Lumet was the first director I interviewed whose one-sheet posters hung on my wall as a kid. He was an idol, an icon, and an inspiration. I wasn't yet 30 in April 1997, when I met him at The Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills for our interview at the press junket for "Night Falls On Manhattan," one of his solid, authentic urban dramas that blended crime, politics and personal revelations that became his signature.
Lumet immediately put any butterflies I had at ease. Diminutive, but with the infectious energy of a teenager, his was a disarming presence. He paid me a compliment on my sportcoat, saying that I looked a bit like the young Mickey Rourke (which I still don't see, but what the hell), then went on to regale me for an hour with...
Lumet immediately put any butterflies I had at ease. Diminutive, but with the infectious energy of a teenager, his was a disarming presence. He paid me a compliment on my sportcoat, saying that I looked a bit like the young Mickey Rourke (which I still don't see, but what the hell), then went on to regale me for an hour with...
- 4/1/2015
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
When it comes to role-playing games I tend to have somewhat of a particular taste. I remember the days of Baldur’s Gate and its sequel, I bought them both and dabbled with them but never really made progress, but I’ve played games like Skyrim for more hours than I can count. The fact is I need a game to catch my attention and make me want to spend the time on it. With this in mind it when I agreed to preview Blackguards 2 I did it with an eye to playing a role-playing game that will get me lost in its world and hopefully get me hooked.
Blackguards 2 is an interesting game because its characters aren’t your typical good-natured fighters looking for a noble resolution to some quest they have found themselves on. You start the game as Cassia a noble woman imprisoned in a dungeon who...
Blackguards 2 is an interesting game because its characters aren’t your typical good-natured fighters looking for a noble resolution to some quest they have found themselves on. You start the game as Cassia a noble woman imprisoned in a dungeon who...
- 1/12/2015
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
It’s been over two years since Sidney Lumet left us, but what he left us with is an incredible body of work that spans six decades (be sure to check out our retrospective). From his first feature film “12 Angry Men” to “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” which came out 50 years later, those who wish to tackle his entire filmography could understandably feel intimidated. Furthermore, before Lumet even made “12 Angry Men,” he had already directed hundreds of television episodes from ‘50s shows such as “Danger” and “You Are There.” The Seventh Art has recently discovered one of his more obscure works, which had been posted on YouTube a few years ago by Princeton University with barely over 1,000 views. Entitled “The Challenge,” the program was intended to be a pilot episode of a series meant to tackle various issues that were negatively affecting society. Lumet directed the episode, which...
- 11/13/2013
- by Ken Guidry
- The Playlist
When Season 15 of "Law & Order: Svu" begins Wednesday (Sept. 25), prepare for an even darker episode than where the show left off. The fearless Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) is held at gunpoint for most of the hour.
The episode takes us to depths even this show hasn't gone before. For much of the premiere, "Surrender Benson," the detective is handcuffed, beaten and taken on a hideous trip by serial rapist William Lewis (Pablo Schreiber).
Executive producer Warren Leight tells Zap2it why this episode, picking up on last season's cliffhanger, was so important to him and what he wants to do this season that's different.
Zap2it: Had Benson ever been in this sort of life-and-death danger before?Warren Leight: There was an episode [in Season 9] in which she went undercover in prison and was assaulted, a guard attempted to assault her and she was rescued by Fin [Ice-t]. That was the closest.
The episode takes us to depths even this show hasn't gone before. For much of the premiere, "Surrender Benson," the detective is handcuffed, beaten and taken on a hideous trip by serial rapist William Lewis (Pablo Schreiber).
Executive producer Warren Leight tells Zap2it why this episode, picking up on last season's cliffhanger, was so important to him and what he wants to do this season that's different.
Zap2it: Had Benson ever been in this sort of life-and-death danger before?Warren Leight: There was an episode [in Season 9] in which she went undercover in prison and was assaulted, a guard attempted to assault her and she was rescued by Fin [Ice-t]. That was the closest.
- 9/25/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
1. Nintendo is in a great position at E3 for one simple reason: Everyone loves Nintendo. Or rather: Everyone wants to love Nintendo. Anyone who cares about videogames almost certainly spent a considerable part of their childhood living in universes created by Nintendo. Super Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda, Kirby’s Dreamland, Donkey Kong, Starfox: These were experiences inscribed in a couple generations of young people. Growing up playing videogames isn’t like growing up watching movies or reading books, for one simple reason: You are playing along. You are there. It’s like having an amusement park in your living room.
- 6/12/2013
- by Darren Franich
- EW.com - PopWatch
If you're looking for an example of how we, the citizens of the United States, wage war on some of our greatest writers, you need look no further than Ludwig Bemelmans and his out-of-print masterpiece My War with the United States. Yes, he's the same guy who created the Madeline series of children's books (and they are nice ones). But there's more to him, much more. In the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, Bemelmans was that rare specimen, a total original, a writer of memoirs and stories so personal and so poignant, and so damn funny, they rival anything written by Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Chandler, and Thurber, all wrapped into one. And what's more, these things sold. They were big time.
And no wonder. They shine. They are as hard as diamonds, but bend like summer wheat. They bring tears of joy and of rage. If anything, the closest approximation...
And no wonder. They shine. They are as hard as diamonds, but bend like summer wheat. They bring tears of joy and of rage. If anything, the closest approximation...
- 4/19/2013
- by Ken Krimstein
- www.culturecatch.com
New Delhi, March 15: He believes his unique choice of work made it tough for filmmakers to "fit" him in a "box". But acclaimed actor Irrfan genuinely feels Hindi cinema needs to pay attention and importance to character artists just as in Hollywood, where, he says, India is currently in fashion.
"When you're doing a Hollywood film, you are treated like a character actor. You are an intrinsic part of the story and your role is defined. When you are doing one such role here, you are just a character. You are there to support the protagonists' crisis or dilemma.
"We misuse character actors here for the main lead. That is why being a character actor here is no fun," Irrfan said Friday at the India Today Conclave 2013 on the.
"When you're doing a Hollywood film, you are treated like a character actor. You are an intrinsic part of the story and your role is defined. When you are doing one such role here, you are just a character. You are there to support the protagonists' crisis or dilemma.
"We misuse character actors here for the main lead. That is why being a character actor here is no fun," Irrfan said Friday at the India Today Conclave 2013 on the.
- 3/15/2013
- by Rahul Kapoor
- RealBollywood.com
Kerr in the 1958 box-office blockbuster musical South Pacific (seen above with love interest France Nuyen) and his (few) other post-Tea and Sympathy efforts [Please check out the previous article: "The Two Kerrs in the stage and film versions of Tea and Sympathy."] Director Curtis Bernhardt's Gaby (1956) was a generally disliked remake of Waterloo Bridge, with Kerr and leading lady Leslie Caron in the old Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh roles (1940 movie version -- and even older Douglass Montgomery and Mae Clarke roles in the 1931 film version). Jeffrey Hayden's The Vintage (1957), starring Kerr and Mel Ferrer absurdly cast as Italian brothers, also failed to generate much box-office or critical interest. MGM leading lady Pier Angeli played Ferrer's love interest in the film, while the more mature and married French star Michèle Morgan (a plot element similar to that found in Tea and Sympathy) is Kerr's object of desire. (Pictured above: South Pacific cast members John Kerr and France Nuyen embracing.) Also in the mid-'50s, John Kerr...
- 2/9/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Charles Durning, who worked in Hollywood for nearly six full decades working on over 200 titles, has passed away at the age of 89. The character actor's death was confirmed by his daughter, having died last night in his Manhattan home. As prolific as they come, Durning split his career between the stage, the small screen and big screen. He earned acclaim for his take on Big Daddy in an early 90s staging of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, had recurring roles on series like Everybody Loves Raymond, Evening Shade and Rescue Me, and starred in classic movies like Tootsie and The Sting. The actors first credited role was in the Walter Cronkite-hosted history show from the 1950s called You Are There. He played Colonel John Jameson in an episode about the treason of the traitor Benedict Arnold. Most recently he was working on a horror film called Scavenger Killers,...
- 12/25/2012
- cinemablend.com
The Internet may be taking its toll on print journalism, but war photography is alive and well. Last week, Michael Mann (The Insider, Ali, Heat) and documentary director David Frankham launched a four-part documentary series on HBO called Witness, which follows seasoned war photographers through some of the most dangerous conflict zones on earth. Eros Hoagland, whose father was killed during his own work as a war photographer, takes viewers to Juarez, Mexico, and the favelas of Rio de Janeiro; French photojournalist Veronique de Viguerie, notorious for embedding with the Taliban, leads us through the jungles of South Sudan; and Michael Christopher Brown,...
- 11/12/2012
- by Josh Stillman
- EW - Inside TV
Walter White is headed to "The Office" ... sort of.
"Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston is directing an upcoming episode of the NBC sitcom titled "Work Bus," according to a tweet from Rainn Wilson that includes a photo of Cranston sitting on his lap.
Check out Wilson's tweet below, and click through for the photo:
Free meth for The Office! (look who's directing...) instagr.am/p/Oj70-KHLBu/
— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) August 20, 2012
Cranston has previously directed episodes of his former Fox sitcom "Malcolm In The Middle," his current AMC series "Breaking Bad" and ABC hit "Modern Family."
In a March interview with Collider, Cranston discussed his thought process for guest-directing TV shows.
"In television, you are a guest of the crew. You’re not even a member of the crew, really. You come in, you prep for a week, you shoot for a week and you’re gone. When I did Modern Family,...
"Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston is directing an upcoming episode of the NBC sitcom titled "Work Bus," according to a tweet from Rainn Wilson that includes a photo of Cranston sitting on his lap.
Check out Wilson's tweet below, and click through for the photo:
Free meth for The Office! (look who's directing...) instagr.am/p/Oj70-KHLBu/
— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) August 20, 2012
Cranston has previously directed episodes of his former Fox sitcom "Malcolm In The Middle," his current AMC series "Breaking Bad" and ABC hit "Modern Family."
In a March interview with Collider, Cranston discussed his thought process for guest-directing TV shows.
"In television, you are a guest of the crew. You’re not even a member of the crew, really. You come in, you prep for a week, you shoot for a week and you’re gone. When I did Modern Family,...
- 8/20/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
Chicago – The comedy troupe Broken Lizard conquered the film world with their first feature, “Super Troopers” in 2001. Over the next decade, they followed up with the popular “Club Dread” (2004) and “Beerfest” (2008). Broken Lizard performers Kevin Heffernan and Jay Chandrasekhar (who also directs) go domestic in the new film “The Babymakers.”
This latest release features Heffernan and Chandrasekhar in supporting roles, with Paul Schneider and Olivia Munn playing a couple trying to breed, but finding too many obstacles along the way. The solution? Break into a sperm bank where Schneider’s character made some deposits, and withdraw his specimen to save the day. Part heist film, part upper middle class fantasy, the Broken Lizard members add their own quirky sensibility to the mix of this high concept comedy.
Kevin Huffernan as Wade and Paul Schneider as Tommy in ‘The Babymakers’
Photo credit: Millennium Entertainment
Broken Lizard began in 1990 at Colgate University in New York state.
This latest release features Heffernan and Chandrasekhar in supporting roles, with Paul Schneider and Olivia Munn playing a couple trying to breed, but finding too many obstacles along the way. The solution? Break into a sperm bank where Schneider’s character made some deposits, and withdraw his specimen to save the day. Part heist film, part upper middle class fantasy, the Broken Lizard members add their own quirky sensibility to the mix of this high concept comedy.
Kevin Huffernan as Wade and Paul Schneider as Tommy in ‘The Babymakers’
Photo credit: Millennium Entertainment
Broken Lizard began in 1990 at Colgate University in New York state.
- 8/1/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
<div>Salman Khan, who is back here after the shooting of .Ek Tha Tiger. in Cuba, Friday came out in support of his fellow actor Saif Ali Khan, saying that media should have waited for his version and dug out the facts before running what was carried on television.</div><div></div><div>.Even the press yesterday was all for the other guy. They didn.t even bother to ask what happened to Saif. Did Saif get wacked first or not? We should have waited for Saif to come out and say what he had to say,. Salman told reporters after he was aksed to comment on the incident.</div><div></div><div>.We are actors and we have been in the industry for the longest time. Saif has been in the industry for 18 years. We knew the guy,. added the actor.</div><div></div><div>Salman is the face of the History channel and was attending the unveiling of TV 18.s Big initiative.
- 2/24/2012
- Filmicafe
Pete Wentz is excited for Black Cards' Lolla debut this weekend.
By Gil Kaufman
Black Cards' Bebe Rexha and Pete Wentz
Photo: Getty Images
Before 1991, when and if it was used, the term "lollapalooza" was merely a way to describe something that was really, really awesome. Then Jane's Addiction frontman and modern shaman Perry Farrell wrapped his spindly arms around the anachronistic term and molded it into the modern definition of an American music festival.
When the gates open Friday (August 5) on this year's edition of Lollapalooza, all the names and faces will be different from that first touring edition of the granddaddy of American festivals, but one thing will remain unchanged: the music.
Asked if he ever imagined Lolla would still be around 20 years down the line (the first touring edition ran from 1991 to 2003 before being reborn as a destination event in Chicago in 2005), co-founder and Lolla partner Marc Geiger said,...
By Gil Kaufman
Black Cards' Bebe Rexha and Pete Wentz
Photo: Getty Images
Before 1991, when and if it was used, the term "lollapalooza" was merely a way to describe something that was really, really awesome. Then Jane's Addiction frontman and modern shaman Perry Farrell wrapped his spindly arms around the anachronistic term and molded it into the modern definition of an American music festival.
When the gates open Friday (August 5) on this year's edition of Lollapalooza, all the names and faces will be different from that first touring edition of the granddaddy of American festivals, but one thing will remain unchanged: the music.
Asked if he ever imagined Lolla would still be around 20 years down the line (the first touring edition ran from 1991 to 2003 before being reborn as a destination event in Chicago in 2005), co-founder and Lolla partner Marc Geiger said,...
- 8/5/2011
- MTV Music News
Sony released the riding through the rock Dlc trailer for “Motorstorm Apocalypse” available now for PS3. Game Description: The MotorStorm outfit, having done dust-bowls and jungles, has packed bags and shipped out. Their destination: a coastal city that’s in throes of a natural catastrophe — and what better place to kick-start another MotorStorm festival? Set over a three day period, MotorStorm Apocalypse’s backdrop is rapidly disintegrating — You are there when it happens, and this is survival racing! Throughout the game the city will be ripped to pieces, in real-time, as you race. Routes will be affected, as will our emergent gameplay. Buggies using collapsing walls as half-pipes. Big Rigs...
- 6/29/2011
- by Brent Butler
- ShockYa
Sony released the eerie riding at night Dlc trailer for “MotorStorm Apocalypse” available now for PS3. Game Description: The MotorStorm outfit, having done dust-bowls and jungles, has packed bags and shipped out. Their destination: a coastal city that’s in throes of a natural catastrophe — and what better place to kick-start another MotorStorm festival? Set over a three day period, MotorStorm Apocalypse’s backdrop is rapidly disintegrating — You are there when it happens, and this is survival racing! Throughout the game the city will be ripped to pieces, in real-time, as you race. Routes will be affected, as will our emergent gameplay. Buggies using collapsing walls as half-pipes. Big Rigs...
- 6/27/2011
- by Brent Butler
- ShockYa
Where in the world is David Sutcliffe? After a successful decade-long run being featured in prime-time series such as Gilmore Girls, The Division, and Private Practice, as well as critically acclaimed roles in films Under The Tuscany Sun, Happy Endings, and Testosterone, the up-and-coming actor seemed unstoppable. Yet he has spent the majority of the past two years out of the spotlight, working passionately and tirelessly on a web docu-series aimed toward empowering and improving the emotional lives of others. Join us as we catch up with Sutcliffe on his transformative journey, review some of his more fondly remembered television and film roles, and discuss his plans and aspirations for the future.
We Love Soaps TV: David, it is so great to meet you! I want to begin by talking about your Kickstarter project Group. Is this a documentary, a web series, or both?
David Sutcliffe: Group is a documentary and a web series.
We Love Soaps TV: David, it is so great to meet you! I want to begin by talking about your Kickstarter project Group. Is this a documentary, a web series, or both?
David Sutcliffe: Group is a documentary and a web series.
- 5/20/2011
- by Damon L. Jacobs
- We Love Soaps
Everett Collection Director Sidney Lumet (center) directing Al Pacino (back right), on set, 1975
Legendary New York film director, Sidney Lumet, who had been nominated for five Academy Awards before winning one for lifetime achievement in 2005, died this past Saturday at the age of 86.
He directed over 50 films and another 200 teleplays during Television’s Golden Age in the 1950s, but for many he will be remembered most for his iconic films about the legal system: “12 Angry Men,” “The Verdict,” “Daniel,” “Find Me Guilty...
Legendary New York film director, Sidney Lumet, who had been nominated for five Academy Awards before winning one for lifetime achievement in 2005, died this past Saturday at the age of 86.
He directed over 50 films and another 200 teleplays during Television’s Golden Age in the 1950s, but for many he will be remembered most for his iconic films about the legal system: “12 Angry Men,” “The Verdict,” “Daniel,” “Find Me Guilty...
- 4/11/2011
- by Thane Rosenbaum
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
One of the true giants passed away this week: filmmaker Sidney Lumet, dead at 86 of lymphoma.
He was one of an incredibly talented class of directors who graduated from the early days of TV; a group which included such august talents as Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde, 1967), George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969), John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, 1962), Arthur Hiller (The Hospital, 1971), Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton, 1970), Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, 1967), Robert Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962), Martin Ritt (Hud, 1963), and Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch, 1969). Only Jewison is left, now, and as each has passed, mainstream American moviemaking has gotten a little louder, a little emptier, and a little dumber.
TV drama in the early days was almost like good theater: it was usually live, smart, provocative, rich with real-world character and sharp dialogue. Very early on, Lumet was considered one of the...
He was one of an incredibly talented class of directors who graduated from the early days of TV; a group which included such august talents as Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde, 1967), George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969), John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, 1962), Arthur Hiller (The Hospital, 1971), Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton, 1970), Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, 1967), Robert Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962), Martin Ritt (Hud, 1963), and Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch, 1969). Only Jewison is left, now, and as each has passed, mainstream American moviemaking has gotten a little louder, a little emptier, and a little dumber.
TV drama in the early days was almost like good theater: it was usually live, smart, provocative, rich with real-world character and sharp dialogue. Very early on, Lumet was considered one of the...
- 4/11/2011
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Legendary director Sidney Lumet has died at the age of 86. The critically-acclaimed filmmaker passed away on Saturday morning, April 9 at his New York home after a battle with lymphoma.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to actor/director Baruch Lumet and dancer Eugenia, he began his career as a child actor, appearing in a number of Broadway plays, including 1935's "Dead End" and "The Eternal Road".
He made his movie debut at the age of 11, in Yiddish short film "Papirossen", but halted his acting dreams to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II. Upon his return, he became involved in Off-Broadway productions as a director, before turning his attentions to TV in the 1950s.
Lumet's extensive small screen credits include hit series "Danger", "Mama" and "You Are There", which starred a young Walter Cronkite. But it was his movie work which really grabbed critics' attention - his first film,...
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to actor/director Baruch Lumet and dancer Eugenia, he began his career as a child actor, appearing in a number of Broadway plays, including 1935's "Dead End" and "The Eternal Road".
He made his movie debut at the age of 11, in Yiddish short film "Papirossen", but halted his acting dreams to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II. Upon his return, he became involved in Off-Broadway productions as a director, before turning his attentions to TV in the 1950s.
Lumet's extensive small screen credits include hit series "Danger", "Mama" and "You Are There", which starred a young Walter Cronkite. But it was his movie work which really grabbed critics' attention - his first film,...
- 4/11/2011
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
Legendary director Sidney Lumet has died at the age of 86.
The critically-acclaimed filmmaker passed away on Saturday morning at his New York home after a battle with lymphoma.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to actor/director Baruch Lumet and dancer Eugenia, he began his career as a child actor, appearing in a number of Broadway plays, including 1935's Dead End and The Eternal Road.
He made his movie debut at the age of 11, in Yiddish short film Papirossen, but halted his acting dreams to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Upon his return, he became involved in Off-Broadway productions as a director, before turning his attentions to TV in the 1950s.
Lumet's extensive small screen credits include hit series Danger, Mama and You Are There, which starred a young Walter Cronkite.
But it was his movie work which really grabbed critics' attention - his first film, 12 Angry Men (1957), featured Henry Fonda as a courageous court juror who manages to convince the panel the defendant on trial for murder is innocent.
Social issues and the topic of morality were key to Lumet's work and he is perhaps best known for 1976 satire Network. The movie, starring William Holden, Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway, garnered a whopping 10 Oscar nominations, including honours for Best Film and Best Director. Network was awarded gold in four categories, with Finch taking Best Actor and Dunaway Best Actress.
He also directed 1962 drama A View From the Bridge, based on the play by Arthur Miller, and Long Day's Journey Into Night, which earned Katharine Hepburn an Oscar nod.
Lumet's other works included Agatha Christie crime classic Murder on the Orient Express in 1974, and he created a fantasy version of his beloved New York for his 1978 musical The Wiz, starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. The picture, a take on The Wizard of Oz, was a departure from Lumet's cutting-edge style of filmmaking and was a critical and commercial flop.
His films received a total of 40 Academy Award nominations throughout his career, and his leading stars included Marlon Brando, Paul Newman and Christopher Reeve.
Lumet was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2005.
He is survived by his fourth wife, Mary Gimbel, two daughters, nine grandchildren, and a great grandson.
The critically-acclaimed filmmaker passed away on Saturday morning at his New York home after a battle with lymphoma.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to actor/director Baruch Lumet and dancer Eugenia, he began his career as a child actor, appearing in a number of Broadway plays, including 1935's Dead End and The Eternal Road.
He made his movie debut at the age of 11, in Yiddish short film Papirossen, but halted his acting dreams to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Upon his return, he became involved in Off-Broadway productions as a director, before turning his attentions to TV in the 1950s.
Lumet's extensive small screen credits include hit series Danger, Mama and You Are There, which starred a young Walter Cronkite.
But it was his movie work which really grabbed critics' attention - his first film, 12 Angry Men (1957), featured Henry Fonda as a courageous court juror who manages to convince the panel the defendant on trial for murder is innocent.
Social issues and the topic of morality were key to Lumet's work and he is perhaps best known for 1976 satire Network. The movie, starring William Holden, Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway, garnered a whopping 10 Oscar nominations, including honours for Best Film and Best Director. Network was awarded gold in four categories, with Finch taking Best Actor and Dunaway Best Actress.
He also directed 1962 drama A View From the Bridge, based on the play by Arthur Miller, and Long Day's Journey Into Night, which earned Katharine Hepburn an Oscar nod.
Lumet's other works included Agatha Christie crime classic Murder on the Orient Express in 1974, and he created a fantasy version of his beloved New York for his 1978 musical The Wiz, starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. The picture, a take on The Wizard of Oz, was a departure from Lumet's cutting-edge style of filmmaking and was a critical and commercial flop.
His films received a total of 40 Academy Award nominations throughout his career, and his leading stars included Marlon Brando, Paul Newman and Christopher Reeve.
Lumet was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2005.
He is survived by his fourth wife, Mary Gimbel, two daughters, nine grandchildren, and a great grandson.
- 4/10/2011
- WENN
Legendary director Sidney Lumet has died at the age of 86.
The critically-acclaimed filmmaker passed away on Saturday morning at his New York home after a battle with lymphoma.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to actor/director Baruch Lumet and dancer Eugenia, he began his career as a child actor, appearing in a number of Broadway plays, including 1935's Dead End and The Eternal Road.
He made his movie debut at the age of 11, in Yiddish short film Papirossen, but halted his acting dreams to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Upon his return, he became involved in Off-Broadway productions as a director, before turning his attentions to TV in the 1950s.
Lumet's extensive small screen credits include hit series Danger, Mama and You Are There, which starred a young Walter Cronkite.
But it was his movie work which really grabbed critics' attention - his first film, 12 Angry Men (1957), featured Henry Fonda as a courageous court juror who manages to convince the panel the defendant on trial for murder is innocent.
Social issues and the topic of morality were key to Lumet's work and he is perhaps best known for 1976 satire Network. The movie, starring William Holden, Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway, garnered a whopping 10 Oscar nominations, including honours for Best Film and Best Director. Network was awarded gold in four categories, with Finch taking Best Actor and Dunaway Best Actress.
He also directed 1962 drama A View From the Bridge, based on the play by Arthur Miller, and Long Day's Journey Into Night, which earned Katharine Hepburn an Oscar nod.
Lumet's other works included Agatha Christie crime classic Murder on the Orient Express in 1974, and he created a fantasy version of his beloved New York for his 1978 musical The Wiz, starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. The picture, a take on The Wizard of Oz, was a departure from Lumet's cutting-edge style of filmmaking and was a critical and commercial flop.
His films received a total of 40 Academy Award nominations throughout his career, and his leading stars included Marlon Brando, Paul Newman and Christopher Reeve.
Lumet was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2005.
He is survived by his fourth wife, Mary Gimbel, two daughters, nine grandchildren, and a great grandson.
The critically-acclaimed filmmaker passed away on Saturday morning at his New York home after a battle with lymphoma.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to actor/director Baruch Lumet and dancer Eugenia, he began his career as a child actor, appearing in a number of Broadway plays, including 1935's Dead End and The Eternal Road.
He made his movie debut at the age of 11, in Yiddish short film Papirossen, but halted his acting dreams to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Upon his return, he became involved in Off-Broadway productions as a director, before turning his attentions to TV in the 1950s.
Lumet's extensive small screen credits include hit series Danger, Mama and You Are There, which starred a young Walter Cronkite.
But it was his movie work which really grabbed critics' attention - his first film, 12 Angry Men (1957), featured Henry Fonda as a courageous court juror who manages to convince the panel the defendant on trial for murder is innocent.
Social issues and the topic of morality were key to Lumet's work and he is perhaps best known for 1976 satire Network. The movie, starring William Holden, Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway, garnered a whopping 10 Oscar nominations, including honours for Best Film and Best Director. Network was awarded gold in four categories, with Finch taking Best Actor and Dunaway Best Actress.
He also directed 1962 drama A View From the Bridge, based on the play by Arthur Miller, and Long Day's Journey Into Night, which earned Katharine Hepburn an Oscar nod.
Lumet's other works included Agatha Christie crime classic Murder on the Orient Express in 1974, and he created a fantasy version of his beloved New York for his 1978 musical The Wiz, starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. The picture, a take on The Wizard of Oz, was a departure from Lumet's cutting-edge style of filmmaking and was a critical and commercial flop.
His films received a total of 40 Academy Award nominations throughout his career, and his leading stars included Marlon Brando, Paul Newman and Christopher Reeve.
Lumet was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2005.
He is survived by his fourth wife, Mary Gimbel, two daughters, nine grandchildren, and a great grandson.
- 4/9/2011
- WENN
Filmmaking legend Sidney Lumet has passed away at the age of 86 from lymphoma. With a career spanning over five decades, Lumet has long been held high as one of the great filmmakers of all time by many of the great filmmakers of our time.
Starting out as a director of off-Broadway productions and then a highly respected TV director, he's one of the most prolific directors ever with a knack for not just working well with actors but shooting extremely quickly which allowed for a high turnover of work.
Throughout the 50's he directed hundred of episodes of television series like "Danger" and "You Are There" along with a similar amount of TV play adaptations for anthology series like "Playhouse 90" and "Studio One". Thus by the time of his first feature film, he was already extremely experienced behind the camera.
That first film also became arguably his signature work - "12 Angry Men". The 1957 drama,...
Starting out as a director of off-Broadway productions and then a highly respected TV director, he's one of the most prolific directors ever with a knack for not just working well with actors but shooting extremely quickly which allowed for a high turnover of work.
Throughout the 50's he directed hundred of episodes of television series like "Danger" and "You Are There" along with a similar amount of TV play adaptations for anthology series like "Playhouse 90" and "Studio One". Thus by the time of his first feature film, he was already extremely experienced behind the camera.
That first film also became arguably his signature work - "12 Angry Men". The 1957 drama,...
- 4/9/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Director Sidney Lumet, whose gritty portraits of New York City earned him four Oscar nominations for Best Director for films such as Dog Day Afternoon and Network, died Saturday of lymphoma at his home in Manhattan; he was 86. Synonymous with the New York filmmaking scene, Lumet prowled the streets of his adopted hometown in a wide variety of films, working in the nascent medium of television in the early 1950s before making his feature film directorial debut in 1957 with the cinematic adaptation of the jury room classic 12 Angry Men, starring Henry Fonda. That film earned Lumet his first Oscar nomination and started a prolific career that would take him through crime dramas, Broadway and literary adaptations, occasional Hollywood films, and lacerating satires.
Born in Philadelphia to parents who were in show business -- his father was an actor and director, his mother a dancer -- he appeared in numerous Broadway plays as a child and young adult before serving three years in the Army during World War II and returning to New York to direct. Lumet's directorial style, described as "lightning quick" in an era when American cinema was still burdened by the limitations of decorative and expensive Hollywood films, earned him a successful career in television, where he adapted numerous plays for such early shows as Playhouse 90 and Studio One, and worked with the young Walter Cronkite on the news series You Are There. He directed a TV version of 12 Angry Men before turning it into a successful 1957 film, starring Henry Fonda as the lone dissenting juror in a murder trial; the film earned three Academy Award nominations (Best Picture, Director and Screenplay) and singlehandedly established Lumet's cinematic directing career.
Lumet alternated film and television work in the late 1950s and early 1960s -- including a television version of The Iceman Cometh starring Jason Robards -- before helming a number of acclaimed cinematic films in the early 1960s: the devastating adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962) starring Katharine Hepburn and Ralph Richardson; the New York drama The Pawnbroker (1964), which earned Rod Steiger a Best Actor Oscar nomination; and the nuclear drama Fail-Safe (also 1964), starring Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau. Through the late 1960s and early 1970s some of Lumet's work was uneven -- adaptations of bestsellers The Group (1966) and The Anderson Tapes (1971) as well as Chekhov's The Sea Gull (1968) are admirable but not entirely successful -- but scored again throughout the 1970s. The crime drama Serpico (1973) helped cement Al Pacino's star status after The Godfather -- and earned the actor his first Best Actor Oscar nomination, and the actor and director paired again in 1975's Dog Day Afternoon, the story of a bank heist gone crazily awry; the film, now considered a modern classic, earned Lumet and Pacino Oscar nominations and some of the best reviews of their careers. In between those films, set in New York, Lumet took a literal and figurative jaunt with the successful adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (1974), an upper-class murder mystery set on a luxury European train that seemed as far from the seamy streets of Manhattan as possible.
In 1976, Lumet explored the themes of media exposure and saturation he delved into with Dog Day Afternoon even further with the scathing television satire and drama Network, starring William Holden, Faye Dunaway and Peter Finch. Lumet, along with screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, pioneered the idea (and condemnation) of what is now commonly thought of as reality TV in his story of a network anchorman (Finch) who suffers a breakdown on live television with the rallying cry "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!", and the television executive (Dunaway) who turns him into a folk hero, TV icon, and tragic figure, ultimately goading him into committing suicide live on television. The film, still potent and more lacerating than most explorations of modern media since, won Finch and Dunaway Oscars; Finch's award was posthumous, as the actor died in early 1977. It remains one of only two films to win three Academy Awards for acting (the third for supporting actress Beatrice Straight, who appeared onscreen for less than six minutes), the other being A Streetcar Named Desire.
After that string of commercial and financial hits, Lumet's career included a wide variety of films: adaptations of Broadway hits Equus (1977, fairly successful), The Wiz (1978, a musical flop but a strangely visionary view of New York), Deathtrap (1982, unexpected fun if not a perfect film); crime drama Prince of the City (1981, one of Lumet's most unheralded fims); courtroom drama The Verdict (1982, a big hit that earned star Paul Newman and Lumet Oscar nominations); Hollywood melodrama (1986's The Morning After, starring Jane Fonda); and indie drama (Running On Empty, the 1988 drama with River Phoenix in his only Oscar-nominated performance). Lumet's last film was the 2007 drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, which starred indie stalwarts Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Ethan Hawke, and Amy Ryan.
Lumet was married four times, first to actress Rita Gam, second to socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, and third to Gail Jones, daughter of Lena Horne. He married Mary Gimbel, who survives him, in 1980 and had two daughters with Ms. Jones, Amy Lumet and screenwriter Jenny Lumet, who scripted the drama Rachel Getting Married. Nominated for five Oscars (four for directing, one for screenplay), Lumet was awarded an honorary Academy Award at the 2004 Oscars.
Born in Philadelphia to parents who were in show business -- his father was an actor and director, his mother a dancer -- he appeared in numerous Broadway plays as a child and young adult before serving three years in the Army during World War II and returning to New York to direct. Lumet's directorial style, described as "lightning quick" in an era when American cinema was still burdened by the limitations of decorative and expensive Hollywood films, earned him a successful career in television, where he adapted numerous plays for such early shows as Playhouse 90 and Studio One, and worked with the young Walter Cronkite on the news series You Are There. He directed a TV version of 12 Angry Men before turning it into a successful 1957 film, starring Henry Fonda as the lone dissenting juror in a murder trial; the film earned three Academy Award nominations (Best Picture, Director and Screenplay) and singlehandedly established Lumet's cinematic directing career.
Lumet alternated film and television work in the late 1950s and early 1960s -- including a television version of The Iceman Cometh starring Jason Robards -- before helming a number of acclaimed cinematic films in the early 1960s: the devastating adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962) starring Katharine Hepburn and Ralph Richardson; the New York drama The Pawnbroker (1964), which earned Rod Steiger a Best Actor Oscar nomination; and the nuclear drama Fail-Safe (also 1964), starring Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau. Through the late 1960s and early 1970s some of Lumet's work was uneven -- adaptations of bestsellers The Group (1966) and The Anderson Tapes (1971) as well as Chekhov's The Sea Gull (1968) are admirable but not entirely successful -- but scored again throughout the 1970s. The crime drama Serpico (1973) helped cement Al Pacino's star status after The Godfather -- and earned the actor his first Best Actor Oscar nomination, and the actor and director paired again in 1975's Dog Day Afternoon, the story of a bank heist gone crazily awry; the film, now considered a modern classic, earned Lumet and Pacino Oscar nominations and some of the best reviews of their careers. In between those films, set in New York, Lumet took a literal and figurative jaunt with the successful adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (1974), an upper-class murder mystery set on a luxury European train that seemed as far from the seamy streets of Manhattan as possible.
In 1976, Lumet explored the themes of media exposure and saturation he delved into with Dog Day Afternoon even further with the scathing television satire and drama Network, starring William Holden, Faye Dunaway and Peter Finch. Lumet, along with screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, pioneered the idea (and condemnation) of what is now commonly thought of as reality TV in his story of a network anchorman (Finch) who suffers a breakdown on live television with the rallying cry "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!", and the television executive (Dunaway) who turns him into a folk hero, TV icon, and tragic figure, ultimately goading him into committing suicide live on television. The film, still potent and more lacerating than most explorations of modern media since, won Finch and Dunaway Oscars; Finch's award was posthumous, as the actor died in early 1977. It remains one of only two films to win three Academy Awards for acting (the third for supporting actress Beatrice Straight, who appeared onscreen for less than six minutes), the other being A Streetcar Named Desire.
After that string of commercial and financial hits, Lumet's career included a wide variety of films: adaptations of Broadway hits Equus (1977, fairly successful), The Wiz (1978, a musical flop but a strangely visionary view of New York), Deathtrap (1982, unexpected fun if not a perfect film); crime drama Prince of the City (1981, one of Lumet's most unheralded fims); courtroom drama The Verdict (1982, a big hit that earned star Paul Newman and Lumet Oscar nominations); Hollywood melodrama (1986's The Morning After, starring Jane Fonda); and indie drama (Running On Empty, the 1988 drama with River Phoenix in his only Oscar-nominated performance). Lumet's last film was the 2007 drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, which starred indie stalwarts Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Ethan Hawke, and Amy Ryan.
Lumet was married four times, first to actress Rita Gam, second to socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, and third to Gail Jones, daughter of Lena Horne. He married Mary Gimbel, who survives him, in 1980 and had two daughters with Ms. Jones, Amy Lumet and screenwriter Jenny Lumet, who scripted the drama Rachel Getting Married. Nominated for five Oscars (four for directing, one for screenplay), Lumet was awarded an honorary Academy Award at the 2004 Oscars.
- 4/9/2011
- by Mark Englehart
- IMDb News
Black Swan costume designer, Amy Westcott, BAFTA and Cdg nominated for her work on the film, puts the record straight on controversy surrounding herself and Rodarte’s contribution, exactly what her role comprises, and how she feels about that Academy Award snub.
Amy Westcott worked with Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky previously on The Wrestler in 2008, plus has been costume designer on over twenty features and seventy episodes of TV series Entourage. Here she talks exclusively to Clothes on Film:
Clothes on Film, Chris: Are you aware of the controversy surrounding yourself and fashion house Rodarte (the Mulleavy sisters) in the press; that they should be credited alongside you as costume designers?
Amy Westcott: Controversy is too complimentary a word for two people using their considerable self-publicising resources to loudly complain about their credit once they realised how good the film is.
CoF: Do you feel as though you...
Amy Westcott worked with Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky previously on The Wrestler in 2008, plus has been costume designer on over twenty features and seventy episodes of TV series Entourage. Here she talks exclusively to Clothes on Film:
Clothes on Film, Chris: Are you aware of the controversy surrounding yourself and fashion house Rodarte (the Mulleavy sisters) in the press; that they should be credited alongside you as costume designers?
Amy Westcott: Controversy is too complimentary a word for two people using their considerable self-publicising resources to loudly complain about their credit once they realised how good the film is.
CoF: Do you feel as though you...
- 1/28/2011
- by Chris Laverty
- Clothes on Film
Will Poulter’s first words are an apology for his tardiness. His phone call ran a little later than scheduled because traffic in London had been snarled by rioting students protesting against the rising cost of university tuition in Britain. He later also apologizes for grabbing a bite of a sandwich during the interview. Throughout the talk, he is quick to point out his lack of experience on film sets — he has appeared in only one other feature film — and praises the support he received from his co-stars in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and director Michael Apted. In short, Poulter, now 17, is self-deprecating, polite and modest—all qualities glaringly absent from Eustace Scrubb, the character he plays in the third film instalment of 'The Chronicles of Narnia' franchise.
When we first meet Eustace in Dawn Treader he loathes his cousins Edmund and Lucy Pevensie...
When we first meet Eustace in Dawn Treader he loathes his cousins Edmund and Lucy Pevensie...
- 12/6/2010
- CinemaSpy
Lonely people have a natural affinity for the internet. It's always there waiting, patient, flexible, suitable for every mood. But there are times when the net reminds me of the definition of a bore by Meyer the hairy economist, best friend of Travis McGee: "You know what a bore is, Travis. Someone who deprives you of solitude without providing you with companionship."
What do lonely people desire? Companionship. Love. Recognition. Entertainment. Camaraderie. Distraction.
Encouragement. Change. Feedback. Someone once said the fundamental reason we get married is because have a universal human need for a witness. All of these are possibilities. But what all lonely people share is a desire not to be -- or at least not to feel -- alone.
You are there in the interstices of the web. I sense you. I know some of you. I have read more than 78,000 comments on this blog, and many...
What do lonely people desire? Companionship. Love. Recognition. Entertainment. Camaraderie. Distraction.
Encouragement. Change. Feedback. Someone once said the fundamental reason we get married is because have a universal human need for a witness. All of these are possibilities. But what all lonely people share is a desire not to be -- or at least not to feel -- alone.
You are there in the interstices of the web. I sense you. I know some of you. I have read more than 78,000 comments on this blog, and many...
- 11/10/2010
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Knowing what to use and when to use it is important for your success as an actor. I have had to learn this over and over again myself, both as an actor and as a coach. You can't bring the whole kitchen sink in with you every time you go to perform or audition. Nor can you "do nothing and just be natural." Good acting takes skill. Great acting takes skill and faith in your work. But what is the work?I moved to Los Angeles fresh from grad school and with a master's degree in theater. I landed a great agent, and when they started sending me out on auditions, I realized that I had no idea how to audition. You would think that they would teach auditioning in school, but they don't. I hit the streets and took many different classes. At times it feels like I have...
- 8/5/2010
- backstage.com
Tonight's Big Brother gave us more bitchiness, more backstabbing, and more Kristen, which was a great start for my week (except the "more Kristen" part – more on that later). In short, I was one happy camper!
The game is on full throttle, which means that some people are on top, while others are already stumbling in their game play, i.e, making several stupid mistakes. Let's start with the moments immediately after Annie's elimination.
After Annie is sent packing, the house celebrates in their own way. Rachel is glad that she gets to stay to play the game longer… with Brendon, Enzo works on his rhyming by boasting how the Brigade "threw a grenade" on the Brendon/Annie/Rachel Threesome, and Brendon comes clean about his actual job, which makes Andrew and Ragan gloat in the diary room about their professions being safe. Plus, Annie/TheSaboteur left one more surprise...
The game is on full throttle, which means that some people are on top, while others are already stumbling in their game play, i.e, making several stupid mistakes. Let's start with the moments immediately after Annie's elimination.
After Annie is sent packing, the house celebrates in their own way. Rachel is glad that she gets to stay to play the game longer… with Brendon, Enzo works on his rhyming by boasting how the Brigade "threw a grenade" on the Brendon/Annie/Rachel Threesome, and Brendon comes clean about his actual job, which makes Andrew and Ragan gloat in the diary room about their professions being safe. Plus, Annie/TheSaboteur left one more surprise...
- 7/19/2010
- by Mark O. Estes
- TVovermind.com
During Chely Wright's Oprah interview today, I'm not sure who cried harder: Oprah, Chely, her dad, or me. Five minutes into their half-hour chat, I was tearing up, and by the time Chely's dad said he wants to tell every parent of a gay child "Do not close the door, but open your heart!" I was a blubbering mess.
You'd think after a while I'd get desensitized to these kind of things, but Chely Wright's recent media blitz has been exceptionally moving.
Just like in her memoir and other interviews, Chely was refreshingly candid with Oprah, and I think that's the reason her coming out has been so affecting. She's not simply saying, "I'm here and I'm queer (and absolutely gorgeous)." She's speaking openly about the isolation she felt growing up as a lesbian in the Midwest, and about the shame and fear that kept her in the closet,...
You'd think after a while I'd get desensitized to these kind of things, but Chely Wright's recent media blitz has been exceptionally moving.
Just like in her memoir and other interviews, Chely was refreshingly candid with Oprah, and I think that's the reason her coming out has been so affecting. She's not simply saying, "I'm here and I'm queer (and absolutely gorgeous)." She's speaking openly about the isolation she felt growing up as a lesbian in the Midwest, and about the shame and fear that kept her in the closet,...
- 5/19/2010
- by stuntdouble
- AfterEllen.com
Your first meetings were all raging successes. The call has come in. They like your stuff, they like you. You've been hired.
You watch the film, make your notes, and prepare to meet with the filmmakers for the first time to spot the film that will occupy your creative headspace for the next several weeks. You pack your creative notes, maybe your laptop, and for sure your initial spotting sheet which contains your knee-jerk reactions to multiple viewings of the film into your bag... and you are on your way.
Up to this point, you have presented the strongest case as to why you would be the perfect person to score this director's film. And it worked — you are the composer now. At this juncture, however, the next step is absolutely crucial. It is a step that will either set you up for a month of victories with this director...
You watch the film, make your notes, and prepare to meet with the filmmakers for the first time to spot the film that will occupy your creative headspace for the next several weeks. You pack your creative notes, maybe your laptop, and for sure your initial spotting sheet which contains your knee-jerk reactions to multiple viewings of the film into your bag... and you are on your way.
Up to this point, you have presented the strongest case as to why you would be the perfect person to score this director's film. And it worked — you are the composer now. At this juncture, however, the next step is absolutely crucial. It is a step that will either set you up for a month of victories with this director...
- 3/16/2010
- by noreply@blogger.com (Deane Ogden)
- SCOREcastOnline.com
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