Good Night Oppy, the moving story of the Mars rover that outlasted all expectations, was named Best Documentary Feature at the 2022 Critics Choice Documentary Awards. The film also earned Best Director (Ryan White), Best Score (Blake Neely), Best Narration, and Best Science/Nature Documentary awards.
The Seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards selected David Siev’s Bad Axe as the Best First Documentary Feature and The Beatles: Get Back scored the Best Music Documentary award.
The CCDAs, hosted by Wyatt Cenac, took place on November 13, 2022 in New York City. This year marked the first time documentary fans were able to view the awards show live via the official Critics Choice Association’s website.
“Tonight was a whole new Doc Awards – hosting the ceremony in a new, bigger venue in Manhattan and streaming it live for the first time. We are thrilled to continue the celebration of so many groundbreaking and...
The Seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards selected David Siev’s Bad Axe as the Best First Documentary Feature and The Beatles: Get Back scored the Best Music Documentary award.
The CCDAs, hosted by Wyatt Cenac, took place on November 13, 2022 in New York City. This year marked the first time documentary fans were able to view the awards show live via the official Critics Choice Association’s website.
“Tonight was a whole new Doc Awards – hosting the ceremony in a new, bigger venue in Manhattan and streaming it live for the first time. We are thrilled to continue the celebration of so many groundbreaking and...
- 11/14/2022
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Click here to read the full article.
Amazon Studios and Amblin Entertainment’s Good Night Oppy was named best documentary feature at the seventh annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards, which were handed out Sunday night at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan.
Overall, Good Night Oppy won a total of five awards during the night, including best director for Ryan White.
For the first time, the Critics Choice Association also chose to recognize the top three documentaries in the documentary feature category. While Good Night Oppy was the gold prize winner, the silver prize went to Fire of Love, while the bronze prize went to Navalny.
Actor and stand-up comedian Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show With Jon Stewart) served as host of the event, where documentarian Barbara Kopple (Harlan County USA, the forthcoming Gumbo Coalition) received the Pennebaker Award (formerly known as the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award) and Dawn Porter (John Lewis: Good Trouble,...
Amazon Studios and Amblin Entertainment’s Good Night Oppy was named best documentary feature at the seventh annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards, which were handed out Sunday night at the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan.
Overall, Good Night Oppy won a total of five awards during the night, including best director for Ryan White.
For the first time, the Critics Choice Association also chose to recognize the top three documentaries in the documentary feature category. While Good Night Oppy was the gold prize winner, the silver prize went to Fire of Love, while the bronze prize went to Navalny.
Actor and stand-up comedian Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show With Jon Stewart) served as host of the event, where documentarian Barbara Kopple (Harlan County USA, the forthcoming Gumbo Coalition) received the Pennebaker Award (formerly known as the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award) and Dawn Porter (John Lewis: Good Trouble,...
- 11/14/2022
- by Kimberly Nordyke
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
All eyes were on nonfiction films tonight when the Critics Choice Documentary Awards took place in New York City. The ceremony highlights the best feature, short, and television documentaries, pitting blockbusters like “The Beatles: Get Back” and “Moonage Daydream” against smaller Oscar contenders like “Descendant” and “Fire of Love.” The ceremony serves as an early battleground in the Best Documentary Feature race, so it’s a can’t-miss event for Oscar watchers.
One clear winner emerged throughout the night: “Good Night Oppy.” Ryan White’s documentary about NASA’s groundbreaking Opportunity rover won five of the top prizes: Best Documentary Feature, Best Director, Best Score, Best Science/Nature Documentary, and Best Narration. Given that the Amazon-backed documentary was competing against the likes of Judd Apatow and Brett Morgen, the sweep made a bold statement as the Oscar race heats up.
On the episodic side, “The Beatles: Get Back” won Best...
One clear winner emerged throughout the night: “Good Night Oppy.” Ryan White’s documentary about NASA’s groundbreaking Opportunity rover won five of the top prizes: Best Documentary Feature, Best Director, Best Score, Best Science/Nature Documentary, and Best Narration. Given that the Amazon-backed documentary was competing against the likes of Judd Apatow and Brett Morgen, the sweep made a bold statement as the Oscar race heats up.
On the episodic side, “The Beatles: Get Back” won Best...
- 11/14/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
The Critics Choice Association (Cca) has announced the nominees for the Seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Ccda). The winners will be revealed at a Gala Event on Sunday, November 13, 2022 at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan, marking a change of venue and borough. The ceremony will be hosted by longtime event supporter, actor, and standup comedian Wyatt Cenac.
“Fire of Love” leads with seven nominations, including nods for Best Documentary Feature, Sara Dosa for Best Director, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Narration, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Science/Nature Documentary.
“Good Night Oppy” is recognized with six nominations, including Best Documentary Feature, Ryan White for Best Director, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Narration, and Best Science/Nature Documentary. Last year’s winner, “Summer of Soul,” went on to win the Oscar. See the full list of nominees below.
Best Documentary Feature
Aftershock (Hulu/Onyx Collective)
The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions...
“Fire of Love” leads with seven nominations, including nods for Best Documentary Feature, Sara Dosa for Best Director, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Narration, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Science/Nature Documentary.
“Good Night Oppy” is recognized with six nominations, including Best Documentary Feature, Ryan White for Best Director, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Narration, and Best Science/Nature Documentary. Last year’s winner, “Summer of Soul,” went on to win the Oscar. See the full list of nominees below.
Best Documentary Feature
Aftershock (Hulu/Onyx Collective)
The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions...
- 10/17/2022
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
The Critics Choice Documentary nominees have been announced.
Fire of Love secured seven total nominations, leading the pack, while Good Night Oppy managed six.
“This year’s nominees prove that documentaries of all lengths and formats are advancing nonfiction media like never before,” said Christopher Campbell, co-president of the Critics Choice Association Documentary Branch.
Scroll down to see the full list of nominations.
Best Documentary Feature
Aftershock (Hulu)
The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions)
Descendant (Netflix)
Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down (Briarcliff Entertainment)
Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
The Janes (HBO)
Moonage Daydream (HBO/Neon)
Navalny (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Sidney (Apple TV+)
Best Director
Judd Apatow, Michael Bonfiglio – George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO)
Margaret Brown – Descendant (Netflix)
Sara Dosa – Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Reginald Hudlin – Sidney (Apple TV+)
Brett Morgen – Moonage Daydream (HBO...
Fire of Love secured seven total nominations, leading the pack, while Good Night Oppy managed six.
“This year’s nominees prove that documentaries of all lengths and formats are advancing nonfiction media like never before,” said Christopher Campbell, co-president of the Critics Choice Association Documentary Branch.
Scroll down to see the full list of nominations.
Best Documentary Feature
Aftershock (Hulu)
The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions)
Descendant (Netflix)
Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down (Briarcliff Entertainment)
Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
The Janes (HBO)
Moonage Daydream (HBO/Neon)
Navalny (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Sidney (Apple TV+)
Best Director
Judd Apatow, Michael Bonfiglio – George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO)
Margaret Brown – Descendant (Netflix)
Sara Dosa – Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Reginald Hudlin – Sidney (Apple TV+)
Brett Morgen – Moonage Daydream (HBO...
- 10/17/2022
- by Paul Dailly
- TVfanatic
A scene from ‘Fire of Love’ (Credit: National Geographic Documentary Films / Neon)
Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love tops the list of the Seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards with seven nominations. Director Ryan White’s Good Night Oppy follows close behind with six nominations. Both films earned spots in the Best Documentary Feature, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Narration, and Best Science/Nature Documentary categories.
In addition, Fire of Love picked up a nomination in the Best Archival Documentary category.
“This year’s nominees prove that documentaries of all lengths and formats are advancing nonfiction media like never before,” stated Christopher Campbell, Co-President of the Critics Choice Association Documentary Branch. “And we are excited to celebrate the tremendous talents who contributed to all of these brilliant films and series.”
“We are also thrilled to witness an exemplary number of women filmmakers and female-focused subjects being represented, further...
Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love tops the list of the Seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards with seven nominations. Director Ryan White’s Good Night Oppy follows close behind with six nominations. Both films earned spots in the Best Documentary Feature, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Narration, and Best Science/Nature Documentary categories.
In addition, Fire of Love picked up a nomination in the Best Archival Documentary category.
“This year’s nominees prove that documentaries of all lengths and formats are advancing nonfiction media like never before,” stated Christopher Campbell, Co-President of the Critics Choice Association Documentary Branch. “And we are excited to celebrate the tremendous talents who contributed to all of these brilliant films and series.”
“We are also thrilled to witness an exemplary number of women filmmakers and female-focused subjects being represented, further...
- 10/17/2022
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
The Critics Choice Association (Cca) has announced the nominees for their seventh annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Ccda), with National Geographic’s “Fire of Love,” director Sara Dosa’s film about volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, leading the pack with seven nominations, and Amazon Prime Video’s “Good Night Oppy,” director Ryan White’s chronicle of the triumphant Mars rover mission, following with six.
This year’s show, which honors the best achievements in nonfiction released in theaters, on TV, or on major digital platforms, as determined by the voting of qualified Cca members, comes with a couple changes this year. The gala event is moving to the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan, and for the first time ever, the Awards will be live-streamed through Facebook Live and Instagram Live. Viewing links will be available on the Critics Choice Association website at 7:00 p.m. Et on Sunday, November 13.
In addition to the 17 awards categories,...
This year’s show, which honors the best achievements in nonfiction released in theaters, on TV, or on major digital platforms, as determined by the voting of qualified Cca members, comes with a couple changes this year. The gala event is moving to the Edison Ballroom in Manhattan, and for the first time ever, the Awards will be live-streamed through Facebook Live and Instagram Live. Viewing links will be available on the Critics Choice Association website at 7:00 p.m. Et on Sunday, November 13.
In addition to the 17 awards categories,...
- 10/17/2022
- by Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
The Critics Choice Documentary Awards has announced its nominees, with Sara Dosa’s lava-fueled love story “Fire of Love” leading the field with seven nominations, including best documentary feature and director. Co-distributed by National Geographic and Neon, the film’s early release date has seemed to have no effect on its awards prospects, with its critical acclaim and strong showing from the Cca membership.
“Good Night Oppy,” Ryan White’s moving reflection on the Mars rovers, received a hearty six-nom tally including editing and score.
“This year’s nominees prove that documentaries of all lengths and formats are advancing nonfiction media like never before,” said Christopher Campbell, co-president of the Critics Choice Association Documentary Branch.
Carla Renata, also co-president of the Cca documentary branch, added, “We are also thrilled to witness an exemplary number of women filmmakers and female-focused subjects being represented, further solidifying the Critics Choice Documentary Awards’ commitment to diversity,...
“Good Night Oppy,” Ryan White’s moving reflection on the Mars rovers, received a hearty six-nom tally including editing and score.
“This year’s nominees prove that documentaries of all lengths and formats are advancing nonfiction media like never before,” said Christopher Campbell, co-president of the Critics Choice Association Documentary Branch.
Carla Renata, also co-president of the Cca documentary branch, added, “We are also thrilled to witness an exemplary number of women filmmakers and female-focused subjects being represented, further solidifying the Critics Choice Documentary Awards’ commitment to diversity,...
- 10/17/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
“Fire of Love,” National Geographic and Neon’s film about a married couple from France who were two of the world’s foremost volcanologists until they were killed by an eruption in Japan, leads all films in nominations for the seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards, the Critics Choice Association announced on Monday.
“Fire of Love” received seven nominations, one more than “Good Night Oppy,” the Amazon release that looks at the unexpectedly long life of the Mars rover.
Other films with multiple nominations include the David Bowie experience “Moonage Daydream,” the film about a Russian dissident, “Navalny,” and the Holocaust memory piece “Three Minutes: A Lengthening,” all of which received five nominations; and “The Automat,” “The Janes” and “The Beatles: Get Back,” which received four.
Also Read:
‘Good Night Oppy’ Film Review: Doc on Mars Rovers Gets Lost in Emotional Terrain
In the Best Documentary Feature category, the nominees were “Aftershock,...
“Fire of Love” received seven nominations, one more than “Good Night Oppy,” the Amazon release that looks at the unexpectedly long life of the Mars rover.
Other films with multiple nominations include the David Bowie experience “Moonage Daydream,” the film about a Russian dissident, “Navalny,” and the Holocaust memory piece “Three Minutes: A Lengthening,” all of which received five nominations; and “The Automat,” “The Janes” and “The Beatles: Get Back,” which received four.
Also Read:
‘Good Night Oppy’ Film Review: Doc on Mars Rovers Gets Lost in Emotional Terrain
In the Best Documentary Feature category, the nominees were “Aftershock,...
- 10/17/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
The Critics Choice Association on Monday announced the nominees for the 2022 Critics Choice Documentary Awards, the winners of which will be announced Nov. 13 at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan.
Fire of Love led the nominations with seven nods, including nominations for best documentary feature, best director (Sara Dosa), best editing, best score, best narration, best archival documentary and best science/nature documentary.
Good Night Oppy received six nominations, including best documentary feature, best director (Ryan White), best editing, best score, best narration and best science/nature documentary.
Actor and stand-up comedian Wyatt Cenac will serve as host of the award show. From 2008-12, he was a writer and correspondent on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, where he earned three Emmy Awards and one Writers Guild Award.
“This year’s nominees prove that documentaries of all lengths and formats are advancing nonfiction media like never before,...
The Critics Choice Association on Monday announced the nominees for the 2022 Critics Choice Documentary Awards, the winners of which will be announced Nov. 13 at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan.
Fire of Love led the nominations with seven nods, including nominations for best documentary feature, best director (Sara Dosa), best editing, best score, best narration, best archival documentary and best science/nature documentary.
Good Night Oppy received six nominations, including best documentary feature, best director (Ryan White), best editing, best score, best narration and best science/nature documentary.
Actor and stand-up comedian Wyatt Cenac will serve as host of the award show. From 2008-12, he was a writer and correspondent on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, where he earned three Emmy Awards and one Writers Guild Award.
“This year’s nominees prove that documentaries of all lengths and formats are advancing nonfiction media like never before,...
- 10/17/2022
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lisa Hurwitz with Anne-Katrin Titze on Mel Brooks’s original song with composer Hummie Mann for The Automat: “He composed Mel’s films Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Dracula: Dead and Loving it, and so it was all kind of perfect.”
In the second instalment with The Automat director Lisa Hurwitz we discuss her work with writer and editor Michael Levine, the interview with Colin Powell, Mel Brooks and composer Hummie Mann’s collaborations, the well-chosen clips in her film, including Sylvia Sidney and Peter Lawford, Jean Simmons and Victor Mature, a Jack Benny party, Tweety Bird and The Flintstones at the Automat, an Edward Hopper painting, and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman’s childhood fondness for the baked beans at the Automat.
Lisa will participate in three in-person post-screening Q&As this weekend for the theatrical opening at Film Forum in New York of The Automat.
Mel Brooks recording...
In the second instalment with The Automat director Lisa Hurwitz we discuss her work with writer and editor Michael Levine, the interview with Colin Powell, Mel Brooks and composer Hummie Mann’s collaborations, the well-chosen clips in her film, including Sylvia Sidney and Peter Lawford, Jean Simmons and Victor Mature, a Jack Benny party, Tweety Bird and The Flintstones at the Automat, an Edward Hopper painting, and 99 Records founder Ed Bahlman’s childhood fondness for the baked beans at the Automat.
Lisa will participate in three in-person post-screening Q&As this weekend for the theatrical opening at Film Forum in New York of The Automat.
Mel Brooks recording...
- 2/18/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Is satire obsolete? Our appalling present political reality has surpassed some of the wildest jokes in director Joe Dante's 'exaggerated, outrageous' 1997 cable movie. An immigration squabble snowballs until a renegade state governor closes his border and threatens to secede from the Union. It's a 'political idiocy' version of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ... and nineteen years later, we're stuck living it. The Second Civil War DVD (2005) HBO Video 1997 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 96 min. / Street Date August 30, 2005 / 14.98 Starring Beau Bridges, Joanna Cassidy, Phil Hartman, James Earl Jones, James Coburn, Dan Hedaya, Elizabeth Peña, Denis Leary, Ron Perlman, Kevin Dunn, Brian Keith, Kevin McCarthy, Dick Miller, William Schallert, Catherine Lloyd Burns, Jerry Hardin, Roger Corman, Rance Howard, Robert Picardo, Alexandra Wilson, Belinda Belaski, Jennifer Carlson, Sean Lawlor. Cinematography Mac Ahlberg Film Editor Marshall Harvey Original Music Hummie Mann Written by Martyn Burke Produced by Guy Riedel Directed by Joe Dante...
- 4/23/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
(l. to r. - David Kates, Joshua Mosley)
The animated "Mass Effect: Paragon Lost" will be out later this month on DVD and Blu-ray to provide viewers with a little backstory on the hotheaded James Vega who spends much of "Mass Effect 3" busting Commander Shepherd's chops. But according to "Mass Effect" composers Joshua Mosley and David Kates, there's more to the character than that--something they were able to explore in the soundtrack they put together for the first animated release for the RPG.
Kates is a series veteran, having worked on both the first and second "Mass Effect" games while Mosley--whose work can be found in "Splosion Man"--is new to the franchise. Both men have clear visions about the sounds of the "Mass Effect" universe and spoke answered a few questions for MTV Multiplayer about their work bringing that sound to animation. You can also check out previews from...
The animated "Mass Effect: Paragon Lost" will be out later this month on DVD and Blu-ray to provide viewers with a little backstory on the hotheaded James Vega who spends much of "Mass Effect 3" busting Commander Shepherd's chops. But according to "Mass Effect" composers Joshua Mosley and David Kates, there's more to the character than that--something they were able to explore in the soundtrack they put together for the first animated release for the RPG.
Kates is a series veteran, having worked on both the first and second "Mass Effect" games while Mosley--whose work can be found in "Splosion Man"--is new to the franchise. Both men have clear visions about the sounds of the "Mass Effect" universe and spoke answered a few questions for MTV Multiplayer about their work bringing that sound to animation. You can also check out previews from...
- 12/7/2012
- by Charles Webb
- MTV Multiplayer
There are certain elements of the process of finding and landing the gig that I really like. I may have a different view on this then other composers, but for myself, it’s part of what makes this whole film scoring business enjoyable. I find it interesting to search for prospective projects, whether at a networking events with filmmakers or through online networking like Facebook or Twitter. Making the connection, seeing if what I have to offer as a composer is what they would like and then, working with the a new filmmaker – it’s all great! Sometimes this takes weeks, months or maybe even years for something to develop, but it’s fascinating to set the wheels in motion and then see what unfolds. It’s also exciting when a new project comes in and it’s time to create the music.
The Instrument
Everyone has a different way...
The Instrument
Everyone has a different way...
- 7/23/2010
- by SCO Staff
- SCOREcastOnline.com
A professional is skilled, proficient, competent and businesslike. Who wouldn’t want to emulate these qualities?
Professionalism should be that standard by which we work at all times, no matter the type of project, the size of the budget, or the people for whom we are working. What you do at every step, how you conduct your business and professional life, will determine your career.
Be a pro at what you do: return calls; be on time for meetings; be respectful of your filmmakers’ accomplishments; be considerate of their time; be knowledgeable, efficient, businesslike, and clear; be the person on the team who gets things done — even if it’s beyond your job description as a composer — and always be prepared for any situation. Then, create exceptional music.
The business of a film composer can be elusive. You might be so involved in your own world of creating beautiful music...
Professionalism should be that standard by which we work at all times, no matter the type of project, the size of the budget, or the people for whom we are working. What you do at every step, how you conduct your business and professional life, will determine your career.
Be a pro at what you do: return calls; be on time for meetings; be respectful of your filmmakers’ accomplishments; be considerate of their time; be knowledgeable, efficient, businesslike, and clear; be the person on the team who gets things done — even if it’s beyond your job description as a composer — and always be prepared for any situation. Then, create exceptional music.
The business of a film composer can be elusive. You might be so involved in your own world of creating beautiful music...
- 5/27/2010
- by SCOREcast Team
- SCOREcastOnline.com
My experience as a composer has been primarily working with independent filmmakers with smaller budgets on short, feature, and documentary films. As I read through the articles from this month’s SCOREcast writers, I found similar scenarios that I also encounter in my work — one of them being the question of audio demonstration. Whether the project is with a local filmmaker or an out-of-town client this is certainly a factor to consider, and I have learned to ask many questions at the beginning of a new project.
Audio: Demonstrate in Your Studio and Ask Questions
Filmmakers usually have excellent editing equipment but often don’t have a good audio system, and sometimes they are unaware of what a quality system really sounds like.
If you can, try to schedule your first meeting with the director in your studio. Ask them to bring a couple of their favorite soundtrack CDs that...
Audio: Demonstrate in Your Studio and Ask Questions
Filmmakers usually have excellent editing equipment but often don’t have a good audio system, and sometimes they are unaware of what a quality system really sounds like.
If you can, try to schedule your first meeting with the director in your studio. Ask them to bring a couple of their favorite soundtrack CDs that...
- 4/30/2010
- by SCOREcast
- SCOREcastOnline.com
My experience as a composer has been primarily working with independent filmmakers with smaller budgets on short, feature, and documentary films. As I read through the articles from this month's SCOREcast writers, I found similar scenarios that I also encounter in my work — one of them being the question of audio demonstration. Whether the project is with a local filmmaker or an out-of-town client this is certainly a factor to consider, and I have learned to ask many questions at the beginning of a new project.
Audio: Demonstrate in Your Studio and Ask Questions
Filmmakers usually have excellent editing equipment but often don’t have a good audio system, and sometimes they are unaware of what a quality system really sounds like.
If you can, try to schedule your first meeting with the director in your studio. Ask them to bring a couple of their favorite soundtrack CDs that apply...
Audio: Demonstrate in Your Studio and Ask Questions
Filmmakers usually have excellent editing equipment but often don’t have a good audio system, and sometimes they are unaware of what a quality system really sounds like.
If you can, try to schedule your first meeting with the director in your studio. Ask them to bring a couple of their favorite soundtrack CDs that apply...
- 4/29/2010
- by noreply@blogger.com (Duncan K. Bohannon)
- SCOREcastOnline.com
Remakes can be curious entities, at times nothing so much as pallid retakes of the original effort.
However, in the case of the CBS miniseries "In Cold Blood", once again based on Truman Capote's pioneering true-crime masterpiece, the attempt yields something new and powerful. Though different in approach from the riveting black-and-white feature film that Richard Brooks directed in 1967, CBS' four-hour presentation with Anthony Edwards, Eric Roberts and Sam Neill is a spare yet resonant telling of evil at large.
With a minimum of dialogue and exposition, the latest "In Cold Blood" reveals itself an unadorned picture of bloody transgression and serrated sin loose in the heartland. By the artful absence of what is not said or shown, a kind of dramatic negative space, CBS' "In Cold Blood" hits with demanding force.
Here two losers become killers, pursued by those who are legally and ethically doing their job of policing. We meet those responsible for a case of murder in 1959, wherein a Kansas family was slaughtered while the rest of their farming community slept. And so we witness events leading up to this horrible slaying as well as the subsequent hunt by the Kansas Bureau of Investigations.
As judiciously scripted by Benedict Fitzgerald and discerningly directed by Jonathan Kaplan, we are fully plunged into the dark, unquiet world of death and violence where delusive dreams and unquenchable longing takes four lives.
Moreover, Edwards and Roberts, as the drifting killers plagued by sooty vagaries and grubby whims, make uncomfortably pressing the dumb nature of errant evil; the blank, dead-end ways of two men adrift in their own lives, cut off from the larger context of cause and effect. Perry Smith (Roberts) and Dick Hickock (Edwards) found one another while serving prison time.
Now out of the slammer, they are looking to pull off what Hickock sees as the big crime (he calls it "a cinch, a perfect score"), the two having sloppily schemed to rob well-off farmer Herb Clutter (Kevin Tighe), who supposedly has stashed his cash in a home safe. There will be no witnesses. Clutter and his kin are to be murdered once the money is gotten.
As Hickock and Smith roam the gamy side of the American Dream, Clutter and kin stand as the very model of homegrown purity and honor, churchgoers who have achieved much. Clutter is an inward but good man who works hard providing for his ill wife Bonnie (Gillian Barber) and their kids (Robbie Bowen, Margot Finley). But like all perfect families, there are imperfections under the patina.
And then all does comes to grief when, on a still Sunday in November, Smith and Hickock enter the Clutters' home, only to find there is no safe, no hidden money. The family is cruelly executed, and Hickock and Smith make off with $41. After passing some bum checks they head south to Mexico. Now KBI's Alvin Dewey (Neill), a methodical and deliberate man and a friend of the Clutters, dedicates himself to capturing the killers. As Dewey states at a press conference, "However long it takes, I'm going to know what happened in that house."
Insistent and unrelenting, this TV version of a wicked, bloody act is often difficult and disagreeable to watch; a rendering coolly and edgily conjured by production designer Mark Freeborn and crisply etched into memory by director of photography Peter Woeste's haunting and lyrical compositions.
Here the American scene looms with barren, empty remove, imbued with the tenebrous worry and moody loss of something painted by Edward Hopper. Bedrooms and roadside hash joints are like the peeling, forgotten chambers of the heart, dimly known and seldom ventured fully into. As well as the visuals, Hummie Mann's haunting score creates a penetrating presence of suffering and surrender, abandonment and desertion without absolution or relief.
IN COLD BLOOD
CBS
Pacific Motion Pictures
and Hallmark Entertainment
Executive producer Robert Halmi Sr.
Producer Tom Rowe
Associate producers George Horie, David W. Rose
Director Jonathan Kaplan
Writer Benedict Fitzgerald
Based on the book by Truman Capote
Music Hummie Mann
Production designer Mark Freeborn
Art director Scott Dobbie
Editor Michael Ornstein
Director of photography Peter Woeste
Casting Julie Selzer
Canadian casting Lynne Carrow
Cast: Anthony Edwards, Eric Roberts, Sam Neill, Leo Rossi, Kevin Tighe, Louise Latham, Gwen Verdon, Bethel Leslie, L.Q. Jones, Gillian Barber
Airdates: Sunday, November 24 and
Tuesday, November 26, 9-11 p.m.
However, in the case of the CBS miniseries "In Cold Blood", once again based on Truman Capote's pioneering true-crime masterpiece, the attempt yields something new and powerful. Though different in approach from the riveting black-and-white feature film that Richard Brooks directed in 1967, CBS' four-hour presentation with Anthony Edwards, Eric Roberts and Sam Neill is a spare yet resonant telling of evil at large.
With a minimum of dialogue and exposition, the latest "In Cold Blood" reveals itself an unadorned picture of bloody transgression and serrated sin loose in the heartland. By the artful absence of what is not said or shown, a kind of dramatic negative space, CBS' "In Cold Blood" hits with demanding force.
Here two losers become killers, pursued by those who are legally and ethically doing their job of policing. We meet those responsible for a case of murder in 1959, wherein a Kansas family was slaughtered while the rest of their farming community slept. And so we witness events leading up to this horrible slaying as well as the subsequent hunt by the Kansas Bureau of Investigations.
As judiciously scripted by Benedict Fitzgerald and discerningly directed by Jonathan Kaplan, we are fully plunged into the dark, unquiet world of death and violence where delusive dreams and unquenchable longing takes four lives.
Moreover, Edwards and Roberts, as the drifting killers plagued by sooty vagaries and grubby whims, make uncomfortably pressing the dumb nature of errant evil; the blank, dead-end ways of two men adrift in their own lives, cut off from the larger context of cause and effect. Perry Smith (Roberts) and Dick Hickock (Edwards) found one another while serving prison time.
Now out of the slammer, they are looking to pull off what Hickock sees as the big crime (he calls it "a cinch, a perfect score"), the two having sloppily schemed to rob well-off farmer Herb Clutter (Kevin Tighe), who supposedly has stashed his cash in a home safe. There will be no witnesses. Clutter and his kin are to be murdered once the money is gotten.
As Hickock and Smith roam the gamy side of the American Dream, Clutter and kin stand as the very model of homegrown purity and honor, churchgoers who have achieved much. Clutter is an inward but good man who works hard providing for his ill wife Bonnie (Gillian Barber) and their kids (Robbie Bowen, Margot Finley). But like all perfect families, there are imperfections under the patina.
And then all does comes to grief when, on a still Sunday in November, Smith and Hickock enter the Clutters' home, only to find there is no safe, no hidden money. The family is cruelly executed, and Hickock and Smith make off with $41. After passing some bum checks they head south to Mexico. Now KBI's Alvin Dewey (Neill), a methodical and deliberate man and a friend of the Clutters, dedicates himself to capturing the killers. As Dewey states at a press conference, "However long it takes, I'm going to know what happened in that house."
Insistent and unrelenting, this TV version of a wicked, bloody act is often difficult and disagreeable to watch; a rendering coolly and edgily conjured by production designer Mark Freeborn and crisply etched into memory by director of photography Peter Woeste's haunting and lyrical compositions.
Here the American scene looms with barren, empty remove, imbued with the tenebrous worry and moody loss of something painted by Edward Hopper. Bedrooms and roadside hash joints are like the peeling, forgotten chambers of the heart, dimly known and seldom ventured fully into. As well as the visuals, Hummie Mann's haunting score creates a penetrating presence of suffering and surrender, abandonment and desertion without absolution or relief.
IN COLD BLOOD
CBS
Pacific Motion Pictures
and Hallmark Entertainment
Executive producer Robert Halmi Sr.
Producer Tom Rowe
Associate producers George Horie, David W. Rose
Director Jonathan Kaplan
Writer Benedict Fitzgerald
Based on the book by Truman Capote
Music Hummie Mann
Production designer Mark Freeborn
Art director Scott Dobbie
Editor Michael Ornstein
Director of photography Peter Woeste
Casting Julie Selzer
Canadian casting Lynne Carrow
Cast: Anthony Edwards, Eric Roberts, Sam Neill, Leo Rossi, Kevin Tighe, Louise Latham, Gwen Verdon, Bethel Leslie, L.Q. Jones, Gillian Barber
Airdates: Sunday, November 24 and
Tuesday, November 26, 9-11 p.m.
- 11/21/1996
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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