At least Russell Crowe is self-aware.
"It won't come as any surprise to you, but I'm completely comfortable when all the creative decisions are mine," says Crowe.
The Oscar-winning actor stepped behind the camera for the first time with The Water Diviner, a classically made epic about a father (Crowe) who travels from the Australian outback to Istanbul in search of the bodies of his three sons, who were killed at the Battle of Gallipoli. The story is at once an adventure tale, a drama, and a romance.
Inspired by Australian cinema's golden age directors like Peter Weir, Gillian Armstrong and Phillip Noyce, Crowe and his cinematographer, Oscar-winner Andrew Lesnie (The Lord of the Rings), weave together an intricate tapestry of striking visuals to both recreate the war and its aftermath.
Crowe talked with The Associated Press in Los Angeles recently about his foray into directing. The remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.
"It won't come as any surprise to you, but I'm completely comfortable when all the creative decisions are mine," says Crowe.
The Oscar-winning actor stepped behind the camera for the first time with The Water Diviner, a classically made epic about a father (Crowe) who travels from the Australian outback to Istanbul in search of the bodies of his three sons, who were killed at the Battle of Gallipoli. The story is at once an adventure tale, a drama, and a romance.
Inspired by Australian cinema's golden age directors like Peter Weir, Gillian Armstrong and Phillip Noyce, Crowe and his cinematographer, Oscar-winner Andrew Lesnie (The Lord of the Rings), weave together an intricate tapestry of striking visuals to both recreate the war and its aftermath.
Crowe talked with The Associated Press in Los Angeles recently about his foray into directing. The remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.
- 4/23/2015
- by Cineplex.com and contributors
- Cineplex
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
With the DGA Award in hand, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has become a frontrunner in the best director Oscar race for Birdman.
Only seven winners of the DGA Award have not won the best director Oscar in the 66 years that the Directors Guild of America has given the award. The most recent case was two years ago, when Ben Affleck wasn’t even nominated for the best director Oscar for Argo, which won best picture.
No American has won for best director since 2011 and if Inarritu, who is from Mexico, takes the Oscar this year, the trend will continue. Inarritu could become the second Latin American director to win for best director, following Alfonso Cuaron’s win last year.
In the 86 years since the Academy Awards’ inception, 89 Oscars have been given for best director. Twenty-six awards (29 percent) went to non-American born directors.
At the first annual...
Managing Editor
With the DGA Award in hand, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has become a frontrunner in the best director Oscar race for Birdman.
Only seven winners of the DGA Award have not won the best director Oscar in the 66 years that the Directors Guild of America has given the award. The most recent case was two years ago, when Ben Affleck wasn’t even nominated for the best director Oscar for Argo, which won best picture.
No American has won for best director since 2011 and if Inarritu, who is from Mexico, takes the Oscar this year, the trend will continue. Inarritu could become the second Latin American director to win for best director, following Alfonso Cuaron’s win last year.
In the 86 years since the Academy Awards’ inception, 89 Oscars have been given for best director. Twenty-six awards (29 percent) went to non-American born directors.
At the first annual...
- 2/11/2015
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
The Imitation Game features Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, a mathematician and computer science pioneer who, along with his fellow code-breakers, broke the Nazi Enigma code to help end World War II. Though Turing was hailed as a hero, he was eventually arrested and prosecuted for homosexuality, along with 49,000 other British men and women. Turing chose to be chemically castrated rather than face imprisonment, so he could continue his work, and it is believed that he committed suicide a few years later. Queen Elizabeth II posthumously pardoned Turing in 2013.
On Jan. 21, Stephen Fry led a discussion about the The Imitation Game following a screening of the film for BAFTA voters, discussed Queen Elizabeth’s pardon and suggested that the 49,000 persecuted men and women should be as well. Chad Griffin, the president of Human Rights Campaign, which is honoring The Imitation Game at its Human Rights Gala on Jan.
Managing Editor
The Imitation Game features Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, a mathematician and computer science pioneer who, along with his fellow code-breakers, broke the Nazi Enigma code to help end World War II. Though Turing was hailed as a hero, he was eventually arrested and prosecuted for homosexuality, along with 49,000 other British men and women. Turing chose to be chemically castrated rather than face imprisonment, so he could continue his work, and it is believed that he committed suicide a few years later. Queen Elizabeth II posthumously pardoned Turing in 2013.
On Jan. 21, Stephen Fry led a discussion about the The Imitation Game following a screening of the film for BAFTA voters, discussed Queen Elizabeth’s pardon and suggested that the 49,000 persecuted men and women should be as well. Chad Griffin, the president of Human Rights Campaign, which is honoring The Imitation Game at its Human Rights Gala on Jan.
- 1/27/2015
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
Odd List Ivan Radford 7 Jan 2014 - 06:37
Last year may only be a memory, but its film themes linger in the mind. Here's Ivan's pick of 2013's best soundtracks...
Just a quick scan down the list below reveals an extraordinary breadth of genres and subject matters, from imposing, expensive science fiction films to quiet, intimate stories about men at sea on boats or outlaws breaking out of prison to be with their wives. Disparate though the films are, they're all linked by at least one common motif: their music is utterly brilliant.
So with 2014 already well underway, and an entire new wave of films with great music in them beckoning, join us as we look back to the movies of last year, their finest soundtracks, and the must-listen pieces of music you can dig out on each one.
1. Gravity (Steven Price)
Must-listen track: Don't Let Go
When does sound...
Last year may only be a memory, but its film themes linger in the mind. Here's Ivan's pick of 2013's best soundtracks...
Just a quick scan down the list below reveals an extraordinary breadth of genres and subject matters, from imposing, expensive science fiction films to quiet, intimate stories about men at sea on boats or outlaws breaking out of prison to be with their wives. Disparate though the films are, they're all linked by at least one common motif: their music is utterly brilliant.
So with 2014 already well underway, and an entire new wave of films with great music in them beckoning, join us as we look back to the movies of last year, their finest soundtracks, and the must-listen pieces of music you can dig out on each one.
1. Gravity (Steven Price)
Must-listen track: Don't Let Go
When does sound...
- 1/6/2014
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
This week: Peter Jackson returns to Middle-earth with "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," the first of three movies based on the classic fantasy novel "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien, which features Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Ian McKellen reprising his role as the wizard Gandalf from "The Lord of the Rings."
Also new this week is Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty," the musical "Les Miserables," the Judd Apatow dramedy "This Is 40" and the pitch-black comedy "Bachelorette."
'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'
Box Office: $302 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 65% Fresh
Storyline: "The Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson returns to Middle-earth for this first of three movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit." The first installment follows Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he embarks on an adventure with Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and 13 dwarves to reclaim the lost dwarf kingdom of Erebor from the dragon Smaug. Along the way,...
Also new this week is Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty," the musical "Les Miserables," the Judd Apatow dramedy "This Is 40" and the pitch-black comedy "Bachelorette."
'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'
Box Office: $302 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 65% Fresh
Storyline: "The Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson returns to Middle-earth for this first of three movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit." The first installment follows Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he embarks on an adventure with Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and 13 dwarves to reclaim the lost dwarf kingdom of Erebor from the dragon Smaug. Along the way,...
- 3/18/2013
- by Robert DeSalvo
- NextMovie
Hollywood enjoyed a prosperous Boxing Day in Australia, where Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Tom Hooper's Les Miserables both debuted to big numbers Wednesday. Hobbit, from New Line and MGM, opened to $6.1 million, the biggest Boxing Day gross on the books and the third-biggest opening day of all time behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part I and The Avengers. Australians are a natural audience for Hobbit, since Jackson is from neighboring New Zealand. Jackson's The Lord of the Rings franchise did substantial business in Australia. Photos: The Hard Road to 'The Hobbit'
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- 12/27/2012
- by Pamela McClintock
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Reviews might be mixed over "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," but one thing's for sure: Audiences are happy about returning to Middle-Earth. Released almost a decade after "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" hit theaters, the first movie in "The Hobbit" trilogy has had the best December debut of all time by making $84.8 million in its first three days of release.
It helps that "The Hobbit" was released in 3D, in IMAX, in IMAX 3D and in a special 48 frames-per-second format. Those higher ticket prices helped boost the film's income, as around 49 percent of the film's box office total came from its 3D showings.But can it keep that up? It remains to be seen if "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" will go on to make as much money as its predecessors in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Those each grossed more than $300 million when...
It helps that "The Hobbit" was released in 3D, in IMAX, in IMAX 3D and in a special 48 frames-per-second format. Those higher ticket prices helped boost the film's income, as around 49 percent of the film's box office total came from its 3D showings.But can it keep that up? It remains to be seen if "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" will go on to make as much money as its predecessors in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Those each grossed more than $300 million when...
- 12/17/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Beverly Hills, Calif. — Steven Spielberg's Civil War epic "Lincoln" led the Golden Globes on Thursday with seven nominations, among them best drama, best director for Spielberg and acting honors for Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones.
Tied for second-place with five nominations each, including best drama are Ben Affleck's Iran hostage-crisis thriller "Argo" and Quentin Tarantino's slave-turned-bounty-hunter tale "Django Unchained."
Other best-drama nominees put forward by The Hollywood Foreign Press Association are Ang Lee's shipwreck story "Life of Pi" and Kathryn Bigelow's Osama bin Laden manhunt thriller "Zero Dark Thirty."
Nominated for best musical or comedy were: the British retiree adventure "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"; the Victor Hugo musical "Les Miserables"; the first-love tale "Moonrise Kingdom"; the fishing romance "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen"; and the lost-soul romance "Silver Linings Playbook."
Globe attention can give contenders a boost for Hollywood's top honors, the Academy Awards,...
Tied for second-place with five nominations each, including best drama are Ben Affleck's Iran hostage-crisis thriller "Argo" and Quentin Tarantino's slave-turned-bounty-hunter tale "Django Unchained."
Other best-drama nominees put forward by The Hollywood Foreign Press Association are Ang Lee's shipwreck story "Life of Pi" and Kathryn Bigelow's Osama bin Laden manhunt thriller "Zero Dark Thirty."
Nominated for best musical or comedy were: the British retiree adventure "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"; the Victor Hugo musical "Les Miserables"; the first-love tale "Moonrise Kingdom"; the fishing romance "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen"; and the lost-soul romance "Silver Linings Playbook."
Globe attention can give contenders a boost for Hollywood's top honors, the Academy Awards,...
- 12/13/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
By Joey Magidson
Film Contributor
***
A little after 11 p.m. on November 6, while President Barack Obama was defeating challenger Mitt Romney to remain the President of the United States, the road to Oscar glory shifted a bit under the feet of a few contenders.
While television pundits like Rachel Maddow proclaimed that the future of issues like women’s rights had been cleared up and Bill O’Reilly and his more conservative companions stated that this was a new America, the same division in reaction can be said for a group of Best Picture contenders. Some were helped by Obama getting a second term while others would have gotten an added boost by Hollywood’s likely untoward response to a Romney Presidency.
It’s no secret that the cultural and political zeitgeist can be a factor in the minds of Academy members, but depending on the year, it’s sometimes...
Film Contributor
***
A little after 11 p.m. on November 6, while President Barack Obama was defeating challenger Mitt Romney to remain the President of the United States, the road to Oscar glory shifted a bit under the feet of a few contenders.
While television pundits like Rachel Maddow proclaimed that the future of issues like women’s rights had been cleared up and Bill O’Reilly and his more conservative companions stated that this was a new America, the same division in reaction can be said for a group of Best Picture contenders. Some were helped by Obama getting a second term while others would have gotten an added boost by Hollywood’s likely untoward response to a Romney Presidency.
It’s no secret that the cultural and political zeitgeist can be a factor in the minds of Academy members, but depending on the year, it’s sometimes...
- 11/19/2012
- by Joey Magidson
- Scott Feinberg
This December The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is primed to dominate the box office, and.like The Lord of the Rings trilogy that came before it.should prove a heavy-hitter in the crowded field of features questing for Oscar acclaim. Already, the sprawling epic has scared Tom Hooper's ambitious adaptation of the Broadway musical Les Mis out of its competing release date, chasing it to the end of December. And though still months away from its release, Warner Bros. is keeping fans pumped with a seemingly endless barrage of sneak peaks at the much-anticipated first entry of this sure-to-score prequel film series. The latest release in their powerful marketing campaign is a new poster that is sure to be the most iconic of all the film's flood of promo pics. Check it out below thanks to the feature's Facebook page: Adapted from J.R.R. Tolkein's beloved fantasy novel...
- 9/23/2012
- cinemablend.com
Put down those Pop Rocks and Diet Cokes. We’ve got some A-list myths to examine! Ahead of this Sunday’s Oscars, we’ll be taking a look at some of the most famous myths to rise out of the annual awards ceremony. Want to know if being nude will get you a Best Actress statue? Or if the Best Supporting Actress trophy is indeed a curse? You’re in luck – we’ll be investigating one Oscars-related urban legend each day this week. Today, we investigate whether a director winning the Oscar for Best Director means their film will be...
- 2/21/2012
- by Aly Semigran
- EW.com - PopWatch
If 2012 is the end of the world, that's all right with me. Hollywood has overstocked the Mayan calendar's final year with so many potentially amazing movies that trying to cut it down to a top ten was virtually impossible. How could movies like The Amazing Spider-Man, Brave or Lincoln not be on this list? Ten then became twenty, which was more satisfying but there were still a few major films lingering. So, while I could have easily done 30, here are my ten most anticipated films with a bloated honorable mention list. Is your most anticipated on the list? Here are my honorable mention anticipated films of 2012, from least to most anticipated: John Carter, This is 40, World War Z, Gangster Squad, Wreck-It Ralph, Lincoln, The Amazing Spider-Man, Brave, American Reunion, Looper And now the top 10, complete with photos and brief descriptions. 10. Les Miserables - While I have a feeling this musical...
- 12/27/2011
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
There are many reasons why some characters in the movies seem a bit familiar. Sometimes, the actor has become so badly typecast that they only seem to play one character, as Matthew Perry and Hugh Grant seemed doomed to do in the 1990s (before Perry was cast in short-lived TV series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Grant in the Weitz brothers’ About a Boy, 2002). Sometimes a character is transferred completely from television to film, as Leslie Nielson’s Frank Drebin was from Police Squad to The Naked Gun series. But sometimes the reference, while deliberate, is more subtle.
An ‘Actor Allusion’, as defined on TV Tropes, is a casting in-joke or reference which refers to a previous role the actor has played. In most cases, the reference is a throwaway line or two and proceeds from the happy coincidence of that actor having been cast in that role (for example,...
An ‘Actor Allusion’, as defined on TV Tropes, is a casting in-joke or reference which refers to a previous role the actor has played. In most cases, the reference is a throwaway line or two and proceeds from the happy coincidence of that actor having been cast in that role (for example,...
- 4/6/2011
- by Juliette Harrisson
- SoundOnSight
Thank you for visiting ScottFeinberg.com for live coverage of the 83rd Academy Awards! Keep refreshing your browser for all the latest stats/developments — new updates will push down older updates so that you won’t have to scroll down.
* * *
The show ends movingly — if somewhat randomly — with the Ps-22 Staten Island Chorus performing “Over the Rainbow” as all of the evening’s winners join them on-stage, with many singing along. Franco and Hathaway wind up bringing in the show only 10 minutes late (most years run way over), and although it was far from the funniest or most dramatic production, it wasn’t as bad as some are making it out to be (Roger Ebert just Tweeted that it was “the worst Oscarcast I’ve ever seen!”). Franco seemed like he didn’t want to be there (it must have been brutal trying to prepare for this only on the...
* * *
The show ends movingly — if somewhat randomly — with the Ps-22 Staten Island Chorus performing “Over the Rainbow” as all of the evening’s winners join them on-stage, with many singing along. Franco and Hathaway wind up bringing in the show only 10 minutes late (most years run way over), and although it was far from the funniest or most dramatic production, it wasn’t as bad as some are making it out to be (Roger Ebert just Tweeted that it was “the worst Oscarcast I’ve ever seen!”). Franco seemed like he didn’t want to be there (it must have been brutal trying to prepare for this only on the...
- 2/27/2011
- by Scott Feinberg
- Scott Feinberg
Oscars – a love/hate scenario; the nominations are always predictable, and with every passing year I’m increasingly angered by the Academy’s ignorance to the diversity of film. The 10-picture standard, reinstated last year for the first time since 1943, is supposedly a mechanism for spotlighting good films, including those of the blockbuster variety. Last year this seemed like a grand revelation, that the Academy was exploding their perception of film, that the blockbuster was being perceived positively and not as a lesser film. In fact, nothing changed, the alteration has only introduced the illusion of appreciation; the mindset still is that no matter the quality of the film, the most classic variety, with very few exceptions (Titanic, Gladiator, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King), will always win the Oscar. The blockbuster is the whore of the film industry and classic-esque film is the heartbeat and the beauty.
- 2/27/2011
- by Karen Divorty
- FusedFilm
By my count, over the past ten years, the Academy have got it right in regards to awarding the Best Picture statue to it’s correct recipient film on just four occasions, resulting in a 40% success rate.
The years they got it right; (2008 – No Country For Old Men, 2007 – The Departed, 2004 – The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, 2001 – Gladiator)
The years they didn’t; (2010 – The Hurt Locker robbed Avatar, 2009 – Slumdog Millionaire robbed Milk, 2006 – Crash robbed Brokeback Mountain in a particularly weak year, 2005 – Million Dollar Baby robbed The Aviator, 2003 – Chicago robbed The Pianist, 2002 – A Beautiful Mind robbed Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring).
Sadly, as Owf’s Laurent Kelly has been telling us in his great Oscar pieces lately, we are being setup tonight for the Academy to get it wrong again when the wonderful performances & score of The King’s Speech manage to fool the...
The years they got it right; (2008 – No Country For Old Men, 2007 – The Departed, 2004 – The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, 2001 – Gladiator)
The years they didn’t; (2010 – The Hurt Locker robbed Avatar, 2009 – Slumdog Millionaire robbed Milk, 2006 – Crash robbed Brokeback Mountain in a particularly weak year, 2005 – Million Dollar Baby robbed The Aviator, 2003 – Chicago robbed The Pianist, 2002 – A Beautiful Mind robbed Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring).
Sadly, as Owf’s Laurent Kelly has been telling us in his great Oscar pieces lately, we are being setup tonight for the Academy to get it wrong again when the wonderful performances & score of The King’s Speech manage to fool the...
- 2/27/2011
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
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