Napoleon Actor Joaquin Phoenix (Picture Credit: IMDb)
Joaquin Phoenix is one actor whose versatility has no bounds. From Her to Joker, the actor has time and again proved why he’s one of the best male actors in Hollywood. Last year, the Academy Award winner impressed everyone with her remarkable act in the movie Napoleon. He owned every scene with a supporting cast that was as good as him.
Napoleon was released in theatres on November 22, 2023. The movie received a positive response from the film critics. Since then, many have been waiting for the epic historical drama to drop on a streaming platform. Well, you don’t have to wait longer, as the movie finally has an Ott release date. To read more details about the same, keep reading this space further.
Napoleon Cast and Crew
The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte, Vanessa Kirby as Empress Joséphine, Tahar Rahim as Paul Barras,...
Joaquin Phoenix is one actor whose versatility has no bounds. From Her to Joker, the actor has time and again proved why he’s one of the best male actors in Hollywood. Last year, the Academy Award winner impressed everyone with her remarkable act in the movie Napoleon. He owned every scene with a supporting cast that was as good as him.
Napoleon was released in theatres on November 22, 2023. The movie received a positive response from the film critics. Since then, many have been waiting for the epic historical drama to drop on a streaming platform. Well, you don’t have to wait longer, as the movie finally has an Ott release date. To read more details about the same, keep reading this space further.
Napoleon Cast and Crew
The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte, Vanessa Kirby as Empress Joséphine, Tahar Rahim as Paul Barras,...
- 2/18/2024
- by Pooja Darade
- KoiMoi
The Academy picked the right year to give an Honorary Oscar to film editor Carol Littleton. They’re saluting a female editor at a time when three of the year’s major awards contenders —“Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Oppenheimer” and “Maestro” — are edited by Thelma Schoonmaker, Jennifer Lame and Michelle Tesoro, respectively, and when other women in the mix include Hilda Rasula for “American Fiction,” Victoria Boydell for “Saltburn,” Sarah Flack for “Priscilla” and co-editors Claire Simpson (with Sam Restivo) for “Napoleon” and Oona Flaherty (with Nick Moore) for “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.”
“The Editors Guild has about 2,900 picture editors, and 764 women,” said Littleton, a one-time president of that guild. “That’s about a fourth. So isn’t it interesting that these three big prestigious films, ‘Oppenheimer,’ and ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and ‘Maestro,’ are edited by women?”
If all three are nominated for Oscars...
“The Editors Guild has about 2,900 picture editors, and 764 women,” said Littleton, a one-time president of that guild. “That’s about a fourth. So isn’t it interesting that these three big prestigious films, ‘Oppenheimer,’ and ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ and ‘Maestro,’ are edited by women?”
If all three are nominated for Oscars...
- 12/29/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Oscars Predictions: Best Film Editing – ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ Picking Up Momentum From Critics’ Groups
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2024 Oscars Predictions:
Best Achievement in Film Editing All of Us Strangers
Weekly Commentary: Lafca has only been handing out prizes for editing since 2012. Out of the past 11 winners, six became Oscar nominees with one winner among them – “Gravity” (2013). Interestingly, last year’s Lafca recipient “Aftersun,” was the first narrative...
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2024 Oscars Predictions:
Best Achievement in Film Editing All of Us Strangers
Weekly Commentary: Lafca has only been handing out prizes for editing since 2012. Out of the past 11 winners, six became Oscar nominees with one winner among them – “Gravity” (2013). Interestingly, last year’s Lafca recipient “Aftersun,” was the first narrative...
- 12/10/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Joaquin Phoenix in NapoleonPhoto: Apple TV+
Outside of military colleges, where his strategic acumen is still lauded, many present-day folks might only have a loose sense of Napoleon Bonaparte, with a bicorne hat and hand tucked in his jacket, as a man of short stature and shorter temper. Director Ridley Scott...
Outside of military colleges, where his strategic acumen is still lauded, many present-day folks might only have a loose sense of Napoleon Bonaparte, with a bicorne hat and hand tucked in his jacket, as a man of short stature and shorter temper. Director Ridley Scott...
- 11/21/2023
- by Brent Simon
- avclub.com
Blood flows plentifully throughout Ridley Scott’s Napoleon. It practically is a title card in the film’s opening sequence, which presages the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, future Emperor of France, with the execution of Marie Antoinette. Her dripping severed head acts as a preview of coming attractions, and how the little man in the big hat would prove to be a matchstick to 19th century Europe’s powder keg of tensions. So yes, there is gore to Scott’s brisk 158-minute SparkNotes summary of the Napoleonic Wars. Battles too, if only in brief vignettes as we bear witness to flashes of the Battle of Toulon, the Battle of the Pyramids, the Battle of Austerlitz, and of course the Battle of Waterloo (we spend a little more time on that one).
And yet, the blood I speak of is not any R-rated accentuations of Scott’s reliably visceral battlefield sequences.
And yet, the blood I speak of is not any R-rated accentuations of Scott’s reliably visceral battlefield sequences.
- 11/15/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” an epic look at the French emperor and military leader’s rise to power, is one of the final potential awards hopefuls awaiting its first reactions from critics and pundits. As awards season approaches, Variety has learned exclusively which Oscar categories the film will be submitted for. Most notably, Vanessa Kirby will vie for best supporting actress.
Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.
Joaquin Phoenix, who won best actor for the villain origin story “Joker” (2019) and has received three additional mentions during his career, will submit for leading actor for his performance as Napoleon. Kirby, who picked up her inaugural nom for “Pieces of a Woman” (2020), will vie for supporting actress for her role as Josephine, Napoleon’s wife and one true love. Two supporting actors will be submitted — Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”) and Rupert Everett (“My Best Friend’s Wedding...
Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.
Joaquin Phoenix, who won best actor for the villain origin story “Joker” (2019) and has received three additional mentions during his career, will submit for leading actor for his performance as Napoleon. Kirby, who picked up her inaugural nom for “Pieces of a Woman” (2020), will vie for supporting actress for her role as Josephine, Napoleon’s wife and one true love. Two supporting actors will be submitted — Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”) and Rupert Everett (“My Best Friend’s Wedding...
- 10/19/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Here’s your first look at the brand new trailer for Ridley Scott’s Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby.
For Scott, reuniting with Phoenix for the first time since Gladiator was an immense pleasure. “He’s the only actor where we talk for weeks beforehand, just chatting and arguing in an office over aspects of the character. At the end, we are on the same page,” says Scott. “He’s good for me, because he keeps me honest, and I’m good for him, because I keep him in line. Physically, he’s perfect for the role – some of his facial features are strikingly similar to Napoleon’s.”
Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise of the iconic Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar®-winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte’s...
For Scott, reuniting with Phoenix for the first time since Gladiator was an immense pleasure. “He’s the only actor where we talk for weeks beforehand, just chatting and arguing in an office over aspects of the character. At the end, we are on the same page,” says Scott. “He’s good for me, because he keeps me honest, and I’m good for him, because I keep him in line. Physically, he’s perfect for the role – some of his facial features are strikingly similar to Napoleon’s.”
Napoleon is a spectacle-filled action epic that details the checkered rise of the iconic Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar®-winner Joaquin Phoenix. Against a stunning backdrop of large-scale filmmaking orchestrated by legendary director Ridley Scott, the film captures Bonaparte’s...
- 10/18/2023
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
When it comes to predicting the Oscar winner for Best Film Editing, you can’t go wrong by looking for the movie with the most cuts. Past winners “The Bourne Ultimatum” (2008), “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2016), “Ford v Ferrari” (2020), “Dune” (2022) and last year’s champ “Everything Everywhere All at Once” included high-octane action sequences with frenetic cutting. A slew of winners — including “Saving Private Ryan” in 1999, “Black Hawk Down” (2002), “The Hurt Locker” (2010), “Hacksaw Ridge” (2017) and “Dunkirk” (2018) — have been war pictures. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2024 Oscar predictions for Best Film Editing.)
Oscar voters also embrace film editors who skillfully juggle multiple storylines, as was the case with “Traffic” (2001) and “Crash” (2006). And they like films that expertly inter-cut music with images, such as “Cabaret” (1973), “Chicago” (2003), “Whiplash” (2015), “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2019) and 2021 winner “Sound of Metal.” Special effects extravaganzas like “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004) and “Gravity” (2014) won by...
Oscar voters also embrace film editors who skillfully juggle multiple storylines, as was the case with “Traffic” (2001) and “Crash” (2006). And they like films that expertly inter-cut music with images, such as “Cabaret” (1973), “Chicago” (2003), “Whiplash” (2015), “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2019) and 2021 winner “Sound of Metal.” Special effects extravaganzas like “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004) and “Gravity” (2014) won by...
- 9/13/2023
- by Paul Sheehan and Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Movies about the infamous French military commander Napoleon Bonaparte have always been massive undertakings. After all, the wars and battles he unleashed were some of the biggest and deadliest in European military history. You can't exactly be frugal when adapting these battles to the big screen, and since they're such a significant part of Bonaparte's legacy, you shouldn't even think of skipping them. This is partially why Stanley Kubrick's biopic of the commander wound up in development hell and never found its way out during his lifetime.
However, it seems Ridley Scott has finally done what was previously thought to be nearly impossible: He has directed a biographical action epic based on Bonaparte's life, simply titled "Napoleon," and it is coming out later this year. Starring Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix as the commander, it marks the actor's first collaboration with Scott since their acclaimed team-up on 2000's "Gladiator." While...
However, it seems Ridley Scott has finally done what was previously thought to be nearly impossible: He has directed a biographical action epic based on Bonaparte's life, simply titled "Napoleon," and it is coming out later this year. Starring Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix as the commander, it marks the actor's first collaboration with Scott since their acclaimed team-up on 2000's "Gladiator." While...
- 4/3/2023
- by Erin Brady
- Slash Film
Film editor David Brenner, who died in the middle of work on the Oscar-nominated “Avatar: The Way of Water,” never shied away from a challenge. Ahead of the American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards, directors Zack Snyder and James Cameron remembered Brenner and his celebrated career.
Throughout a career spanning more than four decades, Brenner worked alongside some of the most technically demanding directors in Hollywood, from Oliver Stone to Cameron. But whether he was editing an alien invasion in “Independence Day” or a Vietnam veteran leading an antiwar protest in “Born on the Fourth of July” (for which he won an Academy Award), he always found the humanity of his subjects.
“He committed himself to bringing human behavior to the screen,” said Brenner’s widow, Amber Dixon. “Being an editor is like being a god, because putting things together takes you out of a black-and-white paradigm. He could abandon his...
Throughout a career spanning more than four decades, Brenner worked alongside some of the most technically demanding directors in Hollywood, from Oliver Stone to Cameron. But whether he was editing an alien invasion in “Independence Day” or a Vietnam veteran leading an antiwar protest in “Born on the Fourth of July” (for which he won an Academy Award), he always found the humanity of his subjects.
“He committed himself to bringing human behavior to the screen,” said Brenner’s widow, Amber Dixon. “Being an editor is like being a god, because putting things together takes you out of a black-and-white paradigm. He could abandon his...
- 3/5/2023
- by Jeremy Fassler
- Variety Film + TV
In the 94-year history of the Oscars, there is only one category, besides Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, that has never been won by a woman. That would be Best Cinematography, which honors a movie’s lighting, framing and camerawork.
Those are hardly gender-specific achievements, though the Oscars, for better or worse, are a reflection of the opportunities offered in the film industry. And as such, there are deep institutional reasons why this specific category has such a poor track record for women.
The trivia stat could change on Sunday night. Ari Wegner, the Australian cinematographer of Jane Campion’s nomination-leader “The Power of the Dog,” is nominated for her thoughtful, intuitive work on the film. TheWrap’s Steve Pond predicts that Wegner will take home the trophy, giving her the edge over “Dune” Dp Greig Fraser (the cinematographer of Campion’s previous movie “Bright Star”), who has scored the BAFTA and ASC precursors.
Those are hardly gender-specific achievements, though the Oscars, for better or worse, are a reflection of the opportunities offered in the film industry. And as such, there are deep institutional reasons why this specific category has such a poor track record for women.
The trivia stat could change on Sunday night. Ari Wegner, the Australian cinematographer of Jane Campion’s nomination-leader “The Power of the Dog,” is nominated for her thoughtful, intuitive work on the film. TheWrap’s Steve Pond predicts that Wegner will take home the trophy, giving her the edge over “Dune” Dp Greig Fraser (the cinematographer of Campion’s previous movie “Bright Star”), who has scored the BAFTA and ASC precursors.
- 3/24/2022
- by Joe McGovern
- The Wrap
David Brenner, an Oscar-winning film editor who has worked extensively with Zack Snyder and Oliver Stone, among other filmmakers, has died. He was 59.
Brenner died suddenly in his home in West Hollywood on Thursday, his wife, actress Amber Brenner, first told THR. The news was also confirmed in a GoFundMe page set up by “Avatar” producer Jon Landau, as well as in a social media post by Snyder. Amber Brenner did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
A cause of death has not been released.
Brenner won his Oscar in 1990 (shared with Joe Hutshing) for working on Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July.” He’s also credited on numerous other films, including, “The Doors,” “Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “World Trade Center,” “Man of Steel,” “300: Rise of an Empire” and, most recently, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.” He was currently at work editing James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequels.
Brenner died suddenly in his home in West Hollywood on Thursday, his wife, actress Amber Brenner, first told THR. The news was also confirmed in a GoFundMe page set up by “Avatar” producer Jon Landau, as well as in a social media post by Snyder. Amber Brenner did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
A cause of death has not been released.
Brenner won his Oscar in 1990 (shared with Joe Hutshing) for working on Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July.” He’s also credited on numerous other films, including, “The Doors,” “Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “World Trade Center,” “Man of Steel,” “300: Rise of an Empire” and, most recently, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.” He was currently at work editing James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequels.
- 2/18/2022
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
They remain nowhere near as well-represented as their male counterparts in the editing Oscar realm — the best-known is Thelma Schoonmaker with eight Oscar nominations and three wins — but women such as Úna Ní Dhonghaíle (“Belfast”), Pamela Martin (“King Richard”) and Teresa Font (“Parallel Mothers”) are seeking to make their mark in the race.
Dhonghaíle was almost finished cutting “Death on the Nile” with Kenneth Branagh when he mentioned “Belfast” to her. “Kenneth shot in a very painterly style. A lot of the scenes were held and had a depth of field,” Dhonghaíle says. “The mise-en-scene was just as important as the rhythm of the film.”
The editor points out there was a simplicity to Branagh’s shooting style and sometimes footage was abundant, but other times, she had only one or two shots to work with. But, every time, she says, “We interrogated the structure. [Sometimes] we shortened them or even...
Dhonghaíle was almost finished cutting “Death on the Nile” with Kenneth Branagh when he mentioned “Belfast” to her. “Kenneth shot in a very painterly style. A lot of the scenes were held and had a depth of field,” Dhonghaíle says. “The mise-en-scene was just as important as the rhythm of the film.”
The editor points out there was a simplicity to Branagh’s shooting style and sometimes footage was abundant, but other times, she had only one or two shots to work with. But, every time, she says, “We interrogated the structure. [Sometimes] we shortened them or even...
- 1/24/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
When it comes to predicting the Oscar winner for Best Film Editing, you can’t go wrong by looking for the movie with the most cuts. Past winners “The Bourne Ultimatum” (2008), “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2016) and “Ford v Ferrari” (2020) included high-octane action sequences with frenetic cutting. And a slew of other champs — including “Saving Private Ryan” in 1999, “Black Hawk Down” (2002), “The Hurt Locker” (2010), “Hacksaw Ridge” (2017) and “Dunkirk” (2018) — have been war pictures. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2021 Oscar predictions for Best Film Editing.)
Oscar voters also embrace film editors who skillfully juggle multiple storylines, as was the case with “Traffic” (2001) and “Crash” (2006). And they like films that expertly inter-cut music with images, such as “Cabaret” (1973), “Chicago” (2003), “Whiplash” (2015), “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2019) and last year’s winner “Sound of Metal.” Special effects extravaganzas like “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004) and “Gravity” (2014) won by deftly blurring the lines between the real and the fantastic.
Oscar voters also embrace film editors who skillfully juggle multiple storylines, as was the case with “Traffic” (2001) and “Crash” (2006). And they like films that expertly inter-cut music with images, such as “Cabaret” (1973), “Chicago” (2003), “Whiplash” (2015), “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2019) and last year’s winner “Sound of Metal.” Special effects extravaganzas like “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004) and “Gravity” (2014) won by deftly blurring the lines between the real and the fantastic.
- 1/23/2022
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar and Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. The eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and is subject to change.
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Oscars Collective
Visit each category, per the individual awards show from The Oscars Hub
Revisit the prediction archive of the 2021 season The Archive
Link to television awards is atTHE Emmys Hub
2022 Oscars Predictions:
Best Film Editing
Updated: Dec 27, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: While there have been a few examples of...
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Oscars Collective
Visit each category, per the individual awards show from The Oscars Hub
Revisit the prediction archive of the 2021 season The Archive
Link to television awards is atTHE Emmys Hub
2022 Oscars Predictions:
Best Film Editing
Updated: Dec 27, 2021
Awards Prediction Commentary: While there have been a few examples of...
- 12/27/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Upon sitting down to write about House of Gucci, I thought I’d open with a quote. There had to have been some line, however peripheral, that stuck. That wasn’t the case. How about a moment that encapsulates its 157 minutes? It has the components necessary to dive into its artifice, at least in theory. There’s the grandeur, and there are the more hyperbolic aspects that match whatever people loosely toss the term “camp” at. Alas, nothing on that front dug its heels into me either. Instead all I asked was why this thing is so hard to latch onto.
It’s probably because of the script, which feels like more of an information dump of vignettes than the parsimony Ridley Scott’s direction tries to cobble it toward. It might even be because some of the cast is oddly forgettable. And what if it’s actually because this...
It’s probably because of the script, which feels like more of an information dump of vignettes than the parsimony Ridley Scott’s direction tries to cobble it toward. It might even be because some of the cast is oddly forgettable. And what if it’s actually because this...
- 11/22/2021
- by Matt Cipolla
- The Film Stage
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck arrived in Venice on Thursday, ahead of Friday’s world premiere of Ridley Scott’s historical epic “The Last Duel.”
The couple landed at Venice airport before traveling to the city in a vaporetto taxi — a speedboat with the name “Confusion.” Their arrival puts to rest weeks of speculation around whether or not the couple would attend the film festival together and make their first major red carpet debut since reuniting.
Lopez and Affleck, who are together known as “Bennifer,” had been set to get married in 2003, but postponed their wedding before calling off their relationship. They started dating again a few months ago, after she separated from Alex Rodriguez in April, according to press reports.
Affleck stars in “The Last Duel” alongside Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer. The screenplay is by Nicole Holofcener, Affleck and Damon, based on the book by Eric Jager.
The couple landed at Venice airport before traveling to the city in a vaporetto taxi — a speedboat with the name “Confusion.” Their arrival puts to rest weeks of speculation around whether or not the couple would attend the film festival together and make their first major red carpet debut since reuniting.
Lopez and Affleck, who are together known as “Bennifer,” had been set to get married in 2003, but postponed their wedding before calling off their relationship. They started dating again a few months ago, after she separated from Alex Rodriguez in April, according to press reports.
Affleck stars in “The Last Duel” alongside Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer. The screenplay is by Nicole Holofcener, Affleck and Damon, based on the book by Eric Jager.
- 9/9/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
With the 2021 Oscars in the rearview, Variety looks ahead to what could be a very packed and condensed year with the Awards Circuit Draft for Oscars 2022.
A tradition for the past 16 years, I’ve always thrown shots in the dark in the week immediately following the Academy Awards. For the first time, my year-in-advance top pick, Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” won picture and director. Can lightning strike twice?
The last two years have included thoughts that 2019’s “Harriet” from Kasi Lemmons would have a big Academy debut, with top spots for eventual nominee Cynthia Erivo, but the love ending there. In 2018, I suspected “The Irishman” from Martin Scorsese would arrive in time, but alas, it was pushed to 2019.
Other past choices have included 2017’s “Phantom Thread” (then untitled), 2016’s “Silence” (although I did have “Moonlight” in the predicted 10), 2015’s “The Good Dinosaur”, 2014’s “Inherent Vice” (why not another try for Paul Thomas Anderson?...
A tradition for the past 16 years, I’ve always thrown shots in the dark in the week immediately following the Academy Awards. For the first time, my year-in-advance top pick, Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” won picture and director. Can lightning strike twice?
The last two years have included thoughts that 2019’s “Harriet” from Kasi Lemmons would have a big Academy debut, with top spots for eventual nominee Cynthia Erivo, but the love ending there. In 2018, I suspected “The Irishman” from Martin Scorsese would arrive in time, but alas, it was pushed to 2019.
Other past choices have included 2017’s “Phantom Thread” (then untitled), 2016’s “Silence” (although I did have “Moonlight” in the predicted 10), 2015’s “The Good Dinosaur”, 2014’s “Inherent Vice” (why not another try for Paul Thomas Anderson?...
- 4/29/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Discovery’s UK and Ireland channel Quest has commissioned 161 hours of content from British producer Curve Media, which encompasses a fresh Salvage Hunters spin-off and new series Auction House (working title).
The producer will make 10-part series Salvage Hunters: Design Classics for Quest, which will follow antique expert Drew Pritchard as he indulges his passion for design.
This is in addition to Discovery ordering 45 more episodes of the original Salvage Hunters format, taking the franchise into its 18th series after it first launched in 2011.
Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars and Salvage Hunters: The Restorers have also been recommissioned for 15 and 60 more episodes respectively, while Quest is also taking another 20 installments of Salvage Hunters: Best Buys.
Finally, Curve has created new format Auction House for the channel, which goes behind-the-scenes of Derby-based auctioneers Hansons and follows staff as they value and sell items.
Simon Downing, Discovery’s head of factual and sports in the UK,...
The producer will make 10-part series Salvage Hunters: Design Classics for Quest, which will follow antique expert Drew Pritchard as he indulges his passion for design.
This is in addition to Discovery ordering 45 more episodes of the original Salvage Hunters format, taking the franchise into its 18th series after it first launched in 2011.
Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars and Salvage Hunters: The Restorers have also been recommissioned for 15 and 60 more episodes respectively, while Quest is also taking another 20 installments of Salvage Hunters: Best Buys.
Finally, Curve has created new format Auction House for the channel, which goes behind-the-scenes of Derby-based auctioneers Hansons and follows staff as they value and sell items.
Simon Downing, Discovery’s head of factual and sports in the UK,...
- 6/30/2020
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Frankly, there is only one probably lock in this category and that’s Lee Smith for “Dunkirk.” Questions still surround the rest of the frontrunners. Moreover, don’t sleep on “Detroit’s” William Goldenberg as an upset nominee. He’s a two-time winner and five-time nominee and very well respected within the branch. [Posted Jan 2]
Frontrunners
Michael Kahn, Sarah Broshar, “The Post”
Gregory Plotkin, “Get Out”
Lee Smith, “Dunkirk”
Joe Walker, “Blade Runner 2049”
Sidney Wolinsky, “The Shape of Water”
Almost there
Sean Baker, “The Florida Project”
Valerio Bonelli, “Darkest Hour”
Bob Ducsay, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”
Walter Fasano, “Call Me By Your Name”
William Goldenberg, “Detroit”
Jon Gregory “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Nick Houy, “Lady Bird”
Mako Kamitsuna, “Mudbound”
Paul Machliss, Jonathan Amos, “Baby Driver”
Claire Simpson, “All The Money In The World”
Tatiana S.
Continue reading 2018 Best Editing Oscars Predictions at The Playlist.
Frontrunners
Michael Kahn, Sarah Broshar, “The Post”
Gregory Plotkin, “Get Out”
Lee Smith, “Dunkirk”
Joe Walker, “Blade Runner 2049”
Sidney Wolinsky, “The Shape of Water”
Almost there
Sean Baker, “The Florida Project”
Valerio Bonelli, “Darkest Hour”
Bob Ducsay, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”
Walter Fasano, “Call Me By Your Name”
William Goldenberg, “Detroit”
Jon Gregory “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Nick Houy, “Lady Bird”
Mako Kamitsuna, “Mudbound”
Paul Machliss, Jonathan Amos, “Baby Driver”
Claire Simpson, “All The Money In The World”
Tatiana S.
Continue reading 2018 Best Editing Oscars Predictions at The Playlist.
- 1/3/2018
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
Ryan Lambie Oct 20, 2017
Panned by critics, mystery thriller The Snowman is a curious misfire from some great actors and filmmakers. So what happened?
Nb: The following contains major, major spoilers for The Snowman movie and the original novel.
See related Star Trek: Discovery episode 1 review - The Vulcan Hello Star Trek: Discovery episode 2 review - Battle At The Binary Star Star Trek: Discovery episode 3 review - Context Is For Kings
Most great crime thrillers hook us in with a mystery: who's the killer? The Snowman, released earlier this month to a blizzard of chilly reviews, offers another conundrum that lurks just outside the frame: how did a film with such a sterling pedigree go so bafflingly wrong?
The plot, as laid out in Jo Nesbo's best-selling novel of the same name, sounds like decent fodder for a disturbing thriller in the vein of Seven or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
Panned by critics, mystery thriller The Snowman is a curious misfire from some great actors and filmmakers. So what happened?
Nb: The following contains major, major spoilers for The Snowman movie and the original novel.
See related Star Trek: Discovery episode 1 review - The Vulcan Hello Star Trek: Discovery episode 2 review - Battle At The Binary Star Star Trek: Discovery episode 3 review - Context Is For Kings
Most great crime thrillers hook us in with a mystery: who's the killer? The Snowman, released earlier this month to a blizzard of chilly reviews, offers another conundrum that lurks just outside the frame: how did a film with such a sterling pedigree go so bafflingly wrong?
The plot, as laid out in Jo Nesbo's best-selling novel of the same name, sounds like decent fodder for a disturbing thriller in the vein of Seven or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
- 10/19/2017
- Den of Geek
Michael Fassbender stars in the adaptation of Jo Nesbo's best-selling thriller, The Snowman. A satisfying mystery for the autumn? Well...
“I apologise for Oslo’s low murder rate,” says a police chief when boozy detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) complains about a lack of satisfying mysteries to solven one bitter winter morning. Fortunately for Hole, the renewed activity of an elusive serial killer soon gives him a case to wrap his big brain around. Unfortunately, the killer also has a macabre interest in Hole’s personal life.
Seemingly triggered by snowfall, a serial killer is kidnapping women across Norway’s cities, leaving their dismembered bodies to be found lying face down in a drift several days later. The killer’s calling card: a snowman in the victim’s front garden, usually oriented to face the house. To crack the case, Hole joins forces with new recruit Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Ferguson...
“I apologise for Oslo’s low murder rate,” says a police chief when boozy detective Harry Hole (Michael Fassbender) complains about a lack of satisfying mysteries to solven one bitter winter morning. Fortunately for Hole, the renewed activity of an elusive serial killer soon gives him a case to wrap his big brain around. Unfortunately, the killer also has a macabre interest in Hole’s personal life.
Seemingly triggered by snowfall, a serial killer is kidnapping women across Norway’s cities, leaving their dismembered bodies to be found lying face down in a drift several days later. The killer’s calling card: a snowman in the victim’s front garden, usually oriented to face the house. To crack the case, Hole joins forces with new recruit Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Ferguson...
- 10/11/2017
- Den of Geek
Michael Fassbender (X-Men series) leads an all-star cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Independence Day: Resurgence), CHLOË Sevigny (American Horror Story), Val Kilmer (Heat) and Academy Award® winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) star in The Snowman, a terrifying thriller from director Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), based on Jo NESBØ’s global bestseller.
For Detective Harry Hole (Fassbender), the murder of a young woman on the first snow of the winter feels like anything but a routine homicide case in his district. From the start of the investigation, The Snowman has personally targeted him with taunts—ones that continue to accompany each new vicious murder.
Fearing an elusive serial killer long-thought dead may be active again, the detective enlists brilliant recruit Katrine Bratt (Ferguson), to help him connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new ones. Succeed, and they will...
For Detective Harry Hole (Fassbender), the murder of a young woman on the first snow of the winter feels like anything but a routine homicide case in his district. From the start of the investigation, The Snowman has personally targeted him with taunts—ones that continue to accompany each new vicious murder.
Fearing an elusive serial killer long-thought dead may be active again, the detective enlists brilliant recruit Katrine Bratt (Ferguson), to help him connect decades-old cold cases to the brutal new ones. Succeed, and they will...
- 10/10/2017
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Can an old-fashioned monster movie still work in the 1980s? The dedicated cast for this overachieving chiller takes its story of ‘Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers’ in directions most punk-era horrors do not.
C.H.U.D.
Blu-ray
Arrow Video (U.S.)
1984 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 96 + 88 min. / Street Date November 22, 2016 / Available from Amazon Us 39.99
Starring John Heard, Daniel Stern, Christopher Curry, Kim Greist, Eddie Jones, Ruth Maleczech, J.C. Quinn, John Ramsey, George Martin, John Bedford Lloyd, Frankie Faison, John Goodman, Hallie Foote, Jon Polito.
Cinematography Peter Stein
Editor Claire Simpson
Makeup Effects John Caglione Jr.
Original Music David A. Hughes
Written by Parnell Hall, Shepard Abbott
Produced by Andrew Bonime
Directed by Douglas Cheek
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
How does the monster show C.H.U.D. rate in the general parade of 1980s horror features? I don’t know — I spent the ’80s avoiding those pictures. A few years earlier at the New Beverly, Sherman Torgan...
C.H.U.D.
Blu-ray
Arrow Video (U.S.)
1984 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 96 + 88 min. / Street Date November 22, 2016 / Available from Amazon Us 39.99
Starring John Heard, Daniel Stern, Christopher Curry, Kim Greist, Eddie Jones, Ruth Maleczech, J.C. Quinn, John Ramsey, George Martin, John Bedford Lloyd, Frankie Faison, John Goodman, Hallie Foote, Jon Polito.
Cinematography Peter Stein
Editor Claire Simpson
Makeup Effects John Caglione Jr.
Original Music David A. Hughes
Written by Parnell Hall, Shepard Abbott
Produced by Andrew Bonime
Directed by Douglas Cheek
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
How does the monster show C.H.U.D. rate in the general parade of 1980s horror features? I don’t know — I spent the ’80s avoiding those pictures. A few years earlier at the New Beverly, Sherman Torgan...
- 11/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Shoot begins today on period drama starring Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts and Michael Sheen.
Fox Searchlight Pictures has announced that Thomas Vinterberg’sFar From the Madding Crowd has begun principal photography in the UK today [Sept 16].
The film stars Carey Mulligan (The Great Gatsby), Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone), Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Tom Sturridge (On the Road) and Juno Temple (Killer Joe).
The script was written by David Nicholls, author and screenwriter of One Day and Starter for Ten. Allon Reich and Andrew Macdonald of DNA Films are producing with Christine Langan of BBC Films executive producing.
The film will shoot on location in Dorset, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and London.
Vinterberg said it is “a great privilege to bring such a wonderful piece of very English literature to the screen”.
Langan added that Mulligan is “the perfect Bathsheba”.
Based on the literary classic by Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd is the story of independent and headstrong...
Fox Searchlight Pictures has announced that Thomas Vinterberg’sFar From the Madding Crowd has begun principal photography in the UK today [Sept 16].
The film stars Carey Mulligan (The Great Gatsby), Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone), Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Tom Sturridge (On the Road) and Juno Temple (Killer Joe).
The script was written by David Nicholls, author and screenwriter of One Day and Starter for Ten. Allon Reich and Andrew Macdonald of DNA Films are producing with Christine Langan of BBC Films executive producing.
The film will shoot on location in Dorset, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and London.
Vinterberg said it is “a great privilege to bring such a wonderful piece of very English literature to the screen”.
Langan added that Mulligan is “the perfect Bathsheba”.
Based on the literary classic by Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd is the story of independent and headstrong...
- 9/16/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Principal photography begins in the UK today (September 16th) on "The Hunt" director Thomas Vinterberg's adaptation of the Thomas Hardy literary classic "Far From the Madding Crowd" at Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Carey Mulligan ("The Great Gatsby"), Matthias Schoenaerts ("Rust and Bone"), Michael Sheen ("Frost/Nixon"), Tom Sturridge ("On the Road") and Juno Temple ("Killer Joe")
The story follows the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan), who attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak (Schoenaerts), a sheep farmer; Frank Troy (Sturridge), a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood (Sheen), a prosperous and mature bachelor.
"One Day" and "Starter for Ten" author David Nicholls penned the script. Allon Reich and Andrew Macdonald of DNA Films are producing with Christine Langan of BBC Films executive producing.
Joining Vinterberg on the film are director of photography Charlotte Bruus Christensen ("The Hunt," "Submarino"), production designer Kave Quinn ("The Woman in Black"), costume designer Janet Patterson ("The Piano,...
Carey Mulligan ("The Great Gatsby"), Matthias Schoenaerts ("Rust and Bone"), Michael Sheen ("Frost/Nixon"), Tom Sturridge ("On the Road") and Juno Temple ("Killer Joe")
The story follows the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan), who attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak (Schoenaerts), a sheep farmer; Frank Troy (Sturridge), a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood (Sheen), a prosperous and mature bachelor.
"One Day" and "Starter for Ten" author David Nicholls penned the script. Allon Reich and Andrew Macdonald of DNA Films are producing with Christine Langan of BBC Films executive producing.
Joining Vinterberg on the film are director of photography Charlotte Bruus Christensen ("The Hunt," "Submarino"), production designer Kave Quinn ("The Woman in Black"), costume designer Janet Patterson ("The Piano,...
- 9/16/2013
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Charlie Sheen sat down with "Today Show" correspondent Jeff Rossen and by now, his antics have become infamous across the 'net. We wanted to help those of you who have viewed the interview and have some questions.
Sheen mentions at one point that he won't struggle with addiction any more because he's not weak, like a person who doesn't have "tiger blood and Adonis DNA," implying that he does, in fact, possess those things.
Tiger blood, one has to assume, means blood running through his veins of an actual tiger and not, for example, stashed vials in his mansion containing the blood of Ty Cobb or Jim Leyland. Charlie's father is Martin Sheen and while Martin's not a literal tiger, we'd buy that he's a figurative tiger.
Adonis DNA, for all of you who are Googling that, is not a real thing. Again, Charlie Sheen is implying that he has the genetic makeup of Adonis,...
Sheen mentions at one point that he won't struggle with addiction any more because he's not weak, like a person who doesn't have "tiger blood and Adonis DNA," implying that he does, in fact, possess those things.
Tiger blood, one has to assume, means blood running through his veins of an actual tiger and not, for example, stashed vials in his mansion containing the blood of Ty Cobb or Jim Leyland. Charlie's father is Martin Sheen and while Martin's not a literal tiger, we'd buy that he's a figurative tiger.
Adonis DNA, for all of you who are Googling that, is not a real thing. Again, Charlie Sheen is implying that he has the genetic makeup of Adonis,...
- 2/28/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
There was a Best Actress tie -- Sandra Bullock kissed Meryl Streep to celebrate their joint win. Who else took home a Critics Choice Award?
Best Picture
Avatar, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Invictus, Nine, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up In The Air
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart, George Clooney - Up In The Air, Colin Firth - A Single Man, Morgan Freeman - Invictus, Viggo Mortensen - The Road, Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Best Actress (tie)
Emily Blunt - The Young Victoria, Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side, Carey Mulligan - An Education, Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones, Gabourey Sidibe - Precious, Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon - Invictus, Woody Harrelson - The Messenger, Christian McKay - Me And Orson Welles, Alfred Molina - An Education, Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones, Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds...
Best Picture
Avatar, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Invictus, Nine, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up In The Air
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart, George Clooney - Up In The Air, Colin Firth - A Single Man, Morgan Freeman - Invictus, Viggo Mortensen - The Road, Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Best Actress (tie)
Emily Blunt - The Young Victoria, Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side, Carey Mulligan - An Education, Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones, Gabourey Sidibe - Precious, Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon - Invictus, Woody Harrelson - The Messenger, Christian McKay - Me And Orson Welles, Alfred Molina - An Education, Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones, Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds...
- 1/16/2010
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Below you will find exactly what my votes were for the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards on VH1 this Friday night. I’m a member of the Bfca, and therefore an actual, honest to god, voting member for the awards. I have 1/235th of a voice in exactly what wins. This is simply over-analyzing (a rant) the numbers of how I exactly voted. Again, this is how I voted, not the final results of the show, which won’t be known until Friday.
Inglourious Basterds – 5 votes
Where The Wild Things Are – 4 votes
Avatar – 3 votes
Fantastic Mr. Fox – 2 votes
Star Trek - 2 votes
A Single Man – 1 vote
An Education – 1 vote
Precious - 1 vote
The Hurt Locker – 1 vote
District 9 – 1 vote
Broken Embraces – 1 vote
The Hangover - 1 vote
The Cove – 1 vote
Well, if you can’t tell, Inglourious Basterds is my favorite movie of the year. But Away We Go was in...
Inglourious Basterds – 5 votes
Where The Wild Things Are – 4 votes
Avatar – 3 votes
Fantastic Mr. Fox – 2 votes
Star Trek - 2 votes
A Single Man – 1 vote
An Education – 1 vote
Precious - 1 vote
The Hurt Locker – 1 vote
District 9 – 1 vote
Broken Embraces – 1 vote
The Hangover - 1 vote
The Cove – 1 vote
Well, if you can’t tell, Inglourious Basterds is my favorite movie of the year. But Away We Go was in...
- 1/13/2010
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
The Oscars are a secret. You never see the ballot of Meryl Streep, George Clooney or James Cameron come awards time. I’m not a fan of that. I know they don’t want to admit they have favorites, but I do. I vote for the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards as a member of the Bfca (Broadcast Film Critics Association). My ballot is below, and I think all critics should show what they consider the best, whether they vote in the Ofcs (Online Film Critics Society) or Cfca (Chicago Film Critics Society). The 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards airs on VH1 on Friday night.
Nominees For The 15Th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards
(my vote is in italics)
Best Picture – for me this was a no-brainer
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air
Best Actor – Bridges and Renner had a chance,...
Nominees For The 15Th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards
(my vote is in italics)
Best Picture – for me this was a no-brainer
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air
Best Actor – Bridges and Renner had a chance,...
- 1/12/2010
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
Kristin Chenoweth is hosting, Kevin Bacon is being honored, and I am voting.
What should I do for the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards?
The Broadcast Film Critics Association vote, and the ceremony will be broadcast live on VH1 Friday night.
Here’s your chance to try and influence the vote.
I will put in bold movies that have a chance for my vote. My final ballot is due tomorrow, and I will post my final votes on this site come Wednesday.
Nominees For The 15Th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards
(so again, everything in bold is something that could get my vote, those that aren’t in bold have No chance)
Best Picture
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges – “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney – “Up In The Air”
Colin Firth – “A Single Man...
What should I do for the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards?
The Broadcast Film Critics Association vote, and the ceremony will be broadcast live on VH1 Friday night.
Here’s your chance to try and influence the vote.
I will put in bold movies that have a chance for my vote. My final ballot is due tomorrow, and I will post my final votes on this site come Wednesday.
Nominees For The 15Th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards
(so again, everything in bold is something that could get my vote, those that aren’t in bold have No chance)
Best Picture
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges – “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney – “Up In The Air”
Colin Firth – “A Single Man...
- 1/11/2010
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
I am shocked to report that my new membership did not singlehandedly or significantly increase their taste levels, he said sarcastically. A few of the following nominations are hard to justify qualitatively speaking but you can't always get what you want. Again Oscar punditry combined with 'I just unwrapped this gift' excitement seem to have replaced careful consideration of what the year had to offer. But then it does appear as if only about 15 movies truly existed this year. In fact six movies Inglourious Basterds, Nine, Avatar, Up in the Air, The Hurt Locker, Precious and The Lovely Bones account for 48% of all the nominations. Crazy.
Am I just grumpy because they think The Lovely Bones (6 nominations) is better looking and The Blind Side (2 nominations) better acted than the exquisite Bright Star (1 nomination only)? I find those two judgment calls totally unsupportable. The abundant nominations for the garish and messy...
Am I just grumpy because they think The Lovely Bones (6 nominations) is better looking and The Blind Side (2 nominations) better acted than the exquisite Bright Star (1 nomination only)? I find those two judgment calls totally unsupportable. The abundant nominations for the garish and messy...
- 12/15/2009
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
The Hurt Locker, Up in the Air, Inglorious Basterds, Avatar …
It’s my first year voting. There is a 0.01% chance that I will listen to your opinion over mine. But, I’m saying there is a chance. So, what would you vote for? The Critics’ Choice Awards air on Vh-1 on January 15. I will post my voting ballot then. If you had a vote, where would it go?
Avatar might get my visual votes, but nothing else. My personal sadness is the exclusion of Away We Go.
Complete Coverage of the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
Complete Nominees of the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
What should I do? – 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
Best Picture
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges – “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney – “Up In The Air...
It’s my first year voting. There is a 0.01% chance that I will listen to your opinion over mine. But, I’m saying there is a chance. So, what would you vote for? The Critics’ Choice Awards air on Vh-1 on January 15. I will post my voting ballot then. If you had a vote, where would it go?
Avatar might get my visual votes, but nothing else. My personal sadness is the exclusion of Away We Go.
Complete Coverage of the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
Complete Nominees of the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
What should I do? – 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
Best Picture
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges – “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney – “Up In The Air...
- 12/14/2009
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
The awards season is upon us. The Golden Globes are coming. The Oscars will be here. For now, it’s the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.
This is my first year as a voting member of the Broadcast Film Critics’ Association (Bfca).
Complete Coverage of the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
Complete Nominees of the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
What should I do? – 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
Here is the complete list of nominees …
Best Picture
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges – “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney – “Up In The Air”
Colin Firth – “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman – “Invictus”
Viggo Mortensen – “The Road”
Jeremy Renner – “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actress
Emily Blunt – “The Young Victoria”
Sandra Bullock – “The Blind Side”
Carey Mulligan – “An Education”
Saoirse Ronan...
This is my first year as a voting member of the Broadcast Film Critics’ Association (Bfca).
Complete Coverage of the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
Complete Nominees of the 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
What should I do? – 15th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards
Here is the complete list of nominees …
Best Picture
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges – “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney – “Up In The Air”
Colin Firth – “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman – “Invictus”
Viggo Mortensen – “The Road”
Jeremy Renner – “The Hurt Locker”
Best Actress
Emily Blunt – “The Young Victoria”
Sandra Bullock – “The Blind Side”
Carey Mulligan – “An Education”
Saoirse Ronan...
- 12/14/2009
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
Brad Pitt's "Inglourious Basterds" and Penelope Cruz's "Nine" are tied with 10 nominations each for the 15th annual "Critics' Choice Awards." The show, hosted by Kristin Chenoweth, airs live on VH1 Jan. 15 at 9 Pm E.S.T.
Below, the complete nomination list:
Best Picture
"Avatar"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Invictus"
"Nine"
"Precious"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"
"Up In The Air"
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges - "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney - "Up In The Air...
Below, the complete nomination list:
Best Picture
"Avatar"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Invictus"
"Nine"
"Precious"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"
"Up In The Air"
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges - "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney - "Up In The Air...
- 12/14/2009
- Extra
The Broadcast Film Critics Association (yes, I'm a proud voting member!) has announced the nominees for the 15th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards.
The winners will be announced at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards live on Friday, January 15, 2009 at 9:00 Pm Et/Pt. This year's event will take place at the Hollywood Palladium and will be hosted by Kristin Chenoweth. For the third year in a row VH1 will broadcast the gala live on the network.
"Inglourious Basterds" and "Nine" each received an unprecedented ten nominations for the 15th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. "Inglourious Basterds" garnered nods for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Ensemble, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Costume Design and Best Action Movie. "Nine" received nominations for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, Best Ensemble, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Sound and Best Song.
The winners will be announced at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards live on Friday, January 15, 2009 at 9:00 Pm Et/Pt. This year's event will take place at the Hollywood Palladium and will be hosted by Kristin Chenoweth. For the third year in a row VH1 will broadcast the gala live on the network.
"Inglourious Basterds" and "Nine" each received an unprecedented ten nominations for the 15th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. "Inglourious Basterds" garnered nods for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Ensemble, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Costume Design and Best Action Movie. "Nine" received nominations for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, Best Ensemble, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Sound and Best Song.
- 12/14/2009
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
The World War II tale "Inglourious Basterds" and the Rome-set musical "Nine," both releases from the Weinstein Co., led the list of nominees for the Broadcast Film Critics Assn.'s 15th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards, announced early Monday, with ten nominations each.
The 3-D sci-fi film "Avatar" followed close behind with nine noms, while "The Hurt Locker" and "Up in the Air" received eight nominations each.
The awards, which will be handed out on Jan. 15 at ceremonies broadcast from the Hollywood Palladium by Vh-1, expanded this year from 17 to 25 categories, adding seven technical categories and separating its screenplay category into original and adapted slots.
Since the critics group also includes genre categories like best action movie and best comedy as well as awards for best acting ensemble and best young actor/actress, that opened the door for plenty of multiple nominations.
Saoirse Ronanl, the 15-year-old actress who plays a...
The 3-D sci-fi film "Avatar" followed close behind with nine noms, while "The Hurt Locker" and "Up in the Air" received eight nominations each.
The awards, which will be handed out on Jan. 15 at ceremonies broadcast from the Hollywood Palladium by Vh-1, expanded this year from 17 to 25 categories, adding seven technical categories and separating its screenplay category into original and adapted slots.
Since the critics group also includes genre categories like best action movie and best comedy as well as awards for best acting ensemble and best young actor/actress, that opened the door for plenty of multiple nominations.
Saoirse Ronanl, the 15-year-old actress who plays a...
- 12/14/2009
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Nine," the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, led the Satellite Award scoring 11 nominations including Best Picture in the Comedy or Musical category.
Rob Marshall also received a Best Director nomination, and stars Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, and Daniel Day-Lewis received Best Acting nods, and the cast got Best Ensemble.
John Woo's "Red Cliff" followed with seven nominations.
Roger Corman is the 2009 Recipient of the Auteur Award while master cinematographer and eight-time Oscar nominee, Roger Deakins, is the 2009 Recipient of the Nikola Tesla Award.
The 2009 14th Annual Satellite Awards are given by the International Press Academy. Winners will be announced on Sunday, December 20th, at the Grand Salon/Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles.
Visit the Satellite Awards official site right here.
And the nominees for the 2009 14th Annual Satellite Awards are:
Film
Motion Picture (Drama)
"Bright Star"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"The Messenger"
"Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire...
Rob Marshall also received a Best Director nomination, and stars Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, and Daniel Day-Lewis received Best Acting nods, and the cast got Best Ensemble.
John Woo's "Red Cliff" followed with seven nominations.
Roger Corman is the 2009 Recipient of the Auteur Award while master cinematographer and eight-time Oscar nominee, Roger Deakins, is the 2009 Recipient of the Nikola Tesla Award.
The 2009 14th Annual Satellite Awards are given by the International Press Academy. Winners will be announced on Sunday, December 20th, at the Grand Salon/Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles.
Visit the Satellite Awards official site right here.
And the nominees for the 2009 14th Annual Satellite Awards are:
Film
Motion Picture (Drama)
"Bright Star"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"The Messenger"
"Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire...
- 11/30/2009
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
The Satellites (formerly Golden) have announced their 2009 nominations for what it's worth. And you might be screaming "not very much".
It's hard to know what to make of this Golden Globe splinter group. There is never much of a narrative thread in their nominations. You can't sense from year to year a type of film they like or whatnot. Which makes them feel a bit suspect. They also do very strange things which you're about to see if you read their nominations. They never get much attention and yet they keep plugging away. This year they were especially kind to 2012 (who knew?), Nine and The Stoning of Soraya M. But they were downright rude to the sci-fi drama Moon which received zero nominations despite their lack of aversion to sci-fi films. I mention this because the moon is a natural satellite and the Satellites are artificial. Maybe they're jealous. What they're orbiting we know not.
It's hard to know what to make of this Golden Globe splinter group. There is never much of a narrative thread in their nominations. You can't sense from year to year a type of film they like or whatnot. Which makes them feel a bit suspect. They also do very strange things which you're about to see if you read their nominations. They never get much attention and yet they keep plugging away. This year they were especially kind to 2012 (who knew?), Nine and The Stoning of Soraya M. But they were downright rude to the sci-fi drama Moon which received zero nominations despite their lack of aversion to sci-fi films. I mention this because the moon is a natural satellite and the Satellites are artificial. Maybe they're jealous. What they're orbiting we know not.
- 11/30/2009
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Versatile British scribe David Hare has worn the hats of producer, director, and writer in theatre, film, and television, but he is best known as an acclaimed playwright. "I have been at it for a long time," he says. "Not all playwrights last that long. In America, of course, Edward Albee has been writing for almost 50 years. I've been writing for close to 40 years." Hare's start, however, was almost accidental: "In 1968 I started a traveling theatre group as a director, and about a year later, somebody failed to deliver a play. It was a Wednesday, and I had to write one so we could start rehearsals on a Monday. That was my first venture into writing. I suppose I found I had a gift, at least for dialogue. And because of that, West End producers started asking me to write plays for them."Currently the spotlight is on Hare's screenplay...
- 1/2/2009
- by Les Spindle
- backstage.com
"The Reader" reviewby Steve Ramos, Writer Astounding ‘Reader’ is a Love Affair Unlike Any Other To immediately speak of love when describing director Stephen Daldry’s brilliant adaptation of Bernhard Schlink’s novel “The Reader” is somewhat misleading. Because if it’s love that draws together Michael Berg (David Kross), a teenage boy in postwar Germany, and Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet), a woman twice his age, then it’s a type of affection rarely seen, especially in a movie. “The Reader,” described by its German author as an autobiographical tale, is not so much an affair of the heart as a test of the mind and soul. It is by far the most challenging of the year-end movie dramas and perhaps the most satisfying. Daldry’s picture-perfect adaptation, brought to life by veteran playwright David Hare’s riveting screenplay, matches the book’s emotional intensity. They are artistic equals, Schlink...
- 12/11/2008
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Oscar-nominated editors gathered to show their favorite clips and reveal their cutting-room secrets Saturday during the annual "Invisible Art, Visible Artists" panel at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Prompted by American Cinema Editors president and panel moderator Alan Heim, each of the nominees recalled how they got their start in the editing room. Claire Simpson, nominated for Focus Features' The Constant Gardener, said she realized her love for movies in a small theater in Cambridge, Mass., then worked various production jobs in Dublin, Ireland, before meeting editing legend Dede Allen, who gave Simpson her first break as an assistant in the editing room on 1981's Reds. Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill, nominated for Universal's Cinderella Man, worked, respectively, as a fry cook at Kentucky Fried Chicken and as a prison guard in Chino, Calif., before meeting in the shipping department at Paramount. Eventually they were introduced to Cinderella Man director Howard, with whom they have teamed in the editing room for the past 25 years.
John le Carre's densely plotted novels, which revolve around espionage, moral corruption and forces of evil at work around the globe, often flounder when transferred to the screen. Plots gets severely truncated and nuances are lost. Filmmakers try to cherry-pick the "cinematic" bits from the stories -- the cloak-and-dagger maneuvers -- but those separate with difficulty from the texture of his characters' lives and the thorough documentation of how rogues, governments and multinational corporations behave.
"The Constant Gardener" is a happy exception. One reason might be the inspired choice of Fernando Meirelles, the Oscar-nominated Brazilian director of "City of God", to bring the story to the screen. His impressionistic, guerilla style of filmmaking works surprisingly well in capturing the hypnotic urgency of le Carre's fiction. And his viewpoint is less British and more Third World. There are awkward moments, given the need to rush through a convoluted plot, and the peripheral characters that never fully come alive. But "The Constant Gardener" gets the essence of the story.
With Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz toplining a work of clear passion, the film looks set for late summer counterprogramming as well as a competitive run with upcoming prestige offerings for Oscar nominations. Boxoffice should be steady though well short of blockbuster status.
The film, like the novel, opens with the death of a major character. Tessa Quayle (Weisz), a tireless political activist, is discovered brutally murdered in a remote area in northern Kenya. Her older husband is Justin (Fiennes), an ineffectual career diplomat attached to the British High Command in Nairobi, mostly concerned with tending his flower garden and keeping up appearances.
Initially, he takes the news with the apparent sangfroid of a true Etonian. Indeed it is Justin's associate, Sandy Woodrow (Danny Huston), who throws up at the sight of Tessa's mutilated body in the morgue, not Justin. Complicating his reaction is an indication that her murder might be a crime of passion: The Kenyan doctor (Hubert Kounde) with whom she was traveling has disappeared and is the chief suspect.
Justin then makes discoveries that could substantiate rumors of other infidelities by his young wife. But what no one in the community of expats in Nairobi counts on is the fierce love this man still has for the woman he scarcely got to know in their brief marriage.
The story moves in a nonlinear way as Justin turns into a mild-mannered bulldog, seeking an explanation for his wife's death. Then, in flashbacks, he examines more closely who his wife was. In the course of his confrontation with things he previously chose not to see, he draws closer to his wife; he understands her point of view, what mattered to her, and comes to love her even more.
This odyssey pulls him into the shady world of multinational pharmaceuticals or "pharmas" as the drug giants are called. These are organizations with enormous resources and economic power, virtual nations onto themselves, who think nothing about testing new drugs in the impoverished Third World.
Justin's investigation into what might have caused someone to order his wife's murder takes him into a scary and sinister terrain, where one feels no safer in the blazing light of day then in the mysterious dark of the night.
He visits Kibera, the largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa. In London, the British government confiscates his passport. He travels to Berlin with a fake passport to interview the scared head of a pharma watchdog group. He returns to Kenya to confront those with blood on their hands, then journeys to Sudan, where refugees live in vile conditions. The journey ends at the strangely beautiful site of his wife's murder.
(For all the criticism of the Kenyan government by the book and the film, the same government allowed the film to shoot in that country.)
The major disappointment comes in Justin's encounters with the crooks, thugs, spies, corrupt businessmen and Her Majesty's mendacious civil servants. These are played by such wonderful actors as Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite, Nick Reding and Gerard McSorley. Yet they are all too familiar types. No doubt perfectly accurate types but le Carre -- adapted here by Jeffrey Caine -- is capable of creating characters with greater subtlety and dimension.
What distracts us from such things is Meirelles' arresting style that creates a vivid sense of place. Working again with cinematographer Cesar Charlone, the director overexposes some scenes, producing a kind of white on white. Meanwhile, in the slums and villages, as with the favela in "City of God", are a riot of deeply saturated colors. The camera jumps and tries to focus, as if a documentary film crew were shooting the film. Editor Claire Simpson keeps the story rushing forward as Alberto Iglesias' soft music, containing hints of African rock, pulsates in the background.
THE CONSTANT GARDENER
Focus Features
Focus Features presents in association with the U.K. Film Council a Potboiler production in association with Scion Films
Credits:
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Screenwriter: Jeffrey Caine
Based on the novel by: John le Carre
Producer: Simon Channing Williams
Executive producers: Gail Egan, Robert Jones, Donald Ranvaud, Jeff Abberley, Julia Blackman
Director of photography: Cesar Charlone
Production designer: Mark Tildesley
Music: Alberto Iglesias
Costumes: Odile Dicks-Mireaux
Editor: Claire Simpson
Cast:
Justin Quayle: Ralph Fiennes
Tessa Quayle: Rachel Weisz
Sandy: Danny Huston
Sir Pellegrin: Bill Nighy
Marcus: Pete Postlethwaite
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 130 minutes...
"The Constant Gardener" is a happy exception. One reason might be the inspired choice of Fernando Meirelles, the Oscar-nominated Brazilian director of "City of God", to bring the story to the screen. His impressionistic, guerilla style of filmmaking works surprisingly well in capturing the hypnotic urgency of le Carre's fiction. And his viewpoint is less British and more Third World. There are awkward moments, given the need to rush through a convoluted plot, and the peripheral characters that never fully come alive. But "The Constant Gardener" gets the essence of the story.
With Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz toplining a work of clear passion, the film looks set for late summer counterprogramming as well as a competitive run with upcoming prestige offerings for Oscar nominations. Boxoffice should be steady though well short of blockbuster status.
The film, like the novel, opens with the death of a major character. Tessa Quayle (Weisz), a tireless political activist, is discovered brutally murdered in a remote area in northern Kenya. Her older husband is Justin (Fiennes), an ineffectual career diplomat attached to the British High Command in Nairobi, mostly concerned with tending his flower garden and keeping up appearances.
Initially, he takes the news with the apparent sangfroid of a true Etonian. Indeed it is Justin's associate, Sandy Woodrow (Danny Huston), who throws up at the sight of Tessa's mutilated body in the morgue, not Justin. Complicating his reaction is an indication that her murder might be a crime of passion: The Kenyan doctor (Hubert Kounde) with whom she was traveling has disappeared and is the chief suspect.
Justin then makes discoveries that could substantiate rumors of other infidelities by his young wife. But what no one in the community of expats in Nairobi counts on is the fierce love this man still has for the woman he scarcely got to know in their brief marriage.
The story moves in a nonlinear way as Justin turns into a mild-mannered bulldog, seeking an explanation for his wife's death. Then, in flashbacks, he examines more closely who his wife was. In the course of his confrontation with things he previously chose not to see, he draws closer to his wife; he understands her point of view, what mattered to her, and comes to love her even more.
This odyssey pulls him into the shady world of multinational pharmaceuticals or "pharmas" as the drug giants are called. These are organizations with enormous resources and economic power, virtual nations onto themselves, who think nothing about testing new drugs in the impoverished Third World.
Justin's investigation into what might have caused someone to order his wife's murder takes him into a scary and sinister terrain, where one feels no safer in the blazing light of day then in the mysterious dark of the night.
He visits Kibera, the largest slum in sub-Saharan Africa. In London, the British government confiscates his passport. He travels to Berlin with a fake passport to interview the scared head of a pharma watchdog group. He returns to Kenya to confront those with blood on their hands, then journeys to Sudan, where refugees live in vile conditions. The journey ends at the strangely beautiful site of his wife's murder.
(For all the criticism of the Kenyan government by the book and the film, the same government allowed the film to shoot in that country.)
The major disappointment comes in Justin's encounters with the crooks, thugs, spies, corrupt businessmen and Her Majesty's mendacious civil servants. These are played by such wonderful actors as Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite, Nick Reding and Gerard McSorley. Yet they are all too familiar types. No doubt perfectly accurate types but le Carre -- adapted here by Jeffrey Caine -- is capable of creating characters with greater subtlety and dimension.
What distracts us from such things is Meirelles' arresting style that creates a vivid sense of place. Working again with cinematographer Cesar Charlone, the director overexposes some scenes, producing a kind of white on white. Meanwhile, in the slums and villages, as with the favela in "City of God", are a riot of deeply saturated colors. The camera jumps and tries to focus, as if a documentary film crew were shooting the film. Editor Claire Simpson keeps the story rushing forward as Alberto Iglesias' soft music, containing hints of African rock, pulsates in the background.
THE CONSTANT GARDENER
Focus Features
Focus Features presents in association with the U.K. Film Council a Potboiler production in association with Scion Films
Credits:
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Screenwriter: Jeffrey Caine
Based on the novel by: John le Carre
Producer: Simon Channing Williams
Executive producers: Gail Egan, Robert Jones, Donald Ranvaud, Jeff Abberley, Julia Blackman
Director of photography: Cesar Charlone
Production designer: Mark Tildesley
Music: Alberto Iglesias
Costumes: Odile Dicks-Mireaux
Editor: Claire Simpson
Cast:
Justin Quayle: Ralph Fiennes
Tessa Quayle: Rachel Weisz
Sandy: Danny Huston
Sir Pellegrin: Bill Nighy
Marcus: Pete Postlethwaite
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 130 minutes...
The late long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine liked to take the lead early, set a torrid pace and grind his competition into the ground. Fittingly, this fast-paced Warner Bros. film from Cruise/Wagner Prods. takes off fast and finishes with a high, winning kick.
It's a brainy bio about a complex sports figure whose determination and gutsiness transcended his record-setting runs on the track. With a mesmeric performance by Billy Crudup as the talented but enigmatic Prefontaine, this film will set a steady pace at the boxoffice; bolstered by healthy word-of-mouth, it should have a lengthy run.
Winning wasn't everything for Prefontaine; it was how you ran the race. Admittedly, finishing first was a given if he ran according to his philosophy. Resting back in the pack of distance runners and letting a front-runner absorb the wind and create an easy draft for the follower was not what Prefontaine considered an honorable way to run. For him, running was about guts: The runner who absorbs the draft and runs out front was the deserved champion, not -- as Prefontaine maintained -- some slacker who lets the front-runner do the work for him and then steals the race in the last 200 yards.
Not surprisingly, Prefontaine's track coach at the University of Oregon, Bill Bowerman (Donald Sutherland), did not share this philosophy. He considered the headstrong Prefontaine's notions not only ill-founded but a handicap that would thwart him when he moved into much tougher international competition, namely the Olympics, and against such legendary long-distance men as Finland's Lasse Viren.
While running was not about winning for Prefontaine, running is not necessarily just about sports for the filmmakers. In Robert Towne and Kenny Moore's supple script, we see that running is an existential endeavor. As Bowerman preaches to his charges at the beginning of every track season, "If you can find meaning in the absurd practice of running, you can find meaning in this other absurd pastime, life." As such, this "sports" movie's real strength and moves are as much off the track as on it. Although the sports world is the subculture setting for the film, the narrative embraces ideas and presents philosophies of life that are often more associated with art house-type, static endeavors. In short, this is a jock movie with a very high IQ.
Set in the turbulent early 1970s campus rebellion, "Without Limits" is also a canny depiction of a nation in painful, adolescent-type years of change and growth. Clearly, Prefontaine was a young man who not only epitomized the anti-establishment thinking of the times but was, in his heady way, someone who simply did not run with the pack -- an individual.
Prefontaine's both endearing and aggravating tenacity is superbly captured by Crudup. It's a sinewy, lean performance that bulges with a sharp mix of contradiction and inspiration. As Prefontaine's mentor/tormentor coach, Sutherland's wily portrayal brims with wisdom and a wonderful hardheadedness, not surprisingly, coach and runner clashed often because they both possessed the same headstrong natures; both were spirits who ran against the grain of popular thought. (A happy side story in this film is that the flinty coach was always crafting lighter track shoes for his runners in his kitchen, using the family waffle iron. These shoes became the sole pattern for what was to become the Nike line. Do you think this film might have some product tie-ins?) In essence, not only is this film about the philosophical nature of performance and honor, it's got the added gusto of visualizing the American dream: local curmudgeon invents multimillion-dollar product with his wife's waffle iron, starts international craze.
Supporting performances are also a cut above, including most prominently Monica Potter as Prefontaine's girlfriend who, as a practicing Catholic, also had the moral fortitude to go against the groupthink of the times. A team of real-life long distancers and Olympians bring veracity to the film.
Most admirably, co-writer/ director Robert Towne has invigorated "Without Limits" with a sizzling pace, especially welcome for those of us rubes who consider long-distance running the most boring of sports. Special praise to editors Claire Simpson and Robert Lambert for the fast-clip edits and to composer Randy Miller for the rousing, pulse-quickening score. A slew of '60s-ish sounds, courtesy of music supervisor Danny Bramson, add a solid kick to this smartly conceived winner.
WITHOUT LIMITS
Warner Bros.
A Cruise/Wagner production
A Robert Towne film
Producers: Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner
Director: Robert Towne
Screenwriters: Robert Towne, Kenny Moore
Executive producers: Jonathan Sanger, Kenny Moore
Director of photography: Conrad Hall
Production designer: William Creber
Editors: Claire Simpson, Robert Lambert
Music supervisor: Danny Bramson
Costume designer: Grania Preston
Casting: Rick Pagano
Music: Randy Miller
Color/stereo
Cast:
Steve Prefontaine: Billy Crudup
Bill Bowerman: Donald Sutherland
Mary Marckx: Monica Potter
Frank Shorter: Jeremy Sisto
Roscoe Devine: Matthew Lillard
Dong Kardong: Gabe Olds
Barbara Bowerman: Judith Ivey
Bill Dellinger: Dean Norris
Kenny Moore: Billy Burke
Mac Wilkins: Adam Setliff
Russ Francis: Nicholas Oleson
Iowa's Finest: Amy Jo Johnson
Lasse Viren: Pat Porter
Running time -- 120 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
It's a brainy bio about a complex sports figure whose determination and gutsiness transcended his record-setting runs on the track. With a mesmeric performance by Billy Crudup as the talented but enigmatic Prefontaine, this film will set a steady pace at the boxoffice; bolstered by healthy word-of-mouth, it should have a lengthy run.
Winning wasn't everything for Prefontaine; it was how you ran the race. Admittedly, finishing first was a given if he ran according to his philosophy. Resting back in the pack of distance runners and letting a front-runner absorb the wind and create an easy draft for the follower was not what Prefontaine considered an honorable way to run. For him, running was about guts: The runner who absorbs the draft and runs out front was the deserved champion, not -- as Prefontaine maintained -- some slacker who lets the front-runner do the work for him and then steals the race in the last 200 yards.
Not surprisingly, Prefontaine's track coach at the University of Oregon, Bill Bowerman (Donald Sutherland), did not share this philosophy. He considered the headstrong Prefontaine's notions not only ill-founded but a handicap that would thwart him when he moved into much tougher international competition, namely the Olympics, and against such legendary long-distance men as Finland's Lasse Viren.
While running was not about winning for Prefontaine, running is not necessarily just about sports for the filmmakers. In Robert Towne and Kenny Moore's supple script, we see that running is an existential endeavor. As Bowerman preaches to his charges at the beginning of every track season, "If you can find meaning in the absurd practice of running, you can find meaning in this other absurd pastime, life." As such, this "sports" movie's real strength and moves are as much off the track as on it. Although the sports world is the subculture setting for the film, the narrative embraces ideas and presents philosophies of life that are often more associated with art house-type, static endeavors. In short, this is a jock movie with a very high IQ.
Set in the turbulent early 1970s campus rebellion, "Without Limits" is also a canny depiction of a nation in painful, adolescent-type years of change and growth. Clearly, Prefontaine was a young man who not only epitomized the anti-establishment thinking of the times but was, in his heady way, someone who simply did not run with the pack -- an individual.
Prefontaine's both endearing and aggravating tenacity is superbly captured by Crudup. It's a sinewy, lean performance that bulges with a sharp mix of contradiction and inspiration. As Prefontaine's mentor/tormentor coach, Sutherland's wily portrayal brims with wisdom and a wonderful hardheadedness, not surprisingly, coach and runner clashed often because they both possessed the same headstrong natures; both were spirits who ran against the grain of popular thought. (A happy side story in this film is that the flinty coach was always crafting lighter track shoes for his runners in his kitchen, using the family waffle iron. These shoes became the sole pattern for what was to become the Nike line. Do you think this film might have some product tie-ins?) In essence, not only is this film about the philosophical nature of performance and honor, it's got the added gusto of visualizing the American dream: local curmudgeon invents multimillion-dollar product with his wife's waffle iron, starts international craze.
Supporting performances are also a cut above, including most prominently Monica Potter as Prefontaine's girlfriend who, as a practicing Catholic, also had the moral fortitude to go against the groupthink of the times. A team of real-life long distancers and Olympians bring veracity to the film.
Most admirably, co-writer/ director Robert Towne has invigorated "Without Limits" with a sizzling pace, especially welcome for those of us rubes who consider long-distance running the most boring of sports. Special praise to editors Claire Simpson and Robert Lambert for the fast-clip edits and to composer Randy Miller for the rousing, pulse-quickening score. A slew of '60s-ish sounds, courtesy of music supervisor Danny Bramson, add a solid kick to this smartly conceived winner.
WITHOUT LIMITS
Warner Bros.
A Cruise/Wagner production
A Robert Towne film
Producers: Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner
Director: Robert Towne
Screenwriters: Robert Towne, Kenny Moore
Executive producers: Jonathan Sanger, Kenny Moore
Director of photography: Conrad Hall
Production designer: William Creber
Editors: Claire Simpson, Robert Lambert
Music supervisor: Danny Bramson
Costume designer: Grania Preston
Casting: Rick Pagano
Music: Randy Miller
Color/stereo
Cast:
Steve Prefontaine: Billy Crudup
Bill Bowerman: Donald Sutherland
Mary Marckx: Monica Potter
Frank Shorter: Jeremy Sisto
Roscoe Devine: Matthew Lillard
Dong Kardong: Gabe Olds
Barbara Bowerman: Judith Ivey
Bill Dellinger: Dean Norris
Kenny Moore: Billy Burke
Mac Wilkins: Adam Setliff
Russ Francis: Nicholas Oleson
Iowa's Finest: Amy Jo Johnson
Lasse Viren: Pat Porter
Running time -- 120 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 3/16/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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