A dazzling and frank dance musical, Boaz Yakin’s Aviva is an ambitious picture free from the restraints of traditional narrative–an ode to young urban living as young lovers Eden and Aviva settle down and settle into familiar gender roles. The question of gender roles is a loaded one, in fact. We’re told that Eden (played by Tyler Phillips as a man and Bobbi Jene Smith as a female) was intended to be a woman, played by a man, in a role written by a man. Eden’s lover, the luminous Aviva, is portrayed in female form by Zina Zinchenko and sometimes in the male form by Or Schraiber. The rules of the game–the movie within the movie–are explained as each character is introduced to us posing nude, in either a domestic or professional space, by the film’s female narrator. Confused yet? Aviva is as confounding as it is explicit,...
- 6/12/2020
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
Phyllis Newman, known for her Tony Award-winning role as the bath towel-clad Martha Vail in the musical Subways Are for Sleeping, has died. The star of stage and screen was 86.
The news was announced by her son Adam Green, a theater critic for Vogue, via Twitter. “My sister @amanda_green and I had to say goodbye to our beautiful mother today,” he tweeted. “I’ll miss her more than I can say.”
In addition to Subways Are for Sleeping, Newman appeared in numerous Broadway productions including Bells Are Ringing, The Apple Tree, On the Town, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Awake and Sing, Wish You Were Here and First Impressions. She also had her one-woman musical The Madwoman of Central Park West which was co-written by her and Arthur Laurents. She also received a Tony nom for her performance in Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound.
She received a Drama Desk...
The news was announced by her son Adam Green, a theater critic for Vogue, via Twitter. “My sister @amanda_green and I had to say goodbye to our beautiful mother today,” he tweeted. “I’ll miss her more than I can say.”
In addition to Subways Are for Sleeping, Newman appeared in numerous Broadway productions including Bells Are Ringing, The Apple Tree, On the Town, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Awake and Sing, Wish You Were Here and First Impressions. She also had her one-woman musical The Madwoman of Central Park West which was co-written by her and Arthur Laurents. She also received a Tony nom for her performance in Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound.
She received a Drama Desk...
- 9/16/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
“Boarding School” is the kind of enterprise whose problems you might normally suspect as being the result of a mismatch between helmer and scenarist — except in this case both are Boaz Yakin, whose diverse prior films include “Fresh,” “A Price Above Rubies,” “Remember the Titans” and “Max.” His first directorial foray into anything approaching horror terrain is a contemporary Gothic melodrama in which (just like current release “Down a Dark Hall”) “problem” children are herded off to an isolated, creepy academy where members of the skeleton staff have a sinister agenda.
“Boarding School” includes an odd mix of narrative elements within a classically Grimm child-endangerment scenario that would work best played as a modern fairy tale. Yet Yakin chooses to pace the film more slowly as a serious drama, which keeps the suspense from building real momentum and exacerbates the script’s implausibilities. A more magical-realist treatment might have have...
“Boarding School” includes an odd mix of narrative elements within a classically Grimm child-endangerment scenario that would work best played as a modern fairy tale. Yet Yakin chooses to pace the film more slowly as a serious drama, which keeps the suspense from building real momentum and exacerbates the script’s implausibilities. A more magical-realist treatment might have have...
- 9/4/2018
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
A widower struggles to reclaim his child in this authentic and affectionate portrait of New York’s Orthodox Jewish community
This terrifically authentic look at life inside New York’s Yiddish-speaking Hasidic community is a bittersweet treat – a vibrantly engaging portrait of down-to-earth lives that is affectionate, amusing and ultimately very moving. A million miles removed from such peripherally comparable fare as Sidney Lumet’s A Stranger Among Us or Boaz Yakin’s A Price Above Rubies, Joshua Z Weinstein’s fiction-feature debut gets right under the skin of its characters, gently unpicking themes of social conformity and religious responsibility with melancholy wit and wry, tragicomic insight.
Populated by first-time performers playing close-to-home roles, it combines the poetry of John Cassavetes with the grit of Ken Loach, along with a touch of the cultural intimacy that Rama Burshtein brought to Fill the Void and Through the Wall.
Continue reading...
This terrifically authentic look at life inside New York’s Yiddish-speaking Hasidic community is a bittersweet treat – a vibrantly engaging portrait of down-to-earth lives that is affectionate, amusing and ultimately very moving. A million miles removed from such peripherally comparable fare as Sidney Lumet’s A Stranger Among Us or Boaz Yakin’s A Price Above Rubies, Joshua Z Weinstein’s fiction-feature debut gets right under the skin of its characters, gently unpicking themes of social conformity and religious responsibility with melancholy wit and wry, tragicomic insight.
Populated by first-time performers playing close-to-home roles, it combines the poetry of John Cassavetes with the grit of Ken Loach, along with a touch of the cultural intimacy that Rama Burshtein brought to Fill the Void and Through the Wall.
Continue reading...
- 12/10/2017
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Contemporary screen depictions of Brooklyn's Hasidic community — for instance Boaz Yakin's A Price Above Rubies or Sidney Lumet's A Stranger Among Us — have tended to raise eyebrows with their meshuggeneh casting of Hollywood recruits like Renee Zellweger and Melanie Griffith, and their sometimes patronizing perspective on the exotic otherness of a mysterious, insular world. On a much smaller, far more satisfying scale, Joshua Z. Weinstein's charming Menashe immerses us in an authentic environment of ultra-Orthodox Judaism and makes it relatable by weaving a sweet story familiar in its general contours, of a single father struggling to hold onto...
- 1/23/2017
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Reuniting with Kenneth Lonergan after 2000’s You Can Count on Me, composer Lesley Barber‘s score for Manchester by the Sea is one of the year’s most beautiful. When we recently spoke with her, we said the soundtrack is, “like the surrounding film, something of a contradiction: unmissable yet unintrusive, and enveloping as it disappears into the dramatic action.” We’ve now teamed with Milan Records to give away four CDs to our readers. All entries must be received by 11:59 Pm Est on Sunday, November 27th.
To enter, do the first two steps and then each additional one counts as another entry into the contest.
1. Like The Film Stage on Facebook
2. Follow The Film Stage on Twitter
Follow @TheFilmStage
3. Comment in the box on Facebook with your favorite score/soundtrack of the year so far.
4. Retweet the following tweet:
Rt this & follow us to enter our giveaway of...
To enter, do the first two steps and then each additional one counts as another entry into the contest.
1. Like The Film Stage on Facebook
2. Follow The Film Stage on Twitter
Follow @TheFilmStage
3. Comment in the box on Facebook with your favorite score/soundtrack of the year so far.
4. Retweet the following tweet:
Rt this & follow us to enter our giveaway of...
- 11/23/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
His films don't necessarily have the hip reputations of some of his contemporaries, he wasn't as precious about the work as some other auteurs, and he never won a Best Director Oscar (though he received an honorary one in 2005). But there can be no question that Sidney Lumet was one of American cinema's finest filmmakers, as anyone who has read his seminal book "Making Movies," or just seen one of his many great films, can attest. Over a 50-year career, and almost as many movies (here's our retrospective of his work), Lumet undeniably made some duff films ("The Wiz," "A Price Above Rubies" and "Gloria"), but for every questionable picture, there were two solid classics. Read More: Watch: Sidney Lumet's 1955 Rejected TV Pilot 'The Challenge' Starting with his 1957 debut "12 Angry Men," and ending with the brutal, powerful "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead," with works like "Fail-Safe,...
- 5/18/2015
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
By Allen Gardner
Quadrophenia (Criterion) Franc Roddam’s 1979 film based on The Who’s classic rock opera tells the story of working class lad Jimmy (Phil Daniels) struggling to find his identity in a rapidly changing Britain, circa 1965. Jimmy is a “mod,” a youth movement dedicated to wearing snappy suits, driving Vespa motor scooters bedecked with side mirrors, popping amphetamines and obsessed with the new sound of bands like The Who and The Kinks. Their other pastime is engaging in bloody brawls with “rockers,” throwbacks to the 1950s, who listen to Elvis and Gene Vincent, wear leather biker gear, grease in their hair and drive massive motorcycles a la Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.” Often cited as a worthy successor to “Rebel Without a Cause” as the greatest angry youth picture ever made, it is that and more, including a first cousin to the “kitchen sink” dramas of scribes John Osborne,...
Quadrophenia (Criterion) Franc Roddam’s 1979 film based on The Who’s classic rock opera tells the story of working class lad Jimmy (Phil Daniels) struggling to find his identity in a rapidly changing Britain, circa 1965. Jimmy is a “mod,” a youth movement dedicated to wearing snappy suits, driving Vespa motor scooters bedecked with side mirrors, popping amphetamines and obsessed with the new sound of bands like The Who and The Kinks. Their other pastime is engaging in bloody brawls with “rockers,” throwbacks to the 1950s, who listen to Elvis and Gene Vincent, wear leather biker gear, grease in their hair and drive massive motorcycles a la Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.” Often cited as a worthy successor to “Rebel Without a Cause” as the greatest angry youth picture ever made, it is that and more, including a first cousin to the “kitchen sink” dramas of scribes John Osborne,...
- 9/4/2012
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Few directors have had careers as varied as Boaz Yakin's. He started out working on screenplays for big action movies like the Dolph Lundgren "Punisher" and Clint Eastwood's "The Rookie," before segueing into more personal material as a writer/director (1994's "Fresh," 1998's "A Price Above Rubies"). Yakin would have the biggest hit of his career with a script he didn't write, with the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced inspirational football movie "Remember the Titans." Since then he has bounced around between high-profile screenwriting jobs ("Prince of Persia: Sands of Time," again for Bruckheimer) and personal projects (2008's little-seen "Death and Love"). This weekend, though, he's back and kicking ass with "Safe" – a sophisticated, New York-set action movie starring Jason Statham. We talked to Yakin about his career, what he wanted to accomplish with "Safe," and whatever happened to his "Batman Beyond" movie.
One of the things you really...
One of the things you really...
- 4/27/2012
- by Drew Taylor
- The Playlist
Boaz Yakin isn’t necessarily the type of guy you’d expect to be making another one of these Hollywood-tailored Jason Statham movies. For one thing, as the film’s writer-director, he’s essentially the sole creative engine, which seems to be increasingly rare in the world of potently-budgeted actioners that have an eye for box-office receipts first and genuine creativity second. Yakin’s indie roots, beginning with Fresh in 1994 and continuing with 1998′s A Price Above Rubies (both of which, by the way, were produced by Safe‘s Lawrence Bender), are also not what you’d assume for the maker of something like Safe.
All of which is to say that, while Safe may ultimately not be much more than another entry in the largely repetitive string of its ilk, Yakin’s oversight of it is — for me, at least — the source of legitimate interest. In the roundtable interview below,...
All of which is to say that, while Safe may ultimately not be much more than another entry in the largely repetitive string of its ilk, Yakin’s oversight of it is — for me, at least — the source of legitimate interest. In the roundtable interview below,...
- 4/26/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Having worked on everything from Reservoir Dogs to Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill to Inglorious Basterds, Lawrence Bender’s reputation as a producer has become forever intertwined with the filmography of Quentin Tarantino (though, interestingly enough, he’s not on board for the writer-director’s upcoming Django Unchained). That’s perhaps the main reason why Bender’s recurring affiliation with Boaz Yakin, the writer-director behind Safe, has been largely unnoticed. Admittedly, Safe is the first Bender-Yakin collaboration since 1998′s A Price Above Rubies, but, as you’ll learn in the interview below, Bender and Yakin have remained extremely close since the days that preceded 1994′s even Fresh, and the producer has since been in constant search for something that would reunite the two in a professional environment as well as a personal one.
Also discussed in the interview is a gripe that was also made ever so clear by Yakin...
Also discussed in the interview is a gripe that was also made ever so clear by Yakin...
- 4/25/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
There are moments of bliss in Safe. A subway-set brawl, save for the shoddy visual-effects rendering required when Jason Statham‘s Luke Wright is forced to climb aboard the fleeting train, comes to mind for its giddy acceptance of the film’s one true right to existence: the sheer joy of watching Statham pummel some mobsters to a pulp and spout off a host of hammy one-liners while doing so. Seriously, with all the redundant drivel that’s out there, you could do a whole lot worse than basking in the humorous delight of Statham’s no-nonsense intensity.
Problem is, Boaz Yakin, the film’s writer-director, appears to be doing everything in his power to keep these instances of Statham mayhem as few and far between as possible. He infuses the story with a second main character, 12-year-old Mei (Catherine Chan), which would be less of an obstacle if the...
Problem is, Boaz Yakin, the film’s writer-director, appears to be doing everything in his power to keep these instances of Statham mayhem as few and far between as possible. He infuses the story with a second main character, 12-year-old Mei (Catherine Chan), which would be less of an obstacle if the...
- 4/24/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Amy Heckerling: Amy Heckerling directed the starting point for a generation of brilliant high-school films, Fast Times at Ridgemont High before moving on to the stellar European Vacation. In 1989 and 1990, she hit a creative stumbling block, directing the successful but excruciating Look Who's Talking films before bouncing back in 1996 with Clueless. Unfortunately, it was soon after that success that she crapped out, directing Night at the Roxbury, Loser, and most recently, the straight-to-dvd clunker, I Could Never Be Your Woman, with Paul Rudd and Michelle Pfeiffer. She does have another film in the works, Vamps, with Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter, but the movie (pictured below) seems unlikely to save her directing career.
John Landis: One of the very best comedic directors of the 1980s, Landis hit an unprecedented successful streak, starting with Animal House and ending with Coming to America. In between, there was Spies Like Us,...
John Landis: One of the very best comedic directors of the 1980s, Landis hit an unprecedented successful streak, starting with Animal House and ending with Coming to America. In between, there was Spies Like Us,...
- 7/27/2011
- by Dustin Rowles
When The Mentalist first arrived on the scene, I had serious doubts that it would make it past the first few episodes. Apart from the general idea that my love for a show is often the kiss of death, I just wasn’t sure this show was going to connect with audiences. It’s just one of those shows. It’s either going to work very well, or people are going to hate it, but there isn’t a lot of middle ground.
Worse, perhaps, though I’m a fan of the supporting cast (especially Cho – Tim Kang), audiences are pretty well required to fall in love with Simon Baker, and while I was rather fond of The Guardian, I wasn’t at all sure where the collective pulse lie after we got Smith and a few less than glorious film roles.
To my great surprise, based on certain assumptions about the public,...
Worse, perhaps, though I’m a fan of the supporting cast (especially Cho – Tim Kang), audiences are pretty well required to fall in love with Simon Baker, and while I was rather fond of The Guardian, I wasn’t at all sure where the collective pulse lie after we got Smith and a few less than glorious film roles.
To my great surprise, based on certain assumptions about the public,...
- 10/21/2010
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
Subject: Renée Kathleen Zellweger, 41-year old American actress
Date of Assessment: October 1, 2010
Positive Buzzwords: Versatile, talent, nonthreatening beauty
Negative Buzzwords: Overrated, vanity, recluse
The Case: Today's surveillance involves the Magically Disappearing Career of Renée Zellweger. Not too terribly many years ago, this subject was an imminently employable actress who possessed an everyday, realistic good looks. Of course, that was back when Zellweger began her acting career with low budget productions (Love and a .45, The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre) in her home state of Texas. After moving to Hollywood, Zellweger parlayed her unusual physical appeal by banging Rex Manning in Empire Records. Then, she had us at "hello" in Jerry Maguire and, subsequently, showcased some refreshing versatility in A Price Above Rubies. As to that last movie, I recall watching a "Today Show" interview, which posed the question of why a starlet would bother with a "small" film...
Date of Assessment: October 1, 2010
Positive Buzzwords: Versatile, talent, nonthreatening beauty
Negative Buzzwords: Overrated, vanity, recluse
The Case: Today's surveillance involves the Magically Disappearing Career of Renée Zellweger. Not too terribly many years ago, this subject was an imminently employable actress who possessed an everyday, realistic good looks. Of course, that was back when Zellweger began her acting career with low budget productions (Love and a .45, The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre) in her home state of Texas. After moving to Hollywood, Zellweger parlayed her unusual physical appeal by banging Rex Manning in Empire Records. Then, she had us at "hello" in Jerry Maguire and, subsequently, showcased some refreshing versatility in A Price Above Rubies. As to that last movie, I recall watching a "Today Show" interview, which posed the question of why a starlet would bother with a "small" film...
- 10/1/2010
- by Agent Bedhead
As writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are slightly fond of high concepts. The snappy logline and Ott plotline are like crack to the men who have helped bring us Transformers, Mission: Impossible III and Star Trek, among other things. As producers, they’re keeping on feeding that addiction, setting up a spec script thriller called Now You See Me, written by Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt, at Summit.How high, you ask? Get this: the plot finds a top FBI team hunting down a crafty bank robbery team. Who are comprised of the world’s greatest illusionists. Who pull off the heists during their act, but get away with it through trickery. Oh, and by spreading the wealth and sharing their ill-gotten gains with their audiences. That really is the plot.Now we know why David Blaine looks so smug all the time! Aside from, you know, just being naturally smug.
- 6/7/2010
- EmpireOnline
For years, Hollywood's approach to depicting Hasidic Jews on screen has largely consisted of dying the hair of blonde actresses brown. See: Renee Zellweger in Boaz Yakin's "A Price Above Rubies" and Melanie Griffith in deep undercover in Sidney Lumet's "A Stranger Among us." In "Holy Rollers," director Kevin Asch and writer Antonio Macia were determined to portray modern Hasidic communities as realistically as possible.
- 5/21/2010
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
On tonight's episode of The Mentalist, "A Price Above Rubies", something phenomenal happened: Patrick Jane didn't have all of the answers. This gave Lisbon plenty of smug satisfaction, especially after he terrified her in the show's opening scene.
Cho and Lisbon start off The Mentalist in formal wear, making nice at a charity banquet to one of the Cbi's benefactors, Esther Doverton (Dey Young). Jane takes the stage, supposedly to represent the Cbi with some magic tricks and mind-reading. After tossing an egg into the air–and invisibility–Jane announces he's dropping the act in order to "transform [their] consciousness." He then launches into a speech, about the cruelties and injustices of the world that are going on while they stand around and sip champagne. Lisbon is worried as the room falls silent, but Jane manages to turn the guests' guilt and discomfort into a show of solidarity and charitable contributions.
Cho and Lisbon start off The Mentalist in formal wear, making nice at a charity banquet to one of the Cbi's benefactors, Esther Doverton (Dey Young). Jane takes the stage, supposedly to represent the Cbi with some magic tricks and mind-reading. After tossing an egg into the air–and invisibility–Jane announces he's dropping the act in order to "transform [their] consciousness." He then launches into a speech, about the cruelties and injustices of the world that are going on while they stand around and sip champagne. Lisbon is worried as the room falls silent, but Jane manages to turn the guests' guilt and discomfort into a show of solidarity and charitable contributions.
- 12/11/2009
- by ValerieDavid
- TVovermind.com
(S02E10) "This is a murder investigation, I can be as hard ass as I want to be." - Jane
Jane has played with fire before and crossed the line a few times. This week was no different and he was very upfront about it, repeating at least two times that he could be hard ass as he wanted to be during an investigation.
When you are cocky and push the envelope a bit too much, karma will more than likely ensure that you pay your dues. It wouldn't surprise me that one of the bad guys introduced in this episode comes back to seek revenge on Jane for being a hard ass.
Continue reading Review: The Mentalist - A Price Above Rubies
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
Permalink | Email this | | Comments...
Jane has played with fire before and crossed the line a few times. This week was no different and he was very upfront about it, repeating at least two times that he could be hard ass as he wanted to be during an investigation.
When you are cocky and push the envelope a bit too much, karma will more than likely ensure that you pay your dues. It wouldn't surprise me that one of the bad guys introduced in this episode comes back to seek revenge on Jane for being a hard ass.
Continue reading Review: The Mentalist - A Price Above Rubies
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, The Mentalist
Permalink | Email this | | Comments...
- 12/11/2009
- by Isabelle Carreau
- Aol TV.
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
The major talking point about the Coen Brothers' new film A Serious Man seems to be that it has "no stars," or is comprised of a cast of mostly unknowns. The leader of this unknown ensemble is Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Larry Gopnik, a tenure-track professor and Jewish father living in 1967 Minnesota. Life doesn't seem too bad for Larry until a nearly unending list of terrible things befalls him, including a pending divorce, a car accident, a gambling brother, ungrateful children, a mysterious letter-writer, a bribery attempt, a lusty neighbor (on one side) and a threatening neighbor (on the other), plus a doctor's appointment and a bar mitzvah under the influence of pot. Larry seeks the help of three rabbis to help sort his life, and finds that their cryptic advice doesn't provide any easy answers. Really, the only thing you can do is laugh. It's...
The major talking point about the Coen Brothers' new film A Serious Man seems to be that it has "no stars," or is comprised of a cast of mostly unknowns. The leader of this unknown ensemble is Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Larry Gopnik, a tenure-track professor and Jewish father living in 1967 Minnesota. Life doesn't seem too bad for Larry until a nearly unending list of terrible things befalls him, including a pending divorce, a car accident, a gambling brother, ungrateful children, a mysterious letter-writer, a bribery attempt, a lusty neighbor (on one side) and a threatening neighbor (on the other), plus a doctor's appointment and a bar mitzvah under the influence of pot. Larry seeks the help of three rabbis to help sort his life, and finds that their cryptic advice doesn't provide any easy answers. Really, the only thing you can do is laugh. It's...
- 10/6/2009
- by underdog
- GreenCine
by Jeffrey M. Anderson
The major talking point about the Coen Brothers' new film A Serious Man seems to be that it has "no stars," or is comprised of a cast of mostly unknowns. The leader of this unknown ensemble is Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Larry Gopnik, a tenure-track professor and Jewish father living in 1967 Minnesota. Life doesn't seem too bad for Larry until a nearly unending list of terrible things befalls him, including a pending divorce, a car accident, a gambling brother, ungrateful children, a mysterious letter-writer, a bribery attempt, a lusty neighbor (on one side) and a threatening neighbor (on the other), plus a doctor's appointment and a bar mitzvah under the influence of pot. Larry seeks the help of three rabbis to help sort his life, and finds that their cryptic advice doesn't provide any easy answers. Really, the only thing you can do is laugh. It's...
The major talking point about the Coen Brothers' new film A Serious Man seems to be that it has "no stars," or is comprised of a cast of mostly unknowns. The leader of this unknown ensemble is Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Larry Gopnik, a tenure-track professor and Jewish father living in 1967 Minnesota. Life doesn't seem too bad for Larry until a nearly unending list of terrible things befalls him, including a pending divorce, a car accident, a gambling brother, ungrateful children, a mysterious letter-writer, a bribery attempt, a lusty neighbor (on one side) and a threatening neighbor (on the other), plus a doctor's appointment and a bar mitzvah under the influence of pot. Larry seeks the help of three rabbis to help sort his life, and finds that their cryptic advice doesn't provide any easy answers. Really, the only thing you can do is laugh. It's...
- 10/5/2009
- GreenCine Daily
Boaz Yakin's Death in Love is a fascinating mess -- sprawling, passionate, conflicted, confused, contrary. I wouldn't expect anything less from Yakin, director of films as varied as Fresh, A Price Above Rubies and Remember the Titans. Even at its most preposterous or perfunctory, this film is never less than interesting. Yakin's subject is a family of unhappy, dissatisfied, controlling people in New York. The Holocaust serves as an overlay, a starting point -- but these people are screwed up all on their own. The matriarch is played by Jacqueline Bisset, an Eastern European emigre, who has a husband and two grown sons. In flashbacks, we see that, as a teenager, she was a prisoner in a concentration camp, where she was a candidate for bizarre medical experiments. But she escaped them by seducing the head doctor and becoming his mistress for...
- 7/15/2009
- by Marshall Fine
- Huffington Post
Just a couple of blockbusters this week, one of which we've seen most of already. For everybody else, there is a strong selection of international art house pics to go with a couple of homegrown indies.
Download this in audio form (MP3: 9:33 minutes, 13 Mb) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [Xml] [iTunes]
"(500) Days of Summer"
Longtime music video director Marc Webb turned down a lot of horror remakes and teen comedies to make his feature debut with this unconventional recitation of a relationship that doesn't work out. Joseph Gordon-Levitt co-stars as Tom, a poker-faced field mouse rejected by the love of his (comically young) life, the idiosyncratic Summer (Zooey Deschanel), and neurotically dissects the minutia of their courtship as he struggles to figure out what went wrong.
Opens in limited release.
"Death In Love"
Having spent much time developing functional follow-ups ("Dusk Till Dawn 2," "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights") since helming...
Download this in audio form (MP3: 9:33 minutes, 13 Mb) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [Xml] [iTunes]
"(500) Days of Summer"
Longtime music video director Marc Webb turned down a lot of horror remakes and teen comedies to make his feature debut with this unconventional recitation of a relationship that doesn't work out. Joseph Gordon-Levitt co-stars as Tom, a poker-faced field mouse rejected by the love of his (comically young) life, the idiosyncratic Summer (Zooey Deschanel), and neurotically dissects the minutia of their courtship as he struggles to figure out what went wrong.
Opens in limited release.
"Death In Love"
Having spent much time developing functional follow-ups ("Dusk Till Dawn 2," "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights") since helming...
- 7/13/2009
- by Neil Pedley
- ifc.com
Actress Kim Hunter, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Stella in the 1951 adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, died Wednesday in her Greenwich Village apartment from an apparent heart attack, Associated Press reports. She was 79. The versatile actress originated the role of Stella on Broadway for director Elia Kazan, with a legendary cast that included Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Jessica Tandy; Brando and Malden also starred in the film version with Hunter. A stage actress who originally signed a contract with David O. Selzinck, only to find her way back to the theater, Hunter was also well-known for her film role as chimpanzee psychiatrist Dr. Zira in three of the Planet of the Apes films. The actress spent hours as the makeup and monkey suit were applied and later removed; she once remarked, "The only thing of me that came through was my eyeballs." After the Planet of the Apes movies, Hunter appeared on Broadway in Darkness at Noon, The Children's Hour and The Tender Trap and toured extensively in regional theater. Hunter was most recently seen in the Canadian film Here's To Life (2000), A Price Above Rubies (1998), and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997). --Prepared by IMDb staff...
- 9/12/2002
- WENN
Actress Kim Hunter, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Stella in the 1951 adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, died Wednesday in her Greenwich Village apartment from an apparent heart attack, Associated Press reports. She was 79. The versatile actress originated the role of Stella on Broadway for director Elia Kazan, with a legendary cast that included Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Jessica Tandy; Brando and Malden also starred in the film version with Hunter. A stage actress who originally signed a contract with David O. Selzinck, only to find her way back to the theater, Hunter was also well-known for her film role as chimpanzee psychiatrist Dr. Zira in three of the Planet of the Apes films. The actress spent hours as the makeup and monkey suit were applied and later removed; she once remarked, "The only thing of me that came through was my eyeballs." After the Planet of the Apes movies, Hunter appeared on Broadway in Darkness at Noon, The Children's Hour and The Tender Trap and toured extensively in regional theater. Hunter was most recently seen in the Canadian film Here's To Life (2000), A Price Above Rubies (1998), and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997). --Prepared by IMDb staff...
- 9/11/2002
- WENN
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