2005 AFIk (American Film Institute) pelikuletan esandako 100 esaldi famatuenak bildu zituen eta 3 orduko dokumental bat egin zuen 88 pelikulen zatiak erabilita.

Orain, 2009an, YouTubeko erabiltzaile batek, esaldi guzti hauek 10 minutuko bideo batean bildu ditu.

100 urteko laburpena 10 minututan…

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban and Cary Guffey. It tells the story of Roy Neary, an Indiana electrical lineman, whose life changes after he has an encounter with an unidentified flying object. However, the United States government is also aware of the UFOs as is a team of international scientific researchers.

Close Encounters was a long-cherished project for Spielberg. In late 1973, he developed a deal with Columbia Pictures for a science fiction film. Though Spielberg receives sole credit for the script, he was assisted by Paul Schrader, John Hill, David Giler, Hal Barwood, Matthew Robbins and Jerry Belson, all of whom contributed to the screenplay in varying degrees.

The title is derived from astronomer/ufologist J. Allen Hynek’s classification of close encounters with aliens, in which the third kind denotes human observations of actual aliens or “animate beings”.

Filming began in May 1976. Douglas Trumbull served as the visual effects supervisor, while Carlo Rambaldi designed the aliens. Close Encounters was released in November 1977 and was a critical and financial success. The film was reissued in 1980 as Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition, which featured additional scenes. A third cut of the film was released to home video (and later DVD) in 1998. The film received numerous awards and nominations at the 50th Academy Awards, 32nd British Academy Film Awards, the Saturn Awards and has been widely acclaimed by the American Film Institute. In December 2007 it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in National Film Registry.

The air in Hollywood must be doing her some good, or perhaps she got a moderately inexpensive stylist. Whatever the case, Mallika’s recent appearances have been veering towards classy and not trashy. Thank heavens!

“The Deer Hunter” (1978) directed by Michael Cimino is an epic three hour tale of lives changed forever by the Vietnam War. Stars Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken, and John Savage. Blu-ray now available.

Won 5 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Cimino), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Christopher Walken), Best Film Editing, and Best Sound.

Ranked #53 on American Film Institute’s list of the 100 Greatest Films of All Time.

by Andrew Bowcock

“Bad food is bad, and bad books are bad, but bad movies are not always bad.”

-Scott Weinberg of Cinematical.

Troll 2 is one of the most prime examples of massive cinematic incompetence brought to the extreme that probably resulted in the coining of the phrase “so bad it’s good.”  Depending on who you are (and who you’re with), watching this film can be a torturous experience or a transcendent one.  If you are a B movie connoisseur (which I consider myself from time to time), Troll 2 will definitely rank up there at the top of the list for not just how poorly made it is, but also how bizarre, unintentionally hilarious, and oddly watchable it manages to be.

If you’re new to Troll 2, there are a few things to note.  First, it is not in any way related to the first Troll film.  Secondly, it’s not just a bad film, but also a film that fails so miserably at everything that it achieves a sense of ironic amazement.  Thirdly, the story is the most ludicrous thing you’re likely to ever hear of…it goes as follows:

A young boy goes on vacation with his family to a location where strange creatures are manifested from his worst nightmare.  These incredibly fake looking goblins (yes goblins…there are actually no real “trolls”) are controlled by a bizarre witch person (played by Deborah Reed) and it soon becomes apparent that the goblins want to eat people…but being that they are vegetarians, they must first convince people to eat a strange substance to turn them into plants.  Meanwhile, little Joshua is constantly being visited by the ghost of his dead grandfather to help him make it through.  Yes, you read all of that correctly.

Best Worst Movie is the premiere documentary by Michael Stephenson, who also played little Joshua in Troll 2 over 17 years ago. The film’s purpose is two-fold: partially a “where are they now?” bit with all of the principle actors, and also an exploration of the film’s late-blooming cult status.  It initially follows several strange events put on by super-fans who have created Troll 2 clubs, where they have public viewings of the film and invite people to Troll-related parties such as the “Trollympic games” and tag people who show up that have never watched the film with a V (for virgin).  Needless to say the fans of this bizarre cult film are no average fans: just like Trekkies or sports fans they have a near-unhealthy obsession with this celluloid beast.

The journey Michael Stephenson takes leads him to many places around the world (including several horror and science fiction conventions) but none so interesting as the home town of Dr. George Hardy, who played the father in the film.  If you ask anybody who knows Hardy (including his ex wife of all people) they will tell you that it’s practically impossible not to love this man.  Just from watching the successful smile-a-second dentist interact with his family and patients for even five minutes, it’s easy to get the same impression.  Hardy’s embarrassment over starring in the film was only a footnote to his life for many years, since it would only be brought up every once in a while by somebody who recognized him.  However, there came a point in his life where he decided to embrace how ludicrous the whole thing was and just have fun with it.  Hardy’s goal in life seems to be to spread joy and entertain whoever he’s around, so he becomes an increasingly important part of the story as he rallies alongside Michael, making it a point emphasize the appeal of Troll 2 as the “worst film ever made which I starred in” to the masses wherever he goes.

As Stephenson’s journey helps him try to uncover the rest of the film’s stars, he discovers eccentric and endearing people, some retired or making a living by other means while others continued a career in acting, erasing Troll 2 from their resume and hoping it doesn’t come back to haunt them.  Some of the stories are hilarious and heart-warming while others are representative of misguided dreams and unfortunate delusion (like Margo Prey, who played the mother).  However, nobody seems more delusional and blinder to the film’s shortcomings than the film’s Italian director, Claudio Fragasso, who legitimately believes he made a profound piece of art and has a hard time accepting the film as anything but.  The documentary takes a really interesting and tension-inducing turn when Claudio is flown out to face the infamous cult he unintentionally birthed.  During a public screening, Claudio misinterprets the enthusiasm of the masses, but not long before realizing that people are “laughing at parts that are meant to be serious.”  As it turns out, Fragasso still has a difficult time speaking English, and such an impediment begins to explain why the communication with and between actors (as some of the cast explains) seemed so vague during the shooting of the film.

In the end, everybody involved needs to come to a decision on whether they want to feed off the appeal of Troll 2 in order to advance a career in acting (as George Hardy seems to be genuinely tempted to do) or simply move on with their lives and let the phenomenon be as it is (the question is then begged, “will there be a Troll 3?”).

Admittedly I had more of a slight curiosity about seeing this documentary than a burning desire, but man I am glad I made the choice to check it out.  The more the film progressed and showed a diverse representation of who was involved in this film’s inglorious conception I felt like I was part of every situation, and thus invested myself in every laugh to be had, feeling the awkwardness and despair of fallen dreams as well as embarrassment and pity for the delusions of grandeur.  From a technical standpoint it can be argued that this film doesn’t do anything entirely new (and I’ve heard a critic describe it as “too episodic”), but when you have such an amazing story as this none of that really matters.  However, I must say that I was impressed in finding out from the cast/crew Q&A session after the screening that the editors (Katie Graham and Andrew Matthews) had never edited a film before, but were just massive Troll 2 fans that wanted to be involved somehow (talk about random ambition!)

Not only is this probably my favorite film of the year so far, but all in all this is now probably one of my favorite documentaries; definitely one of the best to come out in the past several years…up there with The King of Kong (which tonally it’s very similar to) and Dear Zachary.  If you get the chance…you NEED to see this film.  It is powerful and entertaining enough to make you want to watch “the worst movie ever made.”

___________________________________________________________________________

photo sources:

http://geektyrant.com/
http://www.slashfilm.com/
http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/
http://www.fearnet.com/
http://flixster.com/
http://www.cinematical.com/

other resources:

http://www.imdb.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://blog.spout.com/2009/03/23/best-worst-movie-sxsw-2009-review/

For two days this week, the world-famous Mann Chinese Theatre in Hollywood will be hosting AFI DIGIFEST, a veritable smorsgabord of new media and cross-platform experiments and productions in storytelling and audience engagement. You might still be able to snag a seat at this great peek in to the near future of content creation and interactive entertainment (see link at bottom of this post).

I’ve been supporting the AFI’s Digital Content Lab for the past 10 or so years, and for good reason: This is where Apple’s Quicktime technology was launched, and the Lab was winner of last year’s technical achievement award at the Machinima festival, responsible for the deployment of such groundbreaking tech as the mobile interactive apps for WARPED, the Planet Illogica digital artist support network, and the development of the Federally supported ITVS initiative (funding a wide swath of indie films), among others.

Right now, the Lab is working on a variety of very interesting projects with groups including The Leonardo diCaprio Foundation, DavidLynch.com, and the whole team that created “Africa Diary” (led by LM Kit Carson). These projects, and more, will be showcased at this year’s DigiFest.

Some highlights to be seen at DigiFest 2009:

• a social network and proposed marketing plan for INTERVIEW PROJECT PRESENTED BY DAVIDLYNCH.COM;
• a proposed online strategy for engaging youth in a series of relevant environmental action challenges for the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation;
• a mobile application that provide an interactive past-to-future timeline for an innovative ITVS cross-platform micro-series;
• an interactive mentoring environment for One Economy that encourages students from low-income families to learn more about science as a career;
• a MOBILE STORY MAKER session with longtime filmmaker L.M. Kit Carson, who shot the deeply moving micro-series AFRICA DIARY using a Nokia mobile phone as camera. The series will soon air on the Sundance Channel.
• 2012, dramatic visual effects demonstrated by Digital Domain;
• DISTRICT 9, a behind-the scenes look at games and an augmented reality application created by production house Trigger;
• LIVE MUSIC, a 3D animation pieced together from contributions by thousands of animators from around the world, masterminded by Mass Animation’s Yair Landau, former vice-chair of Sony Pictures;
• URBAN WOLF, a surveillance camera-based micro-series drama by Parisian director Laurent Touil Tartour;
• ESCAPE FROM CITY 17, an adept meld of machinima and live action created by the multi-talented Purchase Brothers for less than $500;
• MANOBI, an innovative mobile phone application that has helped raise the standard of living for Senegalese farmers and fishermen;
• FIRST THINGS LAST, a dynamic and visual storytelling application for the iPhone created by ScrollMotion;
• NAKED SKY ENTERTAINMENT, a surprising look at what our collective augmented reality future may look like a year from now;
• THE CORNER: 23RD AND UNION, an evocative sound, image, phone, web, and public installation created as part of Maker’s Quest;
• ROUTES, a documentary, narrative thriller, and game about genetics for Britain’s Channel 4 that attracted more than 2 million gameplays;
• MR. HULOT’S HOLIDAY, a restoration of Jacques Tati’s 1953 whimsical tale presented by my old company Thomson.

Here is the link to register, but hurry, as space is limited.

by Matthew Groves

The AFI Fest as of last night has officially started.  What is the AFI Fest exactly though?  The AFI Fest is a film festival that plays in Los Angeles every late October, early November and features a variety of films in independent, arthouse, documentary, and other world cinema.  I have glad been to the festival the last two years prior, although the first year, I was only financially able to see one film and the next only about six.  One of the great and exciting this about this year though is that the festival is doing something wholly different from most others.  Besides the patron passes which can get into a lot of the exclusive films, the entire festival has been presented by the American Film Institute for free.  Yes, FREE.  With this being the case, the pre-sale of tickets sold out within 24-48 hours of the window opening online, but if you are a brave and determined cinephile, you can try to rush line, get in a line an hour before the film, and there are bound to be people who don’t show up for particular screenings.

While I didn’t get all of the films I wanted to see, I am excited about the festival and the six films I did get tickets for.  I am overjoyed because mostly I have heard a few small things, like a film being a foreign language Oscar entry or it being popular and talked about at a particular festival, so for the most parts the films I chose are kind of on a whim.  My colleagues, Andrew Bowcock and a new contributor and talented critic, Nate Bell will be writing about films all this week.  Most of them will be small and obscure, but we are also hoping to get into some of the bigger ones like Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans, Marco Bellocchio’s Vincere, Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon, and Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank.  There is possibility we may not get into any of those films, but we are going to try and even if we don’t we’ll have plenty write about for you all to read about as well.  So I hope you enjoy our coverage and if the films sound interesting, write them down and check them out in theaters or if they don’t come to your area, look for them on Netflix, Blockbuster online, Redbox, etc.

For more information check out:

http://afi.com/afifest

Picture Source:

http://blog.afi.com/main/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/AFIFEST09_Webbanner_300×275.jpg

As a new print of the film generally regarded as the greatest ever made is released, here’s my guide to the Orson Welles masterwork.

A-Z of Citizen Kane

A is for the American Film Institute which, in 2007, voted Citizen Kane the Greatest Movie of All Time – as it had also done in 1998.

B is for Boy Wonder, the nickname given to stage and radio star Orson Welles even before he made Citizen Kane (1941).

C is for ceilings. One of the innovations of Citizen Kane was the way in which the domineering title character was always shot from below, so that his power was always underlined (weaker characters were shot from above) – the result was that the ceilings of rooms were seen for the first time in the movies; in fact this was the first time the sets had had to have ceilings..

D is for debuts. Citizen Kane would have been a phenomenal achievement no matter who had made it but the fact that it was Welles’s debut as a movie director (and actor and producer) is astounding. He had to learn even the basics of filmmaking while he preparing Kane. Despite this – or perhaps because of his lack of technical experience and willingness to experiment – Welles subverted the rules of filmmaking and created a new vocabulary in the language of cinema.

E is for the end. Citizen Kane opens with the end of Kane’s story – his death – and then goes back to his humble beginnings.

F is for flashbacks. The story of Kane’s life is told through a series of flashbacks triggered by a newspaper reporter’s interviews with the tycoon’s former colleagues, ex-wife and friends.

G is for Gregg Toland, the cinematographer hired by Welles because of his flamboyance and unconventional style. One of Kane’s many innovations was “depth of field”, the method Toland devised of composing shots so that the screen was loaded with information and the figures and objects at the front of the screen were in focus at the same time as those at the back.

H is for Hearst, William Randolph – the American press baron who inspired the character and story of Citizen Kane. The film was essentially a thinly veiled biopic, which showed how power corrupted and how great egos are born – and grow out of control. Before the film was released, Hearst offered RKO Studios $800,000 (the cost of the film) to destroy the negative.

I is for innovation. Citizen Kane is packed full of new techniques, from the pioneering use of overlapping dialogue (which Welles brought from radio) to the ahead-of-its-time make-up which allowed the young star to convincingly age by 50 years during the course of the film.

J is for Judy Holliday. The scenes in which Susan Alexander is being bullied by Kane into being an opera singer are similar to those in the 1950 movie Born Yesterday, in which a gangster tries to turn his moll into a refined lady. By coincidence, Judy Holliday, that movie’s Oscar-winning star, was tested for the part of Susan in Citizen Kane.

K is for “King” Cole. The great pianist (and singer) Nat “King” Cole can be heard playing in the scene at the El Rancho nightclub where Susan is working.

L is for legacy. Citizen Kane stands as an astonishingly fresh piece of work nearly 70 years after it was made, and it has inspired countless filmmakers, among them Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Brian De Palma and Steven Spielberg who pays homage to it in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

M is for Mercury Theatre, the stage company that Welles founded with John Houseman in New York in 1937. Known for its bold, original productions, Mercury Theatre branched out into radio drama – most famously its vivid 1938 dramatisation of HG Wells’s The War of the Worlds, which, although broadcast as a Hallowe’en prank, caused a nationwide panic as thousands of Americans believed they were listening to news coverage of a real-life alien invasion.

N is for Neverland. Michael Jackson’s vast estate – a sort of mini-kingdom – is the closest modern-day equivalent to Kane’s Xanadu, where he stored and showed off “the loot of the world” – the art work, architecture and animals he collected from across the globe. The gothic Xanadu was inspired by Hearst’s gargantuan castle San Simeon which was stuffed with antiques and art and had its own zoo.

O is for Only One Oscar. Yup, The Greatest Film of All Time won only one Academy Award – for the screenplay written by Welles and Herman J Mankiewicz. In 2003, Welles’s statuette was about to be sold in an auction at Christie’s in New York (by Welles’s youngest daughter) but was voluntarily withdrawn so that the Academy could buy it back for $1, a deal which all Oscar winners have to agree to. It had been expected to fetch over $300,000.

P is for Parsons. Louella O Parsons was the Hearst newspaper group’s Hollywood gossip columnist who could make or break careers. When she heard that Welles’s film was really about her boss, she demanded to be shown it – and blew a gasket. It was her report to Hearst which triggered his pre-emptive strike of banning advertisements for the film from his papers, a move which led some cinema chains to cancel their bookings.

Q is for the QT. Several key scenes in Citizen Kane were filmed on the quiet, behind closed doors, so that studio executives couldn’t interfere with the production. The projection room scene, plus the interviews, were passed off as tests but Welles fully intended to use them in the movie – and he did.

R is for “rosebud”, the last word uttered by Kane as he dies in the opening scenes of the film. It is the quest to discover what “rosebud” was that drives the whole film as a reporter is assigned the job of getting to the bottom of the mystery by interviewing as many of Kane’s friends and associates as necessary.

S is for score. Bernard Herrmann’s evocative score – his first feature film score – contributed much to the sinister atmosphere of the film. He went on to compose the music for such diverse classics as The Ghost and Mrs Muir (1947) and Taxi Driver (1976).

T is for twenty-four, the age Welles was when he was making “the greatest film ever made”.

U is for unorthodox. A particularly unusual technique was devised by editor Robert Wise (later the director of The Sound of Music) to make the newsreel footage at the start of the film look authentic and grainy: he ran the film through cheesecloth filled with sand.

V is for vendetta. Hearst’s papers conducted a smear campaign against Welles in revenge for Citizen Kane; one rumour which circulated was that Welles was a communist.

W is for “will-they-won’t-they?”. The release of the film very nearly didn’t happen as RKO’s board buckled under pressure not just from Hearst but also from other studio heads, who felt the controversy would damage the industry. Finally, three months after its original scheduled release date, it opened in New York – the result of Welles pointing out to the studio that his contract gave him the right to sue if the film wasn’t shown within a certain period of time.

X is for x-tras. These included Alan Ladd (who would become a leading man the following year) as the pipe-smoking reporter at the end of the film.

Y is for years. The story of Citizen Kane spans an epic 65 years, from his childhood when he was sent to live in the care of the family lawyer, to his death as an isolated old man. For 50 of those years, Kane was played by Orson Welles.

Z is for the Ziegfeld Follies, the show in which William Randolph Hearst’s much-younger mistress, Marion Davies, was appearing when they first met. Hearst’s relationship with Davies differed from that of Kane and Susan Alexander in the movie in a few ways: although Hearst undoubtedly got Davies into movies, she was actually an accomplished comedienne, whereas her fictional alter ego was a pretty lousy opera singer. And while Susan marries and divorces Kane, Davies, whose movie career made her independently wealthy, remained devoted to her man (though they never married) until his death.
* A new print of Citizen Kane is showing at the GFT, Glasgow from October 30 until Thursday 5, and at the Filmhouse, Edinburgh from October 30 until Sunday 8.

A sneak peak of “Rich and Kitty”

BROADWAY BABIES: 30 Rock scene-stealer Jane Krakowski, who made her name in the Broadway musical Grand Hotel and won a Tony for dazzling

KRAKOWSKI: song & dance

Antonio Banderas in Nine, is finally getting back to full-time singing and dancing, if only temporarily. Due to her shooting schedule her cheeky tongue-in cheek cabaret act at Feinstein’s, Jane Krakowski Has Sold Out…Tickets Available, must close tomorrow night at Loew’s Regency … Laurie Metcalf, who picked up three Emmys playing Roseanne’s sister on Roseanne, is back on Broadway starring as the mother in the first full-scale revival of Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs. She’ll continue to reprise her role in Broadway Bound, the second play in Simon’s autobiographical comedy, when both shows play in rep at the Nederlander. Brighton Beach Memoirs opens Oct. 25; Broadway Bound begins previews Nov. 18 and opens Dec. 10 … and Academy

METCALF: Broadway bound

and Tony Award winner Mike Nichols will be honored with the American Film Institute’s 38th annual Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. “I’m surprised and pleased,” dead-panned the impish director of such films as Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf and Angels In America. “I was watching The Graduate on my Blackberry last week and it really holds up!”

NO PEOPLE LIKE SHOW PEOPLE: Why do we watch movies on planes that we wouldn’t watch anywhere else? Margaret Atwood tweets that she disgraced herself by watching Year One, the sophomoric comedy spoof with Jack Black and Michael Cera, on her way to the Frankfurt Book Fair. Guess she consoled herself with news that her Year Of The Flood was

McGOWAN: Julie's ex on The Border

#8 on the New York Times bestseller list by the time she landed in Germany … Doug Coupland thinks Ed O’Neill’s new show Modern Family “is just pure genius. It’s sooooo well written.” A technology geek, Coupland finds delightful and absurdly obscure video clips and posts them on Twitter – for example, this gem with Mr. T, Loni Anderson, George Hamilton and Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton in the same Lipton commercial. Coupland, whose new book Generation A is due in book stores, reports he lost his cell phone a few weeks ago, but instead of hyperventilating he’s discovered that he simply doesn’t think about it any more. “Didn’t expect that to happen!” Me neither … and Darryl’s Hard Liquor and Porn Film Festival returns to Toronto tomorrow night for one night only at

O'NEILL: new series

the Bloor Cinema with its 10th annual show featuring funny short films about sex from Canada and around the globe.

EXES & OOOHS: Yesterday I told you that Julie Stewart, currently on stage at the Factory Theatre in Brad Fraser’srave-winning new comedy True Love Lies, also plays Graham Abbey’s ex onThe Border.

Wrong! Julie plays James McGowan’s ex on The Border. And yes, I really can tell those two guys apart. (sigh)

Oh well. Happens in the best of families.

KUTCHER: start 'er up

YA GOTTA HAVE A GIMMICK: Thanks to Ashton Kutcher for sending me (and maybe a million others) news of that new iPhone app that lets you start your car from your phone. I would start saving up for it but I’m saving up for a new TV set instead. No, not HD – 3D. Yup, Panasonic unveiled its prototype 50-inch Viera plasma 3-D set in Tokyo this week. Apparently it’s a wow. The technology works by rapidly alternating between left and right frames of the video. Viewers wear glasses that sync with the television over an infrared signal. The right frame is seen only with the right eye and the left frame with the left eye, creating the illusion of depth.

So all they have to do now is persuade producers to make reality TV shows in 3-D, and we’ll have even more reasons to go back to the movies.

Have a great weekend!

-/-

El American Film Institute ha anunciado la concesión de su premio anual a toda una carrera al realizador y productor Mike Nichols, responsable de cintas tan conocidas como “El graduado”, “Closer”, “Working”, “Silkwood” y “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”.

Nacido en Alemania hace 78 años, emigró junto a su familia a Estados Unidos al inicio de la II Guerra Mundial, cuando apenas contaba 7 años.

A finales de los 50 comenzó su carrera como actor en teatro y televisión.Ha sido candidato a cuatro premios Oscar y ganado una por “El graduado”.

La película más reciente de Nichols fue el thriller político “Charlie Wilson’s War” con Tom Hanks y Julia Roberts, sobre la ayuda de Estados Unidos para combatir la ocupación soviética en Afganistán en la década de 1980.

Mike Nichols se encuentra trabajando en dos proyectos para cine, uno de ellos es Deep Water.

Exciting News!  I have been cast as Kitty in “A Simple Conversation”, and AFI Film Project!  Filming begins in two weeks.  Check back for updates!

Jack Nicholson is wonderful as the arrogant Col. Jessup. Uploaded by i.cdn.turner.com.

I’m a big fan of Aaron Sorkin’s writing. (You’ll eventually see a couple of his TV series in this list.) And A Few Good Men is, above all else, a wonderfully written film.

It starred Tom Cruise back when we liked him. And a wonderfully pompous Jack Nicholson. Even the minor parts were wonderfully cast, with Cuba Gooding, Jr., Kiefer Sutherland, Noah Wyle, Christopher Guest, and J.T. Walsh demonstrating why they would go on to be bigger stars.

Uploaded by japattie.info.

A Few Good Men is essentially a courtroom drama that climaxes in the famous “I want the truth!” “You can’t handle the truth!” confrontation between Cruise and Nicholson. “You can’t handle the truth” was selected as the 29th greatest movie quote of all time by the American Film Institute. The AFI also ranked the movie as the fifth greatest courtroom drama ever.

Oh, one story that’s the kind of lore we love about movies. A defendent that Tom Cruise’s character Lt. Kaffee defends was Lance Corporal Harold Dawson, played by Wolfgang Bodison. But Bodison never tried out for the part – he was working as a location scout for the film. Director Rob Reiner thought he looked like a Marine, and suddenly Bodison had an acting career.

Today I had a callback for ”A Simple Conversation”, a short film produced at The American Film Institute (AFI). 

I was called back for Kitty, a wife and mother who learns her husband has an awful secret.  Today I read with two different actors who were called in for the role of my husband.  Both actors were really great and gave 2 very different performances.  It was nice to be able to play off of each actor’s unique performance. 

Again, the director, Jon, gave us all sorts of different ideas to play with as we ran through the scene.  What a fun audition (even though the material is heavy)  I left the callback feeling really happy with my performance.

Bogart and Astor on the poster, not Lorre and Greenstreet. Duh. Uploaded by content.artofmanliness.com.

Dashiell Hammett wrote the book. John Huston directed the film. And Humphrey Bogart made it memorable.

The Maltese Falcon, which premiered in 1941, is usually considered the first entry in the film noir genre. It was Huston’s directorial debut, and also marked the first film appearance of the corpulent Sydney Greenstreet. Also in major parts were the lovely Mary Astor and the supremely creepy Peter Lorre.

Uploaded to Flickr by SonomaPicMan.

The movie was made with three variations from typical filmmaking techniques that would amaze the modern movie maker. First, the entire film was shot in sequence, which the actors loved. Second, production was so meticulously planned that almost no lines of dialogue were cut. And third, much of the dialogue was taken directly from the novel. Imagine that, respecting the source material.

The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, but didn’t win. It battled for Best Picture against Citizen Kane (Great American Thing No.: 110), Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Suspicion, and the winner, How Green Was My Valley. The American Film Institute named it the number 32 Greatest Movie of All Time, and number 6 in the Mystery genre.

Robert Mitchum Night of the Hunter (1955)

 

The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 film noir film directed by Charles Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters . The film is based on the novel of the same name by Davis Grubb, adapted for the screen by James Agee and Laughton. The novel and film draw on the true story of Harry Powers, hanged in 1932 for the murders of two widows and three children in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The film’s lyric and expressionistic style sets it apart from almost all other Hollywood films of the 1940s and 50s, and has influenced later directors such as David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Terrence Malick, and the Coen Brothers. In 1992, The Night of the Hunter was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in their National Film Registry.

Tagline:  The wedding night, the anticipation, the kiss, the knife, BUT ABOVE ALL… THE SUSPENSE!

Buy this Title on DVD!

A psychopathic preacher is in relentless pursuit of two children possessing their dead fathers stolen fortune. Special features: theatrical trailer and behind-the-scenes booklet. Starring: Robert Mitchum, Lillian Gish and Shelley Winters Run time: 93 minutes. Director: Charles Laughton

The film resulted from a collaboration between Charles Laughton and screenwriter James Agee. Laughton drew heavily on the harsh, angular look of German expressionist films of the 1920s.

Shelley Winters

The film’s music, composed and arranged by Walter Schumann in close association with Laughton, features a combination of nostalgic and expressionistic orchestral passages. The film also includes two original songs by Schumann, “Lullaby” (sung by Kitty White, whom Schumann personally discovered in a nightclub) and “Pretty Fly” (originally sung by Sally Jane Bruce as Pearl, but later dubbed by an actress named Betty Benson). A recurring musical device involves the preacher making his presence known by singing the traditional hymn “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” Mitchum also recorded the soundtrack version of the hymn.

In 1974, film archivist Robert Gitt Anthony Slide retrieved several boxes of

Lillian Gish

photographs, sketches, memos and letters relating to the film from Laughton’s widow Elsa Lanchester for the American Film Institute; she also gave the Institute over 80,000 feet of rushes and outtakes from the filming. In 1981, this material was sent to the UCLA Film and Television Archive where, for the next 20 years, they were edited into a two-and-half hour documentary that premiered in 2002, at UCLA’s Festival of Preservation.

Today I had an audition for ”A Simple Conversation”, a short film produced at The American Film Institute (AFI).  I was called in for a lead role, Kitty, a wife and mother who learns her husband has a terrible secret.

The director, Jon, and the producer, Kristina, were both so sweet.  Jon was a very hands on director and we kept playing with different interpretations of the script.  He would say, “let’s just play with this…”, which was great.  It gave me a chance to try all sort of different tactics to get what I wanted in the scene.  I walked out of the audition feeling really happy with my performance.  What a good experience!

While I can see the appeal of Gone With the Wind – it’s an epic film, with a grand, sweeping story – I still didn’t really care for it.  My main complaints mostly concerned characters, story/plot, and film length.

Character development is an issue in this film.  While it is easy to see Scarlett’s transformation from spoiled, rich girl to a hard-working woman trying to maintain what’s left of her family’s plantation, she still doesn’t fully make the transition to likable character.  Of course, that’s one of the properties of her character.  She’s not supposed to be likable.  Proponents of the film might argue that Scarlett is cast from the same mold as George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life.  I would disagree vehemently with this assertion.  George Bailey was a character, who, like Scarlett O’Hara, was stuck taking care of others (and having those others depending on them).  That is where the similarities end.  Even at her absolute worst, Scarlett was still a spoiled brat.

Even though I understand the very essence of an epic film is that it covers a vast amount of time, this film went a little too far for my taste.  The fact that it was long enough to require an intermission – which I understand was the tradition in 1939 – makes the film difficult to watch.  I found my mind wandering throughout the movie. 

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

I want to visit Austria and stand in this very field. Uploaded by 1.bp.blogspot.com (Gannett News Service/Fox Video).

There aren’t many good musicals made anymore, probably because they don’t typically involve explosions, aliens, or extensive computer graphics that appeal to males under 25. But there was a time, not that long ago, when musicals were among the best movies made. Singin’ in the Rain. Oliver. And one of the best of all time, The Sound of Music.

Based on the stage musical by Rogers and Hammerstein (Great American Things No. 92) The Sound of Music tells the story of Austria’s von Trapp family as they broke in a new governess (Julie Andrews) and reclaimed a brokenhearted father (Christopher Plummer). It’s filled with wonderful songs – “Climb Every Mountain,” “Do Re Mi,” “Edelweiss,” “My Favorite Things,” and of course, “The Sound of Music.”

One bit of trivia I find interesting is that “Edelweiss” is not the traditional song of the Austrian homeland as portrayed in the movie. In fact, it was written by Oscar Hammerstein and was entirely unknown in Austria before the movie. The country has embraced it wholeheartedly now, as you might imagine.

Other casting facts: Although Mary Martin originated the role on Broadway (that’s some resume, along with South Pacific and Peter Pan), Audrey Hepburn was the first actress considered for the role of Maria… Sean Connery and Richard Burton were considered for the role of Captain von Trapp… Actors who auditioned for one of the child roles include Richard Dreyfuss, Kurt Russell, Patty Duke, and most of the Osmond family.

Adjusted for inflation, The Sound of Music is the third-highest-grossing film of all time, behind Gone with the Wind and Star Wars. The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won five, including Best Picture. In 2007, The American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Movies ranked it number 40 all time, and gave it the number four spot on its 100 Musicals list.

Today is August 18th, 2009. Starting today I am giving myself 100 days to watch all 100 movies off of AFI’s list entitled 100 Years…100 Movies. I will have watched all 100 movies by November, 25th, 2009. Let the movie watching, popcorn popping, and Coca-Cola drinking begin!

THIS past weekend, the Television Critics Association (TCA) recognized The Syfy Channel’s epic series Battlestar Galactica with the award for the Program of the Year in a ceremony held August 1st at the Langham Hotel and Spa in Pasadena, California. Battlestar Galactica took the top prize after ending its four season run this past March as one of television’s most raved-about shows.

The 25th annual TCA Awards honored the finest work of the 2008-09 season as selected by the association’s 200+ member critics and journalists.

Battlestar Galactica is the gripping saga of humanity’s last remnants and their struggle to find a new home while fleeing from their deadly Cylon enemies. Redefining the space opera with its gritty realism, Galactica’s intensity, issues-driven topicality, and command performances have garnered it numerous awards, including two Emmys and the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award. The show was recognized by the American Film Institute (AFI), and for two years running was one of the most outstanding programs of the year. The series is from Universal Cable Productions and executive produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick.

AFI AUGUST SCREENINGS
FEATURE
AFI UNCENSORED DOCUMENTARY SCREENING OF
MITCH MCCABE’S “YOUTH KNOWS NO PAIN”

ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19TH

MONTH LONG SERIES INCLUDE
“THE AMERICAN NEW WAVE” AT ARCLIGHT HOLLYWOOD
AFI “A SIXTIES SUMMER” AT ARCLIGHT SHERMAN OAKS

WHAT:
AFI announces August series of screenings featuring the “AFI Uncensored Documentary Screening” presentation of Mitch McCabe’s YOUTH KNOWS NO PAIN on Wednesday, August 19 at 8:00PM.

AFI’s August roster of screenings also feature films selected for an “American New Wave” series at ArcLight Hollywood including 40th Anniversary screenings of the film classics EASY RIDER and MIDNIGHT COWBOY. The AFI “A Sixties Summer” series (to be screened at ArcLight Sherman Oaks) will include a special children’s screening of the Disney classic MARY POPPINS from a restored print of the film.

The screenings are as follows:

AFI Uncensored Documentary Screening
Locaton: ArcLight Hollywood

August 19 – YOUTH KNOWS NO PAIN
DIR: Mitch McCabe

FEATURING Mitch McCabe, Sherry Mecom, Norman Deesing, Julia Allison, Gary Baldassarre, Dr. Franklin Rose, Erica Rose,    Lyndsay Bertie, Dr. Lisa Airan, Paula Begoun, Dr. Bobby Buka, Dr. Fredric Brandt, Dr. Adrienne Denese, Simon Doonan, Robert Grant, Erika Kawalek, Joan Kron, Charla Krupp, Dr. Zein Obagi, Dr. Nicholas Perricone, Linda Wells, Dr. Anthony Youn

Straight from AFI-Discovery Channel SILVERDOCS and Cinevegas, is HBO Documentary Films’ YOUTH KNOWS NO PAIN, a documentary that follows filmmaker Mitch McCabe, the age-obsessed daughter of a plastic surgeon, as she takes a  journey through America’s $60 billion a year anti-aging world. For two years, McCabe traveled across America, visiting doctors and beauty experts, and living with a cross-section of characters from Minnesota to Texas who are attempting to “beat the clock” and stay forever young. It’s an intense and  exhaustive journey, and when it comes to an end, one wonders  whether the filmmaker herself hasn’t been seduced by youth.

A Q&A with filmmaker Mitch McCabe and some of the featured documentary subjects will immediately follow the screening.

AFI ON SCREEN – AFI AT ARCLIGHT
Location:    ArcLight Hollywood

THE AMERICAN NEW WAVE

WEDNESDAYS at 8:00 PM

August 5 – EASY RIDER (1969)
August 12 – MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
August 26 – NASHVILLE (1975)

Location: ArcLight Sherman Oaks

A SIXTIES SUMMER

MONDAYS at 7:30 PM

August 3 – MARY POPPINS (1964) ***5:00PM*** (Special Children’s Screening)

August 10 – FUNNY GIRL (1968)
August 17 – THE APARTMENT (1960)
August 24 – GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER (1967)
August 31 – ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968)

WHERE:

ArcLight Hollywood, 6360 W Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA

ArcLight Sherman Oaks, 15301 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA

PRICE:
Tickets are $12, $11 for AFI and ArcLight members.  On-site parking is $2 for four hours with validation. To order advance tickets, go to www.arclightcinemas.com <http://www.arclightcinemas.com> call 323.464.4226 or visit ArcLight Hollywood’s box office at 6360 W Sunset Blvd. (at Ivar).