Steven Soderbergh’s filmography reads like a true cinematic almanac of the past 20 years. Landmark stuff such as “Traffic”, “Out Of Sight”, “Sex, Lies And Videotape”, “Ocean’s Eleven”, “The Limey” and “Erin Brokovich” have given the enigmatic director a truly unique style. So it is sad to hear him say that his latest film –Side Effects- will be his last one and that he will start focusing more on producing and TV. Well if he’s going out, it’s with a real bang. “Side Effects” might just be the twistiest, most playful film of his career. An homage to Hitchcock of sorts. To reveal the plot would be the same as explaining to a newbie what Hitchcock’s Psycho is about, you just don’t say anything. You want to know as little as possible about the film going into it, its guilty pleasures are surprising to say the least.
You know that big project the Academy is involved in? It just got a whopper of donation, $25 mil from David Geffen, so he gets the name. It will be known as the David Geffen theater. Is it crass for me to say that I hope I live long enough to see this thing thing built?
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that it has received a $25 million commitment from The David Geffen Foundation for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The gift was made as part of the Academy Museum’s $300 million capital campaign and is the largest commitment received to date. In recognition of this gift, the Academy will name the Museum’s premiere-sized theater The David Geffen Theater.
“David’s support of this project is transformative,” said Academy Museum Campaign Chair Bob Iger. “It takes a large and diverse group of supporters to build a project on the scale of the Academy Museum. David joins an esteemed group of individuals, companies, and foundations who are leading the charge.” The Academy launched the Museum’s capital campaign in 2012 and has already secured more than half of the campaign’s goal in commitments. The campaign is co-chaired by Annette Bening and Tom Hanks.
Just announced — Todd Field will direct Beautiful Ruins, with Jess Walter and Field co-writing the screenplay. No word yet who might star but there are many great parts. We wrote about this great book earlier.
The cast of characters include a beautiful unknown actress we first meet in innocent youth soon to be disillusioned as we follow her derailed dreams into wise old age. The young Italian hotelier with big dreams of his own who falls in love with her, an older writer who helps rescue her, the crass studio mogul who manipulates her — and a roaring cameo by the real-life celebrity who changes the course of all their lives in 1962.
Since the overbearing publicist/producer Michael Deane is a rogue gone to seed whose vanity has compelled him to laminate his face over the decades into an alarming plastic-surgery facsimile of his former youth, the rubbery expressions of Jim Carrey might make him suitable for the role. It’s hard to see how the other characters could age from their 20s to 70s without having more than one actor portray them at different stages over the course of five decades. Anyone who’s read the book have any casting ideas for Dee, Pasquale, Claire, Alvis and Shane?
Filmmaker Todd Field, Brian Oliver and Tyler Thompson, co-founders of Cross Creek Pictures, and Patrick Milling Smith and Brian Carmody, co-founders of Smuggler Films, announced today that their companies will team up to produce the film adaptation of Jess Walter’s New York Times Best Seller, “Beautiful Ruins.” Todd Field and Jess Walter are confirmed to write the screenplay, with Field set to direct. Field will produce the film through Standard Film Company with Cross Creek’s Oliver, Thompson, Smuggler Films’ Milling Smith and Carmody, Adam Kassan will oversee production for Cross Creek.
