Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Cher will be some of those on hand to honor the great Mike Nichols at the American Film Institute June 10, 2010. The event is organized by Warren Beatty, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Robert Redford and Elizabeth Taylor. I hope Elaine May is there. Nora Ephron? Melanie Griffith maybe, and Sigourney Weaver? God willing, Emma Thompson.
Nichols has directed great films. He’s directed mediocre ones. He’s inspired generations of filmmakers. Of his body of work, most would consider The Graduate and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the top, followed by Carnal Knowledge, Postcards from the Edge, Silkwood and Heartburn (my guilty pleasure), Primary Colors and the glorious Angels in America.
It’s very familiar Woody. Always fun to watch various stars squirm through the awkward set-ups that lead to a mysterious, sometimes absurd, occasionally funny conclusion. Allocine featured the clip.
USA Today featured a piece on Robert Redford’s upcoming The Conspirator (pics then posted to ROS). Anthony Breznican’s piece says the film “follows the race to hunt down the small band of Confederate sympathizers who helped plot the attack.”
“There was a question of whether she was complicit, guilty by association, or even more guilty,” says Redford, who directs but doesn’t star in the movie. “The lawyer that defended her didn’t want to defend her. He was a Union soldier who became a lawyer.” His contempt for the suspect gives way to a fear that she is being prosecuted solely to bring her fugitive son out of hiding.
The Conspirator is independently financed and doesn’t yet have a distributor. It’s the first project made by the American Film Co., which plans to create historical dramas.
Redford says he didn’t want to simply re-create Lincoln’s assassination and deals with that mainly as setup. “All the President’s Men was very similar, because you had this big historical event taking place, but what people didn’t know was what these two reporters did, digging in under the radar. You didn’t need to show Nixon a lot,” he says. Redford starred in that 1976 film about the fall of President Nixon.
Pics at USA Today. We have a sampling after the cut.
A new doc will tell the story of the famed whistleblower, Harry Markopolos who recognized criminal activity a decade before Bernie Madoff’s cover was blown. The film is based on the New York Times bestseller, No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller and is directed and produced by Jeff Prosserman. It is executive produced by Jeff Sackman, Randy Manis and Anton Nadler.
The film is in production and will be released this fall. It goes without saying that not only were hundreds of regular folks robbed of their life’s savings, but many of the very same film professionals who vote on film awards have likewise been stripped of funds.
The doc will promises exclusive access and never-before-seen interviews with Markopolos and his team of investigators hunting down Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. What continues to baffle is why the SEC was never held accountable for ignoring Markopolos’ repeated warnings.
The Cannes Classics 2010, seeks “to place the spotlight on rediscovered or restored masterworks from the past, or ones that have been re-released in theatres or on DVD” has unveiled its stellar line-up:
The Battle of the Rails (La Bataille Du Rail) by Rene Clement (France, 1946)
Boudu Saved From Drowning (Boudu Sauve Des Eaux) by Jean Renoir (France, 1932)
Tristana by Luis Bunuel (Spain/France/Italy)
The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) by Luchino Visconti (Italy, 1963)
The Tin Drum (Die Blechtromel) by Volker Schlondorff (Germany, 1979)
Khandahar (The Ruins) by Mrinal Sen (India, 1983)
La Campagne De Ciceron by Jacques Davila (France, 1989)
La 317e Section by Pierre Schoendoerffer (France, 1965)
The Great Love (Le Grand Amour) by Pierre Etaix (France, 1969)
The African Queen by John Huston (US/UK, 1951)
Happy Go Lucky (Au Petit Bonheur) by Marcel L’Herbier (France, 1946)
Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock (US, 1960)
Kiss of the Spider Woman by Hector Babenco (US/Brazil, 1985)
The Cinematheque of Bologna will present two shorts:
Il Ruscello Di Ripasottile by Roberto Rossellini (Italy, 1941)
The Eloquent Peasant by Chadi Abdel Salam (Egypt, 1970)
Documentaries
Hollywood Don’t Surf by Greg MacGillivray (US, 2010)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff by Craig McCall (UK, 2010)
…But Film Is My Mistress (Men Filmen Ar Min Alskarinna) by Stig Bjorkman (Sweden, 2010)
Toscan by by Isabelle Partiot-Pieri (France, 2010)
Stitchkingdom has posted some first looks pics of Diane Lane and John Malkovich in Secretariat.
Malkovich is one of the most overdue actors for an Oscar that I can think of. I’ve come to appreciate his versatility more and more after re-watching a few of his best roles, including In the Line of Fire, Burn After Reading, and Dangerous Liaisons. The right role at the right time and he will win. Secretariat probably isn’t that role.
David Poland over at The Hot Blog has accused Sharon Waxman and The Wrap of obtaining a list of Academy members — from the looks of his post, from someone at Variety or once connected with Variety. ¬†I doubt the list was found in a bar in Redwood City:
I know that few will care… just as few people cared about you obtaining Variety’s long built Academy list using much the same technique with which Gizmodo acquired that iPhone. Fortunately, you have little idea how to use it and none of the people who gave you the list are still around. But it’s the principle of the thing, right?
A list of Academy members. ¬†Hm. ¬†It’s like finding one of Wonka’s golden tickets or the Glengarry leads.
Update: Jeff Wells confirms with Scott Rudin that the stories are untrue.
Tattooed Ladies: Carey Mulligan & Noomi Rapace
Several sites are saying Carey Mulligan is all but locked to play Lisbeth Salander. Screen Rant gathers some plausible details:
…Fincher was looking to cast an unknown in the lead role of Lisbeth Salander ‚Äì said Girl With The Dragon Tattoo ‚Äì [but ] the word is in that he was impressed enough with Mulligan‚Äôs audition for the character to select her out of over 5,000 other potential actresses. [um, couldn't that be said about every role ever cast? -- Ryan]
Mulligan has also apparently been approved by the family of the late Stieg Larsson – the author of the Millennium trilogy, of which The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is the first entry – to play Salander. Furthermore, she is set to rake in $5-6 million per movie should all three novels be given the Hollywood treatment – with Fincher already signed to helm at least the first two flicks.
The possibility that Fincher will direct the first two adaptations might more accurately be expressed in terms of his rumored “option” to direct the sequel. Cinematical names The Times as the source of the story, and has this quote from Mulligan:
“I am obsessed with those books. I would love to do them. I am not going to lie about that. I would love to play Lisbeth Salander.”
Meanwhile IndieWire’s Anne Thompson adds that Brad Pitt is a “strong bet” to play the male lead, Mikael Blomkvist, but relays a caution from another source: “‚ÄúNothing is real. Haven‚Äôt even started yet!‚Äù
Back to an earlier story at ScreenRant for a status check on the screenplay:
Craig Kennedy at Living in Cinema features the new trailer for the newest restoration of Metropolis incorporating new footage long-forgotten in the archives of a museum in Argentina. I’m hitting on the “newness” a lot here to lobby for the re-release of Metropolis to qualify as a debut. Would be nice if Lang’s resurrected masterpiece could get the same sort of attention Army of Shadows received when it was finally exhibited in its entirety in the US — and shot to #1 on Metacritic’s list of the best movies of 2006 (nearly 40 years after it was shunned and shelved). How cool would it be to see Metropolis and Inception side by side on a critic’s Top 10 of 2010?
Anyone unable to make a pilgrimage to Gauman’s Chinese Theatre this weekend to see Metropolis screened as part of TCM’s Classic Film Festival will be happy to know blu-ray.com has announced the blu-ray release is scheduled for November. You’ve waited 83 years; so what’s another 7 months?
HBO has begun showing promos for A Special Relationship, Peter Morgan’s account of the friendship between Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. Set to premiere in the UK on May 7th, it won’t air in the US until May 29. (As luck would have it, Emmy eligibility period is June 1, 2009 ‚Äê May 31, 2010).
In the teaser following this weekend’s broadcast of You Don’t Know Jack, we get a to see a lunch date between Bill (Dennis Quaid), Hillary (Hope Davis), Tony (Michael Sheen) and Cherie Blair (Helen McCrory). Of the four, only Quaid makes much attempt to mimic the voice and mannerisms of the real life pols — and he’s got Bill’s gravely drawl down pat. Another high-res photo after the cut, and more here.
