Sundance announced its winners on Friday morning, with Alessandra Lacorazza’s In The Summers took the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Brendan Bellomo’s Porcelain War the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary.
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind Of Wilderness won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, while Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez earned the corresponding world cinema dramatic prize for Sujo.
The pair collaborated as writers on the 2020 World Cinema – Dramatic prize winner Identifying Features directed by Valadez.
The Festival Favorite Award went to Daughters by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, whose film also...
Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’s A New Kind Of Wilderness won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary, while Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez earned the corresponding world cinema dramatic prize for Sujo.
The pair collaborated as writers on the 2020 World Cinema – Dramatic prize winner Identifying Features directed by Valadez.
The Festival Favorite Award went to Daughters by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, whose film also...
- 1/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
Stars: Jon Bennett, Cassandra Schomer, Bo Shumaker, Doug Bradley, Pamela Martin, Lillie Angel, Brigid Casey, Elly Schulze | Written and Directed by Douglas Schulze
The people behind promoting Thorns knew exactly what they were doing. A lot of the imagery I saw showed a ‘monster’ of sorts wearing mainly black and with a crown of thorns covering their eyes. Definitely inspired by Pinhead and the Hellraiser movies but they also managed to get Pinhead himself – Doug Bradley – on board to star in the movie. And you know what? It worked because that was why I wanted to check Thorns out.
The story sounds much more bizarre on paper than it actually is on screen. An ex-priest who now works for NASA (I’m guessing that doesn’t happen too often in real life?!) is sent to a remote observatory that has gone silent since receiving a radio signal from outer space.
The people behind promoting Thorns knew exactly what they were doing. A lot of the imagery I saw showed a ‘monster’ of sorts wearing mainly black and with a crown of thorns covering their eyes. Definitely inspired by Pinhead and the Hellraiser movies but they also managed to get Pinhead himself – Doug Bradley – on board to star in the movie. And you know what? It worked because that was why I wanted to check Thorns out.
The story sounds much more bizarre on paper than it actually is on screen. An ex-priest who now works for NASA (I’m guessing that doesn’t happen too often in real life?!) is sent to a remote observatory that has gone silent since receiving a radio signal from outer space.
- 8/29/2023
- by Alain Elliott
- Nerdly
As Hollywood events return to full force in New York and Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic, here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings, including red carpets for WeCrashed, Pachinko, Life & Beth and Cheaper by the Dozen.
SXSW
The annual music, tech and film festival returned to Austin this year, kicking off on March 11 and running until March 20, with premieres of Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Lost City, Bodies Bodies Bodies, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, along with debuts of upcoming shows Dmz, Halo, Swimming with Sharks and The Girl From Plainville.
Pachinko Global Premiere Event
Apple TV+ hosted a starry premiere for its global series on Wednesday at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, where the cast, including Yuh-jung Youn, Lee Minho, Jin Ha, Minha Kim, Anna Sawai and Jimmi Simpson, was joined by guests Natalie Portman, Damon Lindelof, Ashley Park,...
SXSW
The annual music, tech and film festival returned to Austin this year, kicking off on March 11 and running until March 20, with premieres of Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Lost City, Bodies Bodies Bodies, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, along with debuts of upcoming shows Dmz, Halo, Swimming with Sharks and The Girl From Plainville.
Pachinko Global Premiere Event
Apple TV+ hosted a starry premiere for its global series on Wednesday at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, where the cast, including Yuh-jung Youn, Lee Minho, Jin Ha, Minha Kim, Anna Sawai and Jimmi Simpson, was joined by guests Natalie Portman, Damon Lindelof, Ashley Park,...
- 3/18/2022
- by Kirsten Chuba
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“King Richard” editor Pamela Martin topped the dramatic feature editing category at the American Cinema Editors 72nd Ace Eddie Awards, while “Tick, Tick … Boom!’s” Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum won the category for best edited comedic feature during Saturday’s in-person ceremony at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles.
“It’s a great honor to be recognized by my peers, most importantly,” Martin told Variety before the ceremony. “I’m over the moon and I’m so grateful to be in such wonderful, talented company from the other nominees.”
Michelle Statter accepted the prestigious Ace Golden Eddie Award — recognizing an artist or company for distinguished achievement in film — on behalf of The Sundance Institute. Film editors Lillian E. Benson, ACE and Richard Chew, ACE received Career Achievement Awards for their outstanding contributions to film editing. The event was hosted by DJ Lance Rock and presided over by ACE President Kevin Tent,...
“It’s a great honor to be recognized by my peers, most importantly,” Martin told Variety before the ceremony. “I’m over the moon and I’m so grateful to be in such wonderful, talented company from the other nominees.”
Michelle Statter accepted the prestigious Ace Golden Eddie Award — recognizing an artist or company for distinguished achievement in film — on behalf of The Sundance Institute. Film editors Lillian E. Benson, ACE and Richard Chew, ACE received Career Achievement Awards for their outstanding contributions to film editing. The event was hosted by DJ Lance Rock and presided over by ACE President Kevin Tent,...
- 3/6/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Pamela Martin is no stranger to editing films set in the world of sports. She worked with David O. Russell in The Fighter. In the case of Battle of The Sexes,...
- 10/7/2017
- by Jazz Tangcay
- AwardsDaily.com
Yesterday, Fox Searchlight began the process of creating excitement for one of their big Oscar hopefuls this year. They did that by dropping the first Trailer for Battle of the Sexes, a pseudo biopic that also could be the rare recent sports related movie to score with the Academy. Done properly, the story contained here is big time awards bait. That all remains to be seen, obviously, but the possibilities here are certainly strong. The Trailer pretty much suggests as much too. You’ll be able to see it at the end of this article, as per the usual, but first…a bit of analysis! The film is a look at the legendary tennis match between champions Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell). King was the current number one player in the world in 1973, while Riggs was a former champ and basically a side show act at the time.
- 5/17/2017
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
True role models don’t come around often, but when they do, they shake your soul like an earthquake.
Putter the squirrel is one of these soul-shaking individuals.
Out of all the paths available to her, Putter decided to follow the one that led to Fantasy Isle Ice Cream and Mini Golf in Holden Beach, North Carolina.
Here, the rodent is treated to two mini ice creams cones (normal-sized to a squirrel) every day from the shop’s owners Scott and Pam Martin, reports The Associated Press.
Putter, a girl, started leaving her nest and visiting the shop last summer,...
Putter the squirrel is one of these soul-shaking individuals.
Out of all the paths available to her, Putter decided to follow the one that led to Fantasy Isle Ice Cream and Mini Golf in Holden Beach, North Carolina.
Here, the rodent is treated to two mini ice creams cones (normal-sized to a squirrel) every day from the shop’s owners Scott and Pam Martin, reports The Associated Press.
Putter, a girl, started leaving her nest and visiting the shop last summer,...
- 4/19/2017
- by Kelli Bender
- PEOPLE.com
Writer/Director Gary Ross constructs a historical-film miracle: a meaningful tale about the Civil War that doesn't bog down in details. Rebel deserter Matthew McConaughey leads a wartime insurrection against both the South and the North. It's hard to believe that it really happened. Free State of Jones Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Universal Studios Home Entertainment 2016 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 140 min. / Street Date September 20, 2016 / 19.99 Starring Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Keri Russell, Christopher Berry, Sean Bridgers, Jacob Lofland, Thomas Francis Murphy, Bill Tangradi, Brian Lee Franklin. Cinematography Benoit Delhomme Film Editor Pamela Martin, Juliette Welfing Original Music Nicholas Britell Written by Gary Ross story by Leonard Hartman Produced by Jon Kilik, Gary Ross, Scott Stuber Directed by Gary Ross
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This is one very good movie about an unusual subject, with committed performances, a handsome production and a screenplay fashioned with intelligence and good judgment. So why are...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This is one very good movie about an unusual subject, with committed performances, a handsome production and a screenplay fashioned with intelligence and good judgment. So why are...
- 9/20/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Patrick Shanley
Managing Editor
When it comes to this year’s Academy Awards, no word is more buzzworthy than “diversity”. For the second year in a row the Oscars have nominated only white actors in their four main acting categories, sparking backlash and, as a result, inciting the Academy to announce new changes to tackle its “diversity problem”.
Amidst another year of #OscarsSoWhite trending on Twitter, however, the fact that 2015 has been an exceptionally strong year for women has been largely overlooked. Three of this year’s best picture nominees (Brooklyn, Room, Mad Max: Fury Road) are female-centric and feature strong female protagonists in the center of the action. In fact, even outside of those films and their performances, a number of women are nominated for best picture as producers, as well. Kristie Macosko Krieger is nominated for Bridge of Spies, Blye Pagon Faust is nominated for Spotlight, Dede Gardner...
Managing Editor
When it comes to this year’s Academy Awards, no word is more buzzworthy than “diversity”. For the second year in a row the Oscars have nominated only white actors in their four main acting categories, sparking backlash and, as a result, inciting the Academy to announce new changes to tackle its “diversity problem”.
Amidst another year of #OscarsSoWhite trending on Twitter, however, the fact that 2015 has been an exceptionally strong year for women has been largely overlooked. Three of this year’s best picture nominees (Brooklyn, Room, Mad Max: Fury Road) are female-centric and feature strong female protagonists in the center of the action. In fact, even outside of those films and their performances, a number of women are nominated for best picture as producers, as well. Kristie Macosko Krieger is nominated for Bridge of Spies, Blye Pagon Faust is nominated for Spotlight, Dede Gardner...
- 2/4/2016
- by Patrick Shanley
- Scott Feinberg
'The Fighter' movie: Mark Wahlberg as boxer Micky Ward. 'The Fighter' movie review: 'Smart' filmmaking from a business standpoint David O. Russell's The Fighter is a smart film; smart in the way it's constructed and executed as a means to appeal to a wide audience. People tend to like sports movies. They also tend to like movies where the good guys win and where the hardships the characters go through can all get tidily worked out by the time the credits start rolling. The Fighter is smart from a business standpoint. That also means Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson's screenplay is predictable and much too “safe” as well. Russell and the screenwriters don't tread any new territory; in fact, they don't even try. On the positive side, The Fighter offers several solid performances that make up for some of what's lacking elsewhere. 'The Fighter'...
- 1/4/2016
- by Nathan Donarum
- Alt Film Guide
Will Scheffer speaks candidly with Susan Kouguell about the Getting On series, adapting material, collaborations, and more.
With their fingers on the pulse -- actually ten steps ahead of -- societal happenings and hot button topics, co-creators, executive producers, and writers on their Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series Big Love, Will Scheffer and his partner Mark V. Olsen are fearless when tackling “difficult” subject matters in their television and film projects. With humor and pathos, Scheffer and Olsen continue to confront timely and challenging issues with their new series for HBO’s Getting On.
Will Scheffer is a playwright, writer/producer and filmmaker. His plays have been produced and developed across the country, including Playwright's Horizons, Naked Angels, The Public Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theater, where he’s had four plays in The Marathon. His first screenplay In the Gloaming, starring Glenn Close and directed by Christopher Reeve, was produced by HBO in 1997, and won many awards, including five Emmys. An attorney and member of the New York Bar, Mark V. Olsen has created, written, and produced several screenplays, teleplays, pilots and miniseries. For HBO, he wrote Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, Cabrina USA. In 2010, after being published in Best Plays of 1999, Olsen’s play Cornelia opened at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Together, Scheffer and Olsen produced the independent feature based on Scheffer’s play by the same name, Easter in 2002, and that same year they created HBO’s acclaimed drama Big Love.
Kouguell: The HBO Web site synopsis describes Getting On: ‘The show follows the daily lives of overworked nurses and doctors as they struggle with the darkly comic realities of tending compassionately to their aging charges in a rundown, red-tape-filled hospital extended-care wing, blending outrageous humor with unexpected moments of tenderness.’ Anything else you would add to this description?
Scheffer: The show is about relationships -- as all our shows are -- the power struggles that come out of marriages between couples, or among small groups of individuals that work together out of choice or necessity. Getting On is about healthy and unhealthy codependence. It’s about love. It’s about how women in largely patriarchal systems learn to take their own power. It’s about class struggle and how it goes largely pushed into unconsciousness in our society and it’s about how the elderly, illness and the death experience is also compartmentalized in our society.
Getting On is largely about how we all deal with the process of aging and how we all care for the elderly. Like taxes and death, Mark and I think eldercare is becoming an unavoidable reality in our lives whether we like to deal with it or not. It’s becoming a shared fact of our existence, and Getting On tries to create a funny, safe place where an audience can find humor and compassion in that reality.
Kouguell: British television series like The Office have been successfully adapted for American TV. Getting On ran in Britain from 2009 – 2012. How did you come upon this show?
Scheffer: Mark and I had seen it in London while we were taking a vacation from our last season of Big Love and we were both dealing with caring for our aging mothers. We fell madly in love with the series and coincidentally had been working up a show of our own, set in the world of American eldercare. When we saw it we thought we should just adapt this series for American television. It’s an easier way to pitch an idea, and of course it gives us all this glorious material to work with.
Joanna Scanlon, Vicki Pepperdine, Jo Brand and Peter Capaldi, created an amazing show about the healthcare system in Great Britain and we felt it docked in perfectly with the kind of dark comedy we had in our heads about managed care in America and all the firsthand experiences we were going through with our moms.
Kouguell: What challenges and inspirations have you found while adapting this series?
Scheffer: The largest challenge, of course, is how to reimagine the characters and situations of the British version for an American audience and not to just “do a translation.” I think it was harder to translate a British show into American English than it might be to translate a Danish format such as The Killing or an Israeli format, such as In Treatment or Homeland.
You can be deceived into thinking you can just Americanize the dialogue and that is a huge trap when you love the original material. We had to fight that impulse. Also, we had to take the style of the British version, which is extremely “jump-cutty” and roughly assembled and improvised, and work backwards, almost to create our own “docu-comedy” style. We knew we weren’t going to do The Office but we didn’t know how challenging it would be to structure a script and a season the way we do and then make it look rougher. We love the result but it was extremely challenging for us as writers and for our entire creative team to discover our own style.
Our inspiration was largely drawn from our own ongoing experiences and then the actors we cast and the creative team we assembled. Adapting for these actors became a sublime treat and working with artists like Migel Arteta, Pam Martin, Tami Reiker, Jim Denault, Heather Persons, and also a lot of our Big Love team also was invaluable. And we had Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner, and Amy Hodge from BBC Worldwide as producing partners and they were incredible to work with. We got so much creative support from them.
This show (more than any other we’ve worked on) was a collaborative effort. Michael Lombardo, Casey Bloys and Francesca Orsi were very involved in our editorial process and I think this (sometimes uncomfortable) creative mix of smart people actually made the show different and better than what our vision alone foresaw. This was a rare instance of a lot of chefs in the kitchen actually producing a better stew.
Kouguell: How have you made it your own?
Scheffer: It was impossible not to make it our own. We lived a lot of what is seen on the show. Mark’s mom was in a small boarding care facility, which we were lucky to land her in when she developed dementia, and we had to bring her out to Pasadena to be near us. The caregivers and women there infuse our show. That was where we found tenderness and compassion. My mom was in the New York City healthcare system. She lived in a great assisted living apartment building, but when she got kicked out of hospitals and into Medicare “Rehabs” or what they call “skilled nursing facilities” the experience wasn’t so compassionate.
We used all of our personal knowledge of hospital life (which is considerable) and researched the hell of American geriatric care. We also imbued the show with our style and taste, which I would call simply: “Laughing and crying is good to do at the same time.” We cast actors who were vivid and real and very un-tv. They were all so talented and fiercely brave. We shot each episode in only three days. It’s unlike any TV show or film we’ve ever done.
Kouguell: Talk about your adaptation process.
Scheffer: We definitely started with all of the original material. We had no scripts though, so we had to first transcribe all the episodes from film (or video, as it were). We then picked and chose the material we knew was gold and worked endlessly on how we could compose a season structure -- knowing we had to compress their first two seasons of nine episodes into our first season of six.
We had some strong ideas of what we needed to do in order to achieve an American version as we had our ‘make someone happy campaign,’ which was based on our research of the Disneyfication of hospitals. We also knew we wanted to shake up the pilot and create a real dramatic reason of why there was a new head nurse (Patsy) coming into the ward and why Dr. Jenna James was stuck over here.
The British show has all these gold nuggets but since they worked in a more improvisational mode and we’re much more scripted, we had to take their nuggets and weave them into our structural considerations. Also, once we saw how the pilot worked with our cast, we identified a kind of idea of what each episode should have in it, to fulfill what we saw as a winning episode structure.
Our cast was so talented we knew we could always have a physical slapstick element and real emotional stakes side-by-side. We wanted each episode to have a laugh out loud scene that played against the dark comedy and realities of what happens in an extended care wing.
Also, the show was rebuilt in the editing room. We actually took more time to edit an episode than we did to shoot it. We had plenty of material but we essentially rewrote the show many, many times from before production, through rehearsals, and then in the editing room. When we completed the first episode I turned to Mark and said, “Oh my God, we actually made a black comedy.” Something which we knew was really hard to do and we made one that had a heart.
Kouguell: How do your characters in Getting On depart from the original British series?
Scheffer: The characters are very similar to the original ones except of course they are completely different. Jenna James is Doctor Moore in principal, but Laurie Metcalfe brings a fierceness and virtuosity to the role that makes the character’s inner life more roiling with insecurity. We began to see that in the world of the show, all the other characters saw Dr. James as imperious and incompetent at the same time, but failed to see what the audience saw -- a woman who is falling apart inside.
Nurse Dawn, as played by the multi-talented Alex Borstein, became more co-dependent, needing to always please Jenna, and also blatantly psychologically immature. Her core is the same as Joanna’s wonderful Den, a woman without an inherent self-esteem but I think our Dawn became more outrageously confused.
All our characters are less constrained and polite than the British cast. I would say that you see “America versus our British cousins” in the way all the characters become more visceral. Didi differs the most. In the British show she’s played by the amazing comedienne Jo Brand, as a retiree coming back into the workforce. Niecey, in what I think is a transformative role for her, is younger and of color. I think she retains what Kim (Jo Brand) is to the show, its tender heart, but somehow Niecey manages to bring her comedy skills yet delivers such a subtle earthiness to her performance; she is the beating heart at the center of the show.
It’s a hard question when I answer it, because in a way I see that the characters essentially are the same but completely different at the same time. It’s in the writing but it’s what these actors brought to all their roles. There was only one right actor for each of these roles and they all give award-worthy performances in my book. They just made the characters their own, which is what you want from an actor and we began to write to who we saw they were becoming in the parts. I think the old saying about casting being 99 percent of a successful production was what we knew we had to achieve for this show. It was really hard to cast, but we held out for the perfect actor for each role and they delivered.
Kouguell: What drew you to this material and why did you feel that it could be ‘translated’ for an American audience?
Scheffer: The British show is about the “National Health” and three women who are “getting on” in years, and also together. Our show translated that into eldercare, a women’s ward. It’s a subtle but profound translation. If you compare the shows they look like -- well sisters.
We just knew that we had to do this show. We wanted to create a place where our friends and family, our audience who we knew was aging and dealing with dementia and death in their loved ones, could come and laugh. Even if they were afraid to watch us, we knew once they did, they would want to be in our world with these characters. It’s scary but it’s life. And it can be funny and sad at the same time. It hits close to home and that’s a good thing.
Kouguell: This is the second HBO series you and Mark have collaborated on as executive producers and writers. Describe your work process and collaboration.
Scheffer: We are a married team so when we do a show we are with each other 24/7 365 days a year. Mark and I talk everything through but don't actually write together. We take turns on drafts, passing them back and forth for multiple revisions. Sometimes I'll write the first draft and he'll revise and sometimes he'll write the first draft. On set it's looser and we'll have to revise together but we prefer to actually write in our own space. The "fantasy" image of having desks facing each other and tossing lines back and forth doesn't work for us.
We definitely complement each other and make a good team. And we’ve survived thus far. The marriage seems to get stronger in the roil of collaboration. It does test our mettle, though.
In production we do everything -- from writing, to casting, to directing, to editing, to selling the show -- we’re there and uber-controlling. But we’re also extremely collaborative. We want to create a “safe set” and work environment where everyone wants to be. When people enjoy coming to work they do their best work. We make sure that condition is met. We treat everyone the same, including ourselves. Even though we get to be the auteurs, as it were, we treat our PAs the same way we treat our Dp, and we submit ourselves to the same conditions we expect from our team. We give ourselves over completely to a show. I credit Mark with expecting a standard of excellence. We depend on each other for different aspects of the work, but Mark’s ability to focus and dig is one of the things that make our collaborations successful. He’s my “closer.”
Kouguell: You describe the show as a ‘docu-comedy’ – please detail.
Scheffer: The British version was so raw and the camera just followed the actors and it was all done 360 degrees, with natural light and there was no worry about continuity and we loved that feel. So in principal, we tried to recreate that. We shot the same way in a real location. We used only two cameras and our Dp’s operated one and moved constantly around a 360 space with natural lighting. We felt that the show’s essence was in that “seed.” It felt like a documentary. We wanted the audience to feel like they were observers of life.
It turned out that we had to do a lot of “reverse engineering” to make our show. It became a different beast. Our show still is very gritty and it jump cuts -- but we learned we had to write in the jumps. We had to structure them. That was really hard to figure out because the British show was more “assembled.” We had to write in those moments when the scene was jumping and we began to have a principal that the jumps furthered the dramatic action of the scene. We did this in the editing room, too.
Our show had to become its own animal, and the “docu-comedy” style that we identified in the original became a different kind of “docu-comedy.” I think the two versions complement each other. In a way, we did with the British show what we do together as writers. We collaborated with it. We make a good team.
“Docu-comedy” is not The Office; it’s not an imposed, hand-held camera style. It’s an ethic. It’s more about trying to capture the truth of what it feels like to be in the midst of the insanity of crisis. What it feels like to be in that world that lives between life and death all the time. It’s about surrendering to it and reveling in the surreal quality of it all. Finding death as being a vital part of life. Not shying away from it. Living into it.
To learn more about Getting On go to: http://www.hbo.com/getting-on
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com .
With their fingers on the pulse -- actually ten steps ahead of -- societal happenings and hot button topics, co-creators, executive producers, and writers on their Emmy and Golden Globe-winning HBO series Big Love, Will Scheffer and his partner Mark V. Olsen are fearless when tackling “difficult” subject matters in their television and film projects. With humor and pathos, Scheffer and Olsen continue to confront timely and challenging issues with their new series for HBO’s Getting On.
Will Scheffer is a playwright, writer/producer and filmmaker. His plays have been produced and developed across the country, including Playwright's Horizons, Naked Angels, The Public Theatre and Ensemble Studio Theater, where he’s had four plays in The Marathon. His first screenplay In the Gloaming, starring Glenn Close and directed by Christopher Reeve, was produced by HBO in 1997, and won many awards, including five Emmys. An attorney and member of the New York Bar, Mark V. Olsen has created, written, and produced several screenplays, teleplays, pilots and miniseries. For HBO, he wrote Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, Cabrina USA. In 2010, after being published in Best Plays of 1999, Olsen’s play Cornelia opened at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Together, Scheffer and Olsen produced the independent feature based on Scheffer’s play by the same name, Easter in 2002, and that same year they created HBO’s acclaimed drama Big Love.
Kouguell: The HBO Web site synopsis describes Getting On: ‘The show follows the daily lives of overworked nurses and doctors as they struggle with the darkly comic realities of tending compassionately to their aging charges in a rundown, red-tape-filled hospital extended-care wing, blending outrageous humor with unexpected moments of tenderness.’ Anything else you would add to this description?
Scheffer: The show is about relationships -- as all our shows are -- the power struggles that come out of marriages between couples, or among small groups of individuals that work together out of choice or necessity. Getting On is about healthy and unhealthy codependence. It’s about love. It’s about how women in largely patriarchal systems learn to take their own power. It’s about class struggle and how it goes largely pushed into unconsciousness in our society and it’s about how the elderly, illness and the death experience is also compartmentalized in our society.
Getting On is largely about how we all deal with the process of aging and how we all care for the elderly. Like taxes and death, Mark and I think eldercare is becoming an unavoidable reality in our lives whether we like to deal with it or not. It’s becoming a shared fact of our existence, and Getting On tries to create a funny, safe place where an audience can find humor and compassion in that reality.
Kouguell: British television series like The Office have been successfully adapted for American TV. Getting On ran in Britain from 2009 – 2012. How did you come upon this show?
Scheffer: Mark and I had seen it in London while we were taking a vacation from our last season of Big Love and we were both dealing with caring for our aging mothers. We fell madly in love with the series and coincidentally had been working up a show of our own, set in the world of American eldercare. When we saw it we thought we should just adapt this series for American television. It’s an easier way to pitch an idea, and of course it gives us all this glorious material to work with.
Joanna Scanlon, Vicki Pepperdine, Jo Brand and Peter Capaldi, created an amazing show about the healthcare system in Great Britain and we felt it docked in perfectly with the kind of dark comedy we had in our heads about managed care in America and all the firsthand experiences we were going through with our moms.
Kouguell: What challenges and inspirations have you found while adapting this series?
Scheffer: The largest challenge, of course, is how to reimagine the characters and situations of the British version for an American audience and not to just “do a translation.” I think it was harder to translate a British show into American English than it might be to translate a Danish format such as The Killing or an Israeli format, such as In Treatment or Homeland.
You can be deceived into thinking you can just Americanize the dialogue and that is a huge trap when you love the original material. We had to fight that impulse. Also, we had to take the style of the British version, which is extremely “jump-cutty” and roughly assembled and improvised, and work backwards, almost to create our own “docu-comedy” style. We knew we weren’t going to do The Office but we didn’t know how challenging it would be to structure a script and a season the way we do and then make it look rougher. We love the result but it was extremely challenging for us as writers and for our entire creative team to discover our own style.
Our inspiration was largely drawn from our own ongoing experiences and then the actors we cast and the creative team we assembled. Adapting for these actors became a sublime treat and working with artists like Migel Arteta, Pam Martin, Tami Reiker, Jim Denault, Heather Persons, and also a lot of our Big Love team also was invaluable. And we had Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner, and Amy Hodge from BBC Worldwide as producing partners and they were incredible to work with. We got so much creative support from them.
This show (more than any other we’ve worked on) was a collaborative effort. Michael Lombardo, Casey Bloys and Francesca Orsi were very involved in our editorial process and I think this (sometimes uncomfortable) creative mix of smart people actually made the show different and better than what our vision alone foresaw. This was a rare instance of a lot of chefs in the kitchen actually producing a better stew.
Kouguell: How have you made it your own?
Scheffer: It was impossible not to make it our own. We lived a lot of what is seen on the show. Mark’s mom was in a small boarding care facility, which we were lucky to land her in when she developed dementia, and we had to bring her out to Pasadena to be near us. The caregivers and women there infuse our show. That was where we found tenderness and compassion. My mom was in the New York City healthcare system. She lived in a great assisted living apartment building, but when she got kicked out of hospitals and into Medicare “Rehabs” or what they call “skilled nursing facilities” the experience wasn’t so compassionate.
We used all of our personal knowledge of hospital life (which is considerable) and researched the hell of American geriatric care. We also imbued the show with our style and taste, which I would call simply: “Laughing and crying is good to do at the same time.” We cast actors who were vivid and real and very un-tv. They were all so talented and fiercely brave. We shot each episode in only three days. It’s unlike any TV show or film we’ve ever done.
Kouguell: Talk about your adaptation process.
Scheffer: We definitely started with all of the original material. We had no scripts though, so we had to first transcribe all the episodes from film (or video, as it were). We then picked and chose the material we knew was gold and worked endlessly on how we could compose a season structure -- knowing we had to compress their first two seasons of nine episodes into our first season of six.
We had some strong ideas of what we needed to do in order to achieve an American version as we had our ‘make someone happy campaign,’ which was based on our research of the Disneyfication of hospitals. We also knew we wanted to shake up the pilot and create a real dramatic reason of why there was a new head nurse (Patsy) coming into the ward and why Dr. Jenna James was stuck over here.
The British show has all these gold nuggets but since they worked in a more improvisational mode and we’re much more scripted, we had to take their nuggets and weave them into our structural considerations. Also, once we saw how the pilot worked with our cast, we identified a kind of idea of what each episode should have in it, to fulfill what we saw as a winning episode structure.
Our cast was so talented we knew we could always have a physical slapstick element and real emotional stakes side-by-side. We wanted each episode to have a laugh out loud scene that played against the dark comedy and realities of what happens in an extended care wing.
Also, the show was rebuilt in the editing room. We actually took more time to edit an episode than we did to shoot it. We had plenty of material but we essentially rewrote the show many, many times from before production, through rehearsals, and then in the editing room. When we completed the first episode I turned to Mark and said, “Oh my God, we actually made a black comedy.” Something which we knew was really hard to do and we made one that had a heart.
Kouguell: How do your characters in Getting On depart from the original British series?
Scheffer: The characters are very similar to the original ones except of course they are completely different. Jenna James is Doctor Moore in principal, but Laurie Metcalfe brings a fierceness and virtuosity to the role that makes the character’s inner life more roiling with insecurity. We began to see that in the world of the show, all the other characters saw Dr. James as imperious and incompetent at the same time, but failed to see what the audience saw -- a woman who is falling apart inside.
Nurse Dawn, as played by the multi-talented Alex Borstein, became more co-dependent, needing to always please Jenna, and also blatantly psychologically immature. Her core is the same as Joanna’s wonderful Den, a woman without an inherent self-esteem but I think our Dawn became more outrageously confused.
All our characters are less constrained and polite than the British cast. I would say that you see “America versus our British cousins” in the way all the characters become more visceral. Didi differs the most. In the British show she’s played by the amazing comedienne Jo Brand, as a retiree coming back into the workforce. Niecey, in what I think is a transformative role for her, is younger and of color. I think she retains what Kim (Jo Brand) is to the show, its tender heart, but somehow Niecey manages to bring her comedy skills yet delivers such a subtle earthiness to her performance; she is the beating heart at the center of the show.
It’s a hard question when I answer it, because in a way I see that the characters essentially are the same but completely different at the same time. It’s in the writing but it’s what these actors brought to all their roles. There was only one right actor for each of these roles and they all give award-worthy performances in my book. They just made the characters their own, which is what you want from an actor and we began to write to who we saw they were becoming in the parts. I think the old saying about casting being 99 percent of a successful production was what we knew we had to achieve for this show. It was really hard to cast, but we held out for the perfect actor for each role and they delivered.
Kouguell: What drew you to this material and why did you feel that it could be ‘translated’ for an American audience?
Scheffer: The British show is about the “National Health” and three women who are “getting on” in years, and also together. Our show translated that into eldercare, a women’s ward. It’s a subtle but profound translation. If you compare the shows they look like -- well sisters.
We just knew that we had to do this show. We wanted to create a place where our friends and family, our audience who we knew was aging and dealing with dementia and death in their loved ones, could come and laugh. Even if they were afraid to watch us, we knew once they did, they would want to be in our world with these characters. It’s scary but it’s life. And it can be funny and sad at the same time. It hits close to home and that’s a good thing.
Kouguell: This is the second HBO series you and Mark have collaborated on as executive producers and writers. Describe your work process and collaboration.
Scheffer: We are a married team so when we do a show we are with each other 24/7 365 days a year. Mark and I talk everything through but don't actually write together. We take turns on drafts, passing them back and forth for multiple revisions. Sometimes I'll write the first draft and he'll revise and sometimes he'll write the first draft. On set it's looser and we'll have to revise together but we prefer to actually write in our own space. The "fantasy" image of having desks facing each other and tossing lines back and forth doesn't work for us.
We definitely complement each other and make a good team. And we’ve survived thus far. The marriage seems to get stronger in the roil of collaboration. It does test our mettle, though.
In production we do everything -- from writing, to casting, to directing, to editing, to selling the show -- we’re there and uber-controlling. But we’re also extremely collaborative. We want to create a “safe set” and work environment where everyone wants to be. When people enjoy coming to work they do their best work. We make sure that condition is met. We treat everyone the same, including ourselves. Even though we get to be the auteurs, as it were, we treat our PAs the same way we treat our Dp, and we submit ourselves to the same conditions we expect from our team. We give ourselves over completely to a show. I credit Mark with expecting a standard of excellence. We depend on each other for different aspects of the work, but Mark’s ability to focus and dig is one of the things that make our collaborations successful. He’s my “closer.”
Kouguell: You describe the show as a ‘docu-comedy’ – please detail.
Scheffer: The British version was so raw and the camera just followed the actors and it was all done 360 degrees, with natural light and there was no worry about continuity and we loved that feel. So in principal, we tried to recreate that. We shot the same way in a real location. We used only two cameras and our Dp’s operated one and moved constantly around a 360 space with natural lighting. We felt that the show’s essence was in that “seed.” It felt like a documentary. We wanted the audience to feel like they were observers of life.
It turned out that we had to do a lot of “reverse engineering” to make our show. It became a different beast. Our show still is very gritty and it jump cuts -- but we learned we had to write in the jumps. We had to structure them. That was really hard to figure out because the British show was more “assembled.” We had to write in those moments when the scene was jumping and we began to have a principal that the jumps furthered the dramatic action of the scene. We did this in the editing room, too.
Our show had to become its own animal, and the “docu-comedy” style that we identified in the original became a different kind of “docu-comedy.” I think the two versions complement each other. In a way, we did with the British show what we do together as writers. We collaborated with it. We make a good team.
“Docu-comedy” is not The Office; it’s not an imposed, hand-held camera style. It’s an ethic. It’s more about trying to capture the truth of what it feels like to be in the midst of the insanity of crisis. What it feels like to be in that world that lives between life and death all the time. It’s about surrendering to it and reveling in the surreal quality of it all. Finding death as being a vital part of life. Not shying away from it. Living into it.
To learn more about Getting On go to: http://www.hbo.com/getting-on
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com .
- 1/2/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Disney has kicked off production on Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, the first live-action film adaptation of Judith Viorst’s 1972 illustrated children’s classic.
The film, directed by Independent Spirit Award-winner Miguel Arteta (“The Good Girl,” “Cedar Rapids,” “Youth in Revolt”) from a screenplay by Rob Lieber, is a 21 Laps Entertainment/Jim Henson Company production.
Shooting in the Los Angeles area, with locations in the cities of Pasadena and Arcadia, the San Fernando Valley and Melody Ranch in Newhall, the film hits theaters nationwide on October 10, 2014.
Disney’s Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day follows the exploits of 11-year-old Alexander as he experiences the most terrible and horrible day of his young life – a day that begins with gum stuck in his hair, followed by one calamity after another. But when Alexander tells his upbeat family about the misadventures of his disastrous day,...
The film, directed by Independent Spirit Award-winner Miguel Arteta (“The Good Girl,” “Cedar Rapids,” “Youth in Revolt”) from a screenplay by Rob Lieber, is a 21 Laps Entertainment/Jim Henson Company production.
Shooting in the Los Angeles area, with locations in the cities of Pasadena and Arcadia, the San Fernando Valley and Melody Ranch in Newhall, the film hits theaters nationwide on October 10, 2014.
Disney’s Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day follows the exploits of 11-year-old Alexander as he experiences the most terrible and horrible day of his young life – a day that begins with gum stuck in his hair, followed by one calamity after another. But when Alexander tells his upbeat family about the misadventures of his disastrous day,...
- 8/29/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
New programming for the 10-day Los Angeles Film Festival has been announced today, including pre-screenings of summer movies and a conversation with an acclaimed filmmaker.
Man of Steel, the latest Superman adaptation directed by Zach Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan, will be screened on June 12, before the festival officially kicks off. The film opens wide on June 14.
The much-anticipated Monsters, Inc. prequel, Monster’s University, will also be shown at an advanced screening at the Festival on June 18 — three days before it opens on June 21.
Programing also includes a panel of women editors, including Sandra Adair (Before Midnight, Bernie), Maryann Brandon (Star Trek,...
Man of Steel, the latest Superman adaptation directed by Zach Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan, will be screened on June 12, before the festival officially kicks off. The film opens wide on June 14.
The much-anticipated Monsters, Inc. prequel, Monster’s University, will also be shown at an advanced screening at the Festival on June 18 — three days before it opens on June 21.
Programing also includes a panel of women editors, including Sandra Adair (Before Midnight, Bernie), Maryann Brandon (Star Trek,...
- 5/8/2013
- by Amanda Taylor
- EW - Inside Movies
In this episode of ABC’s “Behind the Ballot” interview series, former EW writer Adam B. Vary sits down with four successful film editors to talk about how cuts and transitions — what one refers to as “the final rewrite” of a film — can make or break its awards season potential.
“I think your mind kind of works like a puzzle,” says Pamela Martin, who has edited films like Hitchcock, The Fighter, and Little Miss Sunshine. “It’s finding the right pieces of performances and weaving all the elements together to make it seamless.”
Watch the full interview with Martin, Lynzee Klingman...
“I think your mind kind of works like a puzzle,” says Pamela Martin, who has edited films like Hitchcock, The Fighter, and Little Miss Sunshine. “It’s finding the right pieces of performances and weaving all the elements together to make it seamless.”
Watch the full interview with Martin, Lynzee Klingman...
- 2/16/2013
- by Grady Smith
- EW - Inside Movies
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) will present “Oscar’s Docs, 1955–2002: American Stories” from February 2 through February 14 at MoMA in New York City. This annual collaboration highlights Oscar®–winning and nominated short and feature-length documentary films that explore the history, culture and politics of the United States. All prints are from the Academy Film Archive’s collection. The filmmakers will be present at several screenings (visit MoMA.org for details).
The schedule is as follows:
Sat., Feb. 2, 2 p.m.
American Dream (1990)
Barbara Kopple. This stirring film depicts the effects of a mid-1980s strike by the workers of a Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota. 98 min.
Sat., Feb. 2, 8 p.m.
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994)
Freida Lee Mock. A profile of Maya Lin, the young artist who created the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington and other politically motivated artistic creations.
The schedule is as follows:
Sat., Feb. 2, 2 p.m.
American Dream (1990)
Barbara Kopple. This stirring film depicts the effects of a mid-1980s strike by the workers of a Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota. 98 min.
Sat., Feb. 2, 8 p.m.
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994)
Freida Lee Mock. A profile of Maya Lin, the young artist who created the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington and other politically motivated artistic creations.
- 1/29/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
For Oscar fans that just can’t seem to win their Oscar ballot pool because of that one craft category, Oscar.com today launched “Behind The Ballot,” a six-part video series that explores how Academy members view and ultimately determine who’ll win Oscars for Production Design, Cinematography, Makeup and Hairstyling, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Costume Design. Hosted by Entertainment Weekly’s Geoff Boucher, Anthony Breznican and Adam Vary, each episode, shot in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Margaret Herrick Library, features a panel of experts discussing what it takes to be a strong contender in each category. A new video will debut each week for the next five weeks on www.oscar.com, as well as on the official Oscars app for iPhone, iPad, Android and Kindle Fire devices. Link to embeddable video file: http://oscar.go.com/video/PL55161146/_m_VD55266156 Expert...
- 1/24/2013
- by hnblog@hollywoodnews.com (Hollywood News Team)
- Hollywoodnews.com
It’s that time of year. Happy Thanksgiving from Fox Searchlight’s Hitchcock! Send your family and friends a Hitchcock-themed Thanksgiving e-card and be thankful that the film will be opening in select theaters this Friday, November 23rd. It’s a entertaining and clever telling of how Psycho was made.
Create Your Hitchcock E-Card: http://www.hitchcockthanksgiving.com
Skip the Black Friday madness and discover the shocking truth behind a film that will make history once again. Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren star in Sacha Gervasi’s mind opening portrayal of a legendary couple who together created an art form and story like never before.
For the first time, director Sacha Gervasi.s Hitchcock tells the making of the spine-tingling 1960 thriller, Psycho, which would become the director.s most controversial and legendary film. When the tumultuous, against-the-odds production was over, nothing about movies would ever be the same . but...
Create Your Hitchcock E-Card: http://www.hitchcockthanksgiving.com
Skip the Black Friday madness and discover the shocking truth behind a film that will make history once again. Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren star in Sacha Gervasi’s mind opening portrayal of a legendary couple who together created an art form and story like never before.
For the first time, director Sacha Gervasi.s Hitchcock tells the making of the spine-tingling 1960 thriller, Psycho, which would become the director.s most controversial and legendary film. When the tumultuous, against-the-odds production was over, nothing about movies would ever be the same . but...
- 11/20/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Lurking behind Alfred Hitchcock, cinema.s .master of suspense. . the extraordinary film icon known for orchestrating some of the most intense experiences of menace and intrigue audiences have ever seen, was a hidden side: his creatively explosive romance with his steadfast wife and filmmaking collaborator, Alma Reville.
Now, for the first time, director Sacha Gervasi.s Hitchcock lays bare their captivating and complex love story. It does so through the sly, shadowy lens of their most daring filmmaking adventure: the making of the spine-tingling 1960 thriller, Psycho, which would become the director.s most controversial and legendary film. When the tumultuous, against-the-odds production was over, nothing about movies would ever be the same . but few realized that it took two to pull it off.
Gervasi and a cast that includes Academy Award® winners Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren starring as Alfred and Alma spin a story rife with surprises, comic ironies...
Now, for the first time, director Sacha Gervasi.s Hitchcock lays bare their captivating and complex love story. It does so through the sly, shadowy lens of their most daring filmmaking adventure: the making of the spine-tingling 1960 thriller, Psycho, which would become the director.s most controversial and legendary film. When the tumultuous, against-the-odds production was over, nothing about movies would ever be the same . but few realized that it took two to pull it off.
Gervasi and a cast that includes Academy Award® winners Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren starring as Alfred and Alma spin a story rife with surprises, comic ironies...
- 11/19/2012
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Photo By Suzanne Tenner/Fox Searchlight
Lurking behind Alfred Hitchcock, cinema.s .master of suspense. — the extraordinary film icon known for orchestrating some of the most intense experiences of menace and intrigue audiences have ever seen, was a hidden side: his creatively explosive romance with his steadfast wife and filmmaking collaborator, Alma Reville.
Now, for the first time, Sacha Gervasi.s Hitchcock lays bare their captivating and complex love story. It does so through the sly, shadowy lens of their most daring filmmaking adventure: the making of the spine-tingling 1960 thriller, Psycho, which would become the director.s most controversial and legendary film. When the tumultuous, against-the-odds production was over, nothing about movies would ever be the same . but few realized that it took two to pull it off.
Director Sacha Gervasi on the set of Hitchcock
Gervasi and a cast that includes Academy Award® winners Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren...
Lurking behind Alfred Hitchcock, cinema.s .master of suspense. — the extraordinary film icon known for orchestrating some of the most intense experiences of menace and intrigue audiences have ever seen, was a hidden side: his creatively explosive romance with his steadfast wife and filmmaking collaborator, Alma Reville.
Now, for the first time, Sacha Gervasi.s Hitchcock lays bare their captivating and complex love story. It does so through the sly, shadowy lens of their most daring filmmaking adventure: the making of the spine-tingling 1960 thriller, Psycho, which would become the director.s most controversial and legendary film. When the tumultuous, against-the-odds production was over, nothing about movies would ever be the same . but few realized that it took two to pull it off.
Director Sacha Gervasi on the set of Hitchcock
Gervasi and a cast that includes Academy Award® winners Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren...
- 11/12/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Chicago – It’s been six years since award-winning music video helmers Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris released their feature directorial debut, “Little Miss Sunshine.” It went on to become one of 2006’s most beloved sleeper hits and garnered a busload of accolades, including two Oscars. Yet it took many years for the couple to find the perfect script for their sophomore effort.
They found it in Zoe Kazan’s remarkably inventive debut screenplay, “Ruby Sparks,” which tells the story of a lovesick author, Calvin, whose dream girl suddenly materializes in his apartment. Kazan also happens to be the real-life girlfriend of Paul Dano, who memorably played the brooding, oft-silent teen Dwayne in “Sunshine.” The film stars Dano as Calvin, Kazan as his tailor made love, Ruby Sparks, Chris Messina as Calvin’s bewildered brother, and a talent-packed ensemble including Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas and Steve Coogan. Hollywood Chicago spoke with...
They found it in Zoe Kazan’s remarkably inventive debut screenplay, “Ruby Sparks,” which tells the story of a lovesick author, Calvin, whose dream girl suddenly materializes in his apartment. Kazan also happens to be the real-life girlfriend of Paul Dano, who memorably played the brooding, oft-silent teen Dwayne in “Sunshine.” The film stars Dano as Calvin, Kazan as his tailor made love, Ruby Sparks, Chris Messina as Calvin’s bewildered brother, and a talent-packed ensemble including Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas and Steve Coogan. Hollywood Chicago spoke with...
- 7/24/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released its annual list of invited new members, and it’s clear they’re continuing to try to make their membership younger. On the list alongside veterans like John Hawkes and David Duchovny are a slew of twentysomethings, including Mia Wasikowska, Ellen Page, Jesse Eisenberg, Mila Kunis, Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Lawrence, and Rooney Mara. The Board of Governors also decided to extend an invitation to Restrepo codirector Tim Hetherington, the first time Academy membership has been bestowed posthumously. As a side note, it’s also a hoot to now say the phrase Oscar voter Russell Brand.
- 6/17/2011
- by Dave Karger
- EW - Inside Movies
Beverly Hills, CA . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 178 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2011 to the Academy.s roster of members.
.These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,. said Academy President Tom Sherak. .Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks..
The Academy.s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 211 new members in 2011, but as in other recent years, several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
In an unprecedented gesture, the list of new members includes documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, who was killed in action in Libya in April.
.These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,. said Academy President Tom Sherak. .Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks..
The Academy.s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 211 new members in 2011, but as in other recent years, several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
In an unprecedented gesture, the list of new members includes documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, who was killed in action in Libya in April.
- 6/17/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
HollywoodNews.com: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 178 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2011 to the Academy’s roster of members.
“These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks.”
The Academy’s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 211 new members in 2011, but as in other recent years, several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
In an unprecedented gesture, the list of new members includes documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, who was killed in action in Libya in April.
“These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks.”
The Academy’s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 211 new members in 2011, but as in other recent years, several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
In an unprecedented gesture, the list of new members includes documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, who was killed in action in Libya in April.
- 6/17/2011
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
Did the Oscars surprise anyone? Sci-Fi fans, we are of course still sore over Christopher Nolan’s snub for Best Director, but Inception still was recognized with four Oscars. Genre highlights from the 83rd Academy Awards also include Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland sweeping away the two coveted design awards in Art Direction and Costume Design and The Wolfman won for Best Makeup. Pixar‘s Toy Story 3 took home Best Animated Film and Best Song.
This Sunday’s broadcast of the 83rd Academy Awards on ABC attempted to reach out to a “younger crowd” with its choice of hosts, Anne Hathaway and James Franco, but the live broadcast dropped 9% in overall ratings compared to last year’s broadcast and down 12% in the 18-49 adult demographic. Still, the show entertained 37.6 million viewers with a show full of exposition to educate new viewers about the history of past Oscar winners.
Check...
This Sunday’s broadcast of the 83rd Academy Awards on ABC attempted to reach out to a “younger crowd” with its choice of hosts, Anne Hathaway and James Franco, but the live broadcast dropped 9% in overall ratings compared to last year’s broadcast and down 12% in the 18-49 adult demographic. Still, the show entertained 37.6 million viewers with a show full of exposition to educate new viewers about the history of past Oscar winners.
Check...
- 3/1/2011
- by Lillian 'zenbitch' Standefer
- ScifiMafia
A full list of winners and nominees for the Oscars 2011
Best motion picture of the year
Winner: The King's Speech
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Winner: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Winner: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)
Achievement in directing
Winner: Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
David O Russell (The Fighter)
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (True Grit)
Art direction
Winner: Alice in Wonderland - Robert Stromberg (production design), Karen O'Hara (set decoration)
Harry Potter and the...
Best motion picture of the year
Winner: The King's Speech
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Winner: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Winner: Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)
Achievement in directing
Winner: Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
David O Russell (The Fighter)
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (True Grit)
Art direction
Winner: Alice in Wonderland - Robert Stromberg (production design), Karen O'Hara (set decoration)
Harry Potter and the...
- 2/28/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
Anne Hathaway and James Franco at the 2011 Oscars
Photo: A.M.P.A.S. Wow, I started covering this year's Oscars way back in April 2010 and last night it all came to a close. And what's my immediate reaction? Beyond a sense of relief that we can finally put 2010 behind us and begin looking forward, I'd say the show itself was flat. I do, however, like how the awards were spread around rather than one film taking them all.
I know the immediate reaction is to complain when your favorite film didn't win Best Picture, but just look at the results. Push the idea of Best Picture out of your mind and two films led the pack with four Oscars, three for another and three others won two. That's a nice result if you ask me. The King's Speech won 4 Oscars Inception won 4 Oscars The Social Network won 3 Oscars The Fighter...
Photo: A.M.P.A.S. Wow, I started covering this year's Oscars way back in April 2010 and last night it all came to a close. And what's my immediate reaction? Beyond a sense of relief that we can finally put 2010 behind us and begin looking forward, I'd say the show itself was flat. I do, however, like how the awards were spread around rather than one film taking them all.
I know the immediate reaction is to complain when your favorite film didn't win Best Picture, but just look at the results. Push the idea of Best Picture out of your mind and two films led the pack with four Oscars, three for another and three others won two. That's a nice result if you ask me. The King's Speech won 4 Oscars Inception won 4 Oscars The Social Network won 3 Oscars The Fighter...
- 2/28/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
If you missed the broadcast of the 83rd Academy Awards, or you can't remember who won what, here is a list of all the winners in their categories. The King's Speech and Inception both tied for the most Oscars won, which was four statues each. However, whereas Inception took home awards for technical categories (Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound and Best Cinematography), The King's Speech won three of the top four categories (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay).
Best Picture:
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight Pictures), Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers The Fighter (Paramount Pictures), David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers Inception (Warner Bros. Pictures), Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers The Kids Are All Right (Focus Features), Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company), Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin,...
Best Picture:
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight Pictures), Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers The Fighter (Paramount Pictures), David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers Inception (Warner Bros. Pictures), Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers The Kids Are All Right (Focus Features), Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company), Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin,...
- 2/28/2011
- by Patrick Sauriol
- Corona's Coming Attractions
In a surge reminiscent of its late-breaking Oscar season momentum, The King’s Speech triumphed at the 2011 Academy Awards, winning three of the final four categories including Best Picture, Best Actor (Colin Firth), and Best Director (Tom Hooper). The magnificent British drama took home four golden statues on Sunday, tieing Christopher Nolan’s Inception for the most Oscars, and narrowly beating critic favorite and three-time winner The Social Network.
Hosted by a smug, sleepy James Franco and a cheery, happy-to-be-there Anne Hathaway, the 3+ hour ceremony felt like an eternity. The next-generation actors were supposed to liven what is traditionally a stuffy telecast, but their monologue and subsequent appearances lacked the classy zingers of Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin’s banter or the pep of Hugh Jackman’s show.
Further attempts to appeal to a populist crowd, such as autotuning some of 2010’s big blockbusters or quipping about Charlie Sheen, fell flat,...
Hosted by a smug, sleepy James Franco and a cheery, happy-to-be-there Anne Hathaway, the 3+ hour ceremony felt like an eternity. The next-generation actors were supposed to liven what is traditionally a stuffy telecast, but their monologue and subsequent appearances lacked the classy zingers of Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin’s banter or the pep of Hugh Jackman’s show.
Further attempts to appeal to a populist crowd, such as autotuning some of 2010’s big blockbusters or quipping about Charlie Sheen, fell flat,...
- 2/28/2011
- by Jeff Leins
- newsinfilm.com
Well I certainly don't think 2011 will go down as one of the more memorable years in Oscar history; not only were the winners fairly predictable, but the ceremony itself seemed dull and uninspired. Despite an attempt to add a "youthful edge" to the Oscars this year, it was almost completely lacking in comedy, excitement or entertainment. Hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway seemed to be dreadfully unprepared and lacking material, leaving Franco to put up a facade of aloof detachment while Hathaway simply attempted to win everyone over with cuteness. The King's Speech went on to secure most of the major awards including Best Picture, Director, Actor and Original Screenplay, reinforcing the stuffy British Oscar stereotype. For the second time David Fincher was denied Best Director, but The Social Network did end up getting awards for Film Editing, Original Score and Adapted Screenplay. Natalie Portman still managed to snag Best Actress for Black Swan,...
- 2/28/2011
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Javier Bardem in "Biutiful" (Roadside Attractions) Jeff Bridges in "True Grit" (Paramount) Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Colin Firth in "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company) James Franco in "127 Hours" (Fox Searchlight) Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Christian Bale in "The Fighter" (Paramount) John Hawkes in "Winter’s Bone" (Roadside Attractions) Jeremy Renner in "The Town" (Warner Bros.) Mark Ruffalo in "The Kids Are All Right" (Focus Features) Geoffrey Rush in "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company) Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right" (Focus Features) Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole" (Lionsgate) Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter’s Bone" (Roadside Attractions) Natalie Portman in "Black Swan" (Fox Searchlight) Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine" (The Weinstein Company) Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Amy Adams...
- 2/28/2011
- by TheInsider
- TheInsider.com
Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" lorded over the festivities at the 83rd annual Academy Awards. The film, nominated for 12 Oscars, won 4 including Best Picture, Director for Tom Hooper, Actor for King Colin Firth, and Original Screenplay for David Seidler.
David Fincher's "The Social Network" took home 3 awards including Best Film Editing, Original Score for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin.
(For my minute-by-minute look at the 2011 Oscars, please click here, trust me, it's fun!)
As expected, Natalie Portman took home Oscar gold for her performance as a delusional ballerina in "Black Swan." "The Fighter" yielded the Best Supporting performances of the year with Christian Bale winning Best Supporting Actor and Melissa Leo taking home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
Christopher Nolan's "Inception" took home most of the technical categories including Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Cinematography for Wally Pfister.
David Fincher's "The Social Network" took home 3 awards including Best Film Editing, Original Score for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Aaron Sorkin.
(For my minute-by-minute look at the 2011 Oscars, please click here, trust me, it's fun!)
As expected, Natalie Portman took home Oscar gold for her performance as a delusional ballerina in "Black Swan." "The Fighter" yielded the Best Supporting performances of the year with Christian Bale winning Best Supporting Actor and Melissa Leo taking home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
Christopher Nolan's "Inception" took home most of the technical categories including Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Cinematography for Wally Pfister.
- 2/28/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
The night has finally arrived — Oscars. So will Christian Bale finally take home gold? Will The King’s Speech live up to the massive expectations? All are revealed here and now.
The 83rd Academy Awards winners (refresh the page for real-time updates):
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
Best Foreign Language Film
Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Algeria)
Incendies (Canada)
Winner: In a Better World (Denmark)
Dogtooth (Greece)
Biutiful (Mexico)
Best Original Screenplay
Another Year,...
The 83rd Academy Awards winners (refresh the page for real-time updates):
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
Best Foreign Language Film
Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Algeria)
Incendies (Canada)
Winner: In a Better World (Denmark)
Dogtooth (Greece)
Biutiful (Mexico)
Best Original Screenplay
Another Year,...
- 2/28/2011
- by Mike Bruno
- EW - Inside Movies
It’s Oscar time as the 83rd Academy Awards are about to start in Los Angeles and though the whispers on the wind blowing through Hollywood are telling us that these are the most easily predicted Oscars in years I’m still holding out for one or two surprises.
Our man Ian Gilchrist offered his views on the big awards and whatever happens in the event the world and his dog will be liveblogging and twitter is almost certain to groan worryingly under the weight of the #oscar discussion, we’ll be doing our bit and updating this page with the winners as they are announced, but why not join in the fun and head on out to Twittersville and follow along with @heyuguysblog. Seriously, those cool kids? It’s where they are.
So, while the red carpet is cleansed of paparazzi and our attention is drawn inside, keep your...
Our man Ian Gilchrist offered his views on the big awards and whatever happens in the event the world and his dog will be liveblogging and twitter is almost certain to groan worryingly under the weight of the #oscar discussion, we’ll be doing our bit and updating this page with the winners as they are announced, but why not join in the fun and head on out to Twittersville and follow along with @heyuguysblog. Seriously, those cool kids? It’s where they are.
So, while the red carpet is cleansed of paparazzi and our attention is drawn inside, keep your...
- 2/28/2011
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
After what seems like an eternity, the Oscar race is finally coming to an end. The 2011 Academy Awards are presented tonight on ABC starting at 8Pm Est and hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway. We will update the winners live below, bumping up the latest wins to the top of the page. For more commentary follow us on Twitter: @TheFilmStage.
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening (The Kids are All Right)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Michelle Williams...
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening (The Kids are All Right)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Michelle Williams...
- 2/27/2011
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Football has the Super Bowl, baseball has the World Series, soccer has the World Cup and movies have the Academy Awards. Each year, Hollywood's schedule more or less culminates with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences handing out Oscars for the year's best films and Sunday, for the 83rd straight time, it happened again. Hosts James Franco [1] and Anne Hathaway [2] helped some of the most famous actors and actresses [3] in the world hand out the hardware for the best of 2010. Leading the pack with twelve total nominations [4] was The King's Speech, followed by True Grit with ten, Inception and The Social Network with eight, The Fighter with seven, 127 Hours with six, Black Swan and Toy Story 3 with five and The Kids Are all Right and Winter's Bone with four. And those just so happen to be the 10 films nominated for Best Picture. Did your favorite film take home an Oscar?...
- 2/27/2011
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
It's hard to predict the winners of this year's Oscars because there is no clear-cut favorite. Last year, Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" started strong during awards season and maintained its dominance all the way to its Oscar best picture victory. This year, David Fincher's "The Social Network" triumphed in the beginning but the Oscar buzz surrounding the movie is slowly fading away.
But I still have my favorites and I will attempt to handicap the Oscars. Here are my predictions of who should take home Oscar gold at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.
Best Picture
.Black Swan. Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
.The Fighter. David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
.Inception. Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
.The Kids Are All Right. Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
.The King's Speech. Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
.127 Hours. Christian Colson,...
But I still have my favorites and I will attempt to handicap the Oscars. Here are my predictions of who should take home Oscar gold at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.
Best Picture
.Black Swan. Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
.The Fighter. David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
.Inception. Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
.The Kids Are All Right. Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
.The King's Speech. Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
.127 Hours. Christian Colson,...
- 2/27/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
It’s that time of year once again, the crème de la crème of Hollywood are pressing their gowns and tuxedos as we speak in preperation for the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony! We’ll be reporting on the event live right here, updating this post as the night develops. We’ll also be tweeting live too so be sure to follow @FilmShaft on Twitter to be kept up to date with tonight’s festivites!
Below the live update section is the full nomination list for The Oscars 2011, as they are announced they will be highlighted Red and I’ll be providing my feedback in the live update section. So put the wine in the fridge, get the corn popping and get ready for another night of glitz and glamour!
Live Updates
01:22Pm – After frequent attempts to get my wireless up to speed (quite literally) the stream is no longer...
Below the live update section is the full nomination list for The Oscars 2011, as they are announced they will be highlighted Red and I’ll be providing my feedback in the live update section. So put the wine in the fridge, get the corn popping and get ready for another night of glitz and glamour!
Live Updates
01:22Pm – After frequent attempts to get my wireless up to speed (quite literally) the stream is no longer...
- 2/27/2011
- by Craig Sharp
- FilmShaft.com
This Sunday night, all of America will convene into our metaphoric “Lady Caves” to watch the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, hosted by James Franco and Anne “No Seriously” Hathaway.. Before we even continue, you should be following BWEtv, Me and Dan on Twitter, as we will be Livetweeting the festivities this Sunday night. The Oscars are looking to shape up to be one of the most predictable Oscars ever!! So predictable, in fact, that our minds have braintraveled over to the offices of PricewaterhouseCoopers and seen the winners list! Kind of like the aliens in Independence Day, only the only resources we’re stealing are Hollywood answers. Here are your winners!! This is like getting the Sports Almanac in Back to the Future II before the games, people. Fill those ballots out now. Actor in a Leading Role * Javier Bardem in “Biutiful” * Jeff Bridges in “True Grit” * Jesse Eisenberg in...
- 2/25/2011
- by Michelle Collins
- BestWeekEver
Mark Wahlberg steps up to the ring in David O. Russell's inspirational masterpiece.
The Set Up:
"The Pride of Lowell" Dicky Ecklund Jr. (Christian Bale) has hit rock bottom. Once the famous boxer who pushed down Sugar Ray Leonard during a fight, Dicky is now a crack addict blindly grasping for a comeback that is never to happen. So instead of improving his boxing career, Dicky turns to his brother Micky (Mark Wahlberg), an equally talented boxer on the rise. Together, the two will work their way to the top.
Cazt: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, and Jack McGee
Directed by: David O. Russell
Written by: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson
What is it nominated for?
Best Picture, Best Director (David O. Russell), Best Supporting Actor (Christian Bale), Best Supporting Actress (Melissa Leo), Best Supporting Actress (Amy Adams), Best Original Screenplay (Scott Silver,...
The Set Up:
"The Pride of Lowell" Dicky Ecklund Jr. (Christian Bale) has hit rock bottom. Once the famous boxer who pushed down Sugar Ray Leonard during a fight, Dicky is now a crack addict blindly grasping for a comeback that is never to happen. So instead of improving his boxing career, Dicky turns to his brother Micky (Mark Wahlberg), an equally talented boxer on the rise. Together, the two will work their way to the top.
Cazt: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, and Jack McGee
Directed by: David O. Russell
Written by: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson
What is it nominated for?
Best Picture, Best Director (David O. Russell), Best Supporting Actor (Christian Bale), Best Supporting Actress (Melissa Leo), Best Supporting Actress (Amy Adams), Best Original Screenplay (Scott Silver,...
- 2/25/2011
- Cinelinx
It's hard to predict the winners of this year's Oscars because there is no clear-cut favorite. Last year, Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" started strong during awards season and maintained its dominance all the way to its Oscar best picture victory. This year, David Fincher's "The Social Network" triumphed in the beginning but the Oscar buzz surrounding the movie is slowly fading away.
But I still have my favorites and I will attempt to handicap the Oscars. Here are my predictions of who should take home Oscar gold at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.
Best Picture
.Black Swan. Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
.The Fighter. David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
.Inception. Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
.The Kids Are All Right. Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
.The King's Speech. Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
.127 Hours. Christian Colson,...
But I still have my favorites and I will attempt to handicap the Oscars. Here are my predictions of who should take home Oscar gold at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.
Best Picture
.Black Swan. Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
.The Fighter. David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
.Inception. Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
.The Kids Are All Right. Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
.The King's Speech. Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
.127 Hours. Christian Colson,...
- 2/24/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Photo: AMPAS // RopeofSilicon.com The Oscar voting period for the 2011 Oscars ended yesterday at 5 p.m. Pst and the scramble for Oscar positioning continued up until the final bell, notably in the Art Direction race, which, if you haven't heard yet, wait until we get to that category in this prediction piece. Things got a bit "steamy" in Lionel Logue's office yesterday. This, of course, is on top of everything else The King's Speech has been facing since it became the perceived front-runner shortly after it received 12 Oscar nominations, and even one day before.
But all that is in the past. The ballots have been turned in and there is no turning back. Now it's our turn to predict who will win.
In this article I will give my predictions in all categories except for Documentary Short Subject, Live Action Short and Animated Short. I have not yet had a chance to watch those,...
But all that is in the past. The ballots have been turned in and there is no turning back. Now it's our turn to predict who will win.
In this article I will give my predictions in all categories except for Documentary Short Subject, Live Action Short and Animated Short. I have not yet had a chance to watch those,...
- 2/23/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
"The Social Network" editors, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter, won the Ace Eddie Award for Best Edited Dramatic Feature at the 61st Annual Ace Eddie Awards. The David Fincher film beat "Black Swan," "The Fighter," "Inception," and "The King's Speech." We'll see if "The Social Network" will beat those movies (except for "Inception" which was not nominated in favor of "127 Hours") at the upcoming 83rd Academy Awards.
In the feature category for Musical or Comedy, Chris Lebenzon of "Alice in Wonderland" took home the trophy, winning over "Easy A," "The Kids Are All Right," "Made in Dagenham," and "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World."
In the Best Edited Animated Featuer Film category, surprise, surprise, "Toy Story 3" won over "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Despicable Me."
Tom Fulford & Chris King of "Exit Through the Gift Shop" won for Best Edited Documentary beating "Inside Job" and "Waiting for Superman."
The 61st Annual...
In the feature category for Musical or Comedy, Chris Lebenzon of "Alice in Wonderland" took home the trophy, winning over "Easy A," "The Kids Are All Right," "Made in Dagenham," and "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World."
In the Best Edited Animated Featuer Film category, surprise, surprise, "Toy Story 3" won over "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Despicable Me."
Tom Fulford & Chris King of "Exit Through the Gift Shop" won for Best Edited Documentary beating "Inside Job" and "Waiting for Superman."
The 61st Annual...
- 2/21/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Another feather is now in the cap of David Fincher's The Social Network and this is a big one as the American Cinema Editors have awarded it and its editing team, consisting of Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, top honors in the drama category. Network beat out fellow nominees Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum), The Fighter (Pamela Martin), Inception (Lee Smith) and The King's Speech (Tariq Anwar). As for the Oscar nominations, by comparison, the only difference in nominees is 127 Hours was nominated rather than Inception.
The Eddie nominees were announced on January 14, and back then I wrote, "If Network gets the win we can pretty much close the door on the Oscars." I also mentioned the notable statistic that six out of the last ten winners of the Eddie in the Best Feature Film (Dramatic) category have gone on to win Oscar's Best Picture. On top of that, the...
The Eddie nominees were announced on January 14, and back then I wrote, "If Network gets the win we can pretty much close the door on the Oscars." I also mentioned the notable statistic that six out of the last ten winners of the Eddie in the Best Feature Film (Dramatic) category have gone on to win Oscar's Best Picture. On top of that, the...
- 2/20/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Los Angeles Times: Michael Palin, an actor who is best known for his BAFTA Award winning performance as a stutterering buffoon in “A Fish Called Wanda” (1988), pens an op-ed in the New York Times in which he shares the story of his father’s real battle with a stutter, his own work to help those who suffer from the affliction, and his feelings about the importance of “The King’s Speech.”
Thompson on Hollywood: Anne Thompson suggests that Helena Bonham Carter, a best supporting actress Oscar nominee for her performance as the Queen Mum in “The King’s Speech,” has gained ground on presumptive frontrunners Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”) and Hailee Steinfeld (“True Grit”) because of her witty behavior at the recent Oscar nominees luncheon and acceptance speech at the BAFTA Awards.
Editors Guild Magazine: Michael Goldman profiles Pamela Martin, the Oscar-nominated editor of “The Fighter,” who previously worked with...
Thompson on Hollywood: Anne Thompson suggests that Helena Bonham Carter, a best supporting actress Oscar nominee for her performance as the Queen Mum in “The King’s Speech,” has gained ground on presumptive frontrunners Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”) and Hailee Steinfeld (“True Grit”) because of her witty behavior at the recent Oscar nominees luncheon and acceptance speech at the BAFTA Awards.
Editors Guild Magazine: Michael Goldman profiles Pamela Martin, the Oscar-nominated editor of “The Fighter,” who previously worked with...
- 2/17/2011
- by Scott Feinberg
- Scott Feinberg
By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: You never can tell when that first Oscar nod will arrive. So on the morning that nominations for the 83rd annual Academy Awards were announced, Pamela Martin admits that she was in bed with the TV off.
“When I heard my husband’s cell phone ping at 6 a.m., and then I heard mine downstairs start going ping ping ping, I figured there was some good news,” Martin said with a big laugh.
The best kind of news, in fact. Martin received her first Oscar nomination for her work editing David O. Russell’s Best Picture-nominated “The Fighter.” And while she was able to bask in the glow of industry recognition for a few minutes, reality immediately pulled this grounded professional right back down to earth.
“I work full-time, and I’m a mother,” Martin said. “Even the morning of the nominations, I started...
Hollywoodnews.com: You never can tell when that first Oscar nod will arrive. So on the morning that nominations for the 83rd annual Academy Awards were announced, Pamela Martin admits that she was in bed with the TV off.
“When I heard my husband’s cell phone ping at 6 a.m., and then I heard mine downstairs start going ping ping ping, I figured there was some good news,” Martin said with a big laugh.
The best kind of news, in fact. Martin received her first Oscar nomination for her work editing David O. Russell’s Best Picture-nominated “The Fighter.” And while she was able to bask in the glow of industry recognition for a few minutes, reality immediately pulled this grounded professional right back down to earth.
“I work full-time, and I’m a mother,” Martin said. “Even the morning of the nominations, I started...
- 2/16/2011
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
The Oscar nominations have been announced and it’s great to see Inception, Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, Iron Man 2, Tangled, Tron, and Wolfman being honored this year. This year’s nominations hit the familiar marks that the sci-fi genre is most associated with in the categories of special effects, art direction, animation, costuming, and make-up.
Inception is the most visibly well-rounded in achievements in film-making and leads the sci-fi/fantasy pack with eight nominations, though director Christopher Nolan was snubbed in the Best Director nominations. Toy Story 3 follows with an impressive five nominations, and both films garnered nominations in the Best Picture category.
Check out the breakdown of the nominations by film, followed by a listing of all nominations by category. [Sci-fi nominees in bold]
Sci-fi / Fantasy Nominations By Picture
“Alice in Wonderland,” a Walt Disney Pictures Production (Walt Disney) (3 nominations)
Art direction...
Inception is the most visibly well-rounded in achievements in film-making and leads the sci-fi/fantasy pack with eight nominations, though director Christopher Nolan was snubbed in the Best Director nominations. Toy Story 3 follows with an impressive five nominations, and both films garnered nominations in the Best Picture category.
Check out the breakdown of the nominations by film, followed by a listing of all nominations by category. [Sci-fi nominees in bold]
Sci-fi / Fantasy Nominations By Picture
“Alice in Wonderland,” a Walt Disney Pictures Production (Walt Disney) (3 nominations)
Art direction...
- 1/28/2011
- by Lillian 'zenbitch' Standefer
- ScifiMafia
The final countdown to the Oscars has begun with yesterday’s announcement of the nominees. Soon we’ll know which are the best movies of the year (that aren’t horrors or comedies, that were released in the last 6 months, that had a studio awards push behind them, and that consider a decade-long bias toward British actors playing monarchs). Here are the contenders in the main categories.
Best Picture
“The Social Network”
“The King’s Speech”
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“True Grit”
“127 Hours”
“Inception”
“Toy Story 3”
“Winter’s Bone”
“The Kids Are All Right”
Directing
“The King’s Speech” Tom Hooper
“The Social Network” David Fincher
“Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
“The Fighter” David O. Russell
“True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech...
Best Picture
“The Social Network”
“The King’s Speech”
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“True Grit”
“127 Hours”
“Inception”
“Toy Story 3”
“Winter’s Bone”
“The Kids Are All Right”
Directing
“The King’s Speech” Tom Hooper
“The Social Network” David Fincher
“Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
“The Fighter” David O. Russell
“True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech...
- 1/27/2011
- by Sheridan Passell
- Movie-moron.com
Like we promised yesterday, the 83rd annual Academy Award nominations have been announced this morning -- following yesterdays Razzie nominees funnily enough! Announced at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles, California by President Tom Sherak and last year's Best Supporting Actress winner Mo'Nique. So this means that the winners of these categories, will go on to be announced at the event itself - hosted by 2011 nominees Anne Hathaway, and James Franco (unfortunately Rickey Gervais was busy) - which is held February 27th.
Looking at the nominations for 2011, it looks like The King's Speech and The Fighter are looking at some good wins, with 12-13 nods each -- along with, of course The Social Network. But whats got me, is the lack of nominations for Nolan's Inception -- which was bloody fantastic, and my second favorite of the year.
It just seems that they are over shadowing it with dramas,...
Looking at the nominations for 2011, it looks like The King's Speech and The Fighter are looking at some good wins, with 12-13 nods each -- along with, of course The Social Network. But whats got me, is the lack of nominations for Nolan's Inception -- which was bloody fantastic, and my second favorite of the year.
It just seems that they are over shadowing it with dramas,...
- 1/26/2011
- by cinemasharkz@gmail.com (Mr. Bruce)
- Cinema Sharks
Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech lead the Oscar nominations this morning with twelve mentions, making the regal drama the film to beat at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards on February 27.
The Coen brothers’ True Grit followed closely with ten nominations and early frontrunner The Social Network finished with eight. “Ten seems like an awful lot,” the Coen brothers said in a joint statement Tuesday. ”We don’t want to take anyone else’s.”
All three were included in the “Best Picture” category, as expected, along with several other awards shoo-ins like The Kids Are All Right and Toy Story 3 (only the third animated film ever in the category). Winter’s Bone was the only surprise in the field of ten, possibly edging out Ben Affleck’s critically-acclaimed The Town or Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, which were both snubbed from the ceremony entirely.
Several surprises...
The Coen brothers’ True Grit followed closely with ten nominations and early frontrunner The Social Network finished with eight. “Ten seems like an awful lot,” the Coen brothers said in a joint statement Tuesday. ”We don’t want to take anyone else’s.”
All three were included in the “Best Picture” category, as expected, along with several other awards shoo-ins like The Kids Are All Right and Toy Story 3 (only the third animated film ever in the category). Winter’s Bone was the only surprise in the field of ten, possibly edging out Ben Affleck’s critically-acclaimed The Town or Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go, which were both snubbed from the ceremony entirely.
Several surprises...
- 1/25/2011
- by Jeff Leins
- newsinfilm.com
Tom Hooper’s period drama about King George VI and his debilitating speech impediment reigned supreme with 12 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Colin Firth), Best Supporting Actor (Geoffrey Rush), Best Supporting Actress (Helena Bonham Carter), Best Director, Best Cinematography (Danny Cohen) and Best Original Screenplay (David Seidler).
“True Grit” came in second place with 10 nominations.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences followed up the HFPA’s predictable Golden Globes with a slate of predictable nominations of their own. The few surprises include the omission of Ryan Gosling for his performance in “Blue Valentine,” Andrew Garfield for his performance in “The Social Network,” and Christopher Nolan for his direction of “Inception.”
Scroll down for the complete list of nominees:
Best Picture
“Black Swan”
Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin
“The Fighter”
David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg
“Inception”
Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan
“The Kids Are All Right”
Gary Gilbert,...
“True Grit” came in second place with 10 nominations.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences followed up the HFPA’s predictable Golden Globes with a slate of predictable nominations of their own. The few surprises include the omission of Ryan Gosling for his performance in “Blue Valentine,” Andrew Garfield for his performance in “The Social Network,” and Christopher Nolan for his direction of “Inception.”
Scroll down for the complete list of nominees:
Best Picture
“Black Swan”
Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin
“The Fighter”
David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg
“Inception”
Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan
“The Kids Are All Right”
Gary Gilbert,...
- 1/25/2011
- by Eric M. Armstrong
- The Moving Arts Journal
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