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The small screen adaptation of author Laura Dave's celebrated, best-selling novel "The Last Thing He Told Me" -- starring Jennifer Garner and Angourie Rice -- is almost here!
The Apple TV+ series is officially described as the story of "Hannah (played by Garner), a woman who must forge a relationship with her 16-year-old stepdaughter Bailey (played by Rice) in order to find the truth about why her husband has mysteriously disappeared." The streamer has shared a couple of first-look images for the series (including the one seen above) in order to tide fans over ahead of its premiere. Dave's original, fast-moving, heartfelt thriller novel has been much talked about since its release in 2021, where it quickly ascended to the...
The small screen adaptation of author Laura Dave's celebrated, best-selling novel "The Last Thing He Told Me" -- starring Jennifer Garner and Angourie Rice -- is almost here!
The Apple TV+ series is officially described as the story of "Hannah (played by Garner), a woman who must forge a relationship with her 16-year-old stepdaughter Bailey (played by Rice) in order to find the truth about why her husband has mysteriously disappeared." The streamer has shared a couple of first-look images for the series (including the one seen above) in order to tide fans over ahead of its premiere. Dave's original, fast-moving, heartfelt thriller novel has been much talked about since its release in 2021, where it quickly ascended to the...
- 2/4/2023
- by Fatemeh Mirjalili
- Slash Film
Gregory Itzin, who played the U.S. president in Fox’s hit series 24, died today due to complications during an emergency surgery. He was 74.
His death was announced by his son, the actor Wilke Itzin.
According to a family statement, Itzin suffered a major heart attack while onstage performing Shakespeare, as Falstaff, in 2015, and “came back only to continue to thrive in theatre, film and tv.”
“It is with an incredibly heavy heart to announce that my father Gregory Martin Itzin has passed on,” Wilke Itzin wrote on Instagram. (See the full post below).
“My friend Greg Itzin passed away today,” Cassar wrote on Twitter. “He was one of the most talented actors I had the honor to work with but more than that he was an all around great guy. He’ll be missed by his 24 family who had nothing but love & respect for him. You made your mark,...
His death was announced by his son, the actor Wilke Itzin.
According to a family statement, Itzin suffered a major heart attack while onstage performing Shakespeare, as Falstaff, in 2015, and “came back only to continue to thrive in theatre, film and tv.”
“It is with an incredibly heavy heart to announce that my father Gregory Martin Itzin has passed on,” Wilke Itzin wrote on Instagram. (See the full post below).
“My friend Greg Itzin passed away today,” Cassar wrote on Twitter. “He was one of the most talented actors I had the honor to work with but more than that he was an all around great guy. He’ll be missed by his 24 family who had nothing but love & respect for him. You made your mark,...
- 7/8/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
It took more than 13,000 plays of the Bruce Springsteen song “If I Should Fall Behind” — a live version recorded with the E Street Band at Madison Square Garden — to help Laura Dave finish her latest novel, “The Last Thing He Told Me,” which hit shelves on May 4.
The author of bestsellers like “Eight Hundred Grapes” and “The Divorce Party” listens to the same song on repeat as part of a long-held process. “I’m ritualistic to the point where there is definitely Ocd in there,” she says, “and if I stop writing mid-song, I pick up where I left off the next morning.”
The Boss is not the only marquee talent in Dave’s life these days. The new novel has been selected as May’s title of the month for Reese Witherspoon’s book club; the actor will also co-produce a scripted take at Apple TV Plus through her banner Hello Sunshine.
The author of bestsellers like “Eight Hundred Grapes” and “The Divorce Party” listens to the same song on repeat as part of a long-held process. “I’m ritualistic to the point where there is definitely Ocd in there,” she says, “and if I stop writing mid-song, I pick up where I left off the next morning.”
The Boss is not the only marquee talent in Dave’s life these days. The new novel has been selected as May’s title of the month for Reese Witherspoon’s book club; the actor will also co-produce a scripted take at Apple TV Plus through her banner Hello Sunshine.
- 5/5/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Centering on an upwardly mobile couple who resort to robbery to maintain their way of life, this comedy remake boasts an all-too-timely premise. But while the 1977 "Fun With Dick and Jane" was a reasonably diverting sendup of conspicuous consumption with a subversive if not always razor-sharp comic edge, the new version, with Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni stepping into roles originated by George Segal and Jane Fonda, replaces smart performances with tired shtick.
The film, directed by Dean Parisot ("Galaxy Quest") from a script by Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller, makes some clever updates, setting the story in 2000 -- "a long, long time ago" in that pre-war-on-terrorism bubble of supposed innocence. In the process, though, it undercuts the potential satire with obvious swipes at that barn door of a target, corporate greed, and does so in a way that feels disingenuous, phoned-in and borderline cynical. Fans of Carrey and those looking for a break from serious awards-season offerings could give "Dick and Jane" a run at the boxoffice, but it's not likely to be a spectacular heist.
In the original film, a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses SoCal exec and his wife turn to crime after he loses his aerospace job. The wise and witty comedic acting of Segal and Fonda was one of the movie's sure strengths, though it served to make its selfish protagonists more likable, perhaps, than they should be. The setup of the new film muddles things in a different way, turning its central couple into victims of corporate shenanigans. Meant to be sympathetic, they come off as shrill and hard to embrace.
A rising exec at vaguely defined media enterprise Globodyne, Dick Harper (Carrey) tosses around meaningless mouthfuls of words like "consolidator," "synergy" and "platforms." His wife, Jane (Leoni), is the quintessential harried, multitasking working mom. At Dick's urging, she quits her stressful job as a travel agent after he scores a big-league promotion to vp communications. But Dick, it turns out, won't be in the executive suite long; he's only being set up by sleazy chief financial officer Frank Bascombe (Richard Jenkins) and company topper Jack McCallister (Alec Baldwin, putting a Southern drawl on the kind of bastard he could play in his sleep). They toss their new spokesman to the cable-talk dogs -- a snarling money-show host and a deeply disappointed Ralph Nader -- just as the company disintegrates in an Enron/WorldCom-type implosion of shell companies and cooked books.
Dick and Jane's entire savings was in now-worthless Globodyne stock, and the company's demise has sent the local real estate market on a dive that would leave them owing the bank if they sold their home. Relying on visual gags and slapstick, the film milks the silliness of the situation as the Harpers remain in their superhouse sans water or electricity, among neighbors who proudly demonstrate their voice-operated Mercedes. With dozens of desperate laid-off execs vying for the same coveted positions, Dick and Jane lower their expectations with ill-fated gigs as day laborer and drug-company guinea pig. Looming foreclosure sends Dick over the edge, and soon he and the missus are wielding their son's squirt gun (no real weapons because they're not really bad) in a series of elaborately costumed stickups.
The script's jabs at Kenneth Lay and George W. Bush, however deserved, lack real sting, and Parisot puts most of his energy into dumb action, generating only a few laughs. Carrey and Leoni get the physical comedy right. They also convey the required chemistry for a couple who once scheduled dates for sex and now find lawlessness a spontaneous turn-on. But mostly they're asked to flail around in over-the-top "funny" acts.
The production package is straightforward and polished and makes good use of Los Angeles-area locations, especially the Malibu spread -- one of the many homes of Baldwin's "Walden"-quoting villain -- that bears a striking resemblance to another movie home of a hypocritical executive, that of Campbell Scott's in "The Dying Gaul".
FUN WITH DICK AND JANE
Sony Pictures Entertainment/Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures and Imagine Entertainment presenta Brian Grazer, JC 23 Entertainment and Bart/Palevsky production
Credits:
Director: Dean Parisot
Screenplay by: Judd Apatow, Nicholas Stoller
Story by: Gerald Gaiser, Judd Apatow, Nicholas Stoller
Producers: Brian Grazer, Jim Carrey
Executive producers: Jane Bartelme, Peter Bart, Max Palevsky
Director of photography: Jerzy Zielinski
Production designer: Barry Robison
Music: Theodore Shapiro
Co-producer: Kim Roth
Costume designer: Julie Weiss
Editor: Don Zimmerman
Cast:
Dick Harper: Jim Carrey
Jane Harper: Tea Leoni
Jack McCallister: Alec Baldwin
Frank Bascombe: Richard Jenkins
Veronica: Angie Harmon
Garth: John Michael Higgins
Joe: Richard Burgi
Oz: Carlos Jacott
Blanca: Gloria Garayua
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 90 minutes...
The film, directed by Dean Parisot ("Galaxy Quest") from a script by Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller, makes some clever updates, setting the story in 2000 -- "a long, long time ago" in that pre-war-on-terrorism bubble of supposed innocence. In the process, though, it undercuts the potential satire with obvious swipes at that barn door of a target, corporate greed, and does so in a way that feels disingenuous, phoned-in and borderline cynical. Fans of Carrey and those looking for a break from serious awards-season offerings could give "Dick and Jane" a run at the boxoffice, but it's not likely to be a spectacular heist.
In the original film, a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses SoCal exec and his wife turn to crime after he loses his aerospace job. The wise and witty comedic acting of Segal and Fonda was one of the movie's sure strengths, though it served to make its selfish protagonists more likable, perhaps, than they should be. The setup of the new film muddles things in a different way, turning its central couple into victims of corporate shenanigans. Meant to be sympathetic, they come off as shrill and hard to embrace.
A rising exec at vaguely defined media enterprise Globodyne, Dick Harper (Carrey) tosses around meaningless mouthfuls of words like "consolidator," "synergy" and "platforms." His wife, Jane (Leoni), is the quintessential harried, multitasking working mom. At Dick's urging, she quits her stressful job as a travel agent after he scores a big-league promotion to vp communications. But Dick, it turns out, won't be in the executive suite long; he's only being set up by sleazy chief financial officer Frank Bascombe (Richard Jenkins) and company topper Jack McCallister (Alec Baldwin, putting a Southern drawl on the kind of bastard he could play in his sleep). They toss their new spokesman to the cable-talk dogs -- a snarling money-show host and a deeply disappointed Ralph Nader -- just as the company disintegrates in an Enron/WorldCom-type implosion of shell companies and cooked books.
Dick and Jane's entire savings was in now-worthless Globodyne stock, and the company's demise has sent the local real estate market on a dive that would leave them owing the bank if they sold their home. Relying on visual gags and slapstick, the film milks the silliness of the situation as the Harpers remain in their superhouse sans water or electricity, among neighbors who proudly demonstrate their voice-operated Mercedes. With dozens of desperate laid-off execs vying for the same coveted positions, Dick and Jane lower their expectations with ill-fated gigs as day laborer and drug-company guinea pig. Looming foreclosure sends Dick over the edge, and soon he and the missus are wielding their son's squirt gun (no real weapons because they're not really bad) in a series of elaborately costumed stickups.
The script's jabs at Kenneth Lay and George W. Bush, however deserved, lack real sting, and Parisot puts most of his energy into dumb action, generating only a few laughs. Carrey and Leoni get the physical comedy right. They also convey the required chemistry for a couple who once scheduled dates for sex and now find lawlessness a spontaneous turn-on. But mostly they're asked to flail around in over-the-top "funny" acts.
The production package is straightforward and polished and makes good use of Los Angeles-area locations, especially the Malibu spread -- one of the many homes of Baldwin's "Walden"-quoting villain -- that bears a striking resemblance to another movie home of a hypocritical executive, that of Campbell Scott's in "The Dying Gaul".
FUN WITH DICK AND JANE
Sony Pictures Entertainment/Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures and Imagine Entertainment presenta Brian Grazer, JC 23 Entertainment and Bart/Palevsky production
Credits:
Director: Dean Parisot
Screenplay by: Judd Apatow, Nicholas Stoller
Story by: Gerald Gaiser, Judd Apatow, Nicholas Stoller
Producers: Brian Grazer, Jim Carrey
Executive producers: Jane Bartelme, Peter Bart, Max Palevsky
Director of photography: Jerzy Zielinski
Production designer: Barry Robison
Music: Theodore Shapiro
Co-producer: Kim Roth
Costume designer: Julie Weiss
Editor: Don Zimmerman
Cast:
Dick Harper: Jim Carrey
Jane Harper: Tea Leoni
Jack McCallister: Alec Baldwin
Frank Bascombe: Richard Jenkins
Veronica: Angie Harmon
Garth: John Michael Higgins
Joe: Richard Burgi
Oz: Carlos Jacott
Blanca: Gloria Garayua
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time -- 90 minutes...
PARK CITY -- Watching the downfall of Enron is like staring at a car wreck on the highway--it's ugly but you can't take you eyes off of it. It's not as if anyone doesn't know what happened, but to see the sleek edifice of power and wealth laid bare is shattering. This is one emperor that truly didn't have any clothes. "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" is not only a great cautionary tale, it's a civics lesson that should be seen by every concerned citizen.
Based on the best-selling book "The Smartest Guys in the Room" by Fortune magazine reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, Alex Gibney's documentary is a carefully constructed dissection of what went so terribly wrong at the seventh-largest corporation in the country. The starting point is the suicide of Enron executive Cliff Baxter in January 2002, from there the film backtracks to explore how the whole thing had been put together like a house of cards and came crashing down.
While the doc is full of juicy information and facts and figures a plenty, Gibney makes a point of keeping it on a human scale so that it is a story of personal greed, arrogance and pride as much as it is corporate malfeasance. At the center of the action, of course, is Kenneth Lay, the son of a Baptist preacher and friend to the president. Although Lay and his hand-picked CEO Jeffrey Skilling did not agree to be interviewed for the film, Gibney has impressively uncovered a treasure trove of archival material, some of it confidential company videos and audios.
Founded in 1985, Enron showed telltale signs almost from the start. In 1987 company traders were accused of padding their own accounts. Lay let it slide, setting a standard for future operations. The company motto, "Ask Why?" now seems ironic, but for years Enron managed to fool the best minds in the country, including Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, who is seen giving Lay an award for distinguished public service.
Skilling, the architect of much of the company's polices, consistently managed to sidestep rules and regulations, such as using mark-to-market accounting which granted Enron the right to basically say profits were whatever they said they were.
Perhaps the most egregious offense and one that eventually led to the company's downfall was CFO Andy Fastow's grand scheme of creating shell companies to hide Enron debt. Fastow made $45 million from phony partnerships. Even more disturbing was the manipulation of the California energy crisis in a climate of deregulation. Enron traders caught on audio tape gloat over how they are making out like bandits taking money out of the pockets of grandmothers.
It's not surprising to learn that Skilling's favorite book was "The Selfish Gene", a 1976 ultra-Darwinian tract that argues money is the only thing that matters. It certainly wasn't personal responsibility or conscience for these guys.
While it's shocking enough to see the complete moral vacuum at the center of Enron's corporate philosophy, it is even more chilling to realize how tied in it is with the Bush administration, both on a personal and professional level. Looking at the bigger picture, Gibney demonstrates that in some ways this kind of capitalism run amok has become national policy. The only problem with Enron is that it got caught. Yet in testimony after testimony, Lay (Kenny Boy to the president) and Skilling deny any wrongdoing.
Film includes some impressive interviews with ex-Enron officials, who were courageous enough to come forward. With the help of crack cinematography by Maryse Alberti and intelligent editing by Alison Ellwood, it puts the pieces of the puzzle together. It's not a pretty picture. Gibney and his team have done a commendable job in creating both a riveting story and a record for future generations.
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM
A Magnolia Pictures presents
An HDNet Films production
Credits:
Director: Alex Gibney
Writer: Gibney
Producers: Gibney, Jason Kloit, Susan Motamed
Executive producers: Mark Cuban, Todd Wagner, Joana Vicente
Director of photography: Maryse Alberti
Music: Matt Hauser
Co-producer: Alison Ellwood
Editor: Ellwood
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 110 minutes...
Based on the best-selling book "The Smartest Guys in the Room" by Fortune magazine reporters Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, Alex Gibney's documentary is a carefully constructed dissection of what went so terribly wrong at the seventh-largest corporation in the country. The starting point is the suicide of Enron executive Cliff Baxter in January 2002, from there the film backtracks to explore how the whole thing had been put together like a house of cards and came crashing down.
While the doc is full of juicy information and facts and figures a plenty, Gibney makes a point of keeping it on a human scale so that it is a story of personal greed, arrogance and pride as much as it is corporate malfeasance. At the center of the action, of course, is Kenneth Lay, the son of a Baptist preacher and friend to the president. Although Lay and his hand-picked CEO Jeffrey Skilling did not agree to be interviewed for the film, Gibney has impressively uncovered a treasure trove of archival material, some of it confidential company videos and audios.
Founded in 1985, Enron showed telltale signs almost from the start. In 1987 company traders were accused of padding their own accounts. Lay let it slide, setting a standard for future operations. The company motto, "Ask Why?" now seems ironic, but for years Enron managed to fool the best minds in the country, including Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, who is seen giving Lay an award for distinguished public service.
Skilling, the architect of much of the company's polices, consistently managed to sidestep rules and regulations, such as using mark-to-market accounting which granted Enron the right to basically say profits were whatever they said they were.
Perhaps the most egregious offense and one that eventually led to the company's downfall was CFO Andy Fastow's grand scheme of creating shell companies to hide Enron debt. Fastow made $45 million from phony partnerships. Even more disturbing was the manipulation of the California energy crisis in a climate of deregulation. Enron traders caught on audio tape gloat over how they are making out like bandits taking money out of the pockets of grandmothers.
It's not surprising to learn that Skilling's favorite book was "The Selfish Gene", a 1976 ultra-Darwinian tract that argues money is the only thing that matters. It certainly wasn't personal responsibility or conscience for these guys.
While it's shocking enough to see the complete moral vacuum at the center of Enron's corporate philosophy, it is even more chilling to realize how tied in it is with the Bush administration, both on a personal and professional level. Looking at the bigger picture, Gibney demonstrates that in some ways this kind of capitalism run amok has become national policy. The only problem with Enron is that it got caught. Yet in testimony after testimony, Lay (Kenny Boy to the president) and Skilling deny any wrongdoing.
Film includes some impressive interviews with ex-Enron officials, who were courageous enough to come forward. With the help of crack cinematography by Maryse Alberti and intelligent editing by Alison Ellwood, it puts the pieces of the puzzle together. It's not a pretty picture. Gibney and his team have done a commendable job in creating both a riveting story and a record for future generations.
ENRON: THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM
A Magnolia Pictures presents
An HDNet Films production
Credits:
Director: Alex Gibney
Writer: Gibney
Producers: Gibney, Jason Kloit, Susan Motamed
Executive producers: Mark Cuban, Todd Wagner, Joana Vicente
Director of photography: Maryse Alberti
Music: Matt Hauser
Co-producer: Alison Ellwood
Editor: Ellwood
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 110 minutes...
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