tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522106590446306842023-06-20T05:20:04.994-07:00JailHollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.comBlogger206125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-54173850325321862922012-03-09T11:31:00.001-08:002012-03-09T12:21:14.963-08:00ABC Aircraft aircraft pilots Add Quartet Of StarsKaren LeBlanc remains put in the cast of ABC’s pilot Beauty As Well As The Animal. She'll play, Ehren, employment initially written for just about any guy. Ehren might be the p-facto mind in the digital digital rebel band that desires to see Emperor Dorian (F. Murray Abraham) p-throned. LeBlanc is to apply Greene & Assos. and manager Gayle Abrams. Jacinda Barrett remains cast in ABC’s drama pilot Zero Hour, playing the wife of lead Anthony Edwards. She's with ICM and Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Tower Prep star Came Van Acker, who's recurring on Pretty Little Liars, has grew to become part of ABC’s cleaning cleaning soap Devious Service personnel, playing the boy of one of the Beverly Slopes families that employ the service personnel. He's with WME and Luber Roklin. Also cast inside the pilot is Brett Cullen since the loaded Michael who recently remarried carrying out a extended, destructive marriage. He's with Domain and Lovett Management. Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-26416696484527913512012-03-09T11:31:00.000-08:002012-03-09T12:19:52.202-08:00Lionsgate-Summit Reducing 12% Of Staff: Film And Residential Entertainment Hit Most difficult Inside The Summit And Lionsgate Merger: Lay offs Will Be The Order Throughout Your Day BREAKING… EXCLUSIVE: I’ve just discovered that Lionsgate is reducing about 80 staff today within the merged company with Summit, including professionals as at any height as EVP. Affiliates are pleading me not to label this abloodbath because enoughpeople are freaked out already. The integration ofLionsgate and Summit is ongoing, which move was prone to eliminate duplication. Nevertheless it’s still horrible should this happen.Lionsgate is decreasing the combined workforceof the two companies by roughly 12%.It’s unclearhow many employees are actually being informed today.Lionsgate had about 500 employees right before the merger, Summitabout 175 employees.The whole combinedworkforce will probably be roughly 575 making Lionsgate a bigger plus much more muscular company publish-merger.I don’t have summary of the amount of Lionsgate and the way any Summit employees will probably be release, however’m toldmotionpicture and residential entertainment will be the areas while using finest volume of overlappingfunctions. Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-74071863458927515042012-03-08T14:01:00.000-08:002012-03-08T14:49:59.412-08:00Nurse Jackie Start Looking: Jackie Needs some help from Her BuddiesThe women from the View better watch their backs. The Talk is returning for additional daytime action. CBS has restored The Talk for that 2012-2013 broadcast season, the network introduced Thursday. Find Out More > Other Links From TVGuide.com Leah ReminiMarissa Jaret WinokurSara GilbertHolly Robinson PeeteThe ViewAisha TylerJulie ChenSharon OsbourneSheryl UnderwoodThe Talk Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-2715884025636463132012-03-06T01:01:00.000-08:002012-03-06T01:50:14.258-08:00New image and poster for On The RoadOn The Road has first demonstrated a completely new poster alongside a completely new image, through which vibrant youthful things Mike Riley, Garrett Hedlund and Billy Burke hit the highway searching for adventure.Modified within the cult novel by Jack Kerouac, the story follows ambitious author Sal Paradise (Riley) around the coming-of-age journey within the organization of ex-disadvantage Dean Moriarty (Hedlund), a captivating drifter who offers a substitute for Paradise's square NY upbringing.Stewart may have Marylou, Moriarty's first wife, who joins the duo for part of their journey. The comfort in the supporting cast is similarly stellar, with Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Could Be and Steve Buscemi all involved.The completely new poster looks fantastically sun-bleached, while using desert landscape reflecting the novel's types of freedom and possibility. The completely new image show us little beyond the principle players, nonetheless they look as youthful and charming as you'd expect.Directed with the Motorcycle Diaries' Walter Salles, On The Road appears like it's near completion, while using film prone to open inside the Uk on 21 September 2012. The required time to determine after that it, in the event you haven't already carried this out... Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-37024156344098274152012-02-28T18:02:00.000-08:002012-02-28T18:51:29.307-08:00Wahlberg Considering Lone SurvivorBen Promote may also starNavy Shuts are very trendy at this time around. No, we don't mean hipsters are actually spotted sporting SEAL uniforms (because they'd probably get duffed up for the), more the type of box office success Act Of Valour, Kathryn Bigelow's Bin Laden film as well as the activities in the real-existence SEAL Team Six have shoved them in to the popular culture awareness in the large way. Peter Berg will undoubtedly be wanting the momentum keeps going, as he's now in talks with Mark Wahlberg and Ben Promote for Lone Survivor.Berg, that's been trading nearly all his recent time concentrating on Battleship, modified Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson's book after trading time getting a SEAL team for just about any month in Iraq. The plot follows four people from the squad (Berg had been talking with his Battleship star, Taylor Kitsch about playing one of the other roles) running into three kids plus an some guy in 2005. They decide to enable them to live, as well as the mission ended up aborted. Nevertheless the Shuts then received attack by around 250 Al Qaeda soldiers, creating the deaths of 15 troops and losing one save helicopter. Luttrell ended up really the only survivor, which may be the role Wahlberg is onto play.Emmett/Furla Films is putting together the financing with Universal disseminating, and Berg desires to get boots on the ground between your fall, once he's finished the extended tour of duty marketing Battleship. That particular sails into cinemas on April 11.In related Wahlberg news, he's also told Candidate magazine that he's searching to keep the remake train chugging along for a while. His latest target? Norwegian thriller Headhunters, using the book by Jo Nesbo. He's lately been talking with Morten Tyldum as well as the rights holders about getting something going, nevertheless it remains to look if he works. The first film, incidentally, lands here on April 6. Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-73588453721190478002012-02-25T07:01:00.000-08:002012-02-25T07:51:08.171-08:00Steller "Journey" continues abroadIt was clear sailing for the second-straight weekend for "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," which again navigated to the top of the overseas box office. Pic grossed a resilient $27.5 million over the Feb. 17-19 weekend, pushing its worldwide cume to $130 million. The Warner Bros.-New Line family film got an early overseas push, bowing in territories like Australia and South Korea four weeks ahead of the U.S. And later key markets, such as China and Russia, are contributing topnotch grosses. In China, the sequel grossed $9.5 million in its second outing, while in Russia, the pic tallied a soph-sesh take of $4.1 million -- a whopping 176% ahead of the original "Journey" in its similar local frame. In North America, "Journey 2" held best among the domestic top 10, down just an overall 27%. Pic showed even more stickiness in Canada, falling 3%, thanks to the country's nationally recognized family day Feb. 20. Toplining franchise newcomer Dwayne Johnson, and budgeted at a reported $79 million, the sequel already has more than recouped its production cost, grossing $183 million worldwide as of Feb. 19. Warners and New Line have committed to a "Journey 3," based on the sequel's success. Elsewhere on the family front, Disney's holiday holdover "The Muppets" proved resilient in the U.K., rising a remarkable 60% on Friday and Saturday in its second weekend over its opening two days (Feb. 10-11). The film's three-day second-weekend total of $5.8 million in Blighty rang in 36% ahead of its opening weekend. In just 10 days in the U.K., the Disney pic, with $17.4 million, has outpaced Sony's "The Smurfs" by 36% and Warners' "Yogi Bear" by 193%. Pic has hit $59.1 million internationally through Feb. 19, with a global cume of $147.3 million. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-4655391410676991502012-02-21T05:31:00.000-08:002012-02-21T06:22:03.820-08:00The Horror!: Hammer To Open Script Archive To Public Research & StudyEnjoying a resurgence with The Woman In Black, venerable British horror studio Hammer has chosen the Cinema And Television History (CATH) Research Centre at the UK’s Leicester De Montfort University to house its script archive. The CATH center will catalogue and curate a collection that includes screenplays from most of the studio’s film and TV productions from 1947-1990 along with extensive corporate paperwork, correspondence and other ephemera. This is the first time the archive will be opened to public research and study. Last month, Hammer announced a global restoration project for its library of films in partnership with Studiocanal, Pinewood and other international players and with the participation of 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros and Paramount. The studio was founded in 1934 and has produced such films as Frankenstein Created Woman, The Plague Of The Zombies, The Witches and The Mummy. Hammer stopped production in the 80s and returned to features in 2010 with Matt Reeves adaptation of Swedish hit Let Me In. Its most recent film, Daniel Radcliffe-starrer The Woman In Black, has taken in over $60 million worldwide. Since 2008, Hammer has been a division of the Exclusive Media Group. Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-91898709825002245232012-02-17T17:31:00.000-08:002012-02-17T18:21:52.008-08:00ICM Signs Steve CooganEXCLUSIVE: ICM just signed British comedian/actor Steve Coogan. Coogan last starred in Our Idiot Brother and the upcoming Michael Winterbottom-directed The Trip, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. He’s developing several other projects including Cruise of the Gods, the David Guion/Michael Handelman-directed comedy, and a feature based on Coogan’s Alan Partridge character. He’s managed by 3 Arts and is repped in the UK by Independent Talent Group. Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-8378631369461450612012-02-13T07:01:00.000-08:002012-02-13T07:52:23.981-08:00AMC to unspool Japan docHelmer-producer Stu Levy has became a member of with AMC Theaters to create his docu "Pray for Japan" in 14 U . s . States urban centers for just about any single-screening engagement on March 14."Pray for Japan," which concentrates on four perspectives of last year's Great East Japan Earthquake, preems March 6 in Tokyo, japan, japan, wonderful proceeds enjoying useful benefits the charitable organization Japan Emergency NGO (JEN).Pic's domestic engagement recall the primary one-year anniversary in the earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Japan and triggered global fears from the major nuclear energy plant accident. Comes from the domestic tests may even benefit JEN."We're honored to partner with Stu Levy to produce these effective tales, told through 'Pray for Japan,' towards the screens," mentioned AMC prexy of programming Robert J. Lenihan.Among the areas set to showcase "Pray for Japan" are NY, La, San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Dallas, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Toronto. Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-3501823774189853202012-02-10T17:01:00.000-08:002012-02-10T17:52:31.324-08:00The best spinner's greenlights 'Sullivan and Son'The best spinner's has purchased 10 instances of comedy "Sullivan and Boy," starring comedian Steve Byrne. Byrne and showrunner Take advantage of Lengthy co-authored the pilot, occur a Pittsburgh bar that Byrne's character, an old corporate attorney, gets control. Vince Vaughn and Peter Billingsley are professional creating "Sullivan" with Lengthy, with Serta Lauria, Jodi Lengthy, Owen Benjamin, John Doyle Murray, Christine Ebersole, Vivian Bang and Valerie Azlynn co-starring. Show originates from Vaughn's Wild West Picture Show Prods. in colaboration with Warner Horizon TV. Ted Wass willl direct. " 'Sullivan and Son' is really a wise, funny, place of work comedy in the distinct comedy voices of Steve Byrne and Take advantage of Lengthy," stated Michael Wright, professional veep and mind of programming for The best spinner's, TNT and Turner Classic Movies. Lauria and Lengthy will have the mother and father of Byrne's character, Benjamin his closest friend. Bang has got the role of his sister, Azlynn is really a former sweetheart and Murray and Ebersole (who labored together on "Saturday Evening Live" 30 years ago) will have bar regulars. "Sullivan" is slated for any summer time premiere, to choose buddy comedy series "Males at the officeInch with Danny Masterson, James Lesure, Michael Cassidy and Adam Busch. Coming later this season for The best spinner's is going to be "The Marriage Band," with John Austin Eco-friendly, Harold Perrineau, Peter Cambor, Derek Burns, Melora Hardin, Jenny Wade and Kathryn Fiore. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-50211016429286306542012-02-08T07:01:00.001-08:002012-02-08T07:53:02.707-08:00Drive-ins in digital bindBig Sky Drive-in Theater in Midland, Texas was the first U.S. drive-in to go fully digital, investing $300,000 to convert three screens. The major studios are driving hard to stop distributing 35mm prints in North America by the end of 2013, but one sector remains tied to traditional film prints: the drive-in movie biz. Of the 366 drive-in theaters left in the United States only a handful have converted to digital projection; another 10% are expected to convert before this summer. Two key hurdles: Neither the Digital Cinema Initiative tech specs nor the Virtual Print Fee business model were conceived with drive-ins in mind. But this week, as the United Drive-in Theater Owners Assn. gathers in Kissimmee, Florida, for the industry's annual confab, drive-in owners are anticipating news of an addendum to the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) and changes to the virtual print fee (VPF) rules that should smooth the way for drive-ins to make the switch to digital -- and for film prints to truly disappear in the U.S. If drive-ins don't convert, they run the risk of obsolescence.National Assn. of Theater Owners prexy John Fithian said he expects a deal to update the DCI to be approved within weeks. Several studios have already signed off on the changes. For drive-in operators, an updated DCI is critical, since theaters must meet DCI specs to get digital prints and must convert to digital to receive VPF. Drive-ins can't meet the current version of the specs because they can't provide masking to change the aspect ratio of their screens and can't deliver 5.1 sound. Most drive-in sites have converted their sound system to FM transmission, by which patrons receive the soundtrack through their car stereo. Only a few have maintained old-style window speakers for nostalgia.The update is also expected to waive or revise the requirement that outdoor theaters meet the same brightness standards as indoor theaters: 14 foot Lamberts. Faced with interference from ambient light and throw distances as long as 900 feet in some theaters, even drive-ins with the most powerful projectors on the market get only about 10 fL. Most drive-ins typically get 5-7 fL. The enticement for drive-in operators is that digital projectors would provide more flexibility in theatrical programming, as well as the ability to present 3D, allowing exhibs to screen alternative content including concerts, sports and cultural perfs.But like their hardtop counterparts, drive-ins need Virtual Print Fee revenue to help defray the cost of digital conversion."We are seeking pretty much the same terms and conditions the indoor theaters are seeking," said Frank Hattinger, owner of six drive-ins in Southern California, Atlanta and Salt Lake City. Hattinger said he expects the VPF fee to cover around 75% of the cost to convert to digital. Despite the cost hurdles, a few drive-ins have already made the leap to digital. Sam Kirkland's Big Sky Drive-in Theater in Midland, Texas was the first U.S. drive-in to go fully digital, investing $300,000 to convert three screens. But most drive-in owners have been unable to make the switch to digital without the guarantee of VPF coin. And the VPF model itself needs an update to accommodate the unique business models of drive-ins. Notably, most ozoners, as Variety's slanguage has termed them, are seasonal, so they only generate revenue for part of the year. "It is economically a challenging conversion," said NATO's Fithian. "But you have to put it all in perspective. Even though drive-ins are typically seasonal they gross a whole lot more on one screen than a typical indoor theater does."Drive-in screens have been in decline for some time. In 1987, there were more than 2,000 drive-in screens. Close to 70% of those have closed, with a total of 606 screens at the end of 2011. Because most drive-ins have waited until the DCI and VPF issues can be resolved, those that waited to make the switch will reap a shorter VPF period than the typical 10-year payout offered to early adopters. Some drive-ins don't quality for VPF at all under current policy because they cannot show enough first-run features. Other operators want an exception for double features, which are common at drive-ins, and think the current VPF model for compensating double features is unfair."They have punished us basically for operating our business in different ways than other theaters operate their business," said Rick Cohen, owner of Transit Drive-in in Rockport, N.Y. "We run double features so we get a half VPF."Time is running short before the studios' September deadline to convert to digital and still be eligible to receive the virtual print fee incentive. Cohen said he recently paid $300,000 to convert four screens and expects to get $20,000 to $30,000 over six years from VPF."To be honest I don't even know what the VPF amount is. They won't even tell me because there is a non-disclosure agreement between Cinedigm and the studios." Cohen said. "The drive-in theaters that are successful and in a decent-size market are probably going to be able to survive, but the drive-in theaters that are out in the country -- those one- or two-screen theaters that don't fit into the VPF model that the studios have favored -- are not going to be able to make it." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-5079463151544838662012-02-08T07:01:00.000-08:002012-02-08T07:52:45.499-08:00Tune guild sets nomsThe Guild of Music Managers features the nominees due to its second annual Grammy Day honours brunch, being held Feb. 12 in La. The Guild, founded in 2008, will recognition music managers in nine different groups, including three film honours, four television honours then one award each for trailers and videogames. Film managers for instance Alexandra Patsavas, Dondi Bastone and Julia Michels are the nominees. "We are thrilled to develop our honours this year and reveal all the great work being completed by music managers," noted Guild leader Maureen Crowe. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-43846605000673299182012-01-18T08:01:00.000-08:002012-01-18T08:54:37.183-08:00Toddlers Cuss Word On Modern Family Draws Ire First Published: January 18, 2012 10:19 AM EST Credit: ABC Caption Jesse Tyler Ferguson portraying Mitchell Pritchett, and Eric Stonestreet portraying Cameron Tucker are shown with Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who plays their adopted daughter Lily in a scene from Modern FamilyLOS ANGELES, Calif. -- An anti-profanity crusader has asked the ABC television network to pull this weeks Modern Family episode in which a toddler appears to use a bleeped curse word. Our main goal is to stop this from happening, McKay Hatch, an 18-year-old college student who founded the No Cussing Club in 2007, said Tuesday. If we dont, at least ABC knows that people all over the world dont want to have a 2-year-old saying the F-bomb on TV. We hope they know better, said Hatch. Hes asking his clubs members, whom he said number 35,000 in the United States and about three-dozen other countries, to complain to ABC. ABC has yet to respond, he said Tuesday. The network had no comment, a spokeswoman said. In the episode titled Little Bo Bleep airing on Wednesday night, 2-year-old Lily shocks parents Mitchell and Cameron (Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet) with her first expletive. The dads, who are preparing Lily to serve as flower girl in a wedding, now have an added parenting challenge. The tot is played by Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who says the word fudge during taping. It will be bleeped on the air and her mouth will be obscured by pixilation, and viewers will get the impression that her character used the actual F-word. Steven Levitan, creator and executive producer of the TV comedy with Christopher Lloyd, told the Television Critics Association last week that hes proud and excited about the obscenity plotline that ABC was persuaded to allow. We thought it was a very natural story since, as parents, weve all been through this, Levitan said to EW.com. We are not a sexually charged show. It has a very warm tone so people accept it more. Im sure well have some detractors. The program, which won the Emmy Award for best comedy last fall, was named best musical or comedy series at Sundays Golden Globes ceremony. Hatch, who is from South Pasadena, California, and attends Brigham Young University in Rexburg, Idaho, said he began his anti-profanity club in 2007 when he noticed how rampant cursing was at his school and how it was linked to bullying. If kids are accountable for their choices, then adults should be as well, and that includes media, he said. TV profanity was an issue before the U.S. Supreme Court last week, which heard arguments about whether regulating curse words and nudity on broadcast stations is sensible when cable and satellite services offer channels with few restrictions. A decision is expected by late June. Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-200237012124288442012-01-02T21:01:00.000-08:002012-01-02T21:56:28.744-08:0012 New Year's Resolutions for 2012 Moviegoers Just like a year for moviegoing, 2011 certainly had its irritations. Because the calendar has provided us a clean slate, you are prepared to set our resolutions to create 2012 a far greater all year long the large screen. Clearly, you want to obtain Hollywood to produce a unique resolutions (like, say, stop plundering the eighties for remake ideas that finish off trashing the flicks most of us loved as kids), but we can not improve others, only ourselves. So, as moviegoers, let's all resolve in 2012 to follow along with together with the 12 promises available below. (And you will add others inside the comments.) &bull I'll stop needing to pay a pleasant earnings to check out 3d movies that have been not shot in 3d, but merely hastily retrofitted to have the ability to boost ticket prices. (I would get the best for your 'Titanic' re-release, since James Cameron can probably be reliable not to execute a half-assed job in this particular department.) &bull I'll switch off my phone through the film. I won't annoy other patrons with my clicking thumbs, my conversations, or perhaps the competing glow of my own, personal screen. For Just Two several hours, I'll switch off my connect with the outside world and enable myself look around the story -- and enable others to accomplish the identical. &bull I'll leave youthful children in your house. I won't disturb others -- or traumatize my own, personal kids -- by enabling 'The Girl While using Dragon Tattoo' being their babysitter. &bull I'll complain for the theater manager when the projection is just too dim or too fuzzy, or when the appear isn't right. I recognize that theaters won't include a motivation to help keep high standards of presentation, even on pricey new digital projectors, unless of course obviously clients complain en masse whenever we don't get what we should are needing to purchase. &bull I'll support local movie theaters which do maintain quality presentation standards, offer good snack or dining options, and program the kind of movies and non-movie fare that we like. &bull I'll observe that might be more movies being launched this year besides 'The Hunger Games,' the best 'Twilight,' as well as the first 'Hobbit.' Yeah, I'll probably visit a number of these, however may even exceed the hype and consider other potentially interesting movies. &bull I won't believe that everyone who hates a movie I really like can be a philistine, or that everyone who likes a movie Personally, i can't stand is certainly an elitist snob. Which I won't flame people who disagree with me at night of a movie on the internet. &bull I'll uncover a film critic whose tastes generally match mine, a treadmill whose tastes rarely match mine. Either in situation, reading through using that critic's reviews will prove an even more reliable barometer for whether I'll love or hate a movie in comparison to separate-the-difference scores I have available at movie poll sites like Rotten Tomato vegetables or Flixster. Which I'll allow the outlet that employs that critic to keep them within the organization and not replace these with someone generic or syndicated. &bull I will not limit my movie diet to escapism. I'll every so often go to a film making me think, shows me something unfamiliar, challenges my anticipation instead of reassuring and comforting me, or otherwise necessitates that Someone said subtitles. &bull However, I won't believe that, should be movie created buzz at Sundance or Toronto, it's artistic merit. For every 'Martha Marcy May Marlene,' there's certain that need considering a 'happythankyoumoreplease.' Caveat emptor. &bull I'll every so often watch a movie that was made before I used to be born, especially if I will tell it in the theater. I will not dismiss a movie as quaint due to the fact it's old or possibly in black-and-white-colored. &bull I will not pretend that watching a widescreen, visually scrumptious epic by having an iPad or smartphone is any alternative for that immersive reference to watching it round the silver screen. [Photos: Getty Images (3d audience), Lionsgate ('The Hunger Games')] 5 Main Reasons Why You Aren't Going to the films See All Moviefone Galleries » Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook Follow Gary Susman on Twitter: @garysusman Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-49747053901450404702012-01-02T12:01:00.000-08:002012-01-02T12:56:07.648-08:00Big football finale for NBCNBC wrapped up its regular season ''Sunday Night Football'' schedule with a doozy of a matchup, and the game between the NY Giants and Dallas Cowboys delivered predictably strong ratings for the net. According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, the game to decide the NFC East division of the NFL averaged an 8.7 rating/21 share in adults 18-49 and 24.6 million viewers overall on NBC's stations from 8:30 to 11 p.m., with the game's final demo average expected to rise by more than 10%. In metered-market overnights, the game did a big 17.1 household rating/27 share , a 36% improvement over last week's final ''SNF'' game between the Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis Rams (12.6/19), which decided the NFC West champion. The 17.1 is a smidge better than the 16.9 rating that the Cowboys-NY Jets game did on the opening Sunday of the season (translating to a 10.7 rating in 18-49 and 25.8 million viewers in the nationals). The only NBC primetime, regular-season football telecasts to rate higher overnight scores were the Thursday season openers of the last two years: a 17.7 for Minnesota-New Orleans in 2010 and a 17.2 for Green Bay-New Orleans. Sunday's game earned a 37.1/55 in Dallas and a 25.3/38 in NY. Elsewhere, the other nets were scrambling for crumbs on a repeat-riddled night. CBS, which had a sizable NFL overrun to start the night, aired an original episode of ''60 Minutes'' (roughly 3.0/8 in 18-49, 14.2 million viewers overall from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.) followed by repeats of ''Unforgettable'' (1.3/3 in 18-49, 7.2 million viewers overall), ''The Good Wife'' (1.1/3 in 18-49, 6.2 million viewers overall) and ''CSI: Miami'' (1.1/3 in 18-49, 5.8 million viewers overall). Fox followed its football overrun with postgame show ''The OT'' (2.1/6 in 18-49, 5.8 million viewers overall) and then encores of animated comedies ''The Simpsons'' (1.5/4 in 18-49, 3.6 million viewers overall), ''The Cleveland Show'' (1.3/3 in 18-49, 2.8 million viewers overall), ''Family Guy'' (1.7/4 in 18-49, 3.5 million viewers overall) and ''American Dad'' (1.4/3 in 18-49, 3.0 million viewers overall). ABC went with four repeats of Sunday rookie drama ''Once Upon a Time,'' starting with a 0.8/2 in 18-49 and 3.4 million viewers overall in the 7 o'clock hour and concluding with a 1.2/3 in the demo and 3.8 million viewers overall at 10 o'clock. Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: NBC, 7.0/18; CBS, 2.3/6; Fox, 1.6/4; ABC, 1.1/3; Univision, 0.9/2. In total viewers: NBC, 20.2 million; CBS, 10.8 million; Fox, 3.9 million; ABC, 3.8 million; Univision, 2.7 million. Contact Rick Kissell at rick.kissell@variety.com Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-51603136547187976582011-12-21T06:01:00.000-08:002011-12-21T07:50:42.791-08:00VIDEO: A Evening Time With'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' Duncan Stewart, director of casting at National Artists Management Company, talks about opening every submission and what he desires to see in the headshot. casting Duncan Stewart headshot NY city open distribution Duncan Steward, director of casting, talks about what he wants from an actress in the general meeting, mainly truth, likability, and inadequate ego. advice casting Duncan Stewart NY city tips Duncan Stewart, director of casting, talks about what he needs from an audition and customary mistakes stars make. advice auditions casting Duncan Stewart NY city Alaine Alldaffer reduces the particular role from the casting direcor. Alaine Alldaffer casting casting director Grey Gardens play stage theater Casting director Alaine Alldaffer talks about casting "Saved" and many types of the misconceptions about just as one actor in NY City. Alaine Alldaffer casting director New you are able to city theatre play saved NY casting director Bernie Telsey describes what stars need to know before walking into an audition. (Part a few) Bernie Telsey casting director We spoken with casting director Mark Teschner about concentrating on cleaning cleaning soap operas. (Part 1 of three) General Hospital Mark Teschner cleaning cleaning soap opera NY casting director Bernie Telsey describes the best way to give your better audition. (Part 2 of two) Bernie Telsey casting director We spoken with casting director Mark Teschner about concentrating on cleaning cleaning soap operas. Just have beautiful people apply? (Part 2 of three) General Hospital Mark Teshner cleaning cleaning soap opera We spoken with casting director Mark Teschner about who audition to clean cleaning soap operas. (Part 3 of three) General Hospital Mark Teschner cleaning cleaning soap opera Videos for your Back Stage News & Features section. Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-25492183854766778402011-12-19T21:01:00.000-08:002011-12-19T22:51:12.304-08:00Forbes' 30 Under 30: Chloe Moretz, Jonah Hill, Jaden Cruz plus much more In October, Moviefone selected our annual 25 Under 25, all of the up-and-coming, need-to-know stars and stars more youthful than 25. Today, Forbes released their 30 Under 30 in 12 different fields, including media, energy, property and entertainment. According to Forbes, the folks relating to this list "are individuals who aren't waiting to reinvent the earth,In . adding it had been develop "round the understanding of [Forbes'] site visitors as well as the finest minds in operation.In . So, which celebs made the cut? Shailene Woodley (20), Jaden Cruz (13), Chole Moretz (13), Jennifer Lawrence (21) and Jonah Hill (28) are available, similar to 'Martha Marcy May Marlene' director Sean Durkin (29) and 'Like Crazy' director Drake Doremus. You can examine the whole Forbes list here. [via Forbes] [Photo: Getty Images] People's Choice Honours: 25 Under 25 See All Moviefone Galleries » Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-46446484498577003652011-12-14T12:01:00.000-08:002011-12-14T13:51:35.190-08:00Par post czar Paul Haggar diesPaul Haggar, who led theatrical post-production at Paramount from the 1970s until his 2005 retirement, died Dec. 7 of natural causes in Los Angeles. He was 83. During a career at Paramount that lasted 54 years, Haggar became one of the most well-known figures in the Hollywood post community, overseeing post on hundreds of films, including "Love Story," "Chinatown," "The Godfather," "Reds" and "Heaven Can Wait." A structure on the Par lot was refitted for editing work and named the Haggar Building in 1987. Haggar received the Hollywood Post Alliance's lifetime achievement award in 2009. At the time, HPA president Leon Silverman said, "For decades, the name Paul Haggar was synonymous with post-production. It is no exaggeration to say that Paul kept us all on our toes. He demanded the best and got it from his post-production team and his vendors. He was a master at balancing the creative and the business, as he was always a tenacious advocate of both the filmmaker's vision and the studio's needs." Haggar was born in Brooklyn, but his family moved to Los Angeles when he was young. He began his career in the Paramount mailroom and rose to apprentice editor and eventually to exec VP of post-production, a job in which he remained for more than 20 years. Haggar was notable for his charity fund-rasing work for organizations including the Vision Awards, which he chaired, American Heart Assn. charity Hollywood Has Heart. Survivors include four daughters and two sons. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-37300403008656389722011-12-13T05:31:00.000-08:002011-12-13T07:21:40.777-08:00Hugo & The Artist Lead Experts Choice Movie Award Nominations With 11 Each Two movies coping with the first times of the film industry, Martin Scorcese’s Hugo from GK Films/Vital and also the black and whitened quiet The Artist in the Weinstein Company, both obtained a near-record 11 nominations each today within the Broadcast Film Experts Association’s 17th Annual Experts Choice Movie Honours. Both gained Best Picture, pointing and writingnods, together with a ton of technical nominations. In France They sensationTheArtist also obtained two major acting mentions for lead actor Jean Dujardin and supporting actress Berenice Bejo. As forScorsese,additionally to his creating and pointing nods for Hugo, hisGeorge Harrison: Residing In The Fabric World for Cinemax expires for feature documentary. And that he may also be finding the second annual Experts’ Choice Music+Film Award. The Experts Choice Movie Honours is going to be seen on The month of january 12, airing live in the Hollywood Palladium on VH1. The diverse listing of nominations launched today falls consistent with other experts groups in distributing the wealth, showing no slam-dunk leader with what remains an empty race and unpredictable selection of films. The first September releaseDrive were built with a remarkably strong showing with 8 nominations including picture and director (Nicolas Winding Refn) and acting nods for star Ryan Gosling and supporting actor Albert Brooks. The FilmDistrict noirish thriller is a critical favorite but was just a modest box office artist.DreamWorks’ smash hitAugust entry The Helpalso received 8 nominations. Additionally to some Best Picture jerk, 1 / 2 of the honors were within the acting groups including lead actress Viola Davis, supporting challengers Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain, andActing Ensemble. It had been a large day for that DreamWorks team and it is newdistributiondeal with Disney because they also nabbed 7 nominations fortheirChristmas opener War Equine –including two forSteven Spielberg. The director also received another jerk for his first animated film, The Adventures Of Tintin, which Vital has for domestic and The new sony for foreign.Fox Searchlight’s The Descendants, a Best Pic nominee, alsoreceived7 nods, including three for co-author, producer and director Alexander Payne and 2 for star George Clooney.His 20-year-old co-star Shailene Woodleycollected three, including supporting actress, youthful actor/actress, and acting ensemble member. Clooney were built with a hello being an actor but less because the author, producer and director of his other 2011 film, The Ides of March, which received only a single nomination because of its acting ensemble. Rounding the 10-film Best Picture category would be the Tree of Existence (5 noms), Night time In Paris (3 noms), Moneyball (3 noms including one for the best actor Kaira Pitt) and also the very late entry, Very Noisy and extremely Close. It had been likely the final film most of the experts saw but nonetheless handled four nods including director, script and youthful actor/actress for Thomas Horn. Its producer Scott Rudin seemed to be nominated within the picture category for Moneyball butfound little lovefor another of his late December releases, The Lady Using The Dragon Tattoo, which received nods just for editing and score. Two time CCMA champion Meryl Streep is in the running for the best actresswith her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher within the Iron Lady. She’s became a member of by former CCMA those who win Michelle Williams during my Week With Marilyn and Charlize Theron in Youthful Adult.The Assistance’s Davis, Tilda Swinton in We Have To Discuss Kevin, and newcomer Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene also made the cut. Although not Glenn Close, an expected nominee for Albert Nobbs. Additionally to Clooney, Pitt, Dujardin, and Gosling, the competitive best actor race found a place for Shame’s Michael Fassbender and J. Edgar’s Leonardo Di Caprio whose makeup job symbolized the only real other jerk for that Clint Eastwood biopic. Of note may be the supporting actor category that is top heavy with veterans Christopher Plummer, Nick Nolte, Albert Brooks, and Kenneth Branagh together with Youthful Adult’s Patton Oswalt.But there’s even the first recognition of the motion capture performance: Rise from the Planet from the Apes lead ape,Andy Serkis, based on an costly trade advertising campaign from twentieth century Fox. Within the supporting actress category, Bejo, Chastain, Spencer, and Woodley are became a member of by Shame’s Carey Mulligan and Mike and Molly’s recent Emmy champion Melissa McCarthy, further cementing the Bridesmaids star’s very large year. Also getting a great day was the triumphant screen return of Disney’sThe Muppets which nailed three of the5 song slots along with a bid for the best Comedy. The Experts Choice Movie Honours is going to be seen on The month of january 12, airing live in the Hollywood Palladiumon VH1. The business featuring its 250 experts (I'm a member)from round the country may be the biggest film experts org within the U.S. and considered a reasonably reliable predictor from the Oscars. Actually all acting those who win this past year first won in the CCMAs. But Best Picture and finest Director champion, The Social Networking, lost the Oscar towards the King’s Speech which won just for Colin Firth at CCMAs. Last Year the broadcast experts were the very first group to reward eventual dark equine Oscar winnerSandra Bullock for that Blind Side. This is actually the complete listing of nominees: BEST PICTURE The Artist The Descendants Drive Very Noisy & Incredibly Close The Assistance Hugo Night time in Paris Moneyball The Tree Of Existence War Equine BEST ACTOR George Clooney The Descendants Leonardo DiCaprio J. Edgar Jean Dujardin The Artist Michael Fassbender Shame Ryan Gosling Drive Kaira Pitt Moneyball BEST ACTRESS Viola Davis The Assistance Elizabeth Olsen Martha Marcy May Marlene Meryl Streep The Iron Lady Tilda Swinton We have to Discuss Kevin Charlize Theron Youthful Adult Michelle Williams My Week With Marilyn BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Kenneth Branagh My Week With Marilyn Albert Brooks Drive Nick Nolte Warrior Patton Oswalt Youthful Adult Christopher Plummer Beginners Andrew Serkis Rise from the Planet from the Apes BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Berenice Bejo The Artist Jessica Chastain The Assistance Melissa McCarthy Bridesmaids Carey Mulligan Shame Octavia Spencer The Assistance Shailene Woodley The Descendants BEST Youthful ACTOR/ACTRESS Asa Butterfield Hugo Elle Fanning Super 8 Thomas Horn Very Noisy & Incredibly Close Ezra Burns We have to Discuss Kevin Saoirse Ronan Hanna Shailene Woodley The Descendants BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE The Artist Bridesmaids The Descendants The Assistance The Ides of March BEST DIRECTOR Stephen Daldry Very Noisy & Incredibly Close Michel Hazanavicius The Artist Alexander Payne The Descendants Nicolas Winding Refn Drive Martin Scorsese Hugo Steven Spielberg War Equine BEST ORIGINAL Script The Artist Michel Hazanavicius 50/50 Will Reiser Night time In Paris Woodsy Allen Mutually Beneficial Script by Tom McCarthy, Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni Youthful Adult Diablo Cody BEST Modified Script The Descendants Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash Very Noisy & Incredibly Close Eric Roth The Assistance Tate Taylor Hugo John Logan Moneyball Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Story by Stan Chervin BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY The Artist Guillaume Schiffman Drive Newton Thomas Sigel Hugo Robert Richardson The Tree of Existence Emmanuel Lubezki War Equine Janusz Kaminski BEST ART DIRECTION The Artist Production Designer: Laurence Bennett, Art Director: Gregory S. Hooper Harry Potter and also the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Production Designer: Stuart Craig, Set Decorator: Stephenie McMillan Hugo Production Designer: Dante Ferretti, Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo The Tree of Existence Production Designer: Jack Fisk, Art Director: David Crank War Equine Production Designer: Ron Carter, Set Decorator: Lee Sandales BEST EDITING The Artist Michel Hazanavicius and Anne-Sophie Bion Drive Matthew Newman The Lady Using the Dragon Tattoo Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall Hugo Thelma Schoonmaker War Equine Michael Kahn BEST COSTUME DESIGN The Artist Mark Bridges The Assistance Sharen Davis Hugo Sandy Powell Jane Eyre Michael OConnor My Week With Marilyn Jill Taylor BEST MAKEUP Albert Nobbs Harry Potter and also the Deathly Hallows Part 2 The Iron Lady J. Edgar My Week With Marilyn BEST VISUAL EFFECTS Harry Potter and also the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Hugo Rise from the Planet from the Apes Super 8 The Tree of Existence BEST Seem Harry Potter and also the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Hugo Super 8 The Tree of Existence War Equine BEST ANIMATED FEATURE The Adventures of Tintin Arthur Christmas Kung Fu Panda 2 Puss in Boots Rango BEST ACTION MOVIE Drive Fast Five Hanna Rise from the Planet from the Apes Super 8 BEST COMEDY Bridesmaids Crazy, Stupid, Love Horrible Bosses Night time in Paris The Muppets BEST Language FILM In Darkness Le Havre A Separation Your Skin My Home Is Where Will We Go Ahead Now BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Buck Cave of Forgotten Dreams George Harrison: Residing in the fabric World The First Page: Within the NY Occasions Project Nim Undefeated BEST SONG “Hello Hello” carried out by Elton John and RhiannaOrcreated by Elton John and Bernie Taupin Gnomeo & Juliet “Lifes a contented Song carried out by Jason Segel, Can Be and Walter/compiled by Bret McKenzie The Muppets The Living Proof carried out by Mary J. Blige/compiled by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman and Harvey Mason, Junior. The Assistance Guy or Muppet carried out by Jason Segel and Walter/compiled by Bret McKenzie The Muppets Pictures during my Mind carried out by Kermit and also the Muppets/compiled by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis and Chen Neeman The Muppets BEST SCORE The Artist Ludovic Bource Drive High cliff Martinez The Lady Using the Dragon Tattoo Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross Hugo Howard Shoreline War Equine John Williams Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-21121445940086904702011-12-07T16:31:00.000-08:002011-12-07T18:22:06.681-08:00Edgar Wright Programs 35mm Fest of Movies He's Never Seen After programming his favorite cult and classic films in two “Wright Stuff” slates at the New Beverly Cinema, Edgar Wright is returning this month with an unusual twist: For eight nights starting December 9, the Scott Pilgrim director will present double features of films he hasn’t seen. Last time he told you to “envy these virgins;” this time, he’s the virgin! It’s the ultimate game of cinematic catch-up that embraces the bashful truth about cinephilia; no matter how many of the greats you’ve seen, there’s always one (or two or a hundred) classics you have yet to check off the list. Wright’s guest programming fest, dubbed The Wright Stuff III: Movies Edgar Has Never Seen, will pack in eight consecutive nights of double features at the Los Angeles institution owned by Quentin Tarantino and run by Michael Torgan and Julia Marchese. (Marchese’s recent petition to save 35mm film is still seeking signatures; naturally, The Wright Stuff III will be screening 35mm prints.) Over at the fantastic blog Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule, Dennis Cozzalio caught up with Wright to discuss how he went about programming his slate of never-seen films: EW: How it started was, at first I e-mailed a bunch of directors, actors and writers, told them what I was doing and said, give me your top-10 must-sees. Some of those people gave me lists that were enormous. Bill Hader’s list and Daniel Waters’ list were in the hundreds. Quentin Tarantino and Judd Apatow and Joss Whedon all gave me top 10s. So did John Landis and Joe Dante — actually, Joe’s was longer than 10. Then I threw it open to people on my blog, and that produced another thousand suggestions. Then I started looking for little links between films. I had to leave so many out. There were some that were so close to being scheduled that didn’t make it, which was disappointing, but some were left off because they do play a lot. I wanted to go for films that don’t get as much exposure. On the dwindling availability of 35mm film prints and why, for his first viewing of these films, it was a must to see them on the big screen on film: EW: It’s a very bittersweet thing to discover that your chances to see some of these films on 35mm are kind of dwindling very fast. It’s one of the main reasons I like doing these seasons at the New Beverly — sharing the experience. There is nothing better than watching the movies with a crowd. As home theater gets better, people don’t necessarily think about going out to see them. When I first announced the schedule, one person on my blog commented, “But a lot of these are on DVD or Netflix Instant!” And I had to think, yeah, you kind of missed the point. I know that. I own a lot of them myself. But that’s not necessarily the way I want to see them, especially for the first time. Read Cozzalio’s full interview with Wright here and see the full line-up listed at the New Beverly’s website and in further detail on Wright’s blog. (My pick? December 12’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg — swoon! — paired with Chungking Express.) Screening films you’ve never seen before is a brilliant idea in many ways, the first being that it gives Wright the chance to see these selections projected on a proper screen, in glorious 35mm. The communal aspect is key, too; repertory cinemas have the ability to conjure a magical crackle in the air just from the quality of being there, let alone if it’s a great film being experienced for the first time with fellow movie lovers. But here’s what I love most about Wright’s never-seen films idea: In admitting he’s never seen these 18 films before — Edgar Wright, genre student, famous film-loving movie nerd, the man who’s poured more knowing references into his work than any director of his and most any generation, really — he’s made it OK to admit there are gaps in one’s breadth of film knowledge. Bragging rights aren’t important in the scheme of things; it’s sharing a love for film with others that makes the film community so vibrant. So here goes. Here’s one I’ve never seen: Sophie’s Choice. Phew! That was easier than I thought it’d be. Your turn! Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-62074334386195146502011-12-02T10:31:00.000-08:002011-12-02T12:22:46.386-08:00Ralph Fiennes Talks Coriolanus: 'I'm Afraid the Lack of Hope In It Was Appealing to Me' As befits one of the contemporary stage and screen’s more intense, challenging actors, Ralph Fiennes didn’t make his directorial debut easy on himself. His adaptation of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus (opening today in limited release) studies the vicissitudes of political pride, corruption and revenge — an unflinching stare into a familiar powder keg that looks and feels increasingly like an abyss. Also playing the title character, a warrior who returns heroically to “a place called Rome” only to be exiled by the downtrodden citizenry he reviles, Fiennes demonstrates a bracing sympathy with the Bard’s most cynical instincts. Yet in casting Vanessa Redgrave as his influential mother, Jessica Chastain as his long-suffering wife, Brian Cox as his blustery chief adviser and Gerard Butler as his mortal rival Tullus Aufidius, the first-time director has cut sharp, exquisite facets into this jewel of a cautionary tale, reflecting back to viewers the various sides of a society collapsing around them. Whether or not they’re entertained is almost irrelevant, though with Redgrave and Fiennes facing off in a narrative like this (adapted by screenwriter John Logan), it’s pretty hard not be. Fiennes spoke with Movieline recently about his fascination with the original piece, the upside of hopelessness, the necessity of risk, and the fine art of the very, very extreme close-up. Why Coriolanus? Conceptually, creatively — why now? [Long pause] It’s mostly very personal. There are two strands, I suppose. One is the actor — I played it on stage, and I felt very drawn to the confrontational nature of him and the piece. And maybe there’s a sort of anger involved about the continual dysfunction of society, and its continual patterns of political turnaround and endless, endless conflict. And the play and Coriolanus himself punch through that. I mean, I think the play is a tragedy, properly. But the sort of evisceration it leads to is… I feel like we’re always on track to these repeated eviscerations in how we are as a people — as humankind. I’m afraid the lack of hope in it was appealing to me. Wow! [Laughs] Because it was honest! That’s what I’m saying. Well, yeah. There is not one laugh in this entire movie. Not really. Well, there is if you like his sense of humor. But there’s something terrifying about it. It’s a very bleak piece, really. But I felt we’re living in these really bleak times. Is that generally a thematic appeal to you as an actor — and now as a director? Not always; it’s just this occasion. But I think that whole kind of “fuck you” anger and attitude of Coriolanus that sort of carves its way through everything is untenable. But it also has an appeal at the same time. There’s an ambivalence to it: “I am who I am, and I will not compromise.” He’s absurd and appealing in equal measure. But the tragedy is that he does — he does compromise. He says he doesn’t want to talk to the people, but he does, against his better nature. Twice he does it, and it explodes in his face. So I also find it very dramatically satisfying — for the same reason I guess some people find it unsatisfying. But I love how Shakespeare throws thee questions at us: Who are we with? Is Coriolanus the hero we were meant to follow? I think he is, but at the same time he’s a challenge to us. I love it that we’re challenged right at the front by who he is and what he says. I love the anger in it. I love it. It’s sort of searing. And then, finally, where it all leads to, is this umbilical nakedness between a mother and a son. It’s so painful: The one moment of enlightenment is going to be the cause of his death. But there’s this moment where he gives in. When I first saw the play, I found that scene extraordinary — that final scene. And I found it so moving. The humanity surges out of him; he says something like, “It’s very hard to make mine eyes sweat compassion.” But he’s full of compassion. His mother opens him up. And then he’s going to die for it. It costs him his life. It touches a nerve in me — this endless pain we’re all in the world, whether it’s drug wars in Mexico or journalists beaten up in Moscow, or Anna Politkovskaya shot in the lobby of her building. But this is a very mediated place called Rome. The journalists and videographers and talking heads featured in Coriolanus aren’t necessarily making things better. There’s an ongoing noise of news, isn’t there, in the world? I’d make a differentiation: There is the noise of corporate newsmaking, which I think is what you’re seeing in the film. In my head, they’re slightly different than the individual, whether they be a writer or a journalist or… Maybe I’m sounding confused, but wanting to make it came out a sort of frustration, maybe. So in a perverse way, Coriolanus appeals in a world of compromises — where there’s on betrayal after another. That’s why Aufidius looks at him and has that moment where he says, “What was it that made him? What was his fault?” And he meditates on it: “One fire drives out one fire; one nail, one nail / Rights by rights falter, strengths by strengths do fail.” I think we see that constant changearound of power through blood or betrayal or devious politics. It’s obviously such a personal project for you. Is that ever a threat as a filmmaker? To be too close, to be too involved or too connected to the source? On a deep level, you mean? Yes. Can you truly feel like you’re doing it justice, or that the risk is too great? I knew it was a huge risk. I knew just from the response of people when I was trying to pitch it. [Laughs] But the person who’s a key figure in giving it some kind of objectivity is John Logan, who sort of sensed what I was chasing. Which is something that I find it hard to define easily, but there’s a howl of pain at the center of this piece — this flashing of blades and knives, something frightening. I think everything has its own spirit. We all know why we enjoy A Midsummer Night’s Dream — it has a spirit, which, whatever the production is like, is this thing we all respond to. And I think why people often avert their gaze from Coriolanus is because it goes to a very, very frightening place. He is frightening; what happens is frightening. There’s literally an eviscerated body at the end of it. But I think that John, coming onboard, knew I wanted to get into that. He knew I wanted to go to that place. And he brought his great skill and eye to shaping it. If it hadn’t been for him, I probably wouldn’t be here, because I pitched to him, but he then wrote the screenplay, which was phenomenal. When you read his screenplay, you saw a film. You, as a reader, were aware of the emotional progression or a physical nuance inside a speech. He made you very, very present. I mean, we worked on it together. I had very strong ideas, and then he brought to the table his strong ideas. It is a fusion, but without his skill to kind of shape it as a written thing, I don’t know what I would have done. You now belong to a very, very elite class of actors who’ve directed themselves onscreen in Shakespeare adaptations — Olivier, Welles, Branagh… I’m sure there are a few others, but very few. What are the challenges, and how do you know when you’re ready to tackle that as a director? You never know you’re ready, but I can only speak for myself: I have one life, and this is what I really feel… I can’t get this thing out of my head. Any time along the way I could have lost confidence, or someone could have come along and said this is not going to work, but there were enough people who came onboard as it went along who kept the flame alive. But I never knew that I was ready. I just knew that I was prepared to fall on my sword, or whatever the appropriate expression may be. Your knife. My knife. Initially it could have been very incoherent as a piece. I feel, from the response I’m getting, that it has a coherence. But I don’t know. Did you look back at other adaptations to see how others had done it? Were you influenced by any Shakespeare adaptations for the screen? Yes. I liked the commitment to a specific world that Baz Luhrmann did in Romeo + Juliet. He embraced a very coherent world. I took a lot from that. Every location mattered to me. I fell in love with locations; they became like actors in the cast. They were really important to me. And then for performance, there’s a Peter Brook King Lear, which is very naturalistic in black-and-white — very austere performances that I kind of like. I didn’t want to mimic that exactly — that style — but I wanted it naturalistic. So there were those, and I tried to avoid — wherever I could — any overt theatricality, and just treat it like a political drama set today. The most striking thing to me in this film is its approach to the extreme close-up. There are so many obvious differences between the media of stage and screen, but the close-up is The Difference. No, it is. You’re right. This is the conversation I had with John Logan. What I love in films… I mean, look at Gary Oldman’s performance as Smiley (in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy). Have you seen it? Oh, yeah. He doesn’t say a lot; he’s just looking, blank. But the close-up means that I, the viewer, am fascinated by what shifts of thought are going on. What’s happening? I love that. It compounds the physicality of a performance. We see the body on stage, but we don’t see the face. But with Coriolanus, if you don’t buy the face, then you don’t buy the movie. Exactly. It was funny when we were shooting it — how I would shoot sort of from hips to shoulders. And it was valid, but very quickly in the scene, just talking to my producer and my script supervisor and this group of people around me whom was asking for an opinion, the consensus around me was that we had to get in. “You’ve got to get into the face.” And even in the longer scenes, even if it’s so-called “static,” then so be it. But it’s all happening here. [Staggers hands directly above and below his face.] Like in that middle scene where Vanessa is saying, “You must go back and talk to them,” I’m in her face. But I love her face. I think everyone does. Yeah! But how does she feel about that on set — knowing how close the camera is and the presence she has to bring to it? I think actors know generally that that’s where they play — in the close-up. That’s where you deliver. It can be intimidating, but… I mean, some actors sometimes choose to go, “Is it this? Is it this?” [Contorts face and laughs] You know? But Vanessa is not that sort of actor. She wants to feel that what she’s doing is truthful for her. She’s sensitive to what’s happening on camera, but she’s not the type of actor who goes and checks the monitor. Ever. Did you have that actor on set? Well, I had to do it! [Laughs] By definition. Sometimes. [Top photo: Getty Images] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter. Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-44359842457401158452011-11-28T22:01:00.000-08:002011-11-28T23:53:17.076-08:00Methods to NothingA Kerbside Sights relieve a cool Iron Pictures presentation an Ambush Entertainment production. Produced by Amanda Marshall, Sim Sarna. Executive producer, Matthew Leutwyler. Directed, edited by Matthew Leutwyler. Script, Leutwyler, Gillian Vigman.With: Julie Benz, Dane Prepare, Greg Germann, Zack Gilford, Kali Hawk, Elizabeth Mitchell, Erik Palladino, Barbara Hershey, Miranda Bailey, Vincent Ventresca, Mark Kelly, Tony Denison, Aja Volkman.Carrying out a run of genre films and disappointing lit adaptation "The River Why," author-director Matthew Leutwyler is applicable with a factor personal with "Methods to Nothing." Stitching together a quilt of tales including disparate Angelenos inside the mode of "Magnolia" and "Short Cuts" and myriad other crisscrossers, this somber drama is well crafted and watchable but lacks the distinctive story content, style and standout performances being more than a serviceable reboot of familiar ideas. With comedian Dane Prepare toplining and moderate critical support likely, prospects are mild for 12 ,. 2 launch in 12 U.S. urban centers. Home-format potential looks more upbeat. The various strands circle around the highly marketed go to a recently disappeared 10-year-old suburban girl. Mom and dad requested a suspicious neighbor (Greg Germann), though audiences may also be introduced to question of a creepy schoolteacher (Mark Kelly) who obsesses inside the situation whenever he is not playing fantasy games online. Likewise living alone inside the teacher's apartment building can be a cop-in-training (Erik Palladino) dealing with their very own hidden issues. Prepare plays a counselor who's getting an affair getting an outrageous-child music artist (Aja Volkman, from band Nico Vega) while glumly tugging from his wife (Elizabeth Mitchell), who anxiously wants a youthful child. He's further soured with the inadequacy of his mother (Barbara Hershey), who still demands his father will return carrying out a decade's abandonment. Meanwhile, among his clients, a TV author (Kali Hawk), embarks around the tentative romance getting a appear specialist (Zach Gilford) while fighting the internalized racism she's developed from constantly being the lone African-American in their fortunate professional and social situations. Within the opposite finish in the spectrum, a unemployed retrieved alcoholic (Miranda Bailey) fights for custody of the children from the kids of the brother (Vincent Ventresca) who's braindead from the kind of accident she was associated with. Hatched throughout a time period of soul-searching the director experienced carrying out a divorce, these figures in crisis maintain interest around the fairly extended but well-paced narrative haul. Low-key tenor is sacrificed for just two climaxes that feel a tad conventional, one a violent conclusion for the kidnapping mystery, another a triumph-of-human-spirit episode together with a marathon. Cast encompassing numerous Leutwyler's regular collaborators is solid, though the truth is no principal figures is particularly absorbing, encouraging or three-dimensional. Pic's episodic character, selection of issues, and basically-modest impact may have best round the smallscreen, where its inadequate originality won't appear so conspicuous. Packaging is professional, even though upset handheld lensing applied by d.p. David Robert Manley feels inapt of those intimate dramatics.Camera (color, HD-to-35mm), David Robert Manley music, Craig Richey music supervisor, Michael Becker production designer, Joe Lemmon set decorator, Jennifer Lemmon costume designer, Keri Cruz appear, Eugene Thompson re-recording mixer, Jeremy Grody assistant director, Nick Touhey casting, Michael Testa, Serta Shaner. Examined on DVD, San Francisco Bay Area, November. 26, 2011. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 124 MIN. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-74353490862031402512011-11-21T21:01:00.000-08:002011-11-21T22:54:36.501-08:00'The Descendants' Clip: George Clooney Will get Fatherly with Youthful Daughter (VIDEO) .publish-content img Lost in most this area-office gymnastics about 'Breaking Beginning Part 1' over the past weekend was the truth that 'The Descendants,' the George Clooney-brought dramedy in regards to a father reconnecting together with his youthful kids when confronted with a household tragedy, was an indie smash. Debuting in only 29 theaters, the Alexander Payne film required in $1.two million, great for tenth place along with a per-screen average of $42,138 -- roughly $8,000 more per-screen than 'Breaking Beginning.' 'The Descendants' has received rave reviews and appears poised to become among the greatest gamers throughout Oscar season, and that's why you need to become familiar with it now -- should you haven't become an opportunity to begin to see the film already. Above, watch Clooney calm his onscreen daughter lower by promising to obtain his other onscreen daughter back from soccer practice. What's which they say concerning the best laid plans of rodents and males? Starring Clooney, breakout star Shailene Woodley (the daughter Clooney's getting), Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard and Robert Forster, 'The Descendants' is within choose theaters now. Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-86164030515133675922011-11-16T02:01:00.000-08:002011-11-16T03:54:55.242-08:00Law & Order: SVU's Natasha Lyonne Channels "Troublemaker" Past for Guest Role Natasha Lyonne Natasha Lyonne is the first to confess she is not a saint. The actress, most broadly noted for films for instance American Cake, But I'm a Cheerleader and Slums of Beverly Slopes, may also be well-recognized for her personal struggles behind the digital camera, including her Driving under the influence in 2001 together with a 2006 stint inside a substance treatment facility. Lyonne states she's had the opportunity to make use of people latter encounters while playing someone inside a mental institution in Law & Order: SVU."I have got a really specific, type of public past once i was maybe really a troublemaker. You result in places with females who are identical character I play," Lyonne notifies TVGuide.com. Exclusive: SVU casts Detective Amaro's estranged wife In this week's episode (10/9c on NBC0, Lyonne plays a girl who was simply seen being sexually assaulted but - after a period of wrongly crying rape - declines anything happened. The role of Gia Eskas was written particularly for Lyonne as well as the actress states it's apparent why. "I've really met women like Gia. I'm fortunate they written this episode personally where I felt like I'm capable of make use of a couple of from the incredible children which i have met throughout my existence and continue to tell their story inside an honest way," she states. "Personally, there's an individual stake in letting youthful women understand that it's OK in truth regarding existence story prior to it being a shameful factor. It's very crucial that you me." Despite the fact that written content is serious, Lyonne also states she was attracted for the role because of the dark humor employed by Gia with the ordeal. "A number of these women are likely to live also to enjoy yourself also to make jokes. There's lots of humor involved. I believed that was most likely probably the most appealing part of this character," she states. "Coping through comedy can be a healing tool generally and you also really observe that many throughout these recovery cities." Watch full cases of Law & Order: SVU Humor is not just among Gia's most effective tools, it's also of Lyonne's. When asked for about her prior knowledge of SVU, the actress, who recently guest-starred on New Girl and you'll be noticed in next year's American Reunion, mentioned they has not only seen every single episode of every single edition of Law & Order -- like the short-were living Trial by Jury - but has grand intentions of her very own spin-off. "A whole separate spin-off that we would really desire to be on might be once they did one with Bebe Neuwirth, Criminal Intent's Vincent D'Onofrio, SVU's Richard Belzer and Ice-T, after which it I really could seriously recurring as Gia Eskas," she deadpans. "That could be an aspiration show." Watch a behind-the-moments have a look at Lyonne's SVU episode here: Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352210659044630684.post-42905614624775020362011-11-15T06:01:00.000-08:002011-11-15T07:55:06.645-08:00Academy Honors Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones and Dick Smith Academy Honors Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones and Dick Smith By Gregg Kilday November 14, 2011 Photo by Getty Images James Earl Jones and Oprah Winfrey Emotions ran high at the third annual Governors Awards on Saturday night as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences celebrated the careers of actor James Earl Jones and make-up artist Dick Smith and then paid tribute to Oprah Winfrey, the recipient of its Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.Jones, who accepted his honor remotely, from a theater stage in London where he is currently appearing in "Driving Miss Daisy" opposite Vanessa Redgrave, said, "I am deeply honored, mighty grateful and" showing off a word he had learned in the U.K. "just plain gobsmacked."Smith, who was hailed as the godfather of make-up, was nearly overcome as he got out the words, "I have loved being a make-up artists so muchto have so much kindness given to meis just too muchI am so grateful."Winfrey, from her seat in the audience also wiped away a tear, as a young Barnard college student, Ayanna Hall, who had gone to school on a scholarship from the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, testified about the impact that Winfrey has had on thousands of lives. Speaking from her heart rather than prepared remarks, Winfrey explained the guiding principle between her commitment to philanthropy, saying, "Your life matters. You matter. What you do matters."After a week in which the Academy first saw Brett Ratner and Eddie Murphy drop out of producing and hosting the 84th Academy Awards, forcing the Academy to rush to quickly recruit Brian Grazer and Billy Crystal to save the show, the evening represented a reassuring return to tradition, even if this particular dinner, a non-televised dinner at which Academy governors mingle with Oscar hopefuls, is a relatively new invention.The program began with Darth Vadar, in a nod to Jones' signature vocal performance in "Star Wars," making his way through the grand ballroom at the Hollywood & Highland Center to the podium, where he removed his helmet only to reveal Academy president Tom Sherak beneath the mask.In the only public acknowledgement of the Oscar show near meltdown, Sherak began his remarks by asking, "How was your week?," to a round of laughter. He then quickly segued to the matters at hand. After calling out each of the honorees by name, he also took a moment to remember the producers Laura Ziskin, who died in June, and Gil Cates, who died Oct. 31. Both had produced Oscar shows Ziskin twice and Cates 14 times and, said Sherak, "to us, they were family" as he offered up a toast.The formal ceremony began with Mary J. Blige performing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from "The Lion King," for which Jones played the voice of Mafusa.Alec Baldwin kicked off the testimonials to Jones by reminding the crowd of the range of roles Jones has played, confessing "I wanted James Earl Jones's career that's what every actor wants" and also tossing in a pretty credible impersonation of Jones' deep bass voice. Glenn Close, admitting that watching Jones perform on stage in "Fences" reduced her to "a sobbing, stammering mess," said, "I just want to say thank you for what he has given me and all those who have been touched by his supreme artistry."Although Jones, 80, couldn't attend in person, his acceptance, filmed on the stage of the Wyndham Theatre after he'd completed a matinee performance, still had a spontaneous feel to it. After taking their bows, Redgrave asked the audience to stay in their seats for the presentation of the honorary Oscar, which former Academy president Sid Ganis, who was in the theater audience, had brought with him to London.Making a surprise appearance, Oscar winner Ben Kingsley walked out of the wings to hand the statuette to Jones. Delighted, Jones, said, "If an actor's nightmare is being on stage naked and not knowing your lines, what the heck do you call this? I have my clothes on, I know my words, and then out from the wings steps Sir Ben Kingsley and he hands me an Oscar! Frankly, what the heck else to call it but an actor's wet dream."The portion of the program devoted to Smith's work was introduced by Linda Blair, who was 13 when she starred in "The Exorcist." For that movie, Smith transformed her into a head-spinning demon. "For me, it was not as much fun as I think it was for Dick," she recalled fondly. "It was not a little girl's dream." But she explained how Smith worked hard to perfect the make-up demands of director William Friedkin, who insisted that Blair be recognizable beneath the effects. Writer, director and producer J. J. Abams, who included a nod to Smith in his recent film "Super 8," told of how as a movie-obsessed kid he'd written Smith a fan letter and how Smith sent back "an old, but clean tongue from 'The Exorcist,'" complete with instructions that Abrams should use peanut butter to stick it to his own tongue. The two struck up a correspondence that went on for years.Fellow make-up artist Rick Baker paid further testament to Smith, who received just one Oscar, for "Amadeus," during his career, saying not only did he invent "some new technique on basically every film he ever did" but then he also shared his inventions with his fellow make-up artists, circulating mimeographed notes that he scrupulously kept to describe his art.Prefacing his own remarks by saying "Please forgive me, my memory's not very good these days," Smith, 89, concluded, as his voice broke, "I will never forget tonight from the bottom of my heart."While a taped piece about Winfrey's career began with excerpts from her film performances in "The Color Purple" and "Beloved" and noted some of the movies she's had a hand in producing like "The Great Debaters" and "Precious," the focus was on her many philanthropic activities.First, though, producer Larry Gordonearned the biggest laughs of the night by recalling a party in Santa Barbara where he was amazed by Winfrey's ability to match him in downing tequila shots. "Oprah," he told her at the time, "you're a fking moose." The other guests were horrified, but the next morning, spotting him across the room, Winfrey defused the situation by throwing her arms open wide and proclaiming, "Baby, it's your fking moose!" "Congratulations my dearest, darling moose," he told her.John Travolta, one of Winfrey's long-standing friends, took credit for introducing Winfrey to tequila at his 50th birthday party, and added, "I would give you a second Oscar and that for your film acting because you are a damn good actress.It was left to Maria Shriver who has known Winfrey since they worked together at WJZ-TV in Baltimore in 1978 to laud Winfrey's generosity. "She's incredibly comfortable giving. She likes to give to her family, to her friends, to her community and to her country. She's always thinking how she can help others," Shriver said. "She's not good at one thing, she's really not good at sitting there accepting the love that so many people want to give her."When she did take the stage, Oprah, 57, credited Quincy Jones for seeing her on a TV talk show in Chicago and casting her in "The Color Purple," saying it was "the only reason I am here tonight.""I never imagined myself receiving an Oscar, certainly not for doing what I believe is a part of my calling, a part of my being," she added. Speaking of her life's journey, she cited "The Help," explaining the movie told the story of both her grandmother and her mother, who both worked as maids.Given her background, she continued, "It's unimaginable that I would be standing before you, voted by the board of governors. So when I say thank you, the thank you comes from a place deeper even than I know, because it's not just from me, it's from everybody who made me possible." The Hollywood Reporter Academy Honors Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones and Dick Smith By Gregg Kilday November 14, 2011 James Earl Jones and Oprah Winfrey PHOTO CREDIT Getty Images Emotions ran high at the third annual Governors Awards on Saturday night as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences celebrated the careers of actor James Earl Jones and make-up artist Dick Smith and then paid tribute to Oprah Winfrey, the recipient of its Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.Jones, who accepted his honor remotely, from a theater stage in London where he is currently appearing in "Driving Miss Daisy" opposite Vanessa Redgrave, said, "I am deeply honored, mighty grateful and" showing off a word he had learned in the U.K. "just plain gobsmacked."Smith, who was hailed as the godfather of make-up, was nearly overcome as he got out the words, "I have loved being a make-up artists so muchto have so much kindness given to meis just too muchI am so grateful."Winfrey, from her seat in the audience also wiped away a tear, as a young Barnard college student, Ayanna Hall, who had gone to school on a scholarship from the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, testified about the impact that Winfrey has had on thousands of lives. Speaking from her heart rather than prepared remarks, Winfrey explained the guiding principle between her commitment to philanthropy, saying, "Your life matters. You matter. What you do matters."After a week in which the Academy first saw Brett Ratner and Eddie Murphy drop out of producing and hosting the 84th Academy Awards, forcing the Academy to rush to quickly recruit Brian Grazer and Billy Crystal to save the show, the evening represented a reassuring return to tradition, even if this particular dinner, a non-televised dinner at which Academy governors mingle with Oscar hopefuls, is a relatively new invention.The program began with Darth Vadar, in a nod to Jones' signature vocal performance in "Star Wars," making his way through the grand ballroom at the Hollywood & Highland Center to the podium, where he removed his helmet only to reveal Academy president Tom Sherak beneath the mask.In the only public acknowledgement of the Oscar show near meltdown, Sherak began his remarks by asking, "How was your week?," to a round of laughter. He then quickly segued to the matters at hand. After calling out each of the honorees by name, he also took a moment to remember the producers Laura Ziskin, who died in June, and Gil Cates, who died Oct. 31. Both had produced Oscar shows Ziskin twice and Cates 14 times and, said Sherak, "to us, they were family" as he offered up a toast.The formal ceremony began with Mary J. Blige performing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from "The Lion King," for which Jones played the voice of Mafusa.Alec Baldwin kicked off the testimonials to Jones by reminding the crowd of the range of roles Jones has played, confessing "I wanted James Earl Jones's career that's what every actor wants" and also tossing in a pretty credible impersonation of Jones' deep bass voice. Glenn Close, admitting that watching Jones perform on stage in "Fences" reduced her to "a sobbing, stammering mess," said, "I just want to say thank you for what he has given me and all those who have been touched by his supreme artistry."Although Jones, 80, couldn't attend in person, his acceptance, filmed on the stage of the Wyndham Theatre after he'd completed a matinee performance, still had a spontaneous feel to it. After taking their bows, Redgrave asked the audience to stay in their seats for the presentation of the honorary Oscar, which former Academy president Sid Ganis, who was in the theater audience, had brought with him to London.Making a surprise appearance, Oscar winner Ben Kingsley walked out of the wings to hand the statuette to Jones. Delighted, Jones, said, "If an actor's nightmare is being on stage naked and not knowing your lines, what the heck do you call this? I have my clothes on, I know my words, and then out from the wings steps Sir Ben Kingsley and he hands me an Oscar! Frankly, what the heck else to call it but an actor's wet dream."The portion of the program devoted to Smith's work was introduced by Linda Blair, who was 13 when she starred in "The Exorcist." For that movie, Smith transformed her into a head-spinning demon. "For me, it was not as much fun as I think it was for Dick," she recalled fondly. "It was not a little girl's dream." But she explained how Smith worked hard to perfect the make-up demands of director William Friedkin, who insisted that Blair be recognizable beneath the effects. Writer, director and producer J. J. Abams, who included a nod to Smith in his recent film "Super 8," told of how as a movie-obsessed kid he'd written Smith a fan letter and how Smith sent back "an old, but clean tongue from 'The Exorcist,'" complete with instructions that Abrams should use peanut butter to stick it to his own tongue. The two struck up a correspondence that went on for years.Fellow make-up artist Rick Baker paid further testament to Smith, who received just one Oscar, for "Amadeus," during his career, saying not only did he invent "some new technique on basically every film he ever did" but then he also shared his inventions with his fellow make-up artists, circulating mimeographed notes that he scrupulously kept to describe his art.Prefacing his own remarks by saying "Please forgive me, my memory's not very good these days," Smith, 89, concluded, as his voice broke, "I will never forget tonight from the bottom of my heart."While a taped piece about Winfrey's career began with excerpts from her film performances in "The Color Purple" and "Beloved" and noted some of the movies she's had a hand in producing like "The Great Debaters" and "Precious," the focus was on her many philanthropic activities.First, though, producer Larry Gordonearned the biggest laughs of the night by recalling a party in Santa Barbara where he was amazed by Winfrey's ability to match him in downing tequila shots. "Oprah," he told her at the time, "you're a fking moose." The other guests were horrified, but the next morning, spotting him across the room, Winfrey defused the situation by throwing her arms open wide and proclaiming, "Baby, it's your fking moose!" "Congratulations my dearest, darling moose," he told her.John Travolta, one of Winfrey's long-standing friends, took credit for introducing Winfrey to tequila at his 50th birthday party, and added, "I would give you a second Oscar and that for your film acting because you are a damn good actress.It was left to Maria Shriver who has known Winfrey since they worked together at WJZ-TV in Baltimore in 1978 to laud Winfrey's generosity. "She's incredibly comfortable giving. She likes to give to her family, to her friends, to her community and to her country. She's always thinking how she can help others," Shriver said. "She's not good at one thing, she's really not good at sitting there accepting the love that so many people want to give her."When she did take the stage, Oprah, 57, credited Quincy Jones for seeing her on a TV talk show in Chicago and casting her in "The Color Purple," saying it was "the only reason I am here tonight.""I never imagined myself receiving an Oscar, certainly not for doing what I believe is a part of my calling, a part of my being," she added. Speaking of her life's journey, she cited "The Help," explaining the movie told the story of both her grandmother and her mother, who both worked as maids.Given her background, she continued, "It's unimaginable that I would be standing before you, voted by the board of governors. So when I say thank you, the thank you comes from a place deeper even than I know, because it's not just from me, it's from everybody who made me possible." The Hollywood Reporter Hollie Kaiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14186291886191434564noreply@blogger.com0