The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Friday that it is “conducting a review” of this season’s Oscar campaigns, with the grassroots effort that resulted in a surprising best actress Oscar nomination for Andrea Riseborough’s performance in the independent film To Leslie almost certainly the main focus of their inquiry.
The nom for Riseborough, a 41-year-old British actors’ actor, evoked audible gasps when it was announced last Tuesday because few people except members of the Academy’s actors branch, which solely determines the acting Oscar nominees, had ever even heard of the film it came for, which cost — and grossed — virtually nothing. But given the tremendous critical response to Riseborough’s portrayal of a spiraling alcoholic following the film’s premiere at last year’s SXSW film festival, and the lack of financial resources possessed by the film’s U.S. distributor Momentum Pictures, the film’s director,...
The nom for Riseborough, a 41-year-old British actors’ actor, evoked audible gasps when it was announced last Tuesday because few people except members of the Academy’s actors branch, which solely determines the acting Oscar nominees, had ever even heard of the film it came for, which cost — and grossed — virtually nothing. But given the tremendous critical response to Riseborough’s portrayal of a spiraling alcoholic following the film’s premiere at last year’s SXSW film festival, and the lack of financial resources possessed by the film’s U.S. distributor Momentum Pictures, the film’s director,...
- 1/29/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
He spoke in a raspy monotone that was at once commanding, yet menacing. Howard Strickling officially was the public relations boss of MGM during its heyday, but his real responsibility, he would explain, was protection more than publicity.
Strickling’s mission was to nurture the roster of stars under studio contract. If he were around today he might even have a few things to say to Brad Pitt or George Clooney.
He’d likely be wary, for example, about Pitt’s decision to play silent star John Gilbert in the forthcoming period movie Babylon. Gilbert’s career ended abruptly in the 1920s due to his stormy personal relationships with other stars, so Strickling would counsel Pitt to avoid references to his litigation with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
Gilbert experienced well-publicized conflicts with his volatile co-star and fiancée Greta Garbo. Louis B. Mayer opposed the wedding and, in one lethal moment, Gilbert...
Strickling’s mission was to nurture the roster of stars under studio contract. If he were around today he might even have a few things to say to Brad Pitt or George Clooney.
He’d likely be wary, for example, about Pitt’s decision to play silent star John Gilbert in the forthcoming period movie Babylon. Gilbert’s career ended abruptly in the 1920s due to his stormy personal relationships with other stars, so Strickling would counsel Pitt to avoid references to his litigation with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
Gilbert experienced well-publicized conflicts with his volatile co-star and fiancée Greta Garbo. Louis B. Mayer opposed the wedding and, in one lethal moment, Gilbert...
- 10/27/2022
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
The rules of survival in Hollywood have always fascinated me. “Consistency is the key – always present yourself to studios as a total bitch,” Bette Davis once confided. “Never delude yourself into thinking that a star can become a loyal personal friend,” advised Billy Wilder. “Since studios always lie, a producer’s mandate is to come up with bigger lies,” said David O. Selznick.
As a collector of Hollywood war stories, I was pleased this week to discover a new book (741 pages) with the intimidating title Hollywood: The Oral History – one that has greatly expanded my inventory of intrigue.
Over the course of the last 50 years AFI (the American Film Institute) has semi-secretly recorded, and now published, interviews with accomplished stars and filmmakers, thus creating an intimate Hollywood history told in first person (HarperCollins is the publisher).
Approaching a book of this size as summer reading, I decided to focus not on thoughtful analysis,...
As a collector of Hollywood war stories, I was pleased this week to discover a new book (741 pages) with the intimidating title Hollywood: The Oral History – one that has greatly expanded my inventory of intrigue.
Over the course of the last 50 years AFI (the American Film Institute) has semi-secretly recorded, and now published, interviews with accomplished stars and filmmakers, thus creating an intimate Hollywood history told in first person (HarperCollins is the publisher).
Approaching a book of this size as summer reading, I decided to focus not on thoughtful analysis,...
- 9/8/2022
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Is this a thrilling, Chinatown-like Hollywood mystery, or a semi-docu about the making of the first TV Superman show? Or is it going to shed light on the mysterious death of actor George Reeves, the childhood hero we couldn’t believe had died by his own hand? Allen Coulter’s well-crafted show has a lot to say and says it well with an excellent cast… yet it needed something it doesn’t deliver. If you don’t require your movieland mysteries tied up in a neat bow, this could fit the bill.
Hollywoodland
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
2006 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 126 min. / Street Date August 25, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Lois Smith, Robin Tunney, Joe Spano, Kathleen Robertson, Larry Cedar, Molly Parker.
Cinematography: Jonathan Freeman
Film Editor: Michael Berenbaum
Original Music: Marcelo Zarvos
Written by Paul Bernbaum
Produced by Glenn Williamson
Directed by...
Hollywoodland
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
2006 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 126 min. / Street Date August 25, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Adrien Brody, Diane Lane, Ben Affleck, Bob Hoskins, Lois Smith, Robin Tunney, Joe Spano, Kathleen Robertson, Larry Cedar, Molly Parker.
Cinematography: Jonathan Freeman
Film Editor: Michael Berenbaum
Original Music: Marcelo Zarvos
Written by Paul Bernbaum
Produced by Glenn Williamson
Directed by...
- 8/18/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Coens whitewash Hollywood fixer Eddie Mannix and up the communism to create their sharp but inaccurate satire
Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen
Entertainment grade: A–
History grade: Fail
Along with his associate Howard Strickling, Eddie Mannix was the most famous of all Hollywood “fixers” – charged with protecting the reputation of big-name stars and studios against revelations of debauchery and, on occasion, criminal activity.
Continue reading...
Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen
Entertainment grade: A–
History grade: Fail
Along with his associate Howard Strickling, Eddie Mannix was the most famous of all Hollywood “fixers” – charged with protecting the reputation of big-name stars and studios against revelations of debauchery and, on occasion, criminal activity.
Continue reading...
- 3/11/2016
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
Not unlike their impeccably detailed designed world of the 1961 New York City folk scene filled out by characters loosely based on real-life counterparts in Inside Llewyn Davis, it looks like the Coens are applying their specific vision to the Golden Age of Hollywood with Hail, Caesar!. We’ve already offered up a video detailing the many cinematic references in the trailer, and the most obvious real-life connection is Josh Brolin‘s character, who is portraying Eddie Mannix, a studio fixer who worked for MGM.
As part of her series “MGM Storie”s in her latest podcast episode of the essential You Must Remember This, Karina Longworth entertainingly details the Mannix’s story, from his early gangster days to the scandals he was involved in covering up, leading all the way up to being high-in-command at the studio. It’s a fascinating listen as we gear up for one of our most-anticipated films of next year,...
As part of her series “MGM Storie”s in her latest podcast episode of the essential You Must Remember This, Karina Longworth entertainingly details the Mannix’s story, from his early gangster days to the scandals he was involved in covering up, leading all the way up to being high-in-command at the studio. It’s a fascinating listen as we gear up for one of our most-anticipated films of next year,...
- 11/6/2015
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
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