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NBR AWARDS FLASHBACK 1998: The ’98 Gala, held in January 1999 at Manhattan’s Tavern on the Green, honored, as usual, some wonderful artists -- Angelina Jolie and Billy Crudup were on hand to pick up their Breakthrough Awards, Giorgio Armani presented Martin Scorsese with his Billy Wilder Award (Sylvia Caminer and I had the honor – and great fun -- of editing Marty’s tribute reel), Michael Caine received Career Achievement (presented by Charlie Rose), Bill Condon’s God and Monsters won Best Film, its star Ian McKellan Best Actor, Central Station’s Fernanda Montenegro Best Actress (presented by Lauren Bacall), Ed Harris (The Truman Show) Best Supporting Actor, Christina Ricci (The Opposite of Sex) Best Supporting Actress, Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth), Best Director, John Willis the William K. Everson Film History Award for editing five decades of the annual Screen World books (THE number one film credit resource in those pre-IMDB days!). Gregory Peck presented Barbara Kopple with Best Documentary honors for Wild Man Blues, Heather Matarazzo presented the Top Ten Indies award, Warren Beatty spoke movingly of director Alan J. Pakula (tragically killed two months earlier in a freak car accident) as he received a honorary award, named after Pakula, for Bulworth, from the director’s widow. Roberto Benigni sent in a hilarious taped acceptance speech accepting his Special Filmmaking Achievement for Life is Beautiful, and Bernardo Bertolucci made eloquent and touching remarks for his Freedom of Expression Award (I’ll run the text of that speech in an upcoming column).
Rita Moreno was the M.C. for her second year, typically spirited and outspoken … and not shy about saying whatever she wanted! That night, Rita presented three NBR veterans with special career awards for their years of service: Robin Little (Executive Director and editor of Films in Review from 1983-1995, when it was still one of the pre-eminent film history magazines on the planet), public relations legend John Springer (whose clients included Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda, Myrna Loy, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Al Pacino and Ed Harris among many others), and Robert Giroux.
The newly minted NBR Archive preserves the joy of that evening. Robert Giroux, a partner in the Farrar, Straus and Giroux publishing empire and longtime NBR president, was a giant in the book world, serving as editor and publisher to T.S. Eliot, Flannery O’Connor, Bernard Malamud, William Golding, Philip Roth, Tom Wolfe, Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, King Vidor, Raoul Walsh and many others, even working with Jack Kerouac on On the Road. Accepting his award at the ’98 gala.
“There’s an old historic building in downtown New York in the East Village called the Cooper Union, which dates from before the Civil War. In 1860 Abraham Lincoln, when he was running for President, gave a speech against slavery at the Cooper Union, which won him New York’s support. I tell you this tonight because it was there that the National Board of Review was born 90 years ago. The People’s Institute of Cooper Union, a group of progressive citizens, established our board to oppose censorship of the movies and to support superior films by means of publicity and awards. In the 1920s we were the first group to start the Ten Best Films before the Oscars got going. We still oppose censorship and we still give awards to movies and their makers which merit praise. We are doing it tonight.
I’m proud to have been a member since 1928 when I joined the junior committee as a teenager over 70 years ago. Since I’ve loved movies from childhood, I admit that when I heard that I could not only see movies free but previews of movies, I signed up quick. At college I wrote reviews for the old National Board Bulletin and the editor James Shelley Hamilton, a man who worked with D.W. Griffith believe it or not, who put me on the Exceptional Photoplay Committee, where I met writers and critics like Otis Ferguson, James Agee, Iris Barry, William Troy, William Everson, Isabel Bolton and Jay Leyda. When I became a book publisher it was Jay Leyda who had worked with Sergei Eisenstein in Russia through whom I published two Eisenstein books, Film Form and Film Sense, which is still in print today. Later I persuaded King Vidor, the Hollywood pioneer, to write his memoirs of early days of the movies. It too is still in print. Vidor’s book title (A Tree is a Tree) comes from a saying of producers of early Westerns who refused to put up the money for expensive location work: “A tree is a tree, shoot it in Griffith Park.” Another favorite of mine is another early producer’s boast: “My comedies are not to be laughed at.”
The National Board was never a part of the movie industry. We have always been independent and our awards are made independently. The movies are an art and we support artists. The greatest artists are often mavericks like Charlie Chaplin, Melies, Griffith, John Huston, John Ford, Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman. They were movie geniuses who usually succeeded in doing what they, rather than a backer or financial controller, wanted. That’s what made them worth supporting. I am proud to be a part of that effort. It is my fervent wish that we in the National Board will continue to do our good work into the millennium and for many years to come.”
YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE MONTH: Don’t ya hate when you’re in a cinema and somebody’s yammerin’ on a cellphone? Watch this new AT
&T PSA, with Martin Scorsese’s brilliant comic timing: http://youtube.com/watch?v=c_LOsUzekZ4.
And Jimmy Kimmel’s star-studded video answer to girlfriend Sarah Silverman’s “I’m f***in’ Matt Damon”: http://youtube.com/watch?v=sIQrBouWRiE.
SONY: SLIPSTREAM (2007) slipped through theatres but is worth a look on DVD. It’s an inventive thriller written by, directed by and starring Anthony Hopkins as a screenwriter, working on a murder mystery, whose characters begin to intrude into his life. The cast includes John Turturro, Christian Slater, Michael Clarke Duncan, Camryn Manheim and Jeffrey Tambor, and there’s a production featurette, deleted scenes, and audio commentary by Hopkins. SLEUTH (2007) is Kenneth Branagh’s remake of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’ classic 1972 cat-and-mouse thriller starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine; in the new version Caine inherits Olivier’s role, and Jude Law fills Caine’s shoes. Harold Pinter adapts Anthony Shaffer’s play. Extras include commentaries from Branagh, Caine and Law, a making-of featurette, and a segment about the special makeup.
Based on the Steve Niles-Ben Templesmith comic, David Slade’s 30 DAYS OF NIGHT (2007), from Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert’s Ghost House Pictures, is a stylish, lavish, slambang vampire flick, with New Zealand locations and studios standing in for Barrow, Alaska, where the populace is decimated by nocturnal bloodsuckers reveling in the title’s meteorological phenomenon. Josh Hartnett is a worthy hero, with Melissa George, Buscemi regular Mark Boone Junior, and the always fantastic Ben Foster providing strong support. Horror-on-DVD usually has elaborate extras, and this is no exception, with no less than eight featurettes covering the full spectrum of the filmmaking process. Hartnett, George and producer Tapert provide an entertaining and informative audio commentary; revealing the secrets of production makes this an even more impressive picture. 30 DAYS OF NIGHT is a serious, hardcore horror movie, and my pick for the best of the genre in ’07.
GOYA’S GHOSTS (2007) is less successful despite high pedigrees from director Milos Forman and producer Saul Zaentz, the filmmakers responsible for ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST and AMADEUS. Set during the Spanish Inquisition, the Forman-Jean Claude Carriere screenplay involves the efforts of painter Francisco Goya (Stellan Skarsgard) to save a young woman (Natalie Portman) from the clutches of corrupt Brother Lorenzo (Javier Bardem). The actors are brilliant, the cinematography, costumes and sets artful, but somehow the film doesn’t quite jell. It may be one of those films that one should revisit in a couple of years. A behind-the-scenes featurette is included.
ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES (2007) is an admirable effort from director John Turturro, a full-blown musical comedy-drama with a powerhouse cast including James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, Mandy Moore and Christopher Walken. The musical sequences overwhelm the narrative, and make the picture worth seeing, with the cast singing and dancing in beautifully staged numbers. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2007), directed by Julie Taymor, attempts to tell the story of a Liverpool lad (Jim Sturgess) who comes to America and gets caught up in the turbulent times and a romance with Evan Rachel Wood. Like ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES, you’ll want to fast forward to the brilliant musical numbers, with the cast re-doing classic Beatles tunes, including a cameo from Bono performing “I Am the Walrus.” The two-disc set has extended musical performances, a deleted scene, five behind-the-scenes featurettes and commentary from Taymor and music producer/composer Elliot Goldenthal.
A note: I suspect that both ROMANCE and UNIVERSE will become cult films by virtue of Turturro and Taymor’s virtuoso musical filmmaking. Film musicals are a rare breed, and even flawed works like these should be applauded and encouraged.
Sydney Pollack’s TOOTSIE (1983) is one of the most beloved American comedies, as watchable and entertaining as ever, with Dustin Hoffman in drag to land a role on a soap opera. Like the best comedies, it’s full of heart as well as hilarity. Bill Murray had a breakout role as Hoffman’s pal, and the stellar cast includes Jessica Lange, Charles Durning, Teri Garr and Dabney Coleman. The 25th Anniversary Edition includes deleted scenes, original screen test footage and new interviews with Hoffman and Pollack. Norman Jewison’s AND JUSTICE FOR ALL (1976), one off Al Pacino’s finest Seventies films, casts the actor as a lawyer who is defending a judge (John Forsyth) accused of raping a young girl. He knows he’s guilty and faces a moral dilemma culminating in a powerful courtroom finale. The Special Edition includes commentary by Jewison, deleted scenes, and featurettes on Jewison and screenwriter Barry Levinson. Pacino also stars in Sydney Pollack’s BOBBY DEERFIELD (1977), an unabashed romantic drama with Al as a famous race car driver in Europe, romancing Marthe Keller. Based on an Erich Maria Remarque novel, the picture has an old-fashioned movie star vehicle feel, and is recommended for hopeless romantics looking to have some tears jerked.
BUENA VISTA: I’ve always considered 101 DALMATIONS (1961) to be the best animated feature of the classic Walt Disney era. The animation had reached a new level of quality, and the Dodie Smith novel was perfect material for the Disney machine. The new two-disc Platinum Edition looks stunning with digital restoration and enhanced picture and sound, and the Disney magic survives almost 50 years after its first release. One can especially revel in the greatest Disney villain ever, Cruela DeVil, and the cute titular Dalmation puppies never become too cute. As they always do on their limited edition Platinums, Disney Studios include loads of extras, including a making-of documentary, a featurette on Walt’s correspondence with the author of the novel, a featurette devoted to Cruela, deleted songs, and an assortment of games and activities for the kids. Here’s a taste:
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20th CENTURY-FOX/MGM: Spike Lee burst onto the film scene with SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (1986), a sparkling, witty, sexy romantic comedy with lots of style and heart. The first Spike Lee feature Joint tells the story of Nola Darling (Tracy Camila Johns), a girl who simply must have “it” as she beds the Nice Guy (Redmond Hicks), the Vain Guy (John Canada Terrell) and the irrepressible Mars Blackmon (Spike himself). This is a no-frills release, sadly; commentary and featurettes would have been most welcome, and hopefully we’ll eventually get a Special Edition.
BOB HOPE: MGM MOVIE LEGENDS COLLECTION is an excellent representation of the comedian’s career. Paramount loaned Hope to Sam Goldwyn for two of his best early Forties pictures, THEY GOT ME COVERED (1943) and THE PRINCESS AND THE PIRATE (1944), both directed by David Butler. The former is a WWII spy farce, with Bob and Dorothy Lamour battling Nazi provocateur Otto Preminger; the latter is a hilarious buccaneer comedy pairing Hope and Virginia Mayo against Victor McLaglen in gorgeous Technicolor; both are much more lavishly produced than Hope’s usual Paramount fare. ALIAS JESSE JAMES (1959) is a Hope-produced Western in the spirit of his THE PALEFACE (1948) and SON OF PALEFACE (1952), notable for cameos from current Western TV stars like Ward Bond, Hugh O’Brian, James Garner, Fess Parker, Jay Silverheels and Roy Rogers, as well as Gary Cooper, and of course, Bing Crosby. THE FACTS OF LIFE (1960) finds Bob in more mature, straight mode in a sophisticated comedy opposite Lucille Ball. THE ROAD TO HONG KONG (1961) is the final Hope-Crosby “Road” picture, co-starring Joan Collins, with an appearance from Lamour and the scene-stealing Peter Sellers. By the time he made I’LL TAKE SWEDEN (1965), Hope was playing a single dad battling the younger generation – sexpot daughter Tuesday Weld and loverboy Frankie Avalon, while BOY, DID I GET A WRONG NUMBER! (1966), one of his dumbest pictures, was still a box office hit by virtue of his pairing with Phyllis Diller.
COPS is one of TV’s great guilty pleasures, and fans of the show are urged to pick up COPS: 20th ANNIVERSARY EDITION for uncensored segments. NEWHART: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON from 1982 collects the first 22 episodes of Bob Newhart’s second successful TV series; this time he’s the hapless owner of a rural bed and breakfast. MARRIED WITH CHILDREN: THE COMPLETE EIGHTH SEASON is a three-disc set with 26 episodes of Bundy madness.
PARAMOUNT: Robert Zemeckis delivers the goods in BEOWULF (2007), based on the ancient stories, a rousing mythological adventure every bit as good as 300. The motion-capture epic stars Ray Winsome, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleason and Angelina Jolie. Released in theatres in 3D, BEOWULF is one of the best sword-and-sorcery movies of all time. The unrated director’s cut includes lots of featurettes detailing the remarkable technological process as well as deleted scenes.
DREAMWORKS: Marc Forster’s adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling book THE KITE RUNNER (2007) made the NBR’s Top Ten list; it’s a beautiful film about friendship, family, guilt and redemption, offering a glimpse into the horrors of Taliban Afghanistan. There’s audio commentary from Forster, Hosseini and screenwriter David Benioff on this must-see DVD.
MIRAMAX: Reams have been written about NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007), named the year’s best film and best adapted screenplay by the NBR and Oscar, with Javier Bardem picking up an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and the NBR awarding Best Ensemble Cast. In the hands of Joel and Ethan Coen, Cormac McCarthy’s novel becomes the perfect screen thriller, with the cast bringing the book to searing life – Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh, Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss, Woody Harrelson as Carson Wells, Kelly Macdonald as Carla Jean Moss, Garret Dillahunt as Deputy Wendell, and Tess Harper as Loretta Bell. Coen Brothers movies always boast great acting, and each performance in this picture is memorable; together they form a seamlessly harrowing and haunting mosaic of mayhem and the dark side of human nature. The DVD contains three production featurettes.
The NBR Award for Best Directorial Debut went to Ben Affleck for GONE BABY GONE (2007), and it is well deserved. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (author of Mystic River), the film chronicles the search by two private detectives (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) for a missing child with a series of labyrinthine twists and turns. Amy Ryan is sensational as the child’s party animal mother; the NBR awarded her Best Supporting Actress for her work. Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, John Ashton, Titus Welliver and Amy Madigan also turn in superlative performances, and John Toll’s cinematography is magnificent. Bonus features include commentary by Affleck and screenwriter Aaron Stockard, an extended ending, deleted scenes with optional commentary by Affleck and Stockard, and featurettes on casting the film with Boston locals and “Going Home” with Boston native Affleck.
UNIVERSAL: Ridley Scott’s formidable directing prowess is on full display in AMERICAN GANGSTER (2007), his fact-based crime epic about an underworld kingpin (Denzel Washington) and the Javert-like detective (Russell Crowe) who builds a case against him. The 3-disc Collector’s Edition includes the original theatrical version with commentary from Scott and screenwriter Steven Zaillian, the unrated extended version with an additional 18 minutes, deleted scenes and an alternate opening, an excellent making-of documentary, case files, a DATELINE NBC episode, a BET special, two music videos, and a bonus digital copy of the unrated version for play in your laptop or PC.
Sean Penn’s INTO THE WILD (2007) is a riveting true-life drama; if you missed this in the theatre, definitely catch up with the double-disc Collectors Edition. Emile Hirsch (the NBR’s 2007 Breakthrough Actor) plays Chris McCandless, who leaves his family and burns his money to live a pure and natural life in the Alaskan wilderness. Along the way he encounters a colorful array of characters (including characters played by Catherine Keener, Kristen Stewart, Vince Vaughn, and, in a beautiful performance, Hal Holbrook) before achieving his dream. Penn reveals some major directorial chops, and the production deserves special credit for its stunning location work and the original songs by Eddie Vedder. Extras include two superior documentaries about the making of the film.
Sean Penn’s INTO THE WILD (2007) is a riveting true-life drama; if you missed this in the theatre, definitely catch up with the double-disc Collectors Edition. Emile Hirsch (the NBR’s 2007 Breakthrough Actor) plays Chris McCandless, who leaves his family and burns his money to live a pure and natural life in the Alaskan wilderness. Along the way he encounters a colorful array of characters (including characters played by Catherine Keener, Kristen Stewart, Vince Vaughn, and, in a beautiful performance, Hal Holbrook) before achieving his dream. Penn reveals some major directorial chops, and the production deserves special credit for its stunning location work and the original songs by Eddie Vedder. Extras include two superior documentaries about the making of the film. Cate Blanchett can do no wrong; she is one of the greatest actors working today. She reteams with director Shekhar Kapur for a sequel to their brilliant ELIZABETH (1998) in ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE (2007). Seventeenth Century England is beautifully realized, and Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth and Clive Owen as Walter Raleigh are perfectly cast. The disc includes some really good production featurettes detailing how the Elizabethan world was recreated. Ang Lee’s LUST, CAUTION (2007) has a lot of advocates; I found it slow, plodding and pretentious. It’s quite lovely to look at, with lush cinematography and 1935 Shanghai period detail, but unlike Bertolucci’s LAST TANGO IN PARIS or Philip Kaufman’s THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, I thought the explicit sex scenes were gratuitous … though they did keep me awake. There’s a featurette about making the picture, in which you can (and I quote the back cover blurb) “Discover how Ang Lee’s passion fueled every step of this erotic thriller.”
ATTENTION GEORGE CLOONEY FANS, all gazillion of you. Universal Pictures has just launched their full website for the romantic comedy, LEATHERHEADS, starring George Clooney, Renée Zellweger, and John Krasinski, and directed by Clooney. Opening April 4, the movie’s website is www.leatherheadsmovie.com.
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THINK FILM: IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON (2007) is a wondrous, inspiring documentary (one of the NBR’s Top Five Docs last year), presented by Ron Howard, about NASA’s voyages to the Moon between 1968 and 1972. Nine of the twelve astronauts who have walked on the lunar surface are interviewed, the only human beings who have stood on another world. Director David Sington tells a compelling story, with all the space and lunar footage coming from NASA archives. Highly recommended.
IMAGE: Marc Klein’s SUBURBAN GIRL (2007) is a cute comedy starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as a young woman who moves to Manhattan from the suburbs and falls under the influence of literary superstar Alec Baldwin. It’s based on Melissa Banks’ best-selling The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing, and makes for a good date movie. Klein provides director’s commentary.
MPI: From 1966-1970, Jackie Gleason revived his early Fifties comedy classic THE HONEYMOONERS in one-hour, live-from-Miami color musicals broadcast Saturday nights on CBS. Gleason and Art Carney reprised their roles as Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton, with Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph replaced by Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean as Alice and Trixie. MPI has released THE COLOR HONEYMOONERS COLLECTION 1 and COLLECTION 2, a total of six discs with 17 restored and unedited one-hour episodes. They’re a must for Gleason fans and HONEYMOONERS completists (www.mpihomevideo.com).
GENIUS takes care of genre fans with two new Dragon Dynasty releases and three Dimension Extreme DVDs. Dragon Dynasty #23 THE ROYAL TRAMP COLLECTION features ROYAL TRAMP (1993) and ROYAL TRAMP II (2006), with the incredible Stephen Chow bringing his brand of martial arts magic and outrageous comedy to the Ming Dynasty. Dragon Dynasty #24 LEGEND OF THE BLACK SCORPION (2006). Yuen Wo-Ping, considered by many to be the world’s best stunt coordinator, choreographs breathtaking action in this Ming Dynasty version of HAMLET. Both ROYAL TRAMP and SCORPION are two-disc sets packed as usual with lots of cool featurettes and commentaries. The Dragon Dynasty series has become the ultimate for hardcore action fans.
The same can be said for Dimension Extreme with their over-the-top horror releases. The Japanese NIGHTMARE DETECTIVE (2006) is scary as hell, a thriller about a serial killer who can enter your dreams. Steven C. Miller’s AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION (2007) is a zombie gore fest that makes George Romero look like Walt Disney; the disc includes director and producer commentary, deleted scenes, a short film by Miller, music videos and production featurettes. 13: GAME OF DEATH (2006), from Thailand, is a harrowing suspense thriller that is simply out of control. Be warned that all three Dimension Extreme releases are unrated and only for the true connoisseur of psychotronic cinema.
KINO: THE HANDS OF ORLAC (1924) is another collaboration between Kino and the F.W. Murnau Foundation in Germany, a 35mm restoration of the expressionistic classic about a concert pianist (Conrad Veidt) who loses his hands in a train crash; they’re amputated and replaced with the hands of a killer and … you got it. Directed by Robert Weine (THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI), ORLAC was remade by MGM and director Karl Freund in 1935 as the memorable Grand Guignol thriller MAD LOVE, with Peter Lorre in the Veidt role. Extras include the musical score by Paul Mercer, scene comparisons of the domestic and international cuts, excerpts from the Maurice Renard novel, an essay by John Soister (author of Conrad Veidt on Screen), an image gallery, and the trailer from MAD LOVE (www.kino.com).
BOOKS: Joseph L. Mankiewicz: Interviews, edited by Brian Dauth, is the latest in the wonderful series from University of Mississippi Press, collecting hard-to-to find discussions from 1951 to 1991 with the director of ALL ABOUT EVE, A LETTER TO THREE WIVES, GUYS AND DOLLS, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, CLEOPATRA, and SLEUTH, among others. There’s an interview by Michel Ciment printed in English for the first time, as well as an extensive and revealing session with Gary Carey. This is a great addition to the series (www.upress.state.ms.us.).
SOUNDTRACK: John Sayles’ HONEYDRIPPER was one of the NBR’s picks for Top Ten Indies of 2007, and the soundtrack is terrific, with R & B, gospel and blues from Ruth Brown, Gary Clark, Jr., Memphis Slim, New Beginnings Ministry, Lil Green, Keb’ Mo’, Hank Williams, Danny Glover and longtime Sayles’ composer Mason Daring (www.honeydripper-movie.com). JOHN GALLAGHER
jgmovie@gmail.com
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