Exclusive: Jamie Lloyd, director of the history-making reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, reveals that his star Nicole Scherzinger initially “refused to consider” accepting his offer to play Norma Desmond in the show adapted from Billy Wilder’s 1950 classic.
“Nicole was not flattered,” he gasped, speaking to Breaking Baz backstage at the London theatre awards, held at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday night.
Lloyd says that the show’s “obviously associated with Glenn Close’s iconic performance and therefore people think about Norma Desmond being a much older woman.”
Mmm, that’s unlikely to amuse Glenn Close.
He tells me that Scherzinger, a one-time member of The Pussycat Dolls, called Norma Desmond a “has been” and stormed at Lloyd that she “still looks good under the bright lights.”
Lloyd encouraged her to study Don Black and Christopher Hampton’s book and lyrics and to listen to Lloyd Weber’s music.
“Nicole was not flattered,” he gasped, speaking to Breaking Baz backstage at the London theatre awards, held at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday night.
Lloyd says that the show’s “obviously associated with Glenn Close’s iconic performance and therefore people think about Norma Desmond being a much older woman.”
Mmm, that’s unlikely to amuse Glenn Close.
He tells me that Scherzinger, a one-time member of The Pussycat Dolls, called Norma Desmond a “has been” and stormed at Lloyd that she “still looks good under the bright lights.”
Lloyd encouraged her to study Don Black and Christopher Hampton’s book and lyrics and to listen to Lloyd Weber’s music.
- 4/15/2024
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
When Harry Met Sally (courtesy Columbia Pictures)Graphic: The A.V. Club
Whether it’s the tension of the countdown, the promise of romance, or simply the idea of letting go of the past and moving on into an unknown future, there’s just something about New Year’s Eve that brings on new revelations,...
Whether it’s the tension of the countdown, the promise of romance, or simply the idea of letting go of the past and moving on into an unknown future, there’s just something about New Year’s Eve that brings on new revelations,...
- 12/29/2023
- by Cindy White
- avclub.com
Season 6 of “Better Call Saul” is a tiny break from tradition from the start. Rather than open on Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) living out his days as an assuming Cinnabon employee in Omaha, Nebraska, the season premiere “Wine and Roses” starts on a melancholy tour through the house he left behind. There’s a glimpse of his flashy, rainbow-colored wardrobe, lavish wall art, and a general interior decor that’s far more palatial than you might expect from the Jimmy we’ve seen over the first five seasons of the AMC series.
As the camera winds its way through inside corridors and out toward the dumpster and moving van hauling everything away, the house-clearers dispatch all of Jimmy’s things with ballet-like precision. Of course, as the episode’s cinematographer Marshall Adams describes it, that’s not a coincidence at all.
“[Director] Michael [Morris] and our first Ad Rich Sickler had this...
As the camera winds its way through inside corridors and out toward the dumpster and moving van hauling everything away, the house-clearers dispatch all of Jimmy’s things with ballet-like precision. Of course, as the episode’s cinematographer Marshall Adams describes it, that’s not a coincidence at all.
“[Director] Michael [Morris] and our first Ad Rich Sickler had this...
- 4/20/2022
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
When Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical adaptation of Sunset Boulevard premiered in 1993, it became a major hit. But few people then, or even now, are aware of a much earlier attempt to bring the classic film to the stage—by Gloria Swanson herself.
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, directed by Jeffrey Schwarz, explores how Swanson, five years after her star turn as Norma Desmond in the 1950 Billy Wilder drama, threw herself into the adaptation project with a pair of unknowns. Her collaborators: handsome young composer Dickson Hughes and even more handsome young lyricist Richard Stapley.
“[Hughes and Stapley] were creative partners and also life partners,” Schwarz noted Tuesday night at the world premiere of his documentary at the Outfest film festival. The event took place—where else?—on Sunset Boulevard, at the DGA theater in West Hollywood.
The tale takes as many twists and turns as the celebrated road through Los Angeles. Swanson sought...
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story, directed by Jeffrey Schwarz, explores how Swanson, five years after her star turn as Norma Desmond in the 1950 Billy Wilder drama, threw herself into the adaptation project with a pair of unknowns. Her collaborators: handsome young composer Dickson Hughes and even more handsome young lyricist Richard Stapley.
“[Hughes and Stapley] were creative partners and also life partners,” Schwarz noted Tuesday night at the world premiere of his documentary at the Outfest film festival. The event took place—where else?—on Sunset Boulevard, at the DGA theater in West Hollywood.
The tale takes as many twists and turns as the celebrated road through Los Angeles. Swanson sought...
- 8/19/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
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Even the most iconic films wouldn’t be the same without music. A good film score knows how to hit the right notes in accurately conveying everything from mood and theme, to emotions and tone. Similar to a soundtrack, which is a collection of music that wasn’t written specifically for the film but fits the overall theme, musical scores are meant to enrich the viewing experience. And if you’ve watched a movie that gave you goosebumps, the music could have something to do with it.
If you’re a cinephile or movie buff who enjoys musical scores, we rounded up a list of some of the best scores to buy on...
Even the most iconic films wouldn’t be the same without music. A good film score knows how to hit the right notes in accurately conveying everything from mood and theme, to emotions and tone. Similar to a soundtrack, which is a collection of music that wasn’t written specifically for the film but fits the overall theme, musical scores are meant to enrich the viewing experience. And if you’ve watched a movie that gave you goosebumps, the music could have something to do with it.
If you’re a cinephile or movie buff who enjoys musical scores, we rounded up a list of some of the best scores to buy on...
- 7/29/2021
- by Latifah Muhammad
- Indiewire
Illustration by Lucy Jones.One of Sunset Boulevard’s most iconic lines is also one of its most prophetic. Consciously or not, Norma Desmond (played self-referentially by silent film star Gloria Swanson) says a mouthful when she utters, “I am big—it’s the pictures that got small!” In 1950 when the film was released, TV sets were just beginning to creep into American homes. Desmond couldn’t have imagined that screens would shrink to a size much smaller than a piece of furniture, or that audiences would one day be able to hold a famous face like hers on a device nestled in the palm of their hand. Desmond’s every line and movement drips with grandiosity. Swanson plays the character—one of the biggest and brightest stars of the silent cinema era in her youth—as a woman entombed by her onscreen past. Performing with the exaggerated gestures and...
- 7/13/2020
- MUBI
Aw, this was supposed to be a CineSavant Column entry, but it got way out of hand and became an article. We got a looksee at a horror film that’s been just plain unavailable for at least twenty-five years: out of circulation / Mia / a Dead Parrot. And what did we see in the show but an opportunity for an essentially meaningless but fun photo-comparison feature? Is this a proper activity for an adult? I’ll be hiding out in motels for the next few nights, so don’t bother trying to corral me with another forcible lifestyle intervention. The cops didn’t find me last time, or the people that went missing!
Teenage Werewolf Spotted 63 Years Too Late
CineSavant Article
CineSavant self-indulges with a little sub- John Bengtson film location snoopery, which is lots of fun here in Los Angeles. The only problem is that our distinctive neighborhoods and...
Teenage Werewolf Spotted 63 Years Too Late
CineSavant Article
CineSavant self-indulges with a little sub- John Bengtson film location snoopery, which is lots of fun here in Los Angeles. The only problem is that our distinctive neighborhoods and...
- 2/29/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Tony Sokol Aug 4, 2019
Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard took the tinsel out of Tinseltown, the gild off the golden boy, and the cover off a forgotten murder.
Movie audiences in the naïve early days of film sometimes didn’t know that somebody had to sit down and write a movie. They thought the actors made it up as they went along. Sunset Boulevard, the 1950 film noir classic directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, did a lot to change that and other myths of old Hollywood--like the real-life murder at the heart of the story.
Sunset Boulevard told an old familiar story. William Holden’s Joe Gillis helps a timid soul named Norma Desmond cross a crowded street on Paramount's back lot. She turns out to be a multimillionaire silent screen icon played by the legendary Gloria Swanson and she leaves him all her money, which she’s already spent,...
Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard took the tinsel out of Tinseltown, the gild off the golden boy, and the cover off a forgotten murder.
Movie audiences in the naïve early days of film sometimes didn’t know that somebody had to sit down and write a movie. They thought the actors made it up as they went along. Sunset Boulevard, the 1950 film noir classic directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, did a lot to change that and other myths of old Hollywood--like the real-life murder at the heart of the story.
Sunset Boulevard told an old familiar story. William Holden’s Joe Gillis helps a timid soul named Norma Desmond cross a crowded street on Paramount's back lot. She turns out to be a multimillionaire silent screen icon played by the legendary Gloria Swanson and she leaves him all her money, which she’s already spent,...
- 8/2/2016
- Den of Geek
There have been plenty of failed F Scott Fitzgerald adaptations already. Besides, who needs films based on 20s literature when their themes resonate through so much film and TV anyway?
Given the track record that film-makers of some distinction have had adapting F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, you may understand my reluctance to see Baz Luhrmann's new version. I shall need another two deep readings of the book to armour myself completely against the grievances I expect the movie will do to it.
I think Gatsby is the Great American Novel, even though it slipped out of fashion and out of print for decades (like Moby Dick and lots of Faulkner), and even though its author, no matter his achievement, is somehow assuredly not the Great American Novelist. The Great American Novel never makes for the Great American Movie. The latter rarely derives from the former. The...
Given the track record that film-makers of some distinction have had adapting F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, you may understand my reluctance to see Baz Luhrmann's new version. I shall need another two deep readings of the book to armour myself completely against the grievances I expect the movie will do to it.
I think Gatsby is the Great American Novel, even though it slipped out of fashion and out of print for decades (like Moby Dick and lots of Faulkner), and even though its author, no matter his achievement, is somehow assuredly not the Great American Novelist. The Great American Novel never makes for the Great American Movie. The latter rarely derives from the former. The...
- 5/13/2013
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
SusanP here, back with more Bunheads coverage. It’s good to see some fans out there are also Film Experience people. For those of you haven’t watched the show, it’s a safe bet you’ll enjoy it if you love the work of either series star Sutton Foster or creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. For the rest, I’d still encourage you to give the show a try. There’s really nothing else like it on television right now.
Previously on Bunheads…
“Take the Vicuna” was directed by actor/writer/director, Chris Eigeman, who is probably best known for his work in Whit Stillman films like Barcelona. He also played Jason Stiles on Sherman-Palladino’s Gilmore Girls and a one-off character on Bunheads last summer. Eigeman stopped by the comments this past Monday and offered a heads-up as to what “Take the Vicuna” refers to: it’s a line from the Billy Wilder film noir,...
Previously on Bunheads…
“Take the Vicuna” was directed by actor/writer/director, Chris Eigeman, who is probably best known for his work in Whit Stillman films like Barcelona. He also played Jason Stiles on Sherman-Palladino’s Gilmore Girls and a one-off character on Bunheads last summer. Eigeman stopped by the comments this past Monday and offered a heads-up as to what “Take the Vicuna” refers to: it’s a line from the Billy Wilder film noir,...
- 2/9/2013
- by SusanP
- FilmExperience
Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, presents Andrew Lloyd Webber's triumphant Broadway musical Sunset Boulevard, which opened on February 1 and runs through March 24, 2013. The all-star cast is led by Christine Sherrill as 'Norma Desmond' National Tour of Mamma Mia, Legally Blonde at Marriott Theatre and Xanadu and Curtains at Drury Lane Theatre and Will Ray as 'Joe Gillis' National Tour of Little House on the Prairie, the new musical Allegiance at The Old Globe Theater, and Irish Repertory's Meet Me In St. Louis.
- 2/7/2013
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Happy New Year! We survived the Mayan apocalypse and the gods have granted us news of a baby from Kim Kardashian and Kanye West to celebrate. Will it be named Khrist? Konstantinople? Kompassion? Maybe Bluer Ivy? One can only speculate, and the same goes for what wonders 2013 will behold. Considering this is a movie website I figured there would be no better way to ring in the new year with a selection of ten screen captures from movies you're sure to recognize along with the famous lines that accompany them. Many I'm sure you expect, but hopefully a couple are a surprise and perhaps will even provoke you to give one of them a watch. Either way, Happy New Year! The Godfather: Part II John Cazale and Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part IIPhoto: Paramount Pictures Michael Corleone I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!
- 1/1/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Sunset Boulevard (Also known as Sunset Blvd)
Directed by Billy Wilder
Written by Charles Bracket and Billy Wilder
U.S.A., 1950
In cinema, as in life, the past informs and shapes the present, which in turn does the same for the future. One cannot concentrate too much on the present or risk losing sight on the changing times. One cannot always be looking ahead, otherwise they may fail in the ‘now.’ Staying firmly planted in the past means missing out on both the present and the future and perhaps not even comprehending either. At the risk of coming across as a little too metaphysical and putting too intellectual a slant on this article, everything in time and space functions as a whole, like a continuous evolutionary process. The unwillingness to accept this either leaves people in a bad mood (dislike of change, unwillingness to accept the past) or, particularly for...
Directed by Billy Wilder
Written by Charles Bracket and Billy Wilder
U.S.A., 1950
In cinema, as in life, the past informs and shapes the present, which in turn does the same for the future. One cannot concentrate too much on the present or risk losing sight on the changing times. One cannot always be looking ahead, otherwise they may fail in the ‘now.’ Staying firmly planted in the past means missing out on both the present and the future and perhaps not even comprehending either. At the risk of coming across as a little too metaphysical and putting too intellectual a slant on this article, everything in time and space functions as a whole, like a continuous evolutionary process. The unwillingness to accept this either leaves people in a bad mood (dislike of change, unwillingness to accept the past) or, particularly for...
- 12/28/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Today we are talking to one of Broadways most remarkable breakout stars to have crossed over into Hollywood with an impressive film career following his superlative work in the Mike Nichols-directed HBO production of Tony Kushners Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels In America in 2002, the affable and incredibly talented Patrick Wilson. While looking ahead to Mondays Broadway Blows Back benefit concert in aid of Hurricane Sandy relief, Wilson and I take a look back at his career onstage and onscreen thus far, with an emphasis on the diverse range and commendable dedication to character he has displayed since his memorable first starring roles on Broadway - from Bright LIGHTSamplt Big City to Oklahoma to The Full Monty, Barefoot In The Park and All My Sons onstage to his aforementioned Joe Pitt in Angels to roles in Hard Candy with Ellen Page, Little Children with Kate Winslet, Watchmen with fellow recent InDepth...
- 12/8/2012
- by Pat Cerasaro
- BroadwayWorld.com
Los Angeles — Filmmakers love to make movies about making movies. Yes, it is a navel-gazing business, but crafting films about this craft is one more means of self-expression. We've seen several emerge this year alone, including the likely Oscar contender "Argo." And this week we have "Hitchcock," about the making of "Psycho," starring Anthony Hopkins as the master director.
So here's a look at five great movies about movies. We could have picked 10 and not even scratched the surface of this subject. And ... action:
_ "Day for Night" (1973): This is the first film I thought of when I began pondering this subject. Simultaneously educational and hugely entertaining, it's about the nuts and bolts of moviemaking – the title comes from the technique of shooting a nighttime scene during the day – as well as the fleeting sense of family that forms on a film set. Francois Truffaut obviously has great love for...
So here's a look at five great movies about movies. We could have picked 10 and not even scratched the surface of this subject. And ... action:
_ "Day for Night" (1973): This is the first film I thought of when I began pondering this subject. Simultaneously educational and hugely entertaining, it's about the nuts and bolts of moviemaking – the title comes from the technique of shooting a nighttime scene during the day – as well as the fleeting sense of family that forms on a film set. Francois Truffaut obviously has great love for...
- 11/21/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Betty Schaefer: “I'd always heard you had some talent.” Joe Gillis: “That was last year. This year I'm trying to earn a living.” Man, you gotta love the wit and bite of Billy Wilder. It's hard to pick a best film from the great Austrian-born American filmmaker who made an indelible mark on Hollywood in the '40s, '50s and '60s, making major contributions to American cinema with "Some Like It Hot," "Stalag 13," “The Apartment,” the rediscovered acidic gem "Ace In The Hole," “Double Indemnity” and “The Lost Weekend,” to name just a few (you can dive into our full-blown retrospective to get our take on all his work). But if you had to choose one picture to represent the greatness of Wilder you might be forced to acknowledge the sheer brilliance of perhaps his best known film, "Sunset Boulevard,” his last collaboration with his screenwriting...
- 11/16/2012
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
This week: Andrew Garfield stars as the new Peter Parker alongside Emma Stone in "The Amazing Spider-Man," a reboot of the "Spider-Man" franchise Sam Raimi first helmed in 2002 with Tobey Maguire as the webslinger.
Also new this week is indie romantic dramedy "Your Sister's Sister," a huge collection celebrating Universal's 100th anniversary and the Blu-ray debut of "Sunset Blvd."
'The Amazing Spider-Man'
Box Office: $262 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 73% Fresh
Storyline: The Spider-Man franchise gets a reboot with Andrew Garfield as a teenage Peter Parker, a brainy outcast who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and transforms into the eponymous superhero and takes on the mutant Lizard terrorizing the city. Emma Stone plays sweetie Gwen Stacy, Sally Field is Aunt May, Martin Sheen is Uncle Ben, Denis Leary is Captain Stacy and Rhys Ifans is the Lizard/Dr. Curt Connors. "The Amazing Spider-Man" swings onto DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D...
Also new this week is indie romantic dramedy "Your Sister's Sister," a huge collection celebrating Universal's 100th anniversary and the Blu-ray debut of "Sunset Blvd."
'The Amazing Spider-Man'
Box Office: $262 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 73% Fresh
Storyline: The Spider-Man franchise gets a reboot with Andrew Garfield as a teenage Peter Parker, a brainy outcast who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and transforms into the eponymous superhero and takes on the mutant Lizard terrorizing the city. Emma Stone plays sweetie Gwen Stacy, Sally Field is Aunt May, Martin Sheen is Uncle Ben, Denis Leary is Captain Stacy and Rhys Ifans is the Lizard/Dr. Curt Connors. "The Amazing Spider-Man" swings onto DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D...
- 11/5/2012
- by Robert DeSalvo
- NextMovie
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Nov. 6, 2012
Price: Blu-ray $24.99
Studio: Paramount
Gloria Swanson is Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.
Sunset Boulevard starring William Holden (The Bridge on the River Kwai) and Gloria Swanson (Queen Kelly), Billy Wilder’s (Sabrina) classic 1950 film noir drama about the perils and temptations of Hollywood, arrives on Blu-ray for the first time in a newly restored edition.
The film details the dark and dangerous relationship between Joe Gillis (Holden), a hack screenwriter yearning for success, and Norma Desmond (Swanson), a faded silent movie star who draws him into her fantasy world where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen.
In preparing the film for its Blu-ray debut, Paramount’s restoration team secured a vintage print made at the time of release from the Library of Congress to view and study in order to present director Wilder’s original vision. Although none of the original nitrate materials survive,...
Price: Blu-ray $24.99
Studio: Paramount
Gloria Swanson is Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.
Sunset Boulevard starring William Holden (The Bridge on the River Kwai) and Gloria Swanson (Queen Kelly), Billy Wilder’s (Sabrina) classic 1950 film noir drama about the perils and temptations of Hollywood, arrives on Blu-ray for the first time in a newly restored edition.
The film details the dark and dangerous relationship between Joe Gillis (Holden), a hack screenwriter yearning for success, and Norma Desmond (Swanson), a faded silent movie star who draws him into her fantasy world where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen.
In preparing the film for its Blu-ray debut, Paramount’s restoration team secured a vintage print made at the time of release from the Library of Congress to view and study in order to present director Wilder’s original vision. Although none of the original nitrate materials survive,...
- 8/20/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Last month, we asked EW.com readers to help Paramount select the cover image for the new Sunset Boulevard Blu-ray. Director Billy Wilder’s 1950 classic about a haunting silent-era movie star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) who hungers for a great comeback arrives on Blu-ray for the first time on Nov. 6, and 59 percent of voters opted for the red version of an original movie poster, with Desmond lurking over hack screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) and his new girlfriend (Nancy Olson).
For my money, Sunset Boulevard remains the greatest Hollywood movie about itself ever made, a warped fun-house mirror of the...
For my money, Sunset Boulevard remains the greatest Hollywood movie about itself ever made, a warped fun-house mirror of the...
- 8/13/2012
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Sixty-two years after its initial release, Sunset Boulevard is ready for another close-up. Billy Wilder’s 1950 film about an aging, addled silent-film star has been restored and is coming to Blu-ray for the first time on Nov. 6.
Sunset Boulevard, which won three Oscars and has been named one of the best films of the 20th century by AFI, was one of the first movies to treat the Hollywood dream factory with bitterness and cynicism. It’s the tale of hack writer Joe Gillis (William Holden) — we first meet him floating lifelessly in a swimming pool — whose luck goes from bad...
Sunset Boulevard, which won three Oscars and has been named one of the best films of the 20th century by AFI, was one of the first movies to treat the Hollywood dream factory with bitterness and cynicism. It’s the tale of hack writer Joe Gillis (William Holden) — we first meet him floating lifelessly in a swimming pool — whose luck goes from bad...
- 7/20/2012
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Many of us go to the movies to escape our daily grinds by putting ourselves in the shoes of a stranger. And if that stranger happens to be loaded? Even better! Just call it wishful thinking.
In honor of "one percenter" Bruce Wayne (a.k.a. Batman), who is set to show off his latest expensive bat toys in the highly anticipated final entry to Christopher Nolan's trilogy, "The Dark Knight Rises," we've weeded through the most memorable tycoons to grace the silver screen to bring you our picks for the top nine "one percenters" ever committed to celluloid.
Lucky bastards.
9. Sebastian, 'Cruel Intentions'
Sebastian, as played by the deadly handsome Ryan Phillippe, is a total devious tool in this hit teen sex romp, and we love him for it. In the clever reworking of "Dangerous Liaisons," rich brat Sebastian attempts to seduce and eventually defile the...
In honor of "one percenter" Bruce Wayne (a.k.a. Batman), who is set to show off his latest expensive bat toys in the highly anticipated final entry to Christopher Nolan's trilogy, "The Dark Knight Rises," we've weeded through the most memorable tycoons to grace the silver screen to bring you our picks for the top nine "one percenters" ever committed to celluloid.
Lucky bastards.
9. Sebastian, 'Cruel Intentions'
Sebastian, as played by the deadly handsome Ryan Phillippe, is a total devious tool in this hit teen sex romp, and we love him for it. In the clever reworking of "Dangerous Liaisons," rich brat Sebastian attempts to seduce and eventually defile the...
- 7/17/2012
- by Nigel Smith
- NextMovie
"I want to thank three persons,” said Michel Hazanavicius, accepting the 2012 Best Picture Oscar for “The Artist.” “I want to thank Billy Wilder, I want to thank Billy Wilder and I want to thank Billy Wilder.” He wasn’t the first director to namecheck Wilder in an acceptance speech. In 1994, Fernando Trueba, accepting the Foreign Language Film Oscar for "Belle Epoque" quipped, "I would like to believe in God in order to thank him. But I just believe in Billy Wilder... so, thank you Mr. Wilder." Wilder reportedly called the next day "Fernando? It's God."
So just what exactly was it that inspired these men to expend some of the most valuable seconds of speechifying airtime they'll ever know, to tip their hats to Wilder? And can we bottle it?
Born in a region of Austria/Hungary that is now part of Poland, Wilder's story feels like an archetype of...
So just what exactly was it that inspired these men to expend some of the most valuable seconds of speechifying airtime they'll ever know, to tip their hats to Wilder? And can we bottle it?
Born in a region of Austria/Hungary that is now part of Poland, Wilder's story feels like an archetype of...
- 3/27/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Robert here w/ Distant Relatives, exploring the connections between one classic and one contemporary film.
How does one begin to discuss The Artist in terms of just one distant relative? The film is a paean to all films silent-era Hollywood and enough films stretching far beyond the silent-era including Singin' in the Rain and A Star is Born, to which it owes story elements, Citizen Kane from which it borrows specific conceits and Vertigo... well, we'll leave that one alone. But I think the connection that intrigues me the most is notable not for what the two films have in common, but in how they differ.
The Artist tells the story of dashing silent film actor George Valentin and his fall from grace juxtaposed against rising talkie star Peppy Miller who, in a cruel twist of fate, is an ingenue he discovered. Sunset Blvd enters the world of former silents...
How does one begin to discuss The Artist in terms of just one distant relative? The film is a paean to all films silent-era Hollywood and enough films stretching far beyond the silent-era including Singin' in the Rain and A Star is Born, to which it owes story elements, Citizen Kane from which it borrows specific conceits and Vertigo... well, we'll leave that one alone. But I think the connection that intrigues me the most is notable not for what the two films have in common, but in how they differ.
The Artist tells the story of dashing silent film actor George Valentin and his fall from grace juxtaposed against rising talkie star Peppy Miller who, in a cruel twist of fate, is an ingenue he discovered. Sunset Blvd enters the world of former silents...
- 2/9/2012
- by Robert
- FilmExperience
Based on the Billy Wilder film, Sunset Boulevard is a story is about Norma Desmond, a relic of the early years of filmmaking. When talkies pushed silent films and their stars out of the limelight, Norma locked herself into her mansion with her memories, an ex-husband and a chimp as her only companions. Twenty years later, when disillusioned screenwriter Joe Gillis stumbles within her reach, Norma sees in him an opportunity to make her return to the big screen.
- 12/10/2011
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Throughout November, Sos staffers will be discussing the movies that made them into film fanatics.
(click here for the full list)
Sunset Blvd.
Directed by Billy Wilder
Written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder
1950 – USA
You must remember this. For me the love affair with movies began with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and a world of smoke, cynicism and smouldering looks. I discovered a copy of Joe Hyams’ biography, Bogart and Bacall, while I was working at my local library around 1980. Obsessing over Hollywood’s most famous May-December romance soon led me to the black and white movies of the 40s, and many late nights watching Hawks, Huston, Curtiz and Billy Wilder.
I don’t know exactly when I first saw Wilder’s Sunset Blvd., but it was about 30 years ago and I have revisited it regularly. The film was significant because for the first time I felt a...
(click here for the full list)
Sunset Blvd.
Directed by Billy Wilder
Written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder
1950 – USA
You must remember this. For me the love affair with movies began with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and a world of smoke, cynicism and smouldering looks. I discovered a copy of Joe Hyams’ biography, Bogart and Bacall, while I was working at my local library around 1980. Obsessing over Hollywood’s most famous May-December romance soon led me to the black and white movies of the 40s, and many late nights watching Hawks, Huston, Curtiz and Billy Wilder.
I don’t know exactly when I first saw Wilder’s Sunset Blvd., but it was about 30 years ago and I have revisited it regularly. The film was significant because for the first time I felt a...
- 11/15/2011
- by Susannah
- SoundOnSight
It’s the one aspect of humanity that binds the demographics; the one thing that’s on everyone’s mind, young or old. Whether you’ve come to terms with your mortality or not, Hollywood thrives off it and the simple fact that you just can’t look away.
Many films exist and across them countless characters shuffle off the mortal coil; some nobly while others pointlessly, some even to the audiences’ collective groan of derision (two words: Mace Windu). Regardless of their dramatic accomplishment, movie deaths present a director with an opportunity to invoke empathy at the most primal level – sure Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) was an asshole throughout Die Hard but it’s hard not to acknowledge his humanity given his expression of mortal terror as he falls from the Nakatomi Plaza rooftop.
Done well, movie deaths make dramatic statements. They’ll kick-start a narrative or punctuate it with tragedy.
Many films exist and across them countless characters shuffle off the mortal coil; some nobly while others pointlessly, some even to the audiences’ collective groan of derision (two words: Mace Windu). Regardless of their dramatic accomplishment, movie deaths present a director with an opportunity to invoke empathy at the most primal level – sure Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) was an asshole throughout Die Hard but it’s hard not to acknowledge his humanity given his expression of mortal terror as he falls from the Nakatomi Plaza rooftop.
Done well, movie deaths make dramatic statements. They’ll kick-start a narrative or punctuate it with tragedy.
- 9/25/2011
- by Stuart Bedford
- Obsessed with Film
"This was never a fun place. Oh, they had a pool and everything, but it was never fun."
The title 11 Harrowhouse (1974) has a grim sound to it, but it's a largely light movie, tipped over from heavy heist to comic caper by the onscreen presence and script contribution of Charles Grodin. But more on him later.
Director Aram Avakian made only a few films (this was his last), including an adaptation of John Barth's End of the Road (1970) scripted by Terry Southern that's soon to be reissued courtesy of Steven Soderbergh, and Cops and Robbers (1973), adapted from Donald Westlake's novel by the author himself. His strongest suite as filmmaker was his editing, hardly surprising since he was an editor himself, cutting early films by Coppola and Arthur Penn.
In his untrustworthy memoir The Kid Stays in the Picture, Robert Evans recounts firing Avakian from The Godfather, after a Machiavellian attempt to get Coppola fired.
The title 11 Harrowhouse (1974) has a grim sound to it, but it's a largely light movie, tipped over from heavy heist to comic caper by the onscreen presence and script contribution of Charles Grodin. But more on him later.
Director Aram Avakian made only a few films (this was his last), including an adaptation of John Barth's End of the Road (1970) scripted by Terry Southern that's soon to be reissued courtesy of Steven Soderbergh, and Cops and Robbers (1973), adapted from Donald Westlake's novel by the author himself. His strongest suite as filmmaker was his editing, hardly surprising since he was an editor himself, cutting early films by Coppola and Arthur Penn.
In his untrustworthy memoir The Kid Stays in the Picture, Robert Evans recounts firing Avakian from The Godfather, after a Machiavellian attempt to get Coppola fired.
- 7/28/2011
- MUBI
Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950) is one of the biggest and most luscious of film noirs, set in Hollywood among the decaying splendor of days gone by. It's a cynical celebration of the grand old days of movies, as well as an implication that they may not have been so grand after all. It was one of the first movies to take on filmmaking as anything other than a novelty or a profession (Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels was arguably the first.) The movie deals with some unsettlingly dark material, but Wilder treats it with just the right hint of black humor, but also lightens it up with images of "normal life," i.e. scenes with a pretty girl (Nancy Olson). It's an enduringly popular movie, and fairly easy to see at revival houses. Paramount released it on DVD in 2002 and again in 2008.
What It's About
Joe Gillis (William Holden...
What It's About
Joe Gillis (William Holden...
- 7/29/2010
- by Jeffrey M. Anderson
- Cinematical
The IMDb250. A list of the top 250 films as ranked by the users of the biggest internet movie site on the web. It is based upon the ratings provided by the users of the Internet Movie Database, which number into the millions. As such, it’s a perfect representation of the opinions of the movie masses, and arguably the most comprehensive ranking system on the Internet.
It’s because of this that we at HeyUGuys (and in this case we is myself and Gary) have decided to set ourselves a project. To watch and review all 250 movies on the list. We’ve frozen the list as of January 1st of this year. It’s not as simple as it sounds, we are watching them all in one year, 125 each.
This is our 23rd update, my next five films watched for the project. You can find last week’s update here.
It’s because of this that we at HeyUGuys (and in this case we is myself and Gary) have decided to set ourselves a project. To watch and review all 250 movies on the list. We’ve frozen the list as of January 1st of this year. It’s not as simple as it sounds, we are watching them all in one year, 125 each.
This is our 23rd update, my next five films watched for the project. You can find last week’s update here.
- 6/28/2010
- by Barry Steele
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Ramin Karimloo and Mandy Karimloo arrive for the Jameson Empire Film Awards held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, on March 28, 2010 in London. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images for Jameson) Karimloo played the role of Joe Gillis in the United Kingdom’s first national tour of the stage musical Sunset Boulevard. In the 1950 movie, the role was played by William Holden. Karimloo has also played both Raoul and The Phantom in different stagings of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical The Phantom of the Opera. He had a supporting role in the 2004 film version. Click on the photo to enlarge it.
- 3/29/2010
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
The debut of a number of distinctive personalities is one of the important features of film noir. Noir’s main character, for instance, may appropriately be labeled the noir loser. He is a handsome, middle-aged man who seems to blur the line between protagonist and antagonist. Billy Wilder has very explicitly introduced such personalities as Walter Neff in Double Indemnity and Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard and, as such, defined a key aspect of the genre. Both are ordinary men who see an opportunity to advance their lives, albeit immorally, only to find themselves victims of fate at the hands of a female counterpart. In both films, the noir loser compels the audience to sympathize for them. The films begin with a voice-over narration from both men at the culmination of their demise. Double Indemnity’s Walter Neff introduces himself in the opening minutes as he confesses his crime: “I killed Dietrichson.
- 10/27/2009
- by Daniel Elisevich
- SoundOnSight
The Best of the Obsessed Sandra Bullock's new film All About Steve is hitting theaters today. In the film, Bullock plays Mary Horowitz, a woman who is set up on a blind date with Steve (Bradley Cooper) and instantly believes that they are soul mates. Obsessively, Mary decides to follow Steve anywhere he goes and will stop at nothing to be with him. This got me thinking about how Hollywood often produces movies centering the domineering, aggressive and downright crazy, on-the-edge female character. Today, the majority of them are stereotypes, cliched personas of other characters (such as Bullock's Mary in Steve) and are, honestly, annoying. Here are what I believe to be some of the best of the obsessed female characters to grace the silver screen. 10.Cameron Diaz in Vanilla Sky (2001) I remember seeing this film in theaters and saying to myself “Cameron Diaz better be nominated for an Oscar.
- 9/4/2009
- by Eric
- SoundOnSight
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