The American Society of Cinematographers has announced the honorees for its 38th Annual Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography Gala on March 3, 2024. They are: Don Burgess, ASC; Steven Fierberg, ASC and Amy Vincent, ASC.
Burgess, Robert Zemeckis’ longtime collaborator, will be recognized with the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award. While his latest work is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, directed by James Wan, Burgess is best known for shooting Zemeckis’ Oscar-winning Forrest Gump, for which he earned ASC Award and Oscar nominations. The duo have also collaborated on such films as last year’s live-action Pinocchio, Flight, Contact, Cast Away, What Lies Beneath, The Polar Express and the upcoming Here.
Burgess’ other credits include Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, the first Aquaman, Brian Helgeland’s 42, Allen and Albert Hughes’ The Book of Eli, Gary Winick’s 13 Going on 30, Jonathan Mostow’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Billy Crystal’s Forget Paris.
Burgess, Robert Zemeckis’ longtime collaborator, will be recognized with the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award. While his latest work is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, directed by James Wan, Burgess is best known for shooting Zemeckis’ Oscar-winning Forrest Gump, for which he earned ASC Award and Oscar nominations. The duo have also collaborated on such films as last year’s live-action Pinocchio, Flight, Contact, Cast Away, What Lies Beneath, The Polar Express and the upcoming Here.
Burgess’ other credits include Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, the first Aquaman, Brian Helgeland’s 42, Allen and Albert Hughes’ The Book of Eli, Gary Winick’s 13 Going on 30, Jonathan Mostow’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Billy Crystal’s Forget Paris.
- 11/28/2023
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (Etaf) announced on Tuesday that NBA Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson and entrepreneur Cookie Johnson will be commemorated at this year’s Elizabeth Taylor Ball to End AIDS on Sept. 21 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Both Magic and Cookie Johnson will be presented with the Elizabeth Taylor Commitment to End AIDS Award at the ball.
Paris Jackson and Christine Chiu serve as this year’s gala’s co-chairs. The event will sport a number of 270 guests entertained by a live auction in partnership with Chiu presenting a number of art/luxury experiences, a live performance and an exclusive look at items from The Elizabeth Taylor Archive.
“We loved Elizabeth Taylor’s passion, activism and the work we did together in the fight against HIV and AIDS,” said Magic and Cookie Johnson. “Since beginning this journey in the early ’90s, we’ve dedicated our lives...
Paris Jackson and Christine Chiu serve as this year’s gala’s co-chairs. The event will sport a number of 270 guests entertained by a live auction in partnership with Chiu presenting a number of art/luxury experiences, a live performance and an exclusive look at items from The Elizabeth Taylor Archive.
“We loved Elizabeth Taylor’s passion, activism and the work we did together in the fight against HIV and AIDS,” said Magic and Cookie Johnson. “Since beginning this journey in the early ’90s, we’ve dedicated our lives...
- 5/23/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay, McKinley Franklin and Sophia Scorziello
- Variety Film + TV
Shelly Johnson has been elected the 47th president of the American Society of Cinematographers. He succeeds Stephen Lighthill, who reached his term limit, having completed his second consecutive two-year term as president (and third overall).
The ASC Board also elected a slate of officers that includes VPs Charlie Lieberman, John Simmons and Patti Lee; treasurer Charles Minsky; secretary Dejan Georgevich; and sergeant-at-arms Chris Chomyn.
The members of the board, elected by the organization’s active membership, also include Mandy Walker (who became the first woman to win the ASC Award in features earlier this year for her lensing of Elvis), former Academy president John Bailey, Patrick Cady, Steven Fierberg, Michael Goi, Charles Minsky, Lowell Peterson, Lawrence Sher, Eric Steelberg, John Toll and Amy Vincent. Alternate members of the board are Karl Walter Lindenlaub, Georgevich, Denis Lenoir, Steven Poster and Mark Irwin.
Johnson, a California native, graduated from the Art Center College of Design...
The ASC Board also elected a slate of officers that includes VPs Charlie Lieberman, John Simmons and Patti Lee; treasurer Charles Minsky; secretary Dejan Georgevich; and sergeant-at-arms Chris Chomyn.
The members of the board, elected by the organization’s active membership, also include Mandy Walker (who became the first woman to win the ASC Award in features earlier this year for her lensing of Elvis), former Academy president John Bailey, Patrick Cady, Steven Fierberg, Michael Goi, Charles Minsky, Lowell Peterson, Lawrence Sher, Eric Steelberg, John Toll and Amy Vincent. Alternate members of the board are Karl Walter Lindenlaub, Georgevich, Denis Lenoir, Steven Poster and Mark Irwin.
Johnson, a California native, graduated from the Art Center College of Design...
- 5/22/2023
- by Carolyn Giardina
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
We have a relatively quiet week of home media releases ahead of us this week, but the titles that are coming out are a rad bunch of films nonetheless. Scream Factory is doing the Dark Lord’s work with both the Collector’s Edition of April Fool’s Day and the HD release of Frankenstein: The True Story. If you missed it in theaters back in January, Nicolas Pesce’s The Grudge (2020) is headed to various platforms this Tuesday, and Arrow Video has put together a stellar Special Edition release of Philip Ridley’s The Passion of Darkly Noon as well.
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for March 24th include Endless Night, Cabal, Hunter’s Moon, The Zombinator, and The Wizard: Collector’s Edition.
April Fool’s Day: Collector’s Edition
Good friends...with some time to kill. When Muffy St. John invited her college friends up to her parents' secluded...
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for March 24th include Endless Night, Cabal, Hunter’s Moon, The Zombinator, and The Wizard: Collector’s Edition.
April Fool’s Day: Collector’s Edition
Good friends...with some time to kill. When Muffy St. John invited her college friends up to her parents' secluded...
- 3/23/2020
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
If you've listened to our Corpse Club member-exclusive audio commentary or you've read Heather Wixson's 30th anniversary retrospectives on the film, then you know we're big fans of Fred Walton's April Fool's Day here at Daily Dead, so we're especially excited that Scream Factory has revealed a March 24th release date and new cover art by Yannick Bouchard for their Collector's Edition Blu-ray release of the 1986 horror comedy. Scream Factory provided us with the official release details, including the list of bonus features:
Guess who’s going to be the life of the party? On March 24, 2020, Scream Factory brings the fan-favorite 1980s mystery slasher April Fool’s Day to Blu-ray™ for the first time! This Collector’s Edition release includes a number of brand-new bonus features including new interviews with director Fred Walton, actress Deborah Goodrich Royce, actor Clayton Rohner, composer Charles Bernstein, and cinematographer Charles Minsky, and more!
Guess who’s going to be the life of the party? On March 24, 2020, Scream Factory brings the fan-favorite 1980s mystery slasher April Fool’s Day to Blu-ray™ for the first time! This Collector’s Edition release includes a number of brand-new bonus features including new interviews with director Fred Walton, actress Deborah Goodrich Royce, actor Clayton Rohner, composer Charles Bernstein, and cinematographer Charles Minsky, and more!
- 2/14/2020
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
A big-hearted comedy invites us all to enjoy laughter, tears and love when Mother’S Day arrives on Digital HD on July 19, 2016, and on Blu-ray™, DVD and On Demand on August 2, 2016, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses, “Friends”), Kate Hudson (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Almost Famous), Julia Roberts (Eat Pray Love, Erin Brockovich) and Jason Sudeikis (“The Last Man on Earth,” “Saturday Night Live”) lead an incredible cast in a film that connects the lives of a group of people maneuvering their way through relationships and family dysfunction in the week leading up to Mother’s Day. The Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital HD feature even more funny and feel-good moments with a gag reel and deleted scenes.
From Garry Marshall, the director of Pretty Woman and Valentine’s Day, comes Mother’S Day, an all-star comedy that celebrates parenthood and family. The star-studded...
Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses, “Friends”), Kate Hudson (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Almost Famous), Julia Roberts (Eat Pray Love, Erin Brockovich) and Jason Sudeikis (“The Last Man on Earth,” “Saturday Night Live”) lead an incredible cast in a film that connects the lives of a group of people maneuvering their way through relationships and family dysfunction in the week leading up to Mother’s Day. The Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital HD feature even more funny and feel-good moments with a gag reel and deleted scenes.
From Garry Marshall, the director of Pretty Woman and Valentine’s Day, comes Mother’S Day, an all-star comedy that celebrates parenthood and family. The star-studded...
- 8/2/2016
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The 100th Disney Channel Original Movie, Adventures In Babysitting starring popular actresses and recording artists Sabrina Carpenter (“Girl Meets World”) and Sofia Carson (“Descendants”), premieres Friday, June 24 (8:00 p.m. Edt) on Disney Channel. The re-imagined tale of the popular 1980s film of the same name will be available one week in advance, Friday, June 17, to verified users on the Disney Channel app and via VOD. The premiere of “Adventures in Babysitting” will be ushered in by the “100th Dcom Celebration,” a nostalgic programming event across Disney Channel, the Disney Channel App and VOD featuring every Dcom ever made.
The “Adventures in Babysitting” premiere telecast is sponsored by Post Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles. It will be followed by the premiere of Disney Channel’s new comedy series “Bizaardvark.”
In a heartfelt story that celebrates individuality, friendship and self-empowerment, the live-action adventure comedy made for kids, tweens and families, pays...
The “Adventures in Babysitting” premiere telecast is sponsored by Post Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles. It will be followed by the premiere of Disney Channel’s new comedy series “Bizaardvark.”
In a heartfelt story that celebrates individuality, friendship and self-empowerment, the live-action adventure comedy made for kids, tweens and families, pays...
- 6/10/2016
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
A film that has been a longtime favorite of mine ever since I discovered it on VHS as a kid decades (and decades) ago, April Fool’s Day recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. To mark the occasion, I was fortunate enough to round up several cast members, as well as director Fred Walton, to chat about the horror comedy that dared to turn the slasher subgenre on its head back in 1986.
April Fool’s Day brought together a talented crew of young actors, including Deborah Foreman, Amy Steel, Tom Wilson, Deborah Goodrich, Ken Olandt, Clayton Rohner, Leah Pinsent, Jay Baker, and Griffin O’Neal, who all gathered on Victoria Island in British Columbia to create a mystery-fueled horror comedy that’s hugely underrated and was certainly ahead of its time.
For many of the cast, the twists and turns of April Fool’s Day were part of the film’s...
April Fool’s Day brought together a talented crew of young actors, including Deborah Foreman, Amy Steel, Tom Wilson, Deborah Goodrich, Ken Olandt, Clayton Rohner, Leah Pinsent, Jay Baker, and Griffin O’Neal, who all gathered on Victoria Island in British Columbia to create a mystery-fueled horror comedy that’s hugely underrated and was certainly ahead of its time.
For many of the cast, the twists and turns of April Fool’s Day were part of the film’s...
- 3/31/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Have you heard about this new movie about five Canadian youngsters who embark on an adventure involving walking across a frozen Lake Ontario from their dead-end Canadian town to New York State? It’s called Skating To New York, and We Are Movie Geeks wants to give you the Blu-ray.
From the creators of 8 Seconds, Mr. Baseball and Pain and Gain comes the contemporary coming-of-age adventure Skating To New York, debuting on Blu-ray™ and DVD Feb. 17 from Well Go USA Entertainment. Five teenage boys leave their small Canadian town behind and risk skating across Lake Ontario to New York on the coldest day of the year. The story of home and friendship, leadership and facing up to danger, about growing up and never giving up stars Connor Jessup (“Falling Skies”), Gage Munroe (Immortals), Wesley Morgan (Kick Ass 2), Matthew Knight (The Grudge 2), Dylan Everett (“Degrassi”), Michelle Nolden (“Nikita”) and Jason Gedrick...
From the creators of 8 Seconds, Mr. Baseball and Pain and Gain comes the contemporary coming-of-age adventure Skating To New York, debuting on Blu-ray™ and DVD Feb. 17 from Well Go USA Entertainment. Five teenage boys leave their small Canadian town behind and risk skating across Lake Ontario to New York on the coldest day of the year. The story of home and friendship, leadership and facing up to danger, about growing up and never giving up stars Connor Jessup (“Falling Skies”), Gage Munroe (Immortals), Wesley Morgan (Kick Ass 2), Matthew Knight (The Grudge 2), Dylan Everett (“Degrassi”), Michelle Nolden (“Nikita”) and Jason Gedrick...
- 2/19/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It Still seems way too early to be devoting time, energy and expense to the upcoming Christmas holidays and how you plan to see in 2012.
But if you are getting in that frame of mind, then feast your eyes on the special content trailer for romantic comedy New Year's Eve. It's included below along with the earlier trailer; some images from the film are also featured here.
Directed by Garry Marshall and sparkling with a stellar ensemble cast, it will kick off the festive season when it parties into UK cinemas on December 9 (which is usually when I start to think about Christmas, if not even later).
According to the official description, "New Year's Eve celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, in the intertwining stories of couples and singles, told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City on the most dazzling night of the year.
But if you are getting in that frame of mind, then feast your eyes on the special content trailer for romantic comedy New Year's Eve. It's included below along with the earlier trailer; some images from the film are also featured here.
Directed by Garry Marshall and sparkling with a stellar ensemble cast, it will kick off the festive season when it parties into UK cinemas on December 9 (which is usually when I start to think about Christmas, if not even later).
According to the official description, "New Year's Eve celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, in the intertwining stories of couples and singles, told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City on the most dazzling night of the year.
- 9/26/2011
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released its annual list of invited new members, and it’s clear they’re continuing to try to make their membership younger. On the list alongside veterans like John Hawkes and David Duchovny are a slew of twentysomethings, including Mia Wasikowska, Ellen Page, Jesse Eisenberg, Mila Kunis, Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Lawrence, and Rooney Mara. The Board of Governors also decided to extend an invitation to Restrepo codirector Tim Hetherington, the first time Academy membership has been bestowed posthumously. As a side note, it’s also a hoot to now say the phrase Oscar voter Russell Brand.
- 6/17/2011
- by Dave Karger
- EW - Inside Movies
Beverly Hills, CA . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 178 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2011 to the Academy.s roster of members.
.These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,. said Academy President Tom Sherak. .Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks..
The Academy.s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 211 new members in 2011, but as in other recent years, several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
In an unprecedented gesture, the list of new members includes documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, who was killed in action in Libya in April.
.These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,. said Academy President Tom Sherak. .Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks..
The Academy.s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 211 new members in 2011, but as in other recent years, several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
In an unprecedented gesture, the list of new members includes documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, who was killed in action in Libya in April.
- 6/17/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
HollywoodNews.com: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 178 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2011 to the Academy’s roster of members.
“These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks.”
The Academy’s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 211 new members in 2011, but as in other recent years, several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
In an unprecedented gesture, the list of new members includes documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, who was killed in action in Libya in April.
“These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “Their talent and creativity have entertained moviegoers around the world, and I welcome each of them to our ranks.”
The Academy’s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 211 new members in 2011, but as in other recent years, several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since 2003.
In an unprecedented gesture, the list of new members includes documentary filmmaker Tim Hetherington, who was killed in action in Libya in April.
- 6/17/2011
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
Shooting has started in New York on Alcon Entertainment’s romantic comedy “Something Borrowed” starring Ginnifer Goodwin (“He’s Just Not That Into You"), Oscar nominee Kate Hudson (“Almost Famous”), Colin Egglesfield (“Melrose Place”), Steve Howey (“Bride Wars”) and John Krasinski (“The Office”).
"...'Rachel' (Goodwin) is a talented attorney at a top New York law firm, a generous and loyal friend, and, unhappily, still single…as her engaged best friend 'Darcy' (Hudson) is constantly reminding her. But after one drink too many at her 30th birthday party, perpetual good girl Rachel unexpectedly ends up in bed with the guy she’s had a crush on since law school, 'Dex' (Egglesfield)…who just happens to be Darcy’s fiancé. When Rachel and Darcy’s lifelong friendship collides with true love, it leads to unexpected complications and potentially explosive romantic revelations..."
“Something Borrowed” is directed by Luke Greenfield (“The Girl Next Door...
"...'Rachel' (Goodwin) is a talented attorney at a top New York law firm, a generous and loyal friend, and, unhappily, still single…as her engaged best friend 'Darcy' (Hudson) is constantly reminding her. But after one drink too many at her 30th birthday party, perpetual good girl Rachel unexpectedly ends up in bed with the guy she’s had a crush on since law school, 'Dex' (Egglesfield)…who just happens to be Darcy’s fiancé. When Rachel and Darcy’s lifelong friendship collides with true love, it leads to unexpected complications and potentially explosive romantic revelations..."
“Something Borrowed” is directed by Luke Greenfield (“The Girl Next Door...
- 5/27/2010
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Julia Roberts has revealed that she was happy to reunite with the crew of her 1990 film Pretty Woman. The Hollywood actress, who worked with Garry Marshall on Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride, has insisted that she was delighted to have a third opportunity to work with the director on Valentine's Day. Roberts told Contactmusic: "We had a lot of Pretty Woman people on the set. Our Director of Photography Chuck Minsky shot Pretty Woman and our prop department was the same. "We laughed about (more)...
- 2/13/2010
- by By Marcell Minaya
- Digital Spy
For those who have been clamoring for a Pretty Woman reunion, Valentine.s Day is it and then some. The team of Garry Marshall, Julia Roberts and Hector Elizondo are back, and some of Marshall.s stars from other movies.
Julia Roberts Celebrates Valentine's Day
.Well, we have a lot of Pretty Woman people,. Roberts revealed. .That sounds funny. That sounds grammatically incorrect. Our D.P. Chuck Minsky shot Pretty Woman and our prop department [is the same]. We laughed about a lot of thing, particularly how old we.ve all gotten in 20 years. 20 years older in fact in 20 years. Every 10 years we do this. We did Pretty Woman and then 10 years later we did Runaway Bride and then 10 years later Valentine.s Day. So I will see all of you back here when I.m 51..
Julia Roberts Celebrates Valentine's Day
.Well, we have a lot of Pretty Woman people,. Roberts revealed. .That sounds funny. That sounds grammatically incorrect. Our D.P. Chuck Minsky shot Pretty Woman and our prop department [is the same]. We laughed about a lot of thing, particularly how old we.ve all gotten in 20 years. 20 years older in fact in 20 years. Every 10 years we do this. We did Pretty Woman and then 10 years later we did Runaway Bride and then 10 years later Valentine.s Day. So I will see all of you back here when I.m 51..
- 2/11/2010
- www.canmag.com
Julia Roberts was happy to be reunited with the 'Pretty Woman' crew on 'Valentine's Day'. The 42-year-old actress, who worked with director Garry Marshall on 'Pretty Woman' and 'Runaway Bride', was pleased she got another opportunity to work with him. She said: ''We had a lot of 'Pretty Woman' people on the set. Our Director of Photography, Chuck Minsky, shot 'Pretty Woman' and our prop department was the same. ''We laughed about a lot of things, particularly how old we've all gotten in 20 years. In fact, we're 20 years older, in 20 years. We seem to do this every ten ..
- 2/10/2010
- Virgin Media - Movies
“Pretty Woman” Julia Roberts sits down with us and counts the days to Valentine’s Day – both the holiday and her new movie of the same name.
Directed by Garry Marshall, “Valentine’s Day” stars an ensemble cast that also includes Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, and Taylor Swift.
Julia Roberts won a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in "Erin Brockovich." Over the course of her career, she has appeared in some of Hollywood's most successful films, while working with the industry's most esteemed directors. Her films have grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide. She next stars in "Eat, Pray, Love," based on Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir and directed by Ryan Murphy,...
Directed by Garry Marshall, “Valentine’s Day” stars an ensemble cast that also includes Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, and Taylor Swift.
Julia Roberts won a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in "Erin Brockovich." Over the course of her career, she has appeared in some of Hollywood's most successful films, while working with the industry's most esteemed directors. Her films have grossed more than $2.5 billion worldwide. She next stars in "Eat, Pray, Love," based on Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir and directed by Ryan Murphy,...
- 2/9/2010
- MoviesOnline.ca
Perhaps the most telling thing about "The Producers", the film version of Mel Brooks' Broadway musical hit based on his celebrated 1968 film comedy, is that the best two performances belong to Uma Thurman, as a Swedish smorgasbord of feminine delights known as Ulla, and Will Ferrell, as unrepentant Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind. For the film to work, though, the two best roles should belong to Tony-winning Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick in the title roles.
Lane and Broderick have played these roles 300-and-something times, and it shows. All of their gestures, grimaces, songs, dances and action have a tired, over-rehearsed quality. Worse, theirs is broad, physical shtick conceived for balcony seats in a theater. Neither actor has rethought his performance for the screen.
This "Producers", shot almost entirely on soundstages with only a few Manhattan exteriors, represents a historical record of the popular stage show, which earned 12 Tonys. Universal and Columbia Pictures can expect modest boxoffice business from fans of the musical and the fondly remembered original film, but this means an older audience, one more likely to catch up with the film on DVD.
The new film has an additional handicap. While the reputation of the original film has possibly outstripped its actual artistic achievements, there is no question that the film did contain two insanely talented comedy performers at the top of their game: the late Zero Mostel as morally bankrupt and fading Broadway producer Max Bialystock and Gene Wilder as the exceptionally neurotic accountant Leo Bloom. No pair of actors, not even those as gifted as Lane and Broderick, can withstand comparison to the manic inventiveness of the originals.
The story, save for minor tinkering, remains the same. Max's Broadway career has hit such a low ebb that he must raise money by romancing rich old ladies. When timid and nervous Leo goes over Max's pathetic financial records, he inadvertently hits upon a infallible way to make a fortune on Broadway: Raise more money than you need to stage an intentional flop. No investor will want to examine the books for a turkey, so you pocket the difference.
The two come up with a sure-fire flop: a lighthearted, revisionist musical about the Nazi era, "Springtime for Hitler". They swiftly secure the rights from the show's pigeon-raising author Franz (Ferrell in sweetly controlled craziness), then hire the worst director imaginable. This would be Roger De Bris (a hilarious Gary Beach), who prefers to wear dresses and, along with his assistant Carmen Ghia (Roger Bart), believes the key to everything is "Keep It Gay".
As a perk justified by their certain success -- er, failure -- the two producers hire Ulla (Thurman), a luscious blond actress, as their secretary-receptionist. This turns out to be a perk for audiences as well because Uma does Ulla like nobody's business. In her audition number, "When You've Got It, Flaunt It", Thurman puts the voom back into va-va-va-voom and soon has girl-shy Leo's head spinning.
For that matter, all of Brooks' musical numbers, including the catchy "Springtime for Hitler" from the original film, are clever and fun. Brooks might have had a fine career as a Broadway songwriter and lyricist if he hadn't chosen to become an award-winning film producer, writer, director and actor.
Understandably, Brooks wanted to turn directing reins over to someone else for this second "Producers". But tapping Susan Stroman, the director and choreographer of the original stage musical, was a mistake. The film needed fresh eyes and an experienced filmmaker to reconceptualize "The Producers" for the screen.
Her dances, the artificial sets (by Mark Weisberg) and bright costumes (by William Ivey Long) all are terrific if this were a stage show, but unfortunately, it's a movie. John Bailey and Charles Minsky's cameras never quite hit upon a style or movements that might invigorate a stage show the way Stephen Goldblatt did for "Rent".
"The Producers" is simply a missed opportunity.
THE PRODUCERS
Universal Pictures
Universal and Columbia Pictures present a Brooksfilm production
Credits:
Director-choreographer: Susan Stroman
Screenwriters: Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan
Music-lyrics: Mel Brooks
Producers: Mel Brooks, Jonathan Sanger
Directors of photography: John Bailey, Charles Minsky
Production designer: Mark Friedberg
Co-producer: Amy Herman
Costumes: William Ivey Long
Editor: Steven Weisberg
Cast:
Max Bialystock: Nathan Lane
Leo Bloom: Matthew Broderick
Ulla: Uma Thurman
Franz Liebkind: Will Ferrell
Roger De Bris: Gary Beach
Carmen Chia: Roger Bart
Mr. Marks: Jon Lovitz
Hold Me-Touch Me: Eileen Essell
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time 134 minutes...
Lane and Broderick have played these roles 300-and-something times, and it shows. All of their gestures, grimaces, songs, dances and action have a tired, over-rehearsed quality. Worse, theirs is broad, physical shtick conceived for balcony seats in a theater. Neither actor has rethought his performance for the screen.
This "Producers", shot almost entirely on soundstages with only a few Manhattan exteriors, represents a historical record of the popular stage show, which earned 12 Tonys. Universal and Columbia Pictures can expect modest boxoffice business from fans of the musical and the fondly remembered original film, but this means an older audience, one more likely to catch up with the film on DVD.
The new film has an additional handicap. While the reputation of the original film has possibly outstripped its actual artistic achievements, there is no question that the film did contain two insanely talented comedy performers at the top of their game: the late Zero Mostel as morally bankrupt and fading Broadway producer Max Bialystock and Gene Wilder as the exceptionally neurotic accountant Leo Bloom. No pair of actors, not even those as gifted as Lane and Broderick, can withstand comparison to the manic inventiveness of the originals.
The story, save for minor tinkering, remains the same. Max's Broadway career has hit such a low ebb that he must raise money by romancing rich old ladies. When timid and nervous Leo goes over Max's pathetic financial records, he inadvertently hits upon a infallible way to make a fortune on Broadway: Raise more money than you need to stage an intentional flop. No investor will want to examine the books for a turkey, so you pocket the difference.
The two come up with a sure-fire flop: a lighthearted, revisionist musical about the Nazi era, "Springtime for Hitler". They swiftly secure the rights from the show's pigeon-raising author Franz (Ferrell in sweetly controlled craziness), then hire the worst director imaginable. This would be Roger De Bris (a hilarious Gary Beach), who prefers to wear dresses and, along with his assistant Carmen Ghia (Roger Bart), believes the key to everything is "Keep It Gay".
As a perk justified by their certain success -- er, failure -- the two producers hire Ulla (Thurman), a luscious blond actress, as their secretary-receptionist. This turns out to be a perk for audiences as well because Uma does Ulla like nobody's business. In her audition number, "When You've Got It, Flaunt It", Thurman puts the voom back into va-va-va-voom and soon has girl-shy Leo's head spinning.
For that matter, all of Brooks' musical numbers, including the catchy "Springtime for Hitler" from the original film, are clever and fun. Brooks might have had a fine career as a Broadway songwriter and lyricist if he hadn't chosen to become an award-winning film producer, writer, director and actor.
Understandably, Brooks wanted to turn directing reins over to someone else for this second "Producers". But tapping Susan Stroman, the director and choreographer of the original stage musical, was a mistake. The film needed fresh eyes and an experienced filmmaker to reconceptualize "The Producers" for the screen.
Her dances, the artificial sets (by Mark Weisberg) and bright costumes (by William Ivey Long) all are terrific if this were a stage show, but unfortunately, it's a movie. John Bailey and Charles Minsky's cameras never quite hit upon a style or movements that might invigorate a stage show the way Stephen Goldblatt did for "Rent".
"The Producers" is simply a missed opportunity.
THE PRODUCERS
Universal Pictures
Universal and Columbia Pictures present a Brooksfilm production
Credits:
Director-choreographer: Susan Stroman
Screenwriters: Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan
Music-lyrics: Mel Brooks
Producers: Mel Brooks, Jonathan Sanger
Directors of photography: John Bailey, Charles Minsky
Production designer: Mark Friedberg
Co-producer: Amy Herman
Costumes: William Ivey Long
Editor: Steven Weisberg
Cast:
Max Bialystock: Nathan Lane
Leo Bloom: Matthew Broderick
Ulla: Uma Thurman
Franz Liebkind: Will Ferrell
Roger De Bris: Gary Beach
Carmen Chia: Roger Bart
Mr. Marks: Jon Lovitz
Hold Me-Touch Me: Eileen Essell
MPAA rating PG-13
Running time 134 minutes...
Kate Hudson has yet to find a role to match her eye-opening turn in "Almost Famous", which allowed her to play at both ends of the scale, the lowdown and the ephemeral. Since then, she's chosen insistently mainstream films designed to turn her into a romantic-comedy superstar, with less than dazzling results. Playing a party girl-turned-parent in "Raising Helen", she'll find more of an audience -- especially among females -- than with disappointments like "Alex & Emma." While its characters occupy an unconvincing emotional middle ground, "Helen" -- which the Walt Disney Co. sneaked on Mother's Day -- appears destined to climb well above the boxoffice midrange after it opens this month.
The script by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler puts a mild new-millennium update on the motherhood-meets-yuppiedom premise of "Baby Boom". Hudson's Helen Harris is a happily hardworking New Yorker who, as assistant to the owner of a glitzy modeling agency, is on the fast track to becoming an agent. When the elder of her two sisters (Felicity Huffman) dies in a car crash with her husband (Sean O'Bryan), Helen is astounded to learn that their will places their three children in her custody.
Even more surprised is Helen's other sister, Jenny (Joan Cusack), a supermom with her third kid on the way. For Jenny, motherhood is a kind of religion -- believing in wasting no time, she's already disciplining her unborn child when it kicks at inopportune moments. She seems to be waiting for the universe to come to its senses and release her nieces and nephews from Helen's inexpert care.
But the kids are more than willing to give it a shot with their young aunt. Teenage Audrey (Hayden Panettiere), for whom Helen has been a confidante, talks her into moving them from suburban New Jersey to a new life in the big city. Overcoming her disdain for the outer boroughs, Helen gives up her small working-girl pad, along with instant entree to every hotspot in Manhattan, and rents an affordable family-size apartment in -- gasp! -- Queens. Then she miraculously finds a nice Lutheran school with no waiting list and a dreamy principal (John Corbett). Tuition for the three kids is "no problem," but she soon finds that balancing motherhood and a career, not to mention the pastor's attentions, is not so simple.
Helen soothes the dark fears of the two younger kids -- played by real-life sibs Spencer Breslin (one of the only bright spots in "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat") and Abigail Breslin -- but struggles to play the disciplinarian with rebellious Audrey. Through it all, the conflicts between Helen's two demanding roles play as cute rather than trying. To punctuate the temperate proceedings, director Garry Marshall stages big scenes -- in which Helen lets someone have it or is on the receiving end of another character's outburst -- most of which ring untrue.
Marshall's predilection for romantic fairy tales is much in evidence, though the comedy registers in a lower key than it did in such hits as "Pretty Woman" and "Runaway Bride". The story's emotional fallout is presented with far too much transparency, and Marshall keeps the performances within a narrow range that might be called over-the-top lite: cheery-through-the-tears, with every complication spelled out and quickly resolved.
The likable Hudson is hampered, her character's transition denied oomph, by having to be so reassuring throughout. Her best moments are with Cusack because something messier, in the form of sisterly jealousy and resentment, emerges. It's good to see the always original Cusack in a more substantial role after the scant screen time she received in "School of Rock".
Corbett follows his good-guy turn in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with another impossibly bland Mr. Right. Helen Mirren, in a silver pageboy and oversize accessories, walks through the brief, obvious part of Helen's tough, child-phobic boss. Hector Elizondo has an uncredited role as an honest car dealer, and Paris Hilton cameos as a wordless variation on her fabulous self. Marshall and DP Charles Minsky make good use of New York locations in the polished production.
RAISING HELEN
Buena Vista Pictures
A Touchstone Pictures/Beacon Pictures presentation
A Mandeville Films/Ashok Amritraj production
Credits: Director: Garry Marshall
Writers: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler
Producers: David Hoberman, Ashok Amritraj
Executive producers: Mario Iscovich, Ellen H. Schwartz
Director of photography: Charles Minsky
Production designer: Steven Jordan
Music: John Debney
Co-producers: Todd Lieberman, Karen Stirgwolt
Costume designer: Gary Jones
Editors: Bruce Green, Tara Timpone
Cast:
Helen Harris: Kate Hudson
Pastor Dan Parker: John Corbett
Jenny Portman: Joan Cusack
Audrey Davis: Hayden Panettiere
Henry Davis: Spencer Breslin
Sarah Davis: Abigail Breslin
Dominique: Helen Mirren
Nilma: Sakina Jaffrey
Ed Portman: Kevin Kilner
Lindsay Davis: Felicity Huffman
Paul Davis: Sean O'Bryan
Running time -- 119 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
The script by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler puts a mild new-millennium update on the motherhood-meets-yuppiedom premise of "Baby Boom". Hudson's Helen Harris is a happily hardworking New Yorker who, as assistant to the owner of a glitzy modeling agency, is on the fast track to becoming an agent. When the elder of her two sisters (Felicity Huffman) dies in a car crash with her husband (Sean O'Bryan), Helen is astounded to learn that their will places their three children in her custody.
Even more surprised is Helen's other sister, Jenny (Joan Cusack), a supermom with her third kid on the way. For Jenny, motherhood is a kind of religion -- believing in wasting no time, she's already disciplining her unborn child when it kicks at inopportune moments. She seems to be waiting for the universe to come to its senses and release her nieces and nephews from Helen's inexpert care.
But the kids are more than willing to give it a shot with their young aunt. Teenage Audrey (Hayden Panettiere), for whom Helen has been a confidante, talks her into moving them from suburban New Jersey to a new life in the big city. Overcoming her disdain for the outer boroughs, Helen gives up her small working-girl pad, along with instant entree to every hotspot in Manhattan, and rents an affordable family-size apartment in -- gasp! -- Queens. Then she miraculously finds a nice Lutheran school with no waiting list and a dreamy principal (John Corbett). Tuition for the three kids is "no problem," but she soon finds that balancing motherhood and a career, not to mention the pastor's attentions, is not so simple.
Helen soothes the dark fears of the two younger kids -- played by real-life sibs Spencer Breslin (one of the only bright spots in "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat") and Abigail Breslin -- but struggles to play the disciplinarian with rebellious Audrey. Through it all, the conflicts between Helen's two demanding roles play as cute rather than trying. To punctuate the temperate proceedings, director Garry Marshall stages big scenes -- in which Helen lets someone have it or is on the receiving end of another character's outburst -- most of which ring untrue.
Marshall's predilection for romantic fairy tales is much in evidence, though the comedy registers in a lower key than it did in such hits as "Pretty Woman" and "Runaway Bride". The story's emotional fallout is presented with far too much transparency, and Marshall keeps the performances within a narrow range that might be called over-the-top lite: cheery-through-the-tears, with every complication spelled out and quickly resolved.
The likable Hudson is hampered, her character's transition denied oomph, by having to be so reassuring throughout. Her best moments are with Cusack because something messier, in the form of sisterly jealousy and resentment, emerges. It's good to see the always original Cusack in a more substantial role after the scant screen time she received in "School of Rock".
Corbett follows his good-guy turn in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with another impossibly bland Mr. Right. Helen Mirren, in a silver pageboy and oversize accessories, walks through the brief, obvious part of Helen's tough, child-phobic boss. Hector Elizondo has an uncredited role as an honest car dealer, and Paris Hilton cameos as a wordless variation on her fabulous self. Marshall and DP Charles Minsky make good use of New York locations in the polished production.
RAISING HELEN
Buena Vista Pictures
A Touchstone Pictures/Beacon Pictures presentation
A Mandeville Films/Ashok Amritraj production
Credits: Director: Garry Marshall
Writers: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler
Producers: David Hoberman, Ashok Amritraj
Executive producers: Mario Iscovich, Ellen H. Schwartz
Director of photography: Charles Minsky
Production designer: Steven Jordan
Music: John Debney
Co-producers: Todd Lieberman, Karen Stirgwolt
Costume designer: Gary Jones
Editors: Bruce Green, Tara Timpone
Cast:
Helen Harris: Kate Hudson
Pastor Dan Parker: John Corbett
Jenny Portman: Joan Cusack
Audrey Davis: Hayden Panettiere
Henry Davis: Spencer Breslin
Sarah Davis: Abigail Breslin
Dominique: Helen Mirren
Nilma: Sakina Jaffrey
Ed Portman: Kevin Kilner
Lindsay Davis: Felicity Huffman
Paul Davis: Sean O'Bryan
Running time -- 119 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Kate Hudson has yet to find a role to match her eye-opening turn in "Almost Famous", which allowed her to play at both ends of the scale, the lowdown and the ephemeral. Since then, she's chosen insistently mainstream films designed to turn her into a romantic-comedy superstar, with less than dazzling results. Playing a party girl-turned-parent in "Raising Helen", she'll find more of an audience -- especially among females -- than with disappointments like "Alex & Emma." While its characters occupy an unconvincing emotional middle ground, "Helen" -- which the Walt Disney Co. sneaked on Mother's Day -- appears destined to climb well above the boxoffice midrange after it opens this month.
The script by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler puts a mild new-millennium update on the motherhood-meets-yuppiedom premise of "Baby Boom". Hudson's Helen Harris is a happily hardworking New Yorker who, as assistant to the owner of a glitzy modeling agency, is on the fast track to becoming an agent. When the elder of her two sisters (Felicity Huffman) dies in a car crash with her husband (Sean O'Bryan), Helen is astounded to learn that their will places their three children in her custody.
Even more surprised is Helen's other sister, Jenny (Joan Cusack), a supermom with her third kid on the way. For Jenny, motherhood is a kind of religion -- believing in wasting no time, she's already disciplining her unborn child when it kicks at inopportune moments. She seems to be waiting for the universe to come to its senses and release her nieces and nephews from Helen's inexpert care.
But the kids are more than willing to give it a shot with their young aunt. Teenage Audrey (Hayden Panettiere), for whom Helen has been a confidante, talks her into moving them from suburban New Jersey to a new life in the big city. Overcoming her disdain for the outer boroughs, Helen gives up her small working-girl pad, along with instant entree to every hotspot in Manhattan, and rents an affordable family-size apartment in -- gasp! -- Queens. Then she miraculously finds a nice Lutheran school with no waiting list and a dreamy principal (John Corbett). Tuition for the three kids is "no problem," but she soon finds that balancing motherhood and a career, not to mention the pastor's attentions, is not so simple.
Helen soothes the dark fears of the two younger kids -- played by real-life sibs Spencer Breslin (one of the only bright spots in "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat") and Abigail Breslin -- but struggles to play the disciplinarian with rebellious Audrey. Through it all, the conflicts between Helen's two demanding roles play as cute rather than trying. To punctuate the temperate proceedings, director Garry Marshall stages big scenes -- in which Helen lets someone have it or is on the receiving end of another character's outburst -- most of which ring untrue.
Marshall's predilection for romantic fairy tales is much in evidence, though the comedy registers in a lower key than it did in such hits as "Pretty Woman" and "Runaway Bride". The story's emotional fallout is presented with far too much transparency, and Marshall keeps the performances within a narrow range that might be called over-the-top lite: cheery-through-the-tears, with every complication spelled out and quickly resolved.
The likable Hudson is hampered, her character's transition denied oomph, by having to be so reassuring throughout. Her best moments are with Cusack because something messier, in the form of sisterly jealousy and resentment, emerges. It's good to see the always original Cusack in a more substantial role after the scant screen time she received in "School of Rock".
Corbett follows his good-guy turn in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with another impossibly bland Mr. Right. Helen Mirren, in a silver pageboy and oversize accessories, walks through the brief, obvious part of Helen's tough, child-phobic boss. Hector Elizondo has an uncredited role as an honest car dealer, and Paris Hilton cameos as a wordless variation on her fabulous self. Marshall and DP Charles Minsky make good use of New York locations in the polished production.
RAISING HELEN
Buena Vista Pictures
A Touchstone Pictures/Beacon Pictures presentation
A Mandeville Films/Ashok Amritraj production
Credits: Director: Garry Marshall
Writers: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler
Producers: David Hoberman, Ashok Amritraj
Executive producers: Mario Iscovich, Ellen H. Schwartz
Director of photography: Charles Minsky
Production designer: Steven Jordan
Music: John Debney
Co-producers: Todd Lieberman, Karen Stirgwolt
Costume designer: Gary Jones
Editors: Bruce Green, Tara Timpone
Cast:
Helen Harris: Kate Hudson
Pastor Dan Parker: John Corbett
Jenny Portman: Joan Cusack
Audrey Davis: Hayden Panettiere
Henry Davis: Spencer Breslin
Sarah Davis: Abigail Breslin
Dominique: Helen Mirren
Nilma: Sakina Jaffrey
Ed Portman: Kevin Kilner
Lindsay Davis: Felicity Huffman
Paul Davis: Sean O'Bryan
Running time -- 119 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
The script by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler puts a mild new-millennium update on the motherhood-meets-yuppiedom premise of "Baby Boom". Hudson's Helen Harris is a happily hardworking New Yorker who, as assistant to the owner of a glitzy modeling agency, is on the fast track to becoming an agent. When the elder of her two sisters (Felicity Huffman) dies in a car crash with her husband (Sean O'Bryan), Helen is astounded to learn that their will places their three children in her custody.
Even more surprised is Helen's other sister, Jenny (Joan Cusack), a supermom with her third kid on the way. For Jenny, motherhood is a kind of religion -- believing in wasting no time, she's already disciplining her unborn child when it kicks at inopportune moments. She seems to be waiting for the universe to come to its senses and release her nieces and nephews from Helen's inexpert care.
But the kids are more than willing to give it a shot with their young aunt. Teenage Audrey (Hayden Panettiere), for whom Helen has been a confidante, talks her into moving them from suburban New Jersey to a new life in the big city. Overcoming her disdain for the outer boroughs, Helen gives up her small working-girl pad, along with instant entree to every hotspot in Manhattan, and rents an affordable family-size apartment in -- gasp! -- Queens. Then she miraculously finds a nice Lutheran school with no waiting list and a dreamy principal (John Corbett). Tuition for the three kids is "no problem," but she soon finds that balancing motherhood and a career, not to mention the pastor's attentions, is not so simple.
Helen soothes the dark fears of the two younger kids -- played by real-life sibs Spencer Breslin (one of the only bright spots in "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat") and Abigail Breslin -- but struggles to play the disciplinarian with rebellious Audrey. Through it all, the conflicts between Helen's two demanding roles play as cute rather than trying. To punctuate the temperate proceedings, director Garry Marshall stages big scenes -- in which Helen lets someone have it or is on the receiving end of another character's outburst -- most of which ring untrue.
Marshall's predilection for romantic fairy tales is much in evidence, though the comedy registers in a lower key than it did in such hits as "Pretty Woman" and "Runaway Bride". The story's emotional fallout is presented with far too much transparency, and Marshall keeps the performances within a narrow range that might be called over-the-top lite: cheery-through-the-tears, with every complication spelled out and quickly resolved.
The likable Hudson is hampered, her character's transition denied oomph, by having to be so reassuring throughout. Her best moments are with Cusack because something messier, in the form of sisterly jealousy and resentment, emerges. It's good to see the always original Cusack in a more substantial role after the scant screen time she received in "School of Rock".
Corbett follows his good-guy turn in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" with another impossibly bland Mr. Right. Helen Mirren, in a silver pageboy and oversize accessories, walks through the brief, obvious part of Helen's tough, child-phobic boss. Hector Elizondo has an uncredited role as an honest car dealer, and Paris Hilton cameos as a wordless variation on her fabulous self. Marshall and DP Charles Minsky make good use of New York locations in the polished production.
RAISING HELEN
Buena Vista Pictures
A Touchstone Pictures/Beacon Pictures presentation
A Mandeville Films/Ashok Amritraj production
Credits: Director: Garry Marshall
Writers: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler
Producers: David Hoberman, Ashok Amritraj
Executive producers: Mario Iscovich, Ellen H. Schwartz
Director of photography: Charles Minsky
Production designer: Steven Jordan
Music: John Debney
Co-producers: Todd Lieberman, Karen Stirgwolt
Costume designer: Gary Jones
Editors: Bruce Green, Tara Timpone
Cast:
Helen Harris: Kate Hudson
Pastor Dan Parker: John Corbett
Jenny Portman: Joan Cusack
Audrey Davis: Hayden Panettiere
Henry Davis: Spencer Breslin
Sarah Davis: Abigail Breslin
Dominique: Helen Mirren
Nilma: Sakina Jaffrey
Ed Portman: Kevin Kilner
Lindsay Davis: Felicity Huffman
Paul Davis: Sean O'Bryan
Running time -- 119 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 5/11/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARK CITY, Utah -- No medieval damsel but nonetheless a damsel-in-distress story, "Guinevere" is a sterling tale of one young woman's post-"Graduate" attempt to redirect her life. With an exquisite lead performance from Sarah Polley, this Miramax release is one of the most bracing, funny and revealing films in recent Sundance memory. It seems destined for festival accolades and will surely win further tributes and recognition on the select-site circuit.
Life on the surface seems cozy and bright for '90s graduate Harper (Polley). She's been accepted to Harvard Law School and is on the fast track to fulfill her parents' fervent wishes. Both lawyers, they've provided the kind of patrician upbringing that will surely catapult Harper into a successful life.
Alas, going down this insular patrician world does not appeal to Harper. Somewhat mousy and lacking in self-confidence, she wallows in minor rebellion until she meets her catalyst, charming photographer Connie (Stephen Rea) who photographs her sister's tony wedding. Somewhat of a self-styled bohemian, Connie taps into Harper's angst. He's unusually perceptive about her insecurities and sagely realizes that Harper is bursting with inner energies and talents, long suppressed out of daughterly duty as well as the stultifying nature of her home life.
Part personal rebellion but also part attempt to realize herself, Harper moves in with Connie. Not unexpectedly, it elicits the reaction she expects from her mother. Better yet, under Connie's encouraging tutelage, she gathers confidence and begins to widen her interest beyond the strict confines of the law-school path.
No mere May-December love story, "Guinevere" brims with a more complex kind of love: It is more accurately a union of two people who don't fit into the tight strictures of normal life. Through screenwriter-director Audrey Wells' perceptive and pithy storytelling, we come to see the regenerative wonderfulness that this relationship brings. We also see the underskin, the neediness of Harper and Connie. Both have feet of clay and Wells shows us the limits that each character possesses. In particular, we see that Connie is caught in a lifelong rut, "mentoring" young women in a serial downspin -- they're his Guineveres.
Under Wells' sympathetic, revealing hand, "Guinevere"'s performances are sparkling and well-honed. Polley is magnificent as fragile and unfulfilled Harper, brittle and resilient at once. As sensitive older man Connie who sees into the souls of young girls, Rea shows the pied-piper magic of his character as well as his life's pathetic, repetitive routine. The supporting characters are picture-perfectly selected. Particular praise to casting directors Linda Lowy and John Brace for their apt, brahmin selections. Among the standouts in this WASP world are Jean Smart as Harper's snide, domineering mother, while Gina Gershon is winning as Harper's sympathetic, Guinevere predecessor.
Technically, the film is articulately polished, most prominently production designer Stephen McCabe's properly sterile production look, clueing us immediately to the cold life that Harper is in store for if she remains the good girl and goes off to Harvard.
GUINEVERE
Miramax Films
Producers: Jonathan King, Brad Weston
Screenwriter-director: Audrey Wells
Executive producers: Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short, Beau Flynn, Stefan Simchowitz, John Thompson, Boaz Davidson
Line producer: Tani Cohen
Production designer: Stephen McCabe
Director of photography: Charles Minsky
Costume designer: Genevieve Tyrrell
Music supervisor: Barklie K. Griggs
Music: Cristophe Beck
Editor: Dody Dorn
Casting directors : Linda Lowy, John Brace
Color/stereo
Cast:
Harper Sloane: Sarah Polley
Connie Fitzpatrick: Stephen Rea
Deborah Sloane: Jean Smart
Billie: Gina Gershon
Walter: Paul Dooley
Patty: Carrie Preston
Zack: Tracy Letts
Susan Sloane: Emily Procter
Leslie: Sharon McKnight
Ed: Gedde Watanabe
Jay: Carlton Wilborn
Cindy: Sandra Oh
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating...
Life on the surface seems cozy and bright for '90s graduate Harper (Polley). She's been accepted to Harvard Law School and is on the fast track to fulfill her parents' fervent wishes. Both lawyers, they've provided the kind of patrician upbringing that will surely catapult Harper into a successful life.
Alas, going down this insular patrician world does not appeal to Harper. Somewhat mousy and lacking in self-confidence, she wallows in minor rebellion until she meets her catalyst, charming photographer Connie (Stephen Rea) who photographs her sister's tony wedding. Somewhat of a self-styled bohemian, Connie taps into Harper's angst. He's unusually perceptive about her insecurities and sagely realizes that Harper is bursting with inner energies and talents, long suppressed out of daughterly duty as well as the stultifying nature of her home life.
Part personal rebellion but also part attempt to realize herself, Harper moves in with Connie. Not unexpectedly, it elicits the reaction she expects from her mother. Better yet, under Connie's encouraging tutelage, she gathers confidence and begins to widen her interest beyond the strict confines of the law-school path.
No mere May-December love story, "Guinevere" brims with a more complex kind of love: It is more accurately a union of two people who don't fit into the tight strictures of normal life. Through screenwriter-director Audrey Wells' perceptive and pithy storytelling, we come to see the regenerative wonderfulness that this relationship brings. We also see the underskin, the neediness of Harper and Connie. Both have feet of clay and Wells shows us the limits that each character possesses. In particular, we see that Connie is caught in a lifelong rut, "mentoring" young women in a serial downspin -- they're his Guineveres.
Under Wells' sympathetic, revealing hand, "Guinevere"'s performances are sparkling and well-honed. Polley is magnificent as fragile and unfulfilled Harper, brittle and resilient at once. As sensitive older man Connie who sees into the souls of young girls, Rea shows the pied-piper magic of his character as well as his life's pathetic, repetitive routine. The supporting characters are picture-perfectly selected. Particular praise to casting directors Linda Lowy and John Brace for their apt, brahmin selections. Among the standouts in this WASP world are Jean Smart as Harper's snide, domineering mother, while Gina Gershon is winning as Harper's sympathetic, Guinevere predecessor.
Technically, the film is articulately polished, most prominently production designer Stephen McCabe's properly sterile production look, clueing us immediately to the cold life that Harper is in store for if she remains the good girl and goes off to Harvard.
GUINEVERE
Miramax Films
Producers: Jonathan King, Brad Weston
Screenwriter-director: Audrey Wells
Executive producers: Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short, Beau Flynn, Stefan Simchowitz, John Thompson, Boaz Davidson
Line producer: Tani Cohen
Production designer: Stephen McCabe
Director of photography: Charles Minsky
Costume designer: Genevieve Tyrrell
Music supervisor: Barklie K. Griggs
Music: Cristophe Beck
Editor: Dody Dorn
Casting directors : Linda Lowy, John Brace
Color/stereo
Cast:
Harper Sloane: Sarah Polley
Connie Fitzpatrick: Stephen Rea
Deborah Sloane: Jean Smart
Billie: Gina Gershon
Walter: Paul Dooley
Patty: Carrie Preston
Zack: Tracy Letts
Susan Sloane: Emily Procter
Leslie: Sharon McKnight
Ed: Gedde Watanabe
Jay: Carlton Wilborn
Cindy: Sandra Oh
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating...
- 1/29/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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