Robert Benton and Paul Newman’s show-biz detective tale is one of the best-looking thrillers of 1998. With its star lineup of Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing and James Garner, its the equivalent of a dog-eared comfy mystery paperback. The classic themes and stylistics are here, but in a new Hollywood where movie stars can get away with murder, and nobody seems to care. Everyone is excellent and the show quite enjoyable, even if it seems we’ve seen a lot of it before. A solid academic extra is the audio commentary by Alain Silver and James Ursini.
Twilight (1998)
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1998 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date December 27, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing, James Garner, Giancarlo Esposito, Liev Schreiber, Margo Martindale, John Spencer, M. Emmet Walsh, Lewis Arquette, Jack Wallace.
Cinematography: Piotr Sobocinski
Production Designer: David Gropman...
Twilight (1998)
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1998 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 94 min. / Street Date December 27, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Paul Newman, Susan Sarandon, Gene Hackman, Reese Witherspoon, Stockard Channing, James Garner, Giancarlo Esposito, Liev Schreiber, Margo Martindale, John Spencer, M. Emmet Walsh, Lewis Arquette, Jack Wallace.
Cinematography: Piotr Sobocinski
Production Designer: David Gropman...
- 12/6/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Director Robert Benton and Paul Newman come through with an extremely pleasing small town story. Snowy North Bath New York would seem a pit of failures big and small, until we begin to appreciate its social web of ‘support relationships’ that fill in for broken family connections. Newman’s injured laborer can’t get a fair shake, but he begins to realize the importance of his neighbors and his grandson. The comic conflicts are wholly believable, with Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Philip Seymour Hoffman on board: this one is Mellow and Mature (and a little racy) without succumbing to Hallmark TV drama sentimentality.
Nobody’s Fool
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 145
1994 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 110 min. / Street Date July 27, 2022 / Available from / aud 34.95
Starring: Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Dylan Walsh, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gene Saks, Josef Sommer, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco, Catherine Dent, Margo Martindale,...
Nobody’s Fool
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 145
1994 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 110 min. / Street Date July 27, 2022 / Available from / aud 34.95
Starring: Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Dylan Walsh, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Gene Saks, Josef Sommer, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco, Catherine Dent, Margo Martindale,...
- 8/27/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Only five women have ever been nominated as a solo producer for their films at the Producers Guild Awards: Jan Chapman (“The Piano”), Niki Marvin (“The Shawshank Redemption”), Jane Scott (“Shine”), Cean Chaffin (“Gone Girl”) and now Amy Pascal (“Little Women”). And if Pascal prevails she’d be the first solo woman to do so and “Little Women” would be the only winner ever without a male producer.
It’s not exactly an equitable year for women at the PGA Awards, where only 9 of the 26 individual nominees are women — and that’s counting Emma Tillinger Koskoff twice as she’s nominated for both “Joker” and “The Irishman.” She’s joined by Pascal, Pippa Harris and Jayne-Ann Tenggren (“1917“), Jenno Topping (“Ford v Ferrari”), Jane Rosenthal (“Irishman”), Shannon McIntosh (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) and Kwak Sin Ae (“Parasite“). But that’s still up from last year when only 6 of the 31 nominated producers were women.
It’s not exactly an equitable year for women at the PGA Awards, where only 9 of the 26 individual nominees are women — and that’s counting Emma Tillinger Koskoff twice as she’s nominated for both “Joker” and “The Irishman.” She’s joined by Pascal, Pippa Harris and Jayne-Ann Tenggren (“1917“), Jenno Topping (“Ford v Ferrari”), Jane Rosenthal (“Irishman”), Shannon McIntosh (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) and Kwak Sin Ae (“Parasite“). But that’s still up from last year when only 6 of the 31 nominated producers were women.
- 1/7/2020
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”) is a shoo-in for a nomination for Best Actress next week, but she could end up making Oscars history in another category as well as was recently reported by one of our Experts, Sasha Stone (Awards Daily). Robbie is also a producer of the film, so if “I, Tonya” also receives a Best Picture nomination she would be the first actress to receive acting and producing nominations for the same film. After a year that saw actresses Nicole Kidman (“Big Little Lies”), Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Veep”) all win Emmys as both actors and producers of TV programs, it would be fitting for Robbie’s passion project to go the distance with a pair of historic Oscar nominations.
It has been an incredible year for female stories, both real and fictional. The “Me Too” and “Time’s Up” movements have shined...
It has been an incredible year for female stories, both real and fictional. The “Me Too” and “Time’s Up” movements have shined...
- 1/20/2018
- by Ronnie Boadu
- Gold Derby
Oscar statue (Courtesy: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
There was always a chance for the best picture category at the 2017 Academy Awards to feature solid representation for female producers and, with the nominations official, the numbers are in. Turns out there are five of the nine films in this year’s top category with women behind it — but how does that stand up to the rest of Oscar history?
As mentioned above, there are five out of the total nine films in the best picture category this year that took some girl power to get made. There’s Hell or High Water (Carla Hacken and Julie Yorn), Hidden Figures (Donna Gigliotti and Jenno Topping), Lion (Angie Fielder), Manchester by the Sea (Kimberly Steward and Lauren Beck), and finally Moonlight (Adele Romanski and Dede Gardner). This leaves out Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, and La La Land as...
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
There was always a chance for the best picture category at the 2017 Academy Awards to feature solid representation for female producers and, with the nominations official, the numbers are in. Turns out there are five of the nine films in this year’s top category with women behind it — but how does that stand up to the rest of Oscar history?
As mentioned above, there are five out of the total nine films in the best picture category this year that took some girl power to get made. There’s Hell or High Water (Carla Hacken and Julie Yorn), Hidden Figures (Donna Gigliotti and Jenno Topping), Lion (Angie Fielder), Manchester by the Sea (Kimberly Steward and Lauren Beck), and finally Moonlight (Adele Romanski and Dede Gardner). This leaves out Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, and La La Land as...
- 2/11/2017
- by Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
There's a dull, stylistic haze hanging over "Twilight", a murder mystery set in Hollywood with a fine cast and plenty of sex, violence and racy dialogue. There also are not enough genuine surprises or pizazz for younger audiences, and the R-rated Paramount release is gunning for only a so-so opening and domestic run.
Screen icon Paul Newman and Oscar winner Robert Benton, who last teamed up for 1994's "Nobody's Fool", reunite for a thickly plotted yarn about loyalty and power in the fading glamour world of aging movie stars and the "fixers" who cover up their crimes. A good/bad movie about good/bad people, "Twilight" occasionally surprises with an effective scene, but overall it's too conventional and doesn't dig deep enough into the murky depths of its characters.
Newman's sluggish, tainted hero Harry Ross sports a dilly of a back story, and the actor's charisma is not so much subdued as refocused to good effect. An ex-cop, ex-private investigator, recovering alcoholic and all-around lonely guy, Harry is also rumored to have lost his sexual organs in his previous case.
The film opens with Harry in Mexico retrieving the underage daughter, Mel (Reese Witherspoon), of former superstar Jack Ames (Gene Hackman) and his equally well-known wife Catherine (Susan Sarandon). In a scuffle with her hapless boyfriend (Liev Schreiber), Mel shoots Harry, but only in the leg, and many fateful events ensue.
Two years later, Harry is still living for free and working for free at the chilly Ames house, where for starters naked Catherine flirts with him and sick Jack reveals he's dying. A teetotaler who no longer packs a gun, Harry is a good friend, but he's not treated as an equal and knows it.
Both Jack and Catherine use Harry for their own devious purposes, and the evolution of Newman's character from affable ally to disgusted professional fulfilling obligations and making his own decisions is the most interesting thing going on in the movie.
On a mysterious errand for Jack, Harry is almost shot by a mortally wounded former cop M. Emmet Walsh), who investigated the long-ago death of Catherine's first husband. When Harry continues to investigate, the cops nab him. But overall, he welcomes the sight of his old comrades, including one-time flame Verna (Stockard Channing).
Honest but not stupid, Harry is in for an increasingly hairy time as he crosses paths with Mel's vengeful former beau, just out of prison, and his tough-mama partner (Margo Martindale). Out of nowhere comes Harry's one-time colleague Reuben (Giancarlo Esposito), an eager apprentice P.I. who offers to help.
In an increasingly hard-to-swallow chain of events and dramatic encounters, Harry concludes that something nasty happened at the Ames' abandoned ranch house on the edge of town and suspects Jack, longtime studio security man Raymond (James Garner) and particularly new lover Catherine.
Sarandon brings a welcome intensity to her outwardly angelic/inwardly devilish femme fatale and holds her own against Hackman's bitter airs and Newman's furtive questing. Grumpy old gunners Newman and Garner are likewise in a comfortable groove in their scenes together.
Elmer Bernstein's run-of-the-mill score is a puzzlement. While there are few memorable visual flourishes, the extensive use of the Moderne-style home that was built in 1929 by Cedric Gibbons and Delores Del Rio is a successful gambit.
TWILIGHT
Paramount Pictures
A Cinehaus production
Director: Robert Benton
Producers: Arlene Donovan, Scott Rudin
Screenwriters: Robert Benton, Richard Russo
Executive producer: Michael Hausman
Director of photography: Piotr Sobocinski
Production designer: David Gropman
Editor: Carol Littleton
Costume designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Casting: Ilene Starger
Color/stereo
Cast:
Harry Ross: Paul Newman
Catherine Ames: Susan Sarandon
Jack Ames: Gene Hackman
Verna: Stockard Channing
Mel Ames: Reese Witherspoon
Reuben: Giancarlo Esposito
Raymond Hope: James Garner
Jeff Willis: Liev Schreiber
Lester Ivar: M. Emmet Walsh
Gloria Lamar: Margo Martindale
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Screen icon Paul Newman and Oscar winner Robert Benton, who last teamed up for 1994's "Nobody's Fool", reunite for a thickly plotted yarn about loyalty and power in the fading glamour world of aging movie stars and the "fixers" who cover up their crimes. A good/bad movie about good/bad people, "Twilight" occasionally surprises with an effective scene, but overall it's too conventional and doesn't dig deep enough into the murky depths of its characters.
Newman's sluggish, tainted hero Harry Ross sports a dilly of a back story, and the actor's charisma is not so much subdued as refocused to good effect. An ex-cop, ex-private investigator, recovering alcoholic and all-around lonely guy, Harry is also rumored to have lost his sexual organs in his previous case.
The film opens with Harry in Mexico retrieving the underage daughter, Mel (Reese Witherspoon), of former superstar Jack Ames (Gene Hackman) and his equally well-known wife Catherine (Susan Sarandon). In a scuffle with her hapless boyfriend (Liev Schreiber), Mel shoots Harry, but only in the leg, and many fateful events ensue.
Two years later, Harry is still living for free and working for free at the chilly Ames house, where for starters naked Catherine flirts with him and sick Jack reveals he's dying. A teetotaler who no longer packs a gun, Harry is a good friend, but he's not treated as an equal and knows it.
Both Jack and Catherine use Harry for their own devious purposes, and the evolution of Newman's character from affable ally to disgusted professional fulfilling obligations and making his own decisions is the most interesting thing going on in the movie.
On a mysterious errand for Jack, Harry is almost shot by a mortally wounded former cop M. Emmet Walsh), who investigated the long-ago death of Catherine's first husband. When Harry continues to investigate, the cops nab him. But overall, he welcomes the sight of his old comrades, including one-time flame Verna (Stockard Channing).
Honest but not stupid, Harry is in for an increasingly hairy time as he crosses paths with Mel's vengeful former beau, just out of prison, and his tough-mama partner (Margo Martindale). Out of nowhere comes Harry's one-time colleague Reuben (Giancarlo Esposito), an eager apprentice P.I. who offers to help.
In an increasingly hard-to-swallow chain of events and dramatic encounters, Harry concludes that something nasty happened at the Ames' abandoned ranch house on the edge of town and suspects Jack, longtime studio security man Raymond (James Garner) and particularly new lover Catherine.
Sarandon brings a welcome intensity to her outwardly angelic/inwardly devilish femme fatale and holds her own against Hackman's bitter airs and Newman's furtive questing. Grumpy old gunners Newman and Garner are likewise in a comfortable groove in their scenes together.
Elmer Bernstein's run-of-the-mill score is a puzzlement. While there are few memorable visual flourishes, the extensive use of the Moderne-style home that was built in 1929 by Cedric Gibbons and Delores Del Rio is a successful gambit.
TWILIGHT
Paramount Pictures
A Cinehaus production
Director: Robert Benton
Producers: Arlene Donovan, Scott Rudin
Screenwriters: Robert Benton, Richard Russo
Executive producer: Michael Hausman
Director of photography: Piotr Sobocinski
Production designer: David Gropman
Editor: Carol Littleton
Costume designer: Joseph G. Aulisi
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Casting: Ilene Starger
Color/stereo
Cast:
Harry Ross: Paul Newman
Catherine Ames: Susan Sarandon
Jack Ames: Gene Hackman
Verna: Stockard Channing
Mel Ames: Reese Witherspoon
Reuben: Giancarlo Esposito
Raymond Hope: James Garner
Jeff Willis: Liev Schreiber
Lester Ivar: M. Emmet Walsh
Gloria Lamar: Margo Martindale
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 2/27/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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