Teresa Wright: Later years (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon.") Teresa Wright and Robert Anderson were divorced in 1978. They would remain friends in the ensuing years.[1] Wright spent most of the last decade of her life in Connecticut, making only sporadic public appearances. In 1998, she could be seen with her grandson, film producer Jonah Smith, at New York's Yankee Stadium, where she threw the ceremonial first pitch.[2] Wright also became involved in the Greater New York chapter of the Als Association. (The Pride of the Yankees subject, Lou Gehrig, died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in 1941.) The week she turned 82 in October 2000, Wright attended the 20th anniversary celebration of Somewhere in Time, where she posed for pictures with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. In March 2003, she was a guest at the 75th Academy Awards, in the segment showcasing Oscar-winning actors of the past. Two years later,...
- 3/15/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
America's Got Talent's live performances at Radio City Music Hall debuted Tuesday night with the first 12 acts of the quarterfinals. It was a decent night of performances, making it a battle to choose which seven acts we think will get their pink slips tonight.
Let's look back for a moment to the auditions featured in my 'One Act to Watch' articles and review for a moment. My first pick from the auditions was Miguel Dakota. My first pick from the second week of auditions was Smoothini, The Ghetto Houdini. Third week: soldier singer Paul Ieti. Forth week: 13-year-old singer Mara Justine. I was gone the week of July 1, but I would have featured Jonah Smith as my 'One Act to Watch,' though saying so now after the band has already made it past judgement week sounds a bit like cheating. Well, hell, I'm sticking with it anyway.
Let's look back for a moment to the auditions featured in my 'One Act to Watch' articles and review for a moment. My first pick from the auditions was Miguel Dakota. My first pick from the second week of auditions was Smoothini, The Ghetto Houdini. Third week: soldier singer Paul Ieti. Forth week: 13-year-old singer Mara Justine. I was gone the week of July 1, but I would have featured Jonah Smith as my 'One Act to Watch,' though saying so now after the band has already made it past judgement week sounds a bit like cheating. Well, hell, I'm sticking with it anyway.
- 7/30/2014
- by editor@buddytv.com
- buddytv.com
Dedicated to providing the highest quality in audio drama across various genres, The Wireless Theatre Company just saw their efforts rewarded, having netted the Ogle Award for 'Best Fantasy/Horror Audio Production of the Year' for the second season of their ongoing series The Legend of Springheel'd Jack.
To celebrate, they've made the premiere episode from Series 1 available for Free, right now!
Offered alongside the Mark Time Award (for 'Best Science Fiction Audio Production of the Year'), the Ogle Award is bestowed by The American Society for Science Fiction Audio (Asfsfa), whose judging panel praised The Legend of Springheel'd Jack for its "well-crafted, ambitious" approach to radio drama.
Co-creators Robert Valentine and Jack Bowman were thrilled, announcing: “Our thanks to Asfsfa for this award. We’re delighted that they have chosen to acknowledge the word and efforts of all of those involved in the second series of The Springheel Saga,...
To celebrate, they've made the premiere episode from Series 1 available for Free, right now!
Offered alongside the Mark Time Award (for 'Best Science Fiction Audio Production of the Year'), the Ogle Award is bestowed by The American Society for Science Fiction Audio (Asfsfa), whose judging panel praised The Legend of Springheel'd Jack for its "well-crafted, ambitious" approach to radio drama.
Co-creators Robert Valentine and Jack Bowman were thrilled, announcing: “Our thanks to Asfsfa for this award. We’re delighted that they have chosen to acknowledge the word and efforts of all of those involved in the second series of The Springheel Saga,...
- 6/19/2014
- by Gareth Jones
- DreadCentral.com
Singer-songwriter Jonah Smith has many extremely loyal fans. Make that "friends" who went out of their way to contribute hard earned cash to fund Jonah's newly released album, Lights On. This may not seem all that unusual given the need to improvise because of the shape of today's withering music business. But while most of his contemporaries have the fantasy of signing the bottom line of a label contract, Jonah, instead, has rejected a record company's offer, and has taken on many of that machine's responsibilities himself. Actually, a better way of putting that would be he's tinkering with the self-promotion process enthusiastically, as he also is helping to establish a community of musicians and technicians--especially through his YouTube channel--to foster a spirit of cooperation that can breed success for all involved. Mike Ragogna: Given the experience you've had so far,...
- 8/20/2009
- by Mike Ragogna
- Huffington Post
- #13. ReligulousDirector: Larry CharlesProducers: Bill Maher, Jonah Smith and Palmer West (A Scanner Darkly)Distributor: Lionsgate Films The Gist: This follows Bill Maher as he travels around the globe interviewing people about God and religion. Known for his astute analytical skills, irreverent wit and commitment to never pulling a punch, Maher brings his characteristic honesty to an unusual spiritual journey.Fact: Charles last directed: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of KazakhstanSee It: Though it has been delayed several times, you should gather your atheist and religious friends for a movie date followed by a convo right after. Release Date/Status?: After a showcase at Tiff, Lionsgate Films releases this on October 3rd. ...
- 9/4/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
- Sounds a little premature to be speaking about it this early in the game, but what's more fun than predicting and prognosticating some of the choice offerings that we'll be seeing at the next Oscar ceremonies. There are less than 10 months to go before the next round of noms and plenty of film offerings ahead will easily change all this speculating below. Today we begin with what I think will be the Best Non-Fiction nominations for 08’. Always a tough nut to crack – simply put, the Academy are predictable in selecting some obscure choices, this in part due to the voters whose agenda relates more to what a 60+ year old might consider of value. This year we should see some clearer, more popular choices that are part of broader critical consensus. Stay tuned for tomorrow's next Oscar category. Best Documentary Predictions: Four Noms: American Teen (Paramount Vantage) Nanette Burstein, Eli Gonda,
- 3/24/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
- #15. Religulous Director: Larry CharlesProducers: Bill Maher, Jonah Smith and Palmer West (A Scanner Darkly) Distributor: Lionsgate Films The Gist: This follows Bill Maher as he travels around the globe interviewing people about God and religion. Known for his astute analytical skills, irreverent wit and commitment to never pulling a punch, Maher brings his characteristic honesty to an unusual spiritual journey. Fact: Charles last directed: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan See It: It was the hottest reel property at Cannes and I've seen about 5 clip-sized portions of the film to vouch by this one: this flips religion over on its back. Get ready for the backlash! Release Date/Status?: Lionsgate Films is releasing this June 20th. ...
- 2/1/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
San Sebastian, Spain -- Austrian director Hans Weingartner, in San Sebastian with his competition entry Reclaim Your Brain, is teaming with City of God screenwriter Braulio Mantovani for his next project, Nanny.
Nanny revolves around two women who leave their families in South America to become domestic servants in the U.S. As with Weingartner's previous two films -- Brain and The Edukators -- it is an undisguised attack on the abuses of modern capitalism.
"It looks at the perversion of the system, where rich countries have to import love and caring (for their children) from the Third World," Weingartner told The Hollywood Reporter. "How these women are forced to leave their own families to go and provide for the rich."
Weingartner made his name on the international film scene with his second feature, Edukators, which debuted in Cannes and went on to win several awards, including the German Film Critics prize for best film. Palmer West and Jonah Smith of production outfit Thousand Worlds have picked up the U.S.
Nanny revolves around two women who leave their families in South America to become domestic servants in the U.S. As with Weingartner's previous two films -- Brain and The Edukators -- it is an undisguised attack on the abuses of modern capitalism.
"It looks at the perversion of the system, where rich countries have to import love and caring (for their children) from the Third World," Weingartner told The Hollywood Reporter. "How these women are forced to leave their own families to go and provide for the rich."
Weingartner made his name on the international film scene with his second feature, Edukators, which debuted in Cannes and went on to win several awards, including the German Film Critics prize for best film. Palmer West and Jonah Smith of production outfit Thousand Worlds have picked up the U.S.
- 9/25/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- Canadian distributor TVA Films on Tuesday said it has picked up the Canadian rights to Larry Charles and Bill Maher's untitled comic religion documentary for a spring release.
Yves Dion, president of Montreal-based TVA Films, said he attended a sneak preview of the untitled project in Cannes and only recently struck a deal with the film's producers, who are represented by CAA.
The Charles documentary features Maher traveling to world hot spots where talk of God and religion often sparks conflict for a comic take on local events.
The film also marks Charles' first film outing since the critical and boxoffice success of "Borat".
Last week, Lionsgate said it had picked up the Charles project for a stateside release. The documentary, which is being produced by Jonah Smith and Palmer West of Thousand Words, employs some of the same comic interview and guerilla shooting techniques behind "Borat".
Dion gave no indication how wide the Canadian theatrical release for the still-untitled project will be.
Yves Dion, president of Montreal-based TVA Films, said he attended a sneak preview of the untitled project in Cannes and only recently struck a deal with the film's producers, who are represented by CAA.
The Charles documentary features Maher traveling to world hot spots where talk of God and religion often sparks conflict for a comic take on local events.
The film also marks Charles' first film outing since the critical and boxoffice success of "Borat".
Last week, Lionsgate said it had picked up the Charles project for a stateside release. The documentary, which is being produced by Jonah Smith and Palmer West of Thousand Words, employs some of the same comic interview and guerilla shooting techniques behind "Borat".
Dion gave no indication how wide the Canadian theatrical release for the still-untitled project will be.
- 7/18/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CANNES -- This film involved a painstaking animation process that required up to 500 hours to create one minute of screen time. And, with each minute of screen time, it has delivered back all that pain to the viewer; in multiples, since the indie-heaven cast and the hand of Richard Linklater promises so much.
Audiences compelled by professional obligation will be this film's most likely outreach, with those sitting in the middle of the aisles most likely to last through the duration. Commercially, "A Scanner Darkly" should be quickly remaindered to video, although on the upside, it may rejuvenate attention to Philip K. Dick's original novel to see exactly what inspired all these talented people to perpetrate this.
Throughout his creative life, Philip K. Dick battled his own demons of drug addiction, and the work upon which this trippy film is based, "A Scanner Darkly", is one of the author's bestsellers. Characteristically set in the Dick universe of the near future, "A Scanner Darkly" centers on the institutional fight against drug addiction, as an undercover cop is assigned to spy on his friends, and, in the complex convolutions of the plot, to eventually spy on himself.
The story itself is a mind-bender of big issues: addiction, surveillance, paranoia and personal rights. Unfortunately, filmmaker Richard Linklater gets swamped by the book's grand philosophical pinions and resorts to verbal explication rather than dramatization.
Indeed, movement-wise, there is nothing animated about this animated feature. It is static. Scene after scene of verbose fiddle-faddle: Characters orate at each other, while sitting in cars, sitting at dining tables, sitting in living rooms, sitting at office desks. The film might be better titled "The Big Sit".
What is going on? Well, a lot of verbiage about the ravages a drug dubbed Substance D is perpetrating on beautiful downtown Anaheim. Unfortunately, filmmaker Linklater further fuddles the works by allowing the actors histrionic excess. Not surprisingly, the most entertaining is Robert J. Downey's hyper-active performance as a fey and haughty friend of the undercover cop. Popped way-over-the top, Downey delivers what William F. Buckley, Jr. might seem like if plied with uppers. Fortunately, other performances are more subdued, namely, Keanu Reeve's myopic turn as the undercover cop. Remarkably, Reeves seems to be doing an imitation of Clint Eastwood, mumbling in the soft cadence of early Dirty Harry. In short, audiences will have to seek out their own peculiar diversions in order to last the whole course of this demi-dud.
Visually, this "Scanner" is no phantasmagoria, unlikely to inspire comparison to great animated head-trips of the ‘60s past. The film's muted pallet of pastels, while immensely suited to bath soaps, is less dynamic as a filmic eye-grabber. While acknowledging the craftsmanship and creativity of the animation team, "A Scanner Darkly"'s colorings and shadings make the real-life characters look like wood carvings.
A SCANNER DARKLY
Warner Independent Pictures Presents
In Association with Thousand Words
A Section Eight/Detour Filmproduction/3 Arts Entertainment Production
Screenwriter/director: Richard Linklater; Based on the novel by Philip K. Dick. Producers: Anne Walker-McBay, Tommy Pallotta, Palmer West, Jonah Smith, Erwin Stoff. Executive producers: George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, Jennifer Fox, Ben Cosgrove, John Sloss; Director of photography: Shane F. Kelly; Production designer: Bruce Curtis; Music: Graham Reynolds; Editor: Sandra Adair; Animators: Sterling Allen, Evan Cagle, Nick Derington, Christopher Jennings, Lance Myers. Cast. Bob Arctor: Keanu Reeves; James Barris: Robert Downey, Jr.; Ernie Luckman: Woody Harrelson; Donna Hawthorne: Winona Ryder; Charles Freck: Rory Cochrane.
MPAA Rating: R, running time 100 minutes.
Audiences compelled by professional obligation will be this film's most likely outreach, with those sitting in the middle of the aisles most likely to last through the duration. Commercially, "A Scanner Darkly" should be quickly remaindered to video, although on the upside, it may rejuvenate attention to Philip K. Dick's original novel to see exactly what inspired all these talented people to perpetrate this.
Throughout his creative life, Philip K. Dick battled his own demons of drug addiction, and the work upon which this trippy film is based, "A Scanner Darkly", is one of the author's bestsellers. Characteristically set in the Dick universe of the near future, "A Scanner Darkly" centers on the institutional fight against drug addiction, as an undercover cop is assigned to spy on his friends, and, in the complex convolutions of the plot, to eventually spy on himself.
The story itself is a mind-bender of big issues: addiction, surveillance, paranoia and personal rights. Unfortunately, filmmaker Richard Linklater gets swamped by the book's grand philosophical pinions and resorts to verbal explication rather than dramatization.
Indeed, movement-wise, there is nothing animated about this animated feature. It is static. Scene after scene of verbose fiddle-faddle: Characters orate at each other, while sitting in cars, sitting at dining tables, sitting in living rooms, sitting at office desks. The film might be better titled "The Big Sit".
What is going on? Well, a lot of verbiage about the ravages a drug dubbed Substance D is perpetrating on beautiful downtown Anaheim. Unfortunately, filmmaker Linklater further fuddles the works by allowing the actors histrionic excess. Not surprisingly, the most entertaining is Robert J. Downey's hyper-active performance as a fey and haughty friend of the undercover cop. Popped way-over-the top, Downey delivers what William F. Buckley, Jr. might seem like if plied with uppers. Fortunately, other performances are more subdued, namely, Keanu Reeve's myopic turn as the undercover cop. Remarkably, Reeves seems to be doing an imitation of Clint Eastwood, mumbling in the soft cadence of early Dirty Harry. In short, audiences will have to seek out their own peculiar diversions in order to last the whole course of this demi-dud.
Visually, this "Scanner" is no phantasmagoria, unlikely to inspire comparison to great animated head-trips of the ‘60s past. The film's muted pallet of pastels, while immensely suited to bath soaps, is less dynamic as a filmic eye-grabber. While acknowledging the craftsmanship and creativity of the animation team, "A Scanner Darkly"'s colorings and shadings make the real-life characters look like wood carvings.
A SCANNER DARKLY
Warner Independent Pictures Presents
In Association with Thousand Words
A Section Eight/Detour Filmproduction/3 Arts Entertainment Production
Screenwriter/director: Richard Linklater; Based on the novel by Philip K. Dick. Producers: Anne Walker-McBay, Tommy Pallotta, Palmer West, Jonah Smith, Erwin Stoff. Executive producers: George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, Jennifer Fox, Ben Cosgrove, John Sloss; Director of photography: Shane F. Kelly; Production designer: Bruce Curtis; Music: Graham Reynolds; Editor: Sandra Adair; Animators: Sterling Allen, Evan Cagle, Nick Derington, Christopher Jennings, Lance Myers. Cast. Bob Arctor: Keanu Reeves; James Barris: Robert Downey, Jr.; Ernie Luckman: Woody Harrelson; Donna Hawthorne: Winona Ryder; Charles Freck: Rory Cochrane.
MPAA Rating: R, running time 100 minutes.
- 5/26/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Brad Anderson has been tapped to adapt and direct a remake of Hans Weingartner's political German film The Edukators. Palmer West and Jonah Smith of production outfit Thousand Words will produce the film. The story centers on three youths whose concern over global capitalism leads them from acts of protest to serious crime. The original, released domestically last summer by IFC Films, won top honors at the German Critics Film Awards and top honors at several European film festivals. "What excites me most is the way the story straddles genres," said Anderson, who most recently directed The Machinist. "On the one hand it's a suspenseful thriller, and on the other, it's a provocative and timely political debate. Yet at its heart it's really a very sly, very dark romantic comedy. In my films I've always tried to artfully 'mash up' genres. Palmer and Jonah get this. I couldn't ask for better collaborators."...
- 4/25/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARK CITY, Utah -- Archimedes couldn't figure out the solution to a vexing problem his king had posed to him. After days of agonized thinking, the Greek mathematician gave up and retired to the bath where in his repose the solution came to him.
No such luck for young Maximilian Cohen (Sean Gullette) who in "Pi" grapples with the most daunting mathematical and ontological questions posed by man.
A brilliant cinematic calculus, "Pi" is an astonishingly accomplished work, integrating questions and insights that have challenged mathematicians, theologians, philosophers and mythmakers for centuries and, within that same equation, extrapolating a profound psychological portrait of one young scientist, who, like Icarus, dares to fly too high. "Pi"'s filmmaker, Darren Aronofsky, won the director's award at Sundance and seems to possess infinite potential.
Admittedly, "Pi"'s appeal will radiate around the cerebral viewer. Its filmic aesthetic, a searing barrage of abrasive sounds and abstract images, will likely strike numb the soft-centered viewer. The challenge for a distributor will be to extend "Pi"'s parameters, much as music labels are sometimes able to take far-flung, avant-garde sounds and make them palatable to the mainstream.
Narratively and structurally, "Pi" charts close in orbit to an Arthur C. Clarke short story, using the outer reaches of scientific and mathematical knowledge as its thematic terrain. Wonderfully, it's a science fiction story, but one of a higher order, not delimited by the superficialities of special effects.
In this ambitious thrust, Gullette stars as a modern-day mad mathematician, Max, who holes up in a tiny urban garret with his electrodes, gadgets, calculators and raw computers, all soldered together in an expressionist hodgepodge of keenly calibrated connections. Max doesn't venture out much, and when he does he shuns all human contact, except with his mentor, a retired mathematician who devoted his life to researching Pi but who has now acknowledged that "life is not mathematics."
Max's obsession with finding a mathematical order to life does not border on mania, it is mania. His mind-set is jarringly transposed to the screen by Aronofsky in a frazzled cacophony of discrete images and assaultive sounds. Indeed, Max is clearly soaring too close to the sun and, at the very least, he needs a break before he suffers a breakdown.
"Pi" is a staggeringly powerful scoping of complex and compact dimension: epistemological questions, about how man can gain knowledge and then try to understand higher dimensions with his finite capacities, are vigorously and imaginatively presented in this most sophisticated, thematic offering. The technical contributions are manifestly superior, including cinematographer Matthew Libatique's involving, expressionistic lensing, as well as composer Clint Mansell's assonantly eloquent score.
For once, film rises to a dimension of thought and illumination that is far beyond its usual pulp, bad-novel sources. Big subject matter fuses with low-budget wizardry and the results in this endeavor are awe-inspiring, yet infinitely wise.
Pi
LIVE Entertainment
Producer: Eric Watson
Screenwriter-director: Darren Aronofsky
Co-producer: Scott Vogel
Executive producer: Randy Simon
Co-executive producers: David Godbout, Tyler Brodie, Jonah Smith
Director of photography: Matthew Libatique
Editor: Oren Sarch
Production designer: Matthew Maraffi
Music: Clint Mansell
Black-and-white/stereo
Cast: Sean Gullette, Mark Margolis, Ben Shenkman, Samia Shoaib, Pam Hart, Stephen Pearlman
Running time -- 85 minutes...
No such luck for young Maximilian Cohen (Sean Gullette) who in "Pi" grapples with the most daunting mathematical and ontological questions posed by man.
A brilliant cinematic calculus, "Pi" is an astonishingly accomplished work, integrating questions and insights that have challenged mathematicians, theologians, philosophers and mythmakers for centuries and, within that same equation, extrapolating a profound psychological portrait of one young scientist, who, like Icarus, dares to fly too high. "Pi"'s filmmaker, Darren Aronofsky, won the director's award at Sundance and seems to possess infinite potential.
Admittedly, "Pi"'s appeal will radiate around the cerebral viewer. Its filmic aesthetic, a searing barrage of abrasive sounds and abstract images, will likely strike numb the soft-centered viewer. The challenge for a distributor will be to extend "Pi"'s parameters, much as music labels are sometimes able to take far-flung, avant-garde sounds and make them palatable to the mainstream.
Narratively and structurally, "Pi" charts close in orbit to an Arthur C. Clarke short story, using the outer reaches of scientific and mathematical knowledge as its thematic terrain. Wonderfully, it's a science fiction story, but one of a higher order, not delimited by the superficialities of special effects.
In this ambitious thrust, Gullette stars as a modern-day mad mathematician, Max, who holes up in a tiny urban garret with his electrodes, gadgets, calculators and raw computers, all soldered together in an expressionist hodgepodge of keenly calibrated connections. Max doesn't venture out much, and when he does he shuns all human contact, except with his mentor, a retired mathematician who devoted his life to researching Pi but who has now acknowledged that "life is not mathematics."
Max's obsession with finding a mathematical order to life does not border on mania, it is mania. His mind-set is jarringly transposed to the screen by Aronofsky in a frazzled cacophony of discrete images and assaultive sounds. Indeed, Max is clearly soaring too close to the sun and, at the very least, he needs a break before he suffers a breakdown.
"Pi" is a staggeringly powerful scoping of complex and compact dimension: epistemological questions, about how man can gain knowledge and then try to understand higher dimensions with his finite capacities, are vigorously and imaginatively presented in this most sophisticated, thematic offering. The technical contributions are manifestly superior, including cinematographer Matthew Libatique's involving, expressionistic lensing, as well as composer Clint Mansell's assonantly eloquent score.
For once, film rises to a dimension of thought and illumination that is far beyond its usual pulp, bad-novel sources. Big subject matter fuses with low-budget wizardry and the results in this endeavor are awe-inspiring, yet infinitely wise.
Pi
LIVE Entertainment
Producer: Eric Watson
Screenwriter-director: Darren Aronofsky
Co-producer: Scott Vogel
Executive producer: Randy Simon
Co-executive producers: David Godbout, Tyler Brodie, Jonah Smith
Director of photography: Matthew Libatique
Editor: Oren Sarch
Production designer: Matthew Maraffi
Music: Clint Mansell
Black-and-white/stereo
Cast: Sean Gullette, Mark Margolis, Ben Shenkman, Samia Shoaib, Pam Hart, Stephen Pearlman
Running time -- 85 minutes...
- 1/26/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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