“Hold on a second, this is actually Bob the Drag Queen calling me,” Steve Warren says as he interrupts our discussion to take the quick call.
We all feel a level of having fallen down a rabbit hole these days, but this is about the last thing I would expect to hear from one of the most prominent attorneys in Hollywood — a lawyer whose clients include Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Charlize Theron, Stephen Gaghan, Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown, Akiva Goldsman, Elle & Dakota Fanning and dozens of other top actors and filmmakers.
I rang Warren because I had never heard of a lawyer on his level – he is a longtime partner in the firm Hansen Jacobson Teller Hoberman Newman Warren Richman Rush Kaller & Gellman – moonlighting as the co-creator and exec producer of We’re Here, the new HBO reality series whose second episode airs tonight. Bob the Drag Queen is one...
We all feel a level of having fallen down a rabbit hole these days, but this is about the last thing I would expect to hear from one of the most prominent attorneys in Hollywood — a lawyer whose clients include Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Charlize Theron, Stephen Gaghan, Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown, Akiva Goldsman, Elle & Dakota Fanning and dozens of other top actors and filmmakers.
I rang Warren because I had never heard of a lawyer on his level – he is a longtime partner in the firm Hansen Jacobson Teller Hoberman Newman Warren Richman Rush Kaller & Gellman – moonlighting as the co-creator and exec producer of We’re Here, the new HBO reality series whose second episode airs tonight. Bob the Drag Queen is one...
- 4/30/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Three death-dropping divas — Shangela Laquifa Wadley, Eureka O’Hara and Bob the Drag Queen — are traversing the country to change hearts, minds and lives through the transformative power of drag. And they aren’t stopping at humans.
Every episode of HBO’s new docuseries We’re Here, airing Thursdays at 9/8c, begins with a trio of dragged-out RVs pulling up to an unsuspecting small town. And while the vehicles may look like they veered off of a Wacky Races course, know this: the queens inside mean serious business. Just look at Shangela, whose glittery pink Rv comes complete with an over-sized bow,...
Every episode of HBO’s new docuseries We’re Here, airing Thursdays at 9/8c, begins with a trio of dragged-out RVs pulling up to an unsuspecting small town. And while the vehicles may look like they veered off of a Wacky Races course, know this: the queens inside mean serious business. Just look at Shangela, whose glittery pink Rv comes complete with an over-sized bow,...
- 4/30/2020
- TVLine.com
PARK CITY – It's no secret that there's often more drama backstage, especially of soap opera variety, than on-stage in New York theater. "Heights" plumbs the depths of deceit, ego and lust of the "players" who strut their moments. A splendid cast, prominently Glenn Close, should generate positive select-site sales for this Sony Pictures Classics release.
Based on Amy Fox's stage play of the same name, "Heights" tears back the curtains to reveal the players, essentially, in their bedroom ware or lack thereof. A decidedly twisted romantic roundelay, no character is really like the dialogue they mouth in real life. Their words are usually weapons or cloaks.
The doyenne of deceit is Diana, a domineering lady of the theater whose talents on the boards rival only her triumphs in the bedroom. Her talented photographer daughter, Isabel (Elizabeth Banks) is of more tender stuff but still acts out a role in real-life that contradicts her inner thoughts and desires. Sweet Isabel is engaged to just the sort her high-stage mother wouldn't approve, a square businessman (James Marsden) who ultimately reveals greater cunning and duplicity than the well-practiced drama-heads.
The main characters are either duplicitous, conflicted or, most often, both. They are a conniving assortment, yet entirely likeable with their big appetites and fragile psyches. As befits the profession, there are few wallflowers in screenwriter Amy Fox's pithy and highly amusing drama. Unfortunately, there's also some stage-style overwriting: "Heights" could use some trimming. At times, director Chris Terrio's painstaking connection of all the dots deadens the pace. "Heights" could use a slight trim to a less-bulky size.
An awards banquet for the entire cast, most notably Glenn Close for her wonderfully imperious performance as the "grand lady" of the theater. Beneath her Lady Macbeth bravura, Close shows her sore spots that can never be rubbed out. As her kind-spirited but frustrated daughter, Elizabeth Banks exudes the wounds of a young woman who suffers from her good-heartedness, while James Marsden as her square fiance is staunchly credible as man imploding with a huge secret. George Segal brings kindly and intelligent counterpoint as a worldly rabbi who offers counsel in these treacherous waters.
The well-selected ensemble, including Eric Bogosian as a vaunted director whose chief character insights are centered on manipulating talented and beautiful women, and Jesse Bradford as a gay actor whose sexuality and decency is stretched by both ends, invigorate recognizable character types with perfect detail.
As befits a Merchant Ivory presentation, the look is scrumptious and eloquent, in particular Marla Weinhoff's on-target, stage-world production design and Marina Draghici's personality-stitched costumes.
Heights
Sony Pictures Classics
Merchant Ivory Productions
Producers: Ismail Merchant, Richard Hawley
Director: Chris Terrio
Screenwriter: Amy Fox
Based on the stage play "Heights" by Amy Fox
Executive producer : Paul Bradley
Additional screenplay material: Chris Terrio
Director of photography : Jim Denault
Music: Ken Erskine, Ben Butler
Production designer: Marla Weinhoff
Costume designer: Marina Draghici
Editor: Sloane Klevin
Associate producer: Pierre Proner
Casting: James Calleri
Cast
Diana: Glenn Close
Isabel: Elizabeth Banks
Henry: Eric Bogosian
Alec: Jesse Bradford
Mark: Matt Davis
Ian: Andrew Howard
Marshall: Thomas Lennon
Peter: John Light
Running time – 93 minutes...
Based on Amy Fox's stage play of the same name, "Heights" tears back the curtains to reveal the players, essentially, in their bedroom ware or lack thereof. A decidedly twisted romantic roundelay, no character is really like the dialogue they mouth in real life. Their words are usually weapons or cloaks.
The doyenne of deceit is Diana, a domineering lady of the theater whose talents on the boards rival only her triumphs in the bedroom. Her talented photographer daughter, Isabel (Elizabeth Banks) is of more tender stuff but still acts out a role in real-life that contradicts her inner thoughts and desires. Sweet Isabel is engaged to just the sort her high-stage mother wouldn't approve, a square businessman (James Marsden) who ultimately reveals greater cunning and duplicity than the well-practiced drama-heads.
The main characters are either duplicitous, conflicted or, most often, both. They are a conniving assortment, yet entirely likeable with their big appetites and fragile psyches. As befits the profession, there are few wallflowers in screenwriter Amy Fox's pithy and highly amusing drama. Unfortunately, there's also some stage-style overwriting: "Heights" could use some trimming. At times, director Chris Terrio's painstaking connection of all the dots deadens the pace. "Heights" could use a slight trim to a less-bulky size.
An awards banquet for the entire cast, most notably Glenn Close for her wonderfully imperious performance as the "grand lady" of the theater. Beneath her Lady Macbeth bravura, Close shows her sore spots that can never be rubbed out. As her kind-spirited but frustrated daughter, Elizabeth Banks exudes the wounds of a young woman who suffers from her good-heartedness, while James Marsden as her square fiance is staunchly credible as man imploding with a huge secret. George Segal brings kindly and intelligent counterpoint as a worldly rabbi who offers counsel in these treacherous waters.
The well-selected ensemble, including Eric Bogosian as a vaunted director whose chief character insights are centered on manipulating talented and beautiful women, and Jesse Bradford as a gay actor whose sexuality and decency is stretched by both ends, invigorate recognizable character types with perfect detail.
As befits a Merchant Ivory presentation, the look is scrumptious and eloquent, in particular Marla Weinhoff's on-target, stage-world production design and Marina Draghici's personality-stitched costumes.
Heights
Sony Pictures Classics
Merchant Ivory Productions
Producers: Ismail Merchant, Richard Hawley
Director: Chris Terrio
Screenwriter: Amy Fox
Based on the stage play "Heights" by Amy Fox
Executive producer : Paul Bradley
Additional screenplay material: Chris Terrio
Director of photography : Jim Denault
Music: Ken Erskine, Ben Butler
Production designer: Marla Weinhoff
Costume designer: Marina Draghici
Editor: Sloane Klevin
Associate producer: Pierre Proner
Casting: James Calleri
Cast
Diana: Glenn Close
Isabel: Elizabeth Banks
Henry: Eric Bogosian
Alec: Jesse Bradford
Mark: Matt Davis
Ian: Andrew Howard
Marshall: Thomas Lennon
Peter: John Light
Running time – 93 minutes...
- 1/27/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.