Like much better dressed students, Ethan Hawke, Cate Blanchett, Claire Danes, Holland Taylor and Sarita Choudhury filed into the basement theater at the Museum of Modern Art on Tuesday to honor an acting legend. It was the fortieth anniversary of “Sophie’s Choice,” the movie that helped launch Meryl Streep into the cinematic firmament. It was a role that she campaigned for, learned to speak note-perfect German and Polish for and, somehow, managed to completely transform into another person for, in this case a refuge who can’t escape the horrors of the Holocaust even as she tries to establish a new life for herself in Brooklyn.
And there Streep was, flanked by her co-stars Peter MacNicol and Kevin Kline, to reminisce about making the movie and to honor their late collaborators. It was a trio of fallen friends that included Alan J. Pakula, the film’s director, producer and writer,...
And there Streep was, flanked by her co-stars Peter MacNicol and Kevin Kline, to reminisce about making the movie and to honor their late collaborators. It was a trio of fallen friends that included Alan J. Pakula, the film’s director, producer and writer,...
- 2/7/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Sam Esmail sacrificed his hearing while making his new apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind. You see, in the Netflix adaption of Rumaan Alam’s 2020 novel, there’s a noise so terrifying that it incapacitates the entire country — and Esmail had to get it just right.
“As a filmmaker, I was so excited to explore that aspect because sound is everything to me,” Esmail says. “There’s a fine line of making a sound haunting without actually having the audience get up and leave. I pushed it so much initially in the beginning that,...
“As a filmmaker, I was so excited to explore that aspect because sound is everything to me,” Esmail says. “There’s a fine line of making a sound haunting without actually having the audience get up and leave. I pushed it so much initially in the beginning that,...
- 12/8/2023
- by Brenna Ehrlich
- Rollingstone.com
“Politics is poisonous – even in making movies.”
Those were the words of William Goldman, the gifted screenwriter, who was finishing his script for All the President’s Men in 1972, when his director told him to quit writing. It seems Robert Redford, the co-star, had a new take on his character and he would take over the writing.
Goldman was shocked. His director, Alan Pakula, was depressed. The movie was stalled. Ultimately, Redford pumped up the polemics, the script was finished and the movie was a hit. But for Goldman and Pakula, the lesson was clear: No more political movies; too up tight and personal.
I was reminded of this incident this week when a network executive told me, “Objective coverage won’t stand a chance in the 2024 election. Look at the early mess in covering the Trump trials” – week two of the civil trial began Tuesday, with four criminal trials to come.
Those were the words of William Goldman, the gifted screenwriter, who was finishing his script for All the President’s Men in 1972, when his director told him to quit writing. It seems Robert Redford, the co-star, had a new take on his character and he would take over the writing.
Goldman was shocked. His director, Alan Pakula, was depressed. The movie was stalled. Ultimately, Redford pumped up the polemics, the script was finished and the movie was a hit. But for Goldman and Pakula, the lesson was clear: No more political movies; too up tight and personal.
I was reminded of this incident this week when a network executive told me, “Objective coverage won’t stand a chance in the 2024 election. Look at the early mess in covering the Trump trials” – week two of the civil trial began Tuesday, with four criminal trials to come.
- 10/12/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Clockwise from top left: Malcolm X (Warner Bros.), Washington at the 74th Annual Academy Awards (Getty/Frederick M. Brown) Training Day (Warner Bros/Screenshot), Remember The Titans (Buena Vista Pictures/Screenshot), Fences (Paramount). Graphic: The A.V. Club
In 2020, The New York Times anointed Denzel Washington the greatest actor of the 21st century so far.
In 2020, The New York Times anointed Denzel Washington the greatest actor of the 21st century so far.
- 8/31/2023
- by Phil Pirrello
- avclub.com
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Metrograph
Lars von Trier’s The Idiots begins playing in a new 4K restoration.
Film Forum
A celebration of Ozu’s 120th birthday brings a massive series; a retrospective on New York movies continues with Carpenter, Friedkin, Pakula, and more; I Was Born, But… plays on 35mm this Sunday.
Film at Lincoln Center
A retrospective of the great, underseen Marco Ferreri continues with a series of imported 35mm prints; Love & Basketball plays for free Friday night at Governors Island.
Roxy Cinema
35mm prints of In the Cut and The Rocky Horror Picture Show screen; Party Girl and Paris Is Burning also play.
Museum of the Moving Image
Raiders of the Lost Ark and Beat Street play on 35mm in a summer movie series; a print of Mulholland Dr. plays in a queer cinema series.
IFC Center
The David Lynch retrospective...
Metrograph
Lars von Trier’s The Idiots begins playing in a new 4K restoration.
Film Forum
A celebration of Ozu’s 120th birthday brings a massive series; a retrospective on New York movies continues with Carpenter, Friedkin, Pakula, and more; I Was Born, But… plays on 35mm this Sunday.
Film at Lincoln Center
A retrospective of the great, underseen Marco Ferreri continues with a series of imported 35mm prints; Love & Basketball plays for free Friday night at Governors Island.
Roxy Cinema
35mm prints of In the Cut and The Rocky Horror Picture Show screen; Party Girl and Paris Is Burning also play.
Museum of the Moving Image
Raiders of the Lost Ark and Beat Street play on 35mm in a summer movie series; a print of Mulholland Dr. plays in a queer cinema series.
IFC Center
The David Lynch retrospective...
- 6/16/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Brad Pitt, 59, and Harrison Ford, 80, clashed while working together on The Devil’s Own.
In a new interview with Esquire, Ford said filming the movie in 1997 was “complicated” with the Meet Joe Black actor.
The Devil’s Own is about a man, Rory Devaney, who stays with policeman Tom O’Meara and his family in New York City. While living with them, O’Meara’s house is broken into by intruders. O’Meara soon realizes that Devaney is part of the Irish Republican Army and that Devaney is in the States to transport illegal guns to Dublin.
Pitt, who played Rory Devaney, wrote the script for the 1997 film, and Ford was offered the part of Tom O’Meara. Ford made it clear that he doesn’t dislike Pitt, but that there were just some things they couldn’t agree on with the film.
“I saved my comments about the character and the construction...
In a new interview with Esquire, Ford said filming the movie in 1997 was “complicated” with the Meet Joe Black actor.
The Devil’s Own is about a man, Rory Devaney, who stays with policeman Tom O’Meara and his family in New York City. While living with them, O’Meara’s house is broken into by intruders. O’Meara soon realizes that Devaney is part of the Irish Republican Army and that Devaney is in the States to transport illegal guns to Dublin.
Pitt, who played Rory Devaney, wrote the script for the 1997 film, and Ford was offered the part of Tom O’Meara. Ford made it clear that he doesn’t dislike Pitt, but that there were just some things they couldn’t agree on with the film.
“I saved my comments about the character and the construction...
- 6/6/2023
- by Rose Anne Cox-Peralta
- Uinterview
Harrison Ford is taking some responsibility for the tension that developed with Brad Pitt during the making of their 1997 thriller “The Devil’s Own.” The film, which notably marked the last directorial effort from Alan J. Pakula, earned mixed reviews but grossed $140 million worldwide. Ford has often said in past interviews that it was difficult filming “The Devil’s Own.” When Esquire magazine recently asked why, Ford said it was due to creative differences he had with Pitt.
“Heh. Yeah, I remember why,” Ford said. “Brad developed the script. Then they offered me the part. I saved my comments about the character and the construction of the thing — I admired Brad. First of all, I admire Brad. I think he’s a wonderful actor. He’s a really decent guy. But we couldn’t agree on a director until we came to Alan Pakula, who I had worked with before but Brad had not.
“Heh. Yeah, I remember why,” Ford said. “Brad developed the script. Then they offered me the part. I saved my comments about the character and the construction of the thing — I admired Brad. First of all, I admire Brad. I think he’s a wonderful actor. He’s a really decent guy. But we couldn’t agree on a director until we came to Alan Pakula, who I had worked with before but Brad had not.
- 6/2/2023
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety Film + TV
I love a good con film. "The Crown" and "Andor" director Benjamin Caron has delivered a new one as his feature directorial debut in the form of "Sharper," a twisty Apple TV+ neo-noir about a bunch of people in New York City who are angling to get what they want. Con men, billionaires, gold diggers, and victims collide in this fascinating examination of the lengths people will go for greed, and it has a killer cast: Julianne Moore, John Lithgow, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith, and the stellar Briana Middleton, who not only hangs with these relative veterans, but practically leaps off the screen. In a movie full of theft, the most impressive one of all is how Middleton steals this movie with her performance.
I had the chance to speak with Caron in the lead-up to his film's release, and ask him about his influences, how he kept the audience surprised,...
I had the chance to speak with Caron in the lead-up to his film's release, and ask him about his influences, how he kept the audience surprised,...
- 2/9/2023
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
In 1997, Alan J. Pakula's "The Devil's Own" came and went with minimal fanfare. Although coming from the director of "All the President's Men," and the recent John Grisham hit "The Pelican Brief," no one much paid attention. Even the presence of Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt couldn't pull in audiences or dazzle critics. "The Devil's Own" was a modest hit, earning 140 million worldwide, and earned tepid reviews from critics; it currently holds a 35 approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It's one of those major studio releases that seems to exist only to provide the writers of movie-related Trivia Pursuit cards an opportunity to stump players. It awaits on basic cable, filling time between dinner and the late shows. It was Pakula's final film before his death, and cinematographer Gordon Willis' final film before his retirement.
"The Devil's Own" is about an Irish operative named Frankie (Pitt) who comes to...
"The Devil's Own" is about an Irish operative named Frankie (Pitt) who comes to...
- 1/11/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Michael Beach (Dahmer: Monster), Joshua Colley (Senior Year) and Lindsey Gort (All Rise) have joined the cast of Dead Boy Detectives, HBO Max’s upcoming drama series based on the DC Comics characters created by Neil Gaiman, in key recurring roles. The series hails from The Flight Attendant’s Steve Yockey, Doom Patrol’s Jeremy Carver, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. Television. Beach, Colley and Gort join series stars George Rexstrew, Jayden Revri and Kassius Nelson.
The eight-part series is a ghost story that explores loss, grief, and death through the lens of Edwin Payne (Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Revri), two dead British teenagers, and their very alive friend, Crystal Palace (Nelson). So, it’s a lot like a vintage detective series — only darker and on acid.
Beach plays Tragic Mick, a melancholy walrus trapped in a human body who helps the Dead Boys out sometimes.
Colley plays Monty,...
The eight-part series is a ghost story that explores loss, grief, and death through the lens of Edwin Payne (Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Revri), two dead British teenagers, and their very alive friend, Crystal Palace (Nelson). So, it’s a lot like a vintage detective series — only darker and on acid.
Beach plays Tragic Mick, a melancholy walrus trapped in a human body who helps the Dead Boys out sometimes.
Colley plays Monty,...
- 10/12/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
After a decade of sensational work in New York City theater (for which he won two Tony Awards), Kevin Kline was at last ready to make his motion picture debut. He couldn't have chosen a buzzier project than Alan J. Pakula's "Sophie's Choice," a shattering drama based on the National Book Award-winning novel by William Styron. Pakula had been wowed by Kline's bravura performance in the 1981 Broadway revival of "The Pirates of Penzance," and believed the effervescent actor could capture the alternating charm and terror of Nathan Landau, a seemingly brilliant chemist engaged in an abusive love affair with Sophie, a Polish immigrant haunted by a horrible sacrifice she was forced to make during the Holocaust.
For the part of Sophie, Pakula was torn between the brilliant Norwegian actor Liv Ullman and the unknown-in-the-u.S. Slovakian performer Magdaléna Vášáarová. Unfortunately for these two, Meryl Streep had serious designs on the role,...
For the part of Sophie, Pakula was torn between the brilliant Norwegian actor Liv Ullman and the unknown-in-the-u.S. Slovakian performer Magdaléna Vášáarová. Unfortunately for these two, Meryl Streep had serious designs on the role,...
- 9/21/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
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