Spencer Tracy was the two-time Oscar winner starred in a variety of classics before his death in 1967, including nine films opposite fellow legend Katharine Hepburn. Let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Tracy pulled off the rare hat-trick of winning back-to-back Best Actor Oscars, first for his performance as a Portuguese sailor in “Captains Courageous” (1937), then for playing a dedicated priest helping wayward youths in “Boys Town” (1938). It’s a feat that would only be repeated once more in this category by Tom Hanks (“Philadelphia” in 1993 and “Forrest Gump” in 1994).
Tracy would compete seven more times in the category: “San Francisco” (1936), “Father of the Bride” (1950), “Bad Day at Black Rock” (1955), “The Old Man and the Sea” (1958), “Inherit the Wind” (1960), “Judgment at Nuremberg” (1961), and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” (1967), which was recognized posthumously.
He’s perhaps best remembered for starring in nine films with Hepburn,...
Tracy pulled off the rare hat-trick of winning back-to-back Best Actor Oscars, first for his performance as a Portuguese sailor in “Captains Courageous” (1937), then for playing a dedicated priest helping wayward youths in “Boys Town” (1938). It’s a feat that would only be repeated once more in this category by Tom Hanks (“Philadelphia” in 1993 and “Forrest Gump” in 1994).
Tracy would compete seven more times in the category: “San Francisco” (1936), “Father of the Bride” (1950), “Bad Day at Black Rock” (1955), “The Old Man and the Sea” (1958), “Inherit the Wind” (1960), “Judgment at Nuremberg” (1961), and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” (1967), which was recognized posthumously.
He’s perhaps best remembered for starring in nine films with Hepburn,...
- 3/30/2024
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
One of the most quoted pieces of Hollywood wisdom holds that 90 percent of directing is casting. You bring the right actors together, and you're off to the races. This is, of course, laughably simplistic. You could argue that 90 percent of directing is writing because there's no movie or show to make if there's nothing on the page. And many directors will tell you that their films don't truly come together until they're hunkered down with their editor in post-production.
The truth, obviously, is that film and television production is a collaborative process that requires numerous people with expertise in different disciplines to do what they do at the highest level possible. And when it comes to casting, there is absolutely an art to finding, after untold hours of reels and cold reads, the ideal actor for each role — especially if you're trying to launch a successful television series. Because no...
The truth, obviously, is that film and television production is a collaborative process that requires numerous people with expertise in different disciplines to do what they do at the highest level possible. And when it comes to casting, there is absolutely an art to finding, after untold hours of reels and cold reads, the ideal actor for each role — especially if you're trying to launch a successful television series. Because no...
- 1/13/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
A convincing romantic and erotic attraction, we can all agree, is one of the keys to a good rom-com. Do you believe these two people love each other? Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell definitely have that in “Anyone but You.” It begins with the simple fact that both are such splendid camera objects. She, with her goldfish eyes and pout of self-possession, looks like a more wised-up, no-nonsense Brigitte Bardot, while he, with his squinty eyes and killer grin, resembles Tom Cruise with a weird touch of the young Dustin Hoffman’s geek glamour. These two have “mega movie stars of tomorrow” written all over them, though not merely because they look so good. Both are lightning-fast actors, delivering the spiked screwball banter and — important for this movie — the toxic insults with airy aplomb.
For, of course, the history of romantic comedy is also powered by another dynamic, one nearly as important as love.
For, of course, the history of romantic comedy is also powered by another dynamic, one nearly as important as love.
- 12/21/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Just in time for Succession‘s end, let’s look at method acting. The Criterion Channel are highlighting the controversial practice in a 27-film series centered on Brando, Newman, Nicholson, and many other’s embodiment of “an intensely personal, internalized, and naturalistic approach to performance.” That series makes mention of Marilyn Monroe, who gets her own, 11-title highlight––the iconic commingling with deeper cuts.
Pride Month offers “Masc,” a consideration of “trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes” onscreen; the Michael Koresky-curated Queersighted returning with a study of the gay best friend; and the 20-film “LGBTQ+ Favorites.” Louis Garrel’s delightful The Innocent (about which I talked to him here), the director’s cut of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation, and Stanley Kwan’s hugely underseen Lan Yu make streaming premieres, while Araki’s Totally F***ed Up and Mysterious Skin also get a run. Criterion Editions include Five Easy Pieces,...
Pride Month offers “Masc,” a consideration of “trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes” onscreen; the Michael Koresky-curated Queersighted returning with a study of the gay best friend; and the 20-film “LGBTQ+ Favorites.” Louis Garrel’s delightful The Innocent (about which I talked to him here), the director’s cut of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation, and Stanley Kwan’s hugely underseen Lan Yu make streaming premieres, while Araki’s Totally F***ed Up and Mysterious Skin also get a run. Criterion Editions include Five Easy Pieces,...
- 5/22/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The French Alps in VistaVision and Technicolor really sell this inspirational thriller. Spencer Tracy stars is the utterly ethical mountaineer, and young Robert Wagner his venal, verminous, just plain no damn good younger brother. Make that Much younger. Edward Dmytryk directs for big dimensions and strong emotions, and Paramount’s remaster makes the special effects of the mountain climb look good again. It’s a morality tale pitched at grade school level, and one of Tracy’s better late-career pictures. With Anna Kashfi as a plane crash victim deserving of rescue, and William Demarest as a French priest with a Preston Sturges accent.
The Mountain
Region Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] #198
1956 / Color / 1:78 widescreen (VistaVision) / 105 min. / Street Date February 22, 2023 / Available from [Imprint] / Aud 34.98
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Claire Trevor, William Demarest, Barbara Darrow, Richard Arlen, E.G. Marshall, Anna Kashfi, Richard Garrick, Harry Townes.
Cinematography: Franz Planer
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Art Director: Hal Pereira,...
The Mountain
Region Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] #198
1956 / Color / 1:78 widescreen (VistaVision) / 105 min. / Street Date February 22, 2023 / Available from [Imprint] / Aud 34.98
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Claire Trevor, William Demarest, Barbara Darrow, Richard Arlen, E.G. Marshall, Anna Kashfi, Richard Garrick, Harry Townes.
Cinematography: Franz Planer
Costume Designer: Edith Head
Art Director: Hal Pereira,...
- 2/28/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
For most of Hollywood history, the romantic comedy was a staple of theatrical moviegoing. From the glory days of Ernst Lubitsch (“Trouble in Paradise”) and George Cukor (“Adam’s Rib”) in the classical studio era to the onslaught of Julia Roberts, Matthew McConaughey, and Reese Witherspoon vehicles in the 1990s and early 2000s, pretty people saying funny things while falling in love was a consistent and reliable form of big screen entertainment. In the last few years, however, the genre largely moved to streaming, with studio slates leaning disproportionately toward comic book movies and other preexisting IP while reserving slots devoted to more modestly budgeted fare for horror films.
Yet the theatrically released, well-resourced romantic comedy made a glorious return to the big screen in 2022 with “Ticket to Paradise,” director Ol Parker’s hilarious and sweetly moving George Clooney and Julia Roberts vehicle. The movie has many pleasures, from Clooney and...
Yet the theatrically released, well-resourced romantic comedy made a glorious return to the big screen in 2022 with “Ticket to Paradise,” director Ol Parker’s hilarious and sweetly moving George Clooney and Julia Roberts vehicle. The movie has many pleasures, from Clooney and...
- 2/12/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Like in most non-gendered categories at the Oscars, the writing awards have traditionally been dominated by male screenwriters, some of them actors who have already earned attention in the acting categories. We seldom see women having the same success, with only Ruth Gordon and Emma Thompson landing Oscar bids for both acting and writing. Yet, we now have a potential third member of this elite group, Maggie Gyllenhaal, who wrote and directed her first feature, “The Lost Daughter,” a film that continues to have a presence at major precursor awards.
Gyllenhaal is in second place for a prospective Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the Oscars, according to the latest Gold Derby odds. She has racked up more than a dozen nominations from various critics groups for her screenplay, including the Critics Choice Awards, and even won at the Gotham Awards. The film’s flashback structure and complex perspective on motherhood...
Gyllenhaal is in second place for a prospective Best Adapted Screenplay nomination at the Oscars, according to the latest Gold Derby odds. She has racked up more than a dozen nominations from various critics groups for her screenplay, including the Critics Choice Awards, and even won at the Gotham Awards. The film’s flashback structure and complex perspective on motherhood...
- 1/21/2022
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
Fresh off the long-awaited arrival of Zack Snyder’s Justice League (a.k.a. the fabled Snyder Cut), HBO Max has no need to appease fandom culture in April 2021. But the streaming service is gonna do it anyway!
The most notable new release for HBO Max this month is the HBO series The Nevers. This show, created by Joss Whedon, is set in a 19th century steampunk London and finds a sizable portion of the population (predominantly women) having been “Touched” by mysterious paranormal powers. There’s an interesting bit of irony at play here, as HBO Max is following up the Snyder Cut with a show created by his original Justice League replacement. Or at least there could have been an interesting bit of irony here, if Whedon had not bowed out from the show and been enthusiastically left out of the marketing material by HBO.
Read more Movies...
The most notable new release for HBO Max this month is the HBO series The Nevers. This show, created by Joss Whedon, is set in a 19th century steampunk London and finds a sizable portion of the population (predominantly women) having been “Touched” by mysterious paranormal powers. There’s an interesting bit of irony at play here, as HBO Max is following up the Snyder Cut with a show created by his original Justice League replacement. Or at least there could have been an interesting bit of irony here, if Whedon had not bowed out from the show and been enthusiastically left out of the marketing material by HBO.
Read more Movies...
- 4/1/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Perry Botkin Jr., the Oscar-nominated and Grammy-winning TV and film composer known for creating the The Young And The Restless theme, has died. Botkin’s friend and The Happy Days of Garry Marshall writer John Scheinfeld announced the musician’s death on Facebook, noting that the he died on Monday. He was 87.
“Today I share the news that the man who discovered Harry (Nilsson) and signed him to his first publishing contract, a gentleman and gentle-man named Perry Botkin, passed away on Monday at age 87,” Scheinfeld wrote. “Perry was a magnificently talented composer, arranger, producer and story-teller, perhaps best known for composing the Grammy-winning Nadia’s Theme for the CBS soap ‘The Young and the Restless.'”
Born in New York on April 16, 1933, Botkin kicked off his music career in Los Angeles as a trombone player in a high school jazz quartet. His musical passions brought him to Indiana University...
“Today I share the news that the man who discovered Harry (Nilsson) and signed him to his first publishing contract, a gentleman and gentle-man named Perry Botkin, passed away on Monday at age 87,” Scheinfeld wrote. “Perry was a magnificently talented composer, arranger, producer and story-teller, perhaps best known for composing the Grammy-winning Nadia’s Theme for the CBS soap ‘The Young and the Restless.'”
Born in New York on April 16, 1933, Botkin kicked off his music career in Los Angeles as a trombone player in a high school jazz quartet. His musical passions brought him to Indiana University...
- 1/23/2021
- by Alexandra Del Rosario
- Deadline Film + TV
Perry Botkin Jr., the prolific film and TV composer, arranger and producer known for his themes to Happy Days, Mork and Mindy and The Young and the Restless — a tune forever associated with famed Olympic gymnast Nadia Comăneci — has died. He was 87.
Botkin died Monday at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, his publicist announced. No cause of death was provided.
His career spanned four decades and also included work for such other TV programs as Laverne and Shirley, Adam’s Rib, The Smothers Brothers Show and Quark.
Botkin’s iconic theme for the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless was retitled “Nadia’s ...
Botkin died Monday at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, his publicist announced. No cause of death was provided.
His career spanned four decades and also included work for such other TV programs as Laverne and Shirley, Adam’s Rib, The Smothers Brothers Show and Quark.
Botkin’s iconic theme for the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless was retitled “Nadia’s ...
- 1/23/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Perry Botkin Jr., the prolific film and TV composer, arranger and producer known for his themes to Happy Days, Mork and Mindy and The Young and the Restless — a tune forever associated with famed Olympic gymnast Nadia Comăneci — has died. He was 87.
Botkin died Monday at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, his publicist announced. No cause of death was provided.
His career spanned four decades and also included work for such other TV programs as Laverne and Shirley, Adam’s Rib, The Smothers Brothers Show and Quark.
Botkin’s iconic theme for the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless was retitled “Nadia’s ...
Botkin died Monday at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, his publicist announced. No cause of death was provided.
His career spanned four decades and also included work for such other TV programs as Laverne and Shirley, Adam’s Rib, The Smothers Brothers Show and Quark.
Botkin’s iconic theme for the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless was retitled “Nadia’s ...
- 1/23/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dena Dietrich, a character actress who appeared in numerous TV shows and on Broadway but was instantly recognizable as the face of Mother Nature from a popular, long-running commercial campaign for Chiffon margarine, died Saturday, Nov. 21 of natural causes in a Los Angeles health care facility. She was 91.
Her death was confirmed by SAG-AFTRA in a statement honoring Dietrich’s service as a former SAG National Board member for nearly a decade.
With an impeccable delivery and a lightning shift in mood from matronly sweet to thunderous anger, Dietrich first uttered what would become a classic commercial catchphrase – “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!” – in 1971. The commercials, created by the D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles advertising agency, had Dietrich dressed in a diaphanous white gown and a daisy-chain laurel, test-tasting what she was sure to be her very own natural butter. Told by a narrator that she was actually eating Chiffon margarine,...
Her death was confirmed by SAG-AFTRA in a statement honoring Dietrich’s service as a former SAG National Board member for nearly a decade.
With an impeccable delivery and a lightning shift in mood from matronly sweet to thunderous anger, Dietrich first uttered what would become a classic commercial catchphrase – “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!” – in 1971. The commercials, created by the D’Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles advertising agency, had Dietrich dressed in a diaphanous white gown and a daisy-chain laurel, test-tasting what she was sure to be her very own natural butter. Told by a narrator that she was actually eating Chiffon margarine,...
- 11/24/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Should you be one of the many who’ve signed up for HBO Max, you’ll have access to a deep bench of popular TV dramas and sitcoms, plenty of HBO’s greatest hits (Game of Thrones, The Sopranos), some oonly-available-here original programming, the bulk of Studio Ghibli’s animated work, and a good deal of blockbusters (the D.C. Universe movies, the James Bond films, etc.). It’s a lot of bang for your buck, and a major push from WarnerMedia to enter the streaming space, if not try to dominate it.
- 5/27/2020
- by David Fear and Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
Peter H. Hunt, who won a Tony Award for his direction in 1969 of the now-classic musical 1776, helmed the 1972 film version and numerous episodes of CBS’ Touched By An Angel, died Sunday at home in Los Angeles from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He was 81.
Hunt’s death was reported by his wife, Barbette Hunt, to the Los Angeles Times. HIs death was confirmed by the Williamstown Theatre Festival, where Hunt was the former artistic director. He was the uncle of actress Helen Hunt.
A Broadway lighting designer through much of the 1960s, Hunt made his directorial breakthrough with the smash hit 1776, the Revolutionary War-era musical by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone. The original Broadway cast included such stars-in-the-making as William Daniels, Betty Buckley and, as Thomas Jefferson, Ken Howard. Ronald Holgate, as Richard Henry Lee, won the Tony Award...
Hunt’s death was reported by his wife, Barbette Hunt, to the Los Angeles Times. HIs death was confirmed by the Williamstown Theatre Festival, where Hunt was the former artistic director. He was the uncle of actress Helen Hunt.
A Broadway lighting designer through much of the 1960s, Hunt made his directorial breakthrough with the smash hit 1776, the Revolutionary War-era musical by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone. The original Broadway cast included such stars-in-the-making as William Daniels, Betty Buckley and, as Thomas Jefferson, Ken Howard. Ronald Holgate, as Richard Henry Lee, won the Tony Award...
- 4/28/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Updated: Following a couple of Julie London Westerns*, Turner Classic Movies will return to its July 2017 Star of the Month presentations. On July 27, Ronald Colman can be seen in five films from his later years: A Double Life, Random Harvest (1942), The Talk of the Town (1942), The Late George Apley (1947), and The Story of Mankind (1957). The first three titles are among the most important in Colman's long film career. George Cukor's A Double Life earned him his one and only Best Actor Oscar; Mervyn LeRoy's Random Harvest earned him his second Best Actor Oscar nomination; George Stevens' The Talk of the Town was shortlisted for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. All three feature Ronald Colman at his very best. The early 21st century motto of international trendsetters, from Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro and Turkey's Recep Erdogan to Russia's Vladimir Putin and the United States' Donald Trump, seems to be, The world is reality TV and reality TV...
- 7/28/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Anne Marie has been chronicling Judy Garland's career chronologically through musical numbers...
In 1957, a golden opportunity landed in Judy Garland's lap that looked, at first glance, like a lawsuit. In fact it was a lawsuit (and a counterlawsuit) concerning a contract she'd signed with CBS. Garland (on the advice of hubby Sidney Luft) had signed a $300,000 contract with CBS for three years of TV specials in 1955. However, only one special had ever aired. In 1957, Judy sued, which caused CBS to countersue. The result reads like something out of the rejected musical version of Adam's Rib: in 1961, Judy & CBS decided to put aside their differences (and lawsuits) to sign a new contract for two new specials. The first of these aired just a year later in 1962.
The Show: The Judy Garland Show (CBS, 1962)
The Songwriters: Lionel Rand (music), Ian Grant (lyrics)
The Cast: Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra,...
In 1957, a golden opportunity landed in Judy Garland's lap that looked, at first glance, like a lawsuit. In fact it was a lawsuit (and a counterlawsuit) concerning a contract she'd signed with CBS. Garland (on the advice of hubby Sidney Luft) had signed a $300,000 contract with CBS for three years of TV specials in 1955. However, only one special had ever aired. In 1957, Judy sued, which caused CBS to countersue. The result reads like something out of the rejected musical version of Adam's Rib: in 1961, Judy & CBS decided to put aside their differences (and lawsuits) to sign a new contract for two new specials. The first of these aired just a year later in 1962.
The Show: The Judy Garland Show (CBS, 1962)
The Songwriters: Lionel Rand (music), Ian Grant (lyrics)
The Cast: Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra,...
- 8/31/2016
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
José Ferrar stars in his second dramatic feature as director, teamed with newcomer Gena Rowlands as a married working couple. Ferrar's executive assistant isn't on the list of those invited to meet the new corporate bosses, which everyone knows means he's a dead employee walking. Things are looking darkest just as his loving wife is bringing news of a baby on the way. The show builds up a terrific critique of anxiety in the Rat Race, but then... The High Cost of Loving DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1958 / B&W / 2:35 enhanced widescreen / 87 min. / Street Date July 16, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring José Ferrer, Gena Rowlands, Joanne Gilbert, Jim Backus, Bobby Troup, Philip Ober, Edward Platt, Charles Watts, Werner Klemperer, Malcolm Atterbury, Jeanne Baird, Nick Clooney, Abby Dalton, Richard Deacon, Nancy Kulp, Lucien Littlefield. Cinematography George J. Folsey Film Editor Ferris Webster Original Music Jeff Alexander Written by Rip Van Ronkel,...
- 10/27/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'Sorrell and Son' with H.B. Warner and Alice Joyce. 'Sorrell and Son' 1927 movie: Long thought lost, surprisingly effective father-love melodrama stars a superlative H.B. Warner Partially shot on location in England and produced independently by director Herbert Brenon at Joseph M. Schenck's United Artists, the 1927 Sorrell and Son is a skillful melodrama about paternal devotion in the face of both personal and social adversity. This long-thought-lost version of Warwick Deeping's 1925 bestseller benefits greatly from the veteran Brenon's assured direction, deservedly shortlisted in the first year of the Academy Awards.* Crucial to the film's effectiveness, however, is the portrayal of its central character, a war-scarred Englishman who sacrifices it all for the happiness of his son. Luckily, the London-born H.B. Warner, best remembered for playing Jesus Christ in another 1927 release, Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings, is the embodiment of honesty, selflessness, and devotion. Less is...
- 10/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Katharine Hepburn movies. Katharine Hepburn movies: Woman in drag, in love, in danger In case you're suffering from insomnia, you might want to spend your night and early morning watching Turner Classic Movies' "Summer Under the Stars" series. Four-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Katharine Hepburn is TCM's star today, Aug. 7, '15. (See TCM's Katharine Hepburn movie schedule further below.) Whether you find Hepburn's voice as melodious as a singing nightingale or as grating as nails on a chalkboard, you may want to check out the 1933 version of Little Women. Directed by George Cukor, this cozy – and more than a bit schmaltzy – version of Louisa May Alcott's novel was a major box office success, helping to solidify Hepburn's Hollywood stardom the year after her film debut opposite John Barrymore and David Manners in Cukor's A Bill of Divorcement. They don't make 'em like they used to Also, the 1933 Little Women...
- 8/7/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Don't cry just yet, Kate the Great fans. While it's true that there is only one wrap-up episode left Tomorrow in Anne Marie's mammoth undertaking "A Year with Kate"* in which she reviewed every performance in Katharine Hepburn's fascinating career, we have exciting news. We're making it into a book! Details are not yet concrete but if you would like to be included in updates about pre-order and other 'Don't Miss It' news, please fill out this form at our Facebook page!
Anne Marie's last episodes airs tomorrow Wednesday December 31st. But until then... take a peak at any you missed. Some chapters will be substantially rewritten for the book.
1930s: A Bill of Divorcement, Christopher Strong, Morning Glory, Little Women, Spitfire, The Little Minister, Break of Hearts, Alice Adams, Sylvia Scarlett, Mary of Scotland, A Woman Rebels, Quality Street, Stage Door, Bringing Up Baby, Holiday,
1940s: Philadelphia Story,...
Anne Marie's last episodes airs tomorrow Wednesday December 31st. But until then... take a peak at any you missed. Some chapters will be substantially rewritten for the book.
1930s: A Bill of Divorcement, Christopher Strong, Morning Glory, Little Women, Spitfire, The Little Minister, Break of Hearts, Alice Adams, Sylvia Scarlett, Mary of Scotland, A Woman Rebels, Quality Street, Stage Door, Bringing Up Baby, Holiday,
1940s: Philadelphia Story,...
- 12/30/2014
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Episode 26 of 52: In which Tracy and Hepburn's best comedy shows that love, life, and law are a circus.
How are we already halfway through this series? How are we already halfway through this year? 2014 is going by faster than KHep’s dialog in Morning Glory. (See what I did there?) We’ve already covered one debut, an Oscar win, a masterpiece, a massive failure, an equally massive comeback, cinema chemistry history, racist history, communist history, and some odd miscellany, and we haven’t even gotten to the bulk of Kate’s Oscar nominations yet. Plus, in yet another moment of perfect symmetry, the 26th film is the pinnacle Tracy/Hepburn collaboration and a major milestone in Kate's career: Adam's Rib.
A woebegone wife attempts to shoot her husband when she finds him in the arms of his mistress. It’s the stuff that Law & Order episodes are made of.
How are we already halfway through this series? How are we already halfway through this year? 2014 is going by faster than KHep’s dialog in Morning Glory. (See what I did there?) We’ve already covered one debut, an Oscar win, a masterpiece, a massive failure, an equally massive comeback, cinema chemistry history, racist history, communist history, and some odd miscellany, and we haven’t even gotten to the bulk of Kate’s Oscar nominations yet. Plus, in yet another moment of perfect symmetry, the 26th film is the pinnacle Tracy/Hepburn collaboration and a major milestone in Kate's career: Adam's Rib.
A woebegone wife attempts to shoot her husband when she finds him in the arms of his mistress. It’s the stuff that Law & Order episodes are made of.
- 6/25/2014
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
Episode 25 of 52: In which Kate confronts Angela Lansbury onscreen and the Blacklist offscreen and manages to beat both.
Early on, I stated that sometimes Kate’s career seems charmed. I’d venture 1948 is one of those charmed years. As we saw last week, Song of Love failed--Kate’s first failure at MGM. Yet some strange circumstances and good luck landed Kate in State of the Union, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning play. I say “good luck” because in the fall of 1947, the storm that would become the Hollywood Blacklist was brewing, and Kate nearly got caught in the center of it.
Though not as cloyingly obvious as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - no light from the Lincoln Memorial in this film - State of the Union nevertheless delivers the classic Capra Corn package: nostalgia, patriotism, and a happy ending snatched from the jaws of tragedy at the last second.
Early on, I stated that sometimes Kate’s career seems charmed. I’d venture 1948 is one of those charmed years. As we saw last week, Song of Love failed--Kate’s first failure at MGM. Yet some strange circumstances and good luck landed Kate in State of the Union, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning play. I say “good luck” because in the fall of 1947, the storm that would become the Hollywood Blacklist was brewing, and Kate nearly got caught in the center of it.
Though not as cloyingly obvious as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - no light from the Lincoln Memorial in this film - State of the Union nevertheless delivers the classic Capra Corn package: nostalgia, patriotism, and a happy ending snatched from the jaws of tragedy at the last second.
- 6/18/2014
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
According to Jewish mythology, Lilith once lived in the Garden of Eden with Adam. Lilith was created from the same earth as Adam, essentially making her Adam's equal (unlike Eve who was created from Adam's rib). Conflicting stories get things a bit muddled after that point... The prologue to writer-director Lindsay Denniberg's Video Diary of a Lost Girl shows Lilith and Adam mating, but then Lilith leaves Adam after she refuses to become subservient to him. Lilith vanishes from the Garden of Eden and never returns, opting to have sex with thousands of demons instead. In Denniberg's surreal world, Lilin are the demonic offspring of Lilith. In appearance, they closely resemble human females. They are immortal as long as they have sex once a month; otherwise they will die from loss of blood during a monstrous menstruation period. Oh, and their sex is so killer that their mates die immediately.
- 2/9/2013
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Every year we hear from the Oscar cynics. "Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny?" they clamor. "Ingrid Bergman in Murder on the Orient Express?" they ask. "Ugh, Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain?" they huff, ending with a self-satisfied moan. Yes, the Oscars routinely reward the wrong people, but there's a bigger problem at hand: We need to criticize bad Oscar decisions even when it means disagreeing with conventional wisdom and not looking cool. It's a hard job, but I'd rather be right than a run-of-the-mill hater.
Since I already posted my list of the 5 All-Time Best Supporting Actress-winning performances, I thought I'd update my ranks with another Supporting Actress rundown. This time it's a whinier mission: Let's point out five winners who are never called out for their undeserving performances. Rest easy, Mira Sorvino. This time we're going after the titans.
5. Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Melissa Leo was blistering...
Since I already posted my list of the 5 All-Time Best Supporting Actress-winning performances, I thought I'd update my ranks with another Supporting Actress rundown. This time it's a whinier mission: Let's point out five winners who are never called out for their undeserving performances. Rest easy, Mira Sorvino. This time we're going after the titans.
5. Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Melissa Leo was blistering...
- 1/30/2013
- by virtel
- The Backlot
Screenwriter behind the hit movies When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle
Nora Ephron, who has died aged 71 after suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia, brought her sharp New Yorker wit, laced with a sentimental streak, to glossy Hollywood romantic comedies, with Oscar-nominated screenplays for When Harry Met Sally (1989) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993), the second of which she also directed. They were the nearest and most successful attempts to revive the spirit of the sophisticated Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy battle-of-the-sexes comedies of the 1950s, and the softer-edged Doris Day/Rock Hudson vehicles of the 1960s.
Ephron's parents, Henry and Phoebe Ephron, were also writers of romantic comedies – including Desk Set (1957) for Hepburn and Tracy – who based a 1961 Broadway play, Take Her She's Mine, on their daughter's rebellious college days. It was turned into a film two years later, with Sandra Dee in the role of the teenager. Later, Ephron would...
Nora Ephron, who has died aged 71 after suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia, brought her sharp New Yorker wit, laced with a sentimental streak, to glossy Hollywood romantic comedies, with Oscar-nominated screenplays for When Harry Met Sally (1989) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993), the second of which she also directed. They were the nearest and most successful attempts to revive the spirit of the sophisticated Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy battle-of-the-sexes comedies of the 1950s, and the softer-edged Doris Day/Rock Hudson vehicles of the 1960s.
Ephron's parents, Henry and Phoebe Ephron, were also writers of romantic comedies – including Desk Set (1957) for Hepburn and Tracy – who based a 1961 Broadway play, Take Her She's Mine, on their daughter's rebellious college days. It was turned into a film two years later, with Sandra Dee in the role of the teenager. Later, Ephron would...
- 6/28/2012
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
It's been touching to see the outpouring of love for Nora Ephron since the journalist, novelist, screenwriter and director passed away last night. Ephron's films have never really been particularly trendy; you're not going to find many hip young filmmakers naming her as an influence. But it's clear from the last twelve hours or so that most cinephiles hold at least a few of her films close to their hearts. Ephron wasn't just the writer, and sometimes director, behind a string of classics, she was also one of the most important women in the film industry across the last twenty years, and one of the most insightful writers of female characters that Hollywood has ever had.
Her big-screen work is only a drop in the ocean of a long and hugely impressive career; she was a prolific and brilliant prose writer, and anyone with even a slight interest in Ephron...
Her big-screen work is only a drop in the ocean of a long and hugely impressive career; she was a prolific and brilliant prose writer, and anyone with even a slight interest in Ephron...
- 6/27/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield are the adorkable maybe-couple of the moment. The pair -- who attended the Tony Awards on Sunday night, where Garfield lost Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play to Tom from "Smash" Christian Borle -- reportedly got together on the set of "The Amazing Spider-Man," where producer Avi Arad says they had the type of chemistry that recalled one of Old Hollywood's most elite couples: Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.
"On camera the chemistry is real," Arad told ScreenCrush in a new interview. "These two are like Hepburn-Tracy of modern time. It’s a war of brains that turns into attraction."
Hepburn and Tracy made nine films together, and were famously engaged in a "secret" love affair that lasted 26 years. (Tracy was married, but didn't divorce his wife, whom he lived apart from starting in the 1930s; his relationship with Hepburn was an open secret.
"On camera the chemistry is real," Arad told ScreenCrush in a new interview. "These two are like Hepburn-Tracy of modern time. It’s a war of brains that turns into attraction."
Hepburn and Tracy made nine films together, and were famously engaged in a "secret" love affair that lasted 26 years. (Tracy was married, but didn't divorce his wife, whom he lived apart from starting in the 1930s; his relationship with Hepburn was an open secret.
- 6/11/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
It's not easy to put together a top 100 of just about anything, but the folks over at Yahoo! Movies have really thrown down the gauntlet this time with a list of the 100 Funniest Movies to See Before You Die. In describing the list, they maintain that their goal was to choose the "funniest" movies out there, not necessarily the "best" comedies. With that in mind, you might think they'd stay away from critically acclaimed classics and lean more toward low brow, quick and easy laughfests. But you'd be wrong. There are a lot of classics on this list, everything from The Apartment to Dr. Strangelove to Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times and Buster Keaton's The General. There are also movies on here that aren't really "comedies" per se, such as Pulp Fiction and Martin Scorsese's After Hours. More than anything, this serves as a reminder that what is...
- 4/10/2012
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
Alright, you've already seen our picks for the five best Best Picture years, the Oscar years that you can actually look back on and not wince if you're a fan of movies and just-deserved prizes. So let's keep it simple: here are the five worst years below, the ones that make fans of cinema rather crazy and that have had people bitching about it ever since. The 5 Worst Best Picture Line-Ups 1949 The Best Picture Nominees: "All The King's Men" (winner), "Battleground," "The Heiress," "A Letter To Three Wives," "Twelve O'Clock High" What Else Could They Have Nominated? "Adam's Rib," "The Third Man," "Kind Hearts & Coronets," "Manon," "On The Town," "Passport To Pimlico," "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon," "White Heat" Why Is It One Of The Worst? Anyone who thinks that the Oscars picking sub-standard fare is...
- 2/20/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
From Fred and Ginger to Jennifer and Ashton, romantic comedies used to be one of the safest bets in Hollywood. But it seems that rom is just not into com any more
Is it the end for the romcom? You can imagine the celebrity mag headlines: "Romcom's relationship on the rocks?" "Com: I'm just not that into Rom" "Rom: Com doesn't make me laugh any more."
After all, who says romance and comedy go together like a horse and carriage? It seems to be a chiselled Hollywood commandment that the two shall be forever conjoined in cinematic matrimony, but perhaps it's time they went their separate ways. Sure, they got off to a great start: in those early years it was all fun and games and sparkling repartee, but recently they haven't quite looked the happy couple; the spark just hasn't been there.
They've been stuck in the same repetitive formula: boy meets girl,...
Is it the end for the romcom? You can imagine the celebrity mag headlines: "Romcom's relationship on the rocks?" "Com: I'm just not that into Rom" "Rom: Com doesn't make me laugh any more."
After all, who says romance and comedy go together like a horse and carriage? It seems to be a chiselled Hollywood commandment that the two shall be forever conjoined in cinematic matrimony, but perhaps it's time they went their separate ways. Sure, they got off to a great start: in those early years it was all fun and games and sparkling repartee, but recently they haven't quite looked the happy couple; the spark just hasn't been there.
They've been stuck in the same repetitive formula: boy meets girl,...
- 2/11/2012
- by Steve Rose, Richard Vine
- The Guardian - Film News
Fans of classic movies know that "Woman of the Year" marks the beginning of the 25-year partnership, on- and off-screen, between one of film's most beloved and enduring couples: Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Released 70 years ago today (on January 19, 1942), "Woman of the Year" came to define combustible romantic chemistry, thanks to the two fiery, evenly-matched leads. It launched a partnership that lasted until Tracy's death in 1967, a quarter-century union that resulted in nine films and an extramarital affair that was Hollywood's worst kept secret. What fans may not know is how the partnership came to be, who the real-life inspirations were for Hepburn's high-minded columnist and Tracy's earthy sportswriter, or the forgotten screen pairing of the two stars that came four years earlier. Read on for the untold story of "Woman of the Year" and its long afterlife in the realms of Broadway, TV, and magazines. 1. "Woman of the Year...
- 1/19/2012
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Looking back at 2011 on what films moved and impressed us it becomes more and more clear—to me at least—that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, our end of year poll, now an annual tradition, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2011—in theaters or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2011 to create a unique double feature. Many contributors chose their favorites of 2011, some picked out-of-the-way gems, others made some pretty strange connections—and some frankly just want to create a kerfuffle. All the contributors were asked to write a paragraph explaining their 2011 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative...
- 1/5/2012
- MUBI
The Middle 3.10 "The Christmas Gift" Recap
It seems like it was just Thanksgiving, and now Christmas has come to The Middle. A little too much eggnog makes Frankie invite all of the neighbors to a Christmas Eve party at their house. Of course, she regrets the invitations as soon as she's sober, but the damage is already done and a party there will be. If only they could get a new dishwasher to fill the hole left by the old dishwasher before the party. Frankie pesters Mike about it, not knowing that he already got her one for Christmas.
Brick—little Brick who has read nearly every book in existence—has only just discovered that church is based on a book. He starts reading the Bible and is immediately turned into a skeptic. "How could Noah have two of every animal on one boat? Many are mortal enemies, and the poop alone.
It seems like it was just Thanksgiving, and now Christmas has come to The Middle. A little too much eggnog makes Frankie invite all of the neighbors to a Christmas Eve party at their house. Of course, she regrets the invitations as soon as she's sober, but the damage is already done and a party there will be. If only they could get a new dishwasher to fill the hole left by the old dishwasher before the party. Frankie pesters Mike about it, not knowing that he already got her one for Christmas.
Brick—little Brick who has read nearly every book in existence—has only just discovered that church is based on a book. He starts reading the Bible and is immediately turned into a skeptic. "How could Noah have two of every animal on one boat? Many are mortal enemies, and the poop alone.
- 12/8/2011
- by Emily
- TVovermind.com
John Landis photographed in London by Cinema Retro's Mark Mawston.
Cinema Retro has received the following notice from Larry Edmunds Bookshop in Hollywood:
Hello everyone,
Here at Larry Edmunds Bookshop we are more dedicated than ever to being involved with great authors, guests and events. Many times, that leads me right down the street to visit our neighbors and friends the American Cinematheque @ the Egyptian Theater. I'm packing up my sleeping bag and heading down there to start October, and hoping you can join me for at least one of these great nights.
On Saturday, October 1st @ 6:30 p.m. - Dick Van Dyke & Carl Reiner in person!
We'll be with author Vince Waldron signing his new revised "Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book" in the lobby starting @ 6:30, followed by a 3 episode tribute and a Q & A with Dick Van Dyke & Carl Reiner moderated by Garry Marshall ! Program starts at 7:30. T.
Cinema Retro has received the following notice from Larry Edmunds Bookshop in Hollywood:
Hello everyone,
Here at Larry Edmunds Bookshop we are more dedicated than ever to being involved with great authors, guests and events. Many times, that leads me right down the street to visit our neighbors and friends the American Cinematheque @ the Egyptian Theater. I'm packing up my sleeping bag and heading down there to start October, and hoping you can join me for at least one of these great nights.
On Saturday, October 1st @ 6:30 p.m. - Dick Van Dyke & Carl Reiner in person!
We'll be with author Vince Waldron signing his new revised "Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book" in the lobby starting @ 6:30, followed by a 3 episode tribute and a Q & A with Dick Van Dyke & Carl Reiner moderated by Garry Marshall ! Program starts at 7:30. T.
- 9/29/2011
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Joan Fontaine-Charles Boyer in Rare The Constant Nymph on TCM. [Photo: Miriam Jordan, Neil Hamilton in Two Heads on a Pillow.] Besides the Edmund Goulding-directed Joan Fontaine-Charles Boyer-Alexis Smith movie The Constant Nymph, other Library of Congress Film Archive entries on Turner Classic Movies tonight include Two Heads on a Pillow (1934), a B comedy directed by William Nigh, an important late silent-era director (Lon Chaney's Mr. Wu, Ramon Novarro's Across to Singapore) later stuck with second-rate fare. Apparently a sort of Adam's Rib predecessor, Two Heads on a Pillow features former silent-era leading man Neil Hamilton (Batman's Commissioner Gordon) and minor leading lady Miriam Jordan as once-married attorneys involved in a divorce case. It's probably worth watching even if only because of its cast, which also includes silent-era veterans Betty Blythe (the title role in the now-lost The Queen of Sheba) and Claire McDowell (Ramon Novarro's leprosy-stricken mom in Ben-Hur,...
- 9/29/2011
- Alt Film Guide
Two flicks this week and, as promised, one is another entry from the Tracy and Hepburn filmography.
Keeper of the Flame (1942) Quick Thoughts: This is the third film from the "Tracy and Hepburn the Definitive Collection" DVD set and like Adam's Rib and State of the Union it wasn't a bad film, but seeing how this was the second film Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn starred in together it's not like one of their later efforts that takes advantage of their chemistry. In fact, once I got to the film's finale the only actor I could think of delivering the lines Tracy has in this film was Humphrey Bogart. Hepburn was fine, but her performance here reminded me several times of a ventriloquist's doll as she seemed very stiff, often delivering lines like a statue with only her lower jaw moving.
This collection also has the duo's first film together,...
Keeper of the Flame (1942) Quick Thoughts: This is the third film from the "Tracy and Hepburn the Definitive Collection" DVD set and like Adam's Rib and State of the Union it wasn't a bad film, but seeing how this was the second film Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn starred in together it's not like one of their later efforts that takes advantage of their chemistry. In fact, once I got to the film's finale the only actor I could think of delivering the lines Tracy has in this film was Humphrey Bogart. Hepburn was fine, but her performance here reminded me several times of a ventriloquist's doll as she seemed very stiff, often delivering lines like a statue with only her lower jaw moving.
This collection also has the duo's first film together,...
- 4/17/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
A look at what's new on DVD this week:
"A Summer in Genoa"
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Released by Entertainment One
Of the many films Michael Winterbottom ("A Mighty Heart," "9 Songs") has directed in recent years, you wouldn't guess the one starring recent Oscar winner Colin Firth as a father who must take care of his two daughters in the wake of a car accident involving their mother (Hope Davis) would be the one to have trouble making it to the U.S. But here we are three years after "Genova," as it's known in much of the rest of the world, was shot and it's finally arrived on DVD, a mix of supernatural thriller and human drama that's actually getting reasonably good reviews upon its delayed release. Catherine Keener co-stars.
"Belladonna"
Directed by Annika Glac
Released by Osiris
Glac's debut as a writer/director centers on a man whose...
"A Summer in Genoa"
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Released by Entertainment One
Of the many films Michael Winterbottom ("A Mighty Heart," "9 Songs") has directed in recent years, you wouldn't guess the one starring recent Oscar winner Colin Firth as a father who must take care of his two daughters in the wake of a car accident involving their mother (Hope Davis) would be the one to have trouble making it to the U.S. But here we are three years after "Genova," as it's known in much of the rest of the world, was shot and it's finally arrived on DVD, a mix of supernatural thriller and human drama that's actually getting reasonably good reviews upon its delayed release. Catherine Keener co-stars.
"Belladonna"
Directed by Annika Glac
Released by Osiris
Glac's debut as a writer/director centers on a man whose...
- 4/12/2011
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed
Tracy and Hepburn the Definitive Collection I've mentioned this collection twice in the last two weeks in my Sunday What I Watched columns and I know I will be mentioning it again this week after watching Keeper of the Flame. Suffice to say, considering everything releasing this week this nine film collection is my top pick.
For anyone that's seen The Adjustment Bureau and fell in love with the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, this is a release for you as Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn had a chemistry unlike any other and this set puts it all on display. Now I won't say every film included is a winner, but I will say Hepburn and Tracy make a film hard not to enjoy.
The great thing about this collection is Warner Home Video was able to...
Tracy and Hepburn the Definitive Collection I've mentioned this collection twice in the last two weeks in my Sunday What I Watched columns and I know I will be mentioning it again this week after watching Keeper of the Flame. Suffice to say, considering everything releasing this week this nine film collection is my top pick.
For anyone that's seen The Adjustment Bureau and fell in love with the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, this is a release for you as Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn had a chemistry unlike any other and this set puts it all on display. Now I won't say every film included is a winner, but I will say Hepburn and Tracy make a film hard not to enjoy.
The great thing about this collection is Warner Home Video was able to...
- 4/12/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
This was another busy, busy week of movie watching. I finished watching Scream 3, which I already discussed earlier this week and I also watched The Professional, Beautiful Girls and V for Vendetta, which I discussed in my Natalie Portman feature. Beyond that I saw five films in the theater and one more to finish things up... I'd say ten movies in the span of seven days is pretty good...
Adam's Rib (1949) Quick Thoughts: Last week it was State of the Union out of Warner Home Video's upcoming "Tracy and Hepburn the Definitive Collection" DVD set and this week it was Adam's Rib and neither are necessarily great, but each has their charms. Adam's Rib is a legal drama with a share of comedy mixed in as Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn play a married couple that end up against one another in the courtroom after a woman shoots...
Adam's Rib (1949) Quick Thoughts: Last week it was State of the Union out of Warner Home Video's upcoming "Tracy and Hepburn the Definitive Collection" DVD set and this week it was Adam's Rib and neither are necessarily great, but each has their charms. Adam's Rib is a legal drama with a share of comedy mixed in as Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn play a married couple that end up against one another in the courtroom after a woman shoots...
- 4/10/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
A dispatch from the land of important polls: We totally heart Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio together on-screen. In fact, we like them so much that we (or a representative group of us) voted them the most romantic on-screen couple ever.
The poll, conducted jointly by ABC and People magazine, ranked Kate and Leo tops for their on-screen chemistry in "Titanic." We're guessing the representative group skipped "Revolutionary Road," which re-teamed the couple as a dysfunctional pair of suburbanites.
Why this poll is being released now, on March 23, rather than on Valentine's Day isn't clear. What is clear is that we, or that representative group of us, are nothing if not predictable.
Winslet and DiCaprio beat out Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh ("Gone with the Wind"), Richard Gere and Julia Roberts ("Pretty Woman"), Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman ("Casablanca") and Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn ("Adam's Rib") to take the title.
The poll, conducted jointly by ABC and People magazine, ranked Kate and Leo tops for their on-screen chemistry in "Titanic." We're guessing the representative group skipped "Revolutionary Road," which re-teamed the couple as a dysfunctional pair of suburbanites.
Why this poll is being released now, on March 23, rather than on Valentine's Day isn't clear. What is clear is that we, or that representative group of us, are nothing if not predictable.
Winslet and DiCaprio beat out Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh ("Gone with the Wind"), Richard Gere and Julia Roberts ("Pretty Woman"), Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman ("Casablanca") and Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn ("Adam's Rib") to take the title.
- 3/23/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
As you've likely heard by now, today is International Women's Day. In fact, it's the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. Perhaps I haven't been clued in enough in past years but this is the first I remember hearing of it. So I dutifully trundled over to Wikipedia to stuff my brain with facts (ya know, for any future trivial and competitive pursuits) and found out that International Women's Day was originally called International Working Women's Day. The day (which has, as Wikipedia notes, lost the labor association and is now some sort of Valentine's and Mother's Day hybrid) was meant to celebrate women in the workforce and shed some light on the poor working conditions of the Industrial Revolution.
It doesn't need to be International Women's Day in order for me to bemoan the lack of strong female characters in film and television (getting better all the time), or,...
It doesn't need to be International Women's Day in order for me to bemoan the lack of strong female characters in film and television (getting better all the time), or,...
- 3/8/2011
- by Joanna Robinson
'That was a tough thing for me, to drop the 'please' and the 'thank you,' just trying to get into the role,' she tells MTV News.
By Kara Warner
Janet Jackson
Photo: MTV News
Tyler Perry's latest film, "For Colored Girls," is garnering a lot of buzz — both for being adapted from playwright Ntozake Shange's 1974 Broadway hit "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" and also for the dazzling group of high-profile actresses Perry assembled for his cast, including Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Janet Jackson, Tessa Thompson and Whoopi Goldberg.
In transporting Shange's celebrated work from stage to screen, Perry selected 14 of the play's 20 poems and shaped them into a narrative that follows the lives of nine black women living in and around Harlem — all of whom are confronted with a range of crises,...
By Kara Warner
Janet Jackson
Photo: MTV News
Tyler Perry's latest film, "For Colored Girls," is garnering a lot of buzz — both for being adapted from playwright Ntozake Shange's 1974 Broadway hit "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" and also for the dazzling group of high-profile actresses Perry assembled for his cast, including Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Janet Jackson, Tessa Thompson and Whoopi Goldberg.
In transporting Shange's celebrated work from stage to screen, Perry selected 14 of the play's 20 poems and shaped them into a narrative that follows the lives of nine black women living in and around Harlem — all of whom are confronted with a range of crises,...
- 11/4/2010
- MTV Movie News
'That was a tough thing for me, to drop the 'please' and the 'thank you,' just trying to get into the role,' she tells MTV News.
By Kara Warner
Janet Jackson
Photo: MTV News
Tyler Perry's latest film, "For Colored Girls," is garnering a lot of buzz — both for being adapted from playwright Ntozake Shange's 1974 Broadway hit "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" and also for the dazzling group of high-profile actresses Perry assembled for his cast, including Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Janet Jackson, Tessa Thompson and Whoopi Goldberg.
In transporting Shange's celebrated work from stage to screen, Perry selected 14 of the play's 20 poems and shaped them into a narrative that follows the lives of nine black women living in and around Harlem — all of whom are confronted with a range of crises,...
By Kara Warner
Janet Jackson
Photo: MTV News
Tyler Perry's latest film, "For Colored Girls," is garnering a lot of buzz — both for being adapted from playwright Ntozake Shange's 1974 Broadway hit "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" and also for the dazzling group of high-profile actresses Perry assembled for his cast, including Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Janet Jackson, Tessa Thompson and Whoopi Goldberg.
In transporting Shange's celebrated work from stage to screen, Perry selected 14 of the play's 20 poems and shaped them into a narrative that follows the lives of nine black women living in and around Harlem — all of whom are confronted with a range of crises,...
- 11/4/2010
- MTV Music News
'That was a tough thing for me, to drop the 'please' and the 'thank you,' just trying to get into the role,' she tells MTV News.
By Kara Warner
Janet Jackson
Photo: MTV News
Tyler Perry's latest film, "For Colored Girls," is garnering a lot of buzz — both for being adapted from playwright Ntozake Shange's 1974 Broadway hit "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" and also for the dazzling group of high-profile actresses Perry assembled for his cast, including Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Janet Jackson, Tessa Thompson and Whoopi Goldberg.
In transporting Shange's celebrated work from stage to screen, Perry selected 14 of the play's 20 poems and shaped them into a narrative that follows the lives of nine black women living in and around Harlem — all of whom are confronted with a range of crises,...
By Kara Warner
Janet Jackson
Photo: MTV News
Tyler Perry's latest film, "For Colored Girls," is garnering a lot of buzz — both for being adapted from playwright Ntozake Shange's 1974 Broadway hit "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" and also for the dazzling group of high-profile actresses Perry assembled for his cast, including Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Janet Jackson, Tessa Thompson and Whoopi Goldberg.
In transporting Shange's celebrated work from stage to screen, Perry selected 14 of the play's 20 poems and shaped them into a narrative that follows the lives of nine black women living in and around Harlem — all of whom are confronted with a range of crises,...
- 11/4/2010
- MTV Movie News
'That was a tough thing for me, to drop the 'please' and the 'thank you,' just trying to get into the role,' she tells MTV News.
By Kara Warner
Janet Jackson
Photo: MTV News
Tyler Perry's latest film, "For Colored Girls," is garnering a lot of buzz — both for being adapted from playwright Ntozake Shange's 1974 Broadway hit "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" and also for the dazzling group of high-profile actresses Perry assembled for his cast, including Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Janet Jackson, Tessa Thompson and Whoopi Goldberg.
In transporting Shange's celebrated work from stage to screen, Perry selected 14 of the play's 20 poems and shaped them into a narrative that follows the lives of nine black women living in and around Harlem — all of whom are confronted with a range of crises,...
By Kara Warner
Janet Jackson
Photo: MTV News
Tyler Perry's latest film, "For Colored Girls," is garnering a lot of buzz — both for being adapted from playwright Ntozake Shange's 1974 Broadway hit "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" and also for the dazzling group of high-profile actresses Perry assembled for his cast, including Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Janet Jackson, Tessa Thompson and Whoopi Goldberg.
In transporting Shange's celebrated work from stage to screen, Perry selected 14 of the play's 20 poems and shaped them into a narrative that follows the lives of nine black women living in and around Harlem — all of whom are confronted with a range of crises,...
- 11/4/2010
- MTV Music News
ABC's new legal drama "The Whole Truth" from producer Jerry Bruckheimer is creator Tom Donaghy's first major foray into TV -- and the playwright is super excited about the originality of the premise.
"It offers two different perspectives," Donaghy tells Zap2it. "I've been a fan of law shows for years. Generally you see either the side of the criminal defense lawyers defending the innocent, or you see the state protecting it's citizens from the criminals. But I always thought there was something more complex and gray than all that."
"So now we get to tell the stories from both perspectives, which I think is more interesting," he continues. "We go back and forth and we assume an intelligent audience who will decide for themselves the guilt or innocence of the defendants and we find out at the end the whole truth."
Donaghy also assures us that in the...
"It offers two different perspectives," Donaghy tells Zap2it. "I've been a fan of law shows for years. Generally you see either the side of the criminal defense lawyers defending the innocent, or you see the state protecting it's citizens from the criminals. But I always thought there was something more complex and gray than all that."
"So now we get to tell the stories from both perspectives, which I think is more interesting," he continues. "We go back and forth and we assume an intelligent audience who will decide for themselves the guilt or innocence of the defendants and we find out at the end the whole truth."
Donaghy also assures us that in the...
- 9/23/2010
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
In the new film "Breaking Upwards," struggling twentysomething couple Daryl and Zoe decide to address their relationship problems by planning and then executing their own breakup. Daryl is played by director/producer/editor/co-writer Daryl Wein, Zoe is played by producer/co-writer Zoe Lister-Jones, and the breakup in the film is based on the one the two went through in real life. In his director's statement, Wein says that the duo "thought it would make it more interesting to explore the nature of performance by casting ourselves in the roles. To be in the story, as opposed to having a fictional couple play us, gives the film a true sense of authenticity."
Actors act, and people who hate each other off-screen can spark with electricity on it and vice versa. But there is something innately fascinating, and extremely voyeuristic, about movies in which people who are or who were intimate...
Actors act, and people who hate each other off-screen can spark with electricity on it and vice versa. But there is something innately fascinating, and extremely voyeuristic, about movies in which people who are or who were intimate...
- 4/5/2010
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
Some actor couples have managed to star together successfully. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy did all right, as did the legendary Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. But then there's plenty of real life partnerships that went down in flames after they made a movie or two together. Work and marriage, it seems, don't often mix. Nevertheless, Johnny Depp and his companion Vanessa Paradis are brave enough to give it a try. According to BangShowbiz, Depp and Paradis are preparing to make My American Lover together with Lasse Hallström directing.
To make matters even riskier, My American Lover isn't just a standard love story. It's about the legendary feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, and her love affair with writer Nelson Algren. The couple traveled through Latin America in 1949, and he was the basis of the character Lewis Brogan in her novel The Mandarins. Her letters to Algren were collected in A...
To make matters even riskier, My American Lover isn't just a standard love story. It's about the legendary feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, and her love affair with writer Nelson Algren. The couple traveled through Latin America in 1949, and he was the basis of the character Lewis Brogan in her novel The Mandarins. Her letters to Algren were collected in A...
- 3/1/2010
- by Elisabeth Rappe
- Cinematical
USA has an NCIS marathon all night. Spike is showing Band of Brothers all night. We has a Golden Girls marathon all night. Food Network has an Iron Chef America marathon all night. At 7, Cartoon Network has a new Bakugan, followed by a new episode of The Super Hero Squad. At 8, Hgtv has two new episodes of Divine Design. Hallmark has The Christmas Card at 8, then Silent Night. TCM has The Asphalt Jungle at 8, followed by Adam's Rib. At 9, Fox has a new America's Most Wanted. CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show at 9. BBC America has a new Doctor Who at 9. Lifetime has the movie My Nanny's Secret at 9. Also at 9: Cartoon Network has a new episode of The Secret Saturdays. At 10, MTV has a new Styl'd.
Check your local TV listings for more.
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
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Check your local TV listings for more.
Filed under: Programming, What To Watch Tonight, Reality-Free
Permalink | Email this | | Comments...
- 12/26/2009
- by Bob Sassone
- Aol TV.
Actress Katharine Hepburn, one of the silver screen's true legends and the actress considered the first lady of cinema, has died at the age of 96; reports stated she passed away Sunday afternoon at her home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. An iconoclast who worked the Hollywood system to her advantage, she was honored with 12 Academy Award nominations, the most for any actor until Meryl Streep broke that record last year. Hepburn won an unparalleled four Best Actress Oscars . one for the 1933 drama Morning Glory, two in a row in 1967 and 1968 for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Lion in Winter, and her final one for 1981's On Golden Pond. Known for her patrician New England accent, pioneering feminist stance and unconventional bearing and beauty, Hepburn acted onstage in New York before being lured to Hollywood with a role in A Bill of Divorcement opposite John Barrymore. From there, her career hit both highs and lows, but she remained a Hollywood fixture well into the latter part of the 20th century. Early successes such as Alice Adams and Little Women were followed by financial failures like Bringing Up Baby (now a classic of the screwball genre) which labeled her "box office poison." Going back to Broadway, she wowed critics and audiences with her turn in The Philadelphia Story, and bought the rights for the 1940 screen adaptation, which revived her film career. The `40s saw her paired with longtime lover Spencer Tracy (a relationship she rarely discussed) in films like Woman of the Year and Adam's Rib, while the `50s saw her star in the classic The African Queen, among other films. After her Oscar wins in the late `60s, Hepburn worked less, and also turned to the small screen in acclaimed television films. Her career was capped with her turn in On Golden Pond opposite Henry Fonda, and she made her last screen appearance in 1994's Love Affair. In the `90s she retired to her home in Connecticut, where she spent her remaining years in declining health. --Prepared by IMDb staff...
- 6/30/2003
- WENN
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