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Brendan Fraser is accustomed to being underestimated Until recently, he was never looked at as that kind of actor – the kind that’s considered a major contender during awards season. That all changed thanks to his seminal Oscar-winning performance in “The Whale” (from director Darren Aronofsky). But the truth is that he’s been a quality actor for a long time, and if his Big Moment wasn’t necessarily inevitable, it was perhaps overdue.

The actor who was born on December 3, 1968 in Indianapolis, Indiana has been best known until now for starring in the “The Mummy” franchise. But Fraser has been a consistent presence on screens big and small for three decades, going back to his days headlining agreeably lowbrow comedies like “Encino Man” from 1992 and “Airheads” in [94. He also had a role in a Best Picture Oscar winner (2004’s “Crash”) and a pair of dramas that drew universal critical praise (“Gods and Monsters” from 1998 and “The Quiet American” from 2002). If Fraser ran into a bit of a slump over the past 15 years or so,...

Phillip Noyce, the ace Australian director behind “The Quiet American” “Salt and “Rabbit Proof Fence,” is no ordinary storyteller. His genial, almost bumbling, demeanor belies a quick brain and an avid user of technology.

Both were on display in Goa at the International Film Festival of India where he is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award, and where Monday he delivered a memorable masterclass.

His method of explaining how to succeed in the new Hollywood, passes through a description of the dire state of film pre-sales through to on-stage trust games and extracts from an unsuccessful pilot.

Noyce’s analysis of the U.S. film industry’s crisis is that production was ramped up during Covid and then scaled back; that theatrical box office is waning and causing the prices of bankable actors and pre-sales values of unmade films to decline; and that during the writers and actors’ strikes...

The term ‘veteran’ sits easily and seamlessly on the shoulders of Michael Caine. The British thespian who has made a name for himself through many memorable roles in Hollywood, is also a role model for aspiring actors when it comes to presenting a character on the big screen. Interestingly, Caine who has won the Oscar twice for Best Supporting Actor, is yet to bag the golden statuette for a lead role.

Hollywood actor Michael Caine (image credit: Manfred Werner/Wikimedia Commons)

The celebrity was in with a big chance to change this fate with 2002’s The Quiet American but once again, this opportunity slipped by. The Dark Knight actor though, was more disappointed not about his loss, but about the film being snubbed for well-deserved nominations at the Academy Awards that year.

Michael Caine Had This Regret About One Of His Favorite Films

Michael Caine is a bonafide institution in...

Exclusive: Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories has teamed with producer Monica Saunders-Weinberg to adapt Fiona McIntosh’s novel The Pearl Thief as a feature film. One Life screenwriter Nick Drake is attached to write.

The Pearl Thief is billed as a sweeping, epic story love and betrayal set between 1939 and the early 1960s. Saunders-Weinberg acquired the rights and took the project to Nine Perfect Strangers maker Made Up Stories, which then attached Drake to the project.

Synopsis reads: “The stakes are high in this gripping novel set between the city of Prague and its snowy woodlands on the cusp of World War II, and later in the streets of Paris, London, and the heather-covered moors of Yorkshire in 1963.”

The plot will follow Katerina, a museum curator determined to overcome the trauma of her past and avenge the pain inflicted upon those she loved and those she’ll never know.

Mickey Cottrell, a veteran publicist for independent films known as a champion of filmmakers and actors, died Monday at the Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills, his sister Suzy Cottrell confirmed. He was 79.

Cottrell had returned to Los Angeles in 2019 after living with his sister in Arkansas while he recovered from a stroke he suffered in 2016.

His sister remembered him on Facebook, writing, “My adorable, fun, critical, foodie, particular, brilliant, loving brother passed on to the next life early on New Year’s Day. He was smiling when he died. Mickey Cottrell will be missed by many.”

A fixture at film festivals, he was remembered by friends on Facebook as a generous and sassy raconteur, a devoted mentor, the “life of the party” who threw star-studded Sundance parties in the 1990s and an expert on gay Hollywood history.

Cottrell also acted in numerous small roles over the years, including turns...

The PVOD debuts of “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Leave the World Behind,” high-profile movies adapted from adult-oriented bestsellers, are currently #1 on their respective platforms. Martin Scorsese’s film tops all PVOD charts, and the timely Long Island-set thriller co-produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground is #1 at Netflix.

Both films dislodged high-powered #1 titles. “Oppenheimer,” released four months after its theatrical run began, enjoyed two weeks in the top PVOD slot. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the year’s #2 movie (behind “Barbie” and just ahead of Christopher Nolan’s historical epic) managed five days in the lead at Netflix after previous play, which included streaming on Peacock.

“Flower Moon” and “Leave the World Behind” each reflect the state of film platforming. Apple produced “Flower Moon” with Paramount handling theatrical distribution. It had a 46-day window before debuting on revenue-rich PVOD. At $19.99, Apple gets the lion’s share of rentals.

After saying that he’d be very picky about his next role after winning an Oscar, Brendan Fraser has found it. He will star in “Rental Family” for Searchlight Pictures and from filmmaker Hikari, best known for her work on “Beef.”

Fraser in “Rental Family” will star as a down-and-out actor living in Tokyo who is hired as a token American guy for a Japanese rental family company providing professional stand-in services.

Hikari has been developing “Rental Family” since 2019, and she also co-wrote the film with Stephen Blahut. The film will begin principal photography this spring in Japan. No release date has been announced.

Eddie Vaisman and Julia Lebedev of Sight Unseen, which produced this year’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “A Thousand and One,” are producing “Rental Family.” Hikari and Shin Yamaguchi, who produced her prior feature “37 Seconds” in 2019, will also produce. Blahut and Tomo Koizumi will executive produce.

At 90 years old, Michael Caine is reflecting on his extraordinary life and career ahead of the release of what he has implied might be his last film.

During a recent interview with The Telegraph, the Oscar-winning English actor opens up about his role in The Great Escaper, in which he stars opposite Glenda Jackson, who died at 87 in June, just months after filming ended.

The Oliver Parker-directed film is based on the true story of a British World War II veteran, Bernard Jordan (Caine), who escapes from his care home to attend the 70th anniversary of the D-Day celebrations in France.

“I was so happy to do it,” Caine told the outlet. “I just loved the character of Bernie. I thought he was incredible, and it’s so beautifully written.”

Caine said he thought he was finished with acting since he hadn’t done a film in three years...

Director Phillip Noyce, known for films such as 'Rabbit-Proof Fence', 'Salt', 'Catch a Fire', 'The Quiet American', and 'Clear and Present Danger', has become the inaugural patron of Bond University's Film and Television Awards (Bufta)

The post Phillip Noyce appointed patron of Bond University Film and Television Awards appeared first on If Magazine.

Australian Film Television and Radio School

Australia’s leading screen arts and broadcast school benefits from a beautiful Sydney campus and a deep pool of industry lecturers and close ties with the Australian film community. Notable alumni include multi-Oscar nominee Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), Phillip Noyce (The Quiet American) and Black Widow filmmaker Cate Shortland, plus a slew of esteemed craftspeople like Margaret Sixel (editing on Mad Max: Fury Road), David White (sound editing for Mad Max: Fury Road), Andrew Lesnie (cinematography for The Lord of the Rings) and Tony McNamara (best original screenplay Oscar nominee for The Favourite).

Beijing Film Academy

The USC of the world’s second-largest film industry, China’s most prestigious film school offers its graduates a wealth of industry ties to some of the country’s most prominent working actors and directors. Bfa also now has an undergraduate film program taught in English.

Before his career and personal life were thrown off course, Brendan Fraser was a promising leading man throughout the 1990s. Now, Fraser is back where he should’ve been all along, sharing the screen and the spotlight with other big-name actors. His small role in the cult classic Now and Then isn’t his most memorable performance, but Fraser’s presence in the movie is noteworthy because of who he replaced for the character. Leonardo DiCaprio was set to be in Now and Then before dropping out. Nearly three decades later and after wildly different trajectories, Fraser and DiCaprio will share screen time in one of 2023’s most highly anticipated films.

Brendan Fraser was a bonafide movie star before multiple traumas derailed him

Fraser displayed his talent in enough projects to convince most viewers that he would be a significant performer for most of his career. He broke through in...

Oscar-winning screenwriter, playwright and film director Christopher Hampton was on feisty form in a masterclass in Qatar earlier this week as part of the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra talent incubator event (March 10-16).

Hampton, who won Academy Awards for the screenplays of Dangerous Liaisons and The Father and was Oscar-nominated for Atonement, urged aspiring screenwriters in the auditorium to try to retain some sort of control of their work and creative vision.

“I would advise anybody to try to get at least some sort of associate producer credit to maintain a grip on the material and you have to fight… fight with a lot of people,” he said. “They don’t want to give it to you. They don’t want to give you those powers, but I’ve always argued that since the writer is the origin of the piece, they deserve to be respected.”

“Don’t be...

Brendan Fraser is the man of the moment.

At the Oscars ceremony on Sunday night (12 March), the actor, 54, completed his career comeback with a Best Actor win for his role as a man with life-threatening obesity in Darren Aronofsky’s divisive drama The Whale.

Fraser’s portrayal had previously earned him standing ovations at film festivals in Venice and Toronto, and saw him receive the best reviews of his career. Read The Independent’s take here.

His recent success comes after some years out of the spotlight. Fraser first broke out in the early 1990s with the comedy Encino Man and the drama School Ties, before going on to become a household name for George of the Jungle and The Mummy trilogy.

He also did dramatic turns in Gods and Monsters, The Quiet American and 2006 Best Picture winner Crash.

Yet, for much of the past decade, he has been off the big screen,...

Brendan Fraser has won the best-actor Oscar for “The Whale,” a transformative role in which he revived a career that was once so bright.

“I started in this business 30 years ago and things didn’t come easily to me,” said Fraser, breathing heavily. “I just want to say thank you for this acknowledgement.”

Fraser was one of five first-time nominees in the category, the first time that had happened since 1935. Fraser beat out Austin Butler of “Elvis,” Colin Farrell of “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Paul Mescal of “Aftersun,” and Bill Nighy of “Living.”

Read More: Oscars 2023: Brendan Fraser Causes Red Carpet Frenzy

Fraser figures the role of Charlie, a 600-pound reclusive gay English teacher who tries to restore his relationship with his teenage daughter, found him at the perfect time.

Any earlier in his career and Fraser has said he wouldn’t have had the life experience or heartache...

It was a night of surprise wins, of records being broken or tied, of Oscar firsts and of honoring acting legends. On March 23, 2003, Steve Martin hosted the 75th Academy Awards ceremony, which had the lowest viewership of any Oscar telecast up to that point. Even though there were memorable moments, it was a more somber ceremony, as the war on Iraq had been declared a few days prior, and the event was nearly delayed. It was decided to carry on with less fanfare and a less extravagant red carpet, and a few actors chose to bow out of presenting. Let’s flashback 20 years to 2003 and revisit that event on ABC.

Five films were up for Best Picture, with two coming into the night with strong leads in nominations; one ended the night at the forefront with six wins, and the other left empty-handed. Martin Scorsese‘s historical epic “Gangs of New York...

The Brenaissance has culminated in Brendan Fraser’s Oscar nomination for his role in The Whale. Although his first nomination for acting, The Whale is now the fifth Fraser movie to have a presence at the Oscars. If you’re curious about the other four, Showbiz Cheat Sheet is here to help. Here is your guide to Brendan Fraser at the Oscars, and why it’s about time they recognize his acting work too.

Rachel Weisz and Brendan Fraser | Universal Studios via Getty Images ‘Gods and Monsters’ was the first Brendan Fraser movie at the Oscars

The 1998 drama Gods and Monsters depicted filmmaker James Whale (Ian McKellan)’s relationship with a gardener (Fraser) at the end of his life. This is decades after Whale directed Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, as he ensnares the young man into sexual games.

Writer/director Bill Condon won the Oscar for his screenplay. McKellan and Lynne Redgrave got nominations.

“It’s a film that always had the intention to change hearts and minds,” Brendan Fraser said of The Whale, for which he is nominated for the best actor Oscar, ahead of receiving the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s American Riviera Award on Tuesday night.

The popular star, who was greeted with huge applause by the Santa Barbarians who packed the historic Arlington Theater, discussed his life and career with Deadline‘s Pete Hammond, who described the actor’s recent resurgence, after several years out of the spotlight that he had occupied since the early 1990s, as “the Brenaissance.”

Coming from an “itinerate family” that spent considerable time in Europe, Fraser said that seeing plays in London as a kid hooked him on the idea of becoming an actor. He studied at a conservatory in Seattle before heading to L.A. in 1991, where he was asked by Sherry Lansing...

Long regarded as one of Hollywood’s genuine good men, Brendan Fraser saw a meteoric rise to fame in the late 1990s and early 2000s. During this time, Fraser starred in a true blockbuster franchise with The Mummy trilogy. And he was also lauded for roles in highly acclaimed dramas like The Quiet American and Gods and Monsters. But not every movie has been a hit. And when Fraser was working on Furry Vengeance, he reconsidered his career.

Brendan Fraser rose to the top again in 2022 Actor Brendan Fraser arrives at the premiere of Summit Entertainment and Participant Media’s “Furry Vengeance” at the Bruin Theatre on April 18, 2010 in Westwood, California. | Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Hollywood has always loved stories about underdogs who manage to triumph in the end. However, in the real world of show business, second chances can be very limited. Comebacks are much more common on...

Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) has taken over the lead in our Oscar Experts’ predictions for Best Actor. This follows his film’s premieres at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, both of which ended in lengthy standing ovations. Fraser is also the recipient of a tribute award at the Toronto fest, which could be just the start of his awards journey.

Fraser stars in the film as a 600-pound man trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter after abandoning his family. The film is directed by Darren Aronofsky and has been met with generally positive, though not glowing reviews — 64 on MetaCritic, 78 fresh on Rotten Tomatoes — but Fraser’s performance has been called “fully and radiantly human,” “a confident leap forward,” and “a truly great comeback performance.”

SEEIn praise of Brendan Fraser: His top 6 films from ‘School Ties’ to ‘The Whale’

As of this writing 14 Expert journalists are...

Click here to read the full article.

Brendan Fraser, the Hollywood leading man who largely disappeared from the big screen in recent years, landed on the Lido in Venice Sunday to discuss what’s already being tipped as a potential career comeback project, Darren Aronofsky‘s A24 film The Whale.

A vivid chamber piece about a reclusive 600-pound man struggling to find redemption, the film has received an enthusiastic response at its first Venice press screenings this weekend.

During the press conference ahead of the movie’s world premiere Sunday night, Fraser was asked where The Whale fits in with the various phases of his long career and the many characters he has inhabited over the years — beginning with early physical comedy roles like Encino Man (1992) and George of the Jungle (1997), extending to The Mummy franchise (1999-2008) and more dramatic turns in titles like Gods and Monsters (1998) and The Quiet American...

Honour is one of two recognising actors.

Brendan Fraser, who stars in Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming awards season contender The Whale, will receive the TIFF Tribute Award for Performance at the festival next month.

Fraser stars in the A24 drama as a reclusive, obese English teacher who tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter. The Whale will receive its world premiere in Venice before going on to play Toronto. Elevation Pictures will distribute the film in Canada.

It is the first major film role in a while for the actor, who broke out in The Mummy trilogy and recently appeared...

The 2022 Oscar nominees for Best Actor are Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”), Andrew Garfield, Will Smith (“King Richard”), and Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”). Smith (16/5) is favored to win by our odds, followed in order by Cumberbatch (19/5), Garfield (4/1), Washington (9/2), and Bardem (9/2).

All five of these men have contended here at least once before, making theirs the first Best Actor lineup since 1981 to include no first-time acting nominees. Furthermore, it is the very first to consist only of previous lead nominees. The last time this came close to happening was in 2003, when newcomer and eventual victor Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”) competed against category veterans Nicolas Cage (“Adaptation”), Michael Caine (“The Quiet American”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“Gangs of New York”), and Jack Nicholson (“About Schmidt”).

Washington’s seven lead nominations make him one of the nine most-recognized performers in the category’s history. The record...

Jack Nicholson’s last Oscar nomination came in 2003, but according to Adrien Brody, he almost skipped the event entirely.

In a new interview with the Sunday Times (via Yahoo), Brody reminisced about his 2003 Oscar win for his performance in “The Pianist.” That year, the Academy Awards were held on March 23, just four days after the United States began its invasion of Iraq. With much of Hollywood uniformly opposed to the war, the invasion cast a shadow that loomed over the entire ceremony. But it was almost much more prominent, as Brody revealed that Nicholson attempted to organize a boycott of the show.

Before the ceremony, Nicholson convened his fellow Best Actor nominees at his house to discuss ways to protest the war. Over scotch and cigars, they debated skipping the Oscars to show solidarity with the Iraqi people, with Nicholson urging the other actors not to attend.

Ultimately, however, they decided to go.

Jack Nicholson wanted to stage a boycott against the 2003 Academy Awards due to the Iraq War, revealed Adrien Brody in a recent interview with the Sunday Times (via Yahoo). The United States’ invasion of Iraq began just days before the 2003 Oscars ceremony. According to Brody, Nicholson invited all of the 2003 best actor nominees over to his house to discuss how they should respond to the war. Nicholson reportedly urged the nominees in the category to boycott the ceremony.

“I said, ‘I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going,’” Brody told the Times. “I said, ‘I kind of have to show up. My parents are coming. This doesn’t come around too often. I know you guys are all winners. You can sit it out. But I can’t.’”

Brody was nominated for his performance in Roman Polanksi’s “The Pianist.” He was the only first-time nominee in the category,...

It’s a Cold War thriller in the steamy tropics! The Reds are making their move in Malaya and four vibrant people are caught in the crosshairs: rich rubber planter William Holden, revolutionary strategist Tetsuro Tanba, peaceful teacher and activist Capucine, and adventurous Governor’s daughter Susannah York. Director Lewis Gilbert keeps a rickety script on its feet drama-wise and superb cinematography (Freddie Young) and impressive music (Riz Ortolani) do the rest. The show ended up being most noted for a nude swimming scene scooped in the pages of Playboy.

The 7th Dawn

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1964 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 123 min. / Street Date January 4, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: William Holden, Susannah York, Capucine, Tetsuro Tanba, Michael Goodliffe, Allan Cuthbertson, Sydney Tafler, Maurice Denham.

Cinematography: Frederick Young

Production Designer: John Stoll

Art Director: Herbert Smith

Film Editor: John Shirley

Original Music: Riz Ortolani

Associate Producer: John Dark

Written for the...

With fears our winter travel will need a, let’s say, reconsideration, the Criterion Channel’s monthly programming could hardly come at a better moment. High on list of highlights is Louis Feuillade’s delightful Les Vampires, which I suggest soundtracking to Coil, instrumental Nine Inch Nails, and Jóhann Jóhannson’s Mandy score. Notable too is a Sundance ’92 retrospective running the gamut from Paul Schrader to Derek Jarman to Jean-Pierre Gorin, and I’m especially excited for their look at one of America’s greatest actors, Sterling Hayden.

Special notice to Criterion editions of The Killing, The Last Days of Disco, All About Eve, and The Asphalt Jungle, and programming of Ognjen Glavonić’s The Load, among the better debuts in recent years.

See the full list of January titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.

-Ship: A Visual Poem, Terrance Day, 2020

5 Fingers, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1952

After Migration: Calabria,...

Exclusive: One of the few titles up for sale at TIFF this year was Phillip Noyce’s thriller Lakewood starring Naomi Watts, and Vertical Entertainment and Roadside Attractions have landed North American rights to the the female-driven thriller.

The movie, which was co-financed by Boies Schiller Entertainment and Limelight, deals with the sensitive subject of a high school lockdown, but from a mother’s p.o.v. from a distance. In the feature, written by Buried and Greenland‘s Chris Sparling, Amy Carr (Watts) is desperately racing against time to save her child Noah (Colton Gobbo) as authorities place her small town on lockdown due to an active shooter incident.

Lakewood is scheduled for release during the first quarter of 2022. The movie was shot on location in the North Bay of Ontario, Canada and made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival two weeks ago.

Vertical’s Peter Jarowey...

Editor’s note: One in a series of remembrances on the 20 years since 9/11.

The 2001 Toronto Film Festival was at its midpoint on a clear and sunny Tuesday morning, when American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m., followed by United Airlines Flight 175 crashing into the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. Suddenly, the film festival became inconsequential in the wake of an imaginable terrorist attack on the United States; American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters at 9:45 a.m. United 93 was headed for DC when courageous passengers confronted the terrorists and the plane crashed in Pennsylvania. All of the passengers on all of the planes were killed, along with many others, including 3,000 when the World Trade Center towers collapsed.

With all planes grounded for days, filmmakers, execs and dealmakers in Toronto scrambled...

Phillip Noyce, director of such films as Dead Calm, Patriot Games, Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Quiet American, and Salt, has joined twenty other Hollywood notables in signing a petition asking for more funding and access for immunotherapy treatments.

The Petition for Briggs for Curative Immunotherapies for All drive is being spearheaded by writer-actor-director Paul Sanderson. He lost his wife, Briggs, to cancer.

Stars who’ve signed the petition include Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Emily Blunt, and Naomi Watts. Documentary director Ken Burns, Meredith Vieira, Billie Jean King, Alan Rickman, Susan Sarandon and Jimmy Smits have also added their names.

The 55th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Aug. 20-28) will honor Michael Caine and Johnny Depp.

Two time Oscar winner Caine is this year’s festival special guest and will be presented with a Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the festival’s opening ceremony.

At the festival, Caine will personally present the comedy drama “Best Sellers” (2021), director Lina Roessler’s feature film debut in which he portrays a cranky old author who sets out on one final book tour.

When he received his first Oscar for best supporting actor for “Hannah and Her Sisters,” it was his fourth nomination for the Academy Awards, having been previously nominated for “Alfie,” “Sleuth,” and “Educating Rita.” In 2000, he received his second Oscar for his performance in the film adaption of the bestselling book “The Cider House Rules” and in 2003 he was again nominated for “The Quiet American.”

The festival will also honor actor,...

Boies/Schiller Entertainment, Limelight fully financing with Stratagem.

Mister Smith has closed a raft of early sales on Phillip Noyce’s thriller Lakewood starring Naomi Watts, which wrapped production in Canada in late summer.

Wild Bunch has acquired the film for France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain, while Jaguar picked it up for the Middle East, Long Shong for Taiwan, and Belga Films for Benelux.

Deals have also closed in Indonesia (Pt Prima), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Poland (Best Film), Turkey (Filmarti), Greece (Odeon), Israel (United King), former Yugoslavia (Blitz), and Baltics (Acme).

The project was developed by Untapped Productions. Boies...

Before he was a journalist and a novelist, before he was a globe-trotting war correspondent and a historian with an eye for ordinary people that led extraordinary lives, Scott Anderson was a child of the Cold War. His father worked for the State Department, which took the Anderson family to South Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia. All three countries were located on the new fault lines of the geopolitical struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, anti-communism and communism, the “Yanks” and the “Reds.”

[Find the Book]

As a kid, Anderson watched...

Naomi Watts and director Phillip Noyce are joining forces for the thriller “Lakewood,” set to begin filming Sept. 16 in Ontario under strict Covid-19 protocols.

The film, written by Chris Sparling and produced by Boies/Schiller’s Zack Schiller and David Boies, Limelight’s Dylan Sellers and Chris Parker, Untapped’s Andrew Corkin, star Watts for Jam Tart Films and Stratagem’s Alex Lalonde, has echoes from today’s headlines. Limelight’s Alex Dong is an executive producer.

“Lakewood” follows a mother (Watts) who desperately races against time to save her child as authorities place her small town on lockdown.

The run-up to filming “Lakewood” was nearly as suspenseful. A month before principal photography was set to begin, the two-time Oscar nominee and veteran producer (“The Painted Veil”) was unsure if her project would move forward as SAG-AFTRA regulations and other pandemic-related issues were being worked out.

“It seems like Canada has everything very under control,...

The director of Sergio and many docs talks about docs and movies taken from true stories.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Sergio (2009)

Sergio (2020)

Reds (1981)

The Two Popes (2019)

Rules Don’t Apply (2016)

Bulworth (1998)

Dick Tracy (1990)

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Innerspace (1987)

Ishtar (1987)

The Thin Blue Line (1988)

Man On Wire (2008)

The Fog of War (2003)

American Dharma (2018)

Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru (2016)

The Killing Fields (1984)

The Year of Living Dangerously (1983)

Under Fire (1983)

Salvador (1986)

The Quiet American (2002)

The Quiet American (1958)

A Private War (2018)

The War Room (1993)

The Final Year (2017)

Independence Day (1996)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Bloodsport (1988)

Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite (1996)

When We Were Kings (1996)

Soul Power (2008)

High School (1968)

Hospital (1970)

Titicut Follies (1967)

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (2007)

Before Night Falls (2000)

At Eternity’s Gate (2018)

American Factory (2019)

Dina (2017)

Honeyland (2019)

The Act of Killing (2012)

The English Patient (1996)

Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990)

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Purple Noon (1960)

Other Notable Items

Sergio Aragonés

Wagner Moura

Narcos TV...

Exclusive: In his first foray into the premium TV series marketplace, uber producer Dick Wolf is prepping American Babylon, a period drama chronicling the epic story of the creation of Las Vegas – the American Dream written in blood and neon. He has partnered on the project with long-time collaborator Tom Thayer, Pulitzer Prize winner and The Pacific writer Robert Schenkkan and The Pacific creator Bruce C. McKenna.

The marquee pitch, from Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, will be taken out to premium cable networks and streamers later this month.

Created by Schenkkan and written by him and McKenna, American Babylon is inspired by “The Money and the Power: The Making of Las Vegas and Its Hold on America“ by Sally Denton & Roger Morris, to which Universal Television has acquired the rights.

It chronicles the rise of Las Vegas through the intersecting struggles of three families: Young mobster Sammy Wise and his iron-willed wife,...

Exclusive: We’ve learned that Salt filmmaker Phillip Noyce is set to direct Alive Day, a feature adaptation of Samuel Hill’s military taskforce novel Six Days to Zeus: Alive Day.

Mike Medavoy’s Phoenix Pictures and Voyage Media’s Nat Mundel will produce from Kathleen McLaughlin’s screenplay.

More from Deadline'Blood Relative' Drama From Chris Levinson Gets Fox Cast-Contingent Pilot Order; Phillip Noyce To DirectSvetlana Cvetko Wraps 'Show Me What You Got'; Phillip Noyce Boards As EPCornell Woolrich Short Stories To Be Adapted For TV By Phoenix Pictures & Renaissance Literary & Talent

Alive Day follows Hill’s true story (called Chief in the novel) who led a unit comprised of seven men from the Navy Seals, Green Berets, Army Rangers and Marine Recon who were conducting secret surveillance during the Saddam Hussein regime. The unit operated in the Iraqi desert near the Jordanian border in 2003. The name of their unit...

Michael Caine celebrates his 87th birthday on March 14, 2020. The two-time Oscar winner shows no signs of slowing down, amassing dozens of credits in the span of over 50 years. But how many of those titles are classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of Caine’s greatest films, ranked worst to best.

The English-born thespian first came to the attention of movie audiences with a prominent role in the historical epic “Zulu” (1964). He earned his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor just two years later for “Alfie” (1966), playing a devil-may-care ladies man who starts to face the consequences of his actions. The role made Caine an international star, providing him with leading roles both in the UK and the Us.

He won his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for playing a man desperately in love with his wife’s sister in “Hannah and Her Sisters...

Another weekend, another sweep for our four acting frontrunners. Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”), Renee Zellweger (“Judy”), an absent Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) and Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”) all took home BAFTAs on Sunday, putting them four Oscars shy of becoming the second class of acting champs to complete a full sweep of the televised awards. And if you’re wishing/praying for an upset at the Oscars, well, don’t hold your breath.

Since BAFTA became an Oscar precursor starting with the 2000-01 season, just one person has lost the Oscar after snagging the Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA Awards: Russell Crowe in Best Actor for “A Beautiful Mind” (2001). And his loss has long been credited to two factors: his attack on a BAFTA producer for editing his speech and the fact that he had won the previous year for “Gladiator” (2000). It goes...

Exclusive: The Heartland Film Festival will honor Michael Apted and Cloris Leachman with the Indiana-set festival’s Pioneering Spirit: Lifetime Achievement Award during this year’s 28th edition, which runs October 10-20. This year’s fest will also include a career tribute for Indianapolis native Brendan Fraser, who will be the guest for events that include screenings of The Mummy on its 20th anniversary as well as The Quiet American and Gods and Monsters.

Apted’s credits range from narrative to documentary films, the most recent of the latter being 63 Up, the ninth chapter of his ongoing saga following the lives of 14 people that began with Seven Up. He will be feted October 12 ahead of a screening of 63 Up at the AMC Castleton Square, which will be followed by a post-screening Q&a.

Leachman’s will honored October 19 in conjunction with...

Brian Cox, star of HBO’s “Succession,” will play Lyndon B. Johnson in this fall’s Broadway production of Robert Schenkkan’s “The Great Society” — the follow-up to his Tony-winning play “All the Way” that secured Bryan Cranston a Tony of his own as the Texas political giant who became the 36th president of the United States.

Performances will begin a 12-week run on September 6 for a still-to-be-announced official opening at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. The show includes two dozen locations and 50 characters, including Richard J. Daley, Martin Luther King Jr. and Hubert Humphrey (Richard Thomas).

Actors playing Richard Nixon, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Coretta Scott King, Lady Bird Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover, Governor George Wallace and Robert McNamara are still to be cast.

Bill Rauch (“All the Way”) will direct the production, which depicts the tumultuous times that led to the conclusion of the Johnson presidency...

He may not have sought nor did he accept a return to the White House, but Lyndon B. Johnson is coming back to Broadway: The Great Society, a companion play to Robert Schenkkan’s Tony-winning All The Way, will begin performances in September, with Brian Cox as the 36th President of the United States.

Also in the cast will be Richard Thomas, Marc Kudisch and Grantham Coleman (Amazon Studio’s upcoming Against All Enemies) making his Broadway debut as Martin Luther King Jr.

All The Way won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Play and Bryan Cranston took the Tony for his lead role as Lbj. All The Way director Bill Rauch will return in that capacity for The Great Society.

While the earlier play chronicled Lbj’s efforts on behalf of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the new play depicts the tumultuous events building to the conclusion of the Johnson...

Hulu is out with its list of new content coming in July, and highlights include the “Veronica Mars” revival and the series premiere of the new “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” We also have the list of everything that’s being removed from the streaming service at the end of July.

Season 1-3 of the original “Veronica Mars” series will be available starting July 1, so you can brush up on all the background knowledge you’ll need to fully enjoy Season 4 when it drops July 26, with Kristen Bell returning the starring role as the title character after almost 15 years. Here’s everything we know about the revival so far.

The new Mindy Kaling-produced “Four Weddings and a Funeral” series comes July 31, with “Game of Thrones” star Nathalie Emanuel in the lead role. Original star Andie MacDowell will return as a guest star.

Also Read: Summer TV Premiere Dates: Here's...

Oscar-winning actor Michael Caine will star in Best Sellers, the directorial feature debut of Lina Roessler.

Pic follows a has-been author, played by Caine, who is on a wild book tour with a young editor trying to save his boutique publishing house. Caine’s author is miserable and sharp-witted and just wants to live out his days in peace with a bottle of scotch, a cigar, and his orange Tabby cat.

The project is based on Anthony Grieco’s original screenplay which won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting award, and will be an official Canada-uk co-production, produced by Arielle Elwes (Braid), Cassian Elwes, Petr Jákl and Wayne Marc Godfrey on the UK side and Jonathan Vanger (Wishing Tree Productions: Miss Sloane) and Pierre Even on the Canadian side.

Michael Caine celebrates his 86th birthday on March 14, 2019. The two-time Oscar winner shows no signs of slowing down, amassing dozens of credits in the span of over 50 years. But how many of those titles are classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 20 of Caine’s greatest films, ranked worst to best.

The English-born thespian first came to the attention of movie audiences with a prominent role in the historical epic “Zulu” (1964). He earned his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor just two years later for “Alfie” (1966), playing a devil-may-care ladies man who starts to face the consequences of his actions. The role made Caine an international star, providing him with leading roles both in the UK and the Us.

SEEOscar Best Supporting Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History

He won his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for playing a man desperately...

The Walking Dead star David Morrissey and Traitors’ Luke Treadaway are to star in ITV’s adaptation of J.G. Farrell’s World War II novel The Singapore Grip.

The pair will feature in the six-part series, which is produced by Victoria producer Mammoth Screen, alongside Game of Thrones’ Charles Dance, Absolutely Fabulous’ Jane Horrocks and Star Trek: The Next Generation Colm Meaney. Former Coronation Street actor Elizabeth Tan and rising star Georgia Blizzard will also star.

The Singapore Grip, which was part of Farrell’s Empire Trilogy of novels, which also includes Troubles and The Siege of Krishnapur was originally published in 1978. It tells the story of a British family living in Singapore at the time of the Japanese invasion.

It follows rubber merchant Walter Blackett, played by Morrissey his wife Sylvia, played by Horrocks, and ruthless daughter Joan, played by Blizzard. However, the story takes a turn when the...

A star-studded cast pulls off one of the biggest bank heists in history when King of Thieves arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital March 26 from Lionsgate. This film is currently available On Demand. Based on the unbelievable true story of the Hatton Garden Heist, this hilarious and thrilling crime caper stars two-time Oscar® winner Michael Caine, Oscar® winner Jim Broadbent, two-time Oscar® nominee Tom Courtenay, Charlie Cox, with Golden Globe® nominee Michael Gambon, and Ray Winstone. From director James Marsh (The Theory of Everything) and from producer Michelle Wright (Baby Driver), the King of Thieves Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.

Check out this trailer:

A famous thief in his younger years, widower Brian Reader, 77 years of age, pulls together a band of misfit criminals to plot an unprecedented burglary at the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit. The thieves, all in...

Retitled from The Honorary Consul and sold in America with one of Paramount’s sleaziest ad campaigns, John MacKenzie and Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of a Graham Greene novel features a fine Michael Caine performance, but prefers to stress sex scenes between star Richard Gere and Elpidia Carrillo. Just call it ‘Lust in the Argentine Littoral’ — but performed in English.

Beyond the Limit (The Honorary Consul)

Der Honorarkonsul

Blu-ray

1983 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 104 min. / Street Date January 10, 2019 / Available through Amazon.de / Eur 14,99

Starring: Michael Caine, Richard Gere, Bob Hoskins, Elpidia Carrillo, Joaquim de Almeida, A Martinez, Stephanie Cotsirilos, Domingo Ambriz, Geoffrey Palmer, Jorge Russek, Erika Carlsson, George Belanger.

Cinematography: Phil Meheux

Film Editor: Stuart Baird

Original Music: Stanley Myers

Written by Christopher Hampton from the novel by Graham Greene

Produced by Norma Heyman

Directed by John Mackenzie

Director John Mackenzie, fresh off his marvelous gift to the gangster film The Long Good Friday,...

John and Matthew are watching every single live-action film starring Meryl Streep.

#47 —The Chief Elder, leader of a dystopian society.

Matthew: In Lois Lowry’s 1993 young adult novel The Giver, a society recovering from near-ruination divides its people into communities and, in the process, mistakes sameness for equality. In the 2014 film adaptation of Lowry’s Newbery Medal-winning classic, a production team looking to make a quick buck on the under-18 set mistakes glossy superficiality for storytelling simplicity and basic filmmaking competency. Despite its undeniable following and long-held status as a formative literary staple for American adolescents, The Giver was somehow omitted from my middle school reading list. I’m positive Lowry’s tale has its merits, but whatever those may be, they are almost entirely undetectable in this version from journeyman director Phillip Noyce.

Noyce’s iteration centers around Jonas (Australian twink Brenton Thwaites), a 16-year-old who we are told...

In the film “All the Money in the World,” about the kidnapping of Getty Oil heir John Paul Getty III, all eyes were on Christopher Plummer. The veteran actor earned an Oscar nomination after he abruptly replaced a disgraced Kevin Spacey in the role of billionaire oil magnate J. Paul Getty. But in the new FX series “Trust,” which tells the same story from different angles, much of the attention is going to Brendan Fraser for his performance as Getty fixer James Fletcher Chace, who flies to Italy to solve the case. Many of our Emmy Experts think he’ll be nominated for Best Drama Supporting Actor.

Chace was portrayed by Mark Wahlberg in the film, but Fraser comes at it differently. He plays Chace as a stetson-wearing Texan who’s quirky but honorable, and occasionally addresses the camera directly like a Greek chorus. As of this writing 8 of the...

Like the other acting winners of the 1980s, the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor went to big stars and character actors alike. The ’80s featured big-name winners like Jack Nicholson, Kevin Kline, Sean Connery and Michael Caine alongside hardworking veterans like John Gielgud, Louis Gossett Jr. and Don Ameche. The Academy also rewarded emerging talent, like Timothy Hutton, Haing S. Ngor and the now double-champ Denzel Washington.

So who is your favorite Best Supporting Actor winner of the 1980s? Look back on each performance and be sure to vote in our poll below.

Timothy Hutton, “Ordinary People” (1980) — Hutton came out of the gate strong with his heartbreaking performance in Best Picture winner “Ordinary People.” Hutton plays Conrad Jarrett, a teenager wracked with guilt after his brother is killed in a boating accident. Hutton is clearly the lead of the film, but at age 20, the studio may have felt it fairer...