Judith Weston has been a teacher of directors, actors, and writers since 1985. She has written two books DIRECTING ACTORS: 25th Anniversary Edition: Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television and THE FILM DIRECTOR’S INTUITION: Script Analysis and Rehearsal Techniques. She sits with Film Courage for a 2 hour interview on Creating Memorable Performances For Film & TV.
Chameleon Street, a true-crime comedy about the fraudster who purportedly passed as a lawyer,
a surgeon and even a basketball-player, fell foul of a racist Hollywood.
Can it now be a hit? We speak to its director.
Not “best.” Not “favorite.” Not “most likable.” Most significant.
Some are obvious. Some obscure. A few will be controversial.
Malcolm X, Bicycle Thieves, Bulworth, Harlan County U.S.A. and more.
On the eve of what will surely be his 9th Oscar nomination, we take a look back at some of the selected works of Robert De Niro, including collaborations with Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Mann, Quintin Tarantino, Michael Cimino, and of course Martin Scorsese. This is Bobby’s World, we’re just living in it. Also, be sure to check out BOBBY B-SIDES at Prospect Park for some wild and wonderful De Niro deep cuts!
The movie in which Kubrick wanted to cast Steve Martin was an adaptation of the 1926 novella Dream Story. “In the Seventies, Kubrick fantasized about casting an actor in Dream Story who would have a comedian’s resilience.” Steve Martin was at the top of his list, followed by Woody Allen. That idea for a Dream Story adaptation eventually evolved into Kubrick’s final movie, Eyes Wide Shut, 20 years later.
“I’ve been trying to make ‘70s movies my whole career,” Payne said on a visit to New York in October. “Good, human, character-based stories.” Thinking back on the celebrated films of that period, from “Five Easy Pieces” to “Breaking Away,” he said, “I grew up being taught they were commercial American movies.” They were “literate, human, interesting, ambiguous, disturbing — if they have sentimental effects, said effects are earned, not forced.”
Rhodes’ fall from grace forecasts the firing of media personality Tucker Carlson in the wake of a lawsuit
that revealed how false faced he was. That’s how prescient “A Face in the Crowd” is.
That same instant old Punk started for home. He covered the entire journey of three days as only Indian blood could have covered it. The terror of a whole race drove him. He knew what it all meant. Défago had “seen the Wendigo.”
Fighting the apocalypse is a timeworn movie trope.
But in an era of environmental catastrophe,
some filmmakers are creating more down-to-earth heroes.
Despite my attitude during the shoot – which was a kind of strange, focused madness – nobody ever complained. They all knew it was dangerous and their reactions, for the most part, are real. I didn’t have to tell them to be afraid – they were terrified. It was actually the actors behind the wheel [of the trucks] most of the time. They were driving during the bridge crossing. If they had put their foot on the gas unintentionally, it really could have been a disaster. It was not as tightly-controlled as you would have to do a sequence like that today. There was a lot left to chance, and fortunately, nobody get injured at all.