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The actors join previously announced Shia Labeouf in the drama set to begin production this month.

Dakota Johnson and Bruce Dern will join Shia Labeouf in The Peanut Butter Falcon, which Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz will direct from their screenplay.

The Peanut Butter Falcon follows a down-on-his-luck crab fisherman as he embarks on a journey to get a young man with Down syndrome to a professional wresting school in rural North Carolina and away from the retirement home where he has lived most of his life.

Newcomer Zachary Gottsagen, who is the inspiration for the film, will play the principal character of Zak. Gottsagen lives with high-functioning Down syndrome, and became the inspiration for The Peanut Butter Falcon after Nilson and Schwartz met him while working at a non-profit arts organisation.

Principal Photography will commence on June 17 in Savannah, Georgia.

Armory Films’ Tim Zajaros and Christopher Lemole will produce and finance the film, alongside [link=co...

In the new HBO series Big Little Lies, Laura Dern’s character, uber-wealthy Renata Klein, lives in a modernist mansion perched on Monterey’s highest promontory, looking down across the landscape of power-moms below. It’s “cool, monochromatic, cinematic, very luxurious, and tranquil,” says Dern.

In real life, the actress, 50, and her children, Ellery, 15, and Jaya, 12, live in a colorful, bohemian home tucked into Los Angeles’s Mandeville Canyon, and filled with books, art and sentimental movie props gifted by the likes of Steven Spielberg.

Related: Big Little Lies’ Stunning Beach Houses are the HBO Series’ Real Breakout Stars

“I...

Laura Dern's home is filled with Hollywood memorabilia.

The Big Little Lies star gave a tour of her Los Angeles home to ArchDigest.com and unveiled an array of treasured items, starting with a miniature Tyrannosaurus rex figurine, which guards her front door, given to her by Steven Spielberg after working on Jurassic Park.

Exclusive: Laura Dern Jokes That Her Upcoming 50th Birthday Isn't Really a Milestone: 'We Don't Discuss Age'

When she first purchased her home a few years ago, Dern says she went to close pal and architect Michael Kovac, whom she met through Spielberg, and director David Lynch, who is a bona fide architecture buff, for advice.

After a major renovation, which cleverly brought to life her vision of a working "tree house," her three-bedroom, 2,464 square-foot home now features glass walls, a brightened interior palette and a lush pool/garden area.

ArchDigest.comArchDigest.com

As far as her extensive memorabilia goes, Dern found a...

Laemmle’s Royal Theatre in Los Angeles will be presenting a 50th anniversary screening of Richard Brook’s 1967 film In Cold Blood, based upon the novel of the same name by Truman Capote. The 134-minute film, which stars John Forsythe, Robert Blake and Scott Wilson, will be screened on Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at 7:00 pm.

Please Note: At press time, Actor Scott Wilson is scheduled to appear in person for a discussion about the film following the screening.

From the press release:

Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.

In Cold Blood (1967)

50th Anniversary Screening

Wednesday, March 22, at 7 Pm at the Royal Theatre

Followed by a Q & A with Actor Scott Wilson

In Cold Blood, the film version of Truman Capote’s immensely popular true crime novel, was nominated for four top Oscars in 1967. Richard Brooks received two nominations, for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay,...

Well, another year spent in the company of classic cinema curated by the TCM Classic Film Festival has come and gone, leaving me with several great experiences watching favorite films and ones I’d never before seen, some already cherished memories, and the usual weary bag of bones for a body in the aftermath. (I usually come down with something when I decompress post-festival and get back to the working week, and this year has been no exception.) There have now been seven TCMFFs since its inaugural run in 2010. I’ve been lucky enough to attend them all, and this time around I saw more movies than I ever have before—18 features zipping from auditorium to queue and back to auditorium like a gerbil in a tube maze. In order to make sure I got in to see everything I wanted to see, I had to make sure I was...

Happy Anniversary @People magazine. Such an honor to be on your first cover pic.twitter.com/Ot9mjvhUex— mia farrow (@MiaFarrow) March 4, 2016 Talk about a throwback! Mia Farrow remembered her time as People's first-ever cover star, posting the historic cover to Twitter on Friday. "Happy Anniversary @People magazine," she wrote. "Such an honor to be on your first cover." The inaugural issue hit newsstands on March 4, 1974, and featured a portrait of the actress clutching a string of pearls with her teeth. The magazine, which turns 42 this year, only cost 35 cents at the time. Back then, Farrow was one of Hollywood's top leading ladies,...

Happy Anniversary @People magazine. Such an honor to be on your first cover pic.twitter.com/Ot9mjvhUex— mia farrow (@MiaFarrow) March 4, 2016 Talk about a throwback! Mia Farrow remembered her time as People's first-ever cover star, posting the historic cover to Twitter on Friday. "Happy Anniversary @People magazine," she wrote. "Such an honor to be on your first cover." The inaugural issue hit newsstands on March 4, 1974, and featured a portrait of the actress clutching a string of pearls with her teeth. The magazine, which turns 42 this year, only cost 35 cents at the time. Back then, Farrow was one of Hollywood's top leading ladies,...

Leading British cinematographer who worked on some of the classic Ealing films and Hollywood blockbusters such as Raiders of the Lost Ark

Douglas Slocombe, who has died aged 103, was one of Britain’s greatest cameramen – an award-winning cinematographer noted for his high contrast shooting and a key figure in British and American film from the heyday of Ealing Studios in the 1940s and 50s onwards.

Slocombe, who was entirely self-taught, had a career spanning more than 40 years and 80 films. He was nominated for Oscars for Travels With My Aunt (1972), Julia (1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Bafta recognised him with awards for The Servant (1963), The Great Gatsby (1974) and Julia, nominations for Guns at Batasi (1964), The Lion in Winter (1968) and Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), and a lifetime achievement award in 1993.

Continue reading...

Slocombe with Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg filming "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1981. (Photo: LucasFilm).

Douglas Slocombe, the acclaimed cinematographer and director of photography, has passed away at age 103. Slocombe was revered by directors over a career that extended from 1940 to 1989, when he lensed his final film, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". He had also filmed the first two entries in the Indiana Jones series, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". Slocombe never won an Oscar but was nominated for "Travels with My Aunt", "Julia" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark". He had been nominated for eleven BAFTA awards, winning three times. Slocombe's other major films include the Ealing Studios British comedy classics starring Alec Guinness, the classic chiller "Dead of Night", "The Blue Max", "The Lion in Winter", the original version of "The Italian Job", "The Fearless Vampire Killers", "The Great Gatsby...

Douglas Slocombe, the cinematographer on Steven Spielberg’s first three Indiana Jones films, has died. He was 103. His family told Agence France-Presse he died this morning in London. A three-time Oscar nominee, he won three BAFTA Awards among 11 nominations — including as Dp on 1974’s The Great Gatsby starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. His credits also include such iconic pics as Rollerball, Julia with Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave and The Lion In Winter with…...

Douglas Slocombe, the cinematographer for “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” has died. He was 103. According to Afp, his daughter Georgina confirmed his death. Slocombe received Oscar nominations for “Travels With My Aunt” in 1973, “Julia” in 1978 and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in 1982. He also shot “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “The Great Gatsby,” “The Maids” and “Rollerball,” as well as Ealing comedies including “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” “The Lavender Hill Mob” and “The Man in The White Suit.” Also Read: Harper Lee, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Author, Dies at 89 “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989) as the last film he worked on.

'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...

By Todd Garbarini

Elia Kazan’s 1960 film Wild River, which stars Montgomery Clift, Lee Remick, Joan Van Fleet, and is Bruce Dern’s debut film, celebrates its 55th anniversary this year. The Royale Laemmle Theater in Los Angeles will be holding a special one-night-only showing of the 110-minute film on Thursday, September 17th, 2015 at 7:30 pm. Actor Bruce Dern is scheduled to appear at the screening and is due to partake in a Q & A and discussion on the making of the film.

From the press release:

Wild River (1960), set in Depression-era America, tells a provocative story of the conflict between an agent from the Tennessee Valley Authority and a proud, defiant older woman who refuses to sell her land in order to make way for a much needed dam. Oscar-nominated actors Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick star, and Oscar-winning actress Jo Van Fleet (only 40 at the time she made the film) plays the stubborn,...

Almost a century ago, Francis Albert Sinatra sat on the stoop outside a no-frills bar, waiting for his dad. In those days, he was a kid singing for coins, Sinatra says in the sweeping two-night, four-hour HBO film Sinatra: All or Nothing at All. We go to Hoboken, N.J., to meet filmmaker Alex Gibney, who settles into Moran’s, that neighborhood bar, largely unchanged over the years. It’s a frigid morning in the one-square-mile city of squat brick buildings and mixed cultures. What intrigues Gibney is how Sinatra’s life mirrored the American dream. “To me it was The Great Gatsby,” Gibney … Continue reading →

The post Alex Gibney on his Sinatra documentary, “All or Nothing at All” appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.

Edward Herrmann: Distinguished actor Edward Herrmann, who became best known for his role as a loving paternal figure on TV's Gilmore Girls, has died at the age of 71. Herrmann first scored with supporting roles in The Paper Chase and The Great Gatsby in the early 1970s, and remained busy throughout his long career, often playing establishment characters with great flair and humanity -- not to mention his delightful turn as a vampire in The Lost Boys. [CNN] Exodus: Gods and Kings: As we noted recently, Morocco has banned Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings, but the government's decision has sparked unexpected controversy. Reportedly, the movie was banned because it portrays God in a scene, which is forbidden by Islam. Politicians, however, have raised objections...

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Edward Herrmann: Distinguished actor Edward Herrmann, who became best known for his role as a loving paternal figure on TV's Gilmore Girls, has died at the age of 71. Herrmann first scored with supporting roles in The Paper Chase and The Great Gatsby in the early 1970s, and remained busy throughout his long career, often playing establishment characters with great flair and humanity -- not to mention his delightful turn as a vampire in The Lost Boys. [CNN]   Neill Blomkamp:...

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I normally publish this list on Luise Rainer's birthday but having lost her just as 2014 ended after a year already marked by the loss of several screen giants including Mickey Rooney, Peter O'Toole and Joan Fontaine, we needed some positivity to kick off the new calendar!

Olivia de Havilland, two time best actress. She's still defiantly with us!

This semi-annual list of living Oscar-vets was never intended to be a morbid countdown list as a stray commenter or three has complained. Not at all! It's a way for us to honor people while they're still conscious of our appreciation for their indelible contributions to our favorite artform. Your assignment: pick six players here and during the year, rent a key film from each so that they can receive your telepathic waves of appreciation in 2015! (That's only 1 film every other month. You can do it!)

So our very best wishes...

By Lee Pfeiffer

The year 2014 has proven to be one of the cruelest in terms of depriving us of notable people in the arts. The year's morbid streak has continued  to the bitter end with the announcement of the death of noted character actor Edward Herrmann. The 71 year-old actor has passed away after a months-long battle with brain cancer. Herrmann, who was both an Emmy and Tony award winner, had worked steadily in films, TV and on stage since he first made his mark in the early 1970s. His feature film credits include "The Paper Chase", "Brass Target", "The Lost Boys", "The Great Gatsby", "The Purple Rose of Cairo", "Nixon" and "The Aviator". His TV credits include "Eleanor and Franklin", "The Practice" (for which he won an Emmy in a recurring role), "The Gilmore Girls", "The Good Wife", "How I Met Your Mother" and "M*A*S*H". For more on his life and career,...

Character actor Edward Herrmann has died at the age of 71. The news was first reported by TMZ and confirmed by Buzzfeed. Herrmann's career spanned over four decades and it's no wonder that he's being memorialized today in different ways by different generations of film, TV and theater audiences.  Most recently, Herrmann was beloved for his performance as Richard Gilmore on The WB's "Gilmore Girls." The performance capped years as one of Hollywood's go-to actors for roles as patrician parents, lofty corporate board members and other ostensibly rigid WASPs. The catch with Richard Gilmore was that while he was introduced as seemingly out-of-touch and disapproving when it came to daughter Lorelai, his warmth for both his estranged progeny and for granddaughter Rory was a key source of "Gilmore Girls" heart. Herrmann and Kelly Bishop's parts could have been marginalized, what with The WB's focus on young female viewers, but the...

Edward Herrmann, an Emmy-winning character actor best known for his seven-season run on Gilmore Girls and his long run as the voice of the History Channel, died today at a New York hospital where he was being treated for brain cancer. He was 71. The actor’s manager, Robbie Kass, told Deadline Herrmann died a year after being diagnosed with a Stage 4 glioblastoma brain tumor. “Besides being an accomplished actor, Ed was also a true gentleman and a scholar, as well as being an incredibly kind and decent man,” Kass said. “He will be sorely missed.”

Herrmann worked in TV and films for more than 40 years, racking up more than 120 credits. He began his career on the big screen in such movies as The Paper Chase, The Great Gatsby and The Great Waldo Pepper before landing the role of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1976 ABC telefilm Eleanor And Franklin, playing the...

Edward Herrmann, who won an Emmy for “The Practice” and played the villain in “The Lost Boys,” has died at age 71.

The “Gilmore Girls” actor had been suffering from brain cancer and died in a New York hospital after his family decided to take him off a respirator, according to TMZ. He’s survived by three children.

Herrmann played Dianne Wiest’s boyfriend in “The Lost Boys” and Lauren Graham’s father on “Gilmore Girls.” He also played Nelson Rockefeller in Oliver Stone’s “Nixon” and worked with Martin Scorsese on “The Aviator...

Long-time character actor Edward Herrmann has lost a battle with brain cancer and has died at the age of 71. Herrmann was known for his strikingly tall physical presence, kind and sympathetic demeanour, and distinct voice. He is best remembered for his countless supporting parts in numerous films and TV shows.

Amongst his big screen works are key roles in films such as "The Lost Boys," "Overboard," "The Aviator," "The Cat's Meow," "Nixon," "Annie," "Reds," "The Great Gatsby," "The Betsy," "Intolerable Cruelty," "Born Yesterday," "The Great Waldo Pepper," "Harry's War," "Rko 281," "The Paper Chase," "Big Business," and "Richie Rich".

On the small screen he is best known for his regular role as Richard Gilmore on "Gilmore Girls," narrating countless History Channel docos, and guest starring roles galore on shows like "The Practice," "Oz," "Grey's Anatomy," "30 Rock," and two "Eleanor and Franklin" TV movies for which he scored Emmy nominations. He...

Long-time character actor Edward Herrmann has lost a battle with brain cancer and has died at the age of 71. Herrmann was known for his strikingly tall physical presence, kind and sympathetic demeanour, and distinct voice. He is best remembered for his countless supporting parts in numerous films and TV shows.

Amongst his big screen works are key roles in films such as "The Lost Boys," "Overboard," "The Aviator," "The Cat's Meow," "Nixon," "Annie," "Reds," "The Great Gatsby," "The Betsy," "Intolerable Cruelty," "Born Yesterday," "The Great Waldo Pepper," "Harry's War," "Rko 281," "The Paper Chase," "Big Business," and "Richie Rich".

On the small screen he is best known for his regular role as Richard Gilmore on "Gilmore Girls," narrating countless History Channel docos, and guest starring roles galore on shows like "The Practice," "Oz," "Grey's Anatomy," "30 Rock," and two "Eleanor and Franklin" TV movies for which he scored Emmy nominations. He...

The Royal Television Society has announced its shortlist for the Rts Craft & Design Awards. The prizes are spread across 25 categories, recognizing the variety of skills and processes involved in program production. Among the most-nominated are Channel 4 series Utopia (not to be confused with the recently cancelled Fox show in the U.S.) in the Costume Design, Effects, Music, Production Design and Photography categories. Also up for multiple prizes is BBC Two’s Peaky Blinders in Costume Design, Make-Up and Production Design. Sherlock has mentions in Graphic Design and Photography, and Da Vinci’s Demons is noted for Effects. Winners will be announced December 1 in London at a ceremony hosted by Jennifer Saunders. A full list of nominees is here.

Oscar-nominated director Lee Daniels will head the jury for the 11th Dubai International Film Festival’s Muhr Feature Competition. The Precious and The Butler helmer will head a four-person...

Editor behind Alien, Blade Runner, Chariots of Fire and Goldeneye to receive tribute event.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced that editor Terry Rawlings will be the subject of a BAFTA Tribute on Dec 7 at the organisation’s Piccadilly headquarters in London.

‘A BAFTA Tribute: Terry Rawlings’ will honour his contribution to picture and sound editing, and will celebrate a career spanning 50 years.

Nik Powell, chair of BAFTA’s Film Committee, said: “Terry Rawlings is one of the great editors of both sound and picture.

“For more than half a century his work has been admired by all – not least the huge audiences who have, maybe unknowingly, experienced his influence on films like The L Shaped Room, Women in Love and Bedazzled in the 1960s, The Duellists, The Great Gatsby and The Devils in the 1970s, through to classics such as Watership Down, Alien, Chariots of Fire, Yentl, [link...

People celebrated its 40th birthday with Taylor Swift. Swift donned a retro look for the cover, in an homage to the magazine's inaugural issue in 1974 featuring Mia Farrow during the promotion of The Great Gatsby. In the issue, Swift promotes her new album, "1989," and tells the magazine about taking time to enjoy the single life and to just, well, shake it off. Guess she took Amy Poehler and Tina Fey's advice to heart. People's 40th anniversary issue hits newsstands today.

Mia Farrow - "May be I do want to act again. My being distracted from acting with other thing led me to conclude that I did not belong there any more." Photo: Richard Mowe

With her wispy, curly hair and laid back attitude, Mia Farrow still looks like a child of the Sixties. Now grounded by her humanitarian works as a Unicef ambassador, she travels to Darfur, Chad and other parts of Africa to draw attention to the desperate plight of people unable to help themselves. She has spent her life in the spotlight, the issue of Hollywood royalty (the writer-director John Farrow and the actress Maureen O’Sullivan) with famous men in her orbit: Frank Sinatra, whom she married at 21 when he was 50, conductor André Previn and Woody Allen. She created a home for her 14 adopted and biological children but managed to combine family with a career that started...

Oldest person in movies? (Photo: Manoel de Oliveira) Following the recent passing of 1931 Dracula actress Carla Laemmle at age 104, there is one less movie centenarian still around. So, in mid-June 2014, who is the oldest person in movies? Manoel de Oliveira Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira will turn 106 next December 11; he’s surely the oldest person — at least the oldest well-known person — in movies today. De Oliveira’s film credits include the autobiographical docudrama Memories and Confessions / Visita ou Memórias e Confissões (1982), with de Oliveira as himself, and reportedly to be screened publicly only after his death; The Cannibals / Os Canibais (1988); The Convent / O Convento (1995); Porto of My Childhood / Porto da Minha Infância (2001); The Fifth Empire / O Quinto Império - Ontem Como Hoje (2004); and, currently in production, O Velho do Restelo ("The Old Man of Restelo"). Among the international stars who have been directed by de Oliveira are Catherine Deneuve, Pilar López de Ayala,...

Director Ridley Scott has been spotted in Australia, reportedly scouting locations for Prometheus 2, according to a report from The Daily Mail.

The 76-year-old filmmaker flew into Sydney, Australia on Wednesday, where he was given a VIP tour of the Fox Studios lot. Here's what an unidentified source had to say about why Ridley Scott is in Australia, with staff members being flown in from around the continent.

"It's the best kept secret at the moment, that Ridley is here to film the Prometheus sequel. Staff have been pulled off productions on the Gold Coast and Melbourne to take meetings about it. The news couldn't come at a better time, with Gods of Egypt and San Andreas wrapping soon people were looking for the next project."

The unidentified source revealed that he only became aware of the project shooting in Australia when Ridley Scott arrived in Sydney on Wednesday. There...

The Cannes Film Festival is turning into quite the refuge for postponed Oscar bait. After "The Great Gatsby" skipped the 2012 awards season to open last year's fest instead (and wound up with a pair of Oscars to boot), the Weinsteins' seemingly troubled "Grace of Monaco" is following the same path. Now, on a more prestigious note, we have independently verified that Bennett Miller's much-anticipated drama "Foxcatcher" will indeed have its world premiere on the Croisette in May. "Foxcatcher," a stranger-than-fiction true-crime drama based on the autobiography of Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz, was originally lined up to be a formidable contender in the 2013/14 Oscar derby, securing the Opening Night slot at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles -- until Sony Pictures Classics rather abruptly pulled it from the slate. It was a slightly surprising move, given that the studio didn't have a bigger pony in the race: "Blue Jasmine" became their number-one campaign priority instead,...

It was a big night for 12 Years a Slave and Gravity at the Oscars. While 12 Years a Slave took Best Picture at the 2014 Academy Awards, Gravity director Alfonso Cuaron collected an award for Best Directing. Among the other winners tonight were Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club, Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine and Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave. Frozen, Her and The Great Gatsby were also among the films to earn at least one award tonight. See the full list of 2014 Oscar winners ahead! 2014 Oscar Winners Winners are highlighted in red. Best Picture American Hustle Captain Phillips Dallas Buyers Club Gravity Her Nebraska Philomena 12 Years a Slave The Wolf of Wall Street Best Director David O. Russell (American Hustle) Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) Alexander Payne (Nebraska) Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) Best Actor Christian Bale, American Hustle) Bruce Dern (Nebraska...

The Butler and Rush are complete shutouts, while the Coen Brothers are snubbed in major categories. Dallas Buyers Club and Philomena pick up steam. Click here for full list of nominations

American Hustle and Gravity lead the pack for the Oscar nominations, with 10 each.

12 Years a Slave follows closely behind with nine.

There were six for Dallas Buyers Club, Nebraska and Captain Phillips, while The Wolf of Wall Street and Her secured five nominations apiece.

#Nominees10American Hustle, Gravity912 Years a Slave6Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Nebraska5Her, The Wolf of Wall Street4Philomena3Blue Jasmine, The Hobbit 22August: Osage County, Despicable Me 2, Frozen, The Grandmaster, The Great Gatsby, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Lone Ranger, Lone Survivor

There are nine out of a potential 10 nominees for Best Picture this year:

American HustleCaptain PhillipsDallas Buyers ClubGravityHerNebraskaPhilomena12 Years A SlaveThe Wolf of Wall Street.

Producer Megan Ellison has a duo on that list: American Hustle and Her...

By Mark Pinkert

Contributor

…

Pick up any “How to Write a Screenplay” book and you’ll find some hard-and-fast rules about plot structure and length. Most will recommend 120 pages (about one minute per page in screen time) and explain how the “set up”/ “conflict”/ “resolution” can fit into those pages. Some will provide templates for scene-to-scene (“beat-for-beat”) timing and some might go so far as to provide specific plot archetypes like “The Fish out of Water,” “The Quest,” or “The Buddy Love.” Undoubtedly, you’ll find that screenwriting is as much a science as it is an art, and that it is more standardized than you once thought. You’ll also begin to recognize these trends–formulas, really–in most movies you see.

These common trends aren’t necessarily a bad thing though; in fact, they make movies accessible and consumable for broad audiences. That’s one of the beauties...

Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" was the big winner of the Chicago Film Critics Association annual awards taking home 5 trophies out of 11 nominations. "12 Years" won Best Picture, Director for McQueen, Actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor, Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong'o, and Adapted Screenplay.

Here's the complete list of winners (bolded) and nominees of the Chicago Film Critics Association awards:

Best Picture

12 Years A Slave

American Hustle

Gravity

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Director

Joel & Ethan Coen.Inside Llewyn Davis

Alfonso Cuaron.Gravity

Spike Jonze.Her

Steve McQueen.12 Years A Slave

David O. Russell.American Hustle

Best Actor

Bruce Dern.Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor.12 Years A Slave

Oscar Isaac.Inside Llewyn Davis

Matthew McConaughey.Dallas Buyers Club

Robert Redford.All Is Lost

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett.Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock.Gravity

Adele Exarchopoulos.Blue is the Warmest Color

Brie Larson.Short Term 12

Meryl Streep.August: Osage County

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi...

Steve McQueen's "12 Years a Slave" led the nominations for the Chicago Film Critics Association annual awards with a whopping 11 nods! Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity" and Spike Jonze's "Her" followed with 7 noms each.

Winners will be announced in a ceremony to be held on Dec. 16th.

Here's the complete list of nominees of the Chicago Film Critics Association awards:

Best Picture

12 Years A Slave

American Hustle

Gravity

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Director

Joel & Ethan Coen.Inside Llewyn Davis

Alfonso Cuaron.Gravity

Spike Jonze.Her

Steve McQueen.12 Years A Slave

David O. Russell.American Hustle

Best Actor

Bruce Dern.Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor.12 Years A Slave

Oscar Isaac.Inside Llewyn Davis

Matthew McConaughey.Dallas Buyers Club

Robert Redford.All Is Lost

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett.Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock.Gravity

Adele Exarchopoulos.Blue is the Warmest Color

Brie Larson.Short Term 12

Meryl Streep.August: Osage County

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi...

Steve McQueen’s harrowing “12 Years a Slave” leads the 2013 nominations from the Chicago Film Critics Association, announced this morning, with a stunning 11 nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress.

A diverse array of films rounded out Best Picture for 2013, including three that have yet to even open in the Windy City — “American Hustle,” “Her,” and “Inside Llewyn Davis,” joined by Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity.” “Her” and “Gravity” tied for second-most nominations with seven a piece while “Llewyn Davis” notched six nominations and “American Hustle” can boast five. Other multiple nominees include “Blue is the Warmest Color” (4), “The Act of Killing” (3), and “Nebraska” (3). “August: Osage County,” “Blue Jasmine,” “Captain Phillips,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Spring Breakers,” “The Wind Rises,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” all netted a pair.

Notable individual nominees include double citations for Barkhad Abdi, Adele Exarchopoulos, and Lupita Nyong’o, all nominated in their...

When Bruce Dern was a young actor playing Tom Buchanan in the Robert Redford version of The Great Gatsby (1974), the former athlete used to run all the way from his hotel in central London to Pinewood Studios in time for the day’s shooting. Now, at the tail end of his career, he is cast as a character embarked on an equally unlikely and epic journey. Woody Grant (Dern) is a frail old man who has got it into his head that he has won $1m in a magazine marketing competition. He is determined to get to Lincoln, Nebraska, to pick up his winnings.

Alexander Payne's Nebraska finds the 77-year-old in fine, cranky form as a man who thinks he's won a million

What an unadulterated joy it is to see Bruce Dern leading a movie for a change – and a good movie, at that. Alexander Payne's Nebraska may come to be seen as his swansong, but I hope it leads to a final decade of great performances from one of my all-time favourite actors, now 77 years old.

Dern has played a lot of disagreeable cranks in his time, but Woody Grant, the semi-senile retiree who keeps trying to walk from Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska, to pick up a supposed million-dollar prize, is an almost opaque figure. Dern seems to have subtracted half of his own mind and awareness for the part, and this draws the audience toward him to find out, or guess at, the things his old age incites. Finally,...

The veteran actor may not be sure where Bristol is, but he does recall racing a shepherd through the Lake District and being Alfred Hitchcock's 'golden calf'

Bruce Dern was the wayward dreamer of American movies, wild and restless, not built to last. He took a fatal bullet in The King of Marvin Gardens, laid down his life in Silent Running and swam into oblivion at the end of Coming Home. Dern played heroes and villains alike. But he was invariably geared towards the bittersweet send-off or the gaudy comeuppance. To all intents and purposes, he never got out of the 70s alive.

Now, incredibly, the man is back with his best role in decades, possibly his best one ever. The Alexander Payne drama Nebraska casts him as another hopeless dreamer, destined for the rocks, but the performance itself marks a redemption of sorts. At the Cannes film festival,...

Bruce Dern, the Oscar-nominated actor who’s generating awards buzz for his starring role in Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, will receive the Career Achievement Award from the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Jan. 4.

“Bruce Dern is truly a one of a kind performer,” said Festival chairman Harold Matzner, in a statement. “His skill at capturing the essence of a character, no matter how complex or unorthodox, is unique and unparalleled. In over 80 feature films, this talent is vividly reflected in such classic roles as the deranged pilot plotting a mass attack in Bloody Sunday, or the scarred Vietnam vet...

The star of Nebraska will attend the 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival awards gala on January 4 2014 to receive the Career Achievement Award.

Dern has earned strong reviews for his lead performance in Alexander Payne’s black-and-white drama from Paramount Vantage.

His credits include They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, Drive, He Said, The Great Gatsby, Coming Home, Monster, Django Unchained, On the Edge, Posse and The Driver. He earned an Oscar nomination in 1979 for Coming Home.

“Bruce Dern is truly a one of a kind performer,” said festival chairman Harold Matzner. “His skill at capturing the essence of a character, no matter how complex or unorthodox, is unique and unparalleled.

“In over 80 feature films, this talent is vividly reflected in such classic roles as the deranged pilot plotting a mass attack in Bloody Sunday, or the scarred Vietnam vet who returns home to find his wife embroiled in an affair with another man in [link...

Chicago – Veteran actor Bruce Dern is now up to bat. That is how he describes what is at stake in his role as Woody in director Alexander Payne’s new film, “Nebraska.” But this film icon – with an over 50 year career – also has plenty other stories to offer, regarding Jack Nicholson, his family, his life and performing a “Derns-ser.”

Bruce Dern began his on-screen career in TV beginning in 1960, taking various character parts during that era, with regular cowboy roles in “Wagon Train,” “The Virginian” and “The Big Valley.” He made his film debut in the horror classic “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte” (1964), and created memorable characters in such diverse films as “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They” (1969), “Drive, He Said” (1971), “The Great Gatsby” (1974), “Smile” (1975) and “Family Plot” (1976). Recent films include roles in “Monster” (2003), “The Astronaut Farmer” (2006) and as Frank Harlow in the HBO series “Big Love” (2006-11). He was nominated...

Bruce Dern in ‘Nebraska’: AFI Fest 2013 highlight The Los Angeles-based AFI Fest, which kicked off last Thursday, November 7, 2013, continues until next Thursday. On Monday, November 11, the highlight of AFI Fest 2013 is Alexander Payne’s Nebraska (7:00 p.m. at Tcl Chinese Theatre), likely to earn a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for veteran Bruce Dern, who earlier this year took home the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival. (Photo: Bruce Dern, Will Forte in Nebraska.) Set in Kentucky (kidding), Nebraska accompanies an elderly man (Dern) and his son (Will Forte) as they travel from Billings, Montana, to Lincoln, Nebraska, so he can collect sweepstakes prize money he believes he has won. In sum, Nebraska is what’s called a Road Movie, in which the Road is a metaphor for Life. Shades of brothers Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise getting to know one another in Barry Levinson’s Rain Man,...

The world's entertainment capital is losing out as studios switch big TV and film productions to other locations to save money, leaving studios as little more than grand tourist attractions

Among the tourist hordes on the "walk of fame" last week, you could feel Hollywood casting its spell. They genuflected at the names of actors and film-makers embedded in pink stars in the pavement. Gloria Swanson. John Wayne. Will Smith. Francis Ford Coppola. Quentin Tarantino. Generations of glamour and talent, ringed in brass and close enough to touch.

Open-air vans and double-decker buses packed with camera-toting passengers swayed past palm trees and the Chinese Theatre en route to celebrity home tours – which are in truth celebrity hedge tours, because you seldom glimpse the mansions behind the shrubbery. No matter, the tours are extremely popular: there are now about 40 operators, up from just a handful a few years ago.

With an azure sky and balmy sunshine,...

The actor and singer on the enduring appeal of the Who, the unspoilt charm of Sicily – and why Singin' in the Rain was the happiest night out in London

Patsy Kensit is an actor, singer and author and was born in Hounslow, London. Her mother was a publicist and her father an associate of the Kray twins. Patsy began acting at the age of four, appearing in an advert for Birdseye frozen peas. In 1972 she had her first big screen role in For the Love of Ada. Two years later she appeared in The Great Gatsby alongside Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, whom she later portrayed in a biopic titled Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story. In her late teens she fronted the band Eighth Wonder, who had two top 20 hits. At the same time she starred in Absolute Beginners, Julien Temple's musical adaptation of Colin Macinnes's novel.

Jc Chandor with Robert Redford (Our Man), who decides to shave Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze Robert Redford and Bruce Dern in 1974's The Great Gatsby were battling over F Scott Fitzgerald's Daisy Buchanan. At this year's New York, London and Cannes film festivals they battle their demons on land and at sea respectively in Alexander Payne's Nebraska and Jc Chandor's All Is Lost. Another grand ageless man, Shoah director Claude Lanzmann, gives us a powerful look at The Last Of The Unjust, his film about Theresienstadt Elder Benjamin Murmelstein, whom he interviewed in Rome in 1975 and whose statements about Adolf Eichmann and the conception of Theresienstadt need to be heard.

All is Lost

Hardly any words are spoken. Robert Redford as "Our Man," is alone at sea on a sinking ship after a floating container carrying a freight of sneakers rams his sailboat. At the New York Film...

On Thursday, Gold Derby confirmed that Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine" was asking the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. to classify it as a drama at the Globes while "Before Midnight" was entering as a comedy. On Friday, we learned that Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" is pursuing the laffer route as well. This is a savvy move on the part of Paramount as the comedy/musical categories at this year's Globes are far less competitive.  The switch gives Bruce Dern a much better shot at landing a nomination. The two-time past supporting nominee ("The Great Gatsby," 1974; "Coming Home," 1978) is determined to compete this time as a lead. However, that move might keep co-star Will Forte -- who has more screen time as the beleagured son coerced into a road trip with his doddering dad (Dern) -- from reaping a bid.  Dern's other competition for Comedy/Musical Actor includes:&nbsp...

The Hollywood star is always headline news – for her movies, relationships and extendend family. And her latest claims about the paternity of her son have reopened the bitter wounds from her split from Woody Allen

For a while, Mia Farrow was a genuine Surrey housewife. In a life of bright lights and dark, dark shadows, this must surely count as one of the most unusual periods of them all: a moment of apparent stability and respectability in the late 70s and early 80s. During this time, she picked up her twin sons Matthew and Sascha by the conductor André Previn from their ballet classes and music lessons and took them back to the family home in Leigh, much as if she had never been the daughter of Tarzan's Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), nor the young bride of Frank Sinatra.

But this was the era when the notion of adopting needy children took hold.

Let the Oscar drum-roll begin for 77-year-old actor Bruce Dern, who gives a wonderfully heartbreaking performance as Woody Grant, an aging man on a quest for a dubious sweepstakes reward of $1 million, in Alexander Payne's "Nebraska." Woody is as stubborn as a mule as he refuses to go gently into that good night. He represents our aging parents' lost dreams as well as an America gone to seed. But there's bedrock too, as Woody takes his wife and kids to visit the old Grant homestead built by his father and brothers.  Will Forte as Woody's passive son and June Squibb (Payne's "About Schmidt") as his impatient wife--whose depths are eventually revealed-- offer superb support, along with Stacey Keach as the villain of the piece. But make no mistake. This is Dern's show. The wily old coot has been in Hollywood long enough (see "Silent Running," "The King of Marvin Gardens,...

For many horror fans, our first exposure to the genre was by way of allegedly "kid-friendly" horror fare, which we were able to get our hands on because it was marketed to children... regardless of the fact that it may have contained themes and scenes too frightening for young kids. The MPAA has become more strict regarding family fare in recent years, so today’s youngsters must turn to the kid-friendly horror titles of the ‘80s and ‘90s to get their scare on. The films outlined below undoubtedly resulted in a a lot of sleepless nights for young fans of fright flicks... Something Wicked This Way Comes This Ray Bradbury adaptation gave an entire generation of children nightmares, and furthers my long-held assertion that carnies are not to be trusted. It was incredibly dark for a Disney production... or a less family-friendly studio, for that matter. Something Wicked is the...