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Reader, you have been lied to! Film history is littered with unfairly maligned classics, whether critics were too eager to review the making of rather than the finished product, or they suffered from underwhelming ad campaigns or general disinterest. Let’s revise our takes on some of these films from wrongheaded to the correct opinion.

In 1972, Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Coppola, and William Friedkin were three of the hottest directors in Hollywood thanks to finding the sweet spot between art and box office with “The Last Picture Show,” “The Godfather,” and “The French Connection,” respectively. With their newfound clout, the young auteurs formed The Directors Company, a partnership based at Paramount, where they were given complete creative freedom to make anything they wanted as long as they worked within modest budgets. The first movie the deal yielded, “Paper Moon,” was a hit, Bogdanovich’s third in a row after “Picture Show...

Wes Anderson is now officially an Oscar winner, but he was not able to accept the prestigious honor in person.

At the Academy Awards on Sunday, Wes Anderson won an Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Film with his Netflix movie The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. This marked the first time the accomplished filmmaker has won an Academy Award, and fans may be wondering why Anderson wasn't there in person to accept the golden statuette. In a statement released by Netflix (via Gold Derby), Anderson revealed how he wasn't able to attend as he's currently on location filming his next project. He also shared what he would've said in his acceptance speech while crediting his whole career to Loki actor Owen Wilson.

Related 'Kinda Rude': Fans Say Robert Downey Jr. Snubbed Ke Huy Quan at Oscars Some fans on social media are calling out Robert Downey Jr. by saying the...

Wes Anderson was not in Los Angeles on Sunday night to accept his Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Film. But it turned out he had a pretty good excuse. The filmmaker was in Germany, prepping his next film, “The Phoenician Scheme,” which is set to begin shooting (checks pocket watch quirkily) today!

The writer-director-aesthete did send a message via Netflix, the producers of the award-winning “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” one of four shorts based on Roald Dahl stories currently streaming on the platform.

“If I could have been there, I (along with [producer] Steven Rales) would have said “Thank you” to: the family of Roald Dahl, the team at Netflix, Benedict [Cumberbatch] and Ralph [Fiennes] and Ben Kingsley and Dev [Patel] and Richard [Ayoade] and Bob [probably cinematographer Robert Yeoman] and Adam [Stockhausen, Anderson’s long time production designer] and Jeremy [Dawson, producer] and John [Peet, producer] and Jim [yeah, we don’t know] and Rich [not sure] and Jim and Polly [this is probably a shout-out to nm0000985 autoJames L.

Calling a movie a “tearjerker” could practically qualify as a spoiler, especially in the case of “Terms of Endearment.” Because it is very, very funny.

For writer-director James L. Brooks, that heightened comic tone was always essential when he first began working to adapt Larry McMurtry’s novel of the same name. His devotion led to a unique challenge: turn a character mentioning “cancer” into a laugh line. In the finished film, he even follows the word’s utterance with a punctuative spit take for good measure.

“It was so important that it be a comedy,” Brooks says, speaking with Variety over a Zoom call. “The word ‘cancer’ then was just — you couldn’t imagine. It was just a word that nobody wanted to say or deal with at that time. It was a bizarre goal. But it was because the picture had to be a comedy to work.”

That...

Wes Anderson is the belle of the ball at the Venice International Film Festival this year, on-site to receive the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker prize but also to debut his Netflix short film “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.” The Roald Dahl adaptation starring Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Dev Patel premiered out of competition this week to a rapturous standing ovation and strong reviews.

The seven-time Oscar-nominated director/writer held court with a master class conversation on Saturday in the Palazzo del Casino, where he spoke to an eager young audience bursting with questions — many attendees were turned away, and the line to get into the press conference hall wove out the door, down three flights of stairs, and into the main entryway of the building.

As many in the audience were aspiring filmmakers themselves, Anderson naturally mused backward about his feature directorial debut, 1996’s “Bottle Rocket,” co-written by Owen Wilson.

Wes Anderson has revealed that his next feature film project will be simpler in terms of its production scale and with a more compact cast, after his ensemble works The French Dispatch and Asteroid City.

“I have a script that we wrote right before the strike… It’s simple with three characters and totally linear and it’s, I wouldn’t say traditional because it’s very weird, but it’s more straightforward,” he said.

The director teased the details in a packed masterclass at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, which he is attending this year with his medium-length Roald Dahl adaptation, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.

Hundreds of mainly young fans queued around the block to get into event at which Anderson shared his many influences from directors like Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle to Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

(Watch) Wes Anderson fans queue for Venice masterclass #Venezia80 pic.

Despite it’s very au courant subject matter, Peter Bogdanovich’s first feature was never going to abide by the filmmaking trends of its era. In fact, it would be hard to think of many others in the industry less interested in the then-contemporary vanguard, and more fixated on the way things used to be back in American cinema’s golden age. Nevertheless, Targets emerged in 1968 as something of a bridge between the two generational factions that were in the early stages of splitting Hollywood apart.

Targets is essentially two films in conflict with each other right up to the final minute. Its logline is a ripped-from-the-headlines depiction of what, at the time, was a reasonably unheard-of phenomenon: a mass shooting. Lifting thematic elements of the infamous case of Charles Whitman, who climbed to an observation deck at the University of Texas in Austin, on August 1, 1966, and picked people off with a rifle,...

Los Angeles native Karina Longworth has long ridden the swells of writing about Hollywood, whether as a cofounder of film blog Cinematical and contributor to Spout, critic and film editor at LA Weekly, author, or creator of the popular nine-year-old “You Must Remember This” podcast. Over the years, Longworth’s memorable series include in-depth explorations of Charles Manson; Joan Crawford; Jane Fonda and Jean Seberg; Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr.; gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons; and Polly Platt and Peter Bogdanovich (which is being developed as a TV series).

It may seem like fans of the Patreon podcast have to wait long stretches between seasons. But Longworth and an assistant invest months of research and writing into podcast series such as the “Erotic 80s” (ten episodes) and the just-released “Erotic 90s” (Part One is 14 episodes; Part Two debuts in the fall), which indulge in a depth no...

April is here, and if you’re looking for some great new movies to stream, we’ve got you covered. This month there’s a slew of new releases and newly streaming library titles across Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount+, and we’ve thumbed through all the new selections to single out the best of the best. Whether you’re looking to catch up on some recent new releases that are now streaming (like “Bros”) or want to know whether that new documentary (“Judy Blume Forever”) or Netflix original (“Chupa”) is worth watching, we guarantee you’ll find something worthwhile to watch in our curated selection.

Check out the best new movies to stream in April 2023 below.

Also Read:

Here’s What’s New on Netflix in April 2023 “The Bourne Identity” and “The Bourne Supremacy” Universal Pictures

Netflix – April 1

The “Bourne” trilogy still stands as one...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Terminal Invasion Blu-ray from Kino Lorber

Did you know Friday the 13th director Sean S. Cunningham made a The Thing knock-off starring Bruce Campbell for the Sci-Fi Channel? It’s called Terminal Invasion, and it’s coming to Blu-ray on April 25 from Kino Lorber.

The 2002 sci-fi thriller is written by Lewis Abernathy (DeepStar Six), John Jarrell (Romeo Must Die), and Robinson Young. Chase Masterson and C. David Johnson co-star. Harry Manfredini (Friday the 13th) composed the score.

Special features include an audio commentary by Cunningham and executive producer Chuck Simon and an Alien Costume Test featurette. It comes with a slipcover.

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III Print from Sadist Art Designs

Sadist Art Designs...

Brooke Shields became a star and attracted mild controversy in this show, director Louis Malle’s first American production. Co-writer & producer Polly Platt and cinematographer Sven Nykvist collaborated on Malle’s fascinating look at life in a New Orleans brothel early in the 20th century. Prostitute Susan Sarandon raises two children in the upscale bawdy house, and art photographer Keith Carradine becomes an artist in residence. It’s a non-moralizing portrait of a bygone lifestyle. The handsome remastered release co-stars Diana Scarwid and Barbara Steele — and comes with a new interview with Brooke Shields.

Pretty Baby

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 174

1978 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 109 min. / Street Date November 4, 2022 / Available from / £

Starring: Susan Sarandon, Keith Carradine, Brooke Shields, Frances Faye, Antonio Fargas, Gerrit Graham, Matthew Anton, Mae Mercer, Diana Scarwid, Barbara Steele.

Cinematography: Sven Nykvist

Production Designer: Trevor Williams

Costume Supervisor: Mina Mittelman

Film Editor: Suzanne Fenn, supervisor Suzanne Baron

Music adapted by Jerry Wexler,...

Our past returns to haunt us, again and again, through documentary and documentary, until every woman mistreated by time is resurrected to have her say. It happened with Britney Spears, with Janet Jackson, with Billie Holiday and others. At the helm of this latest retrospective is Brooke Shields, in Lana Wilson’s new documentary, “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields.”

Premiering at Sundance and coming to Hulu later this year, the latest film from the director of “Miss Americana” places Shields’s multi-hyphenate career — model and actress, yes, but writer and advocate too — on display for nearly two and a half hours, eager to prove she is much more than a tabloid talking point.

Wilson’s film is named for Louis Malle’s “Pretty Baby,” in which Shields starred as a 12-year-old prostitute in this historical drama written by Polly Platt. Malle’s film was the urtext through which Shields was often...

Wes Anderson is one of the most distinguished working directors today, but he thought his career might be over after his very first film. The young director was incredibly excited for the world to see "Bottle Rocket" when his Sundance short got picked up by a major Hollywood producer. Sadly, he faced a seriously crushing reality check when the film was poorly received. It was a miracle that he got his second film made, especially since it was an even more expensive venture. Luckily, "Bottle Rocket" gained Anderson a few fans in the movie business that stepped in to fund his sophomore film — the ultimate quirky coming-of-age comedy, "Rushmore."

"Bottle Rocket" follows a group of three novice criminals on a haphazard spree. It was also the acting and co-writing debut of Owen Wilson, Anderson's college friend. Polly Platt, who produced hugely popular '80s rom-coms like "Say Anything" and "Terms of Endearment,...

Actor/writer/director Ethan Hawke discusses a few of his favorite films with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Explorers (1985) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Verdict (1982)

The Color Of Money (1986) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

Nobody’s Fool (1994)

Three Faces Of Eve (1957)

Mr. And Mrs. Bridge (1990)

North By Northwest (1959)

Torn Curtain (1966)

Psycho (1960) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Frenzy (1972) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary

Topaz (1969)

Boyhood (2014)

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

Blue Collar (1978) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

First Reformed (2017) – Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary

Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

The Left Handed Gun (1958)

Hombre (1967)

Hud (1963)

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)

The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean (1972) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Buffalo Bill And The Indians, Or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Outrage (1964)

Rashomon (1950) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary,...

Click here to read the full article.

Trixie Flynn, who served as an invaluable personal assistant to such Hollywood A-listers as James Gandolfini, Steve McQueen, James L. Brooks, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro, has died. She was 74.

Flynn died July 22 of sudden respiratory failure at her home in Marietta, Georgia, her son, theater scenic designer Seamus M. Bourne, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Flynn spent 12 years working for Gandolfini and was an assistant producer alongside him as executive producer on the HBO documentary Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq. She retired shortly after the Sopranos star’s death in June 2013 and was named a beneficiary in his will.

Paulette Flynn was born on Oct. 23, 1947, in Pittston, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Kearny (New Jersey) High School, then moved to Los Angeles, where she landed a job with a private investigator.

She met — and would later marry — actor Don Calfa (The Return of the Living Dead,...

Another awards season is looming, and the Art Directors Guild has set a date for its 27th annual ceremony. The 2023 Adg Awards is set for Saturday, February 18, in-person at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.

Nominations will be announced on Monday, January 9. See the 85-year-old guild’s full timeline below.

Chuck Parker Re-Elected To Art Directors Guild’s Top Post

The Art Directors Guild Awards honor production design in theatrical motion pictures, TV, commercials, animated features and music videos. Projects made in the U.S. or Canada must be produced under an IATSE agreement. The 2023 Lifetime Achievement, Hall of Fame and Cinematic Imagery Awards honorees will be announced later.

Dune, Nightmare Alley, No Time to Die and Encanto won the marquee film prizes at the 2022 Adg ceremony, with WandaVision, Loki, Squid Game and What We Do in the Shadows grabbing the top small-screen trophies.

Here are the key dates for 2022-23 Adg Awards,...

Hollywood history podcast “You Must Remember This,” hosted by generously insightful historian and movie expert Karina Longworth, is set to dive into erotic films of the 1980s and 1990s, with a two-part season premiering April 5.

While juicy recent seasons have focused on Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin, gossip columnists Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper, and the life and forgotten-by-many career of producer and production designer Polly Platt, Longworth is taking on more recent cinematic history for her next outing.

The upcoming “You Must Remember This” season will be split into two parts, with “Erotic 80s” debuting on April 5, and “Erotic 90s” set to premiere in the fall. Episodes will focus on genres including erotic thrillers, body horrors, neo-noirs, and sex comedies, and will also trace the fallout of the Motion Picture Production Code, as well as the rise of X-rated movies. As always, new episodes will debut on Tuesdays.

“Nightmare Alley,” “Dune” and “No Time to Die” have won the top feature-film prizes at the 26th annual Excellence in Production Design Awards, which were held by the Art Directors Guild on Saturday evening in Los Angeles.

“Nightmare Alley” won in the Period Feature Film category, where the other finalists included “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “West Side Story,” both of which were nominated for the Oscar for Best Production Design.

“Dune” won in the Fantasy Feature Film category, where it was the only Oscar nominee in the running. And “No Time to Die” won in the Contemporary Feature Film category, in which none of the nominees had been recognized by Oscar voters.

“Encanto” took the award in the Animated Feature category.

In the 15 years since the current Adg categories were established, one of the Adg winners has gone on to take the Oscar for Best Production Design 12 times. In that stretch,...

Who’d have thought the 26th annual Art Directors Guild Awards would be such a good party?

Community alum and host Yvette Nicole Brown kicked things off with great energy and a few genuinely funny jokes. There followed two genuinely engaging acceptance speeches from Ethan Tobman and François Audouy and then a genuinely emotional — and funny — introduction from Kevin Costner for his longtime collaborator, production designer Ida Ransom, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

“I’m so impressed how many production designers are not freaked out by talking up here,” said a visibly nervous Costner. “It’s freaking me out.”

The guild also awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards to Donna Cline, Anne Harris and Denise & Michael Okuda.

Oscar-nominated Dune director Denis Villeneuve received the William Cameron Menzies Award, for which he credited all the production designers he has worked with, especially frequent collaborator Patrice Vermette. Vermette, it turns out, won the gong for Fantasy Feature Film.

The Visual Effects Society will present Guillermo del Toro with Ves Award for Creative Excellence on March 8.

del Toro will be honored for his consummate artistry and expansive storytelling that blends iconic visual effects and unforgettable narrative. Harnessing his intuitive vision, del Toro has created a distinctive cinematic style mixing the world of monster movies, comic books and exuberant visuals straight from his imagination.

“Guillermo is a fiercely inventive storyteller, who has pushed the boundaries of filmmaking,” said Ves Board Chair Lisa Cooke. “An exemplary talent, he has consistently elevated not just the technical aspect of visual effects, but also the emotional. Guillermo is an amazing creative force and a defining voice in our global community, and his body of work is a rich source of inspiration for future generations of artists and innovators. For Guillermo’s outstanding mastery of his craft, we are proud to honor him with the...

Exclusive: Oscar-winning production designer William A. Horning and Oscar-nominated production designer, costume designer and producer Polly Platt will be inducted into the Art Directors Guild’s Hall of Fame this year for their “extraordinary contributions to the art of visual storytelling.”

The guild’s 26th annual awards will be held in-person March 5 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.

“The creative and professional standards set by the 2022 Adg Awards Hall of Fame recipients Polly Platt and William A. Horning are nonpareil,” said Nelson Coates, the guild’s president. “The breadth of the narrative design achievement and depth of storytelling excellence of both legendary designers has served as a benchmark for production design and collaboration and will continue to inspire for generations to come.”

2022 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Oscars, SAG, BAFTAs & More

Horning, who died in 1959, won Oscars for Ben-Hur and Gigi and was Oscar-nominated for The Wizard of Oz,...

Director Sidney J. Furie discusses his favorite films he’s watched and re-watched during quarantine with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Dr. Blood’s Coffin (1961)

The Ipcress File (1965) – Howard Rodman’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Appaloosa (1966)

The Naked Runner (1967)

Lady Sings The Blues (1972)

The Entity (1982) – Luca Gaudagnino’s trailer commentary

The Boys in Company C (1978)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s review

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

The Apartment (1960) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)

Twelve O’Clock High (1949)

A Place In The Sun (1951) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Out Of Africa (1985)

The Last Picture Show (1971) – Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Annie Hall (1977)

The Bad And The Beautiful (1952)

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)

The Tender Bar...

A pained observation: The only intriguing stories on Hollywood this week consisted of obits – all kinds of obits. There were obits reminding us of the remarkable lives of Sidney Poitier, Peter Bogdanovich and Betty White. Also speculative obits about the Golden Globes, sentimental obits about the extinct 20th Century Fox and even speculative obits about MGM and ICM.

The obit frame of mind even extended to ticket buyers as a whole. Having anointed such films as West Side Story and The Power of the Dog as automatic award winners, critics wondered why ticket buyers seemed to be boycotting them. Had the movie audience disappeared into streamer heaven?

If the “business” obits were lugubrious, the personal ones often were inspirational. Obits for Poitier, who passed at age 94, documented a rich and fulfilling life – an appropriate reward for risks well taken. He also had strong personal ties with other strong-willed risk-takers, like Harry Belafonte.

In “The Last Picture Show,” Peter Bogdanovich vividly captured life in a dusty Texas town circa 1951 with an honesty and sexual candor that still feels bracing today. Bogdanovich, who died last week at the age of 82, received two Oscar nominations for the 1971 film and went on to make commercial hits such as “Paper Moon,” but never again scaled the same cinematic heights as he did with his early feature, which won statuettes for Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman. Ellen Burstyn, who received an Oscar nomination for her performance as Lois Farrow, a wealthy woman dissatisfied with her marriage, spoke to Variety about her experiences making the classic film and reflected on Bogdanovich’s life and legacy.

“They sent me the script for ‘The Last Picture Show’ and told me to look at the part of the waitress — that was one of three main female parts. The others were Lois, the role I eventually played,...

Chicago – The work of filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich – who passed away on January 6th, 2022, at age 82 – was inspired by the cinematic language of American movies, which he interpreted through his many classic films. His most fertile and imaginative period were three movies from 1971 through 1973, which began with his masterpiece, “The Last Picture Show.”

Bogdanovich’s personal life was also the stuff of legend, and contributed to to a less inspired creative period after 1973, but he made a major comeback with “Mask” (1985) and didn’t stop there … he directed six more narrative feature films thereafter, two documentaries and seven TV movies.

In 2016: Peter Bogdanovich at the 52nd Chicago International Film Festival

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Peter Bogdanovich was born in Kingston, New York, the son of Serbian immigrants. An early adapter of film scholarship, Bogdanovich kept a meticulous record of every film he ever saw...

Peter Bogdanovich was born too late, but also at just the right time.

The 82-year-old film critic, historian, advocate and maker, who died Thursday, first blinked his eyes in 1939, the year Alfred Hitchcock moved to Hollywood, Mr. Smith went to Washington and John Ford made “Stagecoach.” He’d surely love to have worked during the 50-year “Golden Age” he identified as 1912-1962. And though he is most closely associated with the New Hollywood movement of the late ’60s and ’70s, his filmography feels anything but modern.

Bogdanovich’s two best films, “The Last Picture Show” (1971) and “Paper Moon” (1973) were shot in black and white decades after the format had gone out of fashion — the first a poignant elegy to a tumbleweed Texas town, as seen through the eyes of its restless teenage population, the other a Depression-era road movie about a handsome grifter (Ryan O’Neal) and his precocious traveling companion...

Peter Bogdanovich, the actor, film historian and critic-turned-director of such classics as The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon, What’s Up, Doc? and Mask, died today of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. He was 82. Family members, who were by his side, said paramedics were unable to revive him.

His daughter, writer-director Antonia Bogdanovich, said of her father: “He never stopped working, and film was his life and he loved his family. He taught me a lot.”

Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery

While he would be best known later for his deadpan turn as the shrink’s shrink in The Sopranos, Bogdanovich exploded onto the cinematic scene in 1971 with The Last Picture Show, a box office hit he wrote and directed that drew comparisons to Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane and earned the filmmaker his only two Oscar noms — for Best Director and Adapted Screenplay. With a...

Peter Bogdanovich — whose “The Last Picture Show” and “Paper Moon” solidified his reputation as one of the most important filmmakers in the New Hollywood of the ’70s, but whose personal life threatened to overshadow his career behind the camera — has died, Variety has confirmed. He was 82.

The director also had acting roles on such shows as “The Sopranos,” on which he recurred as Dr. Melfi’s psychotherapist; “The Simpsons”; and as a DJ in Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2.”

Wildly prolific and celebrated early on, then mired in hubris-laced scandal when he became involved with two of his leading ladies — the first for whom he left his wife, the second a Playboy centerfold killed by her husband — Bogdanovich nevertheless remained busy directing, writing and acting through his late years, and emerged, like Martin Scorsese, as a scholarly champion of old-school American moviemakers.

Like his peers of the French New Wave,...

Prisoners of the Ghostland screenwriter/producer Reza Sixo Safai joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss his wildest cinematic experiences.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Infested (2002)

The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Hollywood Boulevard (1976) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary

Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla (1952) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary

Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)

Mandy (2018)

Candy (1968) – Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary

S.O.B. (1981)

The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary

Robin Hood (1973)

The Story of Robin Hood (1952)

Modern Times (1936)

The Kid (1921)

The Deer (1974)

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Qeysar (1969)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The Warriors (1979)

New Jack City (1991)

Colors (1988)

The Whip And The Body (1963)

Blow Out (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Porky’s (1981)

Cinema Paradiso (1988) – Glenn Erickson’s Region B Blu-ray review, Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review

Circumstance (2011)

Ninja 3: The Domination (1984)

Flashdance (1983)

Debbie...

Though there were vestiges of traditional Hollywood in 1971 with the releases of big musical “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” and an extravagant, albeit old-fashioned, historical epic “Nicholas & Alexander,” it was the untraditional fare that dominated the year with such films as Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange,” Alan J. Pakula’s “Klute,” Gordon Parks’ “Shaft” and John Schlesinger’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”

Two of the most lauded and influential films of the 1970s made their debuts 50 years ago and earned places in Oscars history: Peter Bogdanovich’s black-and-white study of a dying Texas town “The Last Picture Show” and William Friedkin’s pulsating crime thriller “The French Connection.”

Both directors had made movies before, but these productions made them critics darlings and each film changed the careers of their stars. “The French Connection’ won five Academy Awards including Best Picture, director, and actor for Gene Hackman. “The Last Picture Show...

Diana Ossana is flat on her back, wracked with grief. She’s just lost her best friend and writing partner, Larry McMurtry, a man she nursed through open heart surgery in 1991 and a couple of other heart attacks, who after three years of battling congestive heart failure, finally succumbed Thursday in his home in Archer City, Texas. He was 84. “Larry through stubbornness and brilliance kept going,” said Ossana. “He kept going. I feel like one of my limbs is cut off. We’re all pretty crushed.”

Ossana picked up the phone to talk about her writing partner of 28 years, with whom she shared the 2006 Screenplay Oscar for adapting Annie Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain.” “We were each other’s best friend,” she said. “Larry would tell people to call me in the last 10 years or so: ‘Ask Diana, she knows me better than I do myself.’ From the beginning of our friendship,...

Diana Ossana is flat on her back, wracked with grief. She’s just lost her best friend and writing partner, Larry McMurtry, a man she nursed through open heart surgery in 1991 and a couple of other heart attacks, who after three years of battling congestive heart failure, finally succumbed Thursday in his home in Archer City, Texas. He was 84. “Larry through stubbornness and brilliance kept going,” said Ossana. “He kept going. I feel like one of my limbs is cut off. We’re all pretty crushed.”

Ossana picked up the phone to talk about her writing partner of 28 years, with whom she shared the 2006 Screenplay Oscar for adapting Annie Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain.” “We were each other’s best friend,” she said. “Larry would tell people to call me in the last 10 years or so: ‘Ask Diana, she knows me better than I do myself.’ From the beginning of our friendship,...

Nudity in film has been around as long as the movies themselves — you just have to know where to look. Starting with the hedonistic pre-Code Hollywood all the way through the power-checking #MeToo moment, Danny Wolf’s comprehensive new documentary “Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies” unpacks the political, artistic, and social landscapes that allowed nakedness to happen, or not, on the big screen. , especially those with a predilection for depravity, and should send even the most learned moviegoer home with plenty of material to revisit or discover anew.

“Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies” opens with the idea that Hollywood, way back when, was far less prude than it is now — “the Sodom of the pacific,” one critic says — dating all the way back to D.W. Griffiths’ problematic early movies. But before the Hays Code made nudity in films a moral concern through its censorship guidelines,...

Polly Platt, production designer, screenwriter, producer, and key collaborator to auteurs such as James L. Brooks and Peter Bogdanovich, doesn’t get the credit she deserves as a creative genius.

The new season of “You Must Remember This,” Karina Longworth’s deeply researched podcasts on all things Hollywood history, aims to rectify that injustice. Entitled “Polly Platt, The Invisible Woman,” the series recounts Platt’s integral role in the creation of such classics as “The Last Picture Show,” “Paper Moon,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Broadcast News,” and “Say Anything.” It also details her stormy personal life — a battle with alcoholism, as well as the emotional toll exacted by the breakup of her marriage to Bogdanovich, who left her on the set of “The Last Picture Show” for Cybill Shepherd.

Platt was a barrier-breaker in every sense of the phrase, becoming one of the first women to be admitted into the production designers guild,...

Over the course of 168 episodes of her popular podcast “You Must Remember This,” Karina Longworth has made more than good on her promise to explore the “secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century.” Since the podcast’s inception in 2014, Longworth has turned her love of cinema (and passion for serious research) into a must-listen slice of Hollywood history that has covered everything from Disney’s controversial film “Song of the South” to the star-studded early years of MGM, the tragic lives of various “Dead Blondes,” the loves of Howard Hughes, plus an entire run of episodes “fact-checking” Kenneth Anger’s wild gossipy exposé “Hollywood Babylon.”

One thing Longworth has mostly resisted doing — beyond her 2016 series focused on Joan Crawford — is build an entire season around one indelible Hollywood name. For her latest season, Longworth has opted to dedicate 10 full-length episodes to the life and legacy of producer,...

Make way for the parade! Featuring Brian Trenchard-Smith, Eli Roth, Katt Shea, Thomas Jane, our very own Don Barrett and Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.

Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Screams of a Winter Night (1979)

Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game Of Death (1975)

I Think We’re Alone Now (2018)

The Rhythm Section (2020)

Atomic Blonde (2017)

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965)

The Ipcress File (1965)

Funeral In Berlin (1966)

Extraction (2020)

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

The Mermaid (2016)

Oklahoma! (1955)

Singin’ In The Rain (1953)

Nightcrawler (2014)

I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)

Ghetto Freaks a.k.a. Sign of Aquarius (1970)

Hostel (2005)

Cabin Fever (2002)

Final Cut: Ladies And Gentlemen (2012)

The Movie Orgy (1968)

Gremlins (1984)

The Goonies (1985)

Hell of the Living Dead a.k.a. Night of the Zombies (1980)

Troll 2 (1990)

In The Land Of The Cannibals a.k.a. Land of...

Rudy Behlmer, author of “Memo From David O. Selznick” and nearly a dozen other film-history books, died Friday at his home in Studio City, Calif. He was 92.

Behlmer was among the most widely respected historians of Golden Age Hollywood, in part because of his insistence upon researching “primary source material” and not relying on faulty memories or exaggerated press accounts of the time.

“Memo From David O. Selznick,” which Behlmer edited from thousands of Selznick’s private letters, telegrams and memoranda, was a best seller in 1972. Behlmer first interviewed the “Gone With the Wind” producer for a 1963 article for “Films in Review,” one of dozens of magazine pieces he wrote over the decades.

Other books followed: “Hollywood’s Hollywood: The Movies About the Movies”, “Inside Warner Bros. 1935-1951” (1985), “Behind the Scenes: The Making Of…” (1989) and “Memo from Darryl F. Zanuck” (1993).

Behlmer’s first book, co-written with fellow film historians Tony Thomas and Clifford McCarty,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSThanks to a donation of Dkk 300 million, the Danish Film Institute will now "digitise, study and disseminate Denmark’s entire silent film heritage, consisting of some 415 titles with a combined running time of around 350 hours." The project is the largest film dissemination effort in Danish history, as the films will be made available in an "online universe" for streaming. The iconoclastic French-Mauritanian filmmaker (and actor!) Med Hondo has died at the age of 82. Tambay Obenson provides a thorough remembrance at Indiewire, which includes this perceptive quote from the auteur: “I decided to make films to bring some black faces to the lily-white French screens, which have been ignoring us and the black contribution to the world for years.” The Tribeca Film Festival has announced the lineup for its 2019 edition, which includes films by Werner Herzog...

Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” has won more major awards this Oscar season than any other movie and yet its star, Yalitza Aparacio, has only a Critics Choice nomination to show for the film’s exceptional cast. If the movie gets no acting nominations from the academy next week, its rivals will be buoyed in the hopes of upsetting it for the best picture Oscar. Only 11 times, and only twice this century, has a movie won the top award without an acting nomination.

It seems that voters for the Golden Globes, BAFTA and the Screen Actors Guild have gone out of their way to ignore the 25-year-old Aparacio. Four actresses – Olivia Colman, Lady Gaga, Glenn Close and Melissa McCarthy – were nominated for those awards and will almost surely be on the academy ballot, as well.

But the fifth spot that Aparacio should have locked down for SAG and BAFTA went to...

It begins with a death — a car accident that takes the life of a legendary director on his 70th birthday — and ends with a giant phallic symbol toppling over. In between those two moments, you get young film critics arguing, old actors kvetching, a Jim Morrison doppelganger, a naked woman wandering around an abandoned back lot, John Huston dispensing insults by a swimming pool, an orgy in a public bathroom, mannequins being used for target practice, empty drive-in theaters and the world’s greatest sex scene in a moving car.

By Mark Lager

The times they were a-changin’ in the 1960s. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho did not feature a foreign monster (no Dracula vampire with an Eastern European accent or Cold War alien creatures or Japanese Godzilla.) The audience follows the main character (played by Janet Leigh) to an American motel where the caretaker Norman Bates appears to be a mild-mannered young man. Then he stabs the main character to death in a shower. The camera slowly zooms out of the eye of the beautiful young woman’s corpse. Norman Bates was inspired by the real-life serial killer Ed Gein, who committed two ghastly and grisly crimes in Wisconsin in the 1950s. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 traumatized the nation and the race riots in 1964 and 1965 showed a conflict and crisis in American society that could no longer be ignored. After midnight, on August 1, 1966 in Austin,...

By the time Cameron Crowe made Singles in 1992, the 35-year-old director was already a decade into his career's second act. A former journalist for Rolling Stone, he'd pivoted towards the movies after adapting his book about going undercover at a Los Angeles high school – Fast Times at Ridgemont High – for the screen in 1982. And his directorial debut, Say Anything... (1989), proved that he had a knack for capturing teen spirit.

Crowe, however, wanted his audience to grow up with him, so for his follow-up movie, he turned his attention to twentysomethings.

Steve Martin brings down the house with this adoring, hilarious pastiche of mad doctor and disembodied brain motifs — surely the epitome of cultured comedy. Under Carl Reiner’s direction Martin is marvelous, and he’s aided and abetted by the daring sexpot-turned comedienne Kathleen Turner — who has a better handle on outrageous sexy comedy than they do. It’s class-act nonsense and inspired silliness. Where else can a crazed surgeon proclaim his special screw-top skull surgery method, and utter the immortal words, “Scum queen?!”

The Man with Two Brains

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1983 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 90 93 min. / Street Date August 29, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Steve Martin, Kathleen Turner, David Warner, Paul Benedict, Richard Brestoff, James Cromwell, George Furth, Peter Hobbs, Jeffrey Combs.

Cinematography: Michael Chapman

Film Editor: Bud Molin

Production Design: Polly Platt

Original Music: Joel Goldsmith

Written by Carl Reiner, George Gipe, Steve Martin

Produced by William E. McEuen,...

In a career-spanning interview with Polly Platt for the DGA oral history series, director Henry Hathaway dismissed his 1956 thriller 23 Paces to Baker Street as a throwaway, one of those studio assignments he took without much relish. It’s yet another example of why filmmakers cannot be trusted when it comes to their own films, for while the material is slightly shopworn (and owes an enormous and obvious debt to Hitchcock’s Rear Window), Hathaway frames it with meticulous care and artistry. The movie follows Van Johnson as a blind playwright who thinks he overhears a crime being plotted; after the […]...

Savant uncovers the true, hidden ending to this Fritz Lang masterpiece. The moral outrage of Lang's searing attack on lynch terror hasn't dimmed a bit -- with his first American picture the director nails one of our primary social evils. MGM imposed some re-cutting and re-shooting, but it's still the most emotionally powerful film on the subject. Fury DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1936 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 92 min. / Street Date August 2, 2016, 2016 / available through the WB Shop / 17.99 Starring Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot, Edward Ellis, Walter Brennan, Frank Albertson, George Walcott, Arthur Stone, Morgan Wallace, George Chandler, Roger Gray, Edwin Maxwell, Howard C. Hickman, Jonathan Hale, Leila Bennett, Esther Dale, Helen Flint. Cinematography Joseph Ruttenberg Film Editor Frank Sullivan Original Music Franz Waxman Written by Bartlett Cormack, Fritz Lang story by Norman Krasna Produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Directed by Fritz Lang

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Just...

At the time of its production, Louis Malle’s 1978 title Pretty Baby (the title derived from the Tony Jackson song) was quite the scandal, a period piece frankly depicting child prostitution in turn of the century New Orleans. But like many provocative titles from the period (another being Richard Brooks’ Looking For Mr. Goodbar), decades of suppression has resulted in unavailability and a disappearance from modern cinematic conversations. Recently made available courtesy of the Warner Bros. Archive collection (solely on DVD) this is property begging for a more masterful restoration.

In the Red Lights district of 1917 New Orleans, legal prostitution is on the wane as a surge of conservative, religious rhetoric begins to sweep through the country. Nell (Francis Faye) owns a booming brothel in the famed Storyville district, and one of her most notable employees is Hattie (Susan Sarandon), whose twelve-year-old daughter Violet (Brooke Shields) has grown up within the house.

Deadline founder and former editor-in-chief Nikki Finke is up and running with Hollywood Dementia, a new website devoted to fiction showbiz stories written by Hollywood insiders. She tells me the site gets off the ground today with offerings from Hollywood lawyer Bertram Fields, David Letterman's head writer Bill Scheft, Antonia Bogdanovich (daughter of Peter Bogdanovich and Polly Platt), and TV and feature writers Peter Lefcourt, Cynthia Mort, Jay Abramowitz & Tom Musca…...

Cinema’s Hidden Pearls – Part II

By Alex Simon

One of nature’s rarest items, a pearl is produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a clam, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. Truly flawless pearls are infrequently produced in nature, and as a result, the pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable and valuable.

Hidden pearls exist in the world of movies, as well: films that, in spite of being brilliantly crafted and executed, never got the audience they deserved beyond a cult following.

Here are a few more of our favorite hidden pearls in the world of film:

1. Massacre at Central High (1976)

Dutch director, and former cameraman for the legendary Russ Meyer, Rene Daalder was hired by producers to direct an exploitation...

Women In Film is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting equal opportunities for women, encouraging creative projects by women, and expanding and enhancing portrayals of women in all forms of global media. Given that women comprise fifty percent of the population, Wif's ultimate goal is to see the same gender parity reflected on and off screen. Founded in 1973, Wif focuses on advocacy and education, provides scholarships, grants and film finishing funds and works to preserve the legacies of all women working in the entertainment community.

Since 1977, Women In Film, Los Angeles has annually honored outstanding women in the entertainment industry – women who lead by example, who are creative, groundbreaking, and who excel at their chosen fields. This year’s Crystal + Lucy Awards® fundraising dinner, in support of Wif La’s educational and philanthropic programs and its advocacy for gender parity for women throughout the industry, is being held on Tuesday, June 16 in the Los Angeles Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century City. The 2015 Crystal + Lucy Awards is sponsored by Max Mara, BMW of North America, and Tiffany & Co.

This year’s Crystal + Lucy Award honorees are:

2015 Crystal Award for Excellence in Film – Nicole Kidman 2015 Lucy Award for Excellence in Television – Jill Soloway 2015 Dorothy Arzner Directors Award® – Ava DuVernay The Women In Film Max Mara “Face of the Future®” 2015 – Kate Mara Presented by Nicola Maramotti Global Brand Ambassador for Max Mara

2015 Tiffany & Co. / Bruce Paltrow Mentorship Award – Sue Kroll 2015 Sue Mengers Award – Toni Howard

Cathy Schulman , President of Women In Film, Los Angeles, said in making the announcement, “We are proud to celebrate an extraordinary line-up of honorees this year. Each one of these women has made extraordinary contributions to the media art, and as a group they have forged sustainable careers that are emblematic of the positive and long overdue change that is taking root for women in Hollywood.”

Iris Grossman, President Emerita of Women In Film, Los Angeles, returning this year as Chair of the Awards, said “This year’s honorees are all women who have helped change the face of the business. Through their insight, determination, resilience and talent, they add substance and depth to their creative endeavors and to the entertainment industry as a whole.”

About the Honorees

Nicole Kidman / Crystal Award for Excellence in Film

The Crystal Awards were established in 1977 to honor outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. Past recipients include Cate Blanchett, Laura Linney, Viola Davis, Annette Bening, Donna Langley, Jennifer Aniston, Diane English and the cast of The Women, Renée Zellweger, Jennifer Lopez, Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Diane Lane, Halle Berry, Laura Ziskin, Jessica Lange, Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster, Angela Bassett, Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Alfre Woodard, Polly Platt, Lauren Shuler Donner, Diane Warren, Amy Heckerling, Paula Weinstein, Martha Coolidge, Buffy Shutt and Kathy Jones, Gale Anne Hurd, Nancy Malone, Maya Angelou, Lily Tomlin, Ruby Dee, Penny Marshall, Jessica Tandy, Barbara Boyle, Nikki Rocco, Jean Firstenberg, Lee Remick, Lina Wertmuller, Bette Davis, Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, Sherry Lansing, Nora Ephron, Dawn Steel, Fay Kanin, Lillian Gish, Whoopi Goldberg, Glenn Close and Amy Pascal.

Academy Award winning actress Nicole Kidman is internationally-recognized for her range and versatility. In 2002, Kidman was honored with her first Oscar nomination for her performance in the innovative musical, "Moulin Rouge!" For that role, and her performance in the psychological thriller "The Others," she received dual 2002 Golden Globe nominations, winning for Best Actress in a Musical. In 2003, Kidman won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award and a Berlin Silver Bear for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in Stephen Daldry’s "The Hours." In 2010 Kidman starred in "Rabbit Hole," for which she received Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Independent Spirit Award nominations for Best Actress. The film was developed by Kidman’s production company, Blossom Films. In October 2012 Kidman starred in Lee Daniel’s "The Paperboy." Her performance earned her an Aacta, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe nomination.

Upcoming films include "Strangerland," "The Family Fang" and "Genius." Kidman is currently in production on "The Secret in Their Eyes." Next up, she will being shooting The Weinstein Company’s "Lion."

In January of 2006, Kidman was awarded Australia’s highest honor, the Companion in the Order of Australia. She was also named, and continues to serve, as Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, Un Women, whose goals are to foster women’s empowerment and gender equality, to raise awareness of the infringement on women’s human rights around the world and to end violence against women. Along with her husband, Keith Urban, she has helped raise millions over the years for the Women’s Cancer Program which is a world-renowned center for research into the causes, treatment, prevention, and eventual cure of women’s cancer.

Jill Soloway / Lucy Award for Excellence in Television

The Lucy Awards were founded in 1994 by Joanna Kerns, Bonny Dore and Loreen Arbus and are presented in association with the Lucille Ball Estate. They were named for Lucille Ball, who was not only a legendary actress and comedienne, but also a producer, studio owner, creator and director. They are given to recognize women and men and their creative works that exemplify the extraordinary accomplishments she embodied; whose excellence and innovation have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television. Past recipients include: Kerry Washington, The Women Of "Mad Men" (Christina Hendricks, January Jones, Elisabeth Moss, Jessica Paré, Kiernan Shipka), Bonnie Hammer, Nina Tassler, Courteney Cox, Holly Hunter, Salma Hayek, Shonda Rhimes and the women of "Grey’s Anatomy," Geena Davis, Debra Messing and Megan Mullally, Blythe Danner, Lily Tomlin, Rosie O’Donnell, Amy Brenneman, Tyne Daley, Phyllis Diller, Marcy Carsey, Carol Burnett, Barbara Walters, Shari Lewis, Garry Marshall, Angela Lansbury, Marlo Thomas, Gary David Goldberg, Diahann Carroll, Tracey Ullman, Fred Silverman, Imogene Coca, Camryn Manheim, Norman Lear, Bud Yorkin and the casts of "Sex and the City," " If These Walls Could Talk" and "If These Walls Could Talk 2."

Jill Soloway is the creator of Amazon Studios' Golden Globe-winning, "Transparent," a dark, deep, silly family series about boundaries, love and secrets.

Soloway won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival for her first feature, "Afternoon Delight." She recently founded WifeyTv, an internet brand producing and curating content to ignite the feminist revolution. Soloway is a three-time Emmy nominee for her work writing and producing "Six Feet Under."

She co-created the theater experiences, "Real Live Brady Bunch," "Miss Vagina Pageant," "Hollywood Hellhouse" and "Sit N Spin," and co-founded the community organization East Side Jews. Soloway lives with her family in Silver Lake.

Ava DuVernay / Dorothy Arzner Directors Award

Dorothy Arzner was the first female member of the Directors Guild of America. In her honor, the Dorothy Arzner Directors Award® was established to recognize the important role women directors play in the film and television industries. Past recipients include: Jennifer Lee, Sofia Coppola, Pamela Fryman, Lisa Cholodenko, Catherine Hardwicke, Nancy Meyers, Barbra Streisand, Mimi Leder, Barbara Kopple, Gillian Armstrong, Lian Lunson, Joey Lauren Adams and Nicole Holofcener.

Nominated for two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, five Critics Choice awards, eight NAACP Image Awards and five Independent Spirit Awards, writer/director Ava DuVernay's most recent film "Selma" chronicles the historic 1965 voting rights campaign led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

She won the Best Director Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 for her acclaimed feature "Middle of Nowhere." Her previous narrative and documentary work includes the feature film "I Will Follow" and the documentaries Venus Vs.," "My Mic Sounds Nice" and "This is The Life."

In 2010, DuVernay founded the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (Affrm), a grassroots collective that distributes work from filmmakers of color. Prior to her directorial career, she worked as a film marketer and publicist for more than 14 years through her company, The DuVernay Agency.

Kate Mara / The Women In Film Max Mara “Face of the Future” Award

The Women In Film Max Mara “Face of the Future” Award® was inaugurated at Women In Film’s 2006 Crystal + Lucy Awards®. As the 13th year as presenting sponsor and longstanding Women In Film partner, Max Mara identifies an actress who is experiencing a turning point in her career through her work in the film and television industries with focus on her contributions to the community at large and recognizes her outstanding personal achievements and embodiment of style and grace. Past recipients include: Rose Byrne, Hailee Steinfeld, Chloë Grace Moretz, Katie Holmes, Zoë Saldana, Elizabeth Banks, Ginnifer Goodwin, Emily Blunt and Maria Bello.

Kate Mara made her feature film debut in "Random Hearts" for director Sydney Pollack. She then co-starred in Ang Lee’s "Brokeback Mountain" in which she portrayed Heath Ledger’s daughter. She also appeared in the Academy Award nominated film "127 Hours" with James Franco for director Danny Boyle and she co-starred in "Transcendence" alongside Johnny Depp and Morgan Freeman, which marked the directorial debut of Academy Award-winning cinematographer Wally Pfister.

Mara recently completed filming on location in Budapest director Ridley Scott’s outer space action film The Martian alongside Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain. Last fall, she completed filming the psychological thriller "Man Down" in which she plays the wife of a war veteran, played by Shia Labeouf and "Captive" in which she stars with David Oyelowo as a single mother struggling with meth addiction in the adaptation of the best-selling book An Unlikely Angel. This summer she will film "Morgan" for director Luke Scott, son of Ridley Scott, who will produce. Audiences will next see her star in "Fantastic Four" alongside Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell.

She received an Emmy Award® nomination for her role in David Fincher’s critically acclaimed television series, "House of Cards" in which she co-starred alongside Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.

Sue Kroll/ Tiffany & Co. / Bruce Paltrow Mentorship Award

The Tiffany & Co. / Bruce Paltrow Mentorship Award was created to honor the late director and great mentor Bruce Paltrow. This year, Wif Presenting Sponsor Tiffany & Co. has joined the Paltrow family in recognizing an entertainment industry professional who has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to mentoring and supporting the next generation of filmmakers and executives. Past honorees include Kathleen Kennedy and Sherry Lansing.

Sue Kroll is President, Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures. As marketing chief, she oversees the strategic creation and implementation of marketing campaigns for the Studio’s global releases and collaborates closely with the Studio’s principals on the strategic development of its slate of films.

Her leadership of global marketing has propelled the studio’s releases to record-breaking box office and myriad awards. Most recently, the Best Picture Oscar nominee "American Sniper" became the top-grossing domestic film release of 2014 and has grossed more than $500 million worldwide. Other recent successes include the "Harry Potter," "Dark Knight," and "The Hobbit" film series, as well as such award-winning pictures as "Gravity," "Argo" and "The Departed."

Kroll joined Warner Bros. in 1994 and headed International Marketing from 2000 to 2008, when she was named to her current role at the studio. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Film Independent, the Los Angeles-based non-profit that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, and is one of the inaugural members of Big Brothers Big Sisters’ Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program.

Toni Howard / Sue Mengers Award

The Sue Mengers Award , named for the legendary agent and given for the first time in 2015, will be presented annually to a representative who is, and has been, instrumental in guiding careers. Sue Mengers was an icon in the entertainment industry. She was one of the most influential talent agents of her time, when women were not the norm, and she was devoted to her clients.

Toni Howard is a partner at ICM Partners. Toni joined the agency’s talent department in 1991 and quickly became a leader in the division, having served as its department head for the better part of a decade. She oversees a celebrated and eclectic group of actors who appear in film, television and on stage and have garnered an astonishing 46 Academy Award® nominations, 148 Emmy® nominations, and 125 Golden Globe® nominations. Among her award-winning clients are Alan Alda, Candice Bergen, Michael Caine, Bobby Cannavale, Edie Falco, Samuel L. Jackson, Topher Grace, Holly Hunter, Michael Keaton, Nathan Lane, Spike Lee, Laura Linney, Catherine O’Hara, Lily Rabe, Christina Ricci, Tim Robbins, Michael Sheen, Maggie Smith, James Spader, Julia Stiles, and Christopher Walken. Throughout her career at ICM Partners, Toni has mentored many young agents to incredibly successful careers of their own.

Prior to joining ICM, Toni was an agent at the William Morris Agency for seven years. She began her entertainment industry career as a casting director, working on such iconic projects as "Tootsie," "Superman," "The Right Stuff" and "Something About Amelia."

Recognized by her distinctive voice, Toni was cast by director Alexander Payne as the voice of agent ‘Evelyn Berman-Silverman’ in the film "Sideways."...

As the Golden Globe for Best Picture, Comedy or Musical went to Fox Searchlight’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, director Wes Anderson took the stage flanked by his cast and proceeded to thank everyone from Fox Searchlight execs to individual members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

“I’m not going to spend many of my few seconds up here thanking people like Steven Rales and Scott Rudin and Jim Gianopulos and Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula, Jane and Owen, Ralph and Hugo, Jeremy, Bill, Rowan and Jason, Randy and Edward, and Adrian and Jason, Jeff and Tilda, Jim and Rick, and especially James L. Brooks and Polly Platt,” said Anderson.

“Instead, I’m going to focus on the membership of the Hollywood Foreign Press: Yorum and Dagmar and Yukiko and Munawar and Lorenzo, Armando, Husam, Jean-Paul, Hans, Helmut – these are the people I want to thank tonight, and many...