Weekend Watch List: Wolf of Wall Street, American Hustle & More
Just about everybody’s aware that Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are back with their fifth film together in their Wall Street bacchanal The Wolf of Wall Street. But Marty and Leo aren’t the only game in town. We take a quick look at what’s out in theaters this weekend as we wind down this incredible year in film.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Based on the book by stockbroker and former cretin Jordan Belfort,
Subtle Shorthand: Directors & Actors Who Keep Working Together—Part II
Some frequent collaborations between a director and actor are so high wattage they’re known by last name alone: Scorcese and DiCaprio. Burton and Depp. But other repeated pairings of a director and actor glow a little less brightly. Some are even under the radar. In part two of a two-part series, the Credits reveals what makes four such collaborations tick. Read part one here.
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Actor: Danny Trejo
Movies (10): Desperado (1995);
“My Muse”: Directors & Actors Who Keep Working Together—Part I
The Wolf of Wall Street marks the fifth collaboration between director Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio. But not all frequent director-actor pairings are made in A-list heaven. Many high-profile directors collaborate repeatedly with an actor who simply shares a similar vision, understands their method, or can read between the lines of a script—no matter if the actor is famous or a B-lister. In part one of a two-part series, the Credits takes a look at four frequent director-actor pairings you may not have realized have been right under your nose for years to discover what makes those collaborations tick.
Going Viral: The Hilariously Savvy Selling of Anchorman 2
When Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was released in July 2004, YouTube was just a glimmer in the eye of three PayPal employees and the world’s now-ubiquitous social network was still known as The Facebook and open only to college students. What a difference nine-and-a-half years makes.
Despite being released almost exactly two years before the launch of Twitter (and three years before star Will Ferrell and co-writer/director Adam McKay created their wildly popular humor channel,
Gift Guide: 10 New Books for Film Lovers
2013 was a fantastic year for film, and it also turned out to be a fantastic year for books about or by filmmakers. Memoirs, book-length interviews, biographies, histories and insightful how-to guides offer the film lovers and budding auteurs in your life inspiration, illumination and, very often, serious laughs.
Here’s a short list of some of great books on our favorite subject released in the past year. Whether you’ve got a hipster, horror lover or anime fan on your Christmas gift list,
Fashion Lessons From 10 Golden Globe Nominated Actors & Actresses
When we looked at the Golden Globes list of acting nominees, we were struck by how these characters would make really compelling fashion icons. Seriously. Aside from being a spectacular year for film, it's been a spectacular year for costume design. American Hustle alone is like a hair and wardrobe fever dream—you know you're enjoying everything about a film when you could mute it and still marvel at what's on display.
Explaining the Characters of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug via Photos
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth has a teeming population that can be very hard to keep track of. Hobbits, dwarves, elves, orcs, wizards, trolls, goblins, men, women, giant eagles, giant spiders, stone giants, wargs, skin-changers, and yes, dragons (to name a few).
With the release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug coming December 13, we thought a good way of reacquainting you with some of the characters (and introducing you to some new ones) would be through visual identification.
AFI Joins New York, Los Angeles, Boston & More With Film Award Announcements
Unless you’ve gone to a screening, you’ve probably not gotten a chance to see David O. Russell’s American Hustle (December 20) or Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street (December 25) yet, but film critics have, and they’re being mentioned as two of the best films of the year. They join the robust list of great movies that have already been released this year, creating a glut of truly remarkable films that are giving critics from New York to Los Angeles (and points in between) a remarkably hard task as they hand out their awards.
Thor-Inspired Contest Encourages Young Women to Pursue STEM Careers
Ten high school students at the top of their science game took a trip to Hollywood to meet the cast of Thor and visit with a host of inspirational women scientists along the way.
When Aurora Hake, a ninth grader at Annie Wright School in Washington, heard about Thor: The Dark World Ultimate Mentor Adventure, she immediately began preparing her video application. The contest—a joint venture designed by Marvel,
Meeting Of The Memes: J.R.R. Tolkien’s 21st Century Film Fandom
J.R.R. Tolkien has long been known for having an eclectic group of die-hard fans. From modern-day celebrities like Stephen Colbert (unequivocally one of the most hardcore Tolkien fans of our time, who elicited this from Peter Jackson: "I've never met a bigger Tolkien geek in my life." ) to the 1960s counter culture attachment to The Lord of the Rings and 1970s rock bands who wrote epic songs about the books,
Walt Disney a Movie Character for 1st Time in Delightful Saving Mr. Banks
In the tradition of the behind-the-scenes Hollywood story comes Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks. The crowd-pleaser, set for a December 20 release, employs the studio’s time-tested, multi-layered storytelling approach to the tale of how Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) managed in 1961 to convince prickly Australian author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) to release the rights to her successful books about a nanny named Mary Poppins.
It’s a departure for the stalwart studio,
Trailer Talk: Holiday Weekend Special
There’s some great films coming out, and there's still a lot of greats left in theaters. Let’s take a quick tour of what’s out there so you have an excuse to take a two hour (or more) break from the festivities and enjoy some quality time with your cinematic friends.
Thor: The Dark World
Thor's back in the second installment and he's got a whole lot of trouble brewing.
Thanksgiving Holiday Movie Survival Guide
Thanksgiving is a great holiday for bingeing—not just on food but also on films. As we did last year, we’re providing you with a Thanksgiving Movie Survival Guide.
So loosen that belt (or your sweatpants band) and enjoy all the cinematic bounty on offer. The Thanksgiving holiday is a major cinematic feast.
*All times Eastern Standard
Wednesday, November 27
Morning
It’s transit day for many of us,
The Rose Theatre in Washington State: A Beloved Local Movie House Embraces Digital
If you want to get cinematic about it, you could say that Rocky Friedman is like Humphrey Bogart’s Rick in Casablanca. Both men hold court nightly in neighborhood joints that reflect their refined and idiosyncratic tastes. Like Rick’s café, there’s always action at Rocky’s.
Some of it takes place on screen.
Friedman, 60, is the owner of the Rose Theatre in the tiny seaport of Port Townsend, Washington.
Christopher Nolan and the Increasing Utilization of IMAX Cameras in Film
Camera nerds, film lovers, Nolan-heads and even some regular film enthusiasts were abuzz earlier this week when word spread that Christopher Nolan was up to some wild business (once again) with an IMAX camera. Nolan is probably the format’s most prodigious advocate (he’s part of a tribe of filmmakers who utilize the bulky-but-beautiful technology), and he always seem to be pushing the boundaries of what can (and should?) be done with these cameras. This past Monday,
Kind of a Big Deal: Anchorman Gets Newseum Exhibit
When Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues opens Dec. 20, Ron Burgundy’s news prowess won’t be the only thing on display. So too will a whole new batch of period attire, newsroom props, and—if we’re lucky—maybe another pair of burgundy briefs.
Some of those props will simultaneously be on display at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., where an Anchorman exhibit opens today with a prominent, mysterious feature: A black false wall that reads,
Documentarian Robert Kline Talks Oliver Stone, JFK, & Release of JFK DVD Box-Set
Veteran filmmaker Robert Kline served as Oliver Stone’s producer on Stone’s 1993 film Heaven and Earth. But that didn’t stop the two from arguing about who killed President John F. Kennedy.
“Oliver and I have been on location in Vietnam, and in various areas of the world, and I’ve said to him, ‘You still haven’t given me compelling proof [of a conspiracy]. You optioned two books, one by Jim Garrison and the other by Mark Lane and you made a movie.
The Many Moving Parts to The LEGO Movie
The toys and games of our youth have long been fodder for filmmakers. There have been six films (all direct-to-video, it should be noted) made from Mattel’s ‘American Girls’ line. Dungeons & Dragons was made into a feature film in 2000 and starred Oscar winning actor Jeremy Irons. G.I. Joe has been called into duty twice, in 2009 and just this year, in monster big budget spectacles. Transformers have been clanging their multi-purpose parts together since 2007 in three films,
Soundtrack Heaven: Inside Llewyn Davis, Her & More
Part of what we try to do on this site is introduce you to all the people who make movies. By that we mean all the people, as each film you see is a final product that was assembled by dozens, sometimes hundreds, of talented people.
Looked at a certain way, there's a Russian nesting doll quality to the medium—the director and the stars are the largest doll in the set,
Star Wars: Episode VII’s Galaxy of Talent Behind J.J. Abrams
As useful as IMDBpro is, it’s recommendable to take the “projects in development” rubric with at least a grain or two of salt. Because really, how could one man have 28 projects in development, including the next Star Trek and Mission Impossible, while also working on a little film franchise called Star Wars?
If it were any one other than J.J. Abrams, you’d be right to assume that most of these would fall through,
