HBO's 'Phil Spector' Issues Odd Disclaimer: 'We're Not Based on a True Story'
March, 20, 2013 1:00 pm | Comments On #Al Pacino, David Mamet, HBO, Helen Mirren, lana clarkson, phil spector, TelevisionHBO’s upcoming film “Phil Spector” has taken a different tack from all the other recent movies that have been based on true stories.
That’s because the film, which takes place during the trial of record producer Phil Spector for the 1993 shooting death of Lana Clarkson, insists in its opening credits that it is not based on a true story.
“This is a work of fiction,” reads a card at the beginning of the film, which was written and directed by David Mamet. “It’s not ‘based on a true story.’”
This, even though Spector and Clarkson are characters in the film, in which music-producer Spector is accused of the murder of...
Read MoreHow Oscar-Nominee 'War Witch' Improvised the Gut-Wrenching Tale of Child Soldiers
February, 27, 2013 12:07 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Awards, Best Foreign Language Film, independent film, indies, Kim Nguyen, Movies, oscars, War Witch“Amour” was always the clear favorite in the Oscar foreign-language category, and its win on Sunday was one of the least surprising parts of a generally unsurprising ceremony.
But if Michael Haneke’s drama hadn’t been in the mix, there’s a good chance that Kim Nguyen’s “War Witch” would have emerged as a serious contender for the prize.
The film is the wrenching story of a teenage girl who becomes a child soldier in an unnamed African country – and then, because she can see the dead, the “witch” of the gang of rebels.
Also read:...
Read More10 Moments to Remember From a Long, Strange Awards Season
February, 26, 2013 6:34 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Amour, argo, Awards, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Ben Affleck, documentaries, Jessica Chastain, oscars, Searching for Sugar Man, Silver Linings Playbook, zero dark thirtyAwards season typically begins with the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals in early September and ends with the Oscars in late February. But in compiling a list of 10 moments that stood out in the long, tangled and odd 2012-13 season, I had to start more than a year ago, with a couple of things that happened before last year’s Oscars even took place.
It was a year in which the Academy’s attempt to hurt the Golden Globes sent the process into disarray and nominations morning confounded everybody, a year of online voting and a year in which the movie that was counted out in early January came roaring back to take the Dolby stage in triumph in late February.
Here are 10 moments that stood...
5 Things We Want to Know About That Oscar Show
February, 25, 2013 12:46 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, adele, Awards, barbra streisand, Chicago, Craig Zadan, J. Ralph, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Mychael Danna, Neil Meron, oscars, Seth MacFarlane, SkyfallWhat was that?
The 85th Academy Awards -- I know the producers opted to just call it “The Oscars,” but it really was the 85th Academy Awards -- ended an unusual awards season with an unusual show.
Seth MacFarlane’s entire opening centered on how bad a host he might prove to be, hardly the most promising stance from which to proceed. He got Tommy Lee Jones to laugh with his first joke of the night -- “And the quest to make Tommy Lee Jones laugh begins now” -- and then acted as if he were determined that Tommy Lee should never laugh again.
Also read: TheWrap's Complete Coverage of the 2013 Oscars
There were big musical numbers from decade-old musicals, and a Barbra Streisand...
Read MoreOscars 2013: On a Night the Academy Spreads the Wealth, Ben Affleck Gets Last Laugh
February, 24, 2013 10:03 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, Anne Hathaway, argo, Awards, Ben Affleck, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence, Lincoln, oscars, Steven Spielberg, zero dark thirty
Well, nobody feels sorry for Ben Affleck now.
Although his film “Argo” seemed to have been dealt a fatal blow on Jan. 10 when the Academy’s Directors Branch failed to nominate Affleck in the Best Director category, all it did was temporarily turn one of the most charming, good-looking, charismatic actor-directors in town into two things you wouldn’t think he’d ever be: an underdog and a victim.
And from that position, Affleck tirelessly and quickly worked to put himself and his film back on top.
Also read: Oscars 2013: The Complete List of Winners
It...
Read MoreOscars 2013: Signs Point to an 'Argo' Triumph, But Can You Trust the Signs?
February, 24, 2013 10:37 am | Comments On #Academy Awards, Amour, argo, Awards, Ben Affleck, Craig Zadan, David O. Russell, Emmanuelle Riva, Jennifer Lawrence, Kathryn Bigelow, Life of Pi, Neil Meron, oscars, Silver Linings Playbook, zero dark thirtyFive months after “Argo” debuted as a sneak preview at the Telluride Film Festival, almost 20 weeks after “Lincoln” had its own sneak at the New York Film Festival, and 401 days after “Beasts of the Southern Wild” took Sundance by storm, the moment of truth has arrived.
Those three films, and six others competing for Best Picture at the 85th Academy Awards, will learn their fates on Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre. “Argo” could make history as only the second film in 80 years, and the fourth overall, to win the top Oscar without a Best Director nomination … or it could make history as the first film not to win Best Picture after taking awards from all four of the major Hollywood guilds.
...
Read More'Silver Linings Playbook' Dominates the Indie Spirit Awards
February, 23, 2013 3:22 pm | Comments On #Awards, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin, David O. Russell, Film Independent Spirit Awards, independent film, indie spirit awards, indies, Moonrise Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook, spirit awards, Wes Anderson(See TheWrap's Complete Oscars Coverage)
The Film Independent Spirit Awards embraced the mainstream hit over the scrappy indie on Saturday afternoon, with David O Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” winning the Best Feature award in a field that also included the Sundance sensation and Oscar nominee “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
With additional...
It's Indie Vets Vs. Upstarts at a Varied Independent Spirit Awards
February, 22, 2013 2:51 pm | Comments On #Awards, Beasts of the Southern Wild, film independent, Film Independent Spirit Awards, independent film, indie spirit awards, indies, Moonrise Kingdom, Silver Linings Playbook, spirit awardsAfter finding the Oscars encroaching on their territory for a number of years, have the Film Independent Spirit Awards finally gotten a little space from their bigger, flashier weekend neighbor?
You’d think so, given that six of the Oscars’ nine Best Picture nominees have grossed more than $100 million, and the roster of represented companies includes Warner Bros., Universal, 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney and Sony.
But one of those $100 million films, David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook,” will be competing for five Indie Spirit Awards on Saturday, the day before it takes its eight nominations to the Oscars.
Also read:...
Read MoreWith 6 $100 Million Nominees, Oscar's Slate Is One of the Richest Ever
February, 21, 2013 4:15 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, argo, Awards, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, oscars, Silver Linings Playbook, zero dark thirtyWhen “Silver Linings Playbook” crossed the $100 million mark at the box office this week, the David O. Russell film became the sixth of the nine current Best Picture nominees to reach that milestone.
In doing so, it joined “Lincoln” ($177 million), “Django Unchained” ($158 million), “Les Miserables” ($146 million), “Argo” ($127 million) and “Life of Pi” ($112 million), with a seventh nominee, “Zero Dark Thirty,” close behind at $89 million.
That makes this year the first time in history that six nominees have topped $100 million. You can’t make too much of that milestone, since the Oscars only had five Best Picture nominees from 1944 to 2008 – but it’s also a sign of just how effectively the Academy’s move to expand the Best Picture has worked in bringing...
Read MoreOscars Producers Promise Singing and Dancing - But Don't Ask About Show Length
February, 20, 2013 6:23 pm | Comments On #Academy Awards, adele, Awards, barbra streisand, Craig Zadan, james bond, Les Miserables, Neil Meron, oscars, Seth MacFarlane, SkyfallAt the end of the year, Academy Awards show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will produce a live, televised version of the musical "The Sound of Music." But before that, they've got the Oscars to finish – and that show, to hear them tell it, might as well use "the sound of music" as its own subtitle.
Veterans of the Broadway stage, television and film who have often specialized in musicals, Zadan and Meron detailed their plans (some of them, anyway) to TheWrap in a lengthy and wide-ranging conversation that took place this week in the office they share backstage at the Dolby Theatre. It's the first time they've been back to the theater since...
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Description
Steve Pond, author of the L.A. Times bestseller The Big Show, has been covering entertainment for more than two decades. He also writes on the awards circuit for TheWrap, in his column "The Odds."
