News

by Nathaniel R

Happy Phil Stern Centennial! "who?" you say? Phil Stern, you philistines! He's one of the great Hollywood photographers. He lived a very long life, dying just 5 years ago at 95 years young but his work was largely before our time. We grew up with Herb Ritts and Annie Liebovitz as the biggest names in celebrity photoshoots but as long as Movie Stars have existed there have been artists behind the camera helping to mythologize them. Stern was one of those idolmakers taking several amazing photos of James Dean, Charlton Heston, Liz Taylor and many other important celebrities from the 20th century. Though celebrity portraits and candids weren't his only claim to fame having also been a war photographer. 

After the jump 14 other images from Stern's vast portfolio that we adore...

In today’s film news roundup, Kevin Hart, Mike Medavoy and “Princess of the Row” are receiving honors and Atom Tickets expands.

Awards

Kevin Hart will receive this year’s CinemaCon International Star of the Year award at the convention’s awards show on Thursday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nev.

“With his films continuously earning the top spot at the box office, Kevin Hart has brought some of the most entertaining comedic films to audiences around the world and continues to prove that he is one of the most dynamic and agile actors today,” said Mitch Neuhauser, managing director of CinemaCon.

****

“Princess of the Row” topped “Windows on the World” for audience award at the Method Fest, based on tallies of votes taken as the audience exited screenings of premieres.

“Princess of the Row” also won the festival’s breakout acting award for Edi Gathegi’s work as a homeless father.

Steve Carell is back in the Oscar race with “Beautiful Boy” for fall of 2018. Based on a pair of bestselling memoirs, it tells the harrowing true story of David Sheff‘s (Carell) desperate attempts to help his drug-addicted son, Nic (Timothee Chalamet). How does this performance fit in with the rest of the actor’s output? Let’s take a look back at 14 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Carell first came to prominence as a correspondent on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” appearing as a regular cast member from 1999 to 2005. He left the nightly news satire to play bumbling boss Michael Scott in “The Office,” a role which brought him six Emmy nominations as Best Comedy Actor and a Golden Globe win in 2006.

After supporting roles in such films as “Bruce Almighty” (2003), “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” (2004), “Melinda and Melinda” (2004), and “Bewitched” (2005), Carell moved into...

Woody Allen’s most recent creation, Cafe Society, is a visually-stunning film set in 1930’s Hollywood. Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) is the son of a Jewish family in 1930’s New York, and working for his jeweler father. Aspiring for greater things, Bobby ventures to Hollywood, where he lands a job working for his uncle Phil Stern […]

Source: uInterview

The post ‘Cafe Society’ BluRay Review: Woody Allen Takes On Hollywood’s Golden Age appeared first on uInterview.

Mark Harrison Published Date  Thursday, September 8, 2016 - 05:15

No one could reasonably expect that Woody Allen's 47th film Café Society would be some enormous trend-breaking statement, somehow pointing the way to the next 47 films. His movies are mixed up in nostalgia and romance and the self-perpetuating critical discussion about each new one, which has come along once every year for at least the last three decades, is of whether or not it's a return to form or evidence of a decline.

His breakthrough hits of the last decade, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Midnight In Paris and Blue Jasmine, are elevated into the former category, but most everything else seems to get dismissed as a cinematic fixture. If you've been a fan or viewer for any length of time, it's a bit like going to the same barber, getting the same annual haircut and hearing the same stories about the same preoccupations and neuroses.

Chicago – In the 1930s, the contrast between the world of Hollywood movie sparkle and the rest of a Depression-era America was as different as peasants and kings. Writer/director Woody Allen captures this dichotomy with an East Coast/West Coast tale of one family in “Café Society.”

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Since this is a Woody Allen film, there is a also some star-crossed lovers involved, when a woman gets between a nephew and his uncle. This intrigue drives the story, and Allen puts some family conflict in the midst, as the Jewish kin that are featured illustrates how different life was in that era of America. Throw in a little tribute to the film “Casablanca,” and “Café Society” has a vibe of glamour and fascination, with the usual jokey observations that Woody likes to sprinkle throughout his stories.

Phil Stern (Steve Carrell) is a high powered agent in mid-1930s Hollywood. He...