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After leading dark comedy “A Different Man” and Donald Trump biopic “The Apprentice,” Sebastian Stan is slated for iconic filmmaker Elaine May’s fifth and final feature, “Crackpot.” However, production is still waiting on a shadow director for the 92-year-old May.

Stan said during “The Big Picture” podcast that he is on board the project, which was first announced in 2019. Dakota Johnson is set to co-lead alongside Stan, but Stan said he still doesn’t know the status of the film — and he’s casting his net in hopes of helping May find a shadow director to insure the movie. It’s a common set practice with older filmmakers.

“I have this thing, I don’t know if it’ll ever get going,” Stan said. “I have this thing that Elaine May was going to direct. It was going to be her last film and her first film since ‘Ishtar.

Anthea Sylbert, an Oscar-nominated costume designer who worked on some of the signature films of the late 1960s and 1970s, including “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Carnal Knowledge,” “Chinatown,” “Shampoo,” “Julia” and “King Kong,” and a producer later in her career on a number of films starring Goldie Hawn, has died. She was 84.

Her death was confirmed by Robert Romanus, her stepson.

Sylbert, subject of a forthcoming documentary by Sakis Lalas titled “Anthea Sylbert: My Life in 3 Acts,” also served as an executive at United Artists and Warner Bros., at a time when there were few women in the C-suites of Hollywood. She also worked repeatedly with director Mike Nichols, both onscreen and onstage, and was Oscar-nominated for her costuming on period films “Chinatown” (1974) and “Julia” (1977).

Assessing Sylbert’s work on “Chinatown,” GlamAmor, a website dedicated to the history of fashion in film, said in 2012: “Sylbert crafted clothes for Faye Dunaway that...

Before now there has never been a full-length biography of Elaine May, the icon known for being one-half of Nichols and May and the director of A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky, and the hilarious, unfairly maligned Ishtar. Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius is the book that fans of May have been wanting for, well, the entire career of the comedian, screenwriter, playwright, and filmmaker.

The world, it seems, was waiting for Carrie Courogen. The writer, whose work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Pitchfork, pored through archives, conducted interviews, and dug deep to highlight a person who has avoided the spotlight for decades. Miss May Does Not Exist obviously enhances one’s knowledge of May, but it also succeeds in something far greater: it deepens our cultural appreciation for a figure whose...

Jan Haag, who a half-century ago founded the landmark Directing Workshop for Women at the American Film Institute, has died. She was 90.

The remarkable Haag, who also was an actress, painter, poet, novelist, playwright, writer of travel stories and creator of needlepoint canvases, some of which required hundreds of hours to complete, died Monday in Shoreline, Washington, according to the AFI and the Mb Abram agency.

Haag had directed dozens of educational films for the John Tracy Clinic and the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare when she became the first woman accepted into the Academy Intern Program at the AFI in 1970, three years after it was founded by George Stevens Jr.

She was assigned to Paramount’s Harold and Maude (1971), directed by Hal Ashby, then joined the AFI staff in 1971, and among her duties was to administer the nonprofit’s film grant program funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

When Barbra Streisand’s “Yentl” opened on Nov. 18, 1983, directing was very much a man’s world. In the 1970s, there had been a few inroads for women. Italian director Lina Wertmuller was nominated for best director for 1976’s “Seven Beauties” Stateside, actress Barbara Loden, who was married to Oscar-winning director Elia Kazan, wrote, directed and starred in the acclaimed 1970 indie drama “Wanda,” which won best foreign film at the Venice Film Festival. She never followed up with another movie and died of breast cancer in 1980.

There was also Joan Micklin Silver (“Hester Street”), Claudia Weill (“Girlfriends”), Martha Coolidge (“Not a Pretty Picture”), Joan Tewkesbury (“Old Boyfriends”) and Joan Darling (“First Love”). But those filmmakers ran into brick walls when they tried to set up projects with the major studios. The late Silver told Vanity Fair in 2021 that a studio executive didn’t mince his word: “Feature films are expensive to make and expensive to market,...

Actual People.Because when I fall into the abyss, I go straight into it, head down and heels up, and I'm even pleased that I'm falling in just such a humiliating position, and for me I find it beautiful.—Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers KaramazovHumiliation is one of humanity’s cruelest jokes, one of its most repugnant punishments. The Latin root of the word, “humus,” translates to “earth,” or “dirt,” the idea that a person loses dignity and returns to something inhuman, crude and trampled on. The fear of being humiliated is a specter persuasive enough to shrink whole personalities, curtail ambitions, end life as someone knew it. Many mainstream filmmakers avoid its narrative possibilities because, maybe, to degrade a character would mean to degrade the film itself. I don’t think that’s the case. To see humiliation depicted onscreen can be like witnessing a corpse flower blooming: compelling, strange,...

The angriest filmmaking fights that I’ve witnessed over the years have not been about cost or cast; they were about length. The movies were too long but so were the fights.

I re-lived some of them this week when I saw Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. It’s is a big success with audiences at 3 hours and 26 minutes. That’s about an hour longer than Napoleon, Ridley Scott’s epic that opens next month, and half an hour longer than Oppenheimer.

My confession: I start getting twitchy when movies lunge pass the two-hour mark — an attention deficit problem that supposedly affects Gen Z more than geriatrics. I’ve been influenced by filmmakers like Hal Ashby, who started as an editor and believed that “films should tell their story and move on” (I worked with him on Harold & Maude and Being There).

Given my twitchiness, I suspected...

The Governors Awards, an annual event that presents Hollywood luminaries with honorary Oscar statuettes, is a reprieve, of sorts, from the awards season grind.

Sure, there’s plenty of small talk and crudités to go around. But unlike most shows, which announce the winners in real time, this stop on the Oscar trail is void of a certain kind of anxiety. Recipients — this year’s batch consisted of Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann, as well as Danny Glover, who was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award — are revealed far in advance, taking away any jitters about leaving the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland empty handed. Attendees, a mix that included Quentin Tarantino, Magic Johnson, director Ava DuVernay, “Black Panther” costume designer Ruth E. Carter and Rita Wilson, were able to mix and mingle with honorees in a comparatively low-stakes atmosphere. No campaigning necessary.

Most Oscar nominees...

When screen acting pioneer Lillian Gish was presented with an honorary Academy Award exactly 50 years ago, she broke new ground as the first female director to receive one, having helmed “Remodeling Her Husband” over half a century earlier. Within the last four years, internationally renowned filmmakers Agnès Varda and Lina Wertmüller have followed her lead. Now, the academy has chosen to recognize the eclectic career of multihyphenate Elaine May, thus making her a member of this exclusive club.

Along with Danny Glover, Samuel L. Jackson, and Liv Ullmann, May is set to be honored at the upcoming 12th annual Governors Awards. The 89-year-old has earned this accolade because her “bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers.” Often cited as a revolutionary comedic genius, her work ethic and achievements have only garnered more respect and admiration over time.

As a child of stage actors,...

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced today that early next year, Honorary Oscars will be presented to actors Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Liv Ullmann (Cries & Whispers), and writer/director/actor Elaine May (A New Leaf). These honorary awards are intended “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion […]

The post Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover, Elaine May, and More to Receive Honorary Oscars appeared first on /Film.

Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann will receive honorary Oscars this year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday. Danny Glover will also receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Governors Awards ceremony on Jan. 15, 2022.

“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy president David Rubin said in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers. Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover’s decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his dedication...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday that its Board of Governors voted to present the annual Honorary Awards to Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award will be given to Danny Glover. The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Academy’s 12th annual Governors Awards on Saturday, January 15, 2022, in Los Angeles.

Academy President David Rubin summed up the recipients’ impact, cinematic and otherwise, in the following statement: “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers.”

Rubin added, “Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover’s decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors voted to present Honorary Oscars to Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Danny Glover, the Academy announced on Thursday.

The four Honorary Oscars will be presented at the Academy’s 12th Governors Awards on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Los Angeles.

“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy president David Rubin said in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers. Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover...

Nevertheless, she persisted.

Elaine May, who turns 89 on Wednesday, has enjoyed a late career resurgence, earning a Tony Award for her work in Kenneth Lonergan’s play “The Waverly Gallery” and directing an acclaimed documentary on her friend and frequent collaborator Mike Nichols for American Masters. Even “Ishtar,” her much derided 1987 flop, clawed its way into the black by the early aughts, as emails from the Sony hack revealed.

And yet, it’s impossible not to feel as though movie lovers and comedy fans have been robbed of decades of great work because the entertainment industry never quite knew what to make of May. Her struggles to remain true to her unbending artistic compass in a bottom-line-driven industry derailed her directing ambitions. May’s resume is slender, consisting of just four features, but what’s there is choice. There are three masterworks, “Mikey and Nicky,” “The Heartbreak Kid” and “A New Leaf,...

The Criterion Channel has unveiled their March 2021 lineup, which includes no shortage of remarkable programming. Highlights from the slate include eight gems from Preston Sturges, Elaine May’s brilliant A New Leaf, a series featuring Black Westerns, Ann Hui’s Boat People, the new restoration of Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi.

They will also add films from their Essential Fellini boxset, series on Dirk Bogarde and Nelly Kaplan, and Luchino Visconti’s The Damned and Death in Venice, and more. In terms of recent releases, there’s also Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century and Claire Denis’ Let the Sunshine In.

Check out the lineup below, along with the teaser for the Black Westerns series. For weekly streaming updates across all services, bookmark this page.

The Adventurer, Charles Chaplin, 1917

Bandini, Bimal Roy, 1963

Behind the Screen, Charles Chaplin, 1916

Black Jack, Ken Loach, 1979

Black Rodeo, Jeff Kanew, 1972

Blood Simple, Joel and Ethan Coen,...

Golden Anniversaries, which is co-presented by Cinema St. Louis (Csl) and the St. Louis Public Library, features classic films celebrating their 50th anniversaries. This fourth edition of the event will highlight films from 1971.

Because in-person screenings remain problematic during the pandemic, Cinema St. Louis will hold free online conversations on the films, with people watching the films on their own but gathering virtually to discuss them.

Film critics, film academics, and filmmakers will offer introductory remarks and then participate in discussions about the films. In addition to a fine selection of St. Louis critics, Golden Anniversaries will feature several experts from elsewhere.

The conversations will be offered as free livestreams at 7:30 Pm on the second Monday of every month in 2021 except November, when the St. Louis International Film Festival (Sliff) hopes to feature several in-person Golden Anniversaries selections.

The first four discussions are already scheduled:

Jan. 11: Peter Bogdanovich...

After a few relatively quiet weeks to wrap up June’s home media releases, July comes roaring back with a slate of titles that genre fans will definitely want to add to their Blu-ray and DVD collections. Arrow Video has been staying extremely busy as of late, with three different releases coming out on Tuesday: Black Rainbow from Flash Gordon director Mike Hodges, Zombie for Sale, and Teruo Ishii’s Inferno of Torture. Criterion Collection is also celebrating an all-time sci-fi classic this Tuesday, The War of the Worlds, and if you haven’t had a chance to check it out on Shudder, Belzebuth is headed to both Blu-ray and DVD this week as well.

Leomark is showing some love to the Godfather of Gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis, with their Blu-ray presentation of Bloodmania, and Kino Lorber is resurrecting The Flesh and the Fiends for a Special Edition Blu this week,...

by Cláudio Alves

After many years redefining the paradigms of American comedy along with Mike Nichols on the New York stage, Elaine May made the jump to the movie business when she appeared as an actress in some late 60s cinematic endeavors, including Mike Nichols' The Graduate. It wouldn't take long for her to branch out and, by 1971, she was writing, directing, and starring in A New Leaf.

In our last piece about this intrepid artist, we looked at that movie and how May's genius was able to transcend the interference of pushy producers and remain a near-masterpiece. This time, we'll be looking at the picture May directed after that flick, a production that suffered much less interference from panicky executives. It's also the only picture May directed she didn't also write and the single one of her movies to ever be nominated for the Academy Awards.

We're, of course,...

“If all of the people who hate ‘Ishtar’ had seen it,” Elaine May famously said, “I would be a rich woman today.” On Wikipedia’s list of the biggest box-office disasters, with losses over $100 million (at current dollar values), “Ishtar” doesn’t even rate a mention. That’s because the movie lost about $91 million — more in the range of a box-office dud like “Cats.”

But to this day, Elaine May’s 1987 comedy adventure about two floundering singer/songwriters meandering around the Sahara — played by Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman — is considered one of Hollywood’s great box-office debacles, rivaled only by Michael Cimino’s studio-destroying “Heaven’s Gate,” with its loss of $126 million.

Here’s why “Ishtar” outlasted so many bigger money-losers as the poster child for a troubled belly-flop.

Media Coverage

From in front, “Ishtar” was a troubled production. One red flag went up when May (who directed the hit...

Purple Rain, The Last Waltz, Platoon, She’s Gotta Have It and Clerks were among the 25 films added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, the organization announced Wednesday.

2019’s list of motion pictures — selected for their “cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation’s film heritage” — include an “unprecedented” seven films by female directors, including Kimberly Peirce’s Boys Don’t Cry, Elaine May’s A New Leaf and Patricia Cardoso’s Real Women Have Curves.

In addition to Prince’s 1984 classic and Martin Scorsese’s documentary about the Band’s all-star farewell gig,...

Since 1989, the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress has been accomplishing the important task of preserving films that “represent important cultural, artistic and historic achievements in filmmaking.” From films way back in 1897 all the way up to 2005, they’ve now reached 775 films that celebrate our heritage and encapsulate our film history.

Today they’ve unveiled their 2019 list, which includes Elaine May’s A New Leaf, Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It, Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz, the Prince feature Purple Rain, Oliver Stone’s Platoon, Claudia Weill’s Girlfriends, Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, George Cukor’s Gaslight, and more.

“The National Film Registry is an essential American enterprise that officially recognizes the rich depth and variety, the eloquence and the real greatness of American cinema and the filmmakers who have created it, film by film,” said Scorsese.

Check out the full list below and you can...

The Library of Congress has unveiled its annual selection of 25 films added to the National Film Registry, with an unprecedented seven titles directed by women, the most in a single year since the inaugural registry in 1989. (Scroll down for the full list.)

Among those making the cut for 2019 are Kimberly Peirce’s 1999 Oscar winner Boys Don’t Cry; Greta Schiller’s 1984 documentary Before Stonewall; Claudia Weill’s 1978 Girlfriends; Gunvor Nelson’s 1969 avant-garde pic My Name Is Oona; Elaine May’s A New Leaf, which in 1971 made her the first woman to write, direct and star in a major American studio feature; the 2002 indie Real Women Have Curves, directed by Patricia Cardoso; and Madeline Anderson’s 1970 I Am Somebody, which is considered the first documentary on civil rights directed by a woman of color.

Also notably added to the Film Registry are such classics as George Cukor’s 1944 Gaslight, which won...

“Purple Rain,” “Clerks,” “She’s Gotta Have It,” “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “Amadeus,” “Sleeping Beauty,””Boys Don’t Cry” and “The Last Waltz” are among this year’s additions to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

The list also includes 1944’s “Gaslight,” starring Ingrid Bergman in an Oscar-winning performance; the 1955 film noir “The Phenix City Story,” based on a real-life murder in Alabama; Disney’s 1959 canine tearjerker “Old Yeller”; Oliver Stone’s 1986 Best Picture winner “Platoon,” based on his own experiences in Vietnam; and Luis Valdez’s “Zoot Suit,” which tells the story of the 1943 Sleepy Lagoon Murder and the racially charged riots that followed.

A place on the list — always made up of 25 films — guarantees the film will be preserved under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act. The criteria for selection is that the movies are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant.

“The National Film Registry has become...

Outside of the likes of Charles Laughton and Barbara Loden, there are seldom other directors who have earned such a reputation after directing so few films as Elaine May. With four narrative films to her name–1971’s A New Leaf, 1972’s The Heartbreak Kid, 1976’s Mikey and Nicky, and 1987’s Ishtar–and the majority initially met with either studio pushback or neglect from audiences, it has, sadly, resulted in May not helming a film in over 30 years.

While she did direct the TV documentary Mike Nichols: American Masters a few years ago, May also wrote with her longtime collaborator Nichols on a few projects in the past few decades since Ishtar. One film was set to be directed by May’s partner Stanley Donen, who co-wrote the script with her, and produced by Nichols, but with both men now sadly having passed away, it never saw the light of day.

In today’s film news roundup, Afm tells attendees that Santa Monica isn’t burning, the La Film Critics honor Elaine May and MarketCast hires a Nielsen executive.

Afm Reassurance

With less than a week before the American Film Market opens in Santa Monica, Afm has assured attendees that the beachside city has not been hit by the region’s wildfires.

The Getty Fire near the Getty Museum is the closest fire. The blaze, which ignited on Oct. 28, is about seven miles away from Afm headquarters at the Loews Hotel. It has now burned more than 700 acres, forcing evacuations from more than 7,000 homes.

“We would like to assure you that there are no fires in Santa Monica,” Afm said in a message. “Some media have referred to fires in the ‘Santa Monica Mountains.’ This mountain range is actually in Los Angeles, miles from Santa Monica. There is no threat to the Santa Monica business area.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (Lafca) will honor legendary actress, writer and director Elaine May with this year’s Career Achievement Award. She will be presented with honor at the organization’s annual awards dinner on January 11, 2020, at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City.

A filmmaker, actor, and comedian, May has a resume of films that includes A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid, Mikey and Nicky and Ishtar. She is a two-time Academy Award nominee, receiving nods for Best Adapted Screenplay for Heaven Can Wait and Primary Colors. Acting-wise, she appeared in Enter Laughing, California Suite, In the Spirit and Small Time Crooks. In 2019, she won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play in The Waverly Gallery. Prior to that, she received the National Medal of Arts in 2013.

Lafca’s awards voting is set for December 8 with the winners being honored along with May at the January event.

Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.

Metrograph

The director’s cut of Woodstock plays on 35mm this Saturday.

The Pasolini retrospective continues.

The restorations of A Bigger Splash and Audition still screen.

A series on documentarian Kevin Rafferty runs this weekend.

Whale Rider and Max Mon Amour play at opposite ends of the day.

Museum of the Moving Image

“See It Big!

Of the four noted directorial efforts from writer-director Elaine May, whose career behind the camera ended after the critical debacle of 1987’s infamous Ishtar, perhaps the most underrated and masterful is her 1976 offering Mikey and Nicky. Judging from the presence of its costars, Peter Falk and John Cassavetes, the title and cast suggest the essence of the latter lead’s filmography. But its unique and original narrative feels as similarly free-spirited and unconventional as any of Cassavetes’ greatest cinematic offerings.

Following on the heels of her oft-celebrated and frequently referenced first two features, A New Leaf (1971) and The Heartbreak Kid (1972), which has since been remade, May turned to something more personal for her third exploration of betrayal, basing her narrative on actual characters and events from a background which included her own mafia affiliated family.…...

Elaine May and Walter Matthau in A New Leaf. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures/Photofest.Two bright young comedians emerge on the Broadway scene, with a fresh act and brand of humor. Dropping out of their act with their fame still on the rise, it was not long before Hollywood came calling. One of these comedians directed over fifteen features, and racked up countless awards, prestige, and acclaim. The other was Elaine May, and she has directed only four films. Until recently (and even now), her films were hard to find, a sad gap in film comedy. Her term as filmmaker was one spent suffering constant battles with studios, moneymen, and critics. Eventually, after the public debacle of her fourth feature, Ishtar (1987), she decided to hang up her director’s cap. One gets the impression she may be more at ease with this than we are; she was never a fan of spotlight.

Walter Matthau would’ve celebrated his 98th birthday on October 1, 2018. Born in 1920, the actor was a celebrated performer on both the stage and screen, known for his gruff, rumpled persona. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 15 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Matthau turned to acting after serving in the United States Army Air Force during WWII. He became a frequent presence on the small screen with appearances in “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Goodyear Playhouse,” and “The Du Pont Show of the Week” (which brought him an Emmy bid in 1963), to name a few. During this period he also appeared in several films, few of them comedies, including “A Face in the Crowd” (1957) and “Fail Safe” (1964).

At the same time, he gained increasing respect as a stage actor with Tony Award-winning performances in “A Shot in the Dark” (Featured Actor in a Play...

Filtered through her experience as an unequalled comic performer, writer-director Elaine May scores a bulls-eye with this grossly underappreciated gem, fashioned in a style that could be called ‘black comedy lite.’ And that’s the release version mangled by the producer. What might it have been if May had been allowed to finish her director’s cut?

A New Leaf Olive Signature

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1971 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 102 min. / Street Date December 5, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.99

Starring: Walter Matthau, Elaine May, Jack Weston, George Rose, James Coco, Doris Roberts, Renée Taylor, William Redfield, David Doyle.

Cinematography: Gayne Rescher

Original Music: Neal Hefti

Written by Elaine May from a story by Jack Ritchie

Produced by Hilliard Elkins, Howard W. Koch, Joseph Manduke

Directed by Elaine May

Olive’s next title up for Signature Collection status is A New Leaf, the directing debut of comedienne-writer Elaine May. It’s certainly a worthy title.

When Greta Gerwig’s already-lauded “Lady Bird” hits limited release later this week, the actress-writer-director will join a long line of other female filmmakers who used their directorial debut (this one is Gerwig’s solo directorial debut, just for clarity’s sake) to not only launch their careers, but make a huge mark while doing it. Gerwig’s Saoirse Ronan-starring coming-of-age tale is an instant classic, and one that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has enjoyed Gerwig’s charming work as a screenwriter in recent years, bolstered by her ear for dialogue and her love of complicated and complex leading ladies.

While Hollywood still lags when it comes to offering up opportunities to its most talented female filmmakers, many of them have overcome the dismal stats to deliver compelling, interesting, and unique first features. In short, they’re good filmmakers who made good movies,...

On Monday, August 28, 2017, Turner Classic Movies will devote an entire day of their “Summer Under the Stars” series to the late, great Louis Burton Lindley Jr. If that name doesn’t sound familiar, well, then just picture the fella riding the bomb like a buckin’ bronco at the end of Dr. Strangelove…, or the racist taskmaster heading up the railroad gang in Blazing Saddles, or the doomed Sheriff Baker, who gets one of the loveliest, most heartbreaking sendoffs in movie history in Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

Lindley joined the rodeo circuit when he was 13 and soon picked up the name that would follow him throughout the length of his professional career, in rodeo and in movies & TV. One of the rodeo vets got a look at the lank newcomer and told him, “Slim pickin’s. That’s all you’re gonna get in this rodeo.

After polling critics from around the world for the greatest American films of all-time, BBC has now forged ahead in the attempt to get a consensus on the best comedies of all-time. After polling 253 film critics, including 118 women and 135 men, from 52 countries and six continents a simple, the list of the 100 greatest is now here.

Featuring canonical classics such as Some Like It Hot, Dr. Strangelove, Annie Hall, Duck Soup, Playtime, and more in the top 10, there’s some interesting observations looking at the rest of the list. Toni Erdmann is the most recent inclusion, while the highest Wes Anderson pick is The Royal Tenenbaums. There’s also a healthy dose of Chaplin and Lubitsch with four films each, and the recently departed Jerry Lewis has a pair of inclusions.

Check out the list below (and my ballot) and see more on their official site.

100. (tie) The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese,...

The lines have officially been blurred.

On Jan. 12, news broke that Paula Patton had filed legal documents asking to limit ex-husband Robin Thicke‘s joint custody of their 6-year-old son, Julian, accusing Thicke of physical abuse. Thicke denied committing any abuse in a court filing, and on Thursday an L.A. judge denied Patton’s request, according to a source close to the situation.

The former couple divorced in 2015 after eight years of marriage, and until now appeared to have kept things amicable. But their new dispute brought to light several contentious issues, with Patton, 41, claiming concern over alleged drinking and drug use by Thicke,...

Mark Harrison Jul 1, 2016

Need a laugh? Here's our guide to 25 comedies that are on Netflix UK now, and are well worth your time...

Putting aside all of the chunter about VPNs and rising subscription costs for a moment, there are more hidden gems to be discovered on Netflix UK than you might expect, and we've been combing through the streaming site's current catalogue to find some of the most underappreciated comedies on offer.

We've come up with this fairly broad selection of films that varies on several fronts. We've picked out a mix of belly laughers and dark comedies, with a couple of dramedies thrown in for good measure. They're not all big Hollywood comedies, but neither are they all films that you're hearing about for the first time, though we've tried to order them according to how well known they may or may not be. What they all have...

“Criminally unfair. Those are the two words that spring to mind when I consider the fate of female directors throughout the short history of the cinematic medium. Not enough opportunity. Appalling sexism. Terrible chance and circumstances, coupled with biases, slander and mistrust,” our friend Scout Tafoya stated when asking a group of critics for their favorite films directed by female filmmakers. He added, “When I began asking for these lists from all the critics below many replied reluctantly. Their reasoning that so many of their films would be modern, that so many of the classics would be homogenous, is not without justification. But it’s no one’s fault that we all fall back on the same seven classics.”

He continues, “It’s a worldwide shortage of support and funding for female artists. It’s a lack of distribution of more esoteric work by women. It’s many major film...

Rushes collects news, articles, images, videos and more for a weekly roundup of essential items from the world of film.Above: the trailer for Spike Lee's new joint, Chi-raq.We're hotly anticipating Dennis Lim's new book on David Lynch. The New Yorker is running an excerpt, quoted below, the Criterion Collection has posted a section about Mulholland Dr., and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, which Lim heads, has announced its suggestive series pairing films by Lynch with those by Jacques Rivette."In Lynch’s own speech and in the speech patterns of his films, the impression is of language used less for meaning than for sound. To savor the thingness of words is to move away from their imprisoning nature."Screening in the above series is Rivette's marvelous Don't Touch the Axe, to which Notebook contributor Ryland Walker Knight has penned a poem: "...The game that is...

All week long our writers will debate: Which was the greatest film year of the past half century. Click here for a complete list of our essays. How to decide in the grand scheme of things which film year stands above all others? History gives us no clear methodology to unravel this thorny but extremely important question. Is it the year with the highest average score of movies? So a year that averages out to a B + might be the winner over a field strewn with B’s, despite a few A +’s. Or do a few masterpieces lift up a year so far that whatever else happened beyond those three or four films is of no consequence? Both measures are worthy, and the winner by either of those would certainly be a year not to be sneezed at. But I contend the only true measure of a year’s...

My criteria for movies to include in "best of the year" lists are very loose, as compared to various critics' organizations and other film-awards groups. For example, I would never disqualify Birdman from Best Score because it includes music from other composers. (Otherwise I'd never be able to qualify my all-time favorite score, from The Bad News Bears, but I digress.) The point is to present an interesting list of notable movies I saw in/around 2014, not to nitpick.

So my "notable films of 2014" list includes movies that were released in 2014, no matter when I saw them, as well as movies I saw in 2014 even if they haven't had a theatrical release. And, you know, whatever the hell else I want. If I'd done a 2013 list I probably would have topped it with A New Leaf (1971) because that was by far the best movie I saw that year. (It's on Amazon Prime and Blu-ray.

A New Leaf

Written by Elaine May

Directed by Elaine May

USA, 1971

Fellow Canadian cinephiles know that our local version of Netflix has a terrible wheat-to-chaff ratio. The thin library, coupled with the still-not-great Ui, makes it so that a disproportionately large amount of legwork has to be put into just browsing for movies. Then there’s what available. It’s unlikely that you’ll find a movie olden than you on the front page. This is because the collection sharply skews recent: at time of writing, approximately 0.01% of the films in the library were released before 1960. For comparison, about 58% of the films currently available were released this decade. Despite all this, though, I come here today not to bury Netflix Canada, nor to tear it a new one, but to provide fellow Canucks with a road map to navigating Netflix’s choppy waters. And with that, I welcome you...

It’s always fascinating to see a comedic actor rise up and show his/her true skill as a actor years into their careers. We’re not in the early days of Hollywood where actors were assigned to star in specific genre films. Each one is given the creative freedom to test their skills in a variety of roles, but it unfortunately doesn’t always work out right for them. There needs to be a fine combination of the right time, opportunity and talent to make it happen, and that’s exactly what happened to actor Jonah Hill.

Since he first popped onto the scene in the early 2000s he’s been known as the witty comedic actor with a recognizable face, and hairdo, that audiences quickly latched onto. When it was announced that he would co-star alongside Brad Pitt in the 2011 movie “Moneyball,” there were obviously a few skeptics...

Once in awhile, you look at an Austin Film Festival panel listing and your heart just goes pitter-pat. Or thumpity-thump. Or whatever noise it is when you are especially excited about a panelist. I may be old and jaded but still susceptible. When I saw Elaine May would be in Austin for the fest, I decided I would go hear her speak no matter what time of day it was and what else I was supposed to be doing.

But last week was a little crazy for me, and I am never very organized with my fest scheduling, so it's not really surprising I got the date of Elaine May's panel wrong and missed it. (Dale Roe has a great write-up.) However, I did make it to Rollins on Friday to see A New Leaf for the first time and enjoy a Q&A from star/writer/director May.

 

I'll be out at Zilker Park this weekend for the second round of the Austin City Limits festival, but you can avoid the crowds (and potential thunderstorms) by hitting the movies. For those of you who missed out on Fantastic Fest this year, take note that several of this year's titles are opening or being featured with select screenings in town over the next week.

I am truly saddened that Acl is going to keep me away from Austin Film Society's 35mm booking of Peeping Tom, but it's one that you won't want to miss. It's the movie that basically destroyed Michael Powell's reputation upon release, but has since gone on to be recognized as one of the greatest thrillers of all time. It's playing tonight and again on Sunday afternoon at the Marchesa. An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story had its world premiere at SXSW earlier this year,...

Laura, a jewelry designer based out of Southampton, noticed that after her son Brandon was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, that there was no symbol for the disease. That’s when she took matters into her own hands and designed a symbol and founded ‘A New Leaf For Diabetes.’ She hopes the leaf will become an international symbol of hope for people affected by diabetes.

Laura Bee has spent her entire life living and breathing the detrimental affects that Type 1 Diabetes has had on her 23-year-old son, Brandon Bee, who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 10. With the help of Southampton Social Club’s annual 2013 Charity Hamptons Poker Challenge on Sept 1, she’s hoping to get the attention of the American Diabetes Association to make this the official symbol for the cause!

Laura Bee Creates ‘A New Leaf For Diabetes’ — Her Inspiration

Brandon was also diagnosed with ulcerative colitis later in life,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Nov. 12, 2013

Price: Blu-ray $59.99

Studio: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Nov. 22, 2013, marks 50 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and Warner honors the anniversary with the release of a new version of Oliver Stone’s (Savages) Oscar-winning movie: JFK 50th Commemorative Ultimate Collector’s Edition.

The 1991, R-rated film looks at the aftermath of the killing, with New Orleans Da Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner, Dances With Wolves) suspicious of the FBI’s official story and launching his own investigation. Like in many of Stone’s movies, Garrison discovers that there’s more to the story than what the public is being told.

JFK won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, and was nominated for another six, including Stone for Best Director, Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive) for Best Supporting Actor, John Williams’ original score, the adapted screenplay and the biggie, Best Picture.

The cast...

Justine Smith

Bright Star, Jane Campion

Orlando, Sally Potter

Trouble Every Day, Claire Denis

Cleo 5 a 7, Agnes Varda

A New Leaf, Elaine May

The Night Porter, Liliana Cavani

American Psycho, Mary Harron

Anatomy of Hell, Catherine Breillat

Point Break, Kathryn Bigelow

Everyone Else, Maren Ade

Ricky D

Connection, Shirley Clarke

Wuthering Heights, Andrea Arnold

35 Shots of Rhum, Claire Denis

Meshes of the Afternoon, Maya Derin

Seven Beauties, Lina Wertmuller

The Hitch-Hiker, Ida Lupino

Lina Wertmuller- Swept Away

Meek’s Cutoff, Kelly Reichardt

Headless Woman, Lucrecia Martel

Xxy, Lucía Puenzo

Special mention:

Skyscraper – Shirley Clarke

Wasp – Andrea Arnold

On Dangerous Ground – Ida Lupino (uncredited)

Wanda

Chris Clemente

Little Miss Sunshine, Valerie Faris

American Psycho, Mary Harron

Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola

We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay

Fish Tank, Andrea Arnold

Monster, Patty Jenkins

A League of Their Own, Penny Marshall

Wayne’s World, Penelope Spheeris

Clueless, Amy Heckerling

Point Break,...

Not too long ago I asked the Sound On Sight staff to choose their ten favourite films of all time. The result led to mixed reactions (both by staff and readers), and some angry feedback. But how could any of us select only ten films from the thousands we’ve seen and walk away happy with the results. The fact is, of all the films which received a vote, it was those more widely available who made the cut. In other words, films such as The Godfather and Pulp Fiction stood a greater chance of receiving more ballots than say, obscure foreign gems.

My biggest disappointment with the picks, although only ten films were spotlighted, was the lack of votes for films directed by women. Could it be that none of us here at Sound On Sight valued great directors such as Claire Denis, Agnès Varda, Chantal Akerman or Lina Wertmüller?...

Moviefone's Pick of the Week "The Five-Year Engagement" What's It About? Jason Segel and Emily Blunt play a happily devoted couple whose impending nuptials keep getting delayed by her rising career. See It Because: Segel re-teams with his "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" co-writer and director for another romantic comedy that's very R-rated. It's a little too long, but with a supporting cast including players from "The Office," "Parks & Rec," "30 Rock" and "Community," it's pretty much an all-star team of funny people. (Also Available on Amazon Instant Video) New on DVD & Blu-ray "High School" What's It About? An MIT-bound star scholar tries weed for the first time, the night before his psycho principal (Michael Chiklis) imposes a school-wide drug test. In order to get away with his crime, he concocts a ridiculous plan to get the entire school stoned -- with the help of even more psycho dealer (Adrien Brody). In the end,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 4, 2012

Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95

Studio: Olive Films

Walter Matthau prepares for the ride of his life in A New Leaf.

The 1971 comedy favorite A New Leaf marks the directorial debut of Elaine May (The Heartbreak Kid, Ishtar), who also penned the film’s screenplay.

Henry Graham (Walter Matthau, Who’s Got the Action?) is a man with a problem: he has run through his entire inheritance and is completely unequipped to provide for himself. His childhood guardian, Uncle Harry (James Coco, The Cheap Detective), refuses to give him a dime, so Henry devises a plan with the help of his imaginative butler (George Rose, Hawaii) to make his money the old-fashioned way – he can marry it. But he cannot see himself as a happily married man, so he comes up with an even more devious solution… with a temporary loan from his uncle, Henry has six...