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Over the course of his nearly 40-year career, Steven Zaillian has reinvented himself almost as many times as Tom Ripley, the indelible lead character of his latest project, Ripley. He’s written films about erudite cannibals, baseball statisticians, American gangsters, serial killers, and chess prodigies. “Each time I go out, I feel like I’m doing it for the first time and that it requires different material, requires a different approach,” Zaillian tells Tudum.

Zaillian is freshly nominated for both writing and directing Emmys for his work on Ripley — accolades that join a healthy group of previous awards (including an Oscar for writing Schindler’s List and a Directors Guild of America award for his direction of The Night Of). He joined Tudum for a wide-ranging conversation about his entire career, from his work on Awakenings to his directorial debut with Searching for Bobby Fischer, and finally to the lavish con...

Casting director Avy Kaufman admits even she was skeptical when Steven Zaillian asked her to come on board to cast “Ripley,” the Netflix limited series based on Patricia Highsmith’s classic novel “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” The story had already been adapted to screen, most notably in Anthony Minghella’s Oscar-nominated 1999 film.

“At first, I was wondering why Steve was doing this,” Kaufman says bluntly. “I’ve been lucky enough to work with him on many other projects, so I know how talented he is, but to reboot is really risky.” But the final product, which boasts 13 Emmy nominations, including a nod for casting, quelled any doubts. “It’s like a piece of art,” Kaufman raves. “I was really impressed. It tells so many different stories and gets inside the characters. I just think it’s a masterpiece.”

Kaufman first worked with Zaillian on his feature directorial debut, 1993’s “Searching for Bobby Fischer...

Movies and series about strategy games have always intrigued audiences with their intense intellectual challenges and the fascinating lives of their players. From the intricate manoeuvres of chess to the high-stakes world of poker and the nostalgic charm of arcade games, these films offer a detailed look into the minds of strategic geniuses. Let’s take a glimpse of some of the best movies and series that highlight the art of game mastery.

Chess Mastery on Screen

Chess has long been celebrated not only as a game of skill but also as a profound mental challenge that tests a player’s strategic thinking and foresight. Movies and series about chess offer viewers a window into this world of intense competition and intellectual rigour.

Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)

“Searching for Bobby Fischer” is a heartfelt portrayal of a young chess prodigy’s life. The film centres on Josh Waitzkin, a boy...

I think I can say this on behalf of the entire collective of reporters who cover television: Nothing makes us groan more than when a series star or producer refers to the setting as another “character” in their show.

And yet, I may have to temper my cynicism. Because in the era of prestige TV, often quite a bit of work and effort goes into making the show’s location pop — so much so that I’m almost as excited to watch the background as I am the action.

Could it be that the cliché is right? It certainly feels that way in some of this year’s Emmy contenders, much to the credit of the production designers and location scouts who make that happen. For example, watching Giancarlo Esposito take control of his life through any means necessary in AMC’s “Parish” is powerful — but the fact that he...

June 4, 2024 – Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley, beloved James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan and Star Wars universe luminary Mark Hamill form the ultimate vocal rogues’ gallery in Mofac Animation’s upcoming The King of Kings, an animated family film inspired by a little-known short story by Charles Dickens depicting the life and times of Jesus Christ.

Kingsley voices High Priest Caiaphas, who presided over the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus. Hamill takes on the role of King Herod, who, according to the Gospel of Matthew, ordered the Massacre of the Innocents in an attempt to kill Jesus as an infant. And Brosnan gives animated life to Pontius Pilate, who ultimately ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. The triumvirate of villainous voices further enhances the A-list cast behind the faith-based animated film, which also includes Academy Award & Emmy Award winners Kenneth Branagh (Belfast) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Golden Globe...

“I’m not someone who takes advantage of people,” Tom Ripley tells his new friend Dickie Greenleaf in the second episode of the new Netflix thriller Ripley. By this point, viewers have ample evidence that Tom is, in fact, exactly the kind of someone who takes advantage of people, even if Dickie and his girlfriend Marge are charmed by his company and oblivious to the threat he poses to them.

Many viewers will go into Ripley already understanding that Tom is, as one character will put it later in the show,...

The talented “Ripley” team is being feted ahead of the series premiere.

IndieWire can exclusively announce that Netflix-owned cineplexes The Paris Theater and The Bay will host two respective retrospective exhibits honoring “Ripley” writer/director Steven Zaillian and “The Talented Mr. Ripley” author Patricia Highsmith. Netflix’s limited series “Ripley” stars Andrew Scott in the titular lead role as the 1960s grifter who is hired by a wealthy man to travel to Italy to try to convince his vagabond son, Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), to return to the States. The limited series focuses on a sinister core love triangle between Ripley, Dickie, and Dickie’s fiancée Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning). The show debuts April 4 on the streaming platform.

The Paris Theater screening program is titled “Criss Cross: Highsmith & Zaillian on Screen” and features adaptations of Highsmith’s “Carol” and “Strangers on a Train” alongside Zaillian’s “Searching for Bobby Fischer,...

Jake Gyllenhaal has been in the movie industry since he was 11 years old. Born to a director-father and screenwriter-mother, both him and his older sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal, were part of the movie business before they even made it. With impressive filmography and a career spanning decades, Jake Gyllenhaal has made a name for himself in Hollywood.

Jake Gyllenhaal in Road House

With movies like Donnie Darko, Nightcrawler, and even superhero projects like Spider-Man: Far From Home, Gyllenhaal has made movies that are loved by millions. But do you know which movie Jake Gyllenhaal considers to be his favorite? Well, it’s none other than the 1996 Tom Cruise hit, Jerry Maguire, which the Road House star considers to be “a quintessential ’90s movie.”

Jake Gyllenhaal Loves Tom Cruise’s Jerry Maguire

Back in 2014, actor Jake Gyllenhaal sat with Rotten Tomatoes to rank his top 5 favorite movies of all time. He named...

August isn't especially famous for its great movies. As months go, the eighth one on the calendar has often been a bit of a wasteland for Hollywood, as blockbusters peter off, kids have a lot less free time and money, and studio executives need to find somewhere to dump their proverbial dead bodies.

If you want a good example, you can pretty much throw a dart at any year after "Jaws" popularized the concept of summer blockbuster season. For example, let's take a look at 1993. 30 years ago, August was a month for dreck comedies like "Son of the Pink Panther," family film misfires like "Father Hood" and "Surf Ninjas," and the weird-ass "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday."

But then again, there are exceptions to every rule. There were also a few excellent motion pictures in August 1993. The increasingly timeless classic "The Fugitive" came out that month, along with...

The late, great Paul Reubens didn't just bring his chipper, friendly, well-dressed character Pee-wee Herman to television with "Pee-wee's Playhouse." He also brought total anarchy. In a children's television landscape dominated by poorly disguised toy commercials and wholesome live-action hosts, "Pee-wee's Playhouse" was a loud, chaotic, unapologetically strange (and sometimes controversial) TV series where anything can and, usually, did happen.

Hosted by Reubens, every episode featured Pee-wee Herman — decked out in a (let's be honest here) pretty stylish grey tailored suit and a little red bowtie — interacting with his anthropomorphic furniture, getting his wishes granted by strange deities, and getting visited by a cavalcade of friends. But these friends weren't the normal human beings who lived next door to Pee-wee in the hit film "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," who loved him or hated him, but never shared his kookiness. "Pee-wee's Playhouse" was populated by lovable goofballs just like Pee-wee himself,...

Exclusive: Four-time Emmy winner Laura Linney got behind the camera for the first time on the back half of Ozark‘s final season, directing the 11th episode of its 14.

The acclaimed drama created for Netflix by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams follows financial advisor Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and his wife Wendy (Linney), who have dragged their kids Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) and Jonah (Skyler Gaertner) from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where they must launder money to appease a drug boss. Season 4, which returned for its first of two parts on January 21 and wraps up on April 29, finds tensions further escalating as the Byrdes do everything they can to disentangle their family from the cartel, and to stay alive.

Linney co-exec produces the series, which also stars Alfonso Herrera, Jessica Frances Dukes, Lisa Emery, John Bedford Lloyd, Joseph Sikora and more. Chris Mundy served as showrunner, writer, and exec producer of Season 4, with Bateman,...

Lady Gaga is a big “Donnie Darko” fan, and she made sure to let Jake Gyllenhaal know when the two sat down to interview each other as part of Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, presented by Amazon Studios. Gaga named “Donnie Darko” as a movie that inspired her when she was growing up.

“I don’t want to lie and tell you I haven’t seen it so many times,” Gaga told Gyllenhaal. “In the world of music, but in fashion as well, ‘Donnie Darko,’ it’s religion. It really is. And if you know your shit, you know ‘Donnie Darko.'”

“Donnie Darko” stars Gyllenhaal as a troubled teenager who has visions of a rabbit that tells him the world is going to end in just 28 days. The film, directed by Richard Kelly, was a box office bomb at the time of its 2001 release, but went on to become an enduring cult classic.

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The pandemic changed the way that we do everything from going to work to watching movies. It also inspired people to pick up fun new hobbies such as chess (and who can forget the banana bread craze?).

“The Queens Gambit” played a big part in the board game becoming that much more popular in the last year. The Netflix series, which is set in the 1960s and follows an orphaned chess prodigy, increased chess sales by more than 1,048% in 2020, compared to the previous year. The chess craze has stabilized since then but if you’ve been looking for a unique set for your next game or to gift someone special, movie-themed chess sets are a great idea.

Netflix is set to remove a number of TV series next month, including the first two seasons of Twin Peaks, all eight seasons of Portlandia, all three seasons of Hannibal and all five seasons of the original Twilight Zone.

In addition, the streamer, which revived Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City in 2019, will no longer have the original 1993 installment of Tales of the City available for subscribers after June 27.

On the film side, June is the last call (for now) for the Back to the Future trilogy, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Roommate, Scarface, Searching for Bobby Fischer, The ...

Netflix is set to remove a number of TV series next month, including the first two seasons of Twin Peaks, all eight seasons of Portlandia, all three seasons of Hannibal and all five seasons of the original Twilight Zone.

In addition, the streamer, which revived Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City in 2019, will no longer have the original 1993 installment of Tales of the City available for subscribers after June 27.

On the film side, June is the last call (for now) for the Back to the Future trilogy, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Roommate, Scarface, Searching for Bobby Fischer, The ...

The hottest show of the moment in the dumpster fire of a year that is 2020 is about… chess. Safe to say no one really saw that coming, including the “The Queen’s Gambit” cinematographer Steven Meizler.

“[The reception has] been really surreal and very overwhelming. I didn’t think it was going to be this big,” Meizler tells Gold Derby at our Meet the Experts: TV Cinematography panel (watch above). “I knew we had a good show, but it’s also about chess, which is not really the most exciting thing in the world. I know we tried very hard to make it exciting, but to actually get this reaction and this sort of moment, it feels really great.”

Based on Walter Tevis’ novel of the same name, “The Queen’s Gambit” follows chess prodigy Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) in the ‘60s and reunites Meizler with longtime collaborator Scott Frank, with whom he most recently worked on “Godless.

Just like in any other high-level, battle-of-wits competitions, chess has its own tells. And while there may be plenty to suss out in matches between long-time players, there’s one quick way to spot a pretender.

For chess lifer Bruce Pandolfini, that was one of the key ways to help make sure that the performers on screen in the new Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” didn’t break the illusion right away.

“Perhaps the most important thing is how they grab and move the pieces. So you really want them to look natural and we worked on that a lot,” Pandolfini said. “It’s like looking at someone handling a baseball bat. If they grab it in the middle, you know they don’t like baseball. There’s a certain flow and fluency to it that you want to try to capture, if you can.”

Pandolfini is no stranger to...

There’s something inexplicably compelling about watching brilliant young minds engage in cutthroat competition with each other. It’s part of what made the chess film “Searching for Bobby Fischer” an instant classic in 1993, and what led to an Oscar-nomination for the 2002 spelling bee documentary “Spellbound.” The “Spellbound” formula is put to the test once again in “Science Fair,” the new documentary from the Emmy-nominated filmmaking team of Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster, which won the inaugural Festival Favorite Award at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Per the official synopsis: “‘Science Fair’ follows nine high school students from around the globe as they navigate rivalries, setbacks and, of course, hormones, on their journey to compete at The International Science and Engineering Fair. As 1,700 of the smartest, quirkiest teens from 78 different countries face off, only one will be named Best in Fair. The film offers a front seat to the victories,...

Hulu has announced the new titles that will be available to stream on the platform during the month of April. Leading the pack is the new original series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” based on Margaret Atwood’s classic novel of the same name and starring Elisabeth Moss. The series premieres April 26.

Read More: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Trailer: New Teaser Reminds Us Elisabeth Moss’ Story Is Ours

Also available to stream next month are a handful of modern classics, such as “Robocop,” “Days of Thunder,” “Thelma & Louise,” “The Usual Suspects,” “Election,” “JFK,” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” as well as indie favorites like “Short Term 12,” “The Babadook,” “In a World,” and “Hello, My Name is Doris.”

Find the list of all titles coming to Hulu in April below.

April 1

1408 (2007) (*Showtime)

A Horse Tale (2015)

Agent Cody Banks (2003)

Affliction (1998)

Almost Famous (2000)

America’s Sweethearts (2001) (*Showtime)

Bad Company (1995) (*Showtime)

Bangkok Dangerous (2008) (*Showtime...

"Why are you doing this?" "I like an adventure." Samuel Goldwyn Films has debuted a trailer for an indie drama titled Coming Through the Rye, which is yet another story about one person's fascinating with Jd Salinger's seminal novel "The Catcher in the Rye". The film tells the "filmmaker's own true story" about a 16-year-old boy who adapts the book into a play then runs away from his boarding school to go looking for author Jd Salinger in the New Hampshire mountains. It reminds me a bit of Searching for Bobby Fischer, a similar story about a boy searching for a long, lost reclusive individual. Alex Wolff stars, and he meets Stefania Owen along the way. Chris Cooper plays Salinger and the cast includes Adrian Pasdar and Amy Parrish. This seems like it might have something to offer fans of Salinger and his work. Have a look. Here's the trailer...

All this week, IndieWire will be rolling out our annual Fall Preview, including offerings that span genres, a close examination of some of the year’s biggest breakouts, all the awards contenders you need to know about now and special attention to all the new movies you need to get through a jam-packed fall movie-going season. Check back every day for a new look at the best the season has to offer, and clear your schedule, because we’re going to fill it right up.

“White Girl,” September 2

Writer-director Elizabeth Wood exploded onto the filmmaking scene when her controversial debut “White Girl” shocked audiences at the Sundance Film Festival. A fearless portrait of young female sexuality, the film stars “Homeland’s” Morgan Saylor as Leah, a college student who becomes involved with a young drug dealer during the last two weeks of summer in New York City. When the cops...

Chicago – The narrow genre of chess movies (“Searching for Bobby Fischer,” “Pawn Sacrifice”) gets a New Zealand entry, the appropriately titled “The Dark Horse.” The film is a showcase for the performance of Cliff Curtis as the title character, abiding with mental instability and his own redemption.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Cliff Curtis is notable because he takes what could have been a very showy or inert interpretation of mental illness, and brought a particular energy that exposed the trials of the character, based on a true life New Zealand chess champion (nicknamed the “Dark Horse”). He plays the role on the edge of nerve racking, which makes his assignment to bring a rag-tag bunch of ne’er do wells to a state chess tourney less precious, and more goal oriented. The story has both horrifying and charming moments, and oddly they work in tandem, and never clash.

Genesis (Curtis) has just been released from an institution,...

HBO’s The Night Of represents screenwriter Steven Zaillian‘s return to the director’s chair. Zaillian hasn’t shot a feature film since All the King’s Men, and although that 2006 remake is a notable misfire, his directional debut, Searching for Bobby Fischer, is reason enough to want to see him direct again. The Academy Award-winning screenwriter responsible for Schindler’s List and American Gangster is, thankfully, back […]

The post ‘The Night Of’ Teaser Trailer: Screenwriter Steven Zaillian Is Finally Directing Again appeared first on /Film.

I’ve always been fascinated by Bobby Fischer due to his vanishing rather than anything he accomplished at a chessboard. I’ve never been good at the game, yet I respect its complexity. The greats literally memorize past matches and maneuvers, so in-tune with the playing field that they can play out loud with nothing more than words. Fischer was a great—the youngest Grandmaster in history and the first American-born World Champion. Like most geniuses, however, the strain of intellect, pressure, and success brought with it a hefty price. For Bobby it was the deterioration of his mental health. And as it’s told in Edward Zwick‘s Pawn Sacrifice, he may have known this from the beginning. If he were to rise to the top, the time was now.

My knowledge of the man was always miniscule: a footnote to a 1980s film I watched religiously called Searching for Bobby Fischer.

The kid faces the champion, loses, fights his way back, and takes the rematch. It’s a familiar sports trope and Pawn Sacrifice, the biography of volatile chess champ Bobby Fischer, is as formulaic in its own way as Rocky (or if you prefer, Searching For Bobby Fischer). The good news is that it’s an intense and fascinating drama capable of involving those who know little about chess as well as avid players.

Raised by his single Jewish mother, Brooklyn native Fischer was born in 1943 and was proficient on the chess board by the age of six. A self-taught player, he continued mastering his game though his early teens, when he defeated star players. As an adult (played by Tobey Maguire) Fischer’s success at the game grows, but his mental state begins to unravel and he suspects the government is watching his every move. Two men enter Bobby...

Start with the title: Clown Car! may sound like the movie someone will inevitably make about the 2016 presidential campaign, but how about evoking those great Seventies wacky-journey films like Death Race 2000, Vanishing Point or Smokey and the Bandit?

When I raised the question on Twitter, suggestions included All the President's Wanna-Bes, Every Which Way But Left, Cannonball Rug, A Kochwork Orange and the subtly appropriate Hair.

All excellent ideas, and we may have to put the movie name to a separate vote. Right now, though, the more pressing question is...

James Horner, the Academy Award-winning film composer responsible for the unforgettable scores from films like Titanic, Braveheart and Avatar, died Monday in a plane crash outside Santa Barbara, California. He was 61. While early reports stated that a single-engine plane owned by the composer had crashed into a remote area, it was later confirmed that Horner was piloting the plane and was the crash's lone fatality.

"We have lost an amazing person with a huge heart and unbelievable talent," Horner's assistant Sylvia Patrycja wrote on Facebook (via The Hollywood Reporter). "He died doing what he loved.

James Horner, the film composer known for his work on "Titanic," "Braveheart" and "Field of Dreams," died on Monday in a plane crash near Santa Barbara. He was 61 years old. Horner was piloting the small aircraft when it crashed into a remote area about 60 miles north of Santa Barbara. An earlier report noted that the plane, which was registered to the composer, had gone down, but the pilot had not been identified. For his work on the 1997 Best Picture winner "Titanic," directed by James Cameron, Horner won the Oscar for original dramatic score, and he took another Academy Award for original song for "My Heart Will Go On," performed by Celine Dion. His score for "Titanic" sold a whopping 27 million copies worldwide. His relationship with Cameron also got him Oscar nomination for "Aliens" and "Avatar." The pair were also working on the "Avatar" sequels." Horner's 158-film resume also includes "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan...

Name all the chess films you can off the top of your head, go: There’s Boaz Yakim’s “Fresh,” “Brooklyn Castle,” Andrew Bujalski’s “Computer Chess” and easily the best of them all, “Searching For Bobby Fischer.” But few and far between are classic, and almost all pieces of chess narrative always circle back to Bobby Fischer, the American prodigy who captured the imagination of the world when he faced off against some of the greatest chess minds the Soviet Union has ever produced. Read More: Review: Kids Are King In Winning Chess Doc 'Brooklyn Castle' There have been documentaries on this subject, even past movies, but no one’s really made the definitive film about Fischer, his troubled mind and his famous matches in the Soviet Union. But Filmmaker Ed Zwick (“Glory,” “The Last Samurai”) has given it a shot, with Tobey Maguire in the lead...

HitFix's recent spate of "Best Year in Film History" pieces inevitably spurred some furious debate among our readers, with some making compelling arguments for years not included in our pieces (2007 and 1968 were particularly popular choices) and others openly expressing their bewilderment at the inclusion of others (let's just say 2012 took a beating). In the interest of giving voice to your comments, below we've rounded up a few of the most thoughtful, passionate, surprising and occasionally incendiary responses to our pieces, including my own (I advocated for The Year of Our Lynch 2001, which is obviously the best). Here we go... Superstar commenter "A History of Matt," making an argument for 1968: The Graduate. Bullit. The Odd Couple. The Lion in Winter. Planet of the Apes. The Thomas Crown Affair. Funny Girl. Rosemary's Baby. And of course, 2001, A Space Odyssey. And that's only a taste of the greatness of that year. "Lothar the Flatulant,...

You've probably seen all the '90s movies, like "Pulp Fiction," "Clueless" and "Wayne's World" that Netflix has to offer, but there are also plenty of lesser-known gems available to stream. Sit down and enjoy these indies, first films by famous directors and some other great '90s movies you might have missed.

1. "Big Night" (1996) R

A great movie (co-directed by stars Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott) about two Italian brothers in 1950s running an unsuccessful restaurant who go all out when a celebrity's visit promises to save their business.

2. "Boys Don't Cry" (1999) R

Hilary Swank won her first Best Actress Oscar for her searing portrayal of a woman who lives life as a man, until her secret is found out by her redneck friends.

3. "Clueless" (1995) PG-13

How many times have you seen Alicia Silverstone make over her friends and try to play matchmaker? Not enough!

4. "Croupier" (1998) Nr

The movie...

Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have announced 13 key members of the production team for the 87th Academy Awards, which will air live on Oscar Sunday, February 22, 2015, on ABC.

Director Hamish Hamilton returns to the show for the third time, after receiving an Emmy nomination for his work on last year’s telecast. He made his Oscar debut with the 82nd Academy Awards telecast in 2010. Hamilton has directed many other celebrated live televised events, including the 2014 Super Bowl halftime show featuring Bruno Mars, the 2013 Super Bowl halftime show featuring Beyoncé, the 2013 “MTV Video Music Awards” and the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics, for which he also received an Emmy nomination. He shared a 2011 Peabody Award for the fifth annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” and a 2003 Grammy Award nomination for the musical special “Robbie Williams – Live at the Albert.”

Production designer Derek McLane has been part of both Oscar...

With time travel, “meta humans” and knowing nods galore, The CW’s Arrow spin-off The Flash “is the most comic book show, I think, that’s ever been made,” DC Comics’ Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns declares.

Related Arrow Season 3 Premiere: An ‘Emotional’ Kiss, Two Big Entrances, Amell vs. Amell and More

The new CW drama (premiering Tuesday at 8/7c) “embraces the superhero lore just fully on,” Johns continues. “There are references to Grodd, and that’s not just a reference. There’s plans for all sorts of crazy stuff.”

Even though The Flash stands proud of its rich source material,...

Toronto — It’s quite remarkable that up until now there has never been a biopic on the life of Bobby Fischer, arguably the greatest chess player of the 20th Century. Yes, his name was used in the acclaimed 1993 film “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” but that referenced his potential successor. Fisher’s life and his greatest moment, a dramatic match against his Russian counterpart, are finally depicted in the new drama “Pawn Sacrifice,” which screened at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. Fisher’s genius as a chess player first manifested at the age of 12 and by 13 he had become the youngest winner of the U.S. Junior Chess Championships. He enjoyed a spectacular rise as a master chess player and by 1957 he won the first of eight U.S. Championships (a competition he never lost). The world stage, on the other hand, was different. Rising to prominence at the height of the Cold War,...

Ever since first seeing Searching for Bobby Fischer when I was a young kid, I've been intrigued by chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer and the very odd life he lived. While a few other films have been made about him, or the brilliant game(s) of chess he played, I haven't come across too much that has covered his life or dramatized it in a way that has provided this much depth. The latest film from Edward Zwick (of Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond, Defiance), titled Pawn Sacrifice, was once in the works with David Fincher at the helm, and stars Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer telling his life story from young chess prodigy to grandmaster and world champion. It's a solid reexamination of an eccentric historic figure. Zwick's take on Fischer's life isn't straightforward or groundbreaking, but doesn't have any tricks up its sleeves either. Pawn Sacrifice...

Contributed By: Michelle McCue and Melissa Thompson

Well, we’ve just returned from AMPAS with our credentials badge for Wamg to be among the many outlets covering the Academy Awards nominations tomorrow morning.

With the announcement less than 24 hours away, and for the Oscar obsessivas (like us), this has been one of the toughest years to call. Even those of us who compulsively watch the race 365 days a year, all the categories are wide open, with expected surprises and snubs. This is always the best type of Oscar race to watch and we’ll bring you the news of who gets in and who isn’t invited to Hollywood’s biggest party of the year.

Actor, and tall-drink-of-cool-water, Chris Hemsworth and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs will announce the 86th Academy Awards nominations on Thursday, January 16.

Boone Isaacs and Hemsworth will unveil the nominations at a 5:38 a.

Film-makers have tried sex, murder and intrigue, and yet that most intellectual of spectator sports remains remarkably difficult to depict on screen

• Peter Bradshaw's review of Computer Chess

• Computer Chess: watch the trailer

Throw a rock at the sports genre and you'll hit a film about baseball or football, or hockey, or racing. Odds are, you won't strike a film about chess. Chess isn't generally considered a stadium filler (although it can be). It's perceived as a game for eccentric intellectuals and elderly historians. It doesn't have the glamour or sex appeal of more sedentary sports, such as pool, as demonstrated by Paul Newman in The Hustler. Chess won't even fit snugly in to other genre films, where the banality of cards, for example, naturally lends itself to a seedy, gambling gangster underworld (Rounders), the exotic highlife of a casino (Casino Royale), or even more piquant, a combo...

Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 10 Oct 2013 - 03:27

Another 25 unsung greats come under the spotlight, as we provide our pick of the underappreciated films of 1993...

What a year 1993 was. It saw the release of Star Fox on the Super Nintendo. Bill Clinton became president. Season three of Deep Space Nine premiered on Us television. UK politician Douglas Hurd visited Argentina. Cyndi Lauper released her album Hat Full Of Stars.

Aside from those earth shattering events, we'll probably remember 1993, in cinema terms, as the year Jurassic Park dominated the box office like an angry Tyrannosaurus. A true phenomenon, its profits doubled those of the second most watched film in 1993 cinemas, Mrs Doubtfire, and almost three times as much as the movie below that - the Harrison Ford thriller, The Fugitive.

But as ever, there was so much more to the 1993 movie landscape than dinosaurs and Robin Williams dressed as an old woman.

Hey everybody. Michael C. here. Quick question: By your estimation, which directors are currently pitching a perfect game? By which I mean, which filmmakers have yet to make a bad or even a so-so film so far in their career. I can think of three off hand: Spike Jonze, Brad Bird and Darren Aronofsky.

Darren Aronofsky and Logan Lerman on the set of NoahOf course, your mileage may vary on these choices. Right away, I’m sure a lot of you jump ship with The Fountain (Aronofsky), and one could debate whether Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Bird) is a great movie or merely great for a Mission Impossible movie. Feel free to substitute one of your own choices for any of the above. My point isn’t to reopen the debate on these movies. My point is, rarely, if ever, do filmmakers make it through a full career without stumbling at least once,...

Last night on The Tonight Show, Jay Leno exposed the bad blood with NBC once again. He opened up his monologue with fake praise for the network: "Folks, listen to this. Monday night the primetime shows The Voice and Revolution moved NBC in the number two position. You know what that means? Between Easter and Passover, this is truly the season of miracles. We’re number two! I’ve been saying for the last week that NBC is a big number two." Later in the monologue, Leno struck with more bite: "T-Mobile announced yesterday they are doing away with contracts. Apparently they got the idea from NBC." Plus: A director once dubbed over Eva Mendes (from English to English) because she didn't sound "intelligent" enough. But it's not like the movie was Searching for Bobby Fischer or A Beautiful Mind; it was Exit Wounds with Steven Seagal and Dmx. Also,...

The upcoming film based on the characters created by popular novelist Tom Clancy is directed by Kenneth Branagh, who will also play its villain, and is scheduled for theatrical release in December 2013. Starring Chris Pine (Star Trek) in the title role, Jack Ryan follows former Marine turned financial analyst Ryan who while living in Moscow uncovers a terrorist plot to devalue American currency and thus destroy the U.S. economy masterminded by Viktor Stazov, a financial wiz in league with the Russian government. David Paymer, who has starred in a slew of popular television and films projects over his long career including Searching for Bobby Fischer, Payback, Get Shorty, Ocean's Thirteen and Mr. Saturday Night. Recently he directed several episodes of ABC's hit drama series Switched At...

As announced earlier this year, Sony Pictures and producer Scott Rudin (Searching For Bobby Fischer) purchased the remake rights to Brooklyn Castle, the documentary that premiered at SXSW this year, where it won the audience award for best documentary. I was there; I saw it; I loved it. You can find my review of the film here. But before that scripted remake happens, you just might be able to see it at a theater near you, because, the film will be released by indie distributor Producers Distribution Agency (part of Cinetic Media), for an October 19 debut. Brooklyn Castle (directed by Katie...

Today in history, September 1, 1972... American chess legend Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky of the then Soviet Union to win the international chess crown in a match made for the cold war era, in Reykjavík, Iceland. In 1993, Laurence Fishburne co-starred in a drama titled Searching For Bobby Fischer, which wasn't about the chess master, but rather was based on the life of another chess prodigy,Joshua Waitzkin, who wasn't even born when Fischer won the 1972 title. The title of the film speaks to Waitzkin's desire to be the kind of winner that Fischer was in his prime. But I'd like to point you to...

As announced earlier this year, Sony Pictures and producer Scott Rudin (Searching For Bobby Fischer) purchased the remake rights to Brooklyn Castle, the documentary that premiered at SXSW this year, where it won the audience award for best documentary. I was there; I saw it; I loved it. You can find my review of the film here. But before that scripted remake happens, you just might be able to see it at a theater near you, because, it's just been announced that the film will be released by indie distributor Producers Distribution Agency  (part of Cinetic Media), for an October 19 debut. Brooklyn Castle (directed by Katie Dallamaggiore) is a...

After premiering at SXSW this Sunday, Sony Pictures and producer Scott Rudin (No County for Old Men) have already obtained the remake rights to the documentary, Brooklyn Castle. The film chronicles the lives of inner-city school I.S. 318, “where more than 65% of students are from homes with incomes below the federal poverty level.” [Deadline]

Although the middle school was voted “school in need of improvement” back in 2003, the game of chess has allowed the school to become on of New York City’s best public schools. However, public school budget cuts have put the much loved program and its accomplishments in jeopardy.

Rudin, who’s one of Hollywood’s biggest producers, also directed a chess-themed film back in 1993 titled, Searching For Bobby Fischer, which had Steve Zaillian as screenwriter. The remake deal for Brooklyn Castle was made by Cinetic Media, who are currently searching for distribution rights for the film. The...

It seems producer Scott Rudin has had a thing for documentaries lately. Back in January at Sundance, the acclaimed, Oscar winning producer picked up the remake rights to the buzzed about video game documentary "Indie Game: The Movie," and now at SXSW, he's swooped in on another doc hoping to turn it into a big screen story.

Down in the rain of Austin, Rudin and Sony Pictures have snagged the remake rights to "Brooklyn Castle" from first time feature filmmaker Katie Dellamaggiore. The movie, which premiered last night and will screen this week as well, tells the story of I.S. 318, a school in Brooklyn where more than 65% of the student population come from a home below the poverty line. However, both the students and teacher have found tremendous success with their chess program, one that has made them one of the top tier junior high teams in the country.

Exclusive: Sony Pictures and producer Scott Rudin have snapped up remake rights to Brooklyn Castle, the documentary that premiered at SXSW yesterday. The film, which got a rousing response after its Sunday bow, is about I.S. 318, an inner-city school where more than 65% of students are from homes with incomes below the federal poverty level. It also happens to have the winningest junior high school chess team in the country. While chess has transformed the school from one cited in 2003 as a “school in need of improvement” to one of New York City’s best, public school budget cuts put the program and its accomplishments in jeopardy. The remake deal was made by Cinetic Media, which is also shopping distribution rights on the film. Rudin previously directed the chess-themed Searching For Bobby Fischer, which Steve Zaillian wrote and directed.

Last week, David Fincher's "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" opened, and with it returns something that's been missing from the big cineplexes for a while: a big, expensive movie that is made for adults. It doesn't dumb anything down and it wears its R-rating like a badge of pride and not a scarlet letter. We got to talk to screenwriter Steve Zaillian, who as a screenwriter, director and producer, has somehow managed to land many of the grade-a assignments that don't involve robots that transform into cars and then transform into another type of car. After winning an Oscar for "Schindler's List," he has worked almost exclusively on the type of movies your parents claim they don't make anymore, including "Searching for Bobby Fischer," "Gangs of New York," "Hannibal" and "A Civil Action." This year he double-dipped with two potential Oscar contenders in "Moneyball" and 'Dragon Tattoo.'...

He’s already writing the script, so why not take a seat in the director’s chair as well? Steve Zaillian is probably best known as a writer (for modern classics like Schindler’s List and for this year’s double feature of Moneyball and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), but he’s also done some strong directing work with Searching For Bobby Fischer and A Civil Action. He’s already on board to write a remake of Nacho Vigalondo’s Timecrimes, and now The Playlist is reporting that he’s considering directing as well. It would undoubtedly be a different sandbox for him to play in, but the biggest question is whether the magic of the original can be maintained in a domestic version from a man more known for broadly appealing adult drama. The original is rightfully hailed, but it’s also a cult movie for a reason. Plus...

Oscar-winning scribe Steve Zaillian, whose most current work is adapting the script for David Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" which opens tonight in the United States, says he's considering stepping into the director's chair on the remake of Spanish cult sci-fi thriller "Timecrimes" set up at Dreamworks Pictures.

Nacho Vigalondo's original follows a man who repeatedly goes back in time an hour in an attempt to alter the events of a crime. Zaillian came onboard to write the remake back in January. While no director was set at the time, David Cronenberg had previously been linked as a potential candidate. The Canadian helmer however dismissed the talk the other month.

Zaillian tells Coming Soon that "That's something I might direct but I don't know. We have to cast it, but it's a tricky one, because I want to make it really low budget. I don't want...