Long coats, loud ties and big fedoras: refreshing sights for retro movie lovers.
By Lee Pfeiffer
The bad buzz regarding Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island began even before the film was released. Paramount postponed the premiere from the height of Oscar season to the dog days of February, ostensibly for marketing purposes. In reality, most critics felt it signaled that the movie was not worthy of coughing up the cost of an Oscar campaign. Now the film has opened, and studio executives look vindicated: the movie is on track to being Scorsese's biggest hit. Reviewers weren't as kind. There were raves from the likes of Roger Ebert, but the New York Times called the movie "terrible". The consensus from most critics is that, while it isn't without value, in the end, it is a pretentious movie that falls short of its goals.I find the film to be atmospheric, rather than pretentious. At its heart, it's a movie about production design and Dante Ferretti, who is a long-time collaborator of Scorsese's, comes through with some triumphant set pieces. Some critics have attacked Scorsese for using a sledgehammer to remind audiences the film takes place in 1954, but I found the costumes and habits of the characters to be refreshing. It's hard to find movies where you can relish actors wearing long coats, fedoras, loud Hawaiian ties and proudly engaging in the politically incorrect habit of puffing away on cigarettes and cigars.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
These awards are named after movie lyricist
Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), who received 4 Oscars for his songs, and was nominated more than any other
songwriter, 26 times in all.Â
Cahn said he was “flattered and honored†to
have these movie music awards named after him. His Oscar-winning songs are:
“Three Coins in the Fountainâ€; “All the Wayâ€; “High Hopesâ€; and “Call Me
Irresponsible.â€Â All four songs were
recorded by Frank Sinatra, a big fan of Sammy’s lyrics.Â
Now in their twenty-second
(22nd) year, the Sammys are the longest
running awards for film music on CDs. Â
They
are chosen each year by Roger Hall, a film music historian, member of the
International Film Music Critics Association, author of the book, A Guide to Film Music – Songs and Scores,
and also editor of the long-running online magazine, Film Music Review – www.americanmusicpreservation.com/fmr.htm
Now without any long speeches or tricky envelopes to open, here are the…
22nd Annual Sammy Film Music Awards for
2009
Best New
Film Score: UP Music by Michael
Giacchino (Disney Pixar)
Best
Overlooked New Film Score: CAPTAIN ABU RAED Music
by Austin
Wintory (BSX Records
CD)
Most
Overrated New Film Score: AVATAR Â Music by James Horner (Fox Music/ Atlantic
CD)
Best
Golden Age Film Score (1930s-1950s):Â
THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1936) Music by Max Steiner (Tribute Film Classics
CD)
Best
Silver Age Film Score (1960s-1970s):Â
TIME AFTER TIME (1979)
Music by
Miklos
Rozsa (Film Score Monthly
CD)
Best
Bronze Age Film Score CD (1980s-1990s): TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE
(1983)
Music by
Jerry Goldsmith (Film Score Monthly CD)
Best
Vintage Compilation: A JOHNNY MANDEL TRIO (THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY, THE SANDPIPER, DRUMS OF AFRICA) Music by Johnny Mandel (Film Score Monthly 3 CD Box
Set)
Best
Newly Recorded Vintage Film Score: EXODUS (1960) Music by Ernest Gold (Tadlow
CD)
Preservation Award – Best Album Producers: Anna Bonn, John Morgan,
William
Stromberg (Tribute Film
Classics)
Lifetime Achievement Award:
Aaron Copland (1900-1990) – 1 Oscar (1949)
More
information about these awards and review links are available at this
link:
It’s
always hard to break into the movie business. For each of the lucky few who
make it, there are 1000s that struggle to get their voice heard, their script
read, or their film taken notice of.
So
it’s fantastic to see that a few of the industries finest have banded together
to give their name and their time to a brilliant new initiative called Openfilm.
Industry
heavyweights James Caan, Robert Duvall, as well as director Mark Rydell and
actor Scott Caan form the advisory board to a company that will showcase the
brightest and best in emerging new film-makers.Â
Taking
advantage of the massive interest of online digital distribution trends, Openfilm
will provide a platform for new films to be shared, commented on and have
personal feedback from industry legends.
Openfilms’
video content delivery system is one of the industry’s finest and most robust,
offering viewers unparalleled viewing clarity, even when opting for standard
definition.
With
over 4500 short films already loaded on the site, there’s no shortage of
incredible material to view and comment on, with more to come – all vetted for
quality before they are uploaded.
Chairman
of the board James Caan is justly proud of the initiative, “At Openfilm, we’re
here to mentor the undiscovered talent who will carry forth our passion to
entertain and inspire through the powerful medium of film. So please join us
for an entertaining and fruitful journey.â€
It’s
an angry time in America. Tea Partiers, Olbermann, Palin, Wall Street villains,
an endless war in Afghanistan, mercenaries in Congress, flying terrorists, high
unemployment and Twitter-addicted freaks.
So
it’s either a perfect time to bring out a remake of George Romero’s 1973 horror
classic The Crazies, or the timing is
really curious, if this mainstream horror reboot’s aim is to encourage viewers
to “enjoy some surprises and maybe forget their troubles for a couple hours,â€
says one of the producers, Rob Cowan. The movie opens in North America today.
The
dramatic irony floating over the film – in which a small, idyllic Midwestern
town descends into violence and mayhem when a water-born toxin infects half the
population – might be the question whether Americans even need the excuse of a crazy-making virus to descend into anarchy.
Aren’t we on the tipping point already?Â
I’ll
leave that for viewers to discuss. Meanwhile, this remake from Overture Films features
Timothy Olyphant (Live Free or Die Hard),
Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill) and is
directed by Breck Eisner (Sahara).
The writers, Scott Kosar and Ray Wright, have reportedly updated Romero’s
original concept from being told from the point of view of the townsfolk to the
husband and wife team of David and Judy (Olyphant and Mitchell).