In Contention

Tag: Boogie Nights

  • Jason Reitman guest-programs the New Beverly

    Jason Reitman at the 2010 Golden Globe AwardsGranted, this is pretty LA-centric, but beginning tonight, “Up in the Air” director Jason Reitman will be guest-programming three days of screenings at the Quentin Tarantino-owned New Beverly theater.  Tonight’s double feature is “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” at 7:30 (also showing tomorrow at 3:20 and 7:30) and “Election” at 9:30 (also showing tomorrow at 5:25 and 9:30).

    Sunday, February 21 brings “Shampoo” at 6:30 (also Monday at 7:30) and “Boogie Nights” at 8:45 (also Monday at 9:45).  I’ll probably check out the former, as, believe it or not, I’ve never seen it.

    The festivities conclude Tuesday, February 23 with “Breaking Away” at 7:30 and “Bottle Rocket” at 9:45, the only screenings of each.  Again, I may go check out the former, because I’ve never seen it.

    For more info, check out the New Beverly’s official website.  Meanwhile, for further reading, Anthony Breznican recently sat down with Reitman and father Ivan at USA Today.

  • “That’s all.”

    No reason, really.  John’s list of Toronto memories from yesterday had me reminiscing and I was catching up on HBO’s “Hung” last night.  Few scenes are as expertly conceived and realized as this. Cinema bliss:

  • THE LISTS: Top 10 memories from TIFF

    Sarah Polley in The Sweet HereafterOne of the joys of my life is the 10 days in September I spend at the Toronto International Film Festival, bringing the film world to our city, the world press, and enough stars to take over Hollywood. The little festival that could, as it was known in the 1970s and early-1980s, The Festival of Festivals has become a world cultural event, perhaps the most important film festival in the world, and certainly rivaling Cannes for prestige.

    Created by William Marshall, Dusty Cohl and Henk den Henk in the mid-1970s, the festival struggled in its early days to get product, finally landing a major film with “Midnight Express” in 1978. A few years later “Chariots of Fire” would leave the fest on its march toward the Academy Award, while “The Big Chill” would make a huge impression when premiered here in 1983.

    More importantly, the actors and directors were turning their attentions to Toronto. In the early days, the organizers hosted tributes: Warren Beatty and Robert Duvall were there with many friends, further putting the festival on the map. Through the 1980s the festival continued to grow in prestige, expanding its Canadian program to showcase homegrown cinema, but never losing touch with Hollywood and world product.

    In the 1990s, Piers Handling took over as Director of the festival and changed the name to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and took the proceedings into the international realm. Handling, one of the greatest cinematic minds I have ever encountered, has been an extraordinary leader for TIFF, taking it into the next level of success worldwide while maintaining the roots that make it a people’s festival.

    I love it, and I maintain it is the finest festival on the planet.  Having covered it for the better part of a decade, close to 15 years, I think, here are my top ten memories of the festival, the films, the performances, the events, the goings-on.

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  • Those underrated gems of the 1990s

    Miller's CrossingSo here we go again.  The 1990s were an odd decade cinematically, ripe with excellent films, ground-breaking work, innovations as well as a large number of duds. There were also films released to rave reviews that never found an audience.

    I combed through the decade and came up with 15 films worthy of discussion as the more under-appreciated of the 1990s, though I am positive you will all add immeasurably to the list, as you did with my take on the 1980s.

    The independent movement gave us many great films through this span, as well as some formidable new talent, but I must confess I grew tired of the studio slagging through the decade.  Among the critical community it became almost a rite of passage. There was some wonderful studio product here and there, of course: “Goodfellas,” “JFK,” “Unforgiven,” “Schindler’s List,” “Apollo 13,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “LA Confidential” are just a few.

    My list, in no particular order…

    In “Miller’s Crossing,” the Coen brothers do a masterful job of creating a funny and dark gangster film with superb performances from the great Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden, and the sleazy John Turturro in a film that gently pulls the audience into its story. Made on the cheap, the art direction and costume designs are great, and that story…man those Coens get so much out of, “What’s the rumpus?”

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  • What are the best movie endings of all time?

    Kevin Spacey in The Usual SuspectsI was working on this piece yesterday (nothing major — just pulling together the YouTube clips), but I wasn’t aware how the list was going to pan out.  “Carrie” at the top?  Not so sure about that.

    But The Times critics like to be contrarian.  Just take a look at their Top 100 Films of All Time list, which places Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood” rather brazenly at #2.

    Anyway, debating and sussing out the best of movie endings ever could have us chatting into the night.  Most of my favorites are recent examples, but that’s probably due to what the 1990s did to the screenwriting form.

    Scribes began giving a lot more thought to how the audience would feel when leaving the theater.  Twists and emotional-punches became a currency of sorts, which is probably why there are more films from the decade than any other on The Times’ list.

    I will say I’m glad there was room for “Seven,” “Memento” (which I re-watched recently and absolutely adore) and “E.T.,” three (perhaps) out-of-the-box choices that don’t leap to mind when the subject comes up.  And it’s impossible to argue against “The Usual Suspects,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “Planet of the Apes.”

    If I were to suggest a some additions, I might begin with “Heat,” “Citizen Kane,” “A History of Violence,” “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Boogie Nights,” to name a few.

    The Times’ list of the best movie endings of all time:

    1. “Carrie”
    2. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”
    3. “Casablanca”
    4. “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial”
    5. “Chinatown”
    6. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
    7. “Some Like It Hot”
    8. “The Italian Job” (1969)
    9. “The Usual Suspects”
    10. “The Sixth Sense”
    11. “Thelma & Louise”
    12. “The Wizard of Oz”
    13. “Les Diaboliques”
    14. “Dr. Stranglelove”
    15. “Gone With the Wind”
    16. “The Shawshank Redemption”
    17. “Planet of the Apes”
    18. “Memento”
    19. “The Blair Witch Project”
    20. “Seven”

    I might pull together my own top ten soon enough.

    What are your favorite movie endings?

  • Movies that Oscar missed

    As film junkies, we all know it happens. Usually every single year there are one or more films the Academy passes over for Best Picture consideration, in some cases because there are, after all, just five slots available, but in others because, well — they blew it.

    Like the rest of you, I sit and listen to the nominees announced live every January and have never had a year when I did not roll my head and ask to no one in particular, “Where is such and such or so and so?”

    I mean for me, the great honor is the nomination, because when “Kramer vs. Kramer” defeats “Apocalypse Now” for Best Picture, how can you possibly take the winners seriously? However, a nomination — that is decidedly different.

    Where was the Best Picture nod for John Ford’s masterful “The Searchers,” arguably the greatest American western ever made? And Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” which redefined the horror genre?

    Since 1980 there have been a number of truly brilliant films passed over, leaving this critic often shaking his head in disgust, though I get over quick enough to watch the damned awards…talk about hooked. But it amazes me how “The Empire Strikes Back” can be a better film than “Star Wars,” yet not be nominated in the big race. Ditto Brian De Palma’s “Blow Out,” possibly the finest film of his career, ignored in every category despite its artistic mastery. The very same year Milos Forman gave us “Ragtime,” a much stronger film than “Chariots of Fire,” which won the Oscar, or even “On Golden Pond,” one of the five nominees!

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  • In it together

    Today is my birthday. I’m 24 years old.

    I’ve been following the Oscar race with some notable level of attention for 8 years. It is by no means a lengthy tenure, as there are others in the game who have been observing this outlandish span of time much longer than that. Even still, in these recent years – the height of the race’s popularity amongst the film-going community – I’ve noticed a number of intriguing things as a witness to its modern evolution.

    My first season was the 1997 season. The big films in play were James Cameron’s Titanic, Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential and Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting. It would be a rather poignant introductory year into the process for me.

    I knew my favorite films of the year were As Good As It Gets (from director James L. Brooks) and L.A. Confidential. The former struck the right chord at a time in my life where I was truly head-over-hills in love, while the latter was part of a brief progression of cinema – along with Michael Mann’s Heat and Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects – that was greatly sparking my interest and leaning me toward a profession chosen in the filmmaking arena.

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