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Alexander Payne (I) More at IMDbPro »
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2000
1-20 of 155 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
Owen Gleiberman's 10 Best Movies of the Decade
13 hours ago | EW.com - The Movie Critics | See recent EW.com - The Movie Critics news »
I confess, looking back, that I have no great generalizations to make about the movies that came along this decade. Except for this: There were more films of extraordinary and inspiring quality than I can count -- or include on this list. Without any trouble at all, I could easily have compiled a Top 100 list. Yet there's something about that magical arbitrary number 10 that focuses you, disciplines you, forces you to ask yourself what matters. Here, in order of preference, are the movies of the last 10 years that thrilled, moved, delighted, fascinated, and meant the most to this critic. They're »
- Owen Gleiberman
Films Of The Decade – Ed’s List
23 December 2009 5:17 PM, PST | FilmShaft.com | See recent FilmShaft.com news »
Each decade of celluloid is defined by its psychological preoccupations. Oh yes it is, don’t look at me like that. The 9/11 terror attacks on New York and Washington cast a long shadow over the first decade of the 21st century. The Nineties had been a relatively stable and optimistic era by comparison and was all the more moribund for it. Tom Sizemore’s speech in Katherine Bigelow’s Strange Days (1995) summed up the emerging consensus – “everything’s been done, every kind of music’s been tried, every government’s been tried, every fuckin’ hairstyle. How you gonna make it another thousand years, for Chrissake?”
But it wasn’t quite the end of history after all. After 9/11 the zeitgeist became politically-charged once more as it had been in more polarised times. Entertainment was not immune from this effect, nor could it afford to be. With rare exceptions such as Paul Greengrass »
- Ed Whitfield
Decade in Review: 2004 Top Ten
14 December 2009 6:56 PM, PST | FilmExperience | See recent FilmExperience news »
Moving on to 2004. What follows is my original top ten list, based on films released in NYC in 2004. If I have anything new to say that'll be in red after the original text.
Top Ten Runners Up (in descending order): Aviator, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Mean Girls, Maria Full of Grace, The Five Obstructions, Collateral, Goodbye Lenin!, Birth and Closer Yes, I'm absolutely horrified by the rankings now. Nothing about that ranking feels right now. I am most ashamed that Birth was only at number [cough] 19 in its year. In my self-flattering memory I "almost" put it in the top ten despite the then brutal reviews. I was ahead of my time! Oh well... at least I did actually name it the #1 most underappreciated film of the year. At the time I said...
Jonathan Glazer made a significant splash four years ago when his brilliantly acted heist film Sexy Beast »
- NATHANIEL R
The 2008 Black List (Unproduced Screenplays) Update: Where are they Now?
12 December 2009 6:25 PM, PST | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »
We have year end favorite film lists, we have decade lists, but my favorite list of all is the Black List. Now in year 5, the annual list of the most popular unproduced screenplays voted by script readers who 9 times out of 10 are forced to read utter crap, will soon be unveiled - I suggest you check out the twitter feed for updates. As the votes are being tallied up, I thought we'd go back one year and see where we were at with the top 15 projects of the list. - We have year end favorite film lists, we have decade lists, but my favorite list of all is the Black List. Now in year 5, the annual list of the most popular unproduced screenplays voted by script readers who 9 times out of 10 are forced to read utter crap, will soon be unveiled - I suggest you check out the twitter feed for updates. »
Clooney is Next of Kin in Payne's 'Descendants'
12 December 2009 6:25 PM, PST | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »
George Clooney might be joining the ranks of Paul Giamatti, Jack Nicholson and Reese Witherspoon as he is currently looking to topline The Descendants for Alexander Payne. - George Clooney might be joining the ranks of Paul Giamatti, Jack Nicholson and Reese Witherspoon as he is currently looking to topline The Descendants for Alexander Payne. If production does indeed begin in February, we could see Clooney in a Payne-branded comedy by year's end. The project was set into motion by Fox Searchlight in 2007. Scripted by Blacklist regulars Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, this is based on the Kaui Hart Hemmings novel, set in Hawaii, the unconventional family drama tells the story of a newly widowed father -- the descendant of landowners and one of the richest men on Oahu -- who takes off with his two rebellious daughters to track down his wife's lover on the island of Kauai. »
- Ioncinema.com Staff
Tracking Shot November 2009: Beginners, Black Swan, Let Me In
12 December 2009 6:25 PM, PST | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »
At the beginning of every month, Ioncinema.com's "Tracking Shot" features a handful of projects that we feel are worth signaling out and that are moments away from lensing. As we get closer to holiday dates productions tend to drop, so this November we are keeping tabs on only a handful of projects. - At the beginning of every month, Ioncinema.com's "Tracking Shot" features a handful of projects that we feel are worth signaling out and that are moments away from lensing. As we get closer to holiday dates productions tend to drop, so this November we are keeping tabs on only a handful of projects. Mike Mills is finally getting to work on his sophomore feature which would see Ewan McGregor play a young man rocked by two announcements from his elderly father (Christopher Plummer)…one, that he has terminal cancer, and two, that he »
- Ioncinema.com Staff
Tracking Shot October 2009: The Social Network, The No Game, Cedar Rapids
12 December 2009 6:25 PM, PST | ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news »
At the beginning of every month, Ioncinema.com's "Tracking Shot" features a half of a dozen or so projects that are moments away from lensing and that we feel are worth signaling out. This October (2009), we are keeping tabs on.... - At the beginning of every month, Ioncinema.com's "Tracking Shot" features a half of a dozen or so projects that are moments away from lensing and that we feel are worth signaling out. This October (2009), we are keeping tabs on.... Arteta's Youth in Revolt got pushed back to 2010, by then he'll be in post-production with Cedar Rapids. Backed by Ad Hominem and Alexander Payne, hot off The Hangover, Ed Helms will play a sad-sack insurance agent who goes to an industry. convention to try to save the jobs of his colleagues. I imagine the comedy will film in a tax incentive friendly city with a convention center for rent. »
- Ioncinema.com Staff
The Best Films of the Decade (aka "The Naughties")
8 December 2009 10:25 PM, PST | The Hollywood Interview | See recent The Hollywood Interview news »
Best Films Of The Decade (aka The Naughties) From Alex & Terry
List # 1
By Alex Simon
When Terry and I initially discussed writing these lists, I had a tough time thinking back on 20 films over the past decade which I was really taken with, thinking that movies have sunk so low over the past ten years, that even choosing a dozen would be a short-order job. Thirty minutes into it, my list had nearly 60 titles! After much cutting, pasting, and re-cutting and pasting, here are my top 20 films (in no particular order) of the first decade of the 21st century, dubbed by many as “the naughties.” --A.S.
1.No Country for Old Men (Coen Brothers, 2007) An elegiac blend of stark beauty and full-throttle despair from two of our finest filmmakers, set in the contemporary American West. Every frame is damn near flawless, and would have been an even more perfect vehicle for the late Sam Peckinpah. »
- The Hollywood Interview.com
Sundance Announces 2010 Short Film Program
7 December 2009 3:41 PM, PST | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »
Sundance has announced the short films that will be playing at this year’s Festival. Some of the notable filmmakers include James Franco, Spike Jonze, Rory Kennedy, Patrik Eklund and Paper Heart director Nicholas Jasenovec.
Also, as Sundance points out in the press reelease:
The Sundance Film Festival’s shorts program has long been established as a discovery for directors, including: Wes Anderson, Todd Haynes, Paul Thomas Anderson, David O Russell, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Tamara Jenkins, Ted Demme, Tim Blake Nelson, Alexander Payne, Paul Dinello, Martin McDonagh, and Jason Reitman.
Since there are so many short films playing at the Festival, hit the jump for the full press release, which lists the categories, the films, and the synopses.
2010 Sundance Film Festival Announces Short Film Program
70 Short Films Chosen from a Record 6,092 Submissions
Program of Four Short Films by Spike Jonze, Rory Kennedy, Patrik Eklund; and François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy, »
- Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub
TV Review: ‘Men of a Certain Age’ Promising But Off to Dull Start
7 December 2009 10:20 AM, PST | HollywoodChicago.com | See recent HollywoodChicago.com news »
Chicago – The mid-life crisis of the modern man is mostly about ego - as the body goes downhill and the role of the alpha male is supplanted by a new version of himself, men kind of fall apart as they realize that their peak has arguably passed. Why would such an individual experience make for intriguing drama? Using the mid-life crisis as a jumping off point for drama would require some seriously well-drawn characters, the kind of guys who you root to come to terms with passing over that hill. “Men of a Certain Age” does not yet have those characters.
Television Rating: 2.5/5.0
Stars Ray Romano, Andre Braugher, and Scott Bakula are undeniably talented actors who have all found massive success in television on shows like “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” and “Quantum Leap,” respectively. Watching them play characters in decline, one can’t help but think »
- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
My decade: personal perspectives from key arts figures
7 December 2009 9:03 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
Film-makers, musicians and more look back on their achievements and favourite works from the noughties
Kevin Macdonald, film director
Personally, it's been a fascinating decade. In the late 90s, I was struggling to make TV documentaries but work was drying up. I was a purist, with no interest in working with actors. I hated the idea of dramatic reconstructions because they look so cheesy. Then I worked with actors on Touching the Void and this led to dramatic features, though documentaries remain my first love.
The British film industry has always been about boom and bust. We start out with unrealistic optimism: "We're going to compete with Hollywood!" Then we have the collapse and the correction. We saw it with Alexander Korda in the 1930s, with Rank after the war, and with Gandhi in the 1980s. This decade it happened again.
The collapse of Film4 back in 2002 was part of this problem. »
Interview: Jason Reitman Takes Personal Journey With ‘Up in the Air’
3 December 2009 12:14 PM, PST | HollywoodChicago.com | See recent HollywoodChicago.com news »
Chicago – Following up the massive critical and commercial success of “Juno” would be a daunting task for anyone and writer/director Jason Reitman admits that he was nervous coming off that film. Somewhat surprisingly, he’s delivered an even more confident and, overall, superior film in the excellent “Up in the Air,” starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, and Jason Bateman.
After taking our pictures for his own records and a lively discussion about why he’s not too psyched about “Avatar,” what he thought of “Final Destination 4” in German, and what went wrong with the “Saw” movies, Bateman, Peter Sobczynski of EFilmCritic.com, Lee Shoquist of N:Zone, and I got into “Up in the Air”. Bateman is very open about how each of his films reflect what he’s concerned about personally.
Photo credit: Paramount Pictures
Reitman says, “I like my »
- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
Up in the Air Review: Book Your Ticket Now
2 December 2009 11:21 AM, PST | TheHDRoom | See recent TheHDRoom news »
Jason Reitman is on a roll. His first film, 2005's Thank You For Smoking, is a smart, satirical adaptation of Christopher Buckley's novel about a spokesperson for the tobacco industry (Aaron Eckhart). Two years later, Reitman directed Juno, the sweet little indie comedy that could and did win over critics and the public alike while pulling in a huge $150 million in ticket sales. Now, the young filmmaker takes another huge leap forward with the new comedy/drama Up In the Air starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.
Based on Walter Kim's novel, Up In the Air centers around Ryan Bingham (Clooney), a corporate downsizing expert that flies around the country to lay people off from various companies. Living - and loving - a solitary life out of a suitcase, Ryan is on the verge of completing a personal goal: reaching the airline milestone of flying ten million miles. »
Peter Bradshaw: Richard Brody's list of the decade's finest movies tops my chart
2 December 2009 2:41 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
In this season for critical lists, the Best of the Decade survey from the New Yorker's movies editor genuinely stands out
It's the end of the year, and for film critics this is the season for making lists – the best films of the year and, now of course, the best films of the decade. All the papers are doing it and we here are in the process of drawing up our list of the decade's top 100 movies for guardian.co.uk/film. Making lists appeals to the nerdy, Hornby-esque and anally retentive side of all of us. And of course it offers huge opportunities for – whisper it – showing off.
The seasoned list-maker will know how to combine the obscure choices with the mainstream ones, and this latter consideration is important. The seasoned lister knows that the more MoR candidates provide the resonant C-major chords which give solidity and plausibility to the list. »
- Peter Bradshaw
Up in the Air Review: Book a Ticket Now
1 December 2009 6:51 AM, PST | TheHDRoom | See recent TheHDRoom news »
Jason Reitman is on a roll. His first film, 2005's Thank You For Smoking, is a smart, satirical adaptation of Christopher Buckley's novel about a spokesperson for the tobacco industry (Aaron Eckhart). Two years later, Reitman directed Juno, the sweet little indie comedy that could and did win over critics and the public alike while pulling in a huge $150 million in ticket sales. Now, the young filmmaker takes another huge leap forward with the new comedy/drama Up In the Air starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.
Based on Walter Kim's novel, Up In the Air centers around Ryan Bingham (Clooney), a corporate downsizing expert that flies around the country to lay people off from various companies. Living - and loving - a solitary life out of a suitcase, Ryan is on the verge of completing a personal goal: reaching the airline milestone of flying ten million miles. »
Film review: The Informant!
19 November 2009 3:30 PM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
This strange and interesting story should have been told without exclamation marks and other wackiness, says Peter Bradshaw
An exclamation mark on the end of a title is a worrying sign. Lionel Bart doubled the pain with two, for his 1965 Robin Hood stage musical Twang!! (The critical consensus in favour of Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film Moulin Rouge! has incidentally meant that movie writers tend tactfully to remove Luhrmann's original exclamation mark.) Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! is a strained comedy that needn't have been either of those things. It is based on the true story of a 1990s corporate whistleblower called Mark Whitacre, played by Matt Damon - an excitable, Walter-Mitty-ish fellow who secretly informed the FBI of a price-fixing scam at his bio-tech firm, but himself became investigated for embezzlement. Does that sound dull? Just in case it does, Soderbergh has commissioned a relentlessly jazzy, wacky musical score from »
- Peter Bradshaw
Paul Giamatti: 'I'm clearly not Brad Pitt'
12 November 2009 1:27 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
Paul Giamatti tends to play moody defeatists and rageful misanthropes. Which is just the way he likes it
'I'm clearly not Brad Pitt, and I'm never going to be Brad Pitt," says Paul Giamatti, closely inspecting his coffee cup in a Polish restaurant in a leafy neighbourhood of Brooklyn. "But I don't think I'd want to be Brad Pitt, you know? So that's Ok."
This is partly just a reference to Giamatti's "character-actor" looks, but also to something deeper: a sense of composure, of being comfortable in one's own skin, that the archetypal Hollywood star exudes but both Giamatti and his characters tend to lack. "You know that thing where you can just fuckin' stand there and people can't take their eyes off the person? I don't have that weight of charisma," he explains. "That's not me. If I just stand there, it's going to be boring. You're going to »
- Oliver Burkeman
Matt Damon and George Clooney’s Hamdan V. Rumsfeld May Not Go to Court until 2011
9 November 2009 10:31 AM, PST | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »
It seems a bit unfair for me to whine about how George Clooney’s next directing gig, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld starring Matt Damon will probably be pushed back until 2011. These two actors have done outstanding work throughout most of the decade and it’s selfish of me to demand this movie when they’ll each be so busy working on other projects throughout next year that they simply won’t have time to do it. But I will continue to selfishly whine because it’s such an exciting combination and potentially powerful story. Hit the jump to find out why you’re losing your right to a speedy trial (and a laywer and habeus corpus and protections afforded by the Geneva Convention).
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld is the true story of Osama Bin Laden’s chauffeur Salim Ahmed Hamdan capture in Afghanistan, his incarceration in Guantanamo Bay, and how the United »
- Matt Goldberg
George Clooney in Talks for Alexander Payne's Next Film
5 November 2009 6:30 AM, PST | Pastemagazine.com | See recent PasteMagazine news »
George Clooney is in talks to play the lead role in the first feature film Alexander Payne has directed in five years, the follow-up to 2004’s Sideways. Payne also directed 1999’s Election and currently executive produces HBO’s series Hung. Produced by Fox Searchlight (where Payne has a first-look deal), the new film is a family “dramedy” called The Descendants, based on Kaui Hart Hemmings’ 2007 novel of the same name. »
George Clooney To Star In “The Descendants”
4 November 2009 3:03 PM, PST | Filmofilia | See recent Filmofilia news »
George Clooney is in discussions to head the cast of Alexander Payne’s comedy-drama “The Descendants.”
The movie marks Payne’s first movie since 2004’s Oscar winner “Sideways” and the first collaboration between Clooney and the director.
The movie centers on a wealthy revolves around a wealthy father who takes his two daughters on a trip to find his wife’s lover in the hope that it will keep his family together.
Screenplay for “The Descendants,” based on the debut novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings, is written by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.
Production is scheduled to start in February in Hawaii.
Alexander Payne, Jim Burke and Jim Taylor are producing through their shingle Ad Hominem.
Clooney, who is currently shooting Anton Corbijn-directed thriller “The American,” has three films set for release in the coming weeks – he is the voice of the title character in »
- Fiona
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2000
1-20 of 155 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
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