We will look at highlights of this distinguished production designer’s oeuvre.
We will see clips from his most recent filmBlade Runner 2049, and then look back at his remarkable earlier work including:
William Powell is to dialogue as Fred Astaire is to dance. His delivery is so droll and insinuating, so knowing and innocent at the same time, that it hardly matters what he’s saying. That’s certainly the case in “The Thin Man” (1934), a murder mystery in which the murder and the mystery are insignificant compared to the personal styles of the actors. Powell and Myrna Loy co-star as Nick and Nora Charles, a retired detective and his rich wife, playfully in love
“The Thin Man” was one of the most popular films of 1934, inspired five sequels, and was nominated for four Oscars (best picture, actor, direction and screenplay). Yet it was made as an inexpensive B-picture. Powell and Loy had been successful together earlier the same year in “Manhattan Melodrama” (the last film John Dillinger ever saw), and were quickly cast by MGM in this crime comedy that was filmed, incredibly, in only two weeks.
Dennis Gassner picks this film as one of his favorites.
A seminal film of the 60’s, ( 4 Stars, Roger Ebert ) A film that influenced a young Tom Sewell in 1966.
Thomas (David Hemmings) is a London photographer who spends his time photographing fashion models. But one day he thinks he may have photographed something far more sinister: a murder.
“The Washington Post” reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon’s resignation.
In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal to answer charges of crimes against humanity. Chief Justice Haywood (Spencer Tracy) hears evidence and testimony not only from lead defendant Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster) and his defense attorney Hans Rolfe (Maximilian Schell), but also from the widow of a Nazi general (Marlene Dietrich), an idealistic U.S. Army captain (William Shatner) and reluctant witness Irene Wallner (Judy Garland).
Sad & Sweet, with a rare lyricism…100% on Rotten Tomatoes
Just back from our 7 week trip to NYC & Europe with a hot tip on a great new film, “The Cake Maker” recommended by Chloe Mons in France and Loren Paul Caplin in NYC (two of my favorite friends) TFS
Tom & Michelle have returned from NYC, Paris and Prague.
WE WILL START UP WITH A SPLENDID COMEDY ABOUT RUSSIA.
The one-liners fly as fast as political fortunes fall in this uproarious, wickedly irreverent satire from Armando Iannucci (Veep, In the Loop). Moscow, 1953: when tyrannical dictator Joseph Stalin drops dead, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to be the next Soviet leader. Among the contenders are the dweeby Georgy Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), the wily Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi), and the sadistic secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale). But as they bumble, brawl, and backstab their way to the top, just who is running the government? Combining palace intrigue with rapid-fire farce, this audacious comedy is a bitingly funny takedown of bureaucratic dysfunction performed to the hilt by a sparkling ensemble cast.
The New Yorker – “The Death of Stalin” Dares to Make Evil Funny”
August 7, 1974. A young French man named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire suspended between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. He danced on this wire for an hour with no safety net before he was arrested for what has become to be known as the “artistic crime of the century.”
Cinematiki Maui 