The Envelope In Print: The Acting Issue (Nov. 14, 2007)
November 14, 2007
A MOMENT WITH . . .
Benicio Del Toro
"I love the Three Stooges, man, are you kidding?" Benicio Del Toro says. "Yeah, if the Three Stooges come up right now" -- he gestures at a wall cabinet, which presumably holds a TV -- "we stop this conversation."
November 14, 2007
CONTENDER Q & A
Julie Christie is good at being picky
THE 1967 photo book "Birds of Britain" refers to actress Julie Christie as "the very incarnation of the new British girl." Though it has long been inappropriate to refer to her as either a bird or a girl, there is still something remarkably fresh about her, a hard-won mix of the carefree and the don't-mess-with-me. To say they don't make movie stars like Julie Christie anymore would perhaps incorrectly imply that they ever really did.
November 14, 2007
THE BIG PICTURE CONVERSATION
Real estate broker Steve Samuels knows development
EVERYBODY is a producer these days. Just ask Steve Samuels, a successful real estate developer who just parachuted into the movie business as the producer of two of the fall season's most gripping dramas, Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton" and Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah." Amazingly, "Clayton" was sitting at Warner Bros., going nowhere until Samuels agreed to help finance the picture. Samuels knows he still has a lot to learn about the film business but insists he didn't become a producer to meet movie stars. "I'm not driven by the sex appeal of the business," he says. "It only clouds your judgment."
November 14, 2007
RED CARPET REWIND
Cate Blanchett, queen of style
IN 1999, a young, unknown Australian actress named Cate Blanchett made one of the most memorable entrances on the Academy Awards red carpet.
November 14, 2007
NOTES ON A SEASON
Pete Hammond: A dark horse could win the actor race
In the race for best actor in 2002, four Hollywood Goliaths -- Daniel Day-Lewis, Michael Caine, Jack Nicholson and Nicolas Cage, all previous Oscar winners -- were pitted against a lone David. He was then a little known, 29-year-old first-time nominee who most prognosticators thought had little chance against the field: "The Pianist" star Adrien Brody.
November 14, 2007
CONTENDER Q&A
Ben Foster plays villains with flair
RECENTLY turned just 27, Ben Foster has been acting professionally since he was 14. He had a small but memorable role on the short-lived, much-beloved television show "Freaks and Geeks" and gained wider recognition for his recurring role on "Six Feet Under." In films such as "Hostage," "Alpha Dog" and the recent "30 Days of Night" he has conjured a startling humanity beneath outsized villain roles, bringing unexpected undercurrents of emotion. He was downright touching in his role in action behemoth "X-Men: The Last Stand" and recently did a guest spot on "My Name Is Earl" specifically to deflate his image as the too-intense guy.
November 14, 2007
LIGHTS, CAMERA . . .
Dressing John Travolta's Edna Turnblad
Costume design is an illustrative, interpretive, collaborative art. I think of costumes as foreground elements in cinematic paintings that change from frame to frame. Costumes define the characters within the special context of each film.
November 14, 2007
IN CONTENTION
It's a crowded field
THE Oscars' acting races are packed with real drama.
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