‘Doubt’ premieres in New York

Meryl Streep in the new movie, "Doubt."

 

The new movie “Doubt,” starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams, premiered last night in New York City. In the big screen version John Patrick Shanley’s play, Doubt, Streep stars as Sister Aloysius, a nun running the church’s private school with a firm hand in the 1960s. She’s not a believer in the ‘boys will be boys’ way of thinking which puts her at odds with the more relaxed and friendly Father Brendan Flynn (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman), and Amy Adams finds herself caught in the middle of these two conflicting forces. Photos below show Hoffman, Adams, and Streep at the New York premiere at the Paris Theater on December 7.

 

 

Hear more from the lead actors here, here, and here! And watch the trailer below:

 

Natalie Portman spotted filming new movie in New York

Natalie Portman has been spotted filming her new movie, “Love and Other Impossible Pursuits” here in New York.  Below is a photo of her and Charlie Tahan shooting a scene at Wollman Skating Rink in late November. The film is a “dramedy” (drama/comedy) about woman who must come to grips with the loss of her infant daughter while raising a five-year-old stepson and saving a failing marriage, based on the bestseller by Ayelet Waldman. Portman reportedly signed on for this project after the original lead, Jennifer Lopez, abruptly left the project. What a completely different movie that would’ve been…

Dark Knight returns, and Heath Ledger receives posthumous award

I swear I’ve seen it advertised during absolutely every commercial break for the last two weeks, but for those of you who’ve been completely cut off from the world, Dark Knight, the grim and dazzling and bittersweet smash of summer 2008 releases on DVD this week. A dazzling performance by Heath Ledger, who sadly appears to have only just tapped into the depths of his artistic talents. Perhaps a bit doom and gloom for the holiday season, but if you don’t want to go see Four Christmases for the umpteenth time, staying home with this DVD is a good alternative.

Heath Ledger in his award-winning role as Joker in Dark Knight.

Also in the news, Ledger, who died of an accidental overdose of painkillers and other medicines in his new York apartment 11 months ago, was posthumously awarded the afI (australian film Institute) international award for best actor.

Guests at a packed awards ceremony in Melbourne’s Princess Theatre gave a tearful standing ovation in tribute to the actor.

This year’s Spirit Awards don’t quite have the indie spirit

Last week, the nominees for the 2009 Spirit Awards were announced. The Spirit Awards, meant to be the indie version of the Oscars, has caused a bit of an uproar with the recently changed rules of eligibility. Now, the qualifying criteria includes a budget below twenty million dollars. That is a surprisingly high budget, and more or less guarantees a lot of overlap with Oscar nominees. Such as: two of the five best-picture nominees are “Rachel Getting Married” and “The Wrestler”; “Synecdoche, New York” is a nominee for best first feature and best screenplay; “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” “Milk,” and “Rachel” were nominated for their screenplays, too; and among the nominated actors and actresses are Anne Hathaway, Javier Bardem, and Sean Penn.

Synecdoche, New York was nominated for a 2009 Spirit Award.

Meanwhile, worthy independent films such as “Frownland” and “Nights and Weekends” have been overlooked in favor of bigger budgeted films. The independent filmmaking spirit is not all about dollars, but the amount of overlap between the Oscars and the Spirit Awards raises the question–how do we define an independent film now?

The 2009 Spirit Awards will be presented February 21, 2009. Find out more about them here.

What’s next for Kristen Stewart?

What’s next for the Twilight starlet? Besides the recently greenlit sequel, Stewart, has signed on for the upcoming film “The Runaways,” about the famous all-girl rock band. She is slated to play Joan Jett, but there is no word so far on who will play Cherie Currie, Lita Ford, Sandy West, etc.

Just who were The Runaways?

At a time when many female acts were crooning folk ballads, the teenage Runaways’ unabashedly raunchy songs about sex, drinking and hanging out with the wrong type of guy (”You Drive Me Wild,” “Is It Day or Night,” “Thunder”) didn’t sit well with middle America but clearly made an impression on several later generations of singers.

Though the group fell apart within a few years, its pioneering spirit and us-against-the-world story is ripe for a big-screen biopic — especially one helmed and written by lauded video director Floria Sigismondi, who has worked on clips for everyone, including Marilyn Manson, Christina Aguilera, Sheryl Crow, Fiona Apple, and the White Stripes.

Top Movies About New York, In New York

One of the best things about living in New York is watching movies filmed in New York. There’s just something about seeing the familiar buildings and streets you see every day on the silver screen that makes one feel lucky to live in such an amazing, vibrant city. From the tough guys of Goodfellas to the romantic trysts atop the Empire State Building, here are some highly recommended movies featuring one of film history’s most popular stars: NYC.

Also, for you filmophiles–want to see where your favorite movies were filmed? Set up your own personal tour of famous film sites here.

New York City at its red carpet-ready best.

Next Year’s Sundance Film Festival Will Be Seeing Stars

On the other side of the country, the film industry is preparing for the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. As always, there are a few huge movie stars featuring in some of these smaller films, but it appears that the upcoming festival is likely to have more familiar faces than most. Who’s showing up on the red carpet this January? Jim Carrey, Richard Gere, William Hurt, Robin Williams, Kim Basinger, Uma Thurman and Kevin Spacey, just to name a few.

Top Indies in NYC

The city has a huge indie film scene, and you can argue with me all you want, but I’m convinced it’s got the best chances for independent film-watching you’ll find anywhere.  And that’s thanks in part to the loads of great theaters that play first-rate independent and alternative films.  Here’s a list of some of the top independent film houses around the city, and be sure to check out the new map feature in the right-hand sidebar to some of these great spots!

Angelika Film Center Houston & Mercer, (212) 995-2000

The Angelika showcases off-beat and hip films. It includes a cafe; with gourmet foods. The cafe is worth a trip, even if you’re not there to catch a show.

BAM Rose Cinemas 30 Lafayette Avenue between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street, Brooklyn. (718) 636-4157

This theater features independent, classic American and foreign films, documentaries, retrospectives, festivals and sneak previews and even Q&As with filmmakers.

Cinema Classics 332 East 11th Street, (212) 971-1015

This East Village screening room has become one of the hottest spots in the city. Known for its offbeat screenings of the best foreign, cult, contemporary independent and classic Hollywood films, Cinema Classics shows a different film every 2-3 days for only $5.50.

Film Forum 209 West Houston, 727-8110
Film Forum shows eclectic political and artistic movies. Cappuccino is available in the lobby, and the seats are ultra-comfortable.

The Kitchen 512 W. 19th St. bet. 10th and 11th Aves. (212) 255-5793

The Kitchen shows avant-garde films as well as more traditional theater and concert performances. They have special events that combine dinner and a movie. A lot of the shows feature New York artists. Check out the ticket prices before you go, as prices may vary for feature films.

Millennium Film Workshop 66 E. 4th St. near Second Ave. (212) 673-0090

The Millennium is a workshop group that shows a lot of experimental films. They also hold group classes and workshops throughout the year.

New York Film Academy 100 East 17th Street (212) 674-4300

The NYFA hosts regular film festivals in their 200 seat auditorium. Big-name guests are known to appear, including filmmakers such as Peter Bogdonavich and Al Pacino.

Ocularis at Galapagos 70 North 6th Street, between Wythe & Kent Avenues in historical Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Ocularis provides classic, international, and repertory cinema, with independent, experimental and documentary filmmakers. Screenings are Sunday nights at 7pm and 9:30pm and Monday nights at 8:30pm.

Public Theater 425 Lafayette St. near Astor Place. (212) 260-2400

The Public shows a quirky selection of old movies, especially “art” classics and history of filmmaking breakthrough pictures.

The Screening Room 54 Varick Street, just below Canal. (212) 334-2100

The Screening Room has a 131-seat movie theater, a restaurant and bar, a lounge, and a private dining/screening room known as the i-room. Both the restaurant and movie theater have the feel of a 1940’s movie palace.

Amateur Movie of the Week!

As you’ve probably heard, we’ve developed a new feature to put YOU (or your favorite online videos) in the spotlight! Every week we’ll highlight an amateur video–whether it be your homemade version of your favorite movie, alternate endings, or an awesome (or awesomely bad) video found on YouTube.  Here’s our first selection, Edward Scissorhands!

How can you join in the fun?

Submit your videos, or links to videos you’ve discovered online, to trg226@nyu.edu. Or simply add them as a comment to a blog post. It’s really as simple as that!

Four Christmases–A Stale Holiday Flick

Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn star in Four Christmases, a blockbuster Hollywood hit.

This year’s holiday blockbuster hit is Four Christmases, starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn. As you can imagine, it has all the wonderfully humiliating scenes you’ve come to expect from the annual holiday comedy film: embarrassing bodily functions, physical injuries (head or crotch, take your pick), an unbelievable parade of “quirky” family members, and somehow in the end, the same heartwarming message of love and that because family is family, all misdeeds are forgiven. I have no rational explanation for it, but for some reason, that same tried and true holiday comedy formula continues to work, and the proof is in this year’s Four Christmases. The film raised $31.7 million this last weekend and was Hollywood’s second-biggest Thanksgiving opening ever, according to studio estimates, which is sadly a better box office pull than these wonderful holiday films were able to manage. It helped that Four Christmases had the holiday-themed movie market virtually to itself, but seriously, what is it about these movies that keeps people coming back for more?