News

It’s difficult to imagine a time when Bob Dylan did not exist as a musician, much less when he did not dominate the New York folk scene, as hinted at so exquisitely at the ending of the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis. But the fact is that before Dylan became famous and swept all before him, including Dave Van Ronk, he was a huge fan of the Irish folk group the Clancy Brothers, who also did things on their own terms with a huge degree of success.

The beauty of Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty, the Golden Globe nominee which also just made the Foreign Language Oscar short list, is that everyone, whether cinephile, regular moviegoer or film critic, has his or her own opinion about the film. And when it comes to this Italian entry there are apparently few half-measures.

Daniel Brühl doesn’t know what time it is anymore. “I’m in Vienna, jumping up and down.

The short list for the Foreign Language Oscar category released today includes entries from nine countries: Belgium, Bosnia, Cambodia, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy and Palestine. Only two of those (the Italian and Danish films) are also represented in the five nominees for a Foreign Language Golden Globe.

While she seems such a grand and welcome presence on our cinema screens these days, it is hard to believe that it wasn’t until 1997, after decades as the doyenne of British stage and TV, that Dame Judi Dench broke out to cinema audiences worldwide with her starring role in a movie playing Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown, for which she received her first Golden Globe nomination and subsequently won.

Matthew McConaughey, who first gained attention for his breakout role in Dazed and Confused, is known for his dedication to his craft. The 44-year-old Texan easily vanishes into whatever role he plays, whether it’s a criminal defense lawyer operating his practice out of a Lincoln Town car in The Lincoln Lawyer, a police officer moonlighting as a contract killer in Killer Joe, a strip bar owner who clashes with his star stripper in Magic Mike, or an overconfident, eccentric and jaded stockbroker in The Wolf of Wall Street.

“I am a little embarrassed to say… but without love, life is not worth living. ” This was Hayao Miyazaki’s answer to the question, “What does love mean to you?” in 2008, when the American version of Ponyo was released.

The world’s most famous animation studios turned 90 this year and the landmark was celebrated with a toast at the historic Burbank lot. The 200 or so guests gathered at the studios’ Legends Plaza on a recent chilly California night included some very special actual legends including Milton Quon, who was Art Director on Bambi, Richard Sherman, who wrote the songs for Jungle Book and Mary Poppins, Margaret Kerry, who served as model for Tinkerbell and Ruthie Thompson, who began her work at the studios operating the ground-breaking multi-plane camera developed by Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

Hollywood lost one of its screen legends this past weekend when Joan Fontaine died at 96. The Academy Award-winning actress found stardom with roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s Suspicion and Rebecca and also worked with directors such as Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang, and Nicholas Ray.

Michael Cinco, the soft-spoken fashion designer who hails from Samar, Philippines, first made waves in Hollywood when Modern Family actress Sofia Vergara wore his sexy beaded black gown in last January's Golden Globes. The voluptuous actress landed on the best-dressed lists of most of the fashion critics and on the covers of magazines while wearing Michael Cinco’s stunning creation.