'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
Never say never again? Sam Mendes says he won't be directing the next James Bond film _ but may work on the series again in the future.
Hollywood stars squelched up a soggy red carpet Sunday at the British Academy Film Awards, which pitted presidential biopic "Lincoln" against epic musical "Les Miserables" and Iran hostage crisis drama "Argo."
The return of director Sam Mendes and a long-awaited musical by Tori Amos are among highlights announced Wednesday for the 50th anniversary season at Britain's National Theatre.
Kate Winslet has tied the knot again.
Kate Winslet has tied the knot again.
Kate Winslet has tied the knot again.
The top 10 films of 2012, according to AP Movie Critic Christy Lemire:
James Bond's "Skyfall" has extended its worldwide box-office rule to North America, hauling in a franchise-record $87.8 million in its first weekend at U.S. theaters.
Nothing is so much of a boys' club as a James Bond movie. That is, except when Judi Dench is on screen.
Roger Deakins is the rare person I was actually nervous to interview because I'm such a huge fan of his work. When I talked to the veteran cinematographer in early 2008, after he'd received Academy Award nominations for both "No Country for Old Men" and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," I found him to be lovely and humble, with a dry and self-effacing British wit _ which naturally made me admire him even more.
If you just looked at the cast and crew of "Skyfall," you could easily confuse the assembled talent for a prestige costume drama. Director Sam Mendes, actors Judi Dench, Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes, and cinematographer Roger Deakins might just as easily be mounting a Shakespeare adaptation.
When I first heard that "American Beauty" director Sam Mendes had been tapped to make the newest James Bond film, I wondered how the choice might transform the series. Would we find Bond sitting in a McMansion wearing a cardigan and brooding over a failed marriage? Would we discover in the end that the true enemy was, in fact, the inescapable horror of suburban ennui? Would he switch his drink order to white wine?
If you just looked at the cast and crew of "Skyfall," you could easily confuse the assembled talent for a prestige costume drama. Director Sam Mendes, actors Judi Dench, Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes, and cinematographer Roger Deakins might just as easily be mounting a Shakespeare adaptation.
"Lincoln" _ For anyone who cringed just a little while watching the trailer and worried that this might be a near-parody of a Steven Spielberg film, with its heartfelt proclamations, sentimental tones and inspiring John Williams score, fret not. The movie itself is actually a lot more reserved than that _ more a wonky, nuts-and-bolts lesson about the way political machinery operates than a sweeping historical epic that tries to encapsulate the entirety of the revered 16th president's life. That was a smart move on the part of Spielberg and Pulitzer prize-winning screenwriter Tony Kushner. Talky and intimate but also surprisingly funny, "Lincoln" focuses on the final four months of Abraham Lincoln's life as he fought for the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, and sought to unite a nation torn apart by the Civil War. This tumultuous period provides a crucible to display everything Lincoln was made of, both his folksiness and fortitude. Totally unsurprisingly, Daniel Day-Lewis inhabits the role fully. He disappears into it with small details and grand gestures, from his carriage to the cadence of his speech, and the Academy should probably just give him the best-actor Oscar now and get it over with. Although "Lincoln" itself often feels too conservative, stagey and safe, Day-Lewis' performances is full of so many clever choices that he keeps it compelling. Of course, the film has all the top-notch technical hallmarks we've come to expect from Spielberg: It's handsomely staged and impeccable in its production design. But this is a movie that's easier to admire than love; it's impressive but not exactly moving. Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, John Hawkes and David Strathairn are among the supporting cast that might be too crammed with gifted character actors. PG-13 for an intense scene of war violence, some images of carnage and brief strong language. 150 minutes. Three stars out of four.
To borrow a line from Depeche Mode, death is everywhere in "Skyfall." James Bond's mortality has never been in such prominent focus, but the demise of the entire British spy game as we know it seems imminent, as well.
Sam Mendes says he won't be directing the next James Bond film _ but may work on the series again in the future.
But Mendes says he has made the "very difficult decision" to focus on other projects "that need my complete focus over the next year and beyond."
