On Thursday, May 29, 2008, America lost one of its great screen comics. The legendary and gifted Harvey Korman died at the age of 81, in Los Angeles, due to complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. We at AMG would like to take a few moments to look back and pay our respects to Korman’s long life and career in showbusiness.

Read the rest of this entry »

Just a little Friday trailer fun for the movie lovers out there who long for the good old days when Pam Grier was the queen of the screen, Fred Williamson was stirring Hell Up in Harlem, and D’Urville Martin was the man of the hour.

Grindhouse may have paved the way, but Black Dynamite nails that 70s vibe with such perfection that it could be considered a period piece. Extra credit goes to the folks who can pick out all the classic music cues featured in this trailer.

Thanks to Twitch for the tip. Now please excuse me while I play this trailer on a constant loop all weekend long…

Like Funny Games without the pretension or Halloween (1978) without the suspense, The Strangers chugs dutifully along for its contractually obligated 90 minutes, compelling viewers to jump with a series of carefully timed loud noises and false scares before giving them precisely what they came for with as little fanfare as cinematically possible. The Strangers is the kind of horror thriller that feels like it was written on a calculator rather than a word processor; every startling noise, false scare, and genuine payoff is carefully formulated for maximum effect, yet so precise and scientific that the whole exercise becomes strangely dry — and all too predictable, if you have even the most rudimentary knowledge of the original formula.

Read the rest of this entry »

According to a recent post on Boing Boing, Dublin, California moviegoer Adrian McCarthy noticed a curious sign at the Hacienda Crossing Regal Cinema indicating what may be a disturbing new trend in the ongoing war against movie piracy. McCarthy claims that management posted a notice informing patrons purchasing tickets for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls that portions of the film had been intentionally silenced, and that the theater manager had no control over the situation. Eagle-eyed multiplex patrons have no doubt noticed the so-called “cap code” system of watermarking film prints (“cap code” consists of a series of red dots that appear in a frame at certain intervals) that has grown popular amongst the studios over the last few years, but could this be the next step in combating piracy?

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, Nic and Werner:

As a fellow member of the film industry (OK, so writing the occasional movie review in some little town in Michigan doesn’t really make me a member of the industry, just humor me on this), I read the trade papers on a regular basis, and I recently saw an article in Variety which said you guys were planning to work together on a remake of Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant, which starts shooting this summer. Now, practically every issue of Variety includes at least one announcement of a project that ends up never seeing the light of day, but this piece seemed reasonably plausible, so I wanted to step forward with some friendly advice on how you should approach this particular film. It’s quite simple, really – you should drop the idea now while you still can. No one is going to come out ahead if this movie ever gets made, and I think we all realize this in our heart of hearts.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not here to badmouth anyone. Heck, I’m actually a fan of both you guys. Werner, I’ve been following your work ever since Aguirre, The Wrath of God turned my head around sideways when I saw it in college. And Nic, if you had a nickel for every time I quoted your great line in Wild At Heart, “This here jacket represents a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom,” you’d be considerably wealthier than I am. Of course, you already are, but adding that money could well push the proportions into the algebraic.

Read the rest of this entry »

As a first-time co-writer/director, Helen Hunt carries a strength untouched even by many filmmakers with twenty or thirty-year histories in the business: the ability to swiftly navigate her actors through emotionally complex sequences, layered with the behavioral contradictions and uncertainties of real life. Consequently, numerous sequences in Hunt’s feature debut, Then She Found Me, flower with a level of ingenuousness that feels astonishingly fresh and open. To put it bluntly: Hunt is an actor’s director. That approach to the craft of filmmaking not only saves about 80% of the said film, but frequently lifts it into the realm of the sublime.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rambo: Bad to Joke About — Burma, cyclone devastation, military junta. Good to Joke About — Stallone’s Botox.

Cassandra’s Dream: Bad to joke about — Murder, betrayal, Woody Allen losing his sense of humor. Good to Joke About — Scarlett Johansson’s album.

Grace is Gone: Bad to Joke About: War in Iraq, military widows/widowers. Good to Joke About — John Cusack vying for the Oscar he missed out on with Martian Child.

Darfur Now: Bad to Joke About — Crisis in Darfur, genocide in general. Good to Joke About — No dice on this one. Watch this hilarious kitten video.

Sydney Pollack was, quite simply, one of the most multi-talented individuals of Hollywood’s last forty years. As a director, he often created smashing entertainments that never called attention to their seemingly effortless craftsmanship. From his first resounding masterpiece, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, Pollack often successfully walked the fine line between art and commerce that makes filmmaking, especially American filmmaking, such a fascinating artform. His talent blossomed in the seventies, a decade when darker subject matter was far more commercially viable than it is today. Pollack’s films laid bare a healthy mistrust of institutions – The Firm, Three Days of the Condor, Absence of Malice – but his affection for human beings remained no matter what subject matter he tackled; he managed to make Tootsie a modern screwball classic in large part because he understood his supposedly fractious relationship with Dustin Hoffman was resulting in great rewards on camera.

As a producer, Pollack showed an interest in many different subjects. He produced two great movies about country music, Songwriter and Honeysuckle Rose; he helped shepherd a number of small, human stories to the screen including The Fabulous Baker Boys, White Palace, and Iris; and he also played a part – with his Mirage Entertainment partner Anthony Minghella - in producing a number of recent Oscar contenders including Cold Mountain, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Michael Clayton.

Considering Michael Clayton brings us to the most underrated aspect of Pollack’s career, that of a gifted screen actor, capable of menace, humor, warmth, and intelligence. As the boss at the law firm in Michael Clayton he embodied a cynicism so ingrained that the unethical actions didn’t seem to be worth consideration until they affected the company’s bottom line. This character couldn’t be more different than his agent in Tootsie, a man marked by the utter exasperation he feels dealing with his perfectionist client. From his reptilian Hollywood power broker in The Player, to his pitch-perfect frustrated spouse opposite Judy Davis in Woody Allen’s lacerating Husbands and Wives, to hilariously underplaying fear in Death Becomes Her, to his cool authority in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, Pollack’s credits make it apparent we have lost not only a fine director, but one of the Hollywood’s most unheralded character actors.

For a quick taste of Sydney Pollack’s many talents, acquire the following and program a ceaselessly entertaining mini film festival.

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
Tootsie
Husbands and Wives
Sketches of Frank Gehry
Michael Clayton