May and June Casting Coups!

Casting Coup Tuesdays are coming back -- and not just as part of the Retro Series either!


MAY
Disney's been on a live action kick -- so let's join them.

May 5: MULAN - announced as among the next batch of intended live action remakes

May 12: ALADDIN

May 19: THE BLACK CAULDRON

May 26: POCAHONTAS

JUNE
Y'all know I love me a musical. So let's revisit some classic ones.

June 2: THE WIZ - already announced as NBC's next Live Musical production

June 9: ZORBA - musical version of the Oscar-winning film, the latter of which was discussed a bit back in the day

June 16: FLOWER DRUM SONG - Original Broadway version

June 23: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

June 30: CALAMITY JANE - the 1953 film, which we discussed a bit last year

JULY
Oh, we'll get there when we get there.


So mark your calendars, come up with your own casts, and make sure to share all your thoughts and feelings in the comments!

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(n)Ever Too Early: Oscar Predictions

Ah, April. The Academy Awards are now a little over a month behind us, which means it's time to start speculating about next year's Academy Awards nominations. Why not? It's fun!

Hat tip to Nathaniel of The Film Experience, who began the tradition of April predictions long ago, and who's currently giving his far more thought than I am mine.

I did pretty well last year, actually -- though the fact that I made predictions after Cannes probably helped. Nevertheless, let's try it -- my predictions for eight of the Oscar categories for next year, after the jump!

This Is It: The 1971 Retro Hollmann Awards, Part Three

It all ends today. This is the last of the Retro Hollmann Award of 1971.

Within, you will find: my favorite costumes; my full Top Ten; my lineup of Original Song, the final winner of which was not decided until three minutes before I hit PUBLISH...

And, to start us off, the prize for Best Ensemble, which has no equivalent at the Oscars, but hey -- these are the Hollmann Awards.

BEST ENSEMBLE

1. The Boy Friend

Always give props to a troupe of dancing, singing thesps, all bringing their A-Game, all on-tone, none ever better. Maybe you wouldn't think to combine the talents of Glenda Jackson, Twiggy, Tommy Tune, and Vladek Sheybal (not to mention Max Adrian, Georgina Hale, and Antonia Ellis) -- but thank goodness someone did.

4. Carnal Knowledge

Unexpected performances from Ann-Margret, Candice Bergen and Art Garfunkel; effective cameos by Carol Kane and Rita Moreno; an almost movie-stealing turn from Cynthia O'Neal; and a phenomenal Jack Nicholson at the center of it all.

5. Cold Turkey

Dick Van Dyke and Bob Newhart against type, yes -- but let's also give props to Barnard Hughes' desperate, chain-smoking doctor, Barbara Cason's snooty cigarette fiend, Simon Scott's surly tobacco exec, and Bob & Ray.

3. Dodes'ka-den

Kurosawa's cast has to run the gamut from comedy to drama, varying degrees of each, without being in different films. Nailed it. Little Hiroyuki Kawase is a real find as the beggar's son, Tomoko Yamazaki wrings your heart as the paper flower girl, and at the heart of it all -- Yoshitaka Zushi as the boy conducting a train.

2. The Last Picture Show

Ross Brown, casting director
Anarene feels like the real deal, not just because of the soon-to-be legends like Jeff Bridges, Ellen Burstyn, and Cybill Shepherd; not just due to the reliable character work of Eileen Brennan, Clu Gulager, and Ben Johnson; but also because of the work from Sharon Taggart, Joe Heathcock, Sam Bottoms, and Gary Brockette. It takes a village to make a masterpiece.

What more can I possibly give to the films of Ken Russell? Find out after the jump...

A Bit of Magic: The 1971 Retro Hollmann Awards, Part Two

The honors for the films of 1971 continue! Yesterday, the big winners were Fiddler on the Roof, The Devils, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, and Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion. All but one of those titles return today...but not necessarily as winners!

BEST SOUND

5. The Anderson Tapes
Dennis Maitland, production sound
Al Gramaglia, sound mixer
Jack Fitzstephens, sound editor
Why do footsteps always seem different in Sidney Lumet's films? They scuff and shuffle, clip and clop. And of course, we mustn't forget the conversations we hear, whether in person, over headphones, or through the hiss of secret recordings played back for our benefit.

2. The Boy Friend
Maurice Askew, sound recordist
Brian Simmons, sound mixer
At times blending a scratchy vinyl recording with the voices of the on-screen ensemble, changing it up from polished and perfect to the sometimes-lost acoustics of the rundown theatre, and never missing a step -- quite literally, especially during the tap numbers.

1. Fiddler on the Roof
David Hildyard, sound mixer
Gordon K. McCallum, sound re-recording mixer
Les Wiggins, sound editor
Perfect. From the butcher chopping in time to "Tradition" to all atmosphere dropping out during the "Chava Ballet Sequence", from the subtle scrapings of the bottle dancers' feet to the soundtrack being overwhelmed by fire and pounding music. Grounds the musical in reality.

3. The French Connection
Chris Newman/Theodore Soderberg, sound
It's all about that chase sequence between a car and a city train, with the right amount of squeals, shrieks, screams, moans (from heart attacks), and so on. I'm also a big fan of the sequence where the cops are taking a suspicious car apart -- rejoice in the RIP RIP RIP!

4. El Topo
Gonzalo Gavira, sound effects
Lilia Lupercio, sound editor
Every little noise is exact, from the bullets to the crunching of the sand beneath a boot. The cacophony of the village at the end, the echoes of the cave of the misfits, the gutting final slaughter.

Visual Effects, Director, Supporting Actress and more, after the jump...

Mayhem, Music, Murder: The 1971 Retro Hollmann Awards, Part One

After so much waiting, here it finally is -- the Retro Hollmann Awards of 1971! Seventy (70) films were screened for 1971, and as always, some desirables were missed, some surprises were discovered, and some duds, unfortunately, slipped through the cracks. But here's the full list:

 The Abominable Dr. Phibes

The Anderson Tapes

The Andromeda Strain

Bananas

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Billy Jack

Black Jesus

Bless the Beasts & Children

Blood Mania

The Boy Friend

Brewster McCloud

Carnal Knowledge

Cat O’Nine Tails

A Clockwork Orange

Cold Turkey

The Conformist

Death in Venice

The Devils

Diamonds Are Forever

Dirty Harry

Dodes’Ka-Den

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Drive, He Said

Escape from the Planet of the Apes

Fiddler on the Roof

The French Connection

The Garden of the Finzi Continis

Get Carter

The Go-Between

Harold and Maude

Honky

The Hospital

The House That Dripped Blood

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion

Jennifer on My Mind

Johnny Got His Gun

Klute

Kotch

The Last Picture Show

The Lickerish Quartet

The Love Machine

Making It

Le Mans

Mary, Queen of Scots

McCabe & Mrs. Miller

The Music Lovers

Nicholas and Alexandra

Play Misty for Me

Pretty Maids All in a Row

Shaft

Simon, King of the Witches

Sometimes a Great Notion

Straw Dogs

Summer of ’42

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song

Taking Off

Tchaikovsky

They Might Be Giants

El Topo

The Trojan Women

Two-Lane Blacktop

Wake in Fright

Werewolves on Wheels

What’s the Matter with Helen?

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth

Who Is Harry Kellerman, and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?

Willard

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Zachariah

For the next three days, I will be naming my perceived best in all 18 categories, two of which (Makeup, Ensemble) did not have an Oscar equivalent that year. Some nominees match the Academy's, while some categories have been completely overhauled. They are all, however, unmistakably Me.

And we start with the Editors!  

BEST EDITING

2. The Anderson Tapes
Joanne Burke
Standout scene: the entire heist that takes up the final third of the film, cutting back and forth between the tenants of each floor as they are rounded up by Anderson's crew; the crew itself gathering the objects of desire; the several areas of surveillance; and the slowly mobilized law enforcement.

5. The Devils
Michael Bradsell
Standout scene: If this was purely the director's cut, I'd say the sequence where the nuns rape a towering, crucified Jesus statue, intercut with Frather Grandier holding a quiet, personal Mass in nature, is legendary for a reason. But let us not forget the final sequence, as the village of Loudon watches an execution with varying degreess of satisfaction and horror.

1. Fiddler on the Roof
Antony Gibbs/Robert Lawrence
No standout scene -- for it is all so perfectly edited, from "Tradition" through to the finale -- the Bottle Dance, the pogrom, the Chava ballet, "Anatevka", the dream sequence....perfection.

4. Get Carter
John Trumper
Standout scene: Carter beats the shit out of some thugs, using their car. It's great.

3. Klute
Carl Lerner
Standout scene: Any of the therapy sessions, cut back and forth between Bree and the doctor at the perfect moments. Bree's final encounter with a deranged murderer, including listening to a recording of her deceased friend, is a gutting, terrifying scene as well.

Makeup, Cinematography, Score, and more -- below the jump.

Casting Coup: Nicholas and Alexandra

NOMINATIONS

Best Picture

Best Actress - Janet Suzman

Best Cinematography - Freddie Young

Best Original Score - Richard Rodney Bennett

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - John Box/Ernest Archer/Jack Maxsted/Gil Parrondo/Vernon Dixon (WON)

Best Costume Design - Yvonne Blake/Antonio Castillo (WON)

And so we come to this.

Nicholas and Alexandra is a handsomely-mounted, old-fashioned epic bio from the producer of Lawrence of Arabia. I admire much of it -- the production value, most of the performances, the way the screenplay tries to tell the full story of the Revolution. It's a movie I might like to revisit -- though I will say Janet Suzman is not the most exciting actress to watch, and the film tends to drag in its attempts to justify a three-hour-plus length.

You know what I love most, though? As always? The all-star cast! And here, I hoped to repeat that same magic for our final Casting Coup of 1971.

Some of the biographical elements of the real people may seem a bit muddled, as I wrote first my memory of their characters, then checked them out on Wikipedia -- and discovered that some of their roles in the film may have been a wee tweaked. So, scholars of Russian history, do not scoff too loudly. After all, this is about the cast.

Who you can see after the jump.

Casting Coup: The Last Picture Show

NOMINATIONS

Best Picture

Best Director - Peter Bogdanovich

Best Supporting Actor - Jeff Bridges

Best Supporting Actor - Ben Johnson (WON)

Best Supporting Actress - Ellen Burstyn

Best Supporting Actress - Cloris Leachman (WON)

Best Adapted Screenplay - Peter Bogdanovich/Larry McMurtry

Best Cinematography - Robert Surtees

I love The Last Picture Show, another film I didn't see until I took on the 1971 Retrospective. It is so damn beautiful -- beautifully-written, beautifully-shot, beautifully-acted. Roger Ebert ranked it among his Great Movies, saying, "It is about a town with no reason to exist, and people with no reason to live there."

But oh, what people! A perfect ensemble just ripe for the casting -- and really, I expect that this film, along with The Big Chill, will eventually be remade. And if it happened today, who might we see?

This guarantees to be the 2014 Academy Award Nominee-iest cast of the bunch...check it out after the jump.