The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Want to win an Oscar for acting? Get cast by David O. Russell Posted: 18 Feb 2014 05:39 AM PST The director of romance "Silver Linings Playbook" and boxing drama "The Fighter" has helped the likes of Jennifer Lawrence and Christian Bale score some of Hollywood's biggest prizes, and this year has coaxed performances worthy of four Oscar nods from the stars of his crime caper "American Hustle." If an "American Hustle" actor - which could be Lawrence, Bale, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper - takes home a statuette on March 2, it would be the third consecutive Russell film to have an actor win Hollywood's top honours. "I feel pride," the 55-year-old director said of his actors' Oscar nominations. "I feel that I delivered to them because I aspire to deliver a role to them that is special, and I'm going to ask them to do things they've never done before and take risks they've never taken," he added. Russell, who is easily identified by his uniform of dark three-piece suits and black-rimmed glasses, has himself been nominated for five Oscars and this year is up for best director and best original screenplay. "American Hustle," like his previous two films, also earned a best picture nomination. The transformation of Russell over his past three films into a surefire Hollywood director came together like the self-reinvention tales of his cast of characters, which have ranged from downtrodden boxers to con artists and the mentally ill. "Sometimes fate deals you a hand where you've been undone for the better," the director said. "I did that a little bit." Russell's career appeared to stall after his 2004 comedy "I Heart Huckabees" did poorly at the box office, and his reputation took a hit with stories of butting heads - sometimes literally - and furious on-set arguments with his stars. "There have been people who have made flops and come back from them before," said Andrew O'Hehir, a film critic and senior writer for Salon.com. "But David's reputation was of somebody who not merely was this auteurist, independent filmmaker who wanted to do everything his own way, but was also a jerk and was difficult to work with," he added. There is also no contemporary filmmaker with a trajectory quite like Russell, who went six years between "Huckabees" and the release of his career-reviving "The Fighter," O'Hehir said. Now, Russell has made himself into a director who gets the most out of his players and who has helped turn Lawrence and Cooper from Hollywood headliners into serious dramatic actors, and his staunchest supporters. "The man who made my career what it is," Lawrence, 23, said accepting the Golden Globe award last month for her supporting role as the loopy housewife in "American Hustle," a year after she won her best actress Oscar for "Silver Linings." The film also won best ensemble cast at the Screen Actors Guild awards, the top honour of their peers. "He is an actor's director. He is the embodiment of it," Cooper said of Russell while accepting the prize. "He's the reason why all of us wanted to become actors when we were children." Stuck in so-called director's jail and struggling to get work, Russell points to the upheaval in his personal life - his divorce in 2007, and the effort and energy it took raising a son suffering from bipolar disorder - as one of the pivotal moments in turning around his career. "By the time I'd come back, I saw more clearly the kind of people that had been right under my nose my whole life that I had fascination with and affection for, making cinema about these people," Russell said. "I didn't see that 10 or 12 years ago, 20 years ago when I first started. It was after going through some trials with my own life, my son and having some projects that didn't come out well." Russell said he now tries to foster a warm and loose environment on set, often playing music, as the brisk schedule of film production can be a pressure cooker for all involved. Screenwriter Eric Warren Singer, who co-wrote "American Hustle," said the director's on-set style could be described as a companion to his actors. "No other director in the world works like David," Singer said. "He's an alchemist. Most directors will lay back. David is on the front line with his actors and in the scene with them in a way. There are no rules with him." Russell likes to call the challenge of eliciting top-notch performances from actors a task of "braiding" a character's story with its on-screen portrayal. "If you do a braid or a weave, you have to be balanced," he said. "You have to find the right measure of each character to blend them." - Reuters, February 18, 2014. |
| Jimmy Fallon takes helm of ‘Tonight Show’, brings it back to New York Posted: 17 Feb 2014 10:50 PM PST The surprise appearances, which also included Tina Fey, Joan Rivers, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Sarah Jessica Parker, Joe Namath and Steve Colbert, were among highlights of Fallon's "Tonight Show" debut, following the departure this month of long-serving host Jay Leno. The slew of unannounced walk-ons followed Fallon's remark that someone owed him $100 after betting he would never host the "Tonight Show," at which point De Niro, then others strode on stage one after another, each plunking bills onto his desk until finally Colbert doused him with a bucket of pennies. Actor Will Smith and Irish band U2 were the Brooklyn-born Fallon's first official, previously announced guests as the former "Saturday Night Live" comic launched the show's widely anticipated return to Manhattan's Rockefeller Centre. Fallon's stepping into one of the most visible roles in television marked NBC's second attempt to imbue the competitive late-night landscape on US television with a more youthful vibe by appealing to the coveted 18-to-34 year-old demographic. "I'm Jimmy Fallon and I'll be your host - for now," Fallon told the audience in the new multi-million dollar studio where such beloved "Tonight" veterans Johnny Carson and Jack Paar once presided. It was one of a handful of references to the show's recent troubled history. Leno was initially replaced by Conan O'Brien in 2009, but he returned months later in a public relations debacle for the network. He also paid tribute to the show's previous hosts by name, being sure to mention Leno twice - once before, and once after, O'Brien. "If you guys let me stick around long enough, maybe I'll get the hang of it," joked Fallon, who wore an understated gray suit, white shirt and blue tie for his first show. New York setting embraced From the outset, the New York "Tonight Show" boldly embraced its new home. Brooklyn-raised director Spike Lee shot a new opening, a stirring series of black-and-white night shots that gave way to colourful depictions of such iconic locations as Radio City Music Hall, Grand Central Terminal and Rockefeller Centre. The new set, with a dramatic Manhattan skyline backdrop, befit its Rockefeller Centre location. And when it came time for U2 to perform its new single, "Invisible," the band took to 30 Rock's rooftop at sunset. Scores of fans rocked to the beat with such New York landmarks as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and Times Square providing a glittering backdrop. Even Mother Nature cooperated, with crystal clear skies and a burnished sunset over New Jersey on a cold, winter dusk. But in other ways, Fallon's "Tonight Show" hewed to tradition. An opening monologue featured topical issues - chiefly the Olympics, which also happen to be airing on NBC - and a chat with Smith touched on the actor's recent adventures skydiving, and more on the Olympics. "I think I could win a gold medal in the things with the broom," Smith laughed, referring to the curling competition. When the four members of U2 joined Fallon for a chat after their rousing al fresco performance, Fallon, 39, asked "Was that the highest you've ever been?" Earlier, Fallon introduced what seemed likely to become a regular feature, "Tonight Show Superlatives," in which photos - in this case, again, Olympic athletes - were paired with "most likely to," high school yearbook-style captions. The "Tonight Show" first aired on NBC in 1954 from New York with host Steve Allen. Paar hosted the show from 1957 until Carson took over in 1962, and reigned for 30 years, before departing in 1992. Carson moved the show to southern California in 1972. In its final Burbank days, the "Tonight Show" drew about 3.9 million viewers per episode. First Lady Michelle Obama is among the guests scheduled for this week, along with Bradley Cooper and Justin Timberlake. Jerry Seinfeld, Kristen Wiig and Lady Gaga will appear tonight. – Reuters, February 18, 2014. |
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