TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2012

Sorry, but Google has done something to the program, and I am unable to satisfactorily edit this post. Follow on Twitter: @MimiattheMovies

The Tribeca Film Festival will run for 12 days, opening Wednesday, April 18, and ending Sunday, April 29. However, I must confess that Tribeca does not have a track record when it comes to picking Academy Award winners. Why? Perhaps, because Tribeca's main concern is helping aspiring filmmakers, and showing outstanding, but not necessarily award-winning, motion pictures.

Emily Blunt and Jason Segal in The Five Year Engagement

Opening night will feature the world premiere of The Five Year Engagement, the latest film by the creative team of Jason Segal, Nicholas Stoller and Judd Apatow. VIP pass holders will enjoy exclusive access and reserved seating to Festival premieres, galas, parties and more. American Express is a founding partner. Holders of the Amerian Express Credit Card were able to order their VIP passes before they were offered to the general public.

On behalf of the founders of the festival Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, I hope you will support the Tribeca Film Institute (TFI). TFI is a nonprofit arts organization that supports emerging filmmakers with funds and mentorships and provides students with arts education and filmmaking tools. Six TFI-supported films will screen at this year’s Festival, and TFI will bring hundreds of students to the Festival to take part in screenings, industry meetings and more.

 

TRIBECA ON DEMAND (VOD)

Four new films are now available On Demand via Tribeca Film:  Black Butterflies, Conception, Detachment, and Neon Flesh.

CLICK

Some ticket packages and individual tickets may still be available, but they will not last long. Ticket Sales.

Click title of this post for the Tribeca Website to download the full program and schedule.

Catch notifications, and more, by following this Blog on Twitter @MimiattheMovies. Or,Facebook

If your schedule, or location, prevents you from attending the Festival, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to TFI. Please e-maildonor@tribecafilminstitute.org with any questions.

Jane Fonda to Portray Nancy Reagan

Moviefone reports that Oscar winner Jane Fonda (Coming Home), now 74, will play former First Lady Nancy Reagan in an upcoming motion picture directed by Lee Daniels (Precious) titled, The Butler.

The subject of The Butler is Eugene Allen (July 14, 1919 – March 31, 2010), and the story line will concentrate on the 34 years he spent working in the White House. Oscar winner Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) is rumored to be in talks for the part of Allen, along with Oscar nominated Oprah Winfrey (The Color Purple) as his wife, and actor David Oyelowo (The Last King of Scotland) for the role of their son.

Winfrey

David Oyelowo

As the Hollywood Reporter pointed out earlier this month, "[Eugene] Allen started at the White House as a 'pantry man' in 1952, when blacks weren't allowed to use public restrooms in his native Virginia." He ended up serving eight presidents and retired as the head butler in 1986.
 

Columbia Pictures bought the rights to the 2008 Washington Post article, "The Butler / In Black and White," by Will Haygood. Director Daniels is a co-writer of the script with Danny Strong (Game Change, TV, 2012).

Oscar nominated Liam Neeson (Schindler's List) and John Cusack (The Raven, releasing April 27th) are being considered for the presidential roles of Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, respectively. Actress Milas Kunis' name has also been dropped, but at the moment, it is not known for which role.

It may be a stretch for Fonda to "inhabit" Mrs. Reagan's personality, considering how far apart they are politically and ideologically, but much the same could have been said for Meryl Streep portraying Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady before that fabulous makeup job and voice change. Then, presto, an Oscar for leading actress. Just saying, don't consider Fonda down for the count until the movie has finished production.

 Streep as Thatcher

Currently, The Butler is expected to release some time in 2013. Pamela Williams will produce for Laura Ziskin Productions.


Click title of this post for more. Follow Fonda on Twitter @janefonda.

Do Film Festivals Matter Where Oscars Are Concerned?

When it comes to film festivals, the question on the street this year is, "Do film festivals really matter where the Oscars are concerned?" My answer is that some do, some don't, and some count more than others.

However, keep in mind that these are no longer "film" festivals. Oh, yes, film festivals is a great alliteration that trips off the tongue, but the title "film festivals" denoting a showcase for new motion pictures must go. Why? Because film is the material and process once used to make motion pictures and, except for a few third world countries, film is no longer used to make motion pictures, moving pictures, movies, cinema, cine, etc. Digital is the new medium of choice, and 3D is rising in popularity as digital techniques for it improve.

For instance, I attended and taught in the Film School at the University of Southern California (History and Criticism), but that school no longer exists. Don't panic, it is now known as the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and my field is now known as Cinematic Critical Studies. The School of Cinematic Arts at USC, now has it's own building, the George Lucas Building, SCA 108, which also contains the The Ray Stark Family Theatre, all at 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007.

So, the times have changed, and are constantly changing. Therefore, are film festivals still relevant in the Race for the Oscars in spite of the gigantic procreation of them in every town and hamlet, and their rapidly deteriorating event name?

That depends on the festival. Here are the top five that should be followed by everyone from the occasional movie goer to those studying, teaching, or writing about Cinematic Critical Studies:

1. Berlin International Film Festival, a.k.a., Berlinale, is the first festival out of the gate in Europe, held in February. In 2011, it had one big winner in its lineup, the foreign language film Oscar winner, A Separation (Iran), directed by Asghar Farhadi, won the festival's Golden Bear. At the 84th Academy Awards on February 26, three huge Oscars were awarded to Berlinale films and guests.

 A Separation's Oscar win, plus actress Meryl Streep's, Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement at the Berlinale 2012, and her Oscar win for best performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for The Iron Lady, directed by Phyllida Loyd, gave the Berlinale big bragging rights.

It was Streep’s 17th nomination and third Oscar. In addition, the Oscar for makeup went to her long-time make up artists, Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland for their work in The Iron Lady, which was presented in the Berlinale Special 2012.

In all, eight films that participated in the Berlinale 2011 and 2012 were nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in eleven different categories. More on the Berlinale below.

2. The Cannes Film Festival's 2011 lineup had six wins, 19 nominations. It screened the big Oscar winner, The Artist, as well as: The Tree of life, Midnight in Paris, Drive and the Israeli documentary, Footnote.

3. New York Film Festival: Five wins, 13 nominations. A year after nabbing the world premiere of the phenomenal, The Social Network, it chose to premiere a motion picture that was not yet completed at the time of the festival, so it featured a work-in-progress special screening at the festival for the second biggest winner of 2011, Hugo directed by indomitable Martin Scorsese, as well as the movie that probably had the most photographs published last year, My Week With Marilyn.

People wouldn't have guessed it then, but Hugo would end up getting five Oscars from 11 nominations. My Week With Marilyn received two nominations.

I give the New York festival extra points because it had the guts to open with Roman Polanski's Carnage, plus the gala screenings featured David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, and Pedro Almodóvar's newest, The Skin I Live In. As for that last one, the Spanish Film Academy should have, but did not submit it for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Talk about a snub. That was bigger than any of the so-called 2011 "Oscar snubs."

4. Telluride Film Festival: One win, 10 nominations. Telluride had The King's Speech and 127 Hours the year before, but only one debut at Telluride that had any real Oscar traction in 2011. That was Alexander Payne's The Descendants. It received five nominations but only a single win at the 2012 Oscars, for best adapted screenplay.

5. Toronto International Film Festival: One win, nine nominations. The Toronto Peoples Choice Award had been spot-on picking the best picture at the Oscars with The King's Speech, Precious and Slumdog Millionaire, but the crystal ball went dark in 2011 when they chose Nadine Labaki's Lebansese movie, Where Do We Go Now? It went on to win nothing. However, Moneyball, Beginners, Anonymous, and Paradise Lost 3 went on to be nominated, along with Brad Pitt and Christopher Plummer for their acting chops. Plummer won best supporting actor but Pitt won nothing.

Runner Up: SXSW Film Festival: One win, three nominations. This festival is not known for scoring Oscar nominations or winners but this year it got lucky with two winners, Bridesmaids and the documentary feature winner, Undefeated. So, a salute to one of my favorite U.S. festivals.

BERLIN: 62nd Berlinale 2012,  February 9 - 19.

PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL JURY:

GOLDEN BEAR FOR THE BEST FILM - Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani;

Will this one be big in 2012?

Caesar Must Die

 JURY GRAND PRIX-SILVER BEAR - Just The Wind (Csak a szél) by Bence Fliegauf;

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST DIRECTOR - Christian Petzold for Barbara;

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTRESS - Rachel Mwanza in War Witch (Rebelle) by Kim Nguyen;

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTOR - Mikkel Boe Følsgaard in A Royal Afair (En Kongelig Affære) by Nikolaj Arcel;

SILVER BEAR FOR AN OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION -

Lutz Reitemeier for the photography in White Deer Plain (Bai lu yuan)  by Wang Quan'an;

SILVER BEAR FOR THE BEST SCRIPT - Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg for A Royal Affair (En Kongelig Affære) by Nikolaj Arcel;

ALFRED BAUER PRIZE, awarded in memory of the Festival founder, for a work of particular innovation - Tabu by Miguel Gomes;

SPECIAL AWARD-SILVER BEAR - Sister (L'enfant d'en haut) by Ursula Meier.

The members of the 2012 International Jury, Mike Leigh (President), Anton Corbijn, Asghar Farhadi, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jake Gyllenhaal, François Ozon, Boualem Sansal and Barbara Sukowa.

 All Berlinale winners, 2012 Awards (PDF)

Mimi's 84th Academy Awards Wrap

The Muppets, 2011, Kermit, Jason Segel and Miss Piggy

When it comes to analyzing the 84th Annual Academy Awards, I have decided to begin by posting here some of the best links to the after Oscar's chewing frenzy. Here are five links I like, and I hope others like. I will add some thoughts of mine.

There is good news for the Oscar TV ratings. Preliminary figures show that there were about 4% more viewers in the USA of Sunday's ceremony than last year. The ABC telecast drew an impressive audience of 39.3 million. That is up from last year's 37.9 million.

http://goo.gl/yJE88

My take is that the Academy accomplished this by doing three things: (1) Bringing Billy Crystal back for the 9th time; (2) the expert use of special effects that captured the audience when Crystal made his entrance; (3) a smashing opening number; (4) nominating the black actresses from The Help, and the Mexican actor Demion Bichir from A Better Life, both broadening the viewer base; (5) the producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer kept the viewers entranced as they intermixed more amazing effects during the course of the telecast.

Crystal made a faux pas here and there along the way. They clouded his over-all performance, such as donning black face and doing a caricature of Sammy Davis Jr., a la Saturday Night Live in an abominable reference to Midnight in Paris. Davis could not have been a grown man in the 1920s.

Smokey, as Davis was called by his friends because of his chain smoking, was born in 1925, and was tap dancing with his father and uncle in the 30s in a theater circuit that was clinging to a dying vaudeville, as well as performing in some Southern Juke Joints. Davis met Frank Sinatra in the mid-40s.

Sinatra was impressed by his extraordinary voice and dancing ability. He took Davis under his wing, and they became best friends.

With Sinatra behind him the doors began to open, allowing Davis to gain recognition for his many talents. Whomever put that character into the "magical" taxi has no sense of history, besmirched Davis, and they polluted Allen's script with bad taste.

The analysis by Scott Feinberg in The Hollywood Reporter of the top six awards, "Oscars 2012: Why the Academy Voted for the Films and People That It Did (Analysis): THR awards analyst Feinberg performs a postmortem on the major categories to try to understand why the Academy made the choices that it did," is excellent. It is one of the best I have ever read. Enjoy the read.  http://goo.gl/kpr6Q

I posted a protest of sorts on this blog along with the Oscar nominees (see the January 25th post), because I was shocked to see only two best-song  nominees. I asked myself, "Why in my many years of following the Academy Awards, have I never seen only two song nominated?" Again, Feinberg answers my question.
http://goo.gl/jx0oW

If you want more than two nominated songs next year, tell the Academy now. I, like Feinberg, expect a revision of the rules, and the Board of Governors usually do that within three months after the Academy Awards. Get cracking!

Jessica Chastain in an Alexander McQueen

The second biggest event at any Academy Awards Gala is always the fashion. This year, Jessica Chastain made quite a splash, along with a number of other well-dressed ladies and gentlemen.

http://goo.gl/1cKwT

One of the big things that helped the Oscar race this year was the quality of the motion pictures. For instance, all of a sudden out of the movie-race first film festival gate of 2011, Berlin, came an Iranian film with which American audiences could relate.

It won the first award of many, the Berlinale's top prize, the Golden Bear. Thanks to the acting chops of the two leads and an excellent writer-director, it took home an Oscar last night for Best Foreign Language Motion Picture.

Iranian writer, director Asghar Farhadi's stirring Farsi-language drama about people struggling to communicate with one another. A Separation, in which no one seems to be able to communicate with anyone else, came to the Oscar's with a string of international awards behind it.

 In an additional gesture of support for the movie, Farhadi was among the list of original screenplay nominees. It is only the second Iranian film nominated in the category, and it is the first from Iran to win an Oscar.

The animated films were so good this year it was hard to choose the nominees, much less the winner. Unfortunately, Cars 2 did not make the nomination cut. It was the neurotic lizard Rango, voiced by Johnny Depp, who strolled away with the statuette, and I think many were happy, including myself.

I was pleased that the Pakistani short documentary Saving Face won. It is about the problem of male abusers in Pakistan throwing acid on women's faces.

I am a member of the Facebook private group, Pakistani Feminist Group, and I was ecstatic. I posted on the page, and tweeted right away. It is difficult movie to watch, but the problem is enormous in Muslim countries, and light deserves to be shone on such a barbaric act.

The motion picture The Artist has all of the points on the spreadsheet to win the Best Picture Oscar, which it did. Musicals do not often win Oscars these days, and I have loved the movies since I was five years old.

The first movie I remember seeing in a theater (actually, only a store front borrowed for the night to show a few "flicks.") was a black and white silent short. I was so fascinated by it that the projectionist, who would become my stepfather, let me see it two more times before he closed the theater for the night. I can still play that movie in my mind.

But, my love in last year's movie season was showered upon Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. I think my fellow literature majors probably would agree. The Artist had all the razzmatazz, but Allen's movie had all the intellect and colorfulness of 1920s Paris, the city of love, which he portrayed in a fascinating creative way.

Some reviewers have characterized last nights show as plodding and boring. Au contraire, I found it faster paced than many predecessors, and not completely predictable. Hats off to producers Brian Grazer and Don Mischer, and the entire production cast and crew!

Winners of 84th Academy Awards

THE ARTIST - Best Motion Picture of 2011

HUGO

 *Winners with Nominees

The Artist and Hugo tied with five Oscars each, five being the most Oscars for any one nominee. Christopher Plummer, 82, set a new record by being the oldest person to win an Oscar. Hey, Captain Von Trapp deserved it. Will post the wrap later today.

Best motion picture of the year with director, if nominated:

     *The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius 
     The Descendants, Alexander Payne
     Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
     The Help
     Hugo, Martin Scorsese
     Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
     Moneyball
     The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
     War Horse

Performance by an actor in a leading role:

    Demián Bichir,  A Better Life
    George Clooney,  The Descendants
    *Jean Dujardin, The Artist
    Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
    Brad Pitt, Moneyball
 
 

Performance by an actor in a supporting role:
 
    Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
    Jonah Hill, Moneyball
    Nick Nolte, Warrior
    *Christopher Plummer, Beginners
    Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

 Performance by an actress in a leading role:


    Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
    Viola Davis, The Help
    Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    *Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
    Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
 
Performance by an actress in a supporting role:


    Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
    Jessica Chastain, The Help
    Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
    Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
    *Octavia Spencer, The Help

 


Achievement in directing:

    *The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
    The Descendants, Alexander Payne
    Hugo, Martin Scorsese
    Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
    The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
 
Achievement in cinematography:

    The Artist,  Guillaume Schiffman
    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Jeff Cronenweth
    *Hugo,  Robert Richardson
    The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki
    War Horse, Janusz Kaminski
 
Achievement in film editing:

    The Artist
    The Descendants
    *The Girl with the Dragon Tattool
    Hugo
    Moneyball
 
Achievement in visual effects:

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
    *Hugo
    Real Steel
    Rise of the Planet of the Apes
    Transformers: Dark of the Moon
 
Adapted screenplay with credited writers:

    *The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
    Hugo, John Logan
    The Ides of March,  George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
    Moneyball, Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Story by Stan Chervin
    Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan 

Original screenplay with credited writer(s):

 

    The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
    Bridesmaids, Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig
    Margin Call,  J.C. Chandor
    *Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
    A Separation, Asghar Farhadi

Best animated feature film of the year:
 
      A Cat in Paris (Une vie de chat), Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli, France
     Chico and Rita, Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal and Tono Errando, Spain
     Kung Fu Panda 2, Jennifer Yuh
     Puss in Boots, Chris Miller
     *Rango, Gore Verbinski
 
Best foreign language film of the year with (original title), country, director, W=writer, (also, known for):
 
    Bullhead (Rundskop), Belgium, Michael R. Roskam, W;
    Footnote (Hearat Shulayim), Israel, Joseph Cedar, W, (Beaufort, 07);
    In Darkness, Poland, Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa, 90, and Three Colors: Blue, 93);
    Monsieur Lazhar, Canada, Philippe Falardeau, W;
    *A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin ), Iran, Asghar Farhadi, W, (About Elly, 09).
 
Best documentary feature with director(s):

 
    Hell and Back Again, Danfung Dennis
    If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Marshall Curry, Sam Cullman
    Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
    Pina (Sundance Selects), Wim Wenders
    *Undefeated, Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score) with composer:

    The Adventures of Tintin, John Williams
    *The Artist, Ludovic Bource
    Hugo, Howard Shore
    Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Alberto Iglesias
    War Horse, John Williams

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song):
    *“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets, Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
    “Real in Rio” from Rio, Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Achievement in art direction:

    The Artist, Production Design
    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
    *Hugo, Production Design: Dante Ferretti
    Midnight in Paris
    War Horse

Achievement in costume design:

    Anonymous, Lisy Christl
    *The Artist, Mark Bridges
    Hugo, Sandy Powell
    Jane Eyre, Michael O'Connor
    W.E., Arianne Phillips

Achievement in makeup:

    Albert Nobbs, Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
    *The Iron Lady, Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Achievement in sound editing:

    Drive
    *The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    Hugo
    Transformers: Dark of the Moon
    War Horse

Achievement in sound mixing:

    *The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    Hugo
    Moneyball
    Transformers: Dark of the Moon
    War Horse

Best live action short film with director(s) and country, if known:

    Pentecost, Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane, Ireland;
    Raju, Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren, Germany;
    *The Shore, Terry George and Oorlagh George;
    Time Freak, Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey, USA;
    Tuba Atlantic,  Hallvar Witzø, Norway.

Best animated short film:

    Dimanche/Sunday (National Film Board of Canada)
    *The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (Moonbot Studios)
    La Luna (Walt Disney / Pixar Animation)
    A Morning Stroll (Studio AKA)
    Wild Life (National Film Board of Canada)

Best documentary short subject with director(s):

    The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement, Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin;
    God Is the Bigger Elvis, Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson;
    Incident in New Baghdad, James Spione;
    *Saving Face, Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy;
    The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen.

Former Actress Dolores Hart Will Walk Red Carpet in Nun's Habit

Dolores Hart, 1958, United Artist

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, ruled that actor Sacha Baron Cohen could not walk the red carpet on Oscar night wearing his costume from The Dictator. However, a U.S. Marine, a nun, and a high school coach, will.

Mother Dolores Hart, 73, as she is now known, will be wearing her nun's habit on the red carpet Sunday night, because for one night she will, once again, be a movie star. She is the subject of the Oscar-nominated short documentary, God Is the Bigger Elvis, directed by Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson.

Mother Dolores, although now the Prioress of a nunnery in a Benedictine Monastery where she is called Reverend Mother, attended the Academy Awards three times before she became a nun. She has remained a voting member of the Academy.

Besides, Mother Dolores, the coach Bill Courtney is a real-life white coach of an all-black, inner-city high-school football team featured in the documentary Undefeated. The marine is Sgt. Nathan Harris, injured in Afghanistan, and whose emotional struggle to transition back to life in North Carolina is depicted in the documentary Hell and Back Again.

Actress Dolores Hart was born Dolores Hicks, October 20, 1938, in Chicago, and is Irish and Italian. Her father, Irishman Bert Hicks, had a minor role in the movie Forever Amber (1947). Hart's first appearance in a move was an uncredited role playing a child in Forever Amber when she was nine. She also happened to be the niece of the very popular singer/movie actor, Mario Lanza. Later, Hick's father left the family, and Hart acquired the last name of Hart when she received her first credited role. 

I loved Lanza's voice, and especially loved the movie of The Student Prince, adapted from the operetta written by Sigmund Romberg (music) and Dorothy Donnelly (book and lyrics). The summer I taught in Germany, I insisted on taking the students to Heidelberg, the setting for the operetta and the movie.

Forever Amber, stars Cornel Wilde and Linda Darnell. The cast also includes George Sanders, Richard Haydn and Jessica Tandy. It, too, is one of my all-time favorite movies, despite the fact that the Catholic Legion of Decency condemned the movie, as they had the novel by Kathleen Winsor, for its "glamorization of immorality and licentiousness."  The Legion demanded, and got, many changes in the movie.

During her acting career, Hart appeared in 10 films including Wild is the Wind with Anthony Quinn (1957). She co-starred in two films with Elvis Presley, Loving You (1957) and King Creole (1958). In Loving You, she was the first actress Elvis kissed onscreen, and she became famous as the girl whom Elvis kissed.

She went on to appear with George Hamilton in Where the Boys Are, (1960) and Stuart Whitman in Michael Curtiz's  Francis of Assisi (1961).  She is quoted as saying her favorite movie is Lisa (1962), in which she played a Jewish refugee after World War II.

She last starred on the big screen with Hugh O'Brian in 1963's Come Fly With Me, a comedy about flight attendants looking for love. One of the Taglines: "Three Pretty Airline Stewardesses on a spree in the Fun Capitols of the World."

Almost 50 years later, we now have the TV series, Pan Am, amazingly similar. Tagline for Pan Am: "Period drama about the pilots and flight attendants who once made Pan Am the most glamorous way to fly." Don't be fooled by this bland tagline, folks. There's a whole lot of hanky-panky going on in them thar skies.

Hart also starred in some well-known television series of the 1950s and 60s, including: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Playhouse 90, Matinee Theatre, and the Dupont Show with June Allyson. Her last appearance on TV was in the 1963 episode of The Virginian, "The Mountain and the Sun."

In 1959, while starring on Broadway in the comedy The Pleasure of His Company, she began to suffer from fatigue. A friend suggested she visit the convent at the Benedictine Regina Laudis Monastery, in Bethlehem, Connecticut, for some rest and contemplation. She would return to the convent in 1963, not as a visitor but as a novitiate (nun in training).      

It was during that first visit that the Mother Dolores felt a tug at her heart, and began to feel that maybe she should devote her life to God. But Hart was only 21, and the Reverend Mother of the convent believed Hart was too young to give up her career in Hollywood.

Will Mother Dolores Hart, who now has peripheral neuropathy, a painful neurological disorder that makes walking difficult at times, go to the stage if God is Greater than Elvis wins the Oscar? She says she will do whatever they ask her to do. She is still the actress following the director.

Mother Dolores Hart Today

See picture of Hart with Elvis during the wrap party for King Creole.

To read more, click the title of this post, and see the IMDb.

Writers go for MIDNIGHT and DESCENDANTS' Scripts.

Last night, Sunday, February 19th, 2012, the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) announced the winners of the 2012 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for 2011. Simultaneous ceremonies were held at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles and the B.B. King Blues Club in New York City.

 

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY: Better This World, written by Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in Paris, written by Woody Allen.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:  The Descendants, Screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash; Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings.

See the winners for television, radio, news, promotional, video games, and new media writing by clicking title of this post. To go to IMDb to see more about the motion picture, click links under the posters. This is the last Guild to give awards before Sunday night's 84th Academy Awards. 

Only one award remains before the 84th Academy Awards, but it usually does not indicate anything about the Oscars, the Spirit Awards for independent motion pictures, next Saturday, 25th. The awards will be presented, and broadcast by IFC, from the beach in Santa Monica. Dress is casual beach wear, including flip flops.

If you are a fan of the Razzie Awards, please note that they will NOT be awarded the night before the Oscars this year. They have changed their schedule. This year, RAZZIE NOMINATIONS will be revealed in a press conference at 6pm/PST, Saturday February 25 (aka Oscar Eve) in Santa Monica. The eventual "winners" will be announced on April 1st (aka April Fools' Day) -- Meaning you still have time to join and vote on our 32nd Annual RAZZIE Nominating Ballot.