Mike Nichols

Started by tpfkabi, July 07, 2003, 09:20:04 PM

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El Duderino

i rented Wit last night and thought it was amazing. the scene where she flashes back to reading with her dad was just amazingly shot. emma thompson's best performance in my book. i also rented catch 22, which is seriously as SoNowThen put it, one of the most underrated movies of all time. next on the list: angels in america, who's afraid of virginia woolf, and carnal knowledge.
Did I just get cock-blocked by Bob Saget?

Pubrick

thanks, that was completely necessary.
under the paving stones.

soixante

Mike Nichols has made truly great films (like Carnal Knowledge and The Graduate) and truly awful films (Heartburn and Which Planet Are You From?).  

I haven't seen Closer or Angels in America yet, but both films look like comeback vehicles.

Nichols' career reflects the cultural changes of the past 40 years -- he has gone from artistic projects like Virginia Woolf in the 60's and Carnal Knowledge in the early 70's to cheesy commercial films like Working Girl and Wolf in the 80's and 90's.

In spite of it all, I judge Nichols by his best work -- Carnal Knowledge is one of the ballsiest films ever made.
Music is your best entertainment value.

ono

He's no Tarantino.

cowboykurtis

Quote from: themodernage02watched Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf which really seemed like a play.  it was like being at the worst party on earth, with the two most obnoxious/craziest people on the planet and drinking till morning.  at 2 hours 10 minutes it was the longest seeming film ever.    like, you just want to LEAVE like you want the characters to just get the hell out of there.  its like torture.  performances were good, but watching the movie was a painful experience.

did you like it or not?
...your excuses are your own...

cowboykurtis

Quote from: soixanteMike Nichols has made truly great films and truly awful films (Heartburn and Which Planet Are You From?).

Its interesting how hit or miss Nichols is - Just finished watching Heartburn. Its almost mind boggling the same director helmed Virginia Wolf, Carnal Knowledge, Catch 22,etc...

Heartburn was a pretty miserable - the only redeaming element was Jack Nicholson's eyebrows
...your excuses are your own...

soixante

Someone previously posted that Virginia Woolf seemed like a play.  Well, it was a play, one of the most honored plays of the 20th century.  Nichols got his start as a director on Broadway, and he still directs plays (such as the recent Monty Python production Spamalot).  That is why he's so good with actors.

Closer is the best thing he has done in years.
Music is your best entertainment value.

cine

Quote from: soixanteThat is why he's so good with actors.
or cause he was a great performer himself. he was apart of the Compass theatre company in chicago in the 50s, which was the precursor to the Second City.

also, steve martin was HUGELY influenced by nichols.. if that puts into perspective how good he was.

tpfkabi

i watched The Graduate again tonight and it probably makes at least half a dozen times.
to me, this movie is just perfect. not a single wasted line or frame of film. all the acting is great down to the extras who don't even speak.

things that stuck with me on this viewing:
-the reaction of the lady sitting by elaine on the bus when ben runs it down
-the ending of the hotel scene where ben/mrs robinson talk about elaine........silence as the two start re-removing their clothes again after trying to connect and not being able to

i still have yet to check out the other movies Nichols made around this time.
I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.

soixante

I just watched the entirety of Angels in America and I thought it was great.  I do think James Woods was a better Roy Cohn than Pacino, who overacted a little.  The acting across the board was excellent.

Music is your best entertainment value.

matt35mm

Angels in America is pretty good, but Wit is a better film.  It's difficult not to compare the two, since they're both plays adapted for HBO.  From the perspective of looking at Nichols's directing, they complement each other.  Since you liked Angels in America, make sure to catch (if you haven't already) Wit.  VERY fine acting and tighter direction.

Pozer

Everytime that damn Closer is on cable, I pause my channel surfin' to watch it for a second and end up stayin' 'til the end.  What is it with that movie that's so addicting?

MacGuffin

Amy Adams set to join Hanks for "War" pic

Amy Adams, the Oscar-nominated star of "Junebug," is in negotiations to join Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julia Roberts in the CIA drama "Charlie Wilson's War."

The Universal Pictures project tells of the CIA's largest and most successful covert operation, the arming of the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan.

The covert ops were engineered by Charlie Wilson, a charismatic, wheeler-dealer, liberal Texas congressman who teamed with a rogue CIA operative. The two manipulated Congress, the CIA and a host of foreign governments in order to assist the Afghan rebels in their fight against the Soviets in the 1980s. Many of the men armed by the CIA went on to become the Taliban's enforcers and Osama bin Laden's protectors.

Mike Nichols is directing from Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of George Crile's book. Hanks is also producing.

Adams will next be seen in "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," which opens August 4.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

MacGuffin

Mike Nichols 'High' on remake
Director readies for Miramax film
Source: Variety

Mike Nichols is set to direct a remake of Akira Kurosawa's "High and Low" for Miramax Films.

Written by David Mamet and produced by Scott Rudin, the film hasn't started casting. Martin Scorsese originally commissioned Mamet to write the screenplay back in 1999; it took two years for Rudin to pull the rights together. Scorsese likely will executive produce.

Kurosawa's 1963 detective thriller starring Toshiro Mifune was based on the Ed McBain novel "King's Ransom," about a businessman who is ruined when he honorably pays ransom to kidnappers who mistakenly nabbed his driver's son.

Several Kurosawa films have been remade by Hollywood, most notably "The Seven Samurai" ("The Magnificent Seven") and "Rashomon" ("The Outrage"). Steven Spielberg is developing a remake of "Ikiru" at DreamWorks, possibly to direct. And the Weinstein Co. has been developing another "Seven Samurai" remake.

Nichols' last film was "Charlie Wilson's War." starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, earned an Oscar nomination for supporting actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Rudin exec produced Nichols' 2004 release "Closer." starring Roberts and Clive Owen, based on Patrick Marber's play, and produced the helmer's "Regarding Henry," starring Harrison Ford, in 1991.

While Rudin backed out of Stephen Daldry's upcoming "The Reader" after turf battles with Harvey Weinstein, he has plenty on his plate. Both "Revolutionary Road" and "Doubt" are set for December release from Paramount Vantage and Miramax, respectively.

Among his 2009 releases are an untitled Nancy Meyers comedy at Columbia starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin, and Wes Anderson's animated "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," voiced by Streep and George Clooney and written by Noah Baumbach, who is also set to direct his next original, "Greenburg," for Rudin.

The Coen brothers are adapting Michael Chabon's "The Yiddish Policemen's Union," as well as Western classic "True Grit" for their Oscar-winning "No Country for Old Men" producer. Steve Zaillian is adapting "A Thousand Splendid Suns" at Sony, while bestseller "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" is set up at Miramax with "The Motorcycle Diaries" writer and director Jose Rivera and Walter Salles.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

tpfkabi

Quote from: MacGuffin on October 29, 2008, 12:20:17 AM
Several Kurosawa films have been remade by Hollywood, "Rashomon" ("The Outrage"). Steven Spielberg is developing a remake of "Ikiru" at DreamWorks, possibly to direct. And the Weinstein Co. has been developing another "Seven Samurai" remake.

Didn't know about Rashomon/The Outrage or Spielberg/Ikiru.
I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.