Gossip Central

Viola Davis Honored at Film at Lincoln Center’s Chaplin Awards

The newly minted EGOT, Viola Davis, is having a moment. More than one speaker at this week’s Film at Lincoln Center’s gala noted what distinguishes Davis in the awards world. Now she can add the Chaplin Award, presented to a film artist for film career achievement. By all measure, Viola Davis has had an astonishing career. Clip after clip, in big and small movies, she melts into character, never looking the same, whether she’s the mother Mrs. Miller looking respectable in hat and gloves in Doubt, the housewife Rose giving Denzel Washington the what for, or festooned in war gear as in The Woman King, in housemaid apron as in The Help, or the grieving wife in Widows, or gaudily made-up and hefty as Ma Rainey. When words come, she delivers every speech as if it were Shakespearean, with Oscar worthy gravitas.

I said as much, reviewing her most recent movie, AIR. Playing Michael Jordan’s mother, a woman so fierce in her demands for her son, she elevates a business negotiation with Nike, making it a speech about knowing one’s worth. Scripted or not in Ben Affleck’s movie, this recognition of self-worth was precisely how the Chaplin Award tributes—from Jayme Lawson, Meryl Streep, Gina Prince-Bythewood, George C. Wolfe, and Jessica Chastain—might be summed up.

My favorite speech of the night came from Meryl Streep, not only because she’s naturally funny, but because she actually went through a scene from Doubt telling precisely how Davis works—not told in Davis’ memoir, Finding Me. Playwright/ director John Patrick Shanley was putting them through their paces on the scene when Streep as a nun confronts Davis as Mrs. Miller about the priest who is taking liberties with her son. As scenes go, this one is through the roof emotional as Davis tries to explain how her abused son needs male guidance, no matter what. Take after take, Davis was giving her all and Shanley wanted to keep going. Seeing Davis go to a heart wrenching place each time, Streep asked Shanley, what are you doing? He did not like the way a leaf in the background was blowing. Davis nailed it every time she was asked.

Alec Baldwin Returns to East Hampton for Summerdocs: Skywalkers: A Love Story

Even more than meeting any Hollywood star, Alec Baldwin loves documentarians, he said this week, after a screening of Skywalkers: A Love Story, the first film screened at the newly refurbished Guild Hall and the first of the series, Summerdocs. The elite doc series, a cornerstone of HamptonsFilm programming, founded by Artistic Director David Nugent and Chairman Emeritus Baldwin, has since its inception showcased crowd-pleasing, feature-length nonfiction films that have gone on to Oscar nominations and wins (think Navalny). With its international focus, outstanding cinematography and core romance, expect Skywalkers to be an awards contender as the season approaches.

Baldwin, despite legal battles around the accidental shooting on set making Rust, was in top form interviewing Tamir Ardon and Maria Bukhonina, the filmmakers of Skywalkers, on the frontier of a new era of cutting-edge documentaries. Two Russian rooftoppers, Vanya Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, already popular on social media, team up and fall in love. Challenged to climb the tallest construction site in the world, in Malaysia, they allow a film crew along for the trip, but, as Bukhonina pointed out, Vanya was already an expert drone photographer. They climb a 118-story building and spire, a nail-biting journey, and perform a balletic stunt atop, with Vanya holding Angela, a trained gymnast, as she “flies.” Believe him when he tells her, “I will never let you fall.”

Prior to the film coming to the Hamptons, I had the opportunity to speak to director Jeff Zimbalist and producer/ director Maria Bukhanina:

 What was the most difficult part of making your film?

Jeff Zimbalist: Our primary challenge was safety. We developed a protocol with Vanya and Angela's families to reassure them that our crew wouldn't distract them during their most daring climbs and we had an agreement with Vanya and Angela that they wouldn't do anything for our cameras that they wouldn't do otherwise. We kept reminding them, this isn't a film about the fear of falling from heights; it's about the fear of falling in love. Like the metaphor Angela uses in the film about trapeze couples, there's the flyer and the catcher, sometimes we found ourselves grounding our subjects when their heads were in the clouds and other times, they grounded us, and fortunately for a film about trespassing and death-defying stunts, that led to a process with few injuries and no arrests.

Diane Von Furstenberg, Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minelli: Icons at the Tribeca Film Festival

Opening the Tribeca Film Festival, DIANE VON FURSTENBERG: WOMAN IN CHARGE, features the famed fashion designer who was to the late 20^th century what Coco Chanel was to the early century, a game changer on how women dress. Her signature wrap frock, effortless and affordable, was in every closet, and made DVF’s name. Asked, how she became a princess? In my case, I married a prince, she deadpans in the movie. A celebrity life ensued including liaisons with many men (and one girl), respite in Bali, and marriage to Barry Diller. She attributes her success to the lessons in fearlessness taught by her mother, a survivor of Auschwitz.

As she tells it, upon liberation, her emaciated mother was fed by her parents using a medicine dropper. To those of us who share second generation Holocaust legacy, some essential details are missing in this otherwise informative, vivid documentary of a fascinating life. Belgian Jews, how did her grandparents elude Nazi round ups? Focusing instead on her life in America, two-time Oscar-winning director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy takes us through DVF’s insecurities and pleasures as a mother, the glitz and glamor of Studio 54, the devastation of AIDS, feminist activism. It’s a lot. And nothing says icon more than the portrait of her by Andy Warhol.

Of course, Elizabeth Taylor was famously a Warhol subject too. In the new documentary, ELIZABETH TAYLOR: THE LOST TAPES, we are reminded of Liz as child actor, the many beloved films such as NATIONAL VELVET, FATHER OF THE BRIDE, among them, and Liz in the tabloids, the many marriages including Nicky Hilton (enough said), Mike Todd (probably the love of her life), Eddie Fisher (not so much), Richard Burton (twice). Her friendships with Debbie Reynolds (America’s sweetheart) and Cybil Burton, women whose marriages she broke up is not much mentioned. Then again, much of the story comes from Liz Taylor herself, from an interview for a book by journalist Richard Meryman.

Given these “lost tapes,” documentarian Nanette Burstein had access to Taylor’s personal archives. In a zoomed conversation Burstein said she was most surprised by Elizabeth Taylor’s insecurities. Yes of course Taylor was uniquely beautiful, but she wanted to be known for her art. Awarded her first Oscar for BUtterfield 8, Taylor had a mixed response: she plays a prostitute during a period in her life when her love life was intensely scrutinized. Burstein strategically shows a scene where her character confronts her mother. In real life, her father had called Liz a whore.

Jeff Bridges Brings his Dude-ness to Lincoln Center: The Chaplin Awards

Named for the first recipient, Charlie Chaplin, this yearly Film at Lincoln Center honor was the place to be this week to honor Jeff Bridges. Of the Bridges family of actors—with dad Sea Hunt’s Lloyd Bridges, mom Dorothy, big brother Beau Bridges, and sister Cindy, Jeff famously would not embrace being an actor until his 10^th movie. Blase, is not the word; “relaxed” was on every presenter’s lips.

Those included Barbara Streisand, videoed in to pay tribute to Bridges. She directed and starred with him in THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES. Because she loved that he insisted on dancing with her every night of shooting, she made that the ending of the movie.

Beyond “relaxed, add:” “He’s a good man.” Coming from Sharon Stone, that’s a lot. At last year’s NYWFT Muse Awards luncheon, the Basic Interest actress spoke at length about the horrors of men in the industry back in the day. Offering only kudos to Bridges, she said she saw him in STARMAN and wondered if such a kind being would fall her way from the sky. She starred with Bridges and Nick Nolte in a Sam Shepard Play, and felt lucky to be with such good men.

Rosie Perez raised a glass from the Alice Tully Hall stage, in remembrance of a drink she did not have with him when he championed her for a role in FEARLESS. He was so relaxed, “it pissed me off.” And, get this, she said, they were reluctant to have an interracial couple. “Jeff,” she addressed him, “it would be so easy for you to be an asshole.”

Blythe Danner, who can go ditsy on cue, forgot some details about the film she did with Bridges, and when he shouted out the references from the audience, she was impressed by his good “projection”—given he’s a movie actor. Ditto, John Lithgow on video sang his praises. But it was Chris Pine, most hilarious, on their friendship after making the film HELL OR HIGH WATER, quoting some of Bridges’ signature lines.

“Ok, if I quote you?”

“Go for it man.”

And he did THE BIG LEBOWSKI’s Dude speech: “Yeah, well, . . . that’s just your opinion.”

Alex Bornstein at the NYWFT Muse Awards: “You Are Enough.

“Do not fuck with a woman from NYC,” exclaimed comedian/actress Alex Bornstein, accepting her award for The Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment Made in NY Award at this year’s NYWFT Muse Awards.

The “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star reminded 700 guests seated for a sumptuous steak dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street this week, she was not actually “made in New York,” but everyone seemed to think she was, maybe because as Susie Myerson, she epitomized the brash, pushy person who could be a New York bred talent agent.

Her parents never called to congratulate her for any of her work, but they did for “Mrs. Maisel.” “You were good,” said her mother, while her father asked, “Why weren’t you the lead?” Her mother replied, “Because the skinny one with the perfect tits is the lead.” This may have bothered her growing up, but as the Muses dispense advice, now she knows: “You are enough.”

Canadian actress Tantoo Cardinal whose personal story informed Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, had gratitude to family, particularly her grandmother who picked her up from the “dregs of genocide.” When her grandfather spoke her name, she said, “I knew he knew me.” And when he died, she wore an eagle feather in her hair for him. That was brave, she told the crowd. Of indigenous descent, she was taught to be ashamed of who she was.

The WONDERSTRUCK and A QUIET PLACE actress Millicent Simmons accepted the Loreen Arbus Changemaker Award. Her mother was discouraged from learning to sign by doctors who thought that would slow her, a deaf baby, in learning to speak. A riveting performer, in A QUIET PLACE II, she leads the cast including writer director John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, often giving them notes. Actress Kyra Sedgwick has taken on directing. Her husband Kevin Bacon advised her: she was great at directing, if only she would never say “I’m sorry,” as she worked—as in, I’m sorry but we’re doing another take. This gave the audience a hearty, knowing chuckle.

Amy Ryan, Liev Schreiber, Zoe Kazan in A Superb Revival of Doubt: A Parable

In the revival of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt: A Parable at the Todd Haimes Theater, Amy Ryan as formidable, grim-faced Sister Aloysius is the kind of no-nonsense nun so fearful—under her eye, the consequences of actions good or bad are the same; you definitely don’t want to be caught. As directed by Scott Ellis, a fine tuning of Shanley’s work, she demonizes Liev Schreiber as Father Flynn, newly arrived at this Bronx parish in 1964. From the start, centerstage, delivering a sermon on “Doubt” in New York-ese, back lit by stained glass, he projects humanity, especially as his speech sets up the parable at hand: Doubt can be as binding as faith.

This is theater at its finest, a holy cathedral of words. Playing with notions of innocence and guilt, the 2004 play—a Pulitzer Prize winner--means to keep us juggling our own internal debates on the subject, the truth intensely shimmering far away, compelling, mysterious and suspenseful. A younger teacher, Zoe Kazan shines as Sister James. Meek as need be before her superiors, she also represents the future of the church. She has doubts about what happened in the rectory when a student—the school’s only black boy-- returns to class after a private meeting with Father Flynn. Reporting to Sister Aloysius, she suspects her superior’s accusations go too far, judging him a pedophile without saying the word. Can she maintain discipline as represented by Sister Alyosius, while keeping a tender, nurturing and welcoming presence for her students?

Sister Aloysius’ meeting with the boy’s mother in a deft performance by Quincey Tyler Bernstine brings its own surprises. As does Father Flynn’s confrontation with Sister Aloysius in her Bible-lined study, questioning why he is thought guilty without proof. Of course, we as observers have our own certainties, or doubts, and they keep shifting. And it’s hard not to be swayed by Father Flynn’s kindness, vulnerability—and sheer manliness.

Marion Cotillard at the Rendez-vous with French Cinema

Oscar winner Marion Cotillard in feathery white posed before photographers on opening night of this year’s Rendez-vous with French Cinema at Lincoln Center. She’s a big star, known internationally since her debut role as Edith Piaf, but for this yearly festival, a collaboration with Unifrance, it did not take long before she melded into the crowd, another guest for cocktails. Similarly, at the French Embassy where the party turned swank, she was part of the crowd with Thomas Cailley, director of the opening night film, THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, enjoying drinks, vegetarian tagine, the confluence of English and French conversation. The French are very good at keeping the celebrity buzz under control.

Winner of five Cesars in France, THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, explores the imagined proposition of humans mutating into animals--literally. How does that affect identity? Family? Empathy? The star, Romain Duris, plays a family man whose wife has become a large beast—yes, literally. Neither he nor Adele Exarchopoulos, another big star who plays a minor role attended. In France as in America, having a film this lauded will improve chances of funding the next one, but Cailley said of his film in our conversation: This film is weird, and will widen the possibilities for others to make their more edgy films.

Taking a conservative view on this movie that also features one such mutant who wants to fly, this is surely the best movie I have ever seen on the subject of father/son relationships. More conventional, director Pascal Bonitzer’s film AUCTION, about a Nazi-stolen Egon Schiele painting turning up in a workingclass home in the French countryside, would screen the next night, its North American premiere. A favorite among Rendez-vous critics, AUCTION is smart about the art market. Bonitzer based his script on interviews with key players in a known newspaper story. While Alex Lutz stars as an auctioneer, for Bonitzer, the young man who wants to give up his lucrative possession to the true Jewish heirs is a hero.

Sting—yes, that Sting-- plays himself in Michel Gondry’s THE BOOK OF SOLUTIONS, perhaps the goofiest selection in the Rendezvous lineup. A young film director (Pierre Niney), wanting to complete his work after the project has been kaboshed, holes himself up in the French countryside with the stolen footage. Manic, he wants to complete his movie and even convinces Sting to perform. Nutty as the twists and turns seem, this film may illustrate the inner frustrations of many filmmakers.

Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, Charles Melton: Who Cares About Oscar Snubs?

After Oscar nominations, pundits weigh in on the snubs. What exactly does it mean? In the case of BARBIE, the highest grossing film of the year: laughing all the way to the proverbial, eh, literal, bank. Team BARBIE has a prominent place at the party, with nods for Best Picture, Original Song, Production Design, Costume Design, and Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s Adapted Screenplay. Producer Margot Robbie will look gorgeous, of course! As nominee for Best Supporting Actor, Ryan Gosling put it, “There’s no Ken without Barbie.” Don’t cry for me.

For other films, MAY DECEMBER, for example, other consequences for revenues can make a difference, but with an auteur such as Todd Haynes featuring stars Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman—Oscar winners on their own. Watch them as presenters on the special day, and Charles Melton—you may recall from his New York Film Critics win-- looks good in a tux without a shirt.

As the late, great Sylvia Miles, a two-time Best Supporting Actress Nominee—for MIDNIGHT COWBOY and FAREWELL, MY LOVELY—always pointed out during Oscar season, you cannot predict the nominations in traditional ways, seeing the process more of an algorithm of repeated listing by Academy members in each category.

Sir Anthony Hopkins in ONE LIFE Opens the New York Jewish Film Festival

In these dire times, remember the mantra that evil flourishes when good people do nothing. As noted looking back to the days when Nazis rose to power in Europe, these words may guide our actions, as they did a true hero, Sir Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker who in his ‘20’s took on the plight of refugee Jewish children in occupied Czechoslovakia, attempting to bring as many as possible to foster homes in England. That he brought as many as he did—669—seems a true miracle, but in ONE LIFE, James Hawes’ debut film that opened the New York Jewish Film Festival last week he does just that. Sir Anthony Hopkins plays Winton as an elder gentleman, modest about his “menschlechkeit.” ONE LIFE flashes back to his youth with Johnny Flynn as Winton and his wise, enabling mother played by Helena Bonham Carter devoted to the kindertransport. If you have wondered where some A-list actors have gone—Lena Olin, Marthe Keller, Jonathan Pryce, among them—they are characters here, supporting the cause.

A producer, Joanna Laurie, introduced the film on the festival’s opening night. While many have asked to make a film about Winton, she told the rapt crowd, his daughter and biographer Barbara Winton agreed to this production, saying that she thought Anthony Hopkins should play her father. Yeah, right? No one believed he would say yes, but indeed he did, bringing his prodigious talents to a role well suited to Winton’s elegant modesty. Laurie promised a surprise, which came when during the Q&A she asked members of the opening night audience to stand if they owed their lives to Nicholas Winton. Several families stood up, in a glorious SCHINDLER’S LIST moment that brought home the important theme: an ordinary citizen dared to act--the message illuminated in this thrilling film.

Rosamund Pike, Justine Triet, and Barbie at the Golden Globes: Off the Script Diversions Augur New Categories of Distinction

Say whatever you will about the Golden Globes awards ceremony, the foreign press organization made some good choices. OPPENHEIMER was predictable as Best Picture, perhaps the most globally relevant history-based drama of the season. And, POOR THINGS, Best Comedy, a movie that, in addition to being a hilarious, unpredictable romp, globe trots. As the organization has now in its rebranding created a category for commercial distinction as well as artistic merit, a slot that features BARBIE for its financial success, Oscars take note: perhaps it is time for a new Academy Award category: Most Perverse.

Two contenders this year would be POOR THING’s for Bella’s (Emma Stone) sexual curiosity and Dr. Godwin Baxter’s (William Dafoe) mischievous Dr. Frankenstein inspired creations. SALTBURN, a movie that astounds in the characters of Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) and Elspeth Catton (c) would be a prominent candidate for “Perverse.” While many of the Globe host’s jokes went flat, one stuck out—no pun intended—the one about Bradley Cooper’s nose and Barry Keoghan’s penis. Eh, perverse takes many forms.

Martin Scorsese Talks about How Visiting Oklahoma Changed Him: 89th NYFCC Awards

One pleasure of the swank New York Film Critics Circle dinner at Tao Downtown: the awards are announced well ahead of the early January date. This means that speeches are prepared; presenters get to, well, speak critically—and, at length. When MAY DECEMBER director Todd Haynes awarded scriptwriter Samy Burch, he went far to explain her unique strategy in engaging the audience. She in turn explained what he meant to her, as a fan of his work, for his decision to make this film, and as a model for how to be in this industry. All season, from the Gotham Awards and through his recent career achievement award and exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image, Todd Haynes had been raving about Charles Melton’s sensitive performance in May December. Here, the winner for Best Supporting Actor, Melton is the IT man of the season.

Poised as her movie is on a roll, Best Actress winner Lily Gladstone, clad like a gold statue—(hint, hint), spoke about the Best Film, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. Already a winner at the Gothams, Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece remains a uniquely American story and tragedy: focusing on Oklahoma and how the discovery of oil there made the Native American landowners both wealthy and vulnerable to the deceits of white predators. Marty talked about how having the time during the pandemic to visit Oklahoma to take in the sights, and sound, and spirit, led to his decision to make this film of David Grann’s book.

Hard to beat at the Oscars, NYFCC’s Best Director winner Christopher Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER is “Killer’s” strongest contender, with the atom bomb’s origin story perhaps having more of an international resonance. Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema was honored as well with Benny Safdie presenting. Van Hoytema apologized, “I did not write anything in my speech to thank the actors.”

Frederick Wiseman, winner for Best Documentary, for his MENUS-PLAISIRS-LES TROISGROS, zoomed in from his Paris apartment. At 94, he made a riveting epic-length film --and an appreciative appearance. Justine Triet’s ANATOMY OF A FALL won Best International Film with the New York critics. France did not put forward this excellent movie for the International Feature Oscar, but look for it on the Best Film list.