F

Flavorwire

Billy Crystal

Film

Handwritten Screenplay Pages From Film and Television

By Jason Bailey on

“You can’t write poetry on a computer,” says Quentin Tarantino, and he can’t write his screenplays on one either — he does it old school, longhand, in a notebook, putting his words in typewritten form at the last possible second. It may make him sound like a Luddite, but he’s far from the only one; plenty of Hollywood’s most successful scribes prefer to work by hand, at least in the early stages. This week, we found out that Lawrence Kasdan wrote The Empire Strikes Back in longhand as well, and a trip down the Internet rabbit hole turned up several more popular films that were worked out by hand before they made it to the screen. … Read More

Film

9 Things We Learned at Last Night’s ‘Princess Bride’ Reunion

By Jason Bailey on

Tuesday night, the New York Film Festival celebrated the 25th anniversary of The Princess Bride (and the release of a new Blu-ray tied to said anniversary) with a special screening of the film, followed by a Q&A with several members of the cast and crew. The movie was raucously received by the rowdy audience: they applauded their favorite lines, cheered the entrances of its many memorable characters like old friends arriving at a party, and generally ate it up with a spoon. After the closing credits, director Rob Reiner, screenwriter William Goldman, and co-stars Billy Crystal, Mandy Patinkin, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Carol Kane, and Chris Sarandon sat down for a Q&A with NYFF Associate Programming Director Scott Foundas. A few highlights from that chat after the jump. … Read More

Film

The Most Painfully Awkward Moments of Last Night’s Oscars

By Jason Bailey on

It’s all part of the ritual. First we spend months predicting the nominations, then we complain about the nominations, then we predict the winners to the point where there are no surprises during the ceremony itself, so we then complain about the show. Yes, folks, Oscar season came to a close last night, with trophies going to The Artist, Hugo, Meryl, Octavia, and Plummer over the course of the 193-minute ceremony hosted by Alan Shemper Billy Crystal.

Were there great moments? Sure: the legitimately emotional acceptance speeches by Octavia Spencer and Christopher Plummer, the candid charm of Meryl Streep, the terrific byplay of Emma Stone and Ben Stiller, some good old-fashioned slapstick from Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, and a Chris Rock monologue that made us wonder why the hell he wasn’t hosting again. But overall, the night was indisputably awkward — possibly even more awkward than last year’s James Franco art-installation fiasco. After the jump, we’ll run down a few of the evening’s more uncomfortable moments. … Read More

Film

10 Memorable Cinematic New Year’s Eves

By Jason Bailey on

Ah, New Year’s Eve — that special night of the year where we put so pressure on ourselves to have a great time, have a great time, HAVE A GREAT TIME that we end up, inevitably, having a really lousy time. (Don’t pretend like it’s just me.) Part of our self-imposed pressure to enjoy ourselves on the last night of the year is, we contend, the fault of movies, which often present the evening as an occasion for joyous celebration, thoughtful reflection, and new beginnings (often with a new object of affection). But some films also recognize the nightmare of New Year’s Eve, and dramatize that. We’ve assembled a few examples of each after the jump, and humbly present ten on-screen New Year’s Eves that we find memorable — for reasons both good and bad. All will make fine New Year’s Eve viewing — and are far better than New Year’s Eve. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. Exciting news for fans of opening musical medleys and movie spoofs: Billy Crystal is returning to host the Oscars for what will now be his ninth time. Not exactly the most interesting choice that the Academy could have made, but given the recent PR roller coaster they’ve been on, perhaps that’s for the best.… Read More

Film

10 Disappointing Movie Comedy Teams

By Jason Bailey on

Nestled among this week’s new theatrical releases is The Big Year, a rather syrupy looking Bucket List riff co-starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson. Let’s be clear: we have not yet seen it. But we’re not holding out much hope for a movie that puts those three guys together and cannot find one single laugh to put in a trailer.

How could you combine three men as (granted, not always reliably) funny as these and not come up with a laugh riot? Quite easily, turns out. The recent cinema is all but littered with pictures that teamed up established comedic talents and thus sounded like sure-fire crowd pleasers, but which ended up tickling the funny bones of neither critics nor moviegoers. After the jump, we’ll run down ten comic combinations that misfired. … Read More

Film

Video of the Day: ‘The Princess Bride’ Cast Reunion

By Judy Berman on

Earlier today, we subjected you to an awful video of Lou Reed and Metallica talking about their terrible collaboration. We would like to make amends by showing you a wonderful video — it’s a clip of The Princess Bride cast reuniting for the 24th anniversary of one of the weirdest and most wonderful family movies of all time. Presented as the culmination of Good Morning America‘s “Totally Awesome ’80s Week” (guess they didn’t get the memo that we’ve moved on to ’90s nostalgia), the segment brings together Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Billy Crystal (in his Miracle Max hat!), Wallace Shawn, Carol Kane, and Chris Sarandon. Watch Elwes and Wright reminisce over their fateful kiss (“Can they see my heart beating so fast ’cause he’s so cute?” Wright recalls wondering) and Crystal tell a story about the time dearly departed co-star Andre the Giant “passed out in the lobby of the Dorchester Hotel,” after the jump. … Read More