Great Acceptance Speeches: Stanley Donen, Honorary

A big thank you to Dancin Dan, Chris Feil, Eurocheese, and Ben Miller who shared favourite acceptance speeches with us as we got hyped up for Oscar. There are so many more speeches we could have highlighted if we have more time or a bigger team, but well wrap up th speech appreciation with something that seems totally appropriate for a number of reasons: Stanley Donen's Honorary Oscar acceptance speech for, and we'll quote the Oscars here:

in appreciation of a body of work marked by grace, elegance, wit and visual innovation.

The speech is a thing of complete and utter beauty and wit and gratitude and every time we see it we're reminded of how much Oscar night lost when it opted to no longer included the Honoraries on the broadcast. (Honestly we wouldn't mind half as much if they also televised those on a different night, but alas, they don't.)

As you may have heard cinema lost Donen this week at age 94. He was one of Hollywood's purest pleasure-makers, directing or co-directing musical classics like Singin' in the Rain, On the Town, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Funny Face. But that's not all! He also made beloved non-musicals with Audrey Hepburn like Charade and Two for the Road among other films. Donen is survived by his also brilliant partner of the past 20 years, the actress/director Elaine May (who just completed a much-raved Broadway run in the play Waverly Gallery so you might see her at the Tonys this year) so our condolecences go out to her this week. 

Michel Legrand (1932-2019)

by Eric Blume

Michel Legrand in 1981French film composer Michel Legrand passed away this past weekend after six decades of work in the industry. He was truly one of the greats. Chief among his accomplishments was the sung-through score for the masterpiece The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), delivering music that soared and perfectly caught the melancholy tone of director Jacques Demy’s pastel/sad view of the world.  The Legrand-Demy collaboration was deliriously French and remains a pristine achievement over a half century later...

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Penny Marshall (1943-2018)

by Nathaniel R

We were terribly sad last night to receive word that America's most successful female sitcom-star-turned-director had passed away at the age of 75 of complications from diabetes. We'd long hoped that showbiz legend Penny Marshall, who became a household name in the 1970s as one of half of Laverne & Shirley before getting behind the camera in the 1980s (to immediate success), had another movie or two in her. That was wishful thinking, we realize, since she hadn't directed a feature since 2001. Still, we'll always have her two indisputable comedy classics Big (1988) and A League of Their Own (1992) to remember her by...

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Blueprints: William Goldman In Memoriam

This week, Jorge's screenplay column celebrates the work of one of the most versatile and distinguished screenwriters in cinema, who passed away on November 16^th.

Most artists can only hope to leave at most one iconic piece of legacy behind after they pass way. One great novel, one fantastic painting, one life-changing movie. There are few who can produce more than one. I think we can count with one hang those whose body of work can be considered unequivocally influential and unironically iconic.

William Goldman was one of those artists. Winner of two Academy Awards for Best Screenplay (one original, and one adapted), he left behind an oeuvre that spans across decades, genres, and mediums that most writers can only dream of. Let’s take a look at his most well-remembered screenplays, most of which will be embedded in the collective cinematic culture for generations to come... 

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Linkwarm off the Presses

Whooo. Thanksgiving week flew by and we're suddenly so very far behind on important news items, so a quick link roundup to get us back on track. Here we go...

• Variety Black Panther, Marvelous Mrs Maisel, One Day at a Time, and Crazy Rich Asians are all up for Humanitas prizes
• Variety Paul King, famous for making those delightful Paddington movies, will now direct a fantasy adaption of Time's Fool
• Coming Soon Alessandro Nivola, an actor TFE is always rooting for, cast in The Sopranos prequel movie. He'll play Dickey Moltisanti if that means anything to you fans of The Sopranos out there

More after the jump including Aquaman, If Beale Street Could Talk, the new Fosse/Verdon TV miniseries, deaths of showbiz legends, and more...

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