Mark Shields, who provided witty, informed and insightful analysis of politics on PBS NewsHour for more than three decades, has died.
Shields was 85. He died of kidney failure at his home in Chevy Chase, Md., on Saturday morning, a spokesperson for NewsHour told Deadline.
Judy Woodruff, the anchor of NewsHour, wrote on Twitter, “I am heartbroken to share this..the NewsHour’s beloved long-time Friday night analyst Mark Shields, who for decades wowed us with his encyclopedic knowledge of American politics, his sense of humor and mainly his big heart, has passed away at 85, with his wife Anne at his side.”
Shields retired from the regular segments in 2020, having done a regular segment on the broadcast for more than 33 years.
Shields started his career in government and politics in the mid-1960s, first as a legislative assistant and speechwriter for Senator William Proxmire and later for Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign,...
Shields was 85. He died of kidney failure at his home in Chevy Chase, Md., on Saturday morning, a spokesperson for NewsHour told Deadline.
Judy Woodruff, the anchor of NewsHour, wrote on Twitter, “I am heartbroken to share this..the NewsHour’s beloved long-time Friday night analyst Mark Shields, who for decades wowed us with his encyclopedic knowledge of American politics, his sense of humor and mainly his big heart, has passed away at 85, with his wife Anne at his side.”
Shields retired from the regular segments in 2020, having done a regular segment on the broadcast for more than 33 years.
Shields started his career in government and politics in the mid-1960s, first as a legislative assistant and speechwriter for Senator William Proxmire and later for Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign,...
- 6/18/2022
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Morton “Mort” Janklow, a so-called “super agent” whose roster of literary stars included Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, Danielle Steele, Judith Krantz, Sidney Sheldon, Ted Turner and Barbara Walters, died Wednesday of heart failure at his home in Water Mill, NY. He died just days before his 92nd birthday.
His death was announced by publicist Paul Bogaards, speaking on behalf of Janklow’s family and his literary agency, Janklow & Nesbit Associates.
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
“Mort was a beacon of positivity and hope in an uncertain world,” his business partner, Lynn Nesbit, said in a statement. “He radiated optimism and his clients, family, and friends were always leaning on and learning from him as a result. He was a bright light in the publishing world, devoted to his writers and passionate about our business. We will all miss him.” Janklow earned his authors some of the highest advances in publishing history,...
His death was announced by publicist Paul Bogaards, speaking on behalf of Janklow’s family and his literary agency, Janklow & Nesbit Associates.
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
“Mort was a beacon of positivity and hope in an uncertain world,” his business partner, Lynn Nesbit, said in a statement. “He radiated optimism and his clients, family, and friends were always leaning on and learning from him as a result. He was a bright light in the publishing world, devoted to his writers and passionate about our business. We will all miss him.” Janklow earned his authors some of the highest advances in publishing history,...
- 5/26/2022
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Tim Considine, the actor best known for the role of eldest son Mike on the long-running sitcom “My Three Sons,” died Thursday at his home in Los Angeles, according to a Facebook post from his co-star Stanley Livingston. He was 81.
Born in Los Angeles to a showbiz family –– his father, John Considine Jr. was an Oscar-nominated film producer for “Boys Town,” and his mother was the daughter of theater magnate Alexander Pantages –– Considine got his start as a child actor in the 1950s, playing characters in Disney Television’s “Mickey Mouse Club” serials. His roles included Frank Hardy in a “Hardy Boys” serial and Spin Evans in “The Adventures of Spin and Marty.” In 2000, he returned to make a cameo appearance in a TV movie reboot, “The New Adventures of Spin and Marty.” In 1959, Considine appeared alongside his future television father Fred MacMurray in the Disney film “The Shaggy Dog.
Born in Los Angeles to a showbiz family –– his father, John Considine Jr. was an Oscar-nominated film producer for “Boys Town,” and his mother was the daughter of theater magnate Alexander Pantages –– Considine got his start as a child actor in the 1950s, playing characters in Disney Television’s “Mickey Mouse Club” serials. His roles included Frank Hardy in a “Hardy Boys” serial and Spin Evans in “The Adventures of Spin and Marty.” In 2000, he returned to make a cameo appearance in a TV movie reboot, “The New Adventures of Spin and Marty.” In 1959, Considine appeared alongside his future television father Fred MacMurray in the Disney film “The Shaggy Dog.
- 3/5/2022
- by Wilson Chapman
- Variety Film + TV
Tim Considine, one of the most popular young Disney actors of the 1950s before originating the role of the eldest brother on the 1960s sitcom My Three Sons, died Thursday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 81.
His death was announced by his son Christopher, and shared on Facebook by My Three Sons co-star Stanley Livingston, who played Chip Douglas to Considine’s Mike. “Tim and I have been friends for more than 70 years,” Livingston wrote, adding “He will be missed by all those who knew him. I love you Bro.”
Considine was already known to television audiences — particularly youngsters — by the time he was cast for the 1960 debut on ABC of My Three Sons. He had played Spin Evans on the mid-’50s Mickey Mouse Club serial “The Adventures of Spin and Marty,” and, later in the decade, Frank Hardy (to Tommy Kirk’s Joe Hardy) on the...
His death was announced by his son Christopher, and shared on Facebook by My Three Sons co-star Stanley Livingston, who played Chip Douglas to Considine’s Mike. “Tim and I have been friends for more than 70 years,” Livingston wrote, adding “He will be missed by all those who knew him. I love you Bro.”
Considine was already known to television audiences — particularly youngsters — by the time he was cast for the 1960 debut on ABC of My Three Sons. He had played Spin Evans on the mid-’50s Mickey Mouse Club serial “The Adventures of Spin and Marty,” and, later in the decade, Frank Hardy (to Tommy Kirk’s Joe Hardy) on the...
- 3/4/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s been more than 40 years since publicist and newly minted Governors Award honoree Marvin Levy began his close association with Steven Spielberg, but their adventures together only constitute one of acts in the Levy saga.
From the time Levy graduated from NYU in 1949, the affable but no-nonsense communications pro has been somewhere near the center of showbiz gravity.
“I was always a fan of the Broadway musicals starting in high school, and by college we were regularly scoring tickets for opening nights and showing up in tuxedos. We’d see epic shows like ‘Finian’s Rainbow’ and ‘Brigadoon,’ and being naughty boys, we’d go to the backstage door dressed in our tuxes and they’d let us in and we’d get word of where to go for the cast parties.”
When asked if a Variety column item from 1954 — “Marvin Levy and Gordon Morris penned the special material...
From the time Levy graduated from NYU in 1949, the affable but no-nonsense communications pro has been somewhere near the center of showbiz gravity.
“I was always a fan of the Broadway musicals starting in high school, and by college we were regularly scoring tickets for opening nights and showing up in tuxedos. We’d see epic shows like ‘Finian’s Rainbow’ and ‘Brigadoon,’ and being naughty boys, we’d go to the backstage door dressed in our tuxes and they’d let us in and we’d get word of where to go for the cast parties.”
When asked if a Variety column item from 1954 — “Marvin Levy and Gordon Morris penned the special material...
- 11/16/2018
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
Ken Burns and Co. made a big splash with this historical docu miniseries that in 1990 gripped the imagination of the whole country. Eleven hours of history are a breeze when presented in what was then a new form: authentic photos and paintings accompanied by actorly recitals of letters and documents from the era. It all comes to life. The people enduring the War Between the States seem just like us, as if it all happened yesterday. The Civil War DVD PBS Video 1990 / Color + B&W / 1:33 flat / 11 hours, 20 min. / 25th Anniversary Edition / Street Date October 13, 2015 / 99.99 Starring Shelby Foote, Ed Bearss, Barbara Fields, James Symington, Stephen B. Oates, William Safire, Daisy Turner and the voices of Sam Waterston, Julie Harris, Jason Robards, Morgan Freeman, Paul Roebling, Garrison Keillor, David McCullough (narrator), Arthur Miller, Charles McDowell, Horton Foote, George Plimpton, Philip Bosco, Jody Powell, Studs Terkel, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.,...
- 12/1/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Looking for Alaska
Actress/filmmaker Sarah Polley ("Away From Her," "Stories We Tell") is in talks to adapt "Fault In Our Stars" author John Green's "Looking For Alaska" for Paramount Pictures. Mark Waters and Jessica Tuchinsky will produce.
The story follows a sixteen-year-old Florida boy who moves to a boarding school in Alabama and learns coming of age lessons from his roommate and his beautiful, mysterious and self-destructive best friend Alaska Young. [Source: Deadline]
Five Against A Bullet
Joe Carnahan ("The Grey," "The A-Team") is set to write and direct "Five Against a Bullet" for Sony Pictures. Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing.
The story follows five bodyguards hired to protect a Mexican politician over the course of a contentious election after his father is murdered by a drug cartel. [Source: The Wrap]
Stephanie
"Winter's Tale" helmer Akiva Goldsman has signed on to direct the micro budget horror-thriller "Stephanie" for Blumhouse Productions. Luke Piotrowsky and Ben Collins penned the script.
Actress/filmmaker Sarah Polley ("Away From Her," "Stories We Tell") is in talks to adapt "Fault In Our Stars" author John Green's "Looking For Alaska" for Paramount Pictures. Mark Waters and Jessica Tuchinsky will produce.
The story follows a sixteen-year-old Florida boy who moves to a boarding school in Alabama and learns coming of age lessons from his roommate and his beautiful, mysterious and self-destructive best friend Alaska Young. [Source: Deadline]
Five Against A Bullet
Joe Carnahan ("The Grey," "The A-Team") is set to write and direct "Five Against a Bullet" for Sony Pictures. Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing.
The story follows five bodyguards hired to protect a Mexican politician over the course of a contentious election after his father is murdered by a drug cartel. [Source: The Wrap]
Stephanie
"Winter's Tale" helmer Akiva Goldsman has signed on to direct the micro budget horror-thriller "Stephanie" for Blumhouse Productions. Luke Piotrowsky and Ben Collins penned the script.
- 6/25/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Dermot Mulroney has joined the cast of Insidious: Chapter 3 for writer / director Leigh Whannell. The film is set for an April 3, 2015 release. Ben Kingsley is set to voice Bagheera in Disney's The Jungle Book for director Jon Favreau with a script by Justin Marks. He joins Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o and Scarlett Johansson in the live action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's story, set to arrive in theaters in 3D on October 9, 2015. Paul and Chris Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy) are set to remake the 2013 Cannes Jury Prize winner Like Father, Like Son for Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks. The film follows a father after learning his biological son was switched with another child after birth. Variety amz asin="1451645619" size="small"Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) is set to star in A House in the Sky for Annapurna Pictures. The true-life kidnapping tale is based on the memoir of Amanda Lindhout,...
- 6/25/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
While Apollo 13 chronicled a failed trip to the moon after Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on Earth's orbiting satellite, a new film called In the Event of a Moon Disaster will focus on what might have happened if the Apollo 11 mission has turned out to be a disaster. When Pulitzer Prize winning author William Safire passed away in 2009, a speech was discovered amongst his papers called "In Event Of Moon Disaster." Safire was also a speech writer for President Nixon in 1969, and the speech was written with the intention of being delivered if Apollo 11 had a tragic end. So how will a film be centered around the speech? Well, the screenplay, which made the Black List back in 2011, is inspired by the speech to create a fictionalized alternate reality of the events, likely playing out what would have happened if the moon landing never happened and Apollo 11 failed.
- 6/25/2014
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
Tate Taylor will direct In The Event Of A Moon Disaster, which FilmNation is producing and will sell internationally.
Taylor, currently in post on the James Brown biopic Get On Up that Universal will release on August 1, will direct from Mike Jones’ Black List screenplay.
FilmNation developed the script about a speech written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and presidential speechwriter William Safire, who died in 2009.
The speech was prepared in 1969 for President Nixon in the event that the ultimately successful Apollo 11 mission would fail. The film imagines an alternate history.
Casting is underway and the producers have earmarked an early 2015 start of production.
“Tate is an incredibly talented artist in every sense, and we have been actively searching for the right project to collaborate on,” said FilmNation evp of production Karen Lunder, who originally brought the project to Taylor and his production partner John Norris. “We’re thrilled to have found it with Moon Disaster.”
CAA...
Taylor, currently in post on the James Brown biopic Get On Up that Universal will release on August 1, will direct from Mike Jones’ Black List screenplay.
FilmNation developed the script about a speech written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and presidential speechwriter William Safire, who died in 2009.
The speech was prepared in 1969 for President Nixon in the event that the ultimately successful Apollo 11 mission would fail. The film imagines an alternate history.
Casting is underway and the producers have earmarked an early 2015 start of production.
“Tate is an incredibly talented artist in every sense, and we have been actively searching for the right project to collaborate on,” said FilmNation evp of production Karen Lunder, who originally brought the project to Taylor and his production partner John Norris. “We’re thrilled to have found it with Moon Disaster.”
CAA...
- 6/25/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
FilmNation Entertainment set The Help‘s Tate Taylor to helm In The Event Of A Moon Disaster, with liftoff scheduled for next year. FilmNation is producing and handling international and Taylor will produce with production partner John Norris. It’s based on a script by Mike Jones, and this premise: when Pulitzer Prize winning author and presidential speechwriter William Safire died in 2009, a speech called “In Event Of Moon Disaster” was discovered in his papers. Written in 1969, the speech was to be read by President Nixon in the event that the Apollo 11 mission to the moon was met with […]...
- 6/25/2014
- Deadline
The Help helmer Tate Taylor, whose James Brown biopic Get On Up will open this August, has just signed on to direct historical drama In the Event of a Moon Disaster for FilmNation.
Mike Jones penned the script for the film, which was included on a recent iteration of the Black List for best un-produced screenplays. Jones was inspired by the 2009 discovery of a speech called “In Event Of Moon Disaster,” which was found in the papers of presidential speechwriter William Safire shortly after Safire passed away.
Written in 1969, the speech was intended to be read by President Richard Nixon in the event that the famed Apollo 11 mission to the moon was met with tragedy. However, this film won’t be your typical historical drama. In the Event of a Moon Disaster will run with the speech and fictionalize the events of the Apollo 11 mission, imagining a reality...
Mike Jones penned the script for the film, which was included on a recent iteration of the Black List for best un-produced screenplays. Jones was inspired by the 2009 discovery of a speech called “In Event Of Moon Disaster,” which was found in the papers of presidential speechwriter William Safire shortly after Safire passed away.
Written in 1969, the speech was intended to be read by President Richard Nixon in the event that the famed Apollo 11 mission to the moon was met with tragedy. However, this film won’t be your typical historical drama. In the Event of a Moon Disaster will run with the speech and fictionalize the events of the Apollo 11 mission, imagining a reality...
- 6/25/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
“The Help” and “Get On Up” director Tate Taylor will direct historical drama “In the Event of a Moon Disaster,” FilmNation announced on Wednesday. Mike Jones was inspired to write his Blacklist script after a speech called “In Event of Moon Disaster” was discovered in the papers of Pulitzer Prize winning author and presidential speechwriter William Safire, who passed away in 2009. The speech was written in 1969 and would have been read by President Nixon had Apollo 11's mission to the moon met with tragedy. The film will play out a fictionalized or alternate reality of these events. See video:.
- 6/25/2014
- by Linda Ge
- The Wrap
Director Tate Taylor is headed for outer space. Taylor (The Help, Get on Up) has come aboard to direct In the Event of a Moon Disaster for FilmNation from the Blacklist script by screenwriter and former journalist Mike Jones. The story was inspired by a speech of the same name written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and presidential speechwriter William Safire. Written in 1969, the speech — discovered after Safire's death — was to be read by President Richard Nixon in the event that the Apollo 11 mission to the moon was met with tragedy. The movie will present an
read more...
read more...
- 6/25/2014
- by Pamela McClintock
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
After digging into racial segregation in the 1960s with The Help and charting James Brown’s career for his latest, Get On Up, it appears that director Tate Taylor is in no rush to return to the present, at least in terms of his projects. He’s now attached to make FilmNation’s Apollo 11 drama In The Event Of A Moon Disaster.Now, of course – real-life spoiler alert dating back to 1969 – the mission that saw Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the Lunar surface was a success with only minor setbacks. But Richard Nixon’s speechwriter William Safire had prepared a statement in case the astronauts met with real problems and were unable to return. The document, discovered among Safire’s papers in 2009, inspired Mike Jones to write a script based around the administration creating such a response. You can read the original statement here.“Tate is an...
- 6/25/2014
- EmpireOnline
This week, Archer, Lana and Pam brushed up on their Romansh, packed some heroine and boarded a plane to head to Italy to stop an assassination during "The Papal Chase."
Adam Reed couldn't have planned a better time to send Archer to the Vatican than coincidentally sending him a mere couple weeks after the new Pope was elected.
The timely episode centered around a failed attempt to plant Woodhouse in the Pope's place, only to do what they were meant to do: botch the job.
Apparently, the world has learned what any Archer audience member already knows: Isis has a reputation for being a bit incompetent. But, really, what do you expect from an organization that promotes its accountant and human resources manager (welcome officially aboard Pam!) to field agents?
After nearly accidentally killing the Pope and screwing up the switch, things got interesting as Cardinal Carnelli vied for the...
Adam Reed couldn't have planned a better time to send Archer to the Vatican than coincidentally sending him a mere couple weeks after the new Pope was elected.
The timely episode centered around a failed attempt to plant Woodhouse in the Pope's place, only to do what they were meant to do: botch the job.
Apparently, the world has learned what any Archer audience member already knows: Isis has a reputation for being a bit incompetent. But, really, what do you expect from an organization that promotes its accountant and human resources manager (welcome officially aboard Pam!) to field agents?
After nearly accidentally killing the Pope and screwing up the switch, things got interesting as Cardinal Carnelli vied for the...
- 3/29/2013
- by eric@tvfanatic.com (Eric Hochberger)
- TVfanatic
Mike Jones, who recently wrote Sony’s CGI Popeye feature, sold his spec thriller In the Event of a Moon Disaster to FilmNation Entertainment. Variety reported today that FilmNation planned to produce the space race thriller for approximately $35 million, making the period movie their biggest project to date. Jones, the former festivals editor at Variety, credited a speech William Safire wrote for President Nixon in case the astronauts were unable to return to Earth safely, as inspiration for his revisionist drama.
- 8/22/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Mike Jones, who recently wrote Sony’s CGI Popeye feature, sold his spec thriller In the Event of a Moon Disaster to FilmNation Entertainment. Variety reported today that FilmNation planned to produce the space race thriller for approximately $35 million, making the period movie their biggest project to date. Jones, the former festivals editor at Variety, credited a speech William Safire wrote for President Nixon in case the astronauts were unable to return to Earth safely, as inspiration for his revisionist drama.
- 8/22/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Knife-wielding New York Times magazine editor Hugo Lindgren is at it again. The "On Language" column, a staple in the Times magazine for 32 years, is coming to an end. Ben Zimmer, who took over "On Language" after the death of William Safire, made the announcement in Friday's paper: On Language is finally coming to a close, at least in its current incarnation. For more than 30 of those years, it was the domain of the Language Maven (as Safire jauntily called himself), until his passing in September 2009. I’ve had the privilege...
- 2/25/2011
- by Dylan Stableford
- The Wrap
By Dylan Stableford
With the smoke having cleared – at least for now – following the paper’s newsroom cuts late last year, there are a slew of staffing changes on tap at the New York Times.
The paper announced on Friday that Ben Zimmer, a linguist and lexicographer, will take over as the “On Language” columnist for the New York Times magazine. Zimmer succeeds the late William Safire, who created and wrote the column for 30 years. Safire died last fall.
Zimmer’s c...
With the smoke having cleared – at least for now – following the paper’s newsroom cuts late last year, there are a slew of staffing changes on tap at the New York Times.
The paper announced on Friday that Ben Zimmer, a linguist and lexicographer, will take over as the “On Language” columnist for the New York Times magazine. Zimmer succeeds the late William Safire, who created and wrote the column for 30 years. Safire died last fall.
Zimmer’s c...
- 3/12/2010
- by Dylan Stableford
- The Wrap
By The New York Times
William Safire, a speechwriter for President Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning winning political columnist for The New York Times who also wrote novels, books on politics and a Malaprop’s treasury of articles on language, died at a hospice in Rockville, Md. on Sunday. He was 79.
The cause was pancreatic cancer, said Martin Tolchin, a friend of the family.
Read more at the New York Times.
William Safire, a speechwriter for President Nixon and a Pulitzer Prize-winning winning political columnist for The New York Times who also wrote novels, books on politics and a Malaprop’s treasury of articles on language, died at a hospice in Rockville, Md. on Sunday. He was 79.
The cause was pancreatic cancer, said Martin Tolchin, a friend of the family.
Read more at the New York Times.
- 9/27/2009
- by Glenn Abel
- The Wrap
Legendary speech writer and New York Times columnist William Safire died this morning at age 79. Safire's "On Language" column appeared in every Sunday's newspaper, and his studies of rising colloquialisms and slang always provided a tremendous amount of insight into both current events and the human condition. His politics were the topic of much debate, which was not shocking considering he was a speech writer for the embattled Richard Nixon.
In my career as a writer, I'm quite proud of the fact that I once provided insight to one of Safire's "On Language" columns, which focused on the origin of the word "cover" and how it came to mean a band recording another person's song. I was just starting out as a magazine writer and was more than happy to contribute to somebody whose work I read every Sunday.
Safire's insight into language was always sharp and interesting, and even in his latter years,...
In my career as a writer, I'm quite proud of the fact that I once provided insight to one of Safire's "On Language" columns, which focused on the origin of the word "cover" and how it came to mean a band recording another person's song. I was just starting out as a magazine writer and was more than happy to contribute to somebody whose work I read every Sunday.
Safire's insight into language was always sharp and interesting, and even in his latter years,...
- 9/27/2009
- by Kyle Anderson
- MTV Newsroom
The New York Times reports that former Nixon speechwriter and columnist William Safire has died. While I disagreed with most of his politics, he had a great run at the Times with a column that was always witty, well-reasoned and well-written — a far cry from much of current right-wing discourse. I thought his final column was spectacular, and I saved a copy on my hard drive to refer to periodically. It's called "Never Retire," and it's about the necessity of keeping the synapses active and continuously adapting to and participating in cultural change. Obviously, it's even more relevant today than when Safire wrote it in 2005, and I recommend you keep a copy too and use it to periodically recharge your own sense of purpose.
- 9/27/2009
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Forget the reviews, the critics, the controversy, the protests and "the nattering nabobs of negativity" famously introduced by William Safire. It's the marketing and distribution, stupid. Sony's promotional efforts for the much-maligned The Da Vinci Code are credited with delivering the highest weekend of all time at the overseas boxoffice -- $154.7 million from 12,213 screens in 82 territories. The Ron Howard-directed religious mystery took over top international weekend honors from 20th Century Fox's Star War: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, which opened a year ago in May. Da Vinci hit the peak of the boxoffice charts in each of 82 territories in which it opened.
- 5/23/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Forget the reviews, the critics, the controversy, the protests and "the nattering nabobs of negativity" famously introduced by William Safire. It's the marketing and distribution, stupid. Sony's promotional efforts for the much-maligned The Da Vinci Code are credited with delivering the highest weekend of all time at the overseas boxoffice -- $154.7 million from 12,213 screens in 82 territories. The Ron Howard-directed religious mystery took over top international weekend honors from 20th Century Fox's Star War: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, which opened a year ago in May. Da Vinci hit the peak of the boxoffice charts in each of 82 territories in which it opened.
- 5/23/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Toronto International Film Festival
Henry Kissinger: brilliant international strategist or cold-blooded war criminal?
In the eyes of author Christopher Hitchens, the answer is a strongly argued case for the latter. It is an accusation he has made against the former U.S. secretary of state and Nobel Peace Prize winner initially in Harper's Magazine and subsequently in expanded book form.
Now director Eugene Jarecki and writer Alex Gibney present the filmed companion to the Hitchens diatribes, and the result, which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, makes for incendiary (and lively) viewing.
For starters, there's the charge that Kissinger engineered the 1969 secret bombing of Cambodia without the knowledge of Congress. Then there's Kissinger's purported authorization of the sale of U.S. weapons to Indonesian President Suharto for use in the devastating 1973 East Timor massacre.
And did Nixon's national security adviser authorize the 1970 assassination of a pro-Allende Chilean general?
As an interesting sidebar, news of a wrongful death suit filed by the man's family was published in the Sept. 11, 2001, edition of the Washington Post.
The film also takes note of those half-dozen countries that have summoned Kissinger to answer questions in connection with the investigation of Augusto Pinochet's regime.
The format may be talking heads-heavy, but when those heads in question belong to the likes of William Safire, retired Gen. Alexander Haig and Hitchens himself, there's never a dull moment.
There's also a paper trail of newly declassified U.S. government documents that would appear to lend fuel to the presentation's fire.
Plus, there's no lack of evidence of Kissinger's shrewd media savvy, which earned him '70s pop icon status. He was often seen in the company of famous women and was memorably mimicked by John Belushi on "Saturday Night Live".
For all those tired of fawning, adulatory nonfiction portraits that may as well have been made by the subject's publicist, "The Trials of Henry Kissinger" is an unauthorized biography to end all unauthorized biographies.
While criticisms of an uneven-handedness may be justified, the prevailing lack of balance contributes to a strong end result: "The Trials of Henry Kissinger" is both damning and damned compelling.
THE TRIALS OF HENRY KISSINGER
First Run Features
Think Tank/Jigsaw Education
Credits:
Director: Eugene Jarecki
Screenwriter: Alex Gibney
Producers: Eugene Jarecki, Alex Gibney
Executive producer: Roy Ackerman
Director of photography: Greg Andracke
Editor: Simon Barker
Music: Peter Nashel
Narrator: Brian Cox
Running time: 80 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Henry Kissinger: brilliant international strategist or cold-blooded war criminal?
In the eyes of author Christopher Hitchens, the answer is a strongly argued case for the latter. It is an accusation he has made against the former U.S. secretary of state and Nobel Peace Prize winner initially in Harper's Magazine and subsequently in expanded book form.
Now director Eugene Jarecki and writer Alex Gibney present the filmed companion to the Hitchens diatribes, and the result, which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, makes for incendiary (and lively) viewing.
For starters, there's the charge that Kissinger engineered the 1969 secret bombing of Cambodia without the knowledge of Congress. Then there's Kissinger's purported authorization of the sale of U.S. weapons to Indonesian President Suharto for use in the devastating 1973 East Timor massacre.
And did Nixon's national security adviser authorize the 1970 assassination of a pro-Allende Chilean general?
As an interesting sidebar, news of a wrongful death suit filed by the man's family was published in the Sept. 11, 2001, edition of the Washington Post.
The film also takes note of those half-dozen countries that have summoned Kissinger to answer questions in connection with the investigation of Augusto Pinochet's regime.
The format may be talking heads-heavy, but when those heads in question belong to the likes of William Safire, retired Gen. Alexander Haig and Hitchens himself, there's never a dull moment.
There's also a paper trail of newly declassified U.S. government documents that would appear to lend fuel to the presentation's fire.
Plus, there's no lack of evidence of Kissinger's shrewd media savvy, which earned him '70s pop icon status. He was often seen in the company of famous women and was memorably mimicked by John Belushi on "Saturday Night Live".
For all those tired of fawning, adulatory nonfiction portraits that may as well have been made by the subject's publicist, "The Trials of Henry Kissinger" is an unauthorized biography to end all unauthorized biographies.
While criticisms of an uneven-handedness may be justified, the prevailing lack of balance contributes to a strong end result: "The Trials of Henry Kissinger" is both damning and damned compelling.
THE TRIALS OF HENRY KISSINGER
First Run Features
Think Tank/Jigsaw Education
Credits:
Director: Eugene Jarecki
Screenwriter: Alex Gibney
Producers: Eugene Jarecki, Alex Gibney
Executive producer: Roy Ackerman
Director of photography: Greg Andracke
Editor: Simon Barker
Music: Peter Nashel
Narrator: Brian Cox
Running time: 80 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/15/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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