In Contention

Author: John Foote

  • Woody through the years

    Woody AllenHe may be the finest American screenwriter of the last 40 years, having redefined the romantic comedy, explored relationships with a biting audacity and authenticity, provided women with marvelous roles,  and like all great writers, exposed a portion of his soul on screen.

    Now in his 70s, Woody Allen seems poised to once again become an important and vital American director after more than a decade of weak efforts that seemed to signal his decline. His new film, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (reviewed by Kris here) is superb, a return to form for a master seemingly charged with renewed energy and vigor.  The film is funny, robust, and with an under-current of danger and nastiness that gives it an edge his previous work, “Match Point” excepted,  simply did not have.

    It was with “Annie Hall” that Allen broke through as a major filmmaker, winning the Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture.  Another award came for actress Diane Keaton, while Woody himself was nominated for Best Actor. It was a case of the hard core New York artist being embraced by the Hollywood community he so despised.

    A ground-breaking romantic comedy,  “Annie Hall” took the tried and true “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back” and created a fourth rule, being “boy loses girl forever,” pumping authenticity into the genre, reality, a reflective slice of life.

    In the immediate years that followed Allen directed and wrote his tribute to Ingmar Bergman, “Interiors,” and then gave us “Manhattan,” which many consider to be his masterpiece.  It was a breathtaking valentine to New York City, a superbly written and directed love story, with remarkable performances from the cast.

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  • ‘Kiss’ on DVD…at long last!

    Kiss of the Spider WomanSpeaking of the home market, Hector Babenco’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” one of the great films of the 1980s, finally arrived on my desk this week from the good folks at City Lights Entertainment. It has not been available on DVD until now. Kris previewed the release last month.

    Having not seen the film for more than 20 years, I anxiously popped it into my player and sat down to enjoy it once again with my wife. To my surprise, the film’s raw power is still there, the performances of William Hurt and Raul Julia have seemed to deepen over the years and the picture’s independent spirit remains intact.

    William Hurt was on the rise in Hollywood when he agreed to take the role after more than 14 months of the producers and director working with Burt Lancaster fell apart. Lancaster had very strong ideas about how he saw the film, and after a triple by-pass, the prducers went elsewhere for the part of Molina.

    Known as an intellectual actor, William Hurt would go on to win the Academy Award for his brilliant performance as a jailed homosexual who falls in love with his cellmate (a revolutionary portrayed with intense brilliance by Raul Julia). Shot on location in Brazil, the film had a gritty, honest look that attracted critics upon the poicture’s release in 1985.

    To the shock of even the producers it was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Hurt) and Best Adapted Screenplay. Strangely, and sadly, Julia was snubbed for a nod alongside Hurt. James Garner probably took the nod that might have been his for “Murphy’s Romance.” Hurt’s ultimate win was something of a surprise over the heavily favored Jack Nicholson (in “Prizzi’s Honor”), scoring a point for indy films in the 1980s.

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  • ‘Godfather Restoration’ on DVD generates excitement

    The Godfather RestorationI wonder if any of us really understands the impact of home entertainment, beginning back in the early 1980s with the advent of the VHS and BETA tapes one could rent to play on new machines known as VCRs.

    My parents, God bless them, bought one right away, perhaps a way to get their eldest son (me), away at college, to come home and visit weekends. I did indeed, and after Dad would pick me up at the bus station, we would stop at the video store and grab 10 or so movies for the weekend.

    I rarely went for new releases.  Instead I chose films that I had seen once on the late show, perhaps, or films of interest I might have heard about.  Sometimes I might even have gone for the films I had never heard a thing about but were directed by someone I recognized or featured an actor I knew.

    I was 19 when I hit university and felt I was pretty well educated cinematically, having seen many films at the rep theaters in town.  I would set my alarm for the late shows, attending showings at the libraries and consuming every book I could find on film. So the advent of the VHS tape was a film lover’s wet dream.

    I watched literally thousands of films at home, over and over, studying them and finding something new each time. When I became a professional critic (when someone finally paid me for it) I made it clear that in addition to reviewing new releases in theatres, I must be permitted to review what was out for the home market.

    The generation of film-goers that followed me me (I am 49) are far better equipped with film knowledge than I was as a teen, but they have seen probably thousands more films than I had seen at that age as well. Furthermore, the special features on DVDs provide audiences with extraordinary knowledge that we were simply never privvy to.

    Yes I know there are disadvantages to home viewing.  Perhaps it has bred bad manners in movie theaters — talking, coming and going, cell phone use — but I still believe that films should be seen on a movie screen whenever possible.

    I am thrilled that Paramount and Francis Ford Coppola have gone back to restore “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II” in the upcoming “The Godfather Restoration,” which will also include the film that does not exist in my universe, the wretched “The Godfather Part III.”  Entirely new generations will get to see two of the greatest films ever made, enjoy the insightful commentary and documentaries that come with the set, and hopefully, come to understand that art can also be entertainment.
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  • And often, the Academy gets it right…

    United Artists' Midnight CowboyAs much as I rant about some of the bizarre choices made by the Academy, let’s be fair…there are times when they are right on the money.

    The AMPAS allowed for an embracing of the New American cinema with their awards for Best Picture and Best Director for “Midnight Cowboy” in 1969, and only they had the courage (and the smarts) to recognize that “The Godfather Part II” was a superior film to the first in handing it the same two trophies. They had awarded “The Godfather” Best Picture two years earlier, but much of the precursor circuit (and all of the critics groups) largely ignored the sequel, opting instead for films such as “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “Chinatown,” among others.

    The five awards betsowed on “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975 are among the group’s best choices ever, in particular the honors for actor Jack Nicholson and director Milos Forman.

    Though far too often dismissed as a chick flick, “Terms of Endearment” was a marvelous slice of life that the Academy embraced with five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Director. By the way, is it not odd that first time winner James L. Brooks has never again been nominated in the directing category again, despite two Best Picture nominees in “Broadcast News” and “As Good As It Gets?”

    I remember cheering loudly the many wins for “Amadeus,” “Out of Africa” and “Platoon” three years in a row, and though I believe “Goodfellas” is a better film, I was pleased to see a western, “Dances with Wolves,” win seven Oscars.

    No arguments from me between 1991 and 1993, with “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Unforgiven,” and “Schindler’s List” all most deserving winners. And though I prefer “Pulp Fiction,” I understand why “Forrest Gump” took the top prize in 1994.

    Bravo, too, to the Academy for honoring “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” a bonafide movie masterpiece, and again the following year for “Million Dollar Baby.”

    So you see, for all my bitching (and we all do it…come on), I concede that the Academy does, from time to time, nail the best.

  • ‘W’: bush league?

    Josh Brolin is George W. Bush in WI need to tread gently here and if offend that is not my intention…at all.

    I am not an American but I’ve always been fascinated with American history and politics. While I would never presume to know more about America than its own people, I must admit I struggle with the idea of George W. Bush as president for many of the same reasons Americans do. All of the previous individuals who have held office in my lifetime possessed intelligence — it burned in their eyes — but I do not see that in President Bush at…all.

    Time Magazine did a feature about a year or so ago asking whether or not Bush was the worst US President in history and I believe he won by quite a margin.  Is he fodder enough for a film?  Should it be right now? Should it be directed by Oliver Stone?

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  • Robert Duvall: the screen’s greatest, ignored too often

    Robert Duvall“There are two greats in America right now.  The first is Brando, whose best work is behind him, and the other is Robert Duvall.”

    Legendary acting guru Sanford Meisner said those words in the 1960s.  He trained Robert Duvall at the Nieghborhood Playhouse in the late 1950s and early 1960s before the actor’s screen debut in “To Kill a Mockingbird” as the children’s boogey man and savior Boo Radley. In the years since, Duvall has given some of the greatest performances captured on film, yet stands in his seventies now with just a single Oscar to his credit, a Best Actor trophy for his country and western singer in 1980’s “Tender Mercies.”

    There are many, myself included, who consider Duvall the most purely gifted actor in American cinema.  He’s always lacked the leading looks to harness the roles often awarded to other players. Instead he has toiled quietly yet effectively as a character actor, often playing second fiddle to bigger stars and stealing the film more often than not.

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  • Peter Finch and the posthumous Oscar

    Peter Finch in NetworkPeter Finch’es wide-eyed, frantic performance as newsman Howard Beale in Sidney Lumet’s “Network” became a touchstone for North America in 1976 because we too were “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.”

    Vietnam was over, though the vets were struggling with their various personal horrors.  Nixon had resigned, leaving a mistrustful America in his wake.  And up here in Canada, we were dealing with a Prime Minister who was often more playboy than politician.  Lumet’s searing film, from an original screenplay by Paddy Chayevsky, was timely indeed.

    Whispers of a posthumous Oscar have circulated Heath Ledger’s performance in “The Dark Knight” for weeks now, bringing Finch’s seizure of the Best Actor trophy back to the forefront of discussion.  But was Finch’s win a recognition of the performance or was it fueled by his unfortunate dead in January of 1977?

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  • What’s the worst Best Actor choice of all time?

    Roberto Benigni at the Academy Awards in 1999With the Bat frenzy settling down, and the Toronto Fest looming just ahead, I thought I’d get back to, well, complaining about the Academy’s more lame-brained calls over the years!

    What has been the group’s single worst choice for Best Actor in its 80 year history?  My choice: Roberto Benigni for “Life is Beautiful” in 1998.

    I remember sitting stunned when his name was called out at the Screen Actors Guild awards for his incessant, mugging in the film, possibly the most over-praised endeavor of 1998. What this meant of course was that he now had the inside track to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for this ridiculous performance.

    And he did just that, clowning around, jumping up on the seats of those around him, massacring the English language (which he speaks perfectly fine) with his acceptance speech, trying his best to be endearing and beloved.

    How and why did this performance — and this film — become so beloved by the AMPAS?

    Among the performances Benigni defeated that year were Edward Norton’s seething work in “American History X,” Tom Hanks’s superb turn in “Saving Private Ryan” and Nick Nolte’s raging performance in “Affliction.” Each performance was vastly superior to Begnini’s, and as always, some of those not nominated could have easily taken his place.  Jim Carrey in “The Truman Show” comes to mind.

    Hollywood, however, fell in love with Mr. Begnini as he cruised through cocktail party after cocktail party, dinner at Barbara Streisand’s house, the entire town entranced by a brown-eyed clown.

    His performance was little more than over the top shameless mugging for the camera — “acting” at its worst. For that he gets an Oscar, along with nominations for Best Director and a win for Best Foreign Language Film??

    There have been terrible Oscar wins in the past, of course: “The Greatest Show on Earth,” Elizabeth Taylor for “Butterfield 8,” Al Pacino in “Scent of a Woman.  But has the Academy ever been so incredibly bamboozled by a film and a performer as they were in 1998?

    What about you?  What do you think is the Academy’s all time worst choice for Best Actor?  Or Best Foreign Language Film for that matter?

  • Can Ledger’s brilliance truly move AMPAS?

    Heath Ledger in The Dark KnightAfter seeing “The Dark Knight” three times now, I am convinced that Heath Ledger was an actor of extraordinary ability who might have gone on to the heights of a Marlon Brando or Jack Nicholson.  Sure, that is easy to say now that he is gone, but consider his all too brief filmography.

    Ledger’s work in “Monsters Ball” was superb, a haunting presence through the film, while his performance in “Brokeback Mountain” was among the finest achievements in screen acting in the last 10 years. How in God’s name did he lose the Oscar? That last scene alone still breaks my heart, knowing Ennis will live out his days alone having lost the love of his life.  Thank God for the New York Film Critics Circle, which honored him with their best actor prize in 2005.

    As a drug addict in the little seen but powerful “Candy” he was nothing less than astonishing, and now we arrive at “The Dark Knight.”  What is remarkable about those performances is that each is radically and wildly different from the other, bold and daring, taking performance art to the very edge.

    Imagine signing on to play the Joker and knowing that not long ago Jack Nicholson knocked the role out of the poark and was adored by millions…my God…the pressure?? The dilemma for Ledger must have been similar to Robert De Niro portraying a young Vito Corleone in “The Godgfather Part II,” knowing that the eyes of the film-going world would be watching him closely after Marlon Brando’s Oscar-winning efforts two years prior.

    And of course, Ledger is brilliant in the role, dominating the film in every way.  The Oscar talk is moot. His performance will live forever and if the Academy has the courage to at least nominate him, I will be pleased.

    Does it matter that the performance came in a comic book adaptation? For me, it’s all the more reason to nominate him and celebrate what he accomplished, because he took a role well known to millions and evolved it, made it his own, smeared it with a deeply psychotic spin that works to perfection.

    I personally don’t even expect him to be nominated.  Many great performances have missed Oscar’s call (as outlined in this space many times).  But they still live on in history.

    I hope I’m wrong.

  • TIFF keeps ’em coming

    Viggo Mortensen in AppaloosaMore announcements out of the press office from Toronto today.

    Great to hear that the first of the potential Oscar films is coming, Ed Harris’s “Appaloosa,” with Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger and Harris starring. Harris’s last directorial effort “Pollock” opened here and went all the way to Oscar night, winning Best Supporting Actress for Marcia Gay Harden.

    Jonathan Demme returns with “Rachel Getting Married” featuring Anne Hathaway as a crisis-prone sister returning home for her sister’s wedding bringing her acid tongue with her to unleash hell.

    From England comes “The Other Man” from director Richard Eyre.  Liam Neeson stars as a husband who discovers his wife (played by Laura Linney) has been receiving emails and messages from another man, portrayed by Antonio Banderas. Enraged and deeply hurt that she would violate the trust he thought they had, he seeks out an encounter with the man.

    The titles have started emerging and we’re look forward to more in the coming weeks. Festival fever is starting!

  • TIFF adds Canadian titles

    TorontoIf there is a single aspect to the Toronto International Film Festival I enjoy most, it is the fact that the programmers have never lost sight of the event’s original mandate: showcasing homegrown talent in this country.

    Alongside the films that will no doubt be in the thick of this year’s Oscar season, a number of wonderful Canadian films will also earn rave reviews, stun critics and the audiences that see them, and then quietly disappear, perhaps never to be released or heard from again. Such is the legacy of Canadian celluloid. And it is quite the maddening reality, since so many wonderful films are made here by directors other than Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg and Deepa Mehta, which is not meant to be a slam on them.

    Already announced are the Canadian films “Adoration” — the latest from Atom Egoyan, previously an Oscar nominee for “The Sweet Hereafter” — and “Passchendale,” the opening night Gala film from director Paul Gross, which is shaping up to be the most aniticpated film of the festival thus far. Yesterday festival organizers announced a number of other titles thatw ill make their North American and world premieres in September during the ten days of TIFF.

    “Fifty Dead Men Walking” is the new film from Kari Skogland, who last helmed the adaptation of “The Stone Angel,” a premiere last year. Jim Sturgess of “Across the Universe” portrays a young man sent to infiltrate and spy on the IRA from within its ranks. Sir Ben Kingsley co-stars with Sturgess.

    Former “Dawson’s Creek” star Joshua Jackson will be seen in “One Week,” a new film from director Michael McGowan about a young man who impulsivlely buys a motorcycle and escapes his mundane life to become utterly reckless.

    Deepa Mehta, Oscar-nominated in 2005 for her seminal film “Water,” is back at the festival this year with “Heaven on Earth,” a study of a woman who travels from India to Canada and is hit with culture shock. Bollywood star Preity Zinta stars.

    Renegade director Bruce McDonald, here last year with Ellen Page and “The Tracey Fragments,” is back with his new zombie thriller “Pontypool” and we also have Canada’s first stop-motion animated feature “Edison and Leo,” which seems to have Oscar written all over it.

    From Quebec we will have “Lost Song,” a new film from the fine director Rodrigue Jean about a couiple dealing with the depression of the wife after a move to a summer cottage, and “Maman est chez le coiffeus” from Lea Pool, which explores a separation as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old child.

    I keep looking for some major anouncements to come but as always the programmers save those for last. Keep reading for reactions to the announcements each Wednesday.

  • James Dean: over-appreciated icon?

    James Dean in GiantLet me state that I am aware of how much trouble I am going get myself into by writing this.

    With all the praise for Heath Ledger and his apparently electrifying performance in “The Dark Knight,” comparisons have been drawn to 50s method actor James Dean.  Great at his trade, a troubled social life, an early death, what might have been, etc.

    Ledger was a great actor, he should have won the Academy Award for his stunning performance in “Brokeback Mountain” and no doubt will be nominated for his turn as the Joker.  But Ledger’s body of work, though small, was superb and demonstrated a range that vastly surpasses that of James Dean, who was frankly similar in every role.

    The first time I saw James Dean on screen I too was stunned by performer, but for reasons you might not expect. Having heard so much about him, having read everything I could get my hands on, the film “East of Eden” was playing on the late show one night in the days before home video. I set my alarm and went to the cinema, and over two hours later I went back to bed wondering what all the fuss about.

    Later of course I watched “Rebel Without a Cause” and “Giant,” and still to this day I cannot understand those who believe Dean was one of the greatest American actors, so much so that he was elevated to the status of an icon.

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  • Clint Eastwood: the unlikely Oscar favorite

    Clint Eastwood at the Academy Awards in 2005Had anyone said to me in the 1970s that Clint Eastwood would in time become one of the finest and most important American directors in modern cinema, I would have laughed — quite loudly — in their collective faces.

    The star of “Dirty Harry” and “Every Which But Loose?”  The guy who shares the screen with apes?  Are you kidding???  Yet here we are, 37 years after he first pulled that 44-Magnum (“The most powerful hand gun in the world”), and things have changed.  He has won four Academy Awards — two as director, two as producer.  He has been nominated for each on two other occasions and has two Best Actor nominations to his credit as well. He has twice been honored by the Directors Guild of America for and won countless critics awards.

    Eastwood is indeed among the filmmaking elite.  And with the upcoming releases of “Changeling” and “Gran Torino,” he looks primed to flirt with the film awards season yet again.

    While researching my book “Clint Eastwood: Evolution of a Filmmaker,” my respect and admiration for the man has grown considerably. Obviously there was a great deal of admiration to start, otherwise I wouldn’t even begin a bhook on the subject.  But leanring more and more about Eastwood and his work has, understandably, taken things up a level.

    Eastwood challenges himself each time he makes a film.  His choices to act in films such as “Any Which Way You Can” were driven by the fact that he knew the studio would then finance a personal project such as “Bronco Billy.”  What really astounds me, though, is his growth as an actor through the years.

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  • New Toronto films announced

    Miramax Films\' Happy-Go-LuckyThe press office of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF for future purposes) announced some new titles for the line up at this year’s festival yesterday.

    Two Gala Presentation announcements include “The Secret Life of Bees” with Dakota Fanning, Paul Bettany, Jennifer Hudson and Queen Latifah, and “The Duchess” featuring Keira Knightley in the biographical role of a woman who brought sweeping political change to England with her progressive attitudes.

    In the Special Presentations Program we have “Every Little Step,” looking to be a fascinating documentary about the making of the Broadway sensation “A Chorus Line,” which dominated American Theatre in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was royally screwed up as a film by the vastly over-appreciated Sir Richard Attenborough.

    From the great Wong Kar-Gai comes “Ashes of Time Redux,”  while Mike Leigh brings to us the highly anticiapted “Happy-Go-Lucky”. Guy Ritchie will unveil “RocknRolla” to audiences here with Larry Charles bringing to our fair city his new picture “Religulous”.

    “Ghost Town” sounds promising, as the story follows a man portrayed by Ricky Gervais who dies unexpectedly and is revived with the powert to see ghosts. And as expected, “Waltz with Bashir” will make its North American premiere here at TIFF.

  • John picks the greatest leading performances of all time

    As a film critic, the questions most often put to me concern performance, especially when folks find out I have a background in acting.  I was a terrible performer, but I think I can spot talent, which has helped me in my work as a stage director.

    However, film was where my heart was and all I really wanted to do was write about the silver screen.  And performances make the greatest impact on me — always have.

    So with that, I thought I’d offer up my picks for the greatest lead performances of all time:

    Male
    1. Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”
    2. Robert Duvall in “The Apostle”
    3. Marlon Brando in “Last Tango in Paris”
    4. Jack Nicholson in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”
    5. Dustin Hoffman in “Tootsie”
    6. Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront”
    7. Robert De Niro in “Raging Bull”
    8. John Wayne in “The Searchers”
    9. Denzel Washington in “Malcolm X”
    10. George C. Scott in “Patton”

    Female
    1. Meryl Streep in “Sophie’s Choice”
    2. Jane Fonda in “Klute”
    3. Katherine Hepburn in “Long Day’s Journey into Night”
    4. Vivien Leigh in “Gone with the Wind”
    5. Holly Hunter in “The Piano”
    6. Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Boulevard”
    7. Charlize Theron in “Monster”
    8. Elizabeth Taylor in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
    9. Anjelica Huston in “The Grifters”
    10. Ellen Burstyn in “Requiem for a Dream”

  • Best of the 90’s

    John Travolta and Uma Thurman in Quentin Tarantino\'s Pulp FictionTime is the enemy of all films as it erodes what was once exciting and original. Truly great movies are able to withstand the test of time, but I wonder if enough time has passed to take a look back at the 1990s cinema and make some decisions.

    There was a major breakthrough in the decade with filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, who did not so much open the door for indies as he did kick it in and stomp on it with his “Pulp Fiction,” a gloriously acted, directed and written masterpiece about criminals in Los Angeles.  When Godard spoke of making films with a guy, a girl and a gun, was this what he had in mind?

    Though Tarantino has strugled to follow up his legendary 1994 effort with an equally powerful offering, there is little doubt he will, or at least could if he wanted to. (Though he keeps stopping and starting on his latest ambitious project.)  After all, he is still growing as a director.  And just look at Steven Spielberg, who for my money has grown artistically through the last 15 years more so than any other major filmmaker. It was as though “Schindler’s List” and the release of winning the Oscar set him free.

    Anyway, for the record and argument, here are my ten best films of the 1990s:

    1. “Pulp Fiction”
    2. “Schindler’s List”
    3. “Goodfellas”
    4. “Unforgiven”
    5. “Saving Private Ryan”
    6. “The Sweet Hereafter”
    7. “Magnolia”
    8. “L.A. Confidential”
    9. “The Shawshank Redemption”
    10. “The Silence of the Lambs”

    You?

  • Respect for The Duke

    In light of Kris’s recent westerns piece, I thought it might be worth it to give some space to what I believe to be one of the most underrated actors of all time.

    Cinematical recently carried a marvelous article on John Wayne, supporting the belief that the screen legend was an exceptional actor (in the right role) and that perhaps Hollywood and the critics had not given him his due while alive.  Certainly his work was appreciated by audiences, who made him the top box office star for more than 20 years.

    I grew up watching Wayne and even defended him as an actor some time ago to a very skeptical university professor.  Using the actor’s performances in “The Searchers” and “The Shootist,” I wrote my paper and received an “A.” I figured I must have proved my case. But my professor passed me in the hall a year or so later and told me I had converted him to the Duke, and he had now seen many more of his films.

    Obviously part of the issue had been just that: he had not seen all of Wayne’s work — and he was more than a little attached to Sir Laurence Olivier (in my opinion the most overrated actor in the history of the cinema). But you could always see Olivier acting, working the trade.  I defy you to catch the Duke mugging.

    While Wayne often portrayed a variation of what audiences perceived him to be in real life, there were characters that challenged him as an actor and allowed him to stretch. Though he won the Academy Award for his jaunty performance as the tough old one-eyed geezer in “True Grit,” he certainly should have won for his raging Ethan Edwards in “The Searchers” and been nominated for at least a half dozen others.

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  • Mr. Beatty, direct another film please?

    Interviewing Warren Beatty a few years ago in Toronto, I was struck at once by his intellect, which is laser sharp. The man misses nothing. He speaks slowly, taking long pauses before he speaks, and avoids personal questions, which I dislike and refuse to ask anyway.

    He was with Annette Bening at the time, supporting her efforts in “Being Julia.” But all I wanted to discuss was “Reds,” Beatty’s masterful film about John Reed and the Russian Revolution which won him the Academy Award for Best Director and was ousted for Best Pic by the vastly inferior “Chariots of Fire.”

    I had heard he could be a nightmare in interviews, but he seemed genuinely interested in discussing the film. He remembers sitting there at the ceremony, and when the other film won Best Costume Design, he said he knew it was over.

    Beatty was recently honored by the American Film Institute, which led me to go back and watch many of his films. I’ve come to the conclusion that, not only is he among the more under-appreciated actors and directors working in film today, but he has been for at least 40 years.

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