Latest news with #MildredPierce
Axios
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
San Antonio's history of Oscar winners
Ahead of Sunday's 97th Academy Awards, we dove into the Oscars database to find out where past Best Actress and Best Actor winners were born. The big picture: Hollywood may be the movie capital of the world, but many of the industry's most celebrated actors aren't originally from there. By the numbers: Just six of the 86 men who have won Best Actor and five of the 87 women who earned Best Actress were born in the Los Angeles area. Zoom in: The San Antonio area is home to one winner each from the Best Actor and Best Actress categories — Joan Crawford, who won for "Mildred Pierce" in 1946, and Matthew McConaughey (from Uvalde), who won for "Dallas Buyers Club" in 2014.
Express Tribune
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
8 Underrated Miniseries You Might Have Missed, But Should Definitely Watch
Miniseries often deliver captivating stories with an intensity that keeps viewers hooked. However, despite their brilliance, many of these gems fly under the radar, deserving far more recognition than they've received. These 8 miniseries span genres from historical drama to thrilling true crime, showcasing unforgettable performances and gripping narratives. If you haven't seen them yet, here's why you should give them a chance. 1. John Adams (2008) John Adams is a historical drama that brings the tumultuous life of the second U.S. president to the screen. Starring Paul Giamatti in a deeply immersive performance, the miniseries captures Adams' complexities as a man and a leader during the American Revolution. Despite its historical importance and Giamatti's nuanced portrayal, John Adams often gets overshadowed by other Revolutionary War movies. But this series is a must-watch for history enthusiasts and anyone curious about the founding of the United States. 2. Irma Vep (2022) Alicia Vikander stars in Irma Vep, a modernized reimagining of the 1996 film. Directed by Olivier Assayas, this series delves into the world of filmmaking, focusing on the fictional breakdown of an actress, Mira, as she becomes consumed by her role in a remake of a silent film. The show explores the toxicity of the industry and the psychological toll of acting. With its stunning visuals and Vikander's outstanding performance, Irma Vep is a sharp and stylish commentary on film culture, yet it never received the widespread acclaim it deserved. 3. Mildred Pierce (2011) In Mildred Pierce, Kate Winslet plays the titular character, a woman trying to navigate the hardships of being a single mother during the Great Depression. The miniseries, based on the novel by James M. Cain, delves into Mildred's complex relationship with her daughter, Veda. Despite its incredible performances, particularly Winslet's nuanced portrayal, Mildred Pierce often falls into the shadow of other, more popular miniseries like Mare of Easttown. Directed by Todd Haynes, this miniseries is an emotional, gripping drama that warrants more attention. 4. Catch-22 (2019) Based on Joseph Heller's iconic novel, Catch-22 is a dark, absurdist comedy that follows John Yossarian, a bombardier in World War II who can't escape the madness of war. Christopher Abbott plays the lead role in this adaptation, which stays faithful to the novel's bleak humor and surreal narrative. While it is a solid adaptation, it didn't receive the level of recognition it deserves, making it one of the most underrated war-related miniseries out there. 5. Under the Banner of Heaven (2022) Under the Banner of Heaven explores the chilling events surrounding a murder connected to the Mormon faith, based on Jon Krakauer's true-crime book. The series stars Andrew Garfield as a devout detective investigating the crime. While the show garnered attention for its compelling storyline, it never quite reached the level of acclaim it should have, despite its complex characters and thought-provoking themes of faith, justice, and crime. 6. Generation Kill (2008) Generation Kill offers a stark and authentic portrayal of the early days of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Based on a journalist's firsthand account of embedded reporting with Marines, the series is a raw and eye-opening depiction of the realities of war. With standout performances and an incredibly realistic approach, Generation Kill explores the complexity of soldiers' lives in combat. Despite being highly praised, this miniseries often gets overlooked when discussing war-based TV dramas, but it remains a powerful and unflinching exploration of modern warfare. 7. Station Eleven (2021–2022) Station Eleven is a sci-fi masterpiece that follows a group of survivors after a deadly flu pandemic wipes out most of humanity. The series, based on Emily St. John Mandel's novel, is a beautifully crafted exploration of survival, humanity, and rebuilding. Its narrative is both hopeful and haunting, with stunning performances by Mackenzie Davis and others. Despite receiving critical acclaim, Station Eleven remains a hidden gem within the genre, underappreciated by many viewers who would benefit from its depth. 8. A Very English Scandal (2018) A Very English Scandal dramatizes the real-life scandal involving British politician Jeremy Thorpe, played by Hugh Grant, and his affair with Norman Josiffe. Set in the 1960s and '70s, this miniseries examines the intersection of politics, scandal, and LGBTQ+ rights. With standout performances from Grant and Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal is an engrossing and often darkly humorous look at the hypocrisy and dangers of hiding one's true identity. Despite Grant's outstanding performance, the series didn't get the recognition it deserved compared to other historical dramas.
Arab Times
26-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab Times
'The Brutalist' doesn't work without Guy Pearce
NEW YORK, Jan 26, (AP): Over the years, Guy Pearce has been good in most all things. But he's been particularly good at playing characters with a refined disposition who harbor darker impulses underneath. That was true of his breakout performance in "L.A. Confidential" as a squeaky-clean police detective whose ambitions outstrip his ethics. It was true of his dashing upper-class bachelor in "Mildred Pierce.' And it's most definitely true of his mid-Atlantic tycoon in "The Brutalist.' "I'm really aware of how precarious we are as human beings,' Pearce says. "Good people can do bad things and bad people can do good things. Moment to moment, we're trying to just get through the day. We're trying to be good. And we can do good things for ourselves and other people, but pretty easily we can be tipped off course.' That sense of duality has served Pearce's characters well, especially his men of class who turn out to have less of it than they seem. His Harrison Lee Van Buren in "The Brutalist' may be Pearce's most colossally two-faced concoction yet. If Brady Corbet's film, which was nominated for 10 Oscars on Thursday, is one of the best films of the year, it's Pearce's performance that gives the movie its disquieting shiver. Pearce's Van Buren is a recognizable kind of villain: a well-bred aristocrat who, at first, is a benevolent benefactor to Adrien Brody's architect László Tóth. But what begins as a friendship - Tóth, a Holocaust survivor is nearly destitute when they meet - turns increasingly ugly, as Van Buren's patronage, warped by jealousy and privilege, turns into a creeping sense of ownership over Tóth. The psychodrama eventually boils over in a grim, climactic scene in which Van Buren pronounces Tóth "just a lady of the night.' "What was great to discuss with Brady is that he is actually a man of taste,' said Pearce in a recent interview. "He's a man of class and a man of sophistication. He's not just a bull in a China shop. He's not just about greed, taking, taking, taking. It's probably as much of a curse as anything that he can recognize beauty and he can recognize other people's artistry.' For his performance, the 57-year-old Pearce on Thursday landed his first Oscar nomination - a long-in-coming and perhaps overdue honor for the character actor of "Memento,' "The Count of Monte Cristo' and "The King's Speech.' For the Australian-born Pearce, such recognitions are as awkward as they are rewarding. He long ago decided Hollywood stardom wasn't for him. "I get uncomfortable with that, to be honest,' he says. "I'm really happy with doing a good performance. I can genuinely say within myself I've done a good job. Equally, I know when I've done a (bad) job. But I'm also well aware of how a performance can appear good purely because of the tone of the film. I might have done exactly the same performance in another movie with not such a good director, and people might have gone, 'That was full-on but whatever.' Whereas in this film, we are all better than we actually are because the film has integrity to it that elevates us all.' Like F. Murray Abraham's Saleri in "Amadeus,' Peace's Van Buren has quickly ascended the ranks of great cinema villains to artists. The character likewise has some basis in reality, albeit extrapolated from a much different time and place. Corbet and Mona Fastvold, who are married and wrote "The Brutalist' together, were fueled by their hardships with financiers on their previous film, 2018's "Vox Lux.' "We didn't have a Van Buren but we certainly had our fill of complicated relationships with the people who hold the purse strings,' says Fastvold. "There's a sense of: I have ownership of the project because I'm paying for it, and I almost have ownership of you.' Pearce has been around the movie business long enough to shake hands with plenty of wealthy men putting money toward a film production. But he says none of his own experiences went into "The Brutalist.' "There's always this slew of producers at a higher level than us who come and visit the set,' Pearce says. "I'm polite and I go, 'Hi, nice to meet you. Thanks.' But I'm a little caught up with what I'm doing. Then three years later you'll meet someone who says, 'You know, I was a producer on "L.A. Confidential.'' Ah, were you?' Pearce, who lives in the Netherlands with his partner, actor Carice van Houten, and their son, has generally kept much of Hollywood at arm's length. In conversation, he tends to be chipper and humble - more interested in talking about Aussie rules football than the Oscar race. "Any chance to have a kick, I'll have a kick,' he says with smile. That youthful spirit Pearce tends to apply to his acting as well. Pearce, who started performing in the mid-'80s on the long-running Australian soap opera "Neighbors," doesn't like to be precious about performing. "If I'm hanging on to it all day, it's exhausting,' Pearce says. "The thing that still exists for me is using our imagination, which is kind of a childlike venture. I think there's something valuable about that even as adults. I think you can be all ages at all times.' Pearce compares receiving the script from Corbet to "The Brutalist" to when Christopher Nolan approached him 25 years ago. Both times, he went back to watch the director's earlier films and quickly decided this was an opportunity to pounce at. In digging into Van Buren, Pearce was guided less by real-life experience than the script. The hardest entry way to the character, he says, was the voice. "Thankfully,' Pearce says, "I'm friends with Danny Huston and he's got a wonderfully old-fashioned voice.' He and Corbet didn't speak much about the director's hardships on "Vox Lux.' "I know that it was troubled. Brady is going to have trouble on every film he makes, I reckon, because he is such a visionary,' says Pearce. "I know on this there were producers trying to get him to cut the time down. Of course, all those producers now are going, 'I was with him all the way.'' To a certain degree, Pearce says, he doesn't fully understand a performance while he's doing it. He's more likely to understand it fully afterward while watching. Take that "lady of the night scene.' While filming, Pearce felt he was saying that line to put Tóth in his place. "But when I watched it, I went: 'I'm just telling myself. I'm purely telling myself,'' he says. "There's something even more distasteful about it.' It's ironic, in a way, that Van Buren, a man bent on control, is played so indelibly by an actor who seeks to impose so little of it, himself. "There's a performative element to Van Buren. He exhausts himself because he's trying to dominate, to be the one in charge, be Mr. Charming,' Pearce says. "I don't think he can ever enter a room without being self-conscious. That's an exhausting way to be, I reckon.'
