Alexander Payne

Will Forte: Future Oscar Nominee?

The Huffington Post | Christopher Rosen | Posted 05.15.2012

Will Forte and Bruce Dern could head to "Nebraska." That's the word from Deadline.com, which reports that director Alexander Payne wants the two actor...

Dan Clowes Retrospective Lands At The Oakland Museum of California

The Huffington Post | Kathleen Massara | Posted 04.16.2012

Dan Clowes is a comic book artist, a screenwriter, and a man with a lot of empathy for disgruntled Americans. He is the author of "Ghost World," "Mist...

Audrey Tautou, Etc. at the French Rendez-vous

Regina Weinreich | Posted 05.14.2012

Regina Weinreich

In a far corner of the elegant Fifth Avenue townhouse, Tautou, dark curls bobbing, spoke about why her character would enter into an inexplicable love affair with a dull-witted co-worker. "You don't know where love comes from. He touched her in a deep place," said Tautou, her hands gesticulating wildly.

Bad Break For Bryan Cranston

The Huffington Post | Michael Hogan | Posted 03.14.2012

Bryan Cranston tried out for a role in Alexander Payne's next project, the road-trip movie "Nebraska," but probably won't get the role, the director t...

Win Your Oscar Pool With Moviefone's Awards Night Pool Picker

The Huffington Post | Christopher Rosen | Posted 04.21.2012

It's Oscar week here at Moviefone and than can mean only one thing: Awards Night Pool Picker! Here's your chance to let Huffington Post executive ente...

'Midnight In Paris,' 'The Descendants' Win WGA Awards

Posted 04.20.2012

Meryl Streep isn't the only Hollywood star sitting on nearly three decades of Academy Awards losses. Woody Allen has been nominated nine times in the ...

The Sideways Publishing Saga -- Part III: Whiplash; Dismay!

Rex Pickett | Posted 04.09.2012

Rex Pickett

The Academy Awards hold a special place in my heart. I'm somehow miraculously behind two Oscars: the Best Adapted Screenplay for Sideways (based on my novel of the same title) and the writer of the 2000 Oscar for Best Live Action Short.

The Sideways Publishing Saga -- Part II: Exultation

Rex Pickett | Posted 04.04.2012

Rex Pickett

A year after Sideways had been pulled for submission, and the film industry had turned a deaf ear to two guys who go wine tasting in then little known Santa Ynez Valley, my life was in tatters.

The Sideways Publishing Saga -- Part I: Rejection

Rex Pickett | Posted 03.28.2012

Rex Pickett

In this post I will be specifically addressing what happened Sideways in the publishing world. My story, especially for aspiring authors, is not for the faint of heart.

It's the End of the Word as We Know It

Rex Pickett | Posted 03.24.2012

Rex Pickett

You would think with a publishing contract, a high-powered agent, a movie in the works, that I was the most grateful writer on the planet. I was... and then I wasn't.

The Descendants: A Paint-By-Number Masterpiece

Nancy Doyle Palmer | Posted 03.18.2012

Nancy Doyle Palmer

As one of the character puts it, "This is a unique and dramatic situation." But to the audience, The Descendants is simply about saying good-bye.

Awards Foreplay at the National Board of Review Gala

Regina Weinreich | Posted 03.15.2012

Regina Weinreich

At the elegant National Board of Review's Awards Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street this week, fine films were respectfully feted. But, those speeches! On this occasion coming up on the Golden Globes weekend, a subtext emerged.

What Do 'Breaking Dawn' And 'The Descendants' Have In Common?

Posted 12.07.2011

What do tween blockbuster "Breaking Dawn: Part 1" and Alexander Payne's infidelity dramedy "The Descendants" have in common? Well, according to Jam...

The Descendants Is Another Over Praised Clooney Film

Jackie K. Cooper | Posted 02.06.2012

Jackie K. Cooper

This movie is basically a study of the main character's ineptness as a husband and father. If this qualifies as entertainment for you, then you will be very pleased by the film.

Judy Greer Just Happy to Still Be in the Picture

Marshall Fine | Posted 02.01.2012

Marshall Fine

She's generating major buzz -- perhaps even Oscar buzz - for her role in Alexander Payne's The Descendants. But actress Judy Greer is just happy to b...

Movie Review: The Descendants -- The Year's Best Film

Marshall Fine | Posted 01.17.2012

Marshall Fine

I'll say it flat out -- Alexander Payne's new film, The Descendants, is my favorite of the year, a movie that manages to be heart-breaking and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Director Alexander Payne Talks About The Descendants

Marshall Fine | Posted 01.16.2012

Marshall Fine

Like Payne's earlier films -- including Election and About Schmidt -- The Descendants blends absurdly human comedy with tragic and touching situations.

'The Descendants' Director Descends Into Further Depression

Posted 01.09.2012

Alexander Payne has made his name with bittersweet, depressing comedies such as "About Schmidt," "Sideways" and "The Descendants," the George Clooney-...

Denver Film Festival Preview, Part 1: Turn on the Leading Manpower

Michael Bialas | Posted 12.31.2011

Michael Bialas

George Clooney may be able to do a lot of things, but he isn't a song-and-dance man. That's unless you count his hokey hoedown and country croon as a member of the Soggy Bottom Boys in O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Live from Toronto Film Festival: Tuesday 9.13.11

Marshall Fine | Posted 11.14.2011

Marshall Fine

My hunch about skipping the opening weekend of this year's Toronto International Film Festival has paid off, in more ways than one. Mostly, however, ...

Jordan Zakarin

George Clooney Reflects On Playing Dad, His Career & Dreams

HuffingtonPost.com | Jordan Zakarin | Posted 11.10.2011

(SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE UPDATES) On Friday, George Clooney swept up Toronto with "The Ides of March," the political drama that he co-produced, co-wro...

Age of Reason: George Clooney Is Telluride's Silver (Medallion) Fox

Michael Bialas | Posted 11.07.2011

Michael Bialas

Having turned 50 in May, George Clooney thinks and talks a lot about growing old these days. It was one of the topics of conversation during a series of interviews at the 38th Telluride Film Festival, where the Academy Award winner was awarded the Silver Medallion.

'Sideways' Director To Make Adaptation Of 'Wilson'

deadline.com | Posted 05.25.2011

EXCLUSIVE: Fox Searchlight has made a deal for Wilson, a Dan Clowes-created graphic novel that the author will adapt as a potential directing vehicle ...

The Best "Back to School" Movies

John Farr | Posted 05.25.2011

John Farr

Given the profound significance of education in our lives, it's no surprise there's no shortage of movies on the subject. Here are ten of my own favorite films about school, learning, and those mostly noble souls who teach.

HuffPost Review: New York, I Love You

Marshall Fine | Posted 05.25.2011

Marshall Fine

What to make of omnibus/anthology films such as New York, I Love You? Do you judge them by the best of the short films contained within? Or by the wo...