six by sondheim is an hbo television documentary which pays tribute to broadway composer and lyricist stephen sondheim .

the film was directed and co-produced by james lapine , based on an idea by frank rich and " centers on the backstory of six great sondheim songs . "

six by sondheim

directed by tony award - winner and frequent stephen sondheim collaborator james lapine , six by sondheim is a highly personal profile of a great american artist as revealed through the creation and performance of six of his iconic songs . read more
singer audra mcdonald performs in the documentary
six by sondheim
on hbo . ( autumn de wilde / hbo )
the life and work of composer and lyricist stephen sondheim is examined in six by sondheim , a documentary from james lapine , who also directed several of sondheim ' s shows .
parts of six by sondheim echo , and are indebted to , the 2010 roundabout theatre production sondheim on sondheim . that was a multimedia presentation that had a company of singers performing while sondheim , on giant screens , commented in recorded interview segments about his life and work . that production was written by lapine as well , and six by sondheim relies on the same strong spine . in six by sondheim , the composer and lyricist tells his own story and explains his own songs . he ' s a tour guide through his own past , with specific emphasis on a half - dozen songs — which explains the title six by sondheim .
the life and work of composer and lyricist stephen sondheim is examined in six by sondheim , a documentary from james lapine , who also directed several of sondheim ' s shows . jerry jackson / hbo hide caption
delightful ' six by sondheim ' leaves you wanting six more hbo ' s new tv special is part biography , part music - appreciation lesson and part performance piece . critic david bianculli says it ' s a superbly compiled work , overseen by two of the people most intimately familiar with the composer himself .
a quarterly magazine of urban affairs , published by the manhattan institute , edited by brian c . anderson .
affixed with an unnecessary gimmick , “six by sondheim” is a loving ode to the composer by director james lapine — part biography , part detailed examination of the roots of sondheim’s talent and work . fascinating as that latter part is , it’s slightly burdened by the decision to stage three songs specifically for the film , which features [ … ]
six by sondheim is a tv movie starring barbara barrie , jack bashkow , and charles braswell . an intimate and candid look at the life and art of the legendary composer - lyricist .
weaving sondheim history and personal refection in and around these numbers ,
six by sondheim
proceeds as though piecing together a jigsaw puzzle portrait of the man who redefined the american musical in the second half of the 20th century .
now there ' s
six by sondheim ,
an hbo documentary airing monday that ' s directed by sondheim ' s frequent collaborator james lapine , the librettist and director without whom there ' d be no
sunday in the park with george ,
into the woods
or
passion .
six artists and one duo , all from baltimore , have been named as finalists for this year ' s $ 25 , 000 janet & walter sondheim artscape prize .
at its core , “six by sondheim” is really a one - man show about a writer and his craft . and while lapine is to be forgiven the impulse , seeing how his star holds the stage , he needn’t have dressed it up with props .
please consider supporting us by whitelisting urltoken with your ad blocker . thank you !
artists : win a $ 25 , 000 fellowship for your work . apply for the 2018 sondheim artscape prize by friday , january 12 here : urltoken
introduction by david armstrong , 5th avenue theatre executive producer and artistic director , a performance by jeanette d ' armand , and a q & a with producer liz stanton and editor miky wolf .
at one point in six by sondheim , the composer describes teaching as
a sacred profession .
in the rest of the tv special , he proves he means it . a clip showing him explaining lyric writing to master - class students is a privilege to eavesdrop on — and the many tv interview clips through the decades trace sondheim ' s dedication at both expanding the dimensions of musical theater and explaining it so that others can follow .
he kept a shop in london town , of fancy clients and good renown . and what if none of their souls were saved ? they went to their maker impeccably shaved by sweeney , by sweeney todd the demon barber of fleet street .
the first song given this treatment in monday ' s hbo special is
something ' s coming
from west side story , with lyrics by sondheim and music by leonard bernstein . sondheim explains why the song was added during out - of - town tryouts in washington , as we hear larry kert , the show ' s young star , singing it in a vintage tv appearance from 1957 .
for more information : info @ urltoken | © copyright 2017 siff . all rights reserved . | privacy policy | designed by zango creative
i like to be in america , ok by me in america . everything free in america , for a small fee in america .
on monday , hbo presents the premiere of six by sondheim , a new tv special that ' s part biography , part music - appreciation lesson and part performance piece . it ' s all about the life and music and lyrics of stephen sondheim , in which he explains , among many other things , how and why he became a musical theater composer and lyricist , and the inspirations for some of his most familiar songs . if you ' re new to the works of stephen sondheim , this tv special should entice you . if you ' re already a fan , it should delight you .
for more on the 2015 janet & walter sondheim artscape prize , visit urltoken .
follies , ingeniously telling the story of music - hall veterans by turning their lives into vaudeville numbers , was similarly admirable without being likable .
an intimate look at the life and art of legendary composer - lyricist stephen sondheim .
sondheim talks about his divorced parents , being embraced by legendary composer oscar hammerstein ii as a surrogate father , and his experience as a lyricist on “west side story , ” before embarking on a solo career writing both the words and music .
mayor stephanie rawlings - blake and the baltimore office of promotion & the arts ( bopa ) are proud to announce that force : upsetting rape culture is the winner of the 2016 janet & walter sondheim artscape prize . the coveted $ 25 , 000 prize was presented at this evening’s awards ceremony at the baltimore museum of art . the six other finalists—theo anthony , stephanie barber , darcie book , larry cook , eric kruszewski , christos palios—will receive a $ 2 , 500 honorarium established this year by m & t bank in partnership with bopa . works of art by the winner and finalists are on view at the bma through sunday , july 31 .
by splicing interviews of the eager twentysomething lyricist - composer with the restless ( and somewhat prickly ) mid - career explorer and the grizzled elder statesman , the film provides a guided tour of sondheim ' s artistic consciousness along with his changing hairstyles and beards .
mayor catherine e . pugh and the baltimore office of promotion & the arts ( bopa ) are proud to announce that cindy cheng is the winner of the 2017 janet & walter sondheim artscape prize . the coveted $ 25 , 000 prize was presented at an award ceremony at the walters art museum on july 15 , 2017 . the six remaining finalists— mequitta ahuja , mary anne arntzen , sara dittrich , benjamin kelley , kyle tata , and amy yee —each received a $ 2 , 500 honorarium provided by m & t bank charitable foundation for a total donation of $ 15 , 000 . works of art by the winner and finalists are on view at the walters through sunday , august 13 , 2017 .
ow that it was clear that sondheim was no fluke , he began to generate his own productions . this was no downhill slalom . the second time out on his own , sondheim came up with
for more information on the janet & walter sondheim artscape prize , call 410 - 752 - 8632 .
although their styles are markedly different , sondheim credits hammerstein with instilling in him the value of writing for oneself and not for commercial gain . but it ' s the personal relationship that causes sondheim to well up .
sloane brown reports from the sondheim artscape prize announcement reception , held july 12 at the walters art museum .
by submitting this form , you are granting : baltimore office of promotion & the arts , 10 e . baltimore street , baltimore , maryland , 21202 , united states , urltoken permission to email you . you may unsubscribe via the link found at the bottom of every email . ( see our email privacy policy for details . ) emails are serviced by constant contact .
© copyright 2018 variety media , llc , a subsidiary of penske business media , llc . variety and the flying v logos are trademarks of variety media , llc . powered by urltoken vip
that song makes an interesting contrast to a similar number ,
you ' ll never walk alone ,
written more than half a century earlier by richard rodgers and oscar hammerstein ii .
with jurassic world : fallen kingdom now in cinemas , we take a look at how imdb users rated the films of the franchise . plus , browse exclusive lego® jurassic world playsets , presented by lego .
sondheim considers hammerstein an
experimental playwright
and vigorously defends him against those who refuse to see just how far he extended the boundaries of the broadway musical . his entire generation , he asserts , was instructed by hammerstein ' s mastery of resonant simplicity , the art of conveying complex feelings in honest and direct language and imagery .
with : stephen sondheim , america ferrera , darren criss , jeremy jordan , audra mcdonald , will swenton , jarvis cocker .
sondheim intended to make his next broadway work a solo job , but it wasn ' t to be . an opportunity came up to work with jule styne on the ur - show business musical , gypsy , and sondheim grabbed it . styne ' s brash melodies established the theme , and sondheim amplified it with the bright cascading rhymes and assonances that would become his signature :
the mica community is poised to be recognized again by the larger arts community as a collaborator with the baltimore office of promotion & the arts ( bopa ) and the baltimore museum of art ( bma ) , and possibly as an honoree . artscape , organized and administratively operated by bopa , is a perennial public attraction that garners national attendance and participation . it teems with artistic diversity , creating a changing canvas during the venue . it is fitting the annual janet & walter sondheim artscape prize pays homage to that type of creativity that abounds at the festival .
the winner of the $ 25 , 000 fellowship — established to
assist in furthering the career of a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the greater baltimore region
— will be announced during an awards ceremony and reception scheduled for july 11 at the bma . the other six finalists will each receive $ 2 , 500 honorariums .
with so much golden musical material , an organizing structure is needed , and lapine , who conceived and directed the 2010 broadway salute
sondheim on sondheim ,
finds one in six classic songs :
something ' s coming
(
west side story
) ,
opening doors
(
merrily we roll along
) ,
send in the clowns
(
a little night music
) ,
i ' m still here
(
follies
) ,
being alive
(
company
) and
sunday
(
sunday in the park with george
) .
the executive producers share what they believe makes sondheim ' s work so distinctive , and what they hope viewers take away from the documentary .
janet sondheim danced with the pioneering denishawn dancers , a legendary dance troupe founded by ruth st . denis and ted shawn . later , she turned to teaching where she spent 15 years at the children’s guild working with severely emotionally disturbed children . after retirement , she was a volunteer tutor at highlandtown elementary school . she married walter in 1934 , and they were together until her death in 1992 .
the 2017 janet & walter sondheim artscape prize is made possible through the generous support of the abell foundation , alex brown & sons charitable foundation , charlesmead foundation , ellen sondheim dankert , france - merrick foundation , hecht - levi foundation , legg mason , m & t charitable foundation , amy & chuck newhall , henry & ruth blaustein rosenberg foundation , m . sigmund & barbara shapiro philanthropic fund , john sondheim and the whiting - turner contracting company .
the 2017 sondheim finalists are mequitta ahuja , mary anne arntzen , cindy cheng , sara dittrich , benjamin kelley , kyle tata , and amy yee .
thus began a strange , sorry - grateful relationship that would play out over a conflicted adolescence and young manhood . on the one hand , stephen found himself severely discomfited by his mother ' s possessive and celebrity - collecting life - style . references to foxy appeared in many a sondheim song over the years , none more acrimonious than
the ladies who lunch ,
describing wealthy women of a certain age :
the finalists , announced wednesday by the baltimore office of promotion and the arts , are mequitta ahuja , zoë charlton , benjamin kelley , magnolia laurie , jim leach , ryan syrell and the duo of malcolm lomax and daniel wickerham , known as wickerham & lomax .
janet & walter sondheim the artscape prize is named in honor of janet and walter sondheim , who were instrumental in creating the baltimore city that exists today . walter sondheim , jr . was one of baltimore’s most important civic leaders for over 50 years . his accomplishments included oversight of the desegregation of the baltimore city public schools in 1954 , and championing the development of charles center and the inner harbor . he was active in civic and educational activities in the city and state , and served as senior advisor to the greater baltimore committee until his death in february 2007 . janet sondheim danced with the pioneering denishawn dancers , a legendary dance troupe founded by ruth st . denis and ted shawn . later , she turned to teaching and she spent 15 years at the children’s guild . after retirement , she was a volunteer tutor at highlandtown elementary school . she married walter in 1934 , and they were together until her death in 1992 .
a little night music marked the return of the mainstream sondheim . laurents ' s book was a slyly commercial adaptation of smiles of a summer night , ingmar bergman ' s peek at drawing - room and bedroom shenanigans in nineteenth - century sweden . as a tribute to the epoch and the subject matter , sondheim began thinking in terms of
fughettos , canons , contrapuntal duets , trios
and eventually composed every number in three - four time . the best of the waltzes ,
send in the clowns ,
is the only sondheim song to have reached the status of a platinum megahit , recorded by the likes of sarah vaughan , frank sinatra , and judy collins . over 30 years later , the bittersweet words still resound in the cabarets of europe and america :
free admission to the walters art museum is made possible by the combined generosity of individual members , friends and benefactors , foundations , corporations , and grants from the city of baltimore , maryland state arts council , citizens of baltimore county , and howard county government and howard county arts council .
it ' s not an on - again - off - again talent that explains sondheim ' s strange duality . instead , the evidence suggests that there are two sondheims , a mainstream artist and a contrarian , with a willfully perverse wish not to appeal to the general public . that second sondheim has been in the ascendant for many years .
when sondheim was on his game—particularly in act 1—he was both hilarious and charming . confronting little red riding hood , for example , the wolf licks his lips and sings :
kelley , a 2010 masters of fine art graduate of the rinehart school of sculpture at the maryland institute college of art ,
re - contextualizes found objects with altered and fabricated structures ,
driven by
the smell of oak , high heels on glass , and the elegance of precision .
the exhibition showcases the seven finalists in the running for the ultimate sondheim artscape prize of a $ 25 , 000 fellowship , which is awarded to one baltimore artist each year .
in mitigation , no one was harder on sondheim than sondheim . weighing some of his work in west side story , for example , he disparaged the internal rhymes for
i feel pretty
(
it ' s alarming how charming i feel
) as too mannered for the uneducated maria . and he was especially critical of
america
:
the film , which has a limited engagement at pasadena ' s laemmle playhouse 7 starting friday , doesn ' t fill in any major gaps in our knowledge of the relationship between sondheim ' s life and art . but it does stylishly retread this fascinating ground with a rising emotional thrum that renders absurd the notion that sondheim is all neurotic cleverness and no heart .
his sort of ambiguous tribute would follow sondheim for most of his career . working with prince again , but with various book writers , the composer / lyricist turned out five shows :
the baltimore office of promotion & the arts announces the finalists for the 13th annual janet & walter sondheim artscape prize . the finalists are erick antonio benitez , nakeya brown , sutton demlong , nate larson , eunice park and stephen towns . the competition awards a $ 25 , 000 fellowship to assist in furthering the career of a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the greater baltimore region . the prize also gives artists an opportunity to exhibit their work at the baltimore museum of art . the janet & walter sondheim artscape prize is held in conjunction with the 37th annual artscape , america’s largest free arts festival , taking place july 20 - 22 , 2018 . the sondheim artscape prize is produced by the baltimore office of promotion & the arts in partnership with the baltimore museum of art and the maryland institute college of art ( mica ) .
few artists are as articulate about their own creative process . but what ' s most striking in this retelling is the emotional debt sondheim acknowledges to oscar hammerstein ii , his surrogate father .
neil feather , a self - described ' sound mechanic , ' creates elaborate musical sculptures . he is the recipient of the 2014 sondheim prize . ( algerina perna / baltimore sun video )
there are other contemporary cracks at classics — a
send in the clowns
with audra mcdonald and will swenson and an outré version of
i ' m still here
with jarvis cocker of the rock band pulp that ' s directed by todd haynes . but it ' s the vintage performances that steal the film .
after the closing , sondheim unwisely decided to collaborate once more—this time with broadway giant richard rodgers , whose partner , oscar hammerstein ii , had recently died . sondheim was wary , but he remembered saying to himself ,
okay , i ' m doing my little obligation to oscar , i ' m going to make a lot of money , and it ' s an easy job .
as for the “six” in question , lapine somewhat arbitrary uses a half - dozen of the composer’s most famous songs — “something’s coming , ” “opening doors , ” “send in the clowns , ” “i’m still here , ” “being alive , ” “sunday” — as an entry point into his work , interspersed with footage of everything from early performances to rehearsals to , in the case of “send in the clowns , ” a litany of different performers providing their interpretations . ( frankly , that might make for a pretty hilarious special all its own . )
approximately six finalists are selected for the final review for the prize . their work is showcased in the special exhibition galleries at the walters art museum from saturday , june 17 through sunday , august 13 , 2017 . additionally , an exhibition of the semifinalists’ work is shown in the decker and meyerhoff galleries of mica on friday , july 21 through sunday , august 6 , 2017 . an opening reception for the semifinalist exhibition takes place thursday , july 20 , 2017 from 6pm to 9pm at mica , located at 1301 w . mount royal avenue .
the 2018 janet & walter sondheim artscape prize is made possible through the generous support of the abell foundation , baltimore community foundation , brightside foundation , brown advisory charitable foundation , caplan family foundation , charlesmead foundation , ellen sondheim dankert , france - merrick foundation , greater baltimore committee , hecht - levi foundation , m & t bank , legg mason , amy & chuck newhall , rollins - luetkemeyer foundation , henry & ruth blaustein rosenberg foundation , rosemore , inc . , rouse company foundation , m . sigmund & barbara shapiro philanthropic fund , john sondheim and william g . baker , jr . memorial fund .
that ' s not bogus self - deprecation . sondheim ' s latest musical , assassins , opened this spring to admiring reviews—and slammed shut after two months . a string of other sondheim shows have had early closures and unprofitable runs , among them anyone can whistle ( 1964 ) , follies ( 1971 ) , pacific overtures ( 1976 ) , merrily we roll along ( 1981 ) , and passion ( 1994 ) .
again the profits failed to arrive ; the show only earned back 59 percent of its investment . but by now , there was no shortage of producers willing to get involved with anything that the composer chose to write . sondheim had become synonymous with glamour ; prestige belonged to anything with his name on it . revivals began to open in regional theaters across the u . s . and britain , and if the royalties from these productions were small , they eventually mounted up to over $ 1 million a year for their creator , and more for those who had expressed financial faith in his efforts .
force : upsetting rape culture describes itself as a “creative activist effort to upset the culture of rape and promote a culture of consent . ” the organization was founded in 2010 by hannah brancato and rebecca nagle , community organizers and artists living in baltimore . the group deploys its messages against sexual violence through public art projects and events , as well as through the internet and media campaigns .
the top finalist will receive a $ 25 , 000 fellowship that will go to towards his or her professional development and is accompanied by the added benefit of visibility . the award recipient will be announced during an award ceremony and reception on saturday , july 11 at the museum . the remaining finalists will receive $ 2 , 500 honorable mention awards from the m & t charitable foundation .
nonetheless , on the strength of the sparkling score , bernadette peters ' s star turn as a witch and joanna gleason ' s as the baker ' s wife , and the popular ( and correct ) belief that into the woods was the only kind of
family show
sondheim would ever write , the production thrived at the box office . it ran for 764 performances , received ten tony nominations , and in a season overwhelmed by andrew lloyd webber ' s spectacular the phantom of the opera , won in the best score category . lapine won another award for best book , and gleason took honors for best actress .
kruszewski presents his footage as a video altarpiece , surrounded by reclaimed pews . the stories of the individuals involved in lead are further detailed in videos presented on digital tablets within the church - like installation . the filmmaker has observed that “lead offers a safe place for the diverse lgbt community to congregate , share , and find comfort amidst a larger church environment that does not fully accept them . ”
went its own singular and intellectually demanding way . it centered on bobby , a 35 - year - old male coquette still wondering about commitment , and several married couples of his acquaintance . the show featured some brilliant patter songs , some melodies that suggested ravel at his most inventive , and a couple of ballads about wedded life written by an outsider looking in—among them
sorry - grateful
:
on view is a small portion of force’s the monument quilt , a growing compilation of the stories of survivors of sexual violence presented on 8 - foot by 8 - foot squares of red fabric . in 2017 , force seeks to bring 6 , 000 of these quilt squares ( produced in workshops across the country ) to the national mall in washington , d . c . , where they will spell out the equally cautionary and consoling phrase “not alone . ” accompanying the quilt squares at the bma is video footage documenting earlier presentations of the quilt . force will also conduct a public awareness program as part of its sondheim exhibition contribution .
the museum exhibition of sondheim finalists will be hosted at the walters from june 17 – august 13 , 2017 with free admission for all visitors . besides the saturday , july 15 , award ceremony and reception , the museum is planning to host a series of artist talks with the finalists that will be open to the public . additionally , bmoreart and area 405 will curate an artscape gallery network exhibition to recognize the past 70 sondheim finalists with a reception on june 30th .
he only child of affluent dress manufacturer herbert sondheim , stephen grew up in manhattan until the age of ten . then , in 1940 , his parents divorced and his world went into reverse . he had to transfer from a comfortable new york school to a military academy . home also changed , from a city apartment to a large country house in bucks county , pennsylvania , where the boy lived with his mother , janet fox sondheim , known as
foxy .
this film from acclaimed theater director lonny price charts the journey of the original cast of stephen sondheim ' s
merrily we roll along
in the 30 - plus years since the musical debuted on broadway at the alvin theatre in 1981 .
stephen sondheim ' s musical
company
opened on broadway in the spring of 1970 , and tradition dictates that the cast recording is done on the first sunday after opening night . d . a . . . . see full summary »
gypsy starred ethel merman as the adrenal mother of stripper gypsy rose lee and her sister , june havoc . she was precisely the kind of woman sondheim knew in his bones . he caught her psyche in the classic
some people
:
wrong on all counts . hammerstein would probably have disdained to adapt laurents ' s arch drama , the time of the cuckoo , about a loveless spinster in rome . the show , never compelling to audiences , didn ' t have a hit in it and barely broke even . and working with rodgers was a horror . the composer drank heavily and at one time bawled out his young collaborator in front of the whole company . sondheim furiously exited , but was talked into making peace with his collaborator . sondheim said little at the time , though later he claimed that the show
deserved to fail .
rodgers would describe sondheim as someone whom he watched
grow from an attractive little boy to a monster .
. preceding it was a minor heart attack that did little to slow sondheim down . he quickly went to work on what seemed a standard broadway adaptation of the moss hart–george s . kaufman play . in this tragicomedy , lives and careers take place backward , starting with the corruption of success and winding up at an innocent high school graduation . the 1981 musical lasted just 16 performances , triggering a breakup with prince , who had produced and / or directed five consecutive sondheim works .
and when the woman that you wanted goes , you can say to yourself ,
well , i give what i give !
but the woman who won ' t wait for you knows that however you live there ' s a part of you always standing by , mapping out the sky , finishing the hat . starting on a hat . look , i made a hat— where there never was a hat !
“a fake liza minnelli tells them how to rap . a pretend carol channing begs for tickets to ‘hamilton . ’ there’s fake patti lupone and bernadette peters . make - believe stephen sondheim gives lin - manuel advice on how to write a show .
nly a handful of major broadway composers have written lyrics to accompany their own melodies : irving berlin , noel coward , jerry herman , cole porter , and stephen sondheim . of that extraordinary group , sondheim enjoys the highest critical status . he has earned clutches of tonys , a grammy , an oscar , the kennedy center and british olivier awards , and a pulitzer prize . doctoral students study his compositions ; he is a favorite of newspaper theater sections here and abroad ; a quarterly magazine ,
but
liaisons
is only one aspect of sondheim ' s work . he can also write simple gags with the rhythm of a metronome , as in the tyrant ' s braggadocio for a funny thing happened on the way to the forum :
and then there was the abbot who worshipped at my feet , who dressed me in a wimple and in veils . he made a proposition that i found rather sweet , and handed me a hammer and some nails in time we lay contented and he began again by fingering the beads around our waists . i whispered to him then ,
we ' ll have to say amen ,
for i had developed more catholic tastes .
filmmaker and photographer theo anthony has explored poignant themes and , at times , political subjects in locations that range from his baltimore home to africa . the video peace in the absence of war ( baltimore , md ) considers responses by citizens , law enforcement , and national media to the death of freddie gray and the subsequent baltimore uprising of april 2015 . anthony addresses this topic further in a series of photographic portraits of helmeted police officers .
the lyricist was just 27 when west side story opened to acclaim in the fall of 1957 . critics hailed sondheim as a broadway wunderkind . in the journal - american , john mcclain spoke for most of his colleagues :
young mr . sondheim has gone all the way with the mood in his lyrics . his ballads are the lament of the sincere , and he can come up with the most hilarious travesty of our times— ' gee , officer krupke ' —a plaint which should settle the problem of juvenile delinquency forever .
ever since stephen sondheim reached the four - score mark three years ago , the spotlight has shifted from his work to the legend himself . there have been birthday galas , musical tributes , interviews galore and books in which the master reveals the secrets of his songwriting sorcery .
, prints nothing but examinations of , and interviews with , the master ; and every year or so there is either a new sondheim show or a revival of one of his past works . and still the writer ruefully observes ,
i ' ve never been popular .
( furth ) . no one could accuse sondheim of a lack of originality—or of a yen for consistency . his work acquired a new polish , and his rhymes dug deep into character and history—as in the aging soubrette ' s song
i ' m still here ,
from
hen meryle secrest ' s sondheim biography appeared , it came as no surprise to learn that the composer was 61 before he let anyone move in with him . ( he lived with the composer peter jones for several years , but they broke up . ) after all , sondheim characterized himself as
the boy in the bubble ,
and he has remained that enclosed child for 70 - plus years . more than once , he has stated that he
never grew up ,
and that self - appraisal seems to contain more candor than caricature .
have theatergoers stayed away because sondheim ' s melodies can be as elusive as anything leonard bernstein ever wrote ? yet he can also compose tunes that a stone could hum :
send in the clowns ,
for example , a melody heard in elevators and restaurants around the world .
lapine draws on a treasure trove of sondheim interviews so deftly woven together ( credit miky wolf’s editing ) that the composer of such shows as “company , ” “sweeney todd” and “sunday in the park with george” is occasionally found beginning a story in one broadway venue and finishing it in another .
sondheim licked his wounds and pressed on . the recent assassins sought to send up the american
can - do
spirit . staged like a carnival , it put such presidential killers as john wilkes booth and lee harvey oswald up against wannabes like lynette
squeaky
fromme and sarah jane moore , the two women who tried to slay gerald ford . the nineteenth - century assassins exchanged thoughts with their twentieth - century counterparts , with everyone egging everyone else on between songs . the numbers represented sondheim at his most perverse : vinegary music and a series of cynical internal rhymes :
the baltimore office of promotion & the arts is excited to announce the 12th annual janet & walter sondheim artscape prize . applications are now being accepted for the prestigious competition which awards a $ 25 , 000 fellowship to a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the baltimore region .
the song , letting the audience know that they were about to see a knockdown farce set to music , turned fortunes around . forum opened at the alvin theater in may 1968 and ran for 964 performances—a longer broadway run than west side story , than gypsy , than any subsequent sondheim show .
reviewers and feature writers tended to be respectful rather than ecstatic , but their enthusiasm picked up considerably when sunday won the pulitzer prize—only the sixth musical to win the award . the pulitzer committee may well have had in mind frank rich ' s shrewd comment in the times :
this protagonist is possibly a double for mr . sondheim at his most self - doubting . . . . in keeping with his setting , mr . sondheim has written a lovely , wildly inventive score that sometimes remakes the modern french composers whose revolution in music paralleled the post - impressionists ' in art .
gypsy was another smash , annihilating any fears of a sophomore jinx and propelling sondheim to his primary goal : writing words and music for a major musical comedy . a funny thing happened on the way to the forum was the writer ' s true proving ground . for even with the explosively comic zero mostel , the roman farce bombed out of town ; no one in the audience seemed to know what the show was about . over a weekend in washington , d . c . , sondheim crafted a new opener , the chorale
comedy tonight .
it provided a billboard for all that was to follow :
this morning , tuesday june 21st , the baltimore museum of art , in partnership with the baltimore office of promotion & the arts , closed the museum for a press preview of the janet & walter sondheim artscape prize finalists exhibition , before it opens to the public on wednesday , june 22 – sunday july 31st .
sondheim ' s rendition
seemed so autobiographical ,
walton observed .
it made me think of noel coward on his seventieth birthday , singing , ' all i ' ve had is a talent to amuse . '
arthur laurents agreed :
i always thought that song would be steve ' s epitaph .
over the last ten years , almost all of sondheim ' s musicals have enjoyed revivals , either on broadway or the west end ( even a 40 - minute sketch , the frogs , wound up as a lively two - hour off - broadway farce . ) yet the composer refused to satisfy himself with sights in his rearview mirror . for the 1994 musical passion , an adaptation of an obscure italian film , he again tried something completely new . weary of operatic , showstopping moments that brought the action to a halt , he crafted his songs to begin and end in dialogue , with no opportunities for applause . to his dismay , it turned out that audiences wanted the show to stop after big arias by the lead , donna murphy . denied the opportunity , they grew restive . word of mouth was extremely negative , and the show closed before the season was out .
the artscape prize is named in honor of janet and walter sondheim who have been instrumental in creating the baltimore city that exists today . walter sondheim , jr . had been one of baltimore’s most important civic leaders for over 50 years . his accomplishments included oversight of the desegregation of the baltimore city public schools in 1954 when he was president of the board of school commissioners of baltimore city . later , he was deeply involved in the development of charles center and the inner harbor . he continued to be active in civic and educational activities in the city and state and served as the senior advisor to the greater baltimore committee until his death in february 2007 .
still hard at work at a craft that he says requires only more courage with age , sondheim hasn ' t always received the appreciation he deserves . those who radically advance their art forms rarely do . so it ' s gratifying to see him recognized as one of the immortals while he ' s still around to enjoy it .
eric kruszewski , a photographer and filmmaker based in washington , d . c . , has undertaken an in - depth exploration of the pioneering lead ministry initiated by saint matthew catholic church in baltimore . lead ( lgbt educating and affirming diversity ) supports the lesbian , gay , bisexual , and transgender members of its parish and the broader community . in addition to documenting the work of lead’s director , father joseph muth jr . , kruszewski conducted interviews with a variety of members of the saint matthew community to reveal the varied backgrounds that have led to their participation in lead .
shooting down canards is one of sondheim ' s great hobbies , and a great number of clips are devoted to him dismantling false assumptions about his work . of course his music doesn ' t need to be defended against charges that it lacks a heart or isn ' t sufficiently hummable . all it needs is to be listened to .
tantalizing archival footage of ethel merman in
gypsy
and bernadette peters in
sunday in the park with george
reminds us of just how many superstar careers have fatefully intersected with sondheim ' s . he refers to himself as a broadway baby and his theatrical legacy is inseparable from all those performers whose legends were sealed in his shows .
over the next few years , hammerstein encouraged and instructed as sondheim worked on various experiments , from a musical adaptation of the old george s . kaufman - marc connelly comedy beggar on horseback to an adaptation of a serious play , maxwell anderson ' s high tor . none reached the public , but all were stepping - stones to broadway .
in 1973 , a group of singers offered a one - night tribute to the composer , featuring songs going back to saturday night . that event , coupled with the release of the original - cast album of follies , prompted new york times critic john s . wilson to assess sondheim ' s achievement .
he is , in effect , a summation and an elevation of all the lyric writing that has gone before him . to have this made clear in an evening ' s program of 40 songs covering 20 years is impressive . but to find this point being made with equal clarity in a single score is an indication of the creative level at which sondheim has arrived .
artscape america’s largest free arts festival , attracting more than 350 , 000 attendees , offers concerts on multiple outdoor stages , art exhibitions , an artists’ market , a full schedule of dance , theater and opera , jazz , classical , folk and experimental music , children’s activities , exhibitors , and an extensive variety of local food and beverage vendors on mount royal avenue and north charles street . artscape runs from july 21 through july 23 . the festival’s total economic impact on baltimore city is $ 25 . 97 million , according to a 2012 study by the baltimore office of promotion & the arts .
the baltimore office of promotion & the arts announces the semifinalists for the 11 th annual janet & walter sondheim artscape prize . the competition awards a $ 25 , 000 fellowship to assist in furthering the career of a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the greater baltimore region . for 2016 , 39 individual artists have been selected as semifinalists .
a sprightly new filmed version of
opening doors
with darren criss , america ferrera and jeremy jordan entrusts to the next generation this singing portrait of young artists in their salad days . sondheim refers to this as his most explicitly autobiographical number , explaining that his usual songwriting practice is to inhabit the situation of his characters the way an actor inhabits a role .
rrived” was the operative word . sondheim had now achieved the status of cult figure , and from here on , whatever he wrote enjoyed a respectful , if not down - right awed , reception from a growing group of enthusiasts that included reviewers , cabaret singers , and non - showbiz
civilians
who made bestsellers of the original - cast recordings of his productions .
yet though sondheim has won greater academic honors than rodgers , berlin , hart , the gershwins , and other front - rank showmen , he has paid a price for his critical renown . save for a handful of numbers , it is unlikely that 50 years from now popular entertainers will sing his songs and that the general public—those uncelebrated people who finally determine which broadway and tin pan alley figures enter the pantheon—will cherish them . such eminence was well within sondheim ' s reach , but he didn ' t take that road . he had better things to do . for better or worse , he still does . at 74 , the boy in the bubble can ' t be bothered with popularity . he ' s too busy making a hat .
the baltimore office of promotions & the arts ( bopa ) has announced seven finalists for the 2014 janet & walter sondheim artscape prize , including two mica connections . sixteen members of the mica community are among the semi - finalists . the prize awards a $ 25 , 000 fellowship to assist the career of a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living in the greater baltimore region .
as a young man caught in the crossfire of his parents ' nasty divorce , sondheim found sanctuary in the hammerstein household . looking back as an older man , he speculates that he might not be alive were it not for hammerstein ' s benevolent interest in him . no one taught him more about the life - changing impact of teaching , which he calls
the sacred profession .
this number , deriding the fakery of the street - smart wise guys and exposing the emerging social - work and psychiatric no - fault orthodoxy , was remarkably prescient . bernstein , who later personified radical chic in his support of the black panthers , would never return to the attitude of
krupke .
and sondheim edged away from it , too , until he seemed to embrace what he once ridiculed .
et he owed a great deal to one member of his mother ' s bunch—oscar hammerstein ii . her bucks county neighbor provided the most important creative influence in stephen ' s career . in early adolescence , sondheim befriended oscar ' s son , jimmy , and began hanging around the hammerstein house . when the broadway pro learned that his young visitor wanted to write musicals , he offered avuncular encouragement and advice .
elements of the show clung to the memories of everyone who worked on it . sondheim , then in the middle of intensive psychoanalysis , was coming to grips not only with his long - suppressed homosexuality but also with his hatred of emotional intimacy . tony walton , who designed the sets and costumes , recalled the composer singing the title number , the lament of a woman yearning to express her deepest emotions :
, his broadway debut as a wordsmith ( bernstein wrote the music ) , sondheim displayed a gift for seizing an idea and giving it wings . take the number
gee , officer krupke .
before anyone had coined the term
political correctness ,
at a time when the idea of
root causes
only applied to diseased agriculture , a group of young malefactors mocked the juvenile courts that they blatantly abused :
recalled sondheim ,
as quickly as my hand could cross the paper i wrote her a three - page reply . everything i ' d felt , that i ' d never expressed up to this point . it wasn ' t hard . i just said , ' i don ' t want to see you any more . i ' ll continue to support you , and just call my business manager ' ; that was all .
that label wasn ' t to last much longer . sondheim ' s work drew bernstein ' s attention . the great musician wanted the young man to co - write west side story ' s lyrics . working with a big name enticed sondheim , but he held back . he considered himself primarily a musician , and he hated to share credit with anyone—even lenny . what ' s more , he thought that the material was beyond his experience .
i can ' t do this show ,
he told his agent .
i ' ve never been that poor , and i ' ve never even known a puerto rican !
advised that this was a story of star - crossed lovers , not a sociological treatise , he sighed like a prisoner and wrote like an angel . the rewards were a little fame , a lot of money , and his first movie sale .
showstoppers are traced back to the singers who inspired them .
i ' m still here
borrowed from the roller - coaster life of joan crawford to give yvonne de carlo a number worthy of her celebrity . the short line phrases of
send in the clowns
was designed to accommodate glynis johns ' breathy vocal style , though a delightful youtube montage of this unexpected sondheim hit demonstrates just how flexible this lyrically baffling number can be .
yet it was the new york times ' s influential sunday critic , walter kerr , who kept his cool and made the most discerning comments . after praising the cast , the direction , and sondheim ' s
sophisticated and pertinacious
work , he concluded ,
now ask me if i liked the show . i didn ' t like it . i admired it . . . . personally , i ' m sorry - grateful .
an exhibition of the finalists’ work will be featured at the baltimore museum of art located at 10 art museum drive . an award ceremony and reception to announce the winner takes place saturday , july 14 , 2018 at 7pm at the baltimore museum of art . the prize is held in conjunction with the 37th annual artscape , america’s largest free arts festival taking place friday , july 20 through sunday , july 22 , 2018 along mount royal avenue and north charles street . the winner is selected from the exhibition after review of the installed art and an interview with each finalist by the jurors . jurors for 2018 are lauren cornell , margot norton and kameelah janan rasheed . their work is showcased at the baltimore museum of art from wednesday , june 20 through sunday , august 5 , 2018 .
in 1957 , bernstein was one of america ' s foremost conductors and composers ; director jerome robbins had established himself as one of the nation ' s most imaginative choreographers ; and the book writer , arthur laurents , was a much produced playwright and scenarist . but who was this kid , this total unknown ? sondheim ' s astonishing arrival seemed a melodramatic deus ex machina . in fact , like most overnight discoveries , he had served a long and rigorous apprenticeship .


fat city is a 1972 american neo-noir boxing drama film directed by john huston .

the picture stars stacy keach , jeff bridges , and susan tyrrell .

one of huston 's later films , it is based on the boxing novel fat city ( 1969 ) by leonard gardner , who also wrote the screenplay .

tyrrell received an best supporting actress oscar nomination as the alcoholic , world weary oma .

fat city ( film )

leonard gardner - author of the novel fat city , which was later made into a film directed by john huston .
olivier assayas ( france ) - 2008 toronto film festival , 2008 new york film festival , 2009 theatrical release * winner , 2009 national society of film critics best foreign film ; winner , 2009 , los angeles film critics assoc . best foreign film ; winner , 2009 new york film critics circle best foreign film
unforgiving monochrome … john huston , right , directs the 1972 film adaptation of fat city , featuring stacy keach and jeff bridges . photograph : ronald grant
derek malcolm picks his 100 greatest movies . this week , number 80 : john huston ' s fat city
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing fat city near you .
fat in the city is hell - bent on challenging size hatred b . s through fashion and activism .
several of the sin city comics were turned into an anthology film by director robert rodriguez , simply called sin city , which was released in 2005 .
christian mungiu ( romania ) - 2007 toronto film festival , 2007 new york film festival , 2008 theatrical release * winner , 2007 cannes palme d ' or ; winner , 2008 fipresci prize for film of the year ; winner , 2008 los angeles film critics assoc . best foreign film , best supporting actor ; winner , 2008 new york film critics circle best foreign film ; winner , 2008 national society of film critics best foreign film ; nominated , 2008 golden globe for best foreign film ; nominated , 2008 independent spirit award for best foreign film
john huston decided to direct fat city after he read the novel on which the film is based by writer leonard gardner . producer ray stark gave john huston the novel .
urltoken urltoken urltoken fat city - trailer - a john huston film a stolen paradise is a controversial new book about the making of john huston ' s film the night of the iguana and its impact on puerto vallarta , mexico .
gail is naked when manute kidnaps her in the big fat kill , but is merely in her underwear in the film .
‘fat’ in the city is a twist on hbo’s award - winning comedy - drama series and film franchise , sex and the city . popularly referred to as sex ‘in’ the city , satc presented a limiting portrayal of beauty . our response ? fatinthecity – a lifestyle & fashion blog redefining beauty in the skin we are in . welcome to our city !
alexandria bombach ( usa ) - 2018 sundance film festival , 2018 sxsw film festival * winner , 2018 sundance film festival directing award for u . s . documentary
door stopper :
big damn sin city
, a compilation of every sin city yarn published to - date .
few films have more straightforward or insightful titles than ' fat city ' . huston ' s stockton , california is a dying place .
olivier assayas ( france ) - 2010 cannes film festival , 2010 new york film festival , 2010 theatrical release * winner , 2011 national society of film critics best foreign film ; winner , 2011 new york film critics circle best foreign film ; winner , 2011 los angeles film critics assoc . best foreign film & co - winner best director ; winner , 2011 golden globe for best film made for television ; nominated , 2011 primetime emmy awards , outstanding directing and outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie
dwight appears naked at the start of the original comic the big fat kill , while he ' s practically fully clothed in the film .
nia vardalos and john corbett in
my big fat greek wedding 2 .
fat city is most notable for terrific performances all around , especially those of stacy keach , susan tyrell , and a baby - faced jeff bridges .
the sin city film comprised the hard goodbye , the big fat kill and that yellow bastard and was bookended by an adaptation of
the customer is always right
, a short story featured in the booze , broads and bullets collection .
in the the second film , liebowitz goes out of his way to warn johnny to leave the city after he beats roark in a poker game .
and finally , stockton . from they city ' s bleak portrayal in the film , its hopelessness mirroring that of the film ' s characters , it did not seem possible that it could sink any lower . but appearances deceived . it could . on thursday , the city of stockton filed for bankruptcy .
the last dj : john hartigan , the last honest cop in sin city .
how do the timelines of sin city and sin city : a dame to kill for line up ? we try to make sense of the nonlinear . . .
chuck d of public enemy and prophets of rage talks to city . . .
first published in 1969 , and set a decade earlier , fat city is leonard gardner’s only novel . he has written short stories good enough for the paris review – which means very good indeed – as well as scripts for nypd blue . the film adaptation of fat city was directed by john huston , well and faithfully , in 1972 . you have the feeling that the anodyne and cliche - packed sequence of rocky films was launched partly to get the sour taste of huston’s film out of hollywood’s mouth .
so what has that have to do with fat city ? sarris was not a big fan of john huston , relegating him—a few years before the appearance of fat city —to the
less than meets the eye
category in his classification of american directors ( well below the
pantheon
and below even
expressive esoterica
and the
far side of paradise
) . in the 1940s , huston had made the maltese falcon and treasure of the sierra madre , two classics . then a prolonged slump had set in , and it is hard to argue with leonard maltin who wrote that fat city was huston ' s best picture in two decades . where did a film like fat city come from ? it ' s hard on this track record to credit its excellences to huston ' s directorial style .
signs of disrepair : in at least one instance ◊ , a now entering sign is shown outside the city
basin city
with the b and a degraded .
18 . ‘paradise city’ could have ended up being a whole lot less wholesome , too : rather than “take me down to the paradise city / where the grass is green and the girls are pretty” , slash preferred “take me down to the paradise city / where the girls are fat and they’ve got big titties . ” thankfully , he was outvoted .
robert mac is a second generation film maker and writer . his work has been screened at festivals all over the world , including the sundance film festival .
three - times named an all - america city : 1999 , 2004 , 2015 .
werner herzog ( germany / france ) - 2011 theatrical release * winner , new york film critics circle best documentary ; winner , 2011 los angeles film critics assoc . best documentary ; winner , 2011 national society of film critics best documentary
the german episode title is ' das fett muss weg ' , meaning ' the fat must go ' .
in an october 30 , 1984 taping of the family feud , richard dawson comments that fat city is his favorite movie , but he is disappointed that it hadn ' t been re - released .
walk down the right back alley in sin city and you can find anything .
sony pictures studios - 10202 w . washington blvd . , culver city , california , usa
the one consistent theme in all of john huston ' s work is perpetual loss - - how it affects , and defines , people . there may not be a more cogent example of this than in his
comeback
film , fat city , an observant and understated study of desperation and marginalization . it ' s a shame that stacy keach ' s film career never materialized ( though he ' s had a good run in tv ) because he is sensational here . if nothing else , this underrated film is worth seeking out for conrad hall ' s cinematography alone . he has done nothing but brilliant work in his career , but fat city may be his finest hour .
at its heart , fat city is not about boxing . it is a universal story of grim realities and toxic delusions . for the people of this novel , boxing is a chance , a glimmer of hope .
hell and back ( wallace and his love interest beat the villains and leave sin city ) .
genius loci : the general idea is that the city is the main character of the series . it ' s not uncommon for characters to talk about the city as if it were alive .
kris kristofferson ' s help me make it through the night perfectly illustrates the despair of most of fat city ' s characters . i liked a lot the first and the last scene of the film that say the same thing : stacy keach is getting nowhere no matter how hard he tries . highly recommended .
sure does have a thing for prostitutes , and sin city is stretching this so far that there is a part of the city that is run by prostitutes . similarly , count how many times the
in 2008 , mr . cohen was executive producer of the film frozen river , which received two oscar nominations and was awarded the 2008 sundance film festival grand jury prize . he also directed and produced a short film , which was the recipient of a kodak movie award .
mad bomber : the psychopathic irish henchman in the big fat kill who only uses bombs and grenades to kill his enemies .
city on fire is hong kong cops and robbers at a high level with an ending of familiarity .
kevin hart celebrates 39th birthday in las vegas . . . nearly a year after sin city cheating scandal
6 : booze , broads and bullets - a collection of short stories from various sources , including back - up strips from the early issues of the big fat kill and stories from the various sin city one - shot specials .
the big fat kill takes place after hell and back , but dwight is seen driving the 1953 cadillac eldorado he took from vito at the end of family values , a story that takes place well after both the big fat kill and hell and back .
this hungarian film is a careful , compassionate and beautifully acted character drama with a social conscience .
earn your happy ending : wallace and esther . they are the only sin city characters to get one .
knights of the city was produced in 1984 under the title cry of the city , but wasn’t released until 1986 . presumably , this had more than a little to do with the arrest and trial of the executive producer of the film , michael franzese , a man tom brokaw called “the prince of the mafia” . during the two year gap between production and release , the fat boys would become infinitely fatter and more famous and appear in another movie in a much larger role . but knights of the city is still worth watching for their small appearance .
important note : strictly speaking , film noir is not a genre , but rather the mood , style , point - of - view , or tone of a film . it is also helpful to realize that ' film noir ' usually refers to a distinct historical period of film history - the decade of film - making after world war ii , similar to the german expressionism or the french new wave periods . however , it was labeled as such only after the classic period - early noir film - makers didn ' t even use the film designation ( as they would the labels
western
or
musical
) , and were not conscious that their films would be labeled noirs .
sin city is an irregular comic book series about the venal basin city ( known as
sin city
to the people who live there ) and the seedy inhabitants who lurk in its alleys and doorways . it is probably writer / artist frank miller ' s best known work ( other than the dark knight returns ) .
bob , a short , fat man , is played by michael madsen , and the even fatter senator roark played by powers boothe .
nancy does not dance topless in the film due to a no - nudity clause from jessica alba .
) arrives from phoenix ( texas in the film ) on a train driven by a steam engine .
this film is not currently playing on mubi but 30 other great films are . see what’s now showing
24 . ‘paradise city’ has a unique distinction on the album : it’s the only track that uses a synthesizer .
you can buy fat , sick and nearly dead from our official store . you can stream the movie on hulu , netflix and amazon .
a later - era powerhouse from john huston and i’m sorry i hadn ' t seen it sooner . it’s easy to describe this as a more downbeat version of rocky ( or rocky a more upbeat version of fat city ? ) but that feels cheap .
on wednesday , march 23 , dean teri schwartz , in association with the film ' s director and ucla tft parent zack snyder , hosted an advanced screening of snyder ' s latest film , batman v superman : dawn of justice , for faculty , students , staff and alumni at universal city walk ' s imax theater .
i wish buena vista had lavished a little more care on lam ' s film ; it deserves better .
print courtesy of the reserve film and video collection of the new york public library for the performing arts .
the sense of place is as pervasive as a character in “moss , ” a film by daniel peddle .
so you say to yourself , this fat city is pretty damn realistic , even if you know in your heart that
realistic
and hollywood should not be printed on the same page - otherwise paper ignites . still , you ' re marveling at it .
title drop : sin city is mentioned in every story for obvious reasons but even then , the secondary titles are always dropped as well ( i . e .
the big fat kill
that yellow bastard
,
blue eyes
, etc . )
it’s not unfair , i think , to describe boxers as a demographic little given to literary entanglement . in general , with exceptions , they prefer movies . although john huston considered fat city some of his finest work , most boxers would probably rather watch rocky for the fifth or 50 th time . they yearn for the tale of redemption and ultimate triumph with plenty of razzle - dazzle . the nitty - gritty is too familiar . but fat city dazzles too : the glint of steel in its perception , the molten glass of its execution .
bad cop / incompetent cop : a sizeable portion of the basin city police , but the rest are as completely honest .
: this is the best kind of ending you ' re gonna get in sin city . only on occasion will this be
well , we’re here to give you a comprehensive understanding about the cinematic anthology of ( ba ) sin city . . .
donuts aren’t just for fall and apple orchards anymore—savor the many flavors this summer at the first annual glass city donut festival .
however , this paterfamilias sin city story , which kicked off the 2005 film in earnest too , also will have to mark its ending . sure the film tells “the hard goodbye” in one uninterrupted chunk , but marv spent months by his own admission on death row after the death of cardinal roark ( rutger hauer ) . and that is enough time for…
with leonard gardner adapting his own book and john huston sitting in the director ' s chair , fat city adheres closer to real life than reel life , painting a portrait of a downtrodden existence not only among the have - nots but among the never - will - haves .
a sequel , sin city : a dame to kill for , was released in august 2014 , and at least one more sin city film is planned . originally , the first sequel was planned to include the titular story , along with a brand - new sequel to that yellow bastard and the three blue eyes short stories . the final film drops the blue eyes stories for a second original story and another booze , broads and bullets yarn ,
just another saturday night
.
manute and his men are machine gunned to death with an endless hail of bullets . the story ' s called the big fat kill for a reason .
though fat city was written long before cellphones or the internet , its human apparatus is state of the art . with this new edition , new generations of readers and writers will discover it , learn from it , and find both wincing pain and deep pleasure . gardner’s achievement lives on precisely because fat city is not depressing . the tale is dark , but it is charged with energy . it is seductive , engaging , and lit , despite the odds , by a vitality that is in itself a form of hope . we come away from it burnt clean .
according to stacy keach , sixto rodriguez knocked him out during their fight scene and that shot appears in the film .
the academy of motion picture arts and sciences ' filmwatch , which gives grants to film - related organizations , has awarded the archive funds for its academy series
what a difference : women and film in the 1970s and 1980s .
low budget caliber action and sound effects blows through the film from start to end . while some of it tends to be a little over the top , it doesn ' t feel out of place given the time frame of the film .
film and television producer jerry bruckheimer was honored with a month - long film festival in april that paid tribute to the outstanding contributions he has made throughout his career . the festival took place at ucla ' s billy wilder theater in westwood village , presented in association with paramount pictures and ucla film & television archive . top gun , which has been named to the library of congress ' national film registry , was the first film to be shown at the festival , on friday , april 1 . a q & a with jerry bruckheimer followed the screening ; deadline ' s peter bart moderated the discussion .
christianity is catholic : the catholic church seems to be a big power player in the city , and crucifixes are a motif throughout the series . the babe wore red also features a nun who is shown in a much more positive light than usual for sin city .
with over 100 , 000 trees , stockton was thrice named ' best tree city ' in the western united states by sunset magazine .
since the film is such a direct adaptation of the comicbooks , listing the tropes separately probably won ' t be necessary .
the yellow bastard is naked when torturing nancy near the end of his story . he was given shorts in the film .
anachronic order : the comics were published in anachronic order , and the segments of the film are shown anachronically as well .
the making and authorized distribution of this film supported over 13 , 000 jobs and involved hundreds of thousands of work hours .
sign up : stay on top of the latest breaking film and tv news ! sign up for our email newsletters here .
drunk driver : jack rafferty drives drunk in
the big fat kill
. he dies that night but it had nothing to do with his state , surprisingly .
james marsh ( uk ) - 2008 sundance film festival , 2008 theatrical release * winner , 2009 academy award for best documentary ; winner , 2009 independent spirit award for best documentary ; winner , 2009 national society of film critics best documentary ; winner , 2009 los angeles film critics assoc . best documentary ; winner , 2009 new york film critics circle best documentary ; winner , 2009 national board of review award for best documentary ; winner , 2008 ida award for best documentary ; winner , 2008 sundance film festival grand jury prize & audience award for world documentary ; nominated , 2009 dga award for outstanding directorial achievement in documentary
senator roark is still alive but he lost his son and has to live with the fact that the roark family lineage is now cut . considering this family has lorded over sin city for more than a century , that ' s a letdown for him and his one surviving brother . and the film a dame to kill for has nancy killing roark , effectively ending their reign over the city .
a sleeper hit in 2002 , the original
my big fat greek wedding
still holds the title of highest grossing romantic comedy of all time . that film earned writer and star nia vardalos an oscar nomination for best original screenplay , and it even spawned a short - lived television series . considering the success the film achieved , it ' s shocking that it took this long for a sequel to come along .
i try to catch at least a part of fat city whenever turner classic movies shows it ( which is pretty often—i am not one of those who complain about the er , somewhat repetitive nature of the tcm lineup ) . but when they aired it last week , it was a particularly timely showing .
fat city is no such book . it will not make you feel like taking up boxing ; nor , unless you are unusually morbid , will it make you want to watch a fight . “backed into a corner , he was attempting to clinch when a blinding blow crushed his nose , ” etc .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
“fat city” is old slang for prosperity and advantage—the good life . if you’re in fat city , you’re in luck . but the phrase is wry irony as the title of a novel that has stunned and mesmerized successive generations of readers since its publication in 1969 . this month new york review books brings out a handsome new paperback edition of leonard gardner’s sole novel , a slim , taut book that has earned its status as a classic by dint of its immaculate , evocative prose , a compassionate but dour view of the human condition , and the absolute credibility of its depiction of the sport of the busted beaks .
grad student merlin camozzi and his short film coeur d ' alene were profiled in the vanguard seattle in advance of the film ' s appearance in the seattle shorts film festival in mid - november / graduate student screenwriter jeff scott ' s ( b . a . ' 13 ) coming - of - age sports drama one shot was selected as a second rounder in the 2015 austin film festival screenplay competition . his sports drama best ball was selected as a top finalist in the 2015 emerging screenwriters screenplay competition /
wallace is extremely polite and soft spoken . he ' s also probably the deadliest person in sin city . . . which says something .
in case you forgot who wrote it : the sequel was released as frank miller ' s sin city : a dame to kill for .
more an epilogue unto itself than a second half , this conclusion to “the hard goodbye” showcases the end of frank miller’s sin city vision .
prior to its incorporation in 1850 , stockton had several names , including ' tuleburg ' , ' gas city ' and ' mudville ' .
infamous for its absurdly macho writing , sin city reads like an affectionate parody of film noir turned up to eleven : every hero is a mentally or physically scarred bruiser and every woman is a beautiful dame with a heaving bosom . black and gray morality is predominant .
rodriguez quit the director ' s guild to let frank miller take co - director status . even his friend quentin tarantino was given a co - director credit , since he came over on a day of shooting to film a scene . rodriguez shot the film panel - for - panel from the comics , using black and white footage and green screen backgrounds to get the perfect sin city feel .
chow yun - fat is a star . his performance over shadows much of everything else that this film has to offer . danny lee proves to be an integral part of the story when the conclusion comes around . carrie ng , roy cheung , and yueh sun complete a package of supporting characters .
chris hegedus & d . a . pennebaker ( us ) - 2016 sundance film festival , 2016 theatrical release , 2017 hbo broadcast
there is also davis , the torture expert in the big fat kill , who can inflict pain just by touching people . this character was changed to manute in the movie .
the hard goodbye is the name later given to the first sin city story . raymond chandler wrote a philip marlowe novel called the long goodbye .
at the time of my film forum viewing , fat city was out of print on video in the states , or at least so hard to find and so absent from prestige that it might as well have been . it was one of those modern cult classics that you actually had to make an effort to go out and catch when the chance came : a marlin of a movie , rare in the age of torrents . also at the time of said viewing : stockton remained , as it was on fat city ’s release , one of the poorest , least employed cities in america due to all the under the radar migrant work . a flight of fancy upon seeing the film even had me wanting to go out to stockton and interview its down - and - out for one of those high - paying think pieces about squalor . but hadn’t those folks been through enough without me pointing a microphone down their gullets ?
two men , barely 10 years apart in age , one with a lifetime of emptiness ahead of him , one with an empty lifetime already behind . this is what john huston has to work with in
fat city
and he treats it with a level , unsentimental honesty and makes it into one of his best films .
so this is a theme we find in huston ' s work , but rarely does he fit it to characters and a time and place so well as in
fat city .
maybe that ' s because huston knows the territory : he was a professional boxer himself for a while , and not a very good one .
comforting the widow : mort , a mostly honest sin city cop , tries to do this with ava lord and ends up tangled in her web .
in the first sin city tale , marv subverted this by actually hurling himself through the windshield of a cop car as opposed to just hanging on .
: basin city ' s state is never mentioned , though arizona is the most likely candidate given the desert location with infrequent but harsh winters . even
piers morgan : london ' s mayor should spend more time getting his city ' s murder rate below new york ' s and less . . .
“fat city” is also an old nickname for that historic fight town , stockton , california , gardner’s home ground and that of the novel’s central figure . a few years before , billy tully really was in fat city . he was living clean and winning fights . he had a house , a nice car , and a pretty wife . then a bad loss in the ring destroyed his confidence . he quit boxing . he drank too much , couldn’t hold a job , lost the car and the house . his wife left . now he earns just enough as a day laborer in the onion fields of the valley to cover a sleazy room and another night of drinking .
after krush groove was finished , director michael schultz apparently also recognized that the fat boys were the best part of the movie . so , he decided to capitalize on their talent and build an entire film around them . was this the best decision he could have made ? in terms of his career , probably not . but i’m personally very glad that he did . i grew up watching the three stooges . i loved the physical humor , the sound effects , and the adversarial / brotherly relationship . judging by the evidence , so did the fat boys . taking all of those elements and then adding in some of the humorous ( yet impressive ) musical sequences they had perfected in their previous films , the fat boys made their own three stooges film ( even down to comparing it to the stooges in the original trailer ) .
in the movie , the salesman from
the customer is always right
, which opens the film , reappears in the final scene .
weeks said that the producer ' s of black mass did not contact anyone within bulger ' s immediate circle to consult on the film .
weeks ' comments come after the film was released on friday and made $ 23 . 4 million across the us in its opening weekend .
narrative profanity filter : not usually , but in
the big fat kill
dwight says that gail
lets out with a string of curses that ' d kill the pope
.
: one of the most significant - if subtle - differences between the comics and film is that dialogue that was shouted in the comic is usually spoken quietly in the film . for example , senator roark never yells at hartigan , and jackie - boy never raises his voice despite his
titles of many film noirs often reflected the nature or tone of the style and content itself : dark passage ( 1947 ) , the naked city ( 1948 ) , fear in the night ( 1947 ) , out of the past ( 1947 ) , kiss me deadly ( 1955 ) , etc .
casual high drop :
the big fat kill
. dwight mccarthy jumps from the window of his girlfriend ' s apartment and falls several floors to the ground , landing on his feet .
fat city never feels air - conditioned . it is a slim , tough novel ( 183 pages ) published in 1969 by leonard gardner . i am lucky enough to know leonard and to feel the quality of fat city in terms of his experience and his wry , battered , going - deaf kindness and humor . so i am biased , or in his favor , but i can’t help that and plenty of other people swear by the accuracy and bleak eloquence of the novel ( dennis johnson and michael ondaatje for two ) , and treasure the movie . so if you’re serious about this tribute to susan tyrrell , you should get hold of the book and read it before you see the movie .
the film adaptation of marv and manute ' s fight actually shows marv ripping out his eye , while the book just showed marv beating him .
subscribe to the cmg newsletter and receive information about theatrical releases , home video , classic cinema , and news from the world of independent film .
david thomson is the author of the new biographical dictionary of film and the moment of psycho : how alfred hitchcock taught america to love murder .
best short film ( animated ) nominee sanjay ' s super team : erick oh ( m . f . a . ' 10 ) , animator
now , we travel back in time to 1985 . knights of the city had already been filmed , but was on hold as the mafia trial of its executive producer proceeded . during that intervening time , the fat boys got together with run - d . m . c . , kurtis blow , new edition , sheila e . , ll cool j , the beastie boys , and a handful of others to make a film based on the early years of def jam records and the life of russell simmons . if you’re thinking to yourself , “that sounds like the greatest thing ever put on film , ” then you are absolutely correct .
black and gray morality no one in sin city is good . some folks are better than others , but none are good . even the best of them like dwight , hartigan , and wallace are good is not nice . granted though , this isn ' t as clear in the first film adaptation .
nazi hunter : the janitor , in
rats
, hunts down a nazi war criminal . this may or may not have taken place in sin city .
↑ city springs elementary / middle and cardinal shehan school students at city springs elementary / middle , students in wyatt oroke & apos ; s humanities class helped raise thousands of dollars for hurricane harvey relief . the story got the attention of
the ellen show ,
which featured a segment on oroke and . . .
1 . the punishment begins tom breihan and ray cummings , two former baltimore city paper interns and big deal music writers who liked my amateur music blog , got me a meeting about possibly freelancing for city paper with bret mccabe , then the arts editor of the paper , back in 2007 . bret dropped a . . .
well known in film industry circles in europe and the u . s . for over 30 years , john kochman previously served in senior executive positions at mk2 and studiocanal in france , and as executive director of unifrance usa , headquarters for the promotion of french cinema in the united states . john and his extensive contacts in the international film sector are at the center of cohen media’s busy film rights acquisition and coproduction ventures outside the u . s .
doug sees a picture of carrie ' s mother in which she looks really fat . doug tells arthur he never knew she was fat and arthur tells him she wasn ' t always like that . but at one point , well , she just started expanding rapidly . now doug is afraid carrie will also get fat and he wants her to lose weight by going on a diet . deacon advises against this because it ' ll get him into serious trouble with carrie , but doug thinks it won ' t be as bad as that and decides to try and talk carrie into going on a diet .
when i tell people who apparently do not read city paper that i work for city paper and mostly cover art , i often hear in response something like : “that’s good—we need positive press about baltimore . it’s not just murder and drugs here . ” because i rarely have the energy or patience to go down that . . .
male gaze : the big fat kill has a deliberate closeup shot of becky ' s butt—in skintight leather pants , natch —that takes up a panel , when jackie boy is scoping her in his car .
visiting associate professor lainie kazan spoke with the los angeles times about her career and reprising her role as matriarch maria portokalos in my big fat greek wedding 2 , which opened on friday , march 25 .
7 : hell and back ( a sin city love story ) - wallace is an interesting guy : an artist , a war hero , a short order cook and a lightning - quick fighter . his life is pretty dull , though , until he saves a suicidal woman named esther and they begin a tentative relationship . in typical sin city style , however , esther is kidnapped and wallace must pull the city — and the lives of some of its most privileged men — apart to get her back .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
hartigan uses a smith & wesson model 29 in the beginning of the film . later on he uses a ruger blackhawk , also a . 44 magnum .
black mass is the second film to be shown in venice that looks at shocking criminality taking place within the close - knit roman catholic communities of boston .
grace lee ( m . f . a . ' 02 ) is one of six fellows selected for this year ' s sundance women ' s initiative . separately , her latest film , off the menu : asian america , aired nationally on pbs in december and early january . she has also made the short film suiting dennis about a terminally ill man who is planning his own green burial with the infinity burial suit . the film can be seen on vimeo .
yep , despite the eight - year gap and placing this portion of the story as the climax of the 2005 sin city film , it would appear that this narrative is the next immediate event to occur in the sin city mythos . this can be deduced for several reasons , but most notably because of the appearance of old bob , who shows up early in this second half of “that yellow bastard” and will appear again in the next adventure in such a way that ensures this came first .
the result gets marv to help her kill roark , but she seems to hate being a stripper by the end of the story and hates this city . hardly the bubbly personality who is still working the stage in “the hard goodbye , ” where she is noticeably younger than in her appearances in sin city : a dame to kill for .
this prologue to the original sin city only earns its nominal “part 1” status because it appears as the first of two bookends featuring hartnett’s salesman cashing the contract checks on fleeing dames . it very well could happen after he visits becky in that elevator during the sin city epilogue and might even be after marv takes a seat on old sparky . since it is just the salesman soothing and then silencing a terrified woman during a dark night in basin city , there is no indication where it takes place in the timeline .
even the settings are familiar , such as dancing zorba ' s , the bustling greek restaurant owned and run by toula ' s parents . although the story is set in chicago , the film was shot in toronto , continuing that city ' s enviable record of being able to stand in for just about every north american metropolis .
now it’s time to say hello to the two most prolific protagonists in the sin city oeuvre : dwight and marv . while marv , who served as the centerpiece for the first ever sin city graphic novel , as well as the first complete story of the 2005 film , appears in nearly every frank miller neo - noir ( including “that yellow bastard” ) , dwight mccarthy has been the lead character in more of them . and it begins here , chronologically speaking , with “a dame to kill for . ”
i would have laughed at anyone who would compare keach to brando . . . before watching this film that is . while keach might not be regarded as one…
jerk jock : the story just another saturday night has a group of jerk jocks from a fraternity . this being sin city , they don ' t stop at just being jerks , though . they like to light homeless people on fire . too bad for them they ran into marv ' s who a little higher up on the sin city food chain .
classic film noir developed during and after world war ii , taking advantage of the post - war ambience of anxiety , pessimism , and suspicion . it was a style of black and white american films that first evolved in the 1940s , became prominent in the post - war era , and lasted in a classic
golden age
period until about 1960 ( marked by the ' last ' film of the classic film noir era , orson welles ' touch of evil ( 1958 ) ) .
during the past two decades , mr . thompson has held executive sales positions with such leading distributors as miramax films , gramercy pictures , lot 47 films and four companies headed by bob berney – newmarket films , picturehouse , apparition and film district . he previously held senior film buying positions with several new york - based exhibition companies , including cinema 5 , walter reade , cineplex odeon and city cinemas . mr . thompson most recently was a distribution consultant with indomina releasing , overseeing the national release of leos carax’s acclaimed
susan tyrrell died earlier this month , and the reports say she was sixty - seven . maybe that was so , but if so in fat city , made in 1972 , and her great work , she would have been twenty - seven . i find that hard to credit , but every time i see fat city i am asking myself how a woman like this ever got into a movie that was produced by ray stark ! the exclamation mark comes from the fact that stark also produced funny girl and the way we were . he liked things nice and glamorous , and there’s nothing wrong with that , especially if you’re a bum or a barfly in the californian central valley where it’s hard enough to scrape together ticket money to get into a movie and enjoy the cool air . if the air conditioning is working .
long before zack snyder got the idea to do a near panel - for - panel recreation of a frank miller comic book , robert rodriguez beat him there by two years with sin city , and made a more mesmerizing and impressive film to boot . yet , in the following 10 years , we also got a sequel . . . that also was a bit of a prequel . in fact , it is hard to place whether sin city : a dame to kill for either began or ended the 2005 cult classic ' s story .
many sources have claimed that director boris ingster ' s and rko ' s stranger on the third floor ( 1940 ) was the first full - featured film noir . the expressionistic film starred peter lorre as the sinister ' stranger ' ( cast due to his creepy performance in m ( 1931 ) ) , in a story about the nightmarish after - effects of circumstantial testimony during a murder trial . others claim orson welles ' masterpiece citizen kane ( 1941 ) was also an early and influential pre - film noir .
definitely a great film and the most underrated in john huston ' s filmography . so glad that someone brought it to my attention and insisted that i see it asap .
dead person conversation : in the big , fat kill , dwight hallucinates jackie boy is talking to him . he ' s fully aware jackie boy is dead and not really talking , but begrudgingly admits he makes some valid points .
after a light week we & apos ; re back to over one homicide per day . baltimore has averaged about eight per week lately ; the rate of killings is increasing despite city officials & apos ; efforts . another of the four men shot on the 3200 block of lyndale avenue during the sept . 26 mass shooting ( the city & apos ; s sixth . . .
the archive helped the berlin international film festival celebrate the 30th anniversary of the teddy award , its groundbreaking lgbt film prize , at the 2016 festival . on sunday , feb . 14 , archive director jan - christopher horak presented the world premiere of the archive ' s restoration of the censored german silent film directed by richard oswald , different from the others ( 1919 ) , and was the featured guest at a post - screening q & a . the berlinale also premiered the archive ' s new restoration of another landmark lgbt film , director cheryl dunye ' s the watermelon woman ( 1996 ) , and screened an earlier archive restoration of director bill sherwood ' s parting glances ( 1986 ) .
in
the hard goodbye
, marv says that he loves the rain , because it helps him think . in
the big fat kill
, dwight says he hates the rain , because it makes it hard to think .
non fatal explosions : in the short story
fat man and little boy
, shlubb triggers a bomb planted by their employers to punish them for past failures . they ' re frazzled by the explosion , but are okay otherwise .
my big fat greek wedding 2
is exactly the movie you expect ( and probably hope ) it to be : the type of pleasant , inoffensive film you can take your extended family to , and most everyone will leave happy . in fact , it ' s already your grandmother ' s favorite movie of the year ( it ' s a bit perplexing it didn ' t open closer to mother ' s day ) . it ' s a lively , crowd - pleasing comedy that offers perfect counterprogramming for those with little interest in watching dc ' s clashing superhero titans demolish an entire city .
not to be confused with simcity , which is potentially a whole lot nicer . or gta vice city , which is definitely not all that nicer . or las vegas , for that matter .
in the film of a dame to kill for , the way hartigan ' s ghost talks to nancy is very reminiscent of bruce willis ' s role in the sixth sense .
hartigan ' s concluding speeches in the film ' s second and penultimate chapters are especially notable , as both close with hartigan getting shot and losing everything so nancy can live .
the primary moods of classic film noir were melancholy , alienation , bleakness , disillusionment , disenchantment , pessimism , ambiguity , moral corruption , evil , guilt , desperation and paranoia .
john huston made some outstanding films , as well as some that were pretty awful . among the best were the maltese falcon , the treasure of the sierra madre , the asphalt jungle , the african queen and the red badge of courage . but best of all , though by no means the most popular because of its downbeat tone , was fat city , the tale of a broken - down boxer , played by stacy keach .
i would argue that the biggest single contributing factor to the film’s success is the fat boys . while the love story and the success of the label are billed as the main plot of the movie ( look up the movie on any website and the description will only tell you about that ) , the fat boys plotline gets just as much focus , if not more . we meet them in a high school where they perform in a stairwell in between classes . we see them prepare for and compete in a talent show . and , most importantly , we watch as they take advantage of an “all you can eat for $ 3 . 99” sign .
captain charles m . weber chose to honor commodore robert f . stockton by naming the city in honor of stockton , who was instrumental in the capture of california during the mexican - american war .
the film tells the story of two boxers and their problems . one of them is on the decline of his career while the other one just begins his ascent in this sport .