Revolutionary Road director Sam Mendes discusses the challenges of directing his real-life wife, Kate Winslet, in her on-screen marriage to Leonardo DiCaprio.

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Being the only woman in an all-male fantasy movie is tough, but having George Lucas as a director makes things even more difficult. Carrie Fisher recounts the only time Lucas gave her any extensive direction, and why she "knew that [she] was screwed" because of it.

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For many, the holiday season means a family trip to the local multiplex, but what you get to see depends on who makes the moviegoing decisions in your family. If the women are in charge, you'll be at Last Chance Harvey or Twilight. If the men are, prepare for Valkyrie or The Spirit. Shootout hosts Peter Bart and Peter Guber are betting Last Chance Harvey and Twilight will win out.

That's because more and more, chick flicks are dominating at the box office. So much so that Guber says the core female audience is like "a fifth quadrant" worthy of respect. "When you look at Mamma Mia! and you look at Twilight, you have to be convinced. Those are initiated by women, they're driven by women and women virally market them." Mamma Mia became a $571 million juggernaut when it went global, while MTV News named "Twilighters" as its 2008 Woman of the Year because "their obsession with the books, movies and actors laid the groundwork for what is now a phenomenon rivaling Harry Potter and Star Wars."

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Watch your back, Benjamin Button! Shootout hosts Peter Bart and Peter Guber are giving Oscar season an early analysis, and Bart suspects that the wave of love audiences are prepared to feel for Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett's holiday blockbuster will recede once nominations are announced. In particular, Bart is anticipating much from Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire. The picture is set in India and features a cast of unknowns, which makes it the perfect secret weapon to aim at the Academy. "You have little tiny picture versus giant behemoth," reminds Bart, "And people tend to root for the underdog."

Continue reading "As Underdogs Circle, Can Bigger Movies Snag Top Honors?" »

When was the last time Hugh Jackman or Nicole Kidman shared the big screen with someone who had never heard of them? Jackman recalls his experience with an actor who fits the bill: 12-year-old Brandon Walters who shared set time with Jackman on the set of Australia.

Samuel L. Jackson sets Shootout host Peter Guber straight when Guber suggests an actor who takes every offer could be perceived as "insecure." Jackson says he loves to work, but it's not because he's a workaholic or insecure; he's an artist.

The world of film criticism has been utterly transformed since the advent of the Internet, but there was never any official "changing of the guard" -- which is a good thing as far as Shootout co-hosts Peter Bart and Peter Guber are concerned. Both men recall a simpler age when professional opinion traveled much farther than casual conjecture.

On this week's show, Bart and Guber commiserate with critic Richard Schickel, whose 30 books and over 3 million reviews have informed his new documentary, You Must Remember This, about the history of Warner Bros. Schickel doubts that the brick-and-mortar studios of old would stand a chance in today's fast-paced market of "super-campaigns, blogging and the Internet," all of which have made film criticism less relevant.

Continue reading "Do Film Critics Still Count?" »

"Hollywood and Washington always had a dance," says Shootout co-host Peter Guber. This week he and co-host Peter Bart discuss what that dance will be like with Barack Obama. Are the cozy Clinton years back? Or does "change" mean distance from Hollywood lobbyists... otherwise known as celebrities.

"Obama is really by nature going to pull back from Hollywood," says Bart. "His instincts are such that we may find him burying himself more in academia." Guber, who was a guest at the Clinton White House, sees things differently. The new president will court this constituency because, Guber argues, he'll need their help. "I think both Hollywood and Washington are rebooting and I think that the old programs are still inside, and each will decide how they can use that currency."

Continue reading "Will Hollywood Influence White House Policy?" »

Ron Howard's commitment to make a movie of Frost/Nixon (with the play's stars Frank Langella and Michael Sheen) wasn't as intuitive for producer Brian Grazer. He had to be convinced that a 30-year-old story could be appealing to contemporary audiences who weren't there when it happened.

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A new group of Hollywood hit-makers came along in the 1970s. Francis Ford Coppola was one and Steven Spielberg was another. Over the years both directors have continued to find success, though in very different ways. More interestingly, the movies they make today bear little resemblance to the ones that made them famous.

Shootout co-host Peter Bart felt the two directors going in different directions early on. "Francis Ford Coppola, I felt, wanted to be a studio chief and he tried three or four times," says Bart. "None of that worked out and now he's decided to make really very small pictures, really personal pictures." On the other hand, Bart says, "Steven really was a more personal filmmaker and now he's ended up running a company."

Continue reading "Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg - Yesterday and Today" »