Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile,” Ira Levin’s “Deathtrap” and Robert Altman’s “Gosford Park” are among the classic murder mysteries mentioned as inspiration for Rian Johnson’s deliciously clever thriller “Knives Out,” which has earned three Golden Globe nominations and several critics’ awards.
But alas, dear reader, the game is afoot.
As soon as I saw the puzzle-perfect interior of mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer)’s mansion, I thought of the 1972 classic mystery thriller “Sleuth,” starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and adapted by Anthony Schaffer from his Tony Award-winning 1970 play.
The film version of “Sleuth” earned four Oscar nominations: Best Actor for both Olivier and Caine, director for Mankiewicz (it would be the multi-Oscar-winner’s final film) and John Addison’s playful score. Though most acting honors for lead actor went to Marlon Brando for “The Godfather,...
But alas, dear reader, the game is afoot.
As soon as I saw the puzzle-perfect interior of mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer)’s mansion, I thought of the 1972 classic mystery thriller “Sleuth,” starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and adapted by Anthony Schaffer from his Tony Award-winning 1970 play.
The film version of “Sleuth” earned four Oscar nominations: Best Actor for both Olivier and Caine, director for Mankiewicz (it would be the multi-Oscar-winner’s final film) and John Addison’s playful score. Though most acting honors for lead actor went to Marlon Brando for “The Godfather,...
- 12/16/2019
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Don Johnson, and Toni Collette as a family of suspects under investigation by Daniel Craig’s Detective Benoit Blanc, who is convinced that patriarch and wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) didn’t commit suicide.
The setting is the grand Thrombey Estate, a character in itself. Its meticulous detail is a manifestation of Harlan’s crime-writing mind and at the center of it all is a chair made of knives that point directly at the head of whoever sits in it.
Production designer David Crank jokingly laughs off suggestion that he may have looked to another cast iron chair for inspiration. “I never even looked at ‘Game of Thrones,'” he said.
In Johnson’s script, the existence of the chair, which Blanc uses to interrogate his suspects, was written down, “but it didn’t explain what it was.
The setting is the grand Thrombey Estate, a character in itself. Its meticulous detail is a manifestation of Harlan’s crime-writing mind and at the center of it all is a chair made of knives that point directly at the head of whoever sits in it.
Production designer David Crank jokingly laughs off suggestion that he may have looked to another cast iron chair for inspiration. “I never even looked at ‘Game of Thrones,'” he said.
In Johnson’s script, the existence of the chair, which Blanc uses to interrogate his suspects, was written down, “but it didn’t explain what it was.
- 11/30/2019
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Writer-director Rian Johnson assembles the makings of a great whodunnit for “Knives Out” and winds up making a good one. It’s a perfectly entertaining film, but its attributes and apparent ambitions make the results just a bit disappointing.
Johnson has always been a filmmaker whose love of genre somewhat exceeds his results, and so in the same way that “The Brothers Bloom” is about the idea of screwball comedy more than it’s a great example of one, “Knives Out” celebrates the twisty, all-star murder mystery without ever outshining films like “Sleuth” and “The Last of Sheila” that clearly inspired it.
That’s not to say “Knives Out” isn’t entertaining; there’s a lot to love here, from the twists and feints of Johnson’s screenplay to the all-star cast’s relish of their devious dialogue to the massive mansion to the insouciance with which Chris Evans’ rancid...
Johnson has always been a filmmaker whose love of genre somewhat exceeds his results, and so in the same way that “The Brothers Bloom” is about the idea of screwball comedy more than it’s a great example of one, “Knives Out” celebrates the twisty, all-star murder mystery without ever outshining films like “Sleuth” and “The Last of Sheila” that clearly inspired it.
That’s not to say “Knives Out” isn’t entertaining; there’s a lot to love here, from the twists and feints of Johnson’s screenplay to the all-star cast’s relish of their devious dialogue to the massive mansion to the insouciance with which Chris Evans’ rancid...
- 11/26/2019
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
By Dylan Stableford
A military video showing the 2007 slaying of over a dozen people in Iraq -- including two Reuters staffers – was released this week.
Reuters had long sought the release of the video, but were unsuccessful until the Web site Wikileaks managed to obtain the footage.
Here’s an email from Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger about the tape:
The video of our colleagues, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh, being killed in Iraq in 2007 was ...
A military video showing the 2007 slaying of over a dozen people in Iraq -- including two Reuters staffers – was released this week.
Reuters had long sought the release of the video, but were unsuccessful until the Web site Wikileaks managed to obtain the footage.
Here’s an email from Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger about the tape:
The video of our colleagues, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh, being killed in Iraq in 2007 was ...
- 4/6/2010
- by Dylan Stableford
- The Wrap
By Dylan Stableford
Reuters announced on Monday that it has hired Chrystia Freeland as its global editor-at-large, a newly-created position.
Freeland has served as the U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times.
She will be based in New York and report to David Schlesinger, Reuters’ editor-in-chief.
Freeland will help plan Reuters editorial strategy,” as well play a key role on Reuters Insider, a financial video service due to launch in the second quarter. Fr...
Reuters announced on Monday that it has hired Chrystia Freeland as its global editor-at-large, a newly-created position.
Freeland has served as the U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times.
She will be based in New York and report to David Schlesinger, Reuters’ editor-in-chief.
Freeland will help plan Reuters editorial strategy,” as well play a key role on Reuters Insider, a financial video service due to launch in the second quarter. Fr...
- 3/1/2010
- by Dylan Stableford
- The Wrap
Following close on the heels of CNN's Web site overhaul, Reuters has completely revamped its home page. The new effort is startlingly spartan in its minimalism--and it's absolutely designed to appeal to a broad consumer audience. Reuters is chasing extra cash.
Why did Reuters re-invent itself quite so dramatically? For one its old Web site was looking more and more jaded, with too much clutter, articles buried in small fonts amid adverts and embedded pictures. Secondly, the old site placed not enough emphasis on drawing attention to new stories. Compared to other online news portals, it was impenetrable and unattractive to the average Net surfer. And as advances in Net technology gradually erode Reuter's business model, it's looking to John Q. Public.
Hence the reinvention, "a year in the making" according to Reuter's editor in chief David Schlesinger. The make-over was crafted in consultation with the site's audience in "extensive...
Why did Reuters re-invent itself quite so dramatically? For one its old Web site was looking more and more jaded, with too much clutter, articles buried in small fonts amid adverts and embedded pictures. Secondly, the old site placed not enough emphasis on drawing attention to new stories. Compared to other online news portals, it was impenetrable and unattractive to the average Net surfer. And as advances in Net technology gradually erode Reuter's business model, it's looking to John Q. Public.
Hence the reinvention, "a year in the making" according to Reuter's editor in chief David Schlesinger. The make-over was crafted in consultation with the site's audience in "extensive...
- 12/4/2009
- by Kit Eaton
- Fast Company
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