News

First Blood.In 1983, Ted Kotcheff attended the Brussels Film Festival as a guest of honor; he was also there to promote the first Rambo movie, First Blood (1982), which would be the biggest commercial success of his directorial career. First Blood had originally been set for production in the early 1970s but was put through the developmental wringer for the better part of a decade, with a revolving door of potential leading men, attached directors, and multiple revisions of its survival-thriller plotline. It was an odd project for Kotcheff, then best known for the barbed social satire of Fun with Dick and Jane (1977) and North Dallas Forty (1979), broad, vulgar comedies that dealt with class warfare by means other than armed combat. “Freud says that guns are an extension of your dick,” scoffs Nick Nolte’s battered wide receiver Phil Elliott in North Dallas Forty, mocking the hardened gridiron ideal he’s...

Canadian filmmaker Ted Kotcheff, known for his work on movies like Rambo: First Blood and Weekend at Bernie's, has died. He was 94 years old.

Per The Globe and Mail, Kotcheff's death was confirmed by his family, though additional details about his passing were not disclosed.

Kotcheff got his career in show business started with work with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This included work on shows like General Motors Theatre, Encounter, and First Performance. He then relocated to the UK where he took up similar work for ABC Weekend TV. He would also delve into directing a sthe helmer of the original 1964 West End production of the musical Maggie May.

Kotcheff's first feature film as director was for the 1962 British movie Tiara Tahiti. He'd follow this up with other films like Life at the Top, Two Gentlemen Sharing, and The Human Voice, as well as TV remakes of The Desperate Hours and Of Mice and Men.

The reaction was always the same. During my high school days, I must have seen “Wait Until Dark” five times during its theatrical release. Audrey Hepburn was appealing, of course, but the main attraction for me was Alan Arkin’s chilling portrayal of a psycho sadist who, in the course of reclaiming a misdirected heroin shipment, terrorizes a blind woman in her apartment. Late in the 1967 thriller, the distressed damsel temporarily gets the upper hand by stabbing her tormentor. But as she walks away, the psycho leaps back into her kitchen and grabs her ankle.

And every time he did this, every time I saw “Wait Until Dark,” people in the audience screamed. Really, really loudly. Like, louder than the folks around me in a theater seven years later during the first jump-scare in “Jaws.”

While reading the online obituaries and social media tributes as the sad news of Arkin’s death spread,...

A brand new mini-documentary entitled Everybody's Uncle Buck is now available for viewing. The documentary short does a wonderful job of exploring the career of the late, great actor, John Candy, who overcame personal tragedy to become one of the most beloved entertainers of all time.

The short documentary has been written, edited and compiled by Joe Ramoni, and takes a look at the life and times of John Candy, an actor who has gone on to become one of the most celebrated stars in Hollywood history. In a career spanning over two decades, John Candy found his way into several different movies that would go on to define a generation. From his days in the cult sketch comedy series Sctv, to his great collaborations with director John Hughes, this documentary tribute short explores why it is important that we never stop talking about John Candy, why he will never stop being missed,...

Annecy, France — A significant part of the future of the world new global streaming platforms will depend on their appeal to family audiences. So it’s no small matter that, in the space of eight hours at France’s Annecy Festival, Netflix will unveil for the first time ever to a discerning industry audience a string of clips from its first two original animated movie films: Sergio Pablos’ “Klaus,” out this Christmas, and Chris Pearn’s “The Willoughbys,” scheduled for a Spring 2020 bow.

Both are major steps for Netflix. A few days out from Annecy, history looked to rest lightly on the shoulders of Pearn as with a massive enthusiasm – he’s a self declared optimist, he says – and at an antic pace he fielded questions from Variety on his much anticipated title, which will help shape a public perception of Netflix’s animated movie ambitions.

Currently in production at Bron Animation in Vancouver,...

The York Theatre Company, dedicated to the development of new musicals and the preservation of musical gems from the past, as part of its acclaimed Developmental Reading Series, will present the staged reading of the new musical The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, with book and lyrics by David Spencer The Fabulist, music Alan Menken Little Shop of Horrors, and based on the novel by Mordecai Richler, for two performances only Monday, December 11 at 200 p.m. and 700 p.m. at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's 619 Lexington Avenue, entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue.

The world premiere production of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz The Musical, based on the novel by Mordecai Richler, with book and lyrics by David Spencer and an original music by eight-time Oscar winning composer Alan Menken, is in the process of rehearsals for the recent production, and BroadwayWorld was on the scene to get an exclusive first look. Check it out below...

The Segal Centre closes its blockbuster 2014-2015 Theatre Season with The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz The Musical, a world premiere musical adaptation of Mordecai Richler's novel and the feature film by the same name, through July 12, 2015. This new production boasts an original musical score by Alan Menken, the legendary Oscar and Tony winning composer of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, with book and lyrics by acclaimed lyricist-librettist David Spencer and direction by American theatre veteran Austin Pendleton. Presented with the generous support of Rbc and Muse Entertainment.The poignant Montreal coming of age story of ambitious scoundrel Duddy Kravitz, Canadian author Mordecai Richler's beloved anti-hero, will premiere as a brand new musical in the city where the story takes place.Let's see what the critcs had to say...

Thought to be lost for ever, short films co-written by Mordecai Richler to have first screening in almost 50 years

Two long-lost short films starring Peter Sellers will be shown in public for the first time in 2014, more than half a century after they were made.

In 1957, the iconic comic actor starred in the 30-minute shorts, Dearth of a Salesman and Insomnia Is Good for You, for the now-defunct Park Lane Films. They were discovered in 1996 in a skip outside the production company's headquarters by the building manager, Robert Farrow, who says he "put them in a cupboard and pretty much forgot about them".

He continued: "During a recent clear-out, I found them … and decided to see what the tins contained. It was then I realised they were two Sellers films, including the negatives, titles, show prints, outtakes and the master print. It was amazing."

The shorts were made early in Sellers's career,...

This revival of the 1974 adaptation of Mordecai Richler's novel proved a wonderful shop-window for the young Richard Dreyfuss

Just a year shy of its 40th anniversary, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz has been proudly spruced up and reissued; an act of reclamation, in some level, for a film that back in the early 70s, was one of the first Canadian features to make an international impact. Adapted from Mordecai Richler's 1959 novel set in a Jewish area of Montreal about a bustling young man furiously angling to get ahead – the missing link, if you will, between Budd Schulberg's What Makes Sammy Run and Philip Roth's Goodbye Columbus – Duddy Kravitz is an affectionate picaresque detailing the push-pull impact of the new world on émigrés from old Europe. Clan loyalty contends with ruthless self-advancement; expediency with tenderness; ambition with gullibility.

The film also provided a tremendous showcase for a mid-20s Richard Dreyfuss,...

This great producer left his mark on much more than just the James Bond franchise, writes John Patterson

When it comes time to celebrate 50 years of the James Bond franchise on Friday – Dr No was released on 5 October, 1962 – I hope we recall the half-forgotten man of the whole enterprise: the man who, after reading Goldfinger, discerned the potential movie fortune lying dormant in the novels of Ian Fleming; the man who made Sean Connery a star, and sealed Michael Caine's future by giving him his own spy franchise; the man whom one-time producing partner Tony Richardson called "a huckster, a sublime huckster". I hope we remember Harry Saltzman.

Saltzman was, by all accounts, the ultimate caricature of the movie producer: warm, loud, crass, a consummate gambler with the requisite rackety past, a keen eye for the main chance and a tight fist around the purse strings. For all that,...

Judging from the steady flow of acceptance speech tears, receiving a star on Canada's Walk of Fame is an emotional day for many Canadians. It was especially hard for Paul Hartmann, brother of the late Canadian actor-comedian Phil Hartman.

On Saturday afternoon, Paul was accepting the national honour on behalf of Phil (who dropped the extra "n" for his stage name). During a ceremony held at Toronto's Ed Mirvish Theatre, the beloved Ontario-born comedian and former "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons" star was presented with the Cineplex Legends Award, a posthumous honour that in previous years has gone to other notable Canadian luminaries such as Mordecai Richler and Raymond Burr.

Part of a four-day festival, the annual Walk of Fame inductions honour Canadian achievement in a variety of fields, in a star-studded celebration of the country's best and brightest. And this year, Hartman -- who died tragically in 1998 --...

Montreal - Singer Celine Dion is part of a consortium that has purchased a landmark Montreal restaurant, famous partly for its food and partly for its generations-old decor.

The Quebec diva and her husband, Rene Angelil, have teamed up with other investors to buy Schwartz's, a downtown deli.

The establishment is famous amongst Montrealers, and tourists, to a certain extent because of its smoked-meat sandwiches but also because of its appeal as a larger-than-average time capsule.

Founded in 1928, the St. Lawrence Boulevard shop regularly draws long lineups of tourists eager to grab a seat in a place that looks untouched by the passing decades.

In a news release Monday announcing the transaction, Angelil shared his memory of first going to Schwartz's as a young musician in 1961 with his friend and manager, Ben Kaye.

"I have so many great memories of being there with the guys, and with Celine and our families throughout the years.

Scott Speedman discusses his character Boogie in Barney's Version, working with Paul Giamatti, future projects, and more.

Scott Speedman was first introduced to American TV audiences with his role as Ben Covington on the hit TV series Felicity. He transitioned easily into film with roles in the highly underrated cop drama Dark Blue, the hit vampire adventure Underworld, and The Strangers. His latest movie is Barney's Version, which was released in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on June 28. I recently had the chance to speak with this talented actor over the phone. Here's what he had to say.

I was curious what are the first thoughts that go through your mind when you read for a character named Boogie?

Scott Speedman: (Laughs) Well, yeah, it sounds like a very fun part, right off the bat. I auditioned for that part specifically and I thought it would be a great part,...

Ryan Reynolds, author Mordecai Richler and musician Burton Cummings are to be inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto.

The trio is among the eight national heroes and heroines who will be honoured outside the Elgin Theatre in October.

Grey's Anatomy star Sandra Oh, comedian Russell Peters and tennis ace Daniel Nestor are also among the class of 2011.

Cummings' induction will be his second - he was also honoured as a member of rockers The Guess Who.

The producer of Barney's Version, Robert Lantos, chats to us about the film, about getting small budget movies made, and the mighty Due South...

This interview starts with me being absolutely gushing about Barney's Version, with as close to fawning adoration as you can get over a very quiet phone line to North America. Don't think this is me overcompensating, though, or fulfilling my end of a deal. I had to return a screener disc last week, leaving me empty and bereft of a repeat viewing.

No, I am true to my word. Barney's Version is every bit as good as my opening salvo suggests. Better, even. But I'm trying to temper expectations. Play it down a little bit, all of which means that talking to the film's producer, the prolific Robert Lantos, is a very nice thing, indeed.

Lantos has been making films for over thirty years, a pioneer...

Neds; Route Irish; Tangled; Barney's Version; Morning Glory; Get Low

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Peter Mullan's Neds (2010, Entertainment One, 18), a hard-hitting tale of "non-educated delinquents" street-fighting in 70s Glasgow, is just how stylishly cinematic it manages to be. Mullan may have earned his acting spurs working with Ken Loach on the gritty Cannes prize-winner My Name is Joe, but his directorial style here owes more to the colourful choreography of Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and Boyle's Trainspotting than to any grim social-realist tradition. He is greatly aided by the presence of screen newcomer Conor McCarron who excels as the super-bright schoolkid led astray by a classist slight which turns him against authority and education. It's that crushing sense of wasted youth married with a fearsomely kinetic portrayal of adolescent anarchy which powers the film's infernal combustion engine. Having wrestled with the Catholic church in The Magdalene Sisters,...

We were right about Barney’s Version coming out only as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has confirmed the details and set the release date for June 28.

Looks like Sony is trying out the Blu-ray/DVD combo-only release strategy with its smaller but acclaimed films. The studio is issuing Another Year only on Blu-ray/DVD on June 7. Lionsgate tried out the strategy with Buried back in January.

R-rated comedy drama Barney’s Version, which was nominated for an Oscar for best makeup, won a Golden Globe award for Paul Giamatti’s perfomance. Giamatti (Pretty Bird) plays a 65-year-old, politically incorrect, foulmouthed hockey fanatic and television producer who meets the love of his life at his wedding — and she’s not the bride. Throughout the film, Giamatti’s Barney reflects on his life and wives, including Minnie Driver (Conviction), Rosamund Pike (An Education) and Rachelle Lefevre (Twilight Saga: New Moon...

When he was asked to be guest director for a festival dedicated to films based on books, Jonathan Coe set out to disprove the adage that great literature makes terrible movies

In the course of their famous book-length interview, François Truffaut once asked Alfred Hitchcock about his approach to literary adaptation, and Hitch's response was as magisterial, worldly and mischievous as one would expect: "What I do is to read a story only once, and if I like the basic idea, I just forget all about the book and start to create cinema. Today I would be unable to tell you the story of Daphne du Maurier's The Birds. I read it only once, and very quickly at that."

Hitchcock's comment was the first thing that occurred to me when, towards the end of last year, I was approached with an interesting proposition. "From Page to Screen" is the...

Although no one would argue that Barney Panofsky is a good role model, he's undeniably entertaining.

Hard drinking, completely self absorbed and proudly politically incorrect, Barney (Paul Giamatti) is the protagonist of Barney's Version, a dark, wry and witty study of a life lived fully, if not quite ethically. If creativity and pithy sarcasm are Barney's strong suits, honesty and empathy for others are not; nor are fidelity, sobriety or high idealism. Frankly, he's just short of being a complete Sob.

Why, then, do we find ourselves almost rooting for him now and then? Because thanks to a great script and the even greater Giamatti, Barney transforms SOBism into a high art.

Based on the acclaimed Mordecai Richler novel of the same title, Barney's Version opens as 65-year-old television producer Barney reflects on his colorful and often sordid life. The story is told largely in flashbacks spanning four decades, chronicling...

Title: Barney’s Version Director: Richard J. Lewis Starring: Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Scott Speedman, Dustin Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Anna Hopkins, Bruce Greenwood, Mark Addy At 134 minutes, “Barney’s Version” is a tad long-winded. The flick is based off a novel written by the late Canadian Mordecai Richler. Filmed on-location in Montreal, New York and Rome; the autobiographical delivery via the lead’s mind, reflects back on the times he spent in each location. It’s not one of those, “Oh, when we were young” type pieces. Instead, the flick follows a character who constantly flip-flops in being the protagonist and the antagonist. And who better to handle a complex role than Paul Giamatti. Barney Panofsky (Paul [...]...

Throughout Hollywood’s golden age rarely did character actors graduate into leading roles. Frank McHugh and Mary Wickes were almost always the buddy or the maid in studio features. That really started to change in the 1960′s. For instance, Gene Hackman went from a supporting role in Bonnie And Clyde to the lead in The French Connection within a couple of years. Such is now the case of the gifted character actor, Paul Giamatti. After memorable supporting turns in films like Private Parts ( as Howard Stern’s arch-nemesis ) and Big Fat Liar ( the poor guy’s covered in blue paint! ) , Giamatti graduated to leading roles with American Splendor and Sideways. He’s been given another opportunity to headline a film as the title role in Richard J. Lewis film of Mordecai Richler’s Barney’S Version. This time he gets to show some of his romantic side along with his considerable comedic talents.

The nominees for the 31st Annual Genie Awards, Canada’s answer to the Oscars, were unveiled at simultaneous press conferences in Montreal and Toronto yeseterday. After being snubbed by the major Hollywood awards, only receiving 1 nomination and win for Paul Giamatti at the Golden Globes, Barney’s Version has been highly recognized by Canadian audiences. This is no surprise as its source material is a novel from beloved Canadian treasure Mordecai Richler and the film was partially shot in Montreal. Barney’s VersionIncendies leads the pack with 11 nominations including Best Motion Picture and populating most of the acting categories including one for Paul Giamatti for a Performace by an Actor in a Leading Role and Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Dustin Hoffman. Following closely is the other Canadian darling this year, Incendies , which garnered 10 nominations such as Adapted Screenplay (Denis Villeneuve) and Performance by an Actress...

Richard J. Lewis’ “Barney’s Version,” a festival favorite and big-screen version of the Mordecai Richler, garnered 11 nominations — including Best Motion Picture and Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Paul Giamatti) — to lead the way for the 31st Annual Genie Awards, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies,” a contender this year for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, was next with 10 nominations, including Best Motion Picture and Achievement in Direction.

The Genies will be handed out on Thursday, March 10, at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The following is a list of nominees in some of the major categories.

Best Motion Picture

“10 ½”

Pierre Gendron

“Les amours imaginaires” (“Heartbeats”)

Xavier Dolan, Carole Mondello, Daniel Morin

“Barney’s Version”

Robert Lantos

“Incendies”

Luc Déry, Kim McCraw

Splice

Steven Hoban

Achievement in Direction

Podz

“10 ½”

Xavier Dolan

“Les amours imaginaires” (“Heartbeats”)

Denis Villeneuve

“Incendies”

Vincenzo Natali...

Richard J. Lewis’ “Barney’s Version,” a festival favorite and big-screen version of the Mordecai Richler, garnered 11 nominations — including Best Motion Picture and Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Paul Giamatti) — to lead the way for the 31st Annual Genie Awards, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies,” a contender this year for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, was next with 10 nominations, including Best Motion Picture and Achievement in Direction.

The Genies will be handed out on Thursday, March 10, at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The following is a list of nominees in some of the major categories.

Best Motion Picture

“10 ½”

Pierre Gendron

“Les amours imaginaires” (“Heartbeats”)

Xavier Dolan, Carole Mondello, Daniel Morin

“Barney’s Version”

Robert Lantos

“Incendies”

Luc Déry, Kim McCraw

Splice

Steven Hoban

Achievement in Direction

Podz

“10 ½”

Xavier Dolan

“Les amours imaginaires” (“Heartbeats”)

Denis Villeneuve

“Incendies”

Vincenzo Natali...

Recent Golden Globe winner Paul Giamatti is in the running for yet another award for his role as Barney Panofsky in the big-screen adaptation of Mordecai Richler's Barney's Version. Only this time, the award up for grabs hits slightly closer to home. Our home. The thesp's best actor nod was one of 11 nominations picked up by the Canuck comedy at this morning's Genie announcements. His co-star Dustin Hoffman is up for best supporting actor.

The Genie Awards, honouring the best in Canadian film, saw Barney's Version lead the pack with its 11 nods but Denis Villeneuve's Incendies was close behind in the race with 10, including one for the director himself.

Mordecai Richler, the Canadian novelist who died 10 years ago at the age of 70, worked for many years in Britain writing screenplays and contributing to our literary life. He wrote a series of hilarious, partly autobiographical novels about Montreal's Jewish community, two of which – The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and Joshua Then and Now – he adapted for the cinema. His books are quite close to those of the Canadian-born Saul Bellow, though funnier and less self-regarding; the last one, the characteristically sprawling Barney's Version, has now been filmed with a wonderful central performance from Paul Giamatti.

He plays Barney Panofsky (Richler probably borrowed the surname from Erwin Panofsky, the art historian who pioneered the study of iconography), a Montreal entrepreneur who starts out in the 1970s supporting his bohemian friends in Rome as a dealer in olive oil before returning home to work as a Jewish fundraiser and the producer of...

Making a “life’s journey” film must be difficult. The difficulty shows through the messy Barney’s Version. But despite its rocky structure, this adaptation of Mordecai Richler’s acclaimed novel makes for a surprisingly compelling and entertaining dramedy, warts and all.

Most of the film’s success lies on the shoulders of its star, Paul Giamatti. Giamatti, as the titular character Barney Panofsky, bears a performance full of heart and commitment. Barney may not go down as a classic performance in Giamatti’s career, which there are many of, but it’s a tricky character that he slips right into. On paper, he could pass off as a total schmuck. And yet, even with his galore of flaws, it’s difficult not to connect and feel sympathy for this tragic figure.

Giamatti gives an absolute sense of where this guy has been and how he feels. Barney is someone...

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

(Rob’s Venice Review Re-Posted As Film Is Released In The U.K. Today)

If Natalie Portman has been the stand out actress of this festival for her performance in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, then Paul Giamatti is surly now her opposite number as the best actor. The film in question is Barney’s Version, directed by a veteran television director (CSI mostly) Richard J. Lewis. Giamatti plays the title role, as a man reflecting on his life – giving us his account of events (hence the title). Think of it as a gentler, softer, more accessible Synecdoche, New York – if only for the way you see the changes in Giamatti’s character over a 30 year period, with all the heartbreak that comes with love and losing it.

Based on a beloved novel by the late Canadian author Mordecai Richler, the story begins with a misanthropic and bitter man,...

Don't let Hollywood's sugary adaptation put you off reading Mordecai Richler's acid novel, Barney's Version

From behind his Coke-bottle glasses, the bookseller on the Charing Cross Road focused his magnified eyeballs as narrowly as he was able. "Mordecai Richler?" he said, releasing a frisson of fine dust. "Now there's a name from the past."

For those of us to whom the ghost of Canada's greatest satirical writer remains a biting presence, this was not the most reassuring of statements – especially issuing from a bookseller who himself gave the appearance of having been not so much born as unearthed in some archaeological dig. But such was Mordecai Richler's currency when I checked recently in London – where he lived for two decades and about which he often wrote, largely from the expat's point of view. To wit: none of the used bookshops on the Charing Cross Road carried any of Richler's 10 novels.

Paul Giamatti gives yet another unmissable performance in Barney’s Version, the story of an ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life. And then some...

Please note: one or two mild spoilers are in this review, in case you've not heard them already. If you haven't, you might want to steer clear until you've seen the film.

Paul Giamatti, actor par excellence, isn't really one to shy away from difficult to play characters, or roles that embody the less pleasant side of human nature, and so it is with Barney Panofsky, Jewish Canadian TV producer and seeming all-round asshole.

Essentially a re-evaluation of a life lived to the full after a tell-all memoir accuses him of murder, Barney's Version unravels the confusion of a lifetime of memories to reveal the truth about the death of his best friend, along with the well buried innate goodness of its central character.

Told through a series of flashbacks,...

“Deep Vote,” an Oscar winning screenwriter and a member of the Academy, will write this column — exclusively for ScottFeinberg.com — every week until the Academy Awards in order to help to peel back the curtain on the Oscar voting process. (His identity must be protected in order to spare him from repercussions for disclosing the aforementioned information.)

Thus far, he has shared his thoughts in column one about his general preferences; column two about “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions, 6/11, R, trailer) and “Solitary Man” (Anchor Bay Films, 5/21, R, trailer); column three about “Alice in Wonderland” (Disney, 3/5, PG, trailer), “Toy Story 3” (Disney, 6/18, G, trailer), and “Mother and Child” (Sony Pictures Classics, 5/7, R, trailer); column four about “Get Low” (Sony Pictures Classics, 7/30, PG-13, trailer), “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features, 7/9, R, trailer), and “The Social Network” (Columbia, 10/1, PG-13, trailer); column five about “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight, 11/5, R, trailer), “Biutiful” (Roadside Attractions,...

As his latest film, Barney’s Version, arrives on UK screens, we caught up with actor Paul Giamatti to discuss his starring role and working with Dustin Hoffman...

Please note: slight spoilers for the film lie ahead.

Adapted from Mordecai Richler's novel of the same name, Canadian drama Barney's Version has already received considerable citical praise, and has already earned Paul Giamatti a Golden Globe for his performance as alcoholic, 65-year-old Barney Panofsky.

As the film prepares to make its debut in UK cinemas, we sat down with the ridiculously talented Giamatti to talk make-up, Dustin Hoffman and the pleasures of playing a bastard...

It's not always easy to like Barney. Did you consciously try to keep him as likeable as you could?

I like him a lot. I mean recognising that he's a bastard in a lot of ways, but I definitely liked the character. Certainly, playing him was a lot of fun!

Earlier this month, Paul Giamatti won a Golden Globe (Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy) for his turn as an aging TV producer who looks back on his life, and his many regrets, in Barney's Version. On the next episode of his show, Leonard Maltin talks with Giamatti about the movie, which is based on a novel by one of Canada's most acclaimed writers, Mordecai Richler.

Tune in for the Maltin on Movies premiere Friday, January 28, at 11:30 Am Et / 8:30 Am Pt. Or catch one of its encore showings on ReelzChannel (Dish 299, DirecTV 238, and your cable system).

Next Showing:

Link | Posted 1/22/2011 by reelz

Maltin on Movies | Paul Giamatti | Leonard Maltin | Barney's Version...

Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman in "Barney's Version"

Canadian author Mordecai Richler’s telling of Barney Panofsky’s crazy life was released fourteen years ago. And much like the events of Barney, a man with three wives and an accusation of murder to his name, the journey for his film adaptation has been eventful to say the least. Conceived by producer Robert Lantos and eventually captained by Richard J. Lewis, Barney’s Version started off as Lantos’ dream, and became an award-winning drama/comedy starring three names known by Oscar, Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, and Minnie Driver. Last Sunday, Paul Giamatti won a Golden Globe for his performance in the film.

To help make sense of it all, I sat down with director Richard J. Lewis to discuss all of the elements that went into telling Barney’s Version after so many years.

Barney’s Version opens in Chicago on January 21st.

Rosamund Pike has been shaking off her taffeta-and-lace typecasting with a run of sharp comic roles lately. She talks to John Patterson about keeping things interesting

A discernible groundswell has slowly been building under Rosamund Pike's career since this actor, hitherto lumbered with a grave ice-princess image and a profile seemingly custom-sculpted for heritage telly, suddenly flexed her comedic muscles in An Education two years ago. She was the transcendentally vacant, dimwit-goddess girlfriend of one of its shadier characters. Seeing the ostensibly buttoned-down, corseted-up Pike fire off delirious comic fusillades one after another was like watching Monica Vitti suddenly burst into song, or Angela Rippon dancing with Morecambe and Wise: delightful, and totally unexpected. Who knew?

American critics are agreeing that Pike has become the best reason to see any movie she's in: she has crept up on them in a succession of tasty supporting roles since An Education.

Chicago – Working with high level actors such as Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman didn’t faze director Richard J. Lewis. He had pursued the film version of the Mordecai Richler’s novel “Barney’s Version” for several years, and it was his direction that recently got Giamatti (as Barney) the Golden Globe Award.

Lewis is a veteran of television, serving as a producer on the seminal police drama “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” from 2002 to 2009. Before that, he directed several shows, including “Due South,” Showtime’s “Beggars and Choosers” and most recently “The Defenders.” He scored a notable feature debut with “Whale Music” [1994] and even directed “K-9:Pi” [2002] starring Jim Belushi.

Director Richard J. Lewis on the set of ‘Barney’s Version’

Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classic

Richard J. Lewis sat down for a lively Q&A with HollywoodChicago.com when he was in Chicago this week promoting Barney’s Version.

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Minnie Driver, Dustin Hoffman, Rachelle Lefevre

Director: Richard J. Lewis

The Scoop: Based on the 1997 novel by Mordecai Richler, “Barney’s Version” tells a murder mystery in an unusual way: after being accused of killing his best friend, Barney (Giamatti) decides to write his own memoir explaining what happened. Suffering from a questionable memory thanks to the onset of Alzheimer’s, though, there’s no telling if Barney’s version is the truth — or just his truth. The film was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival.

Rated R, 132 min., limited | Watch the trailer...

Don't feel too bad if you didn't recognize the film Paul Giamatti supported at the Golden Globe Awards. Barney's Version, an adaptation of Mordecai Richler's epic murder-mystery novel, is huge in Canada and even more beloved overseas but has yet to catch on in the States. Give it time. As Sony Pictures Classics continues to roll the film out, audiences are bound to be charmed by Giamatti's irascible lout of a main character, a murder suspect who's more interested in wooing the love of his life (Rosamund Pike) than he is with proving his innocence. Here's Giamatti on the ups and downs of Barney's Version. Q: Barney's Version earned you your fourth Golden Globe nomination. What does the recognition mean to you at this point in your career? A: Oh, it's always hugely flattering and a little surprising. I can never believe that that kind of thing is happening to me.

By Howard Burns

“The Social Network,” David Fincher’s revealing chronicle of the creation of Internet phenomenon Facebook and the politics and avarice that marked its meteoric rise in the global culture, was the big winner in the motion-picture categories at the 68th Annual Golden Globes, scoring the nod as the best dramatic film of the year at Sunday’s ceremony in Beverly Hills.

Nominated for six Golden Globes, “The Social Network” ended the night by winning four and setting itself up as the film to beat at the Feb. 27 Academy Awards.

Two years after missing out on the best director Globe for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Fincher brought home the prize on Sunday and now becomes the prohibitive favorite to win the Oscar. Meanwhile, the first Globe of the night to be awarded to the film went to Aaron Sorkin for his screenplay adapted from Ben Mezrich’s book “The Accidental Billionaires.

It seems unthinkable that last year at this time, The Social Network was off-handedly referred to as that Facebook movie with Justin Timberlake. After drumming up serious (and deserved) critical praise, David Fincher's engrossing look at the man and the myth behind one of the most revolutionary social media tools of our time picked up kudos for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Original Score, losing out in the acting categories to Colin Firth for The King's Speech and Christian Bale in The Fighter to prevent a full-on Golden Globes sweep.

Paul Giamatti beat Johnny Depp, twice, for his portrayal of the title character in the Montreal-filmed Mordecai Richler adaptation Barney's Version and sweetly thanked the nation of Canada while a pregnant, and surprisingly funny, Natalie Portman walked away with the Best Actress honours for her turn as the driven, delusional prima ballerina in Black Swan.

Take...

For an actor who has been praised for playing a sad-sack wine snob (Sideways), a socially backward everyman (American Splendor), an irascible leader (HBO's John Adams), even a gloomy actor named "Paul Giamatti" (Cold Souls), Paul Giamatti would still have a diverse oeuvre if you only counted his onscreen cranks. Perhaps the most complicated of the bunch would be Giamatti's role in the new film Barney's Version, for which he has been nominated for a Golden Globe:

Based on Mordecai Richler's award winning novel—his last and, arguably, best—Barney's Version is the warm, wise and witty story of the politically incorrect life of Barney Panofsky (Giamatti), who meets the love of his life at his wedding—and she is not the bride. A candid confessional, told from Barney's point of view, the film spans three decades and two continents, taking us through the different acts of his unusual history.

Opening this weekend, in limited release, is a great movie called Barney's Version.  Based on Mordecai Richler's prize-winning comic novel, the movie is about four decades, two continents, and the three wives of Barney Panofsky (played to perfection by Paul Giamatti).  Without saying too much, the film follows Barney's long and colorful life and over the course of two hours, we really feel like we've spent a lifetime with him.  In a good way.  And while I singled out Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre, Dustin Hoffman and Scott Speedman are all fantastic. For more on the film, watch the trailer here. Anyway, the other day I sat down with Giamatti and Pike and while I didn't have much time, we talked about how they got involved in the project, the rehearsal process, did they read the book, and Pike gave me an update on The Godmother.  Hit...

Paul Giamatti is one of those actors whose presence in a movie generally validates it, and Barney’s Version is no exception. He manages to make a central character with few—if any—admirable traits not only bearable but downright compelling. And if this Barney strays from the way Mordecai Richler painted him in his first-person novel, he still justifies his existence in this entertaining film. No one who is familiar with Richler’s writings—or the wonderful 1974 film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, which starred Richard Dreyfuss—should be shocked to learn that the protagonist of this tall tale is a Canadian Jew. Barney…...

Paul Giamatti has the haunted look and paranoia of a lifelong supporting actor who knows he's never going to get a big lead role

When I looked up Paul Giamatti, I couldn't believe his age – is he really only 43? He seems so much older, darker and sadder, all entirely appropriate to this era. Then, as I pursued the sketch of his biography, I found this: in 2007, the Brooklyn Academy of Music asked him to programme a series of eight films. He chose Hitchcock's very nasty Frenzy; Dr Strangelove; Altman's Brewster McCloud; The Big Clock, a film noir with Charles Laughton; The Seventh Victim, one of Val Lewton's best low-budget horror films; George Romero's Dawn of the Dead; John Frankenheimer's scary Seconds; and Phil Kaufman's 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. In short, a paradise for paranoia.

So it's worth reminding ourselves that the best work...

The problem with adapting Mordecai Richler’s 1997 novel Barney’s Version to film is the same problem that hits so many book-to-film adaptations: The book gets into the head of a complicated man, while the film merely observes him. The book is a first-person confessional, an explication of the life and philosophy of the eponymous Barney Panofsky, a Jewish Canadian television producer with a checkered love life and a great deal to answer for. The film, lacking narration or much explanation of the character, is an outsider’s version rather than his own. It’s intriguing, but almost always ...

The following is a reprint of our review that first ran during the Vancouver International Film Festival. A quick glance at the career of Richard J. Lewis tells a lot about his approach to "Barney's Version," an adaptation of revered Canadian author Mordecai Richler's prize-winning last novel. He's something of a TV journeyman, having directed episodes for more than a dozen series, and he seemed to have found a good fit for his style in "CSI," helming some 49 episodes from 2000 through 2006. However, his latest project, 'Version', comes with a level of Oscar-bait, mainstream-appeal prestige. It's a crowd-pleaser,…...

It's a rare feat to capture the essence of someone's entire life in a single book or movie, which may be why Mordecai Richler's Barney's Version has become such a beloved novel since published in 1997. After Richler's passing in 2001, his good friend, producer Robert Lantos decided to take on the difficult task of adapting the popular novel to the screen with director Richard J. Lewis. Probably their smartest move was casting Paul Giamatti as the story's central character Barney Panofsky. Barney's a Canadian television producer who goes through much of his life trying to find the right woman. It's at his second wedding where he meets and becomes smitten with Rosamund Pike's Miriam, a beautiful and intelligent woman who puts off his advances even as he forsakes his new wife to...

Opening this weekend, in limited release, is a great movie called Barney's Version.  Based on Mordecai Richler's prize-winning comic novel, the movie is about four decades, two continents, and the three wives of Barney Panofsky (played to perfection by Paul Giamatti).  Without saying too much, the film follows Barney's long and colorful life and over the course of two hours, we really feel like we've spent a lifetime with him.  In a good way.  And while I singled out Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre, Dustin Hoffman and Scott Speedman are all fantastic. For more on the film, watch the trailer here. Anyway, the other day I sat down with Minnie Driver and we talked about how she got cast in the film, what it was like to make it, did she read the book, working with Giamatti, doing accents, her music career, her nex film Goats, and so much more.

Paul Giamatti Based on the award-winning novel by Canadian writer Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version is a movie for mature filmgoers - people who have lived through decades, who may have outlived marriages, and who can appreciate the ups and downs that characterize the most meaningful relationships in our lives. As such, the new film from Richard J. Lewis (Whale Music) is practically impossible to categorize. Part romantic comedy (but only the first half), part melancholic drama about aging, part epic love story... it's fully the layered, woven tapestry of one man's adult life. Though Paul Giamatti - as Barney Panofsky - is the lifeforce of this movie, he is surrounded by a rich and talented supporting cast, including his three wives: Barney's marriage to Rachelle Lefevre's Clara represents Barney's impetuous young adulthood in Europe (relocated to Rome from the novel's Paris); his pairing with Minnie Driver's 'Second Mrs.