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Bill Murray explains why he decided to cameo in Paul Feig’s ‘Ghostbusters’

Ghostbusters fans rejoiced earlier in August when it was announced that Bill Murray, after years of saying no to appearing in a new Ghostbusters movie, will indeed be making a cameo in Paul Feig’s new film. Feig’s all-female Ghostbusters film is under way, with a power house comedy cast including Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon. And …

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Bill Murray will make a cameo in Paul Feig’s ‘Ghostbusters’

A Ghostbusters reboot has been massive news for a while now, but this latest update is something of absolutely Biblical proportions. I’m talking human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria! Bill Murray will make a cameo in Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters movie. Murray was spotted on set in Boston and was later confirmed to …

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Thanks for Noticing, Golden Guy: Top Ten Oscar-Nominated Actor Acknowledgements

The 87th Academy Award nominations were released on January 15, 2015 representing the excellence in film for the previous year. Naturally there was the standard controversy regarding those films and performances that got unfairly overlooked. Unfortunately, the perceived snubs do happen from year to year so this goes along with the territory. Nevertheless, the lucky …

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The Nostalgia Files: ‘Scrooged’ (1988)

Scrooged Written by Mitch Glazer and Michael O’Donoghue Directed by Richard Donner USA, 1988 The story of Scrooge is one of literature’s most enduring and beloved tales. It is a universal tale of redemption and a staple of Christmas lore. The Bill Murray vehicle Scrooged was released in 1988 and it is one of the …

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Bill Murray teams up with Sofia Coppola for Christmas TV Special

In a recent exclusive report from Variety, Bill Murray announced that he will be starring in a Christmas Special where he will be performing classic Christmas carols. Joining him on the special is his Lost in Translation director Sofia Coppola. The special will not be a live event like most Christmas specials are, but instead more like film with undefined parameters. Sofia Coppola confirms the collaboration but is unable to divulge further details other than her excitement for having Murray’s vocal skills at her disposal.

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GFF 2014: ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ is perhaps Wes Anderson’s most ambitious film to date, and one of his best

More than perhaps any other director, the work of Ernst Lubitsch has been the most noticeable influence on Wes Anderson’s style. Though the great German-American writer-director, most prolific in the 1930s and 1940s, was never quite so aesthetically bold in the look of his sets, he too was preoccupied with meticulous staging for comedy within his chosen locales, be they the titular Shop Around the Corner or the Parisian hotel of Ninotchka; The Grand Budapest Hotel is set in a fictional European country, the Republic of Zubrowka, another Lubitsch trait from works like The Merry Widow and The Love Parade, though The Shop Around the Corner happens to be set in the city Anderson’s mountaintop lodging house takes its name from. He garnered the descriptor of ‘the Lubitsch touch’ thanks to the moving sincerity that always made itself evident within even his more broad comedic premises, and Anderson’s own best work is that in which a recognisable humanism always makes itself known and potent even within the stylised stiltedness through which most of his characters are written and performed.

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‘The Monuments Men’ wastes an excellent ensemble in a dull, uninspired WWII-set heist story

The Monuments Men Written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov Directed by George Clooney USA and Germany, 2014 The high-school history teachers of the world, or at least of the United States, can breathe easy, because they’ll have a new movie to add to their collections soon enough. Right before exam week, they can pop …

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‘Zombieland’ a hilarious, entertaining and crucially intelligent satire

In the midst of a horrific zombie apocalypse that has put paid to much of civilization, an action survivor anti-hero attempts to make an escape from a parking lot with a small crowd of diseased flesh devourers in hot pursuit. He reaches his car, but in his haste drops his keys to the ground, losing vital time.

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Director & Actor Teams: The Overlooked & Underrated (Part 2 of 2)

Following are some supplemental sections featuring notable director & actor teams that did not meet the criteria for the main body of the article.  Some will argue that a number of these should have been included in the primary section but keep in mind that film writing on any level, from the casual to the …

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‘Lost in Translation’ brings silence and window gazing to the screen

Lost in Translation Directed by Sofia Coppola Written by Sofia Coppola 2003, USA Ahead of this month’s screening of Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring at Cannes, I finally broke down and watched her sophomore directing effort, Lost in Translation. I loved seeing Bill Murray’s comeback via every Wes Anderson film but had always overlooked Coppola’s …

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For an 86-minute movie, ‘A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III’ is about 85 minutes too long

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III Written by Roman Coppola Directed by Roman Coppola USA, 2013 Opens Feb. 15 in Toronto and Montreal In the opening scene of A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, the titular Swan (played by Charlie Sheen) is given a psych evaluation, wherein the screen …

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‘Hyde Park on Hudson’ is ambitious, but a muddled and half-formed period drama

Hyde Park on Hudson Directed by Roger Michell Written by Richard Nelson United Kingdom, 2012 There’s been a debate brewing online lately over whether or not movies should stray beyond being roughly two hours. Those in favor of shorter films argue that there’s no discernible advantage in making movies so lengthy aside from filmmakers being …

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NYFF 2012: ‘Hyde Park on Hudson’ just doesn’t make a memorable outing

Hyde Park on Hudson Directed by Roger Michell Written by Richard Nelson Hyde Park on Hudson explores a significant but somewhat obscure moment in history when King George VI (Samuel West) pays a visit to Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Bill Murray), making him the first English monarch ever to grace the United States with his presence. …

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‘Moonrise Kingdom’ further establishes Wes Anderson as a director who knows how to engage audiences

Moonrise Kingdom Written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola Directed by Wes Anderson USA, 2012 Nearly 15 years since he last put a child front and center in one of his films, writer/director Wes Anderson does so again in his charming and sweet new film Moonrise Kingdom. Though none of the characters here are quite …

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‘Moonrise Kingdom’ warm, lovely, and as Andersonian as it gets

Moonrise Kingdom Directed by Wes Anderson Written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola 2012, USA Not every film is accessible to every person. Sometimes this is because of ingrained gender values or extremities in the presentation, other times it’s just down to directorial style. Wes Anderson encapsulates that as much as any director. His deadpan, …

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The Oscars 2004: How the Best Actor didn’t win

Throughout the first half of February, the Sound On Sight staff will take a look at the Academy Awards. (Warning: plot spoiler alert!) The 76th Academy Awards ceremony was a memorable year. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King swept the board with its 11 awards, Sofia Coppola was the first American woman to …

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