The Official Blog of Laemmle Theatres.

blog.laemmle.com

The official blog of Laemmle Theatres

Home » Anniversary Classics » Page 4

WOMAN IN THE DUNES 60th anniversary screenings March 19.

by

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present this month’s installment in our Anniversary Classics Abroad Series: Hiroshi Teshigahara’s Oscar-nominated erotic drama, Woman in the Dunes . Actually, the film was nominated in two separate years. In 1964, when it won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, it was one of the five nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. In 1965, when the film was released in America, Teshigahara earned a nomination for Best Director. This was a milestone because he was the first Asian director ever to win that recognition from the Academy. The great Akira Kurosawa earned his only Best Director nomination a decade later, for his film Ran. Other Asian directors who have earned Oscar nominations and victories in recent years (including Ang Lee and Bong Joon Ho) owe something to Teshigahara for paving the way.

Woman in the Dunes is adapted from a novel by esteemed Japanese novelist Kobo Abe, who also contributed to the screenplay. Eiji Okada (the star of Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour and of Hollywood movies The Ugly American and The Yakuza) portrays an entomologist searching for a rare species of beetle in the sand dunes of a remote part of Japan. When he misses the bus to return home, he spends the night with a widow living in the dunes, portrayed by Kyoko Kishida. Eventually their relationship evolves into a more meaningful connection that transforms the life of the scientist.

The film was highly praised for the atmospheric cinematography by Hiroshi Segawa, which immerses the viewer in the spectacular setting. The film also captivated American audiences because of its frank sexuality, which was a prime attraction of international films during the 1950s and 60s, when Hollywood was still straitjacketed by the censorious Production Code. Writing in the Chicago Tribune, Michael Wilmington declared, “In stunningly composed images by Teshigahara and cinematographer Hiroshi Segawa, that eroticism becomes overwhelming.”

Other critics took note of the film’s eroticism as well as its cinematic achievements and sharp characterizations. As Roger Ebert wrote, “Woman in the Dunes retains its power because it is a perfect union of subject, style and idea.” The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther concurred that the film contains “a bewitching poetry and power.” Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called the film “a timeless contemplation of life’s essential mystery and a triumph of bold, innovative style.”

We’ll screen Woman in the Dunes at 7 pm on March 19 at our Claremont, Glendale, Santa Clarita, West L.A. and Encino theaters.

“More than almost any other film I can think of, Woman in the Dunes‘ uses visuals to create a tangible texture — of sand, of skin, of water seeping into sand and changing its nature.” ~ Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“The camera work by Hiroshi Segawa is often extraordinary in its ability to make a sheet of sand something mysterious and wonderful.” ~ William J. Nazzaro, Arizona Republic

“The camera’s power to turn fact into metaphor catches the intent of Kobo Abe’s book perfectly.” ~ Michael Kustow, Sight & Sound

“The couple’s grimly inescapable dilemma becomes hugely complex and terrifyingly resonant — a sexualised version of the Sisyphus myth, recounted with a distinct touch of Buñuelian absurdism.” ~ Jonathan Romney, Independent on Sunday

“Teshigahara’s direction and Segawa’s camera-work often render the mundane startling and new, a claim that only good films can make.” ~ Mark Chalon Smith, Los Angeles Times

“Woman in the Dunes remains a masterpiece, a timeless contemplation of life’s essential mystery and a triumph of bold, innovative style.” ~ Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
*

“Teshigahara’s creative background was in Japan’s avant-garde arts scene, and there’s a powerful expressiveness to the film’s black-and-white cinematography.” ~ Tom Dawson, BBC.com

APOCALYPSE NOW: THE FINAL CUT 45th Anniversary Screening Sunday, March 3.

by

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s epic Vietnam War movie, ‘Apocalypse Now,’ in the director’s approved version restored in 2019: ‘Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut.’ When it was originally released in 1979, it scored at the box office and earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. It won two Oscars, for the striking cinematography by Vittorio Storaro and for Best Sound.

The screening is at the Royal on Sunday, March 3, and will start promptly at 6:00 PM with an introduction by actress Colleen Camp, who played Miss May in the film. Afterward we’ll have a special Q&A with Ms. Camp and author Sam Wasson, who just published The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story. He will also be selling and signing copies of his book.

Loosely inspired by Joseph Conrad’s enthralling novel ‘Heart of Darkness,’ the ‘Apocalypse Now‘ screenplay was by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr (a journalist who wrote the acclaimed book about the war, ‘Dispatches’). The main character, Captain Willard (played by Martin Sheen), is ordered to travel through Vietnam and track down Colonel Kurtz (played by Marlon Brando), who has gone rogue and established his own savage regime in Cambodia. Willard’s orders are to assassinate Kurtz to save the military from disgrace.

The supporting cast includes Robert Duvall (who earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the surf-loving Colonel Kilgore), Laurence Fishburne, Frederic Forrest, Scott Glenn, Sam Bottoms, Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford, and Colleen Camp. Although the troubled production went way over budget on location in the Philippines, it won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1979 and earned strong reviews from many critics. Kathleen Carroll of the New York Daily News wrote, “Certainly no movie in history has ever presented stronger proof that war is living hell.” Amy Taubin of the Village Voice added, “’Apocalypse‘ has the expressive extravagance of a Wagner opera—and not merely because the swooping helicopter scene is set to the ‘Ride of the Valkyries.’” Roger Ebert considered it one of the greatest films ever made.

Author Sam Wasson did extensive research, with special access to Coppola’s private papers, to write his new book, ‘The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story.’ The New York Times praised it as “a marvel of unshowy reportage,” and Publishers Weekly declared, “Movie buffs won’t want to miss this.” Wasson has also written the acclaimed books, ‘The Big Goodbye’ (about the making of ‘Chinatown’), ‘Fifth Avenue 5 AM’ (about ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’) and ‘Fosse.’ He will be selling and signing his book at the screening.

Colleen Camp has an extensive list of credits over the last 50 years, including ‘Valley Girl,’ ‘Clue,’ ‘Wayne’s World,’ ‘Die Hard With a Vengeance,’ Peter Bogdanovich’s ‘They All Laughed,’ Alexander Payne’s ‘Election,’ David O. Russell’s ‘American Hustle’ and ‘Joy,’ and many TV series as well.

THE STING 50th Anniversary Screening December 27.

by

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a year-end holiday treat: a 50th anniversary screening of the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 1973, ‘The Sting,’ featuring the boffo box office team of Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Our screening is presented almost 50 years to the day when it originally opened, on December 25, 1973. It captivated audiences eager for lighthearted holiday entertainment and snagged huge box office returns in addition to seven Academy Awards in the spring of 1974. We’ll screen it at the Royal next Wednesday, December 27, at 7 PM.

Newman and Redford had scored an enormous success four years earlier when they teamed with director George Roy Hill to make the western romp, ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.’ They joined Hill again when they agreed to play two grifters in the 1930s. Their characters set out to get revenge against a mob boss (played by Robert Shaw) by devising an elaborate con to bilk him of a huge fortune. The Oscar-winning script by David S. Ward (inspired in part by a nonfiction book, ‘The Big Con,’ written by David Maurer) is full of nifty twists and turns as the grifters stalk their prey. The expert supporting cast includes Charles Durning, Ray Walston, Eileen Brennan, and Harold Gould. The movie was produced by Tony Bill, Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips.

In addition to its Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, the film was recognized for its expert art direction by Henry Bumstead and James Payne, costumes by veteran Edith Head, editing by William Reynolds, and music scoring by Marvin Hamlisch. The composer’s adaptation of ragtime hits by Scott Joplin (especially his signature tune, “The Entertainer”) helped to start a ragtime revival craze throughout the country. The award marked Hamlisch’s third Oscar that year; he also won for his Original Score and Best Song from another of the year’s hit movies, ‘The Way We Were.’

Variety raved about the movie, “George Roy Hill’s outstanding direction of David S. Ward’s finely crafted story of multiple deception and surprise ending will delight both mass and class audiences.” Roger Ebert agreed that it was “one of the most stylish movies of the year,” and the Los Angeles Times called it “an unalloyed delight.” According to New York magazine critic Judith Crist, “What glitters here is pure movie gold.” More recently, Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times called ‘The Sting‘ “one of the most enduring and exquisitely crafted blockbusters of all time.”

The movie took in over $160 million, a huge amount at the time, and it was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2005.

FANNY AND ALEXANDER 40th Anniversary Holiday Season Screenings of Bergman’s Final Masterpiece December 13.

by

The Anniversary Classics Series and Laemmle Theatres present 40th anniversary screenings of Ingmar Bergman’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece FANNY AND ALEXANDER (1983) on Wednesday, December 13 at 7:00 PM at four Laemmle locations: the Royal, Newhall, Glendale, and Claremont. The Academy Award-winning film is the last entry of the year of the popular Anniversary Classics Abroad series, and a timely program for the holiday season.

Bergman, one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, was a towering figure in international cinema who came to prominence in the mid-twentieth century “golden age of the arthouse” era, with such meditative classics exploring the psyche and soul as ‘The Seventh Seal,’ ‘The Virgin Spring,’ ‘Through a Glass Darkly’ (the latter two winning consecutive Foreign Film Oscars in 1960-61), ‘Persona,’ and expanding into the 1970s with ‘Cries and Whispers,’ a best picture Oscar nominee in 1973, and ‘Scenes from a Marriage’ among others. In the 1980s the Swedish auteur originally planned his memory piece FANNY AND ALEXANDER as his cinematic swan song, with a six-part version for television along with a shortened theatrical release, which premiered internationally first. The theatrical version went onto global acclaim and is widely considered one of Bergman’s finest films.

Set in the first decade of the twentieth century, the film opens with the Ekdahl family’s Christmas celebration, with extended family members and servants gathering for a merry holiday in the town of Uppsala (Bergman’s birthplace). The film unfolds principally through the eyes of ten-year-old Alexander Ekdahl (Bertil Guve) and his younger sister Fanny (Pernilla Allwin) who are soon separated from this warm family after the death of their actor-manager father, and the subsequent marriage of their mother (Ewa Froeling) to a strict, cold bishop (Jan Malmsjo). Familiar themes of religious zealotry, which Bergman explored throughout his career, are reexamined with a ghostly supernatural touch in Bergman’s haunted memories of his own clergyman father.

Plaudits for the film ranged from Variety’s “a sumptuously produced period piece (with) elegance and simplicity,” to Vincent Canby in The New York Times, “a big, dark, beautiful, generous family chronicle,” as a prelude to both the New York Film Critics and L.A. Film Critics naming it the best foreign film of the year. Mick LaSalle in the San Francisco Examiner described it as “an epic family film that revisits Bergman’s favorite subjects—marriage, passion, infidelity, death, God—and yet in ways more generous and less austere than in his other films.” Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian praised “the glorious acting ensemble, an amazing collection of pure performing intelligence,” and summarized the film as “a brilliant—in fact maybe unique—fusion of Shakespeare and Dickens.”

The film went on to garner a record six Academy Award nominations, with directing and writing nods for Bergman, along with four wins: Foreign Language Film (Bergman’s third), Cinematography (Sven Nykvist, his consummate collaborator over two decades and his second win, both with Bergman), Art Direction (Anna Asp), and Costume Design (Marik Vos-Lundh). The four Oscars were the most for an international film in the twentieth century, and a fitting tribute to the legacy of a master filmmaker. Experience FANNY AND ALEXANDER back on the big screen this holiday season for one showing only on December 13.

THE LION IN WINTER 55th Anniversary Holiday Season Screening with Author-Historian Jeremy Arnold November 29.

by

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present the 55th anniversary of The Lion in Winter (1968), the Academy Award-winning historical drama (with comedy undertones) that netted screen legend Katharine Hepburn a third Best Actress Oscar. Hepburn leads a powerhouse cast including acting icon Peter O’Toole, and future major stars Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton in their film debuts. The film plays one night only Wednesday, November 29 at 7:00 PM at the Royal in West Los Angeles, with an introduction by author Jeremy Arnold, who will sign copies of his newly revised book “Christmas in the Movies.”

Set during Christmas 1183, England’s King Henry II (Peter O’Toole) summons a holiday court at Chilon in his continental empire to choose his successor among his three sons: Richard the Lionhearted (Anthony Hopkins), Geoffrey (John Castle), and his favorite, John (Nigel Terry). He releases his wife and the mother of their sons, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn) from imprisonment for the occasion. Also in attendance are Henry’s mistress Alais (Jane Merrow), and her brother, the young King Philip of France (Timothy Dalton). As the principals squabble over the succession, intrigue, one-upmanship, and treachery are unleashed in the ensuing power struggle.

Based on a play by James Goldman (a Broadway flop in 1966), the film adaptation by Goldman and director Anthony Harvey, a former film editor (Lolita, Dr. Strangelove) just two years later proved to be a resounding success at both the box office and with critics of the day. Roger Ebert welcomed “a literate script handled intelligently,” while Renata Adler of The New York Times praised the “dramatic and comic energy” on display by the spirited cast. An effusive Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times awarded the film “top honors for the most literate movie of the year, and for the finest and most imaginative and fascinating evocation of an historical time and place.” AMPAS bestowed seven nominations including Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Costume Design, with Oscar wins for Goldman’s screenplay, John Barry’s effective music score, and Hepburn’s Best Actress turn (her third win in an historic tie with Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl).

Hepburn recalled what attracted her to the part of Eleanor of Aquitaine, “I think she had what I’ve always held as important: love of life but without sentimentality. She was something I’ve always tried to be–completely authentic.” O’Toole had the unique opportunity to revisit a character he had previously played (a younger Henry II in 1964’s Becket) and triumphed once again. Hepburn would go on to win a fourth Best Actress Oscar in 1981, while O’Toole had to settle for an Honorary Oscar in 2003 among eight nominations. Hopkins would become one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, winning two Best Actor Oscars in his lengthy career. Dalton enjoyed decades of success and movie immortality when he inherited the role of James Bond in 1987 for two films as Agent 007. In The Lion in Winter all four have a rousing good time, as the Village Voice noted, “scenery chewing has rarely been so artful.”

THE GOOD GIRL (2002) Screening November 15 with the Filmmakers in Person.

by

Guest Speakers: Director Miguel Arteta, Producers Carol Baum and Matthew Greenfield and Casting Director Joanna Colbert Wednesday, November 15, at 7 PM at Laemmle’s Royal Theatre.

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a screening of the indie hit ‘The Good Girl‘ starring ‘Friends’ megastar Jennifer Aniston and Oscar nominees Jake Gyllenhaal and John C. Reilly. It was written by Mike White, the Emmy-winning creator of the smash hit series ‘The White Lotus,’ and directed by Miguel Arteta, who collaborated with White on ‘Chuck & Buck’ and ‘Beatriz at Dinner’ in addition to this movie.

‘Friends,’ the most successful sitcom in television history, was still going strong when Aniston demonstrated her versatility by starring as a dissatisfied store clerk in a small Texas town. She is unhappily married to Reilly when she begins a dangerous affair with a younger, mentally unstable coworker played by Gyllenhaal. The strong supporting cast includes a bevy of gifted performers, including Tim Blake Nelson, Zooey Deschanel, John Carroll Lynch, Deborah Rush, and White himself.

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2002 and later won an Independent Spirit award for best screenplay of the year. Critics appreciated Aniston’s determination to branch out and tackle a more complex role. As Ella Taylor wrote in L.A. Weekly, “it is especially gratifying to see her playing a woman who’s had it up to here with making nice and making do.” Roger Ebert praised the movie as “an independent film of satiric fire and emotional turmoil.” Writing in the Chicago Tribune, Michael Wilmington called the film “a dark comedy about false dreams and lost illusions—and, thanks to a fine cast and a smart script, it’s an effective one.” The Village Voice’s J. Hoberman acclaimed “a droll, well-acted character-driven comedy with unexpected deposits of feeling.”

Miguel Arteta’s other films include ‘Star Maps,’ ‘Youth in Revolt,’ ‘Duck Butter,’ and ‘Cedar Rapids.’ He has also directed for some of the most acclaimed TV series of recent years, including ‘Freaks and Geeks,’ ‘Six Feet Under,’ ‘American Horror Story,’ ‘Succession,’ and Aniston’s current hit, ‘The Morning Show.’

Matthew Greenfield produced Arteta’s films ‘Star Maps,’ ‘Chuck & Buck,’ and ‘The Good Girl.’ He is currently president of Searchlight Pictures, the company that has produced Oscar-winning hits ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ ’12 Years a Slave,’ ‘The Shape of Water,’ and ‘Nomadland.’

Joanna Colbert has cast over 50 films and was head of casting at Universal Pictures. She produced the HBO documentary ‘Casting By,’ which called attention to the frequently underestimated but crucial role that casting directors play in creating successful movies.

Carol Baum has produced 34 movies, including ‘Father of the Bride’ with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton, ‘I.Q.’ with Walter Matthau and Meg Ryan, ‘Dead Ringers’ with Jeremy Irons and Genevieve Bujold, ‘Jacknife’ with Robert De Niro and Ed Harris, ‘Straight Talk’ with Dolly Parton, Noah Baumbach’s directorial debut, ‘Kicking and Screaming,’ and the Oscar-winning documentary ‘Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt.’ She will be discussing, selling and signing her new book, ‘Creative Producing: A Pitch-to-Picture Guide to Movie Development,’ written with her husband, screenwriter Tom Baum. The book offers practical tips into all the stages of movie production, along with candid anecdotes about her many movies and the stars and filmmakers she encountered. Mike White called Baum “one of the most astute, wise, kind, funny, and indefatigable producers in our business.”

HOUSE CALLS 45th Anniversary Screening Wednesday, November 8 at Laemmle’s Royal Theatre with Actor Richard Benjamin in Person!

by

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series pay tribute to the late, great Glenda Jackson with a screening of one of her most successful movies, ‘House Calls‘ from 1978. Over the course of her long acting career, before she chose to segue to politics as a member of the British Parliament, Jackson triumphed in many different genres. She won two Oscars—one for the dramatic adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s ‘Women in Love’ (1970) and a second for the romantic comedy ‘A Touch of Class (1973).’ She also earned Oscar nominations for the groundbreaking 1971 drama ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’ and for the 1975 film ‘Hedda,’ adapted from Henrik Ibsen’s classic play, ‘Hedda Gabler,’ a role that Jackson had also played on stage. Other outstanding performances include ‘The Music Lovers,’ ‘Stevie,’ ‘The Romantic Englishwoman,’ ‘Nasty Habits,’ and ‘The Rainbow.’

‘House Calls‘ teamed her with fellow Oscar winners Walter Matthau and Art Carney, along with our special guest at this screening, Richard Benjamin. Matthau plays a doctor at a poorly run urban hospital who is still grieving the death of his wife as he explores the dating world with fairly disastrous results. When he meets Jackson, a patient at the hospital, he begins to form a more meaningful connection. Carney plays the increasingly senile chief of staff at the hospital, whose ineptitude contributes to the pressures on the entire beleaguered staff. Benjamin plays a fellow doctor who tries to aid Matthau with his professional and romantic challenges.

Howard Zieff (‘Hearts of the West,’ ‘Private Benjamin’) directed the script by Alan Mandel and Charles Shyer, from a story written by veterans Julius J. Epstein and Max Shulman. Candice Azzara co-stars as a widow who also has her eye on Matthau. Multiple Oscar winner Henry Mancini composed the score.

Leonard Maltin called ‘House Calls‘ a “laughing-out-loud contemporary comedy” and added, “Carney is hilarious as the addle-brained head of surgery at Matthau’s hospital.” The movie was successful enough to spawn a TV series that ran for three seasons on CBS. And Matthau and Jackson re-teamed for the comedy adventure film, ‘Hopscotch,’ in 1980.

Richard Benjamin has been one of the most frequent and generous supporters of our Anniversary Classics Series over the last several years. He joined us to reminisce about ‘The Sunshine Boys,’ ‘Goodbye, Columbus,’ ‘The Last of Sheila,’ and his highly acclaimed directorial debut, ‘My Favorite Year.’ His other films as an actor include ‘Diary of a Mad Housewife,’ ‘Westworld,’ ‘Catch-22,’ ‘Love at First Bite,’ and ‘How to Beat the High Cost of Living.’ He also directed ‘Racing with the Moon’ (starring Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, and Nicolas Cage), ‘The Money Pit’ with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, ‘Mermaids’ with Cher and Winona Ryder, and ‘Little Nikita’ with Sidney Poitier and River Phoenix. Mr. Benjamin will join us for a Q&A before the screening on November 8.

RUNNING ON EMPTY 35th Anniversary Screening with Actors Christine Lahti and Judd Hirsch in Person October 24.

by

Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present a 35th anniversary screening of the potent Oscar-nominated drama Running on Empty, written by Naomi Foner and directed by Sidney Lumet in one of his late-career highlights. Christine Lahti, who was named best actress of the year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for her performance, Judd Hirsch, River Phoenix, and Martha Plimpton star in one of the few movies to examine the consequences of the revolutionary movements that swept America in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The film earned two Oscar nominations in 1988, for Foner’s original screenplay and for Phoenix as Best Supporting actor. We’ll screen Running on Empty at the Royal on October 24 at 7 pm with Ms. Lahti as our special guest.

Lahti and Hirsch play a married couple who were part of a 1960s revolutionary group, probably modeled on the Weather Underground, who participated in the bombing of a napalm laboratory that resulted in the serious injury of a janitor who was not supposed to be on the premises. Since then, they and their two sons have been on the run from the FBI, constantly changing their identities and moving when the authorities seemed close to locating them.  An added complication arises when their teenage son, played by Phoenix, begins to demonstrate extraordinary gifts as a pianist, and the parents realize that their unsettled lives could hinder the development of his talent. At the same time, Phoenix falls in love with the daughter (Plimpton) of his music teacher and feels compelled to reveal his true identity to her.

Lumet (12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict), who received an honorary Oscar late in his life, brought his characteristic dramatic vigor and emotional intensity to the film. A highlight is the meeting between Lahti and her long estranged father, played by Steven Hill, that is one of the most wrenching scenes in any film of the period. Most critics recognized the film’s achievements. Roger Ebert called it “one of the best films of the year,” and Newsweek’s David Ansen called it “emotionally overpowering.” Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Sophisticated, uncompromising and refreshingly original, it is one of those rare films which is likely to mean as much to teens as it does to their parents.”

Christine Lahti made her film debut opposite Al Pacino in 1979 in …And Justice for All. She went on to co-star in Whose Life Is It Anyway? opposite Richard Dreyfuss, The Doctor with William Hurt, Just Between Friends with Mary Tyler Moore, Bill Forsyth’s Housekeeping, and, more recently, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood with Tom Hanks. She earned an Oscar nomination when she co-starred with Goldie Hawn in Swing Shift. Later she won an Oscar for a live action short film that she directed, Lieberman in Love, in 1995. Lahti won an Emmy for her starring role in the hit TV series, Chicago Hope, and also had a recurring role in Law and Order SVU. In 2001 she directed her first feature, My First Mister, starring Albert Brooks and Leelee Sobieski.

Judd Hirsch has received two Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor—for the Oscar-winning best picture of 1980, Ordinary People, and for his performance just last year in Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed memory piece, The Fabelmans. He also won two Emmy Awards for his performance in the critically acclaimed and immensely popular TV show of the late 1970s, Taxi. Among his other notable feature film credits are Independence Day, A Beautiful Mind, The Meyerowitz Stories, and Uncut Gems. Hirsch co-starred in several other TV series—Dear John, Damages, Superior Donuts, and The Goldbergs.