"It took the tragic reunion of John Reed and Louise Bryant at the train station for me to find a sense of pride in playing such a provocative character. Warren [Beatty] waited through something like sixty-five excruciating close-ups before I finally broke through my self-imposed wall of defiance and let go of my judgement call on a woman I needed to love in order to play. Shooting the scene was an experience I couldn't have foreseen. Because of Warren's tenacity, suddenly, against all odds, love came rushing through when Louise Bryant saw John Reed's face approaching hers at last. "Reds" was an epic with themes enriched by human ideals. John Reed sacrificed his life for his beliefs. But for me, it was imperfect love that was at the heart of Warren's movie."

Diane Keaton, from her memoir "Then Again"


I'm leading off with Diane Keaton this week because on October 6th, the American Film Institute announced Keaton will be the recipient of its 45th Life Achievement Award. The ceremony is scheduled for June 8th, 2017 in Los Angeles. Howard Stringer, of the AFI, called her "peerless in her mastery of both comedy and drama." He also stated that "her career as a director and producer is even further evidence of her passion for the art form."

One of my favorite offbeat Keaton films is "Mrs. Soffel" (1984), directed by Gillian Armstrong. Keaton plays a prison warden's wife. Unhappy in her marriage, she escapes with a prisoner (played by Mel Gibson). Although the movie received mixed reviews, I liked the chemistry between the two main characters. The older woman/younger man relationship isn't treated as a joke. In addition, Mark Isham's score is a beautiful accompaniment to the winter landscape featured in the film. Keaton is currently finishing work on another romantic drama, "Hampstead". It's a British production and co-stars Irish actor Brendan Gleeson.

In 2015, Relativity Media declared bankruptcy, leaving some of the films it was intending to distribute in limbo. One of them, "Solace", is finally going to get a US release this December. Billed as a psychological thriller, "Solace" stars Anthony Hopkins as a psychic who works with the FBI. Co-starring Colin Farrell and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, you can watch the trailer online.


Here's the latest article from the Drama Movies site at BellaOnline.com.

Weiner Film Review
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, "Weiner" documents the former congressman's attempt to overcome a sexting scandal and redeem himself by running for mayor of New York City.


http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art65945.asp

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Angela K. Peterson, Drama Movies Editor
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