BuzzSugar

Oscar Nominee: American Gangster for Art Direction

BuzzSugar — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:33:32 -0800

Every week up until the Oscars, I'll be featuring the nominees in the various visual categories. This week, I'll be looking at the nominees for Best Art Direction, which encompasses the entire look and feel of a film from the scenery to the lighting. Today's featured movie is American Gangster.

With American Gangster, director Ridley Scott was given the challenging task of conveying the gritty, dangerous atmosphere of a drug-riddled Harlem in the 60s and 70s. There's a glitzy-glam aspect to it with the fashions and sensuality of the era, and then there's the pain of drug addiction, the grim realities of gang life and the ominous presence of racial tension. The result in Scott's movie is a world awash in browns, grays and blues, with the occasional shock of gold and glitter to show the opulence that these drug lords enjoyed when business was booming.

I find it fitting that Scott is nominated in this category for so vividly depicting the ugliness of this time period - as well as the bleakness of the drug trade. To check out a gallery of evocative images from American Gangster, read more

View 12 Photos ›

Source

Denzel & Russell: Happy to Be American Gangsters

Molly — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:15:36 -0700

One of the last movies I can't wait to see this year, American Gangster, premiered in Hollywood last night. The film's illustrious stars Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington, along with Mel Gibson and producer Brian Grazer, were all out to celebrate the epic in their finest suits. Both Russell and Denzel are no stranger to the Oscar nominations, so it will be interesting to see if these two can live up to their names and reputation together on screen. Recently the two sat down with EW to chat about working together, the big O and how awesome the title of their movie is. Here's highlights:

There have been so many great gangster movies over the years, right up to The Departed. Did either of you hesitate before stepping into those shoes?
RUSSELL CROWE: Yeah, but when was the last character like Frank Lucas? That's a gigantic thing. That's the Mount Rushmore of gangsters right there. What amazes me is that nobody has come up with this title before.
DENZEL WASHINGTON: It's a heck of a title.
CROWE: I reckon Martin Scorsese is sitting somewhere in an office in New York and he sees ''American Gangster'' and he's like, ''F---! And I went with Casino?'' [Laughs] It should be the title of a political film, really.

To read more quotes from the guys, including how it feels to already have Oscar buzz plus a whole lot more photos from the premiere just read more

There's already Oscar buzz around American Gangster and your performances. Is it hard not to get invested in it when you hear that?
WASHINGTON: What are you going to do? There's no Oscar gym you go to to get in Oscar shape. There's not much you can do about it. If you get invited to the show, you go. The work is done. You know what? It beats a sharp stick in the eye that people are talking about it. That's gravy.
CROWE: Let's not discourage people from going to see it, though.
WASHINGTON: By saying it's Oscar-worthy?
CROWE: I think it just gets into a ho-hum thing. Because how many people will run that flag up the pole when they're trying to make s--- look like chocolate ice cream? You know what I'm saying?

When you think back on the torturous road to get American Gangster onto the screen, does it say something larger about how difficult it is for Hollywood to make a big, grown-up drama these days?
CROWE: Pretty much every project has got some kind of torture in its history, if you want to examine it. I've had others that you persist with for eight years and suddenly you're at the premiere, shaking everyone's hand. I've always said, It's like surfing. Some days, for some reason, you jump up on the board and you stay balanced and you ride all the way to the beach and everybody's clapping. Other days, your drawers are full of sand, mate. I've been smacked on the beach many times.
WASHINGTON: [Nodding his head] And what do you do? You get back on.

As long as the process has been getting this one to the big screen, the buzz is so loud that I doubt there's any way it will fail. Plus, have you seen the trailers? There's no way not to get excited to see it. Denzel and Russell are both looking a little bit older (just a touch) these days, but that's only there to add to their movie titan charisma.

View 20 Photos ›

Images include Denzel Washington, Brian Grazer, Russell Crowe, Mel Gibson, Ben Foster, Julie Delpy, Michelle Williams, Niecy Nash, Lymari Nadal, Marc Streitenfeld.

Source

Denzel, Russell, Not-Retired Jay-Z's American Gangster

Molly — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 07:05:00 -0700

One of the most anticipated movies left this year, American Gangster had its big NYC premiere on Friday at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem. Denzel and Russell had their wives on their arms as they showed off their awesome looking collaboration. Also on the red carpet was Jay-Z, who was so very excited about the film that he decided to write a whole album inspired by it. In case you missed it, the first track/video is already out. This certainly means he's not at all retired, and he recently talked to XXL Magazine about just that. He said:

I want to never say that again. Just make the albums, man. And if one day people wake up and it’s four years later, and you haven’t made another, they go, “Wait a minute, you’re retired!” I think that’s best for me. I think I pulled the retirement ripcord too many times. People looking at me like, “Please shut up.” I was looking at Fade to Black the other day. I was embarrassed. I couldn’t watch. I’m not playing with you. I had to turn it off. I was cringing. Like, I’m about to put out another album, man. Another one. Not only was that not my last, I put out another one, and I’m about to put out another one. I wasted a great film! I’m about to make another film, though. Not on retirement, just another film. I want to make a movie with this album. Like a short film, a better Streets Is Watching. I want to get the Hughes brothers to direct it. I’ll be doing a disservice if I didn’t deliver it [American Gangster] in a proper way.

I think it's safe to say that everyone has had more than enough of Jay-Z's retirement merry-go-round, so it's good to hear it's over. Now we can all just focus on his music...and that he seems like one of the cooler people ever. As for the movie, we have to wait two more weeks until the Nov. 2 release, but that's just more time to get excited.

To see more from the premiere including Common, Cuba, Barbara Walters, Method Man, Diane Lane, Diddy, and Al Sharpton just read more

View 21 Photos ›

Images include Barbara Walters, Common, Cuba Gooding Jr., Denzel Washington, Pauletta Pearson, Diane Lane, Jay-Z, Method Man, Russell Crowe, Danielle Spencer, Diddy, Reverend Al Sharpton, Josh Brolin, Ruby Dee

Source