It’s tie for the “Lars and the Real Girl” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” screenwriters.
Both Nancy Oliver and Ronald Harwood took home $10,000 feature film awards at the annual Humanitas Prize. Screenwriters in 10 categories accepted $95,000 in prize money. Since 1974, the Humanitas Prize has awarded more than $2.8 million for film/TV writing.
The awards were announced Wednesday by Emmy-winning screenwriter-producer John Wells, the new Humanitas Prize president. Wells previously won a Humanitas Prize for his work on “The West Wing.” His other TV credits include “ER,” ”Third Watch,” and “China Beach.” More than 80 screenwriters, directors and producers serve on the judging committee.
The 2008 Humanitas Prize winners:
• Feature Film: Ronald Harwood, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly;” Nancy Oliver, “Lars and the Real Girl.”
• 90-Minute Film: Daniel Giat, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.”
• 60-Minute Film: Kirk Ellis, “John Adams.”
• 30-Minute TV Show: Dave Tennant, “Scrubs.”
• Children’s Animation: Brian Hohlfeld, “My Friends Tigger and Pooh.”
• Children’s Live Action: Ann Austen, Douglas Sloan, Max Enscoe and Annie DeYoung, “Johnny Kapahala.”
• Sundance Feature Film: Paris Qualles, “A Raisin in the Sun.”
• Documentary: Stephen Walker, “Young at Heart.”
• David and Lynn Angell Fellowship in Comedy Writing: Nik Blahunka and Marcy Holland, “McKellar Hall.”
• Student Drama Fellowship: Katherine F. Lovejoy, “House.”
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More