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Guillermo Arriaga
Saturday, Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m., Trustees Theater/Lucas Theatre
Known for his complex narrative structures, intense stories and characters full of contradictions and humanity, Guillermo Arriaga penned the original screenplays for “21 Grams” (2003) and “Amores Perros” (2000), and served as associate producer on both films. Arriaga won the Golden Palm for Best Screenplay at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival for “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada” (2005), a film helmed by Tommy Lee Jones, in which Arriaga also starred. Most recently, he completed the screen adaptation of “El Bufalo de la Noche” (2006), based on his novel of the same name, and will serve as producer on the feature film.
Arriaga is the author of three novels, “Guillotine Squad,” “A Sweet Scent of Death” and “The Night Buffalo,” and one book of short stories titled “Retorno 201.” His writings, which appear in many languages, are highly praised by critics and audiences worldwide.
Born and raised in Mexico City, Arriaga has also directed, produced and written short films, documentaries, television series, radio and television commercials and has been a college professor for more than 25 years.
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Bruce Dern
Thursday, Nov. 2, 7 p.m., Trustees Theater
Bruce Dern's decades of award-winning performances have earned him recognition as one of the most talented, versatile and prolific actors of his generation.
Dern has a recurring roll on HBO’s new series “Big Love,” and also can be seen this year in “The Astronaut Farmer,” “Believe in Me,” “Down in the Valley,” “The Hard Easy” and “Walker Payne.” Other recent credits include the independent features "Monster” (2003), "Masked and Anonymous” (2003), “Milwaukee, Minnesota" (2003) and Madison" (2001).
Born into Illinois aristocracy, Dern was expected to follow family tradition and become a lawyer. Instead he was inspired by the effect James Dean had on a theater audience. "I decided I wanted to be an artist as an actor, whatever it took,” Dern said. “I geared my whole life, lifestyle and all my energies to that end. For me, there were no alternatives."
He studied at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio in New York, then began winning roles on Broadway. In 1960, he landed a movie role under Elia Kazan's direction in "Wild River."
Dern then went to Hollywood, where he created more than 100 television and movie character portraits. Deciding he had what it took to be a leading man, Dern determined to take no more featured performer roles. He didn't work for 10 months. Finally, Dern received his first meaningful recognition with a Best Supporting Actor award from the National Film Critics Association for his role in Jack Nicholson's "Drive, He Said" (1971).
He has since won numerous honors, including an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for "Coming Home" (1978), Genie Award nominations for his work in "Middle Age Crazy"(1980) and "Harry Tracy, Desperado" (1982), and the Best Actor Award at the Berlin Film Festival for "That Championship Season" (1982).
Dern's starring credits reveal uncommon versatility. He has performed leading roles in films such as "The Great Gatsby" (1974), "Family Plot" (1976), "Black Sunday" (1977), "Smile" (1975), "The Driver" (1978), "The King of Marvin Gardens" (1972) "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1969), "Tattoo (1998), "Space" (1985) and "Toughlove" (1985). More recently, he was seen in "Down Periscope" (1996), "Mulholland Falls" (1996), "Last Man Standing" (1996), "The Haunting" (1999), “All the Pretty Horses” (2000) and "The Glass House" (2001).
Dern earned rave reviews for his performances in Showtime's "Mrs. Munck" (1995) with Diane Ladd, and TNT's "Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight" (1994). He also costarred with Linda Hamilton in USA Network's "A Mother's Prayer" (1995) and Burt Reynolds in TNT's "The Premonition" (1999).
Away from the camera, Dern remains in full stride, finding time to run at least 10 miles a day.
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Walter Hill
Tuesday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m., Trustees Theater
During his remarkable career, Walter Hill has been a writer, director and producer on projects ranging from classic westerns to action-packed thrillers and buddy comedies, all marked with his unique visceral style. He has made a successful foray into television, receiving Emmy and Directors Guild of America Awards in 2005 for the pilot of the groundbreaking neo-western “Deadwood.” Most recently Hill directed the critically acclaimed mini-series, “Broken Trail,” chronicling the waning days of America’s West. The film, which starred Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church, premiered on AMC to brilliant reviews and record-breaking numbers, and was awarded The Best of the West by the Golden Boot awards in August 2006. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released “Broken Trail” on DVD in Fall 2006.
Hill’s distinguished career began with screenplay credits for “Hickey and Boggs” (1972), “The Getaway” (1972) and “The Drowning Pool” (1975). In 1975, he made his directorial debut with “Hard Times,” a Depression-era boxing drama.
Hill produced Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning science fiction blockbuster “Alien” (1979) and served as writer, producer or executive producer on the next two sequels in the legendary film series. Hill is known as one of the foremost action filmmakers directing the smash hits “Southern Comfort” (1981), “Johnny Handsome” (1989), “48 Hrs.” (1982), Another 48 Hrs.” (1990) and “Last Man Standing” (1996).
Hill’s exploration of the American western began in 1980 when he directed “The Long Riders,” which marked the beginning of his critically acclaimed Western trilogy, continuing with “Geronimo” (1993) and ending with “Wild Bill” (1995).
Hill received retrospectives in 2005 at the Cinematheque in Paris, The Torino Film Festival and from the British Film Institute in 1991. He was honored in 2006 by the American Cinematheque and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Maine International Film Festival.
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Tommy Lee Jones
Sunday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m., Trustees Theater
Actor, director, producer and writer Tommy Lee Jones graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in English, and began his illustrious career on Broadway in John Osborne’s “A Patriot for Me” in 1969. Four decades later, Jones has earned both an Academy Award and Golden Globe in the Best Supporting Actor category for his portrayal of U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard in the box office hit “The Fugitive” (1993). He also received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Clay Shaw in the Academy Award-winning “JFK” (1991).
Jones made his film debut in Academy Award-winning “Love Story” (1970). He has appeared in other Academy Award-nominated films such as “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1980), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination, “Under Siege” (1992), “The Client” (1994), “Batman Forever” (1995) and “Space Cowboys” (2000). Other films include “Eyes of Laura Mars” (1978), “Stormy Monday,” (1988) “The Package” (1989), “Heaven and Earth” (1993), “Natural Born Killers” (1994), “Blue Sky” (1994), “Cobb” (1994), “Men in Black” (1997), “The Rainmaker” (1997), “The Fugitive” sequel “U.S. Marshals” (1998), “Double Jeopardy” (1999), “Rules of Engagement” (2000), “Men in Black 2” (2002), “The Missing” (2003) and “The Hunted” (2003).
In 1995, Jones made his directorial debut with TNT’s critically acclaimed adaptation of the Elmer Kelton’s novel “The Good Old Boys,” in which Jones starred with Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard, Frances McDormand and Matt Damon. He received nominations for both a Screen Actors Guild Award and a CableACE Award for his portrayal of Hewey Calloway.
Jones’ accomplishments spread into television with Emmy Award-winning shows such as “The Amazing Howard Hughes” (1977), “The Executioner’s Song” (1982), for which he garnered an Emmy in the Best Actor category, “Lonesome Dove” (1989), for which he earned Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor, and Emmy Award-nominees “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1985) and “April Morning” (1988). He also appeared in the HBO/BBC production of “Yuri Noshenko, KGB” (1986).
Jones’ other Broadway appearances include “Four on a Garden” with Carol Channing and Sid Caesar, and “Ulysses in Nighttown” with the late Zero Mostel.
In 2003, Jones served as the first spokesman for the Will Rogers Institute, a national charitable health organization dedicated to the support of lung research and developing new treatments and cures for pulmonary diseases and disorders.
Roles in recent movies include the critically acclaimed “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” which he also directed. The film about friendship and murder along the Texas-Mexican border debuted at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and garnered Jones the award for Best Actor and its screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga the award for Best Screenplay. Jones also appears in Robert Altman’s big screen spin-off of Garrison Keillor’s U.S. radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion” (2006). Jones completed production on “No Country for Old Men,” a film to be released in 2007 based on the Cormac McCarthy novel. The film, written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, stars Jones opposite Javier Bardem as a West Texas sheriff in pursuit of a vicious and vengeful drug trafficker and assassin.
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Rex Reed
Wednesday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m., Trustees Theater
Rex Reed is a critic, columnist, journalist, author and lecturer whose film reviews appear weekly in the New York Observer. He has been a film critic for Vogue, GQ, Holiday and Women’s Wear Daily. For 13 years, Reed was an arts critic for the New York Daily News, and for five years was the film critic for the New York Post. His articles and essays on the arts have appeared in almost every national magazine and newspaper in London and the United States. He is the author of eight books about the film industry; his first novel, “Personal Effects,” sold 75,000 copies in its first printing and was optioned by NBC for a four-hour miniseries.
As an actor, Reed appeared in the films “Myra Breckinridge” (1970) with Mae West and John Huston, “Inchon!” (1981) with Laurence Olivier, and “Superman” (1978) with Christopher Reeve and Marlon Brando. He also appeared with Melina Mercouri, Laurence Olivier, Lillian Hellman, Edward Albee and other notables in Jules Dassin’s antiwar film “The Rehearsal” (1974).
Reed has been a member of the juries at the Montreal, Venice and Berlin film festivals, and is proud to be the only film critic in the world to have a movie review — of the Oscar-winning, anti-Vietnam film “Hearts and Minds” (1974) — read aloud in both houses of U.S. Congress, thus becoming a permanent part of the congressional record. Reed is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics. For several years, he has appeared at the S.T.A.G.E. Benefit in Los Angeles, the country’s oldest and most successful fundraising benefit for AIDS. For five years, Reed starred in the nationally syndicated television show, “At the Movies.” In 1993, the Louisiana native was inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame, along with James Carville and legendary Supreme Court Judge Minor Wisdom.
As a music critic and ardent supporter of Broadway show music, Reed shares the distinction with Kitty Carlisle Hart of being the longest-running host-narrators of the popular “Lyrics and Lyrics” series at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, and has written liner notes for Liza Minnelli, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Eileen Farrell, Barbara Cook and many others. He has been nominated for two Grammy awards. Reed earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Louisiana State University and holds an honorary degree from Brandeis University.
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Liev Schreiber
Monday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m., Trustees Theater
Widely considered one of the finest actors of his generation, Liev Schreiber won a Tony Award in 2005 for his portrayal of Ricky Roma in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross."
Schreiber recently appeared in the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of “Macbeth” in Central Park June 14-July 9 opposite Jennifer Ehle, directed by Moises Kaufman.
Schreiber can be seen in this year’s remake of John Moore's 1976 classic "The Omen." Based on the Dan McDermott screenplay, Schreiber played the title role of Robert Thorn opposite Julia Stiles.
In 2005, Schreiber made his directorial debut with "Everything is Illuminated,” adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer's bestselling novel for Warner Independent Pictures. The film, starring Elijah Wood and Eugene Hutz, was recognized by the 2006 National Film Board as one of the top 10 films of the year.
Schreiber's distinguished list of acting credits includes Jonathan Demme's "The Manchurian Candidate" (2004), "The Sum of All Fears" (2002), "Kate & Leopold" (2001), Michael Almerayda's "Hamlet" (2000), "The Hurricane" (1999) opposite Denzel Washington, Tony Goldwyn's "A Walk on the Moon” (1999), Robert Benton's "Twilight" (1998) with Paul Newman, Barry Levinson's sci-fi epic "Sphere" (1998), the box office hits "Scream" (1996), "Scream 2" (1997), "Scream 3" (2000) and "Ransom" (1996).
Schreiber also is known for his work in acclaimed independent features such as Stanley Tucci's "Big Night" (1996), "Party Girl" (1995), "The Daytrippers" (1996) with Hope Davis, Nicole Holofcener's "Walking and Talking" (1996) with Catherine Keener, Nora Ephron's "Mixed Nuts" (1994), Antonia Bird's "Mad Love" (1995), Hal Salwen's "Denise Calls Up" (1995) and Tom Gilroy's "Spring Forward" (1999) with Ned Beatty, for which he also served as a producer.
Initially interested in playwriting, Schreiber ended up spending a year studying acting with the faculty from England's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 1992, he graduated with an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama. His impressive stage credits include his critically acclaimed turn as “Henry V” in last summer's Shakespeare in the Park production at the Delacorte Theater, "The Mercy Seat," opposite Sigourney Weaver and directed by Neil Labute, Harold Pinter's "Betrayal," co-starring Juliette Binoche and "Moonlight" with Blythe Danner and Jason Robards. Schreiber's enduring relationship with the Public Theater's New York Shakespeare Festival has produced several critically acclaimed performances including, the title role in "Hamlet," Iago in "Othello," “Macbeth," "The Tempest" and "Cymbeline" for which he won an Obie award. Other productions include, "All for One," "In the Summer House," "Escape From Happiness," "The Real Thing," "Richard III," "Underground," and the Moscow Art Theatre's production of "Ivanov."
In television, Schreiber starred as Orson Wells in "RKO 281" (1999), for which he received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, "Lackawanna Blues" (2005), "Spinning Boris" (2003), "Buffalo Girls" (1995), "People V," and "The Sunshine Boys" (1995) with Woody Allen and Peter Falk. As a voiceover artist, Schreiber has narrated numerous documentaries including the popular HBO Sports series as well as the PBS series "The History of Rock and Roll."
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