JACK THE GIANT SLAYER - In Theaters March 1

Nicholas Hoult and Eleanor Tomlinson

Jack The Giant Slayer is a modern day CGI laden take on "Jack and the Beanstalk" which is an English folktale. The tale is closely associated with the tale of "Jack the Giant Killer", and is known under a number of versions. Benjamin Tabart's moralized version of 1807 is the first appearance in print, but "Felix Summerly" (Henry Cole) popularized it in The Home Treasury (1842), and Joseph Jacobs rewrote it in English Fairy Tales (1890) Jacobs' version is most commonly reprinted today and is believed to more closely adhere to the oral versions than Tabart's, because it lacks the moralising of that version.

Jack (Nicholas Hoult), a naive young farmer, ends up with some magical beans- that soon sprout into a beanstalk that leads to a land populated by giants with a taste for human flesh. When his kingdom's princess, Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) ends up in the kingdom of the giants, the amorous Jack volunteers to rescue her. Leading the King's Guard- headed by Elmont (Ewan McGregor) to the giants lair- they must not only contend with the hungry giants, but also the King's power mad adviser, Lord Roderick (Stanley Tucci), who wants to use the giants to usurp the throne for himself.

The good thing about this movie, based on a very dark subject, is that it is actually a very lighthearted and even family oriented movie.  In spite of the fact that most everybody already knows how story plays out - Bryan Singer was able to adeptly bring the screenplay written by Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie and Dan Studney to life in a way that allows the story to unfold without using many of the corny devices so many movies employ these days.

And then there are the Giants who appear to be all CGI. Unfortunately they are almost comical and really don't come across as very scary.Bill Nighy does manage to bring the character of General Fallon to life with some excellent voice work as does John Kassir General Fallon's Small Head

Whether or not you enjoy JACK THE GIANT SLAYER really depends on what you walk into the film expecting. This is not a gritty, heavy-duty adventure film. Rather, it's light and playful- right down to the adventurous score by John Ottman.

The Jack The Giant Slayer Hollywood premiere took place this evening at TCL Chinese Theatres - formerly known as Graumans Chinese - here are some photos from the red carpet:

All Photos are © 2013 Michael Germana / Superstar Images - All Rights Reserved

Bryan Singer - Director

Darren Lemke- Screenplay

Dan Studney - Screenplay

John Ottman - Music By

Nicholas Hoult - Jack

Eleanor Tomlinson - Isabelle

John Kassir - General Fallon's Small Head

Mingus Johnston - Bald

Ewen Bremner - Wicke

Stanley Tucci - Roderick (with Felicity Blunt)

Bill Nighy - General Fallon

Stanley Tucci, Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson and Bill Nighy

Ben Affleck Wins DGA Feature Film Award for Argo

         

The winners of the Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards for 2012 were announced tonight during the 65th Annual DGA Awards Dinner at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles. Ben Affleck won the DGA’s Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Argo.
                                                              



Director/producer/actor Kelsey Grammer hosted the ceremony before an audience of more than 1,600 guests.

 

Presenters included (in alphabetical order): Frank Capra III; Cedric the Entertainer; Bryan Cranston;Peter Fonda; Kelsey Grammer; Dave Grohl; DGA President Taylor Hackford; Anne Hathaway; Michel Hazanavicius; Helen Hunt; Hugh Jackman; Famke Janssen; Norman Jewison; Suraj Sharma; Martin Short; DGA National Vice President Steven Soderbergh; Chris Spencer; George Stevens, Jr.; Eric Stonestreet; Quvenzhané Wallis; and Sam Waterston.

ALL PHOTOS ARE ©2013 MICHAEL GERMANA / SUPERSTAR IMAGES 

 




The winners of the 2012 DGA Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement are:


OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FEATURE FILM

BEN AFFLECK
Argo
(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Mr. Affleck’s Directorial Team:
·         Unit Production Manager:  Amy Herman
·         First Assistant Director:  David Webb
·         Second Assistant Director:  Ian Calip
·         Second Second Assistant Directors: Clark Credle, Gavin Kleintop
·         First Assistant Director (Turkey Unit): Belkis Turan

This is Mr. Affleck’s first DGA Feature Film Award win.


OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMMERCIALS

ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU
Anonymous Content

Best Job, Proctor and Gamble – Wieden + Kennedy
·         First Assistant Director: Peter Kohn
·         Second Assistant Director: Michelle Schrauwers
·         Second Second Assistant Directors: Heather Anderson, Blake Perkinson

This is Mr. Iñárritu’s first DGA Award win and second nomination. He was previously nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Babel in 2006.


OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMATIC SERIES

RIAN JOHNSON
Breaking Bad, “Fifty-One”
(AMC)

Mr. Johnson’s Directorial Team:
·         Unit Production Manager: Stewart A. Lyons
·         Assistant Unit Production Manager: James Paul Hapsas
·         First Assistant Director: Ben Scissors
·         Second Assistant Director: Louis Lanni
·         Second Second Assistant Director: Anna Ramey
·         Additional Second Assistant Director: Joann Connolly

This is Mr. Johnson’s first DGA Award win.


OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY PROGRAMS

BRIAN SMITH
Master Chef, “Episode #305”
(FOX)

Mr. Smith’s Directorial Team:
·         Associate Director: Anna Moulaison-Moore
·         Stage Manager: Drew Lewandowski

This is Mr. Smith’s first DGA Award win and third nomination. He was previously nominated in this category in 2010 and 2011 for episodes “103” and “201” of Master Chef.


OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES FOR TELEVISION AND MINI-SERIES

JAY ROACH
Game Change
(HBO)

Mr. Roach’s Directorial Team:
·         Unit Production Manager: Mary Kane
·         First Assistant Director: Josh King
·         Second Assistant Director: Emily McGovern
·         Second Second Assistant Director: Brian F. Relyea

This is Mr. Roach’s second DGA Award win and second nomination.  He previously won the DGA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series for Recount in 2008.


OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSICAL VARIETY

GLENN WEISS
66th Annual Tony Awards
(CBS)

Mr. Weiss’ Directorial Team:
·         Associate Directors: Ken Diego, Robin Abrams, Stefani Cohen, Ricky Kirshner
·         Stage Managers: Garry Hood, Phyllis Digilio-Kent, Peter Epstein, Andrew Feigin, Lynn Finkel, Doug Fogel, Jeffry Gitter, Dean Gordon, Arthur Lewis, Jeffrey M. Markowitz, Joey Meade, Tony Mirante, Cyndi Owgang, Jeff Pearl, Elise Reaves, Lauren Class Schneider

This is Mr. Weiss’ fourth DGA Award win and ninth nomination.  He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety in 2007, 2010 and 2011 for the 61st, 64th and 65th Annual Tony Awards. He was previously nominated in this category in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008 for the 55th, 56th, 59th, 60th, and 62nd Annual Tony Awards.


OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DAYTIME SERIALS

JILL MITWELL
One Life To Live, “Between Heaven and Hell”
(ABC)

Ms. Mitwell’s Directorial Team:
·         Associate Directors: Tracy Casper Lang, Teresa Cicala, Michael Sweeney, Paul S. Glass
·         Stage Managers: Alan Needleman, Keith Greer, Tracy Casper Lang, Leah M. Weber
·         Production Associates: Nathalie Rodriguez, Kevin Brush

This is Ms. Mitwell’s fourth DGA Award and ninth nomination and all for her direction of One Life to Live. She won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Daytime Serials three times for One Life to Live, “Episode #9779” in 2006, “Episode #8295” in 2000 and “Episode #6356” in 1993. She was nominated five additional times for One Life to Live episodes “Starr X’d Lovers, The Musical, Part Three” in 2010, “Episode #8691” in 2002, “Episode #8012” in 1999, “Episode #7761” in 1998, and “Episode #7285” in 1996.


OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS

PAUL HOEN
Let it Shine
(Disney Channel)

Mr. Hoen’s Directorial Team:
·         Unit Production Manager: Katie Willard Troebs
·         First Assistant Director:  Daniel Coffie
·         Second Assistant Director: Todd Turner
·         Second Second Assistant Director: D. Scott Kirkley

This is Mr. Hoen’s second DGA Award win and sixth nomination.  He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Program in 2007 for Jump In and was previously nominated in this category in 2000 for the Even Stevens episode “Take My Sister... Please,” in 2004 for Searching for David's Heart, in 2008 for Cheetah Girls: One World and in 2010 for Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DOCUMENTARY

MALIK BENDJELLOUL

Searching For Sugar Man
Sony Pictures Classics
Passion Pictures Production
Canfield Pictures & The Documentary Company
Red Box Films

This is Mr. Bendjelloul’s first DGA Award win.



OUTSTANDING DIRECTORIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY SERIES

LENA DUNHAM
Girls, “Pilot”
(HBO)

Ms. Dunham’s Directorial Team:
·         Unit Production Managers: Regina Heyman, Ilene S. Landress
·         First Assistant Director: Mark McGann
·         Second Assistant Director: Jason Ivey
·         Second Second Assistant Director: Marcos Gonzalez Palma

This is Ms. Dunham’s first DGA Award win.


SERVICE AND ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENTS

Milos Forman – Lifetime Achievement Award
In recognition of distinguished achievement in Motion Picture Direction



Michael Apted – Robert B. Aldrich Award
In recognition of extraordinary service to the Directors Guild of America and to its membership.











Eric Shapiro – Lifetime Achievement Award in News Direction
In recognition of distinguished achievement in News Direction






 Susan Zwerman – Frank Capra Achievement Award
Given to an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.




Dency Nelson – Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award
Given to an Associate Director or Stage Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.

ALL PHOTOS ARE ©2013 MICHAEL GERMANA / SUPERSTAR IMAGES