Gods and Monsters

Lynn Redgrave, who passed away this week at age 67, garnered one of her two Oscar acting nominations for playing the disapproving housekeeper of director James Whale (Ian McKellan, also nominated). Bill Condon, who directed, won the Oscar for writing the screenplay.

Love this film to pieces and especially Redgrave's Hannah!

Lynn Redgrave also was brilliant in Bill Condon's Kinsey as the last interview subject.

There won't be any musical numbers - Bill Condon writes message to Twilight fans

I adore Bill Condon, and have since his film Gods and Monsters.  I was a bit surprised that Summit was looking at more than one Oscar nominated director for Breaking Dawn.  I think Bill Condon is a very intriguing choice to direct what will likely be two final films (why kill the cash cow early after all?)  Young fans likely only know him from Dreamgirls, but he started in horror films, (Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh) and Gods and Monsters is a film about the last part of legendary film director Jim Whale's (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein) life.  Bill Condon won an Oscar for the screen play of Gods and Monsters, and it garnered Oscar acting nominations for Lynn Redgrave and Ian McKellan (who as robbed!).  Any Twilight fan should run out and rent Gods and Monsters, one of my all time favorite films.

I love how Bill Condon starts this note to the fans on Facebook as I am certainly one of those Twilight Moms:

Greetings Twihards, Twifans, Twilight Moms, Team Edward, Team Jacob and Team Switzerland,

I just want to say hello to all of you and let you know that I'm stoked to be getting underway on the adventure of making BREAKING DAWN. As you've probably heard, I've been given a very warm welcome by Stephenie and Team Summit - who are super-focused, as you know, on getting these movies right.

I'm pretty busy bringing myself up to speed on what you already know by heart: I've read BREAKING DAWN twice, rewatched Catherine's and Chris's movies 2-3 times each, have all four CDs playing in my car, and have Catherine's notebook, Mark Cotta Vaz's companion books, and even Volume 1 of the graphic novel here on my desk - a corner of my office is starting to look like Hot Topic. I realize that this barely qualifies me for "newborn" status in the universe you've been living inside for a few years now, but a guy's gotta start somewhere.

Like many of you, I've always been slightly obsessed with vampires, dating back to the prime-time series DARK SHADOWS, which I followed avidly as a kid. But that alone hadn't been enough to get me interested in making a vampire movie, even though my early screenwriting and directing efforts grew out of a great love for horror movies and thrillers. Since making GODS AND MONSTERS thirteen years ago, however, I've been yearning for a return to a story with Gothic overtones.

The wonderful world that Stephenie has created has obviously struck a chord with you, and I don't think it's difficult to see why. For me, her characters are simultaneously timeless, yet very modern. Rooted in a beautiful, real landscape with a great sense of place, Bella, Edward, Jacob, and the rest of the Forks/La Push menagerie, experience emotions that are primal, and universal: desire, despair, jealousy - and it all comes to fruition in BREAKING DAWN. This is a final chapter in the best sense; not just wide in scope and scale, but emotionally charged and intense throughout.

I'm a huge admirer of the already-iconic Kristen, Robert, and Taylor, and wanted to be the one to work with them as they face the challenges of bringing your beloved characters to the end of their journeys. Really, what could be more fun than that?

Please feel free to ask questions in the comments section below, and I'll do my best to answer them. I hope that this will be the first of many occasions I'll get to check in with you as we set to work bringing BREAKING DAWN to the screen. I am excited and grateful to have all of you alongside me for my TWILIGHT journey.

All best,

Bill Condon

P.S. Answer #1: No, there won't be any musical numbers.

Dreamgirls Producer and Director to Helm Oscars

Signaling a move to energize the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has tapped two Oscarcast first-timers to oversee the 81st annual event, with Laurence Mark as producer and writer-director Bill Condon as executive producer.

Vowing there will be surprises, Mark told Daily Variety, "We respect the tradition of the Oscars, and we're happy to uphold those traditions. But it might be a kick to pay attention to the format and vary it & to do both. The show should be classy and fun." Mark said they're very aware of the show's running time, saying, "One of the key words here is streamline. The fanny quotient has to be considered."

Aside from honoring excellence in the year's films in the 81st Oscarcast, Mark and Condon plan to celebrate the experience of movies' i.e., to acknowledge some of the audience favorites. That will certainly make the show more viewer-friendly, since last year's lineup included such pics as "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," which, despite their merits, were not exactly populist films.

Casting them as overseers of the show is a signal that the Acad did not want to go the "safe" and familiar route.

The Oscars have had the same producer for several years. It will be good to shake things up a bit, and the almost sure thing nomination of Heath Ledger should help ratings. All will depend on the host, and that has yet to be decided.