Word: miramaxers
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...annual Miramax pre-oscar bash looked like a frothy success. Lots of celebs (Nicole Kidman! Salman Rushdie! Diane Sawyer!) and rivers of Piper-Heidsieck champagne. And there were skits as always--send-ups of the company's Oscar-nominated movies, including a spoof of In the Bedroom in which Dame Judi Dench dressed up like Sissy Spacek and chain-smoked...
...something was amiss. The party seemed more crowded than cool. Kidman walked the red carpet, lingered on the fringes, then told friends she just wanted to go home and take a bath. And there was the final sketch of the evening. Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein and DreamWorks co-owner Jeffrey Katzenberg, both players in this year's especially combative Oscar race, took the stage in gladiator uniforms for a mock therapy session that hit a little too close to home. "You fat f___!" exclaimed Katzenberg at one point, echoing a sentiment not uncommon in Hollywood but usually muttered behind...
...Miramax lost its magic? That's the question Hollywood has been asking for months, and it was posed yet again after the awards ceremony on March 24. Out of 15 nominations, Miramax received just one Oscar--for Jim Broadbent's supporting performance in Iris. It's not as if Weinstein and his brother Bob, who co-founded the Manhattan-based company 22 years ago, are going hungry. Last year, say the brothers, Miramax pulled in nearly $1 billion, with $161 million in profit, at the global box office. But in an industry where you are what you drive, perception...
...reached critical mass with Best Picture winners The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love during the late '90s. The brothers--Harvey especially--seemed to have a knack for seeing around the zeitgeist and an unerring eye for talent. Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck became part of the Miramax stable, the newest cool kids' table in Hollywood...
...wallet) to hustle, bully and outspend the competition. Hit Man Harvey and Backroom Bob became as notorious as any WWF tag-team champions. For Harvey, a fearsome tank of a man with the temper and competitive streak of Bobby Knight, screams, threats and smears were simply standard operating procedure. Miramax executives, says a producer, "are like victims of abuse." Harvey became famous for his office tantrums, along with his combative intrusiveness during contract negotiations and his micromanaging of production. Add to that the fact that the brothers "spent money like it was water," says a source. Notes friendly foe Katzenberg...