::: WINS-Top 10
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::: PRESS
::: REVIEWS
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PRESS
Could the Oscars go to the 'Devil' this year?
I'm not surprised at all that "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" snagged an amazing $36,750 per screen in two locations this weekend. I checked out one of them on Friday night at 5 p.m. in Manhattan. The Lincoln Plaza Cinema was jam-packed. In that trendy neighborhood, right across Broadway from Lincoln Center, you'd expect that kind of stampede to a Sidney Lumet movie starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney (OK, OK, and Marisa Tomei, too) that garnered great early reviews and was in such strictly limited release.
But what does that tell us about how it'll do at the Oscars, huh?
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ThinkFilm comes out on top in Toronto
Indie company flaunts 'Devil,' nabs 'Battle'
The surprise winner out of the Toronto Intl. Film Festival was not the Weinstein Co. or Picturehouse, but little-indie-that-could ThinkFilm. The distrib launched 83-year-old Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" into the fall awards season and bought two of the most accessible films at the fest, both from actor-turned-directors: Helen Hunt's "Then She Found Me," starring Hunt and Colin Firth, and Stuart Townsend's "Battle in Seattle," starring Charlize Theron.
At ThinkFilm's celebratory Toronto dinner for Lumet's well-received gala premiere and Paul Schrader's "The Walker," head of theatrical Mark Urman couldn't stop grinning. Both filmmakers were on hand, along with stars Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei and Lauren Bacall. But that wasn't all. Word on ThinkFilm's just-concluded "Seattle" deal was swiftly buzzing through the restaurant. Read More ...
 No awards frontrunners, but a few contenders
By Martin A. Grove - Nov 9, 2007
One of my very favorite films this year is Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" from THINKFilm, which looks like it's shaping up as a potential best picture contender. "Devil's" 89% fresh rating on RottenTomatoes.com reflects its critical acclaim. Last weekend's expansion from 2 to 43 theaters saw the film average a very healthy $8,617 per theater.
It always helps a film's best picture potential if its director is a likely candidate for a best directing nod. "Devil" has that advantage since Lumet, as I wrote here recently, is overdue at age 83 for a best director Oscar win. He's been nominated five times during his 50-year-long filmmaking career and has received an honorary Oscar, but hasn't ever won. To read that column click here.
Besides Lumet's Oscar noms, "Devil's" Academy pedigree also includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, a best actor winner for "Capote;" Marisa Tomei, a best supporting actress Oscar winner for "My Cousin Vinny" and a supporting actress nominee for "In the Bedroom;" Ethan Hawke, a supporting actor Oscar nominee for "Training Day" and a best adapted screenplay nominee (shared credit) for "Before Sunset;" Albert Finney, a five-time Oscar nominee for "Tom Jones" (lead), "Murder on the Orient Express" (lead), "The Dresser" (lead), "Under the Volcano" (lead) and "Erin Brockovich" (supporting); and Rosemary Harris, a supporting actress Oscar nominee for "Tom & Viv."
"Devil" wasn't one of the films that automatically turned up on insiders' awards radar before arriving in the marketplace. I think it's going to be making a lot of 10 Best Lists, including my own, and could generate some critics' awards, which could help it on the Oscar and Globes front.
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As leaves fall, there's lots to look forward to
By Robert Osborne - Nov 6, 2007
The new Sidney Lumet-directed "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead," in which Hawke co-stars with Philip Seymour Hoffman, seems a cinch for one of the five spots on Oscar's next best picture list. Competition for a spot in that most sought-after of all Oscar categories seems more potent than usual at this point, with such films as "Lions for Lambs" and "No Country for Old Men" already showing the kind of muscle and response that ultimately earns Academy Award attention -- but none more so than the Lumet dazzler. "Devil" grabs you from the opening scene (which happens to involve Hoffman behaving as unlike Truman Capote as one could ever imagine) to the final fade, never losing momentum for a moment. Watching it is, in fact, like being trapped in an out-of-control locomotive. If it's not Lumet's best film, "Devil" certainly is right up there with such Lumet knockouts as "12 Angry Men," "The Pawnbroker," "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Network" and "The Verdict." In the acting department, Hawke and Hoffman are superb as ill-fated brothers who find themselves at the center of a disaster of their own making; Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris also are first-rate as their parents who discover -- too late -- that they should have practiced birth control. Don't let anyone ruin this one for you by spilling too much of the plot; the continual surprises are among the film's many virtues.
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Heavenly awards potential for Lumet's 'Devil'
"Devil" director: That elusive combination of boxoffice success, critical enthusiasm and filmmaker cache that translates into prime Oscar and Golden Globes nominations is coming together beautifully in Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."
With its lively $36,919 average per theater at two screens in New York last weekend via THINKFilm, its very fresh 85% critics' rating on RottenTomatoes.com and Lumet's distinguished 50-year-long career in Hollywood, "Devil" has heavenly potential in this wide open awards season. THINKFilm is launching the dark suspense thriller in Los Angeles and five other top markets Friday and will expand its run in the coming weeks.
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