User Login
Friends
davisburnsMy RSS Feeds
Rate this site
My Profile
My name is Thomas and I edit Fox Searchlight's Web site as well as handle much of the studio's online publicity. I've worked for Searchlight for 4-1/2 years (as of 9/2/09), 3-1/2 of them in LA and one year in the NY office - so I know this studio inside and out. Besides having resided in New York and LA I went to high school and college in Atlanta and lived out my childhood in Massachusetts, both in Boston and the suburbs. I was born in Alabama. I'm 36 years old, love movies (obviously), am a politics junkie and a book nerd. Got questions? Comments? Feel free to share below and I'll do my best to get back to you.
My Favorites
Favorite Films 28 DAYS LATER, SIDEWAYS, INVASION/BODY SNATCHERS ('78), THELMA & LOUISE, ALIEN, Aliens, THE THING, SEXY BEAST, The Ice Storm
Favorite Directors Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, The Coen Bros.
Favorite Actors Leo DiCaprio, Sigourney Weaver, Gene Hackman
My Posts
Three Cute Elderly People Shop for Their Grandkids
Mar 11, 2008It's a short video but gives you a little insight into the people you'll meet in YOUNG@HEART -- namely Steve, Jeanne and Dora. Makes me miss my grandparents...
Wonderful YOUNG@HEART Opens In Select Theatres April 9th
Mar 11, 2008I've screened YOUNG@HEART and I have to say that I absolutely adore this movie -- certainly one of my favorites from Fox Searchlight.
I unfortunately tend to view old age negatively (as too many in American society do): a period of life focused on health problems and past memories and, perhaps even tinged with boredom and loneliness. This lovely documentary turns that impression on its head though.
YOUNG@HEART introduces you to real-life senior citizens with a zest for life -- men and women at the end of their lives, who are having the TIME of their lives! -- and continuing to learn and grow and explore.
It's all so inspiring and, yes, a little sad at times. But it wouldn't be realistic if it weren't, and that occasional sadness for the audience is evidence of just how much you come to care for this Massachusetts chorus's vivacious members.
Anyway, keep an eye out for this film in mid-April -- it won the audience award at the LA Film Festival and proved one of the favorites at Sundance this year -- and I promise you'll come away from it positively floating.
AFI's Top 100 Films Announced
Jun 21, 2007I Tivo'ed it last night so haven't yet watched the program, but I think the list below speaks for itself.
While not perfect (tho what list would be?) a coworker and I agree that it strikes a good balance between old classics and more mainstream, digestible fare.
Upset to see that Fargo's missing however...
1. "Citizen Kane," 1941.
2. "The Godfather," 1972.
3. "Casablanca," 1942.
4. "Raging Bull," 1980.
5. "Singin' in the Rain," 1952.
6. "Gone With the Wind," 1939.
7. "Lawrence of Arabia," 1962.
8. "Schindler's List," 1993.
9. "Vertigo," 1958.
10. "The Wizard of Oz," 1939.
11. "City Lights," 1931.
12. "The Searchers," 1956.
13. "Star Wars," 1977.
14. "Psycho," 1960.
15. "2001: A Space Odyssey," 1968.
16. "Sunset Blvd.", 1950.
17. "The Graduate," 1967.
18. "The General," 1927.
19. "On the Waterfront," 1954.
20. "It's a Wonderful Life," 1946.
21. "Chinatown," 1974.
22. "Some Like It Hot," 1959.
23. "The Grapes of Wrath," 1940.
24. "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," 1982.
25. "To Kill a Mockingbird," 1962.
26. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," 1939.
27. "High Noon," 1952.
28. "All About Eve," 1950.
29. "Double Indemnity," 1944.
30. "Apocalypse Now," 1979.
31. "The Maltese Falcon," 1941.
32. "The Godfather Part II," 1974.
33. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," 1975.
34. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," 1937.
35. "Annie Hall," 1977.
36. "The Bridge on the River Kwai," 1957.
37. "The Best Years of Our Lives," 1946.
38. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," 1948.
39. "Dr. Strangelove," 1964.
40. "The Sound of Music," 1965.
41. "King Kong," 1933.
42. "Bonnie and Clyde," 1967.
43. "Midnight Cowboy," 1969.
44. "The Philadelphia Story," 1940.
45. "Shane," 1953.
46. "It Happened One Night," 1934.
47. "A Streetcar Named Desire," 1951.
48. "Rear Window," 1954.
49. "Intolerance," 1916.
50. "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," 2001.
51. "West Side Story," 1961.
52. "Taxi Driver," 1976.
53. "The Deer Hunter," 1978.
54. "M-A-S-H," 1970.
55. "North by Northwest," 1959.
56. "Jaws," 1975.
57. "Rocky," 1976.
58. "The Gold Rush," 1925.
59. "Nashville," 1975.
60. "Duck Soup," 1933.
61. "Sullivan's Travels," 1941.
62. "American Graffiti," 1973.
63. "Cabaret," 1972.
64. "Network," 1976.
65. "The African Queen," 1951.
66. "Raiders of the Lost Ark," 1981.
67. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", 1966.
68. "Unforgiven," 1992.
69. "Tootsie," 1982.
70. "A Clockwork Orange," 1971.
71. "Saving Private Ryan," 1998.
72. "The Shawshank Redemption," 1994.
73. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 1969.
74. "The Silence of the Lambs," 1991.
75. "In the Heat of the Night," 1967.
76. "Forrest Gump," 1994.
77. "All the President's Men," 1976.
78. "Modern Times," 1936.
79. "The Wild Bunch," 1969.
80. "The Apartment, 1960.
81. "Spartacus," 1960.
82. "Sunrise," 1927.
83. "Titanic," 1997.
84. "Easy Rider," 1969.
85. "A Night at the Opera," 1935.
86. "Platoon," 1986.
87. "12 Angry Men," 1957.
88. "Bringing Up Baby," 1938.
89. "The Sixth Sense," 1999.
90. "Swing Time," 1936.
91. "Sophie's Choice," 1982.
92. "Goodfellas," 1990.
93. "The French Connection," 1971.
94. "Pulp Fiction," 1994.
95. "The Last Picture Show," 1971.
96. "Do the Right Thing," 1989.
97. "Blade Runner," 1982.
98. "Yankee Doodle Dandy," 1942.
99. "Toy Story," 1995.
100. "Ben-Hur," 1959.
67 Under-the-Radar Films You Must Rent
Jun 19, 2007I devised this list at least a year ago and will make some new additions soon...
The main question in my mind when I look at it now is: How do you (or I) define "under the radar?"
1. Amores Perros
2. The Apostle
3. Badlands
4. The Barbarian Invasions
5. The Basketball Diaries
6. Being John Malkovitch
7. Best in Show
8. The Big Blue
9. Big Night
10. Billy Elliot
11. Blood Simple
12. Box of Moonlight
13. Breaking the Waves
14. The Brotherhood of the Wolf
15. Buena Vista Social Club
16. The Celebration
17. The Celluloid Closet
18. Central Station
19. Chronos
20. Cinema Paradiso
21. Dancer in the Dark
22. The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys
23. Days of Heaven
24. The Daytrippers
25. The Deep End
26. The Devil’s Backbone
27. The Dreamers
28. East is East
29. Election
30. Gods and Monsters
31. The Good Girl
32. Goodbye, Lenin!
33. Happiness
34. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
35. The Ice Storm
36. I’m the One That I Want
37. In America
38. In the Company of Men
39. The Last Picture Show
40. Like Water for Chocolate
41. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
42. Ma Vie en Rose
43. My Life as a Dog
44. No Man’s Land
45. Paradise Lost
46. Paragraph 175
47. Pelle The Conqueror
48. Raising Victor Vargas
49. The Red Violin
50. The Return
51. Roger and Me
52. Roger Dodger
53. Rushmore
54. Sexy Beast
55. Shallow Grave
56. Shine
57. Steam
58. The Straight Story
59. The Swimming Pool
60. Time Code
61. Together
62. Triplets of Belleville
63. Waiting for Guffman
64. Wild Reeds
65. Wilde
66. Z
67. The Aristocrats (I'm not re-numbering the list for my latest addition.)
Cheryl Hines Makes Me laugh
Jun 19, 2007I think I'd like to know Cheryl in real life. (Though somehow I'm doubting that will happen.) She has a spark about her that's sooo appealing. And she seems FUNNY AS HELL.
In this video she talks about her own experience waiting tables and about her character, a waitress, in Searchlight's WAITRESS.
Cliff's Notes for NIGHT WATCH/NOCHNOI DOZOR
Jun 19, 2007I recommend however that you watch NIGHT WATCH before viewing this video. THEN let some time pass so that you forget enough so that a quick reminder would serve nicely. Then you can watch this video. Then you can go see DAY WATCH.
Got it?
Admit How Inventive/Cute This Is
Jun 19, 2007Though I try to avoid the word "cute" I can't help myself here... Reminds me of comedian Demetri Martin and his use of drawings as reference tools.
Love This Scene From DAY WATCH
Jun 19, 2007And did you know the actor's eyes REALLY popped out? Ya. And captured on film to boot.
Heck, I Just Like the Title: "Farm Sluts"
Jun 19, 2007And who doesn't like Chris Parnell? I met him and his girlfriend at the time in a bar in New York once - seemed like a nice guy. (Though I don't remember laughing...)
My Friend Natalya's Russian Lessons!
Jun 19, 2007My favorite line: "I'm sorry, but you may not park there."
Go, Nat, go...
Get Email Updates
Be the first to know about FREE screenings, exclusive videos, news and more!
Click Here