Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1126636
80 DGA QUARTERLY PHOTOS: (TOP) CRAIG BLANKENHORN/AMC; (BOTTOM LEFT) COURTESY TODD HOLLAND; (BOTTOM RIGHT) PHOTOFEST MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE Todd Holland (Jan. 9, 2000) > Another instant classic in the quirky, eccentric family genre, Malcolm in the Middle revolves around the title character, played by Frankie Muniz, who occasionally addresses the camera directly. Other directorial fl ourishes orchestrated by director Todd Holland included whiplashing camera movement and frequent wide-angle and extreme close-ups. In this sitcom, the parents often act like adolescents and the kids are a source of reason, but with an undercurrent of love and support. Variety called the show a "fresh Valentine to dysfunctional clans everywhere." FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956), Fred M. Wilcox > Like The Wizard of Oz, this groundbreaking sci-fi mile- stone—under the guidance of director Fred M. Wilcox— tapped the best inhouse talent MGM could o er. Al- though the fi lm's overall aes- thetic appears dated today, in many ways it's a precurser to such fi lms as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars and Alien. It's the fi rst fi lm to depict hu- mans traveling through space at hyper-speed, employ an entirely electronic score and depict a robot with its own distinct personality. Wilcox worked his way up the ladder at MGM and was known for his wide-ranging imagination and fi erce attention to detail. MAD MEN Alan Taylor "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" (July 19, 2007) > As The New York Times aptly pointed out in its review of this game-changing series pilot, "There were seven deadly sins practiced in the dawn of the 1960s: smoking, drinking, adultery, sexism, homophobia, anti- Semitism and racism. In its fi rst few minutes, Mad Men taps into all of them." Rather than condoning the kind of behavior that would be considered fatal in today's #MeToo era, the series cast an unfl inching, if jaundiced eye on Madison Avenue hucksters, with dapper Don Draper (Jon Hamm) as its confl icted spirit animal. The pilot—marked by distinctly etched performances—was elegantly framed, sumptuously photographed and impeccably attired, seducing critics across the land and earning a DGA Award for director Alan Taylor.