Tangled Up In Wires » Movie News

Oscar Nominations are Here

ulyssesworkman — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:21:24 +0000

Yes, after 9,000 months of campaigning and preliminary awards, today the Academy separated the contenders from the pretenders and announced who was up for Oscars. There were plenty of surprises, both pleasant and otherwise. Support for Terrance Malick’s masterpiece The Tree of Life was stronger than a lot of people expected, as the film garnered Best Picture and Director nods. Best Actor contained two surprises, as Gary Oldman’s soft spoken spy from Tinker Tailor Solider Spy and Demian Bashir’s illegal immigrant from A Better Life edged out expected frontrunners Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Fassbender. Melissa McCarthy got a well-deserved nomination for Bridesmaids, but unfortunately Albert Brooks got ignored for his work in Drive. Oh and you guys will love this, 9/11 exploitation-fest Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close somehow got nominated for Best Picture. Predictions and analysis to come, but let’s all remember one thing: the Dean from Community is now an Oscar nominee.

Best Picture
The Artist
War Horse
Moneyball
The Descendants
Tree of Life
Midnight in Paris
The Help
Hugo
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Actress
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Viola Davis, The Help
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Best Actor
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy
George Clooney, The Descendants
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Demian Bichir, A Better Life

Best Supporting Actress:
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Best Supporting Actor:
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Director
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, Tree of Life

Best Original Screenplay:
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, Bridesmaids
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Asgar Farhadi, A Separation

Best Adapted Sceenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants
John Logan, Hugo
Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian, Moneyball
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, Ides of March
Peter Straughan and Bridget O’Connor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Foreign Language Film
Bullhead
Footnote
Monsieur Lazhar
A Separation
In Darkness

Best Animated Feature
Rango
A Cat in Paris
Puss in Boots
Kung Fu Panda 2
Chico and Rita

The complete list of nominees is up at Vulture.

Savannah Film Festival Announces Competition Films

Michael — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:30:57 +0000

Once again, TUiW is fortunate enough to go to the Savannah Film Festival and get a sneak peak of some of this year’s Oscar contenders before they hit wide release. Headline films include Roman Polanski’s Carnage and Cannes favorite The Artist, and this morning, the festival announced its competition films. Check out the list below and check back when the festival starts to read our thoughts on them.

A Year in Mooring

USA, 2011, 91 min., HDCam
Director: Chris Eyre
Producers: Kevin Reidy, Sally Jo Effenson
Writer: Peter Vanderwall
Cast: Ayelet Zurer, James Cromwell, Jon Tenney, Taylor Nichols, Josh Lucas

Synopsis: A successful businessman, attempting to escape his past, moves aboard a dilapidated boat in a remote harbor. Told over movements framed by the calendar year, the Young Mariner meets other harbor inhabitants with pasts of their own.

Inuk

France/Greenland, 2010, 90 min., HDCam
Director: Mike Magidson
Producers: Mike Magidson, Sylvie Barbe
Writers: Mike Magidson, Jean-Michel Huctin
Cast: Gaaba Petersen, Ole-Jorgen Hammeken

Synopsis: In Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, sixteen year-old Inuk lives a troubled life with his alcoholic mother and violent step-father. One morning, after pulling the half-frozen boy out of an abandoned car, the social services decide to send Inuk north to a children’s home on a tiny island in the middle of the arctic sea-ice. Shortly after arriving, Inuk meets Ikuma, a local polar bear hunter who has his own share of problems, and is asked to take Inuk on his annual seal-hunting trip. So when Inuk, the troubled boy from the city, joins Ikuma, the last great hunter of the North, on this epic dogsled journey, they will face much more than the bitter cold and fragile sea-ice.

Let Go

USA, 2011, 109 min., HDCam
Director: Brian Jett
Producer: Leif Lillihaugen
Writer: Brian Jett
Cast: Alexandera Holden, Amy Stiller, Brian Huskey, Catherine Reitman, David Denman, Dov Davidoff, Edward Asner, Gillian Jacobs, Johnny Pemberton, Kali Hawk, Kevin Hart, Kirk Fox, Maria Thayer, Rance Howard, Simon Helberg

Synopsis: A comedy that follows the intertwining stories of Walter Dishman, a melancholy parole officer struggling with the doldrums of married life, and three eccentric ex-convicts that were recently placed under his supervision. Using the afflictions of modern love as a common thread, the stories build to a poignant climax as each of the characters struggle to free themselves from both literal and figurative bonds.

Take Me Home

USA, 2011, 97min, Blu-Ray
Director: Sam Jaeger
Producer: Michael Hobert, Jane Kelly Kosek
Writer: Sam Jaeger
Cast: Sam Jaeger, Amber Jaeger, Victor Garber, Cristine Rose, Lin Shaye

Synopsis: When Claire jumps in Thom’s beat-up cab in New York, neither realize that they have just begun a journey together of self-discovery that will have them crossing the United States in an effort to find home.

Is On-Demand Really Killing Movie Theaters?

ulyssesworkman — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:35:40 +0000

There’s an interesting article in the New York Times today about a growing feud between movie studios and the theaters that show their products.

Studios, exhibitors and filmmakers are arguing about the future of the business, and whether people in coming years will be more likely to watch movies in theaters or in increasingly sophisticated home setups mimicking the quality, immediacy and, perhaps, cost, of today’s theatrical experience.

Last week, four studios — Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and Warner Brothers — took the first step in their arrangement with DirecTV to release films two months after their theatrical release.

The first premium on-demand offering came on Thursday, as DirecTV offered Sony’s “Just Go With It,” with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler, for $30. Two dozen filmmakers, including James Cameron and Peter Jackson, fired back with an open letter criticizing the experiment as a threat to theaters.

I find this interesting for a number of reasons. As a cinephile, my first inclination is to side with the exhibitors and filmmakers who are arguing that the movie theater is a vital part of movies as an artform. It is disingenuous of studios to claim that this is anything other than an attempt to make more money by cutting theaters out of the process. Anyone who thinks that the move towards on-demand will stop with putting out movies two months after their theatrical release probably also thought that shutting down Napster would end music piracy. If nothing else, it is incredibly shitty to force theater owners to spend billions of dollars upgrading to digital 3D technology and then pull the rug out from under them by moving to on-demand distribution.

And yet, I don’t actually think I agree with the directors on this one. We live in a country and an economy governed by the ideas of a free market and a healthy competition and I think some healthy competition might be the best thing to improve an experience that is, quite frankly, not all that special at all anymore. Leaving aside the common complaints of too many commercials, obnoxious cell phone and baby wielding patrons, and the exorbitant prices, going to the movies is a frustratingly impersonal experience. Every theater near me has between 12 and 24 screens and the charm and warmth of a Wal-Mart. It is, frankly, an alienating experience; one that I am not willing to fight for and would be more than happy to abandon were a better opportunity to come along.

At first I was somewhat resistant to using on-demand to watch movies, but more and more, I’ve come around to it. Especially living in Charlotte, services like IFC On-Demand offer me movies that I would otherwise not have access to. It has broadened, not narrowed, the range of movies I can see (which seems obvious, but the open letter from the directors argues the opposite – that we need theaters to bring attention to “specialty films” – as if I even have the option of going to the theater to see movies like “Certified Copy” or “Super” if I wanted to). And I get a much more enjoyable experience watching a movie in my home.

The answer is not to stop on-demand home viewing right now (although by charging $30 for movies like Just Go With It, the studios may take care of that themselves). The answer is to evolve, like the business had to do in the 1950s with the invention of television. Places like the Alamo Drafthouse have found a way to make people WANT to go to the movies again (interestingly, one way they’ve done so is by showing a lot of movies that aren’t new studio releases, which is a topic for whole other blog post) and they’re doing quite well for themselves. Like the music industry and the publishing industry, movie theaters find themselves in a time of transition, dealing with a new technology they don’t quite understand. Some will be able to adapt successfully and survive and some won’t. But one thing they can’t do is stop people from wanting and obtaining new technology. Going to the movies used to be an event, the places where they used to be shown were called palaces. Now going to my local AMC or Regal theater has all the appeal and glamour of a trip to Applebee’s. Offer a superior product and people will come.

Oscar Round-Up: The King’s Speech Dominates

Michael — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:39:14 +0000

Last night’s Oscars weren’t full of a lot of surprises, especially at the top, where The King’s Speech took home the awards for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor for Colin Firth and, in a slight surprise, Best Director for Tom Hooper, who beat out David Fincher for the Social Network. Speaking of the Facebook movie, the early Oscar frontrunner only ended up with two statues, one for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Best Original Score and the other for Aaron Sorkin for Best Adapted Screenplay. Also unsurprisingly, Natalie Portman won Best Actress for Black Swan, and Melissa Leo and Christian Bale won the supporting categories, both for The Fighter. See the complete list below:

BEST PICTURE:
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

DIRECTING:
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David Fincher, The Social Network
Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawks, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jackie Weaver, Animal Kingdom

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing), Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Michael Arndt. Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
True Grit (Paramount), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter’s Bone (Roadside Attractions), Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Another Year (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter (Paramount), Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception (Warner Bros.), Written by Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right (Focus Features), Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Seidler

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Biutiful
Dogtooth
In a Better World
Incendies
Outside the Law

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Matthew Libatique
Inception (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Danny Cohen
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit (Paramount) Roger Deakins

FILM EDITING:
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter Paramount Pamela Martin
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Tariq Anwar
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Jon Harris
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

DOCUMENTARY:
Exit through the Gift Shop (Producers Distribution Agency) Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz A Paranoid Pictures Production
Gasland Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic A Gasland Production
Inside Job (Sony Pictures Classics) Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Restrepo (National Geographic Entertainment) Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger An Outpost Films Production
Waste Land Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley (Arthouse Films) An Almega Projects Production

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Killing in the Name (dir: Jed Rothstein)
Poster Girl (dir: Sara Nesson)
Strangers No More (dir: Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon)
Sun Come Up (dor: Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger)
The Warriors of Qiugang (dir: Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon)

ORIGINAL SCORE:
How to Train Your Dragon (Paramount) John Powell
Inception (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

ORIGINAL SONG:
Coming Home from Country Strong (Sony Pictures Releasing (Screen Gems)) Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
I See the Light from Tangled (Walt Disney) Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
If I Rise from 127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
We Belong Together from Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

VISUAL EFFECTS:
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.) Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
Hereafter (Warner Bros.) Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
Inception (Warner Bros.) Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Iron Man 2 (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment, Distributed by Paramount) Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

ART DIRECTION:
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney), Robert Stromberg (Production Design), Karen O’Hara (Set Decoration)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.), Stuart Craig (Production Design), Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)
Inception (Warner Bros.), Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design), Larry Dias and Doug Mowat (Set Decoration)/span>
The King’s Speech (Paramount), Eve Stewart (Production Design), Judy Farr (Set Decoration)
True Grit (Paramount), Jess Gonchor (Production Design), Nancy Haigh (Set Decoration)

COSTUME DESIGN:
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) Colleen Atwood
I Am Love (Magnolia Pictures) Antonella Cannarozzi
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Jenny Beavan
The Tempest (Miramax) Sandy Powell
True Grit (Paramount) Mary Zophres

MAKEUP
Barney’s Version, Adrien Morot
The Way Back, Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

SHORT FILM, ANIMATED
Day & Night (dir: Teddy Newton)
The Gruffalo (dir: Jakob Schuh and Max Lang)
Let’s Pollute (dir: Geefwee Boedoe)
The Lost Thing (dir: Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann)
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

SHORT FILM, LIVE ACTION
The Confession (dir: Tanel Toom)
The Crush (dir: Michael Creagh)
God of Love (dir: Luke Matheny)
Na Wewe (dir: Ivan Goldschmidt)
Wish 143 (dir: Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite)

SOUND EDITING
Inception, Richard King
Toy Story 3, Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
Tron: Legacy, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
True Grit, Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
Unstoppable, Mark P. Stoeckinger

SOUND MIXING
Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
The King’s Speech, Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
Salt, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
The Social Network, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
True Grit, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Academy Award Nominations Announced

Michael — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:38:00 +0000

After all the speculation, we finally have our nominees! The King’s Speech lead the nominations with twelve, with The Social Network also doing pretty darn good. The nominations are below, along with our suggestions of who was snubbed in the major categories. We’ll have some more insightful predictions to share before the February 27 ceremony.

Best Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Who Was Snubbed: Blue Valentine. One of the most heartwrenchingly good films I saw all year, the movie was repeatedly snubbed in all the earlier award shows and ceremonies, so it’s lack of nom

Best Actor
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

Who Was Snubbed: Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine. It was good to see his co-star get a nomination for Best Actress, but Gosling delivered the best performance of his career this year. The question though, of course, is who would you swap out in a tight category.

Best Actress
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Who Was Snubbed: Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right. Annette Bening won the Globe, and there were of course limited slots, but Moore added so much humor and warmth to the film, and is the only glaring omission in this category.

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Who Was Snubbed: Andrew Garfield, The Social Network. It was a breakout year for Garfield, but apparently the Academy isn’t ready to extend an invitation to their club just yet. This is another packed category though, so it’s not a huge stretch to see why he was left out.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Who Was Snubbed: Leslie Manville, Another Year. You want to see one of the best simultaneously funny and heartbreaking performances of the year, check out Ms. Manville’s. Easily my favorite not to be nominated.

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David O. Russell, The Fighter

Who Was Snubbed: Derek Cianfrance, Blue Valentine. The first time director was going to get snubbed no matter what, but his film is among the most overlooked of the year.

Best Original Screenplay
Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Kids Are All Right

Best Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Best Foreign Film
Biutiful (Mexico)
Dogtooth (Greece)
Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Algeria)
Incendies (Canada)
In a Better World (Denmark)

Best Animated Film
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Documentary (Feature)
Exit through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land

Documentary (Short Subject)
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Best Cinematography
Black Swan
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit

Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King’s Speech
The Tempest
True Grit

Film Editing
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network

Makeup
Barney’s Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman

Music (Original Score)
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network

Music (Original Song)
“Coming Home” from Country Strong
“I See the Light” from Tangled
“If I Rise” from 127 Hours
“We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3

Short Film (Animated)
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let’s Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

Short Film (Live Action)
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143d

So How About That Ricky Gervais Controversy?

Michael — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:37:43 +0000

Most of our coverage of the Golden Globes came via Twitter, and our analysis of Ricky Gervais’s second stint as host was limited to a brief “Ricky Gervais killed it in his intro. Tha man doesn’t care who he pisses off.” Well, turns out he pissed off a lot of people, especially Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Philip Berk. Gervais took a couple of big shots at people both in the room and out of it, notably making big jabs at The Tourist (which prompted a scathing look from Johnny Depp and probably a voodoo curse from Angelina Jolie), Tom Cruise (who he referred to as being gay, “probably”), Tim Allen (which pissed off co-presenter Tom Hanks), Robert Downey Jr. (referring to his stints in jail and rehab), and the antics of Charlie Sheen. So how did Ricky get away with it? By not sharing his jokes with the HFPA before the show. Berk responded to the controversy, saying, “”I had absolutely no idea what Ricky was going to say so anything I heard was at the same time you heard it…He definitely crossed the line. And some of the things were totally unacceptable. But that’s Ricky.” Berk seemed uncomfortable addressing Gervais on stage during his brief speech, and he’s not the only one voicing his distaste with the Twitterverse exploding yesterday with responses to the edgy performance. Gervais defended himself yesterday, saying, “Everyone took it well and the atmosphere backstage and at the after show was great…I was allowed to choose who I would introduce in advance. I obviously chose presenters who I had the best jokes for. (And who I knew had a good sense of humor.)” He added that he didn’t think he was going to be invited back next year, which seems like the obvious call.

So what are we to make of this? Honestly, I don’t know who was expecting Gervais to come out and give the normal dull awards show banter, especially after he did almost the same thing last year, albeit not quite as mean spirited. Gervais has always pushed the envelope Damon Lindleof may have said it best when he tweeted, “In case you forgot what made David Brent so brilliant, it’s that he made us feel unsafe, uncomfortable and unable to look away.” If you want someone to talk about how great The Tourist is, you should have hired someone with a lighter reputation. In the end, this looks like it might be the end of Gervais career as an award show host, which means we can look forward to many more years of bland, boring Hollywood schmooze fests.

Golden Globe Nominations Announced

Michael — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:16:54 +0000

It’s that magic time of year again where the Golden Globe nominations come out and get us excited for the Oscar race, and remind us of all that good TV we’ve been watching. The big guns movie wise got a plethora of nods in the categories that mattered, though True Grit was shut out, perhaps because no one has seen it yet, though it hasn’t stopped some other awards. Thanks to the odd Musical or Comedy category at the Globes, we get a nomination for The Tourist, the “thriller” that got nearly universal critical scorn which made nothing at the box office. Boy, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association sure are tastemakers! The TV nominations are also fairly predictable, but the results should be interesting. Ricky Gervais will host the ceremony January 16. The nominations:

Best Picture, Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O. Russell, The Fighter

Best Actress, Drama
Halle Berry, Frankie & Alice
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Actor, Drama
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

Best Musical Or Comedy
Alice In Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist

Best Actress, Musical Or Comedy
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway, Love & Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone, Easy A

Best Actor, Musical Or Comedy
Johnny Depp, Alice In Wonderland
Johnny Depp, The Tourist
Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version
Jake Gyllenhaal, Love & Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Best Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler, The King’s Speech
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours

Best Original Song
“You Haven’t Seen The Last of Me,” Burlesque
“Bound To You,” Burlesque
“Coming Home”, Country Strong
“I See The Light,” Tangled
“There’s A Place For Us,” Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

Best Animated Film
Tangled
Toy Story 3
How To Train Your Dragon
Despicable Me
The Illusionist

Best Foreign-Language Film
I Am Love
Biutiful
The Concert
The Edge
In A Better World

Best TV Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
The Walking Dead

Best Actress, TV Drama
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Katey Sagal, Sons Of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Best Actor, TV Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

Best TV Comedy
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
The Big C
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie

Best Actress, TV Comedy
Toni Collette, The United States Of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Lea Michele, Glee

Best Actor, TV Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matthew Morrison, Glee
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Best Supporting Actress, TV
Hope Davis, The Special Relationship
Jane Lynch, Glee
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Julia Stiles, Dexter
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Best Supporting Actor, TV
Scott Caan, Hawaii 5-0
Chris Colfer, Glee
Chris Noth, The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
David Strathairn, Temple Grandin

Best TV Miniseries
Carlos
The Pacific
Temple Grandin
You Don’t Know Jack
Pillars Of The Earth

The Social Network Dominates the National Board of Review Awards

Michael — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 22:04:07 +0000

As we inch closer and closer to movie awards season, and on the heels of the Independent Spirit Awards, the National Board of Review announced its annual list of winners, and this year, it was dominated by The Social Network. The David Fincher film grabbed awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor for Jesse Eisenberg, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The National Board of Review is generally the first measuring stick for Oscar success, and it’s the second year in a row they’ve given the award to a film making a statement on our generation (last year’s winner, Up in the Air focused on the recession). Other notable winners include Best Actress to Leslie Manville for her terrific performance in Another Year, and Best Supporting Actor to Christian Bale for The Fighter. Toy Story 3 was an obvious winner for Best Animated Film, and Of Gods and Men took the award for Best Foreign Film. See the complete list of winners below.

Best Film: The Social Network

Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network

Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Best Actress: Lesley Manville, Another Year

Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter

Best Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Foreign Film: Of Gods and Men

Best Documentary: Waiting For “Superman”

Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3

Best Ensemble Cast: The Town

Breakthrough Performance: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone

Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, Restrepo

Best Original Screenplay: Chris Sparling, Buried

Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: Sofia Coppola, for for writing, directing, and producing Somewhere

William K. Everson Film History Award: Leonard Maltin

NBR Freedom of Expression: Fair Game, Conviction, Howl

Top Eleven Films
Another Year
The Fighter
Hereafter
Inception
The King’s Speech
Shutter Island
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Top Ten Independent Films
Animal Kingdom
Buried
Fish Tank
The Ghost Writer
Greenberg
Let Me In
Monsters
Please Give
Somewhere
Youth in Revolt

Top Six Foreign Films
I Am Love
Incendies
Life, Above All
Of Gods And Men
Soul Kitchen
White Material

Top Six Documentary Films
A Film Unfinished
Inside Job
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Restrepo
The Tillman Story
Waiting For “Superman”

Winter’s Bone Leads Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

Michael — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:47:01 +0000

After taking home the top prize at last night’s Gotham Awards, Winter’s Bone leads the pack in nominations for the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards, just announced a little bit ago. The dark story of a girl searching for her estranged, meth-addled father netted seven nominations, which combined with its Gotham win, could strongly bolster its chances with the Academy Awards. The comedy The Kids Are Alright mustered up five nominations itself, while Blue Valentine, which both Jonah and myself enjoyed, was snubbed, only grabbing one nod for Michelle Williams. Here’s the complete list below, along with a few links to our reviews of some of the films.

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer)
127 Hours
Black Swan
Greenberg
The Kids Are All Right
Winter’s Bone

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Danny Boyle, 127 Hours
Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right
Debra Granik, Winter’s Bone
John Cameron Mitchell, Rabbit Hole

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
Everything Strange and New
Get Low
The Last Exorcism
Night Catches Us
Tiny Furniture

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)
Daddy Longlegs
The Exploding Girl
Lbs.
Lovers of Hate
Obsedila

BEST SCREENPLAY
Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right
Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini, Winter’s Bone
Nicole Holofcener, Please Give
David Lindsay-Abaire, Rabbit Hole
Todd Solondz, Life During Wartime

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Diane Bell, Obselidia
Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture
Nik Fackler, Lovely, Still
Bob Glaudini, Jack Goes Boating
Dana Adam Shapiro, Evan M. Wiener, Monogamy

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Greta Gerwig, Greenberg
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

BEST MALE LEAD
Ronald Bronstein, Daddy Longlegs
Aaron Eckhart, Rabbit Hole
James Franco, 127 Hours
John C. Reilly, Cyrus
Ben Stiller, Greenberg

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Ashley Bell, The Last Exorcism
Dale Dickey, Winter’s Bone
Allison Janney, Life During Wartime
Daphne Rubin-Vega, Jack Goes Boating
Naomi Watts, Mother and Child

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Samuel L. Jackson, Mother and Child
Bill Murray, Get Low
John Ortiz, Jack Goes Boating
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Adam Kimmel, Never Let Me Go
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Jody Lee Lipes, Tiny Furniture
Michael McDonough, Winter’s Bone
Harris Savides, Greenberg

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director)
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Marwencol
Restrepo
Sweetgrass
Thunder Soul

BEST FOREIGN FILM (Award given to the director)
Kisses
Mademoiselle Chambon
Of Gods and Men
The King’s Speech
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Anne Hathaway and James Franco to Host Oscars

Michael — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:51:45 +0000

A year after the tag team effort of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, the Oscars are again turning to a pair of big names to host their annual ceremonies, this time with Anne Hathaway and James Franco. While there’s been no official word, the story is being widely reported, and originated from the always accurate (no sarcasm) Nikki Finke. What’s particularly interesting about this move is that Franco himself might be up for an Oscar for 127 Hours and lots of good things have been said about Hathaway in Love and Other Drugs. There is recent awards show precedence however, since Neil Patrick Harris hosted the Emmys the same year he was nominated. Of course, the Emmys are like Burger King to the Oscars’ Chili’s, so I guess it doesn’t really matter. Either way, it should be an interesting pairing to watch.