 Every year, I engage in one of the strangest traditions a sports fan can take part in. I spend 3 full days watching the NFL draft. Hours upon hours of coverage on college athletes who are more likely to disappoint than succeed on the pro level, and for some reason I can never get enough. It’s never really been the focus of a movie though (short of a few scenes in ‘Jerry Maguire’), to my sadness. Well, Deadline is reporting here that Ivan Reitman is going to change that, taking on a football comedy spec script called ‘Draft Day’. After the jump you can see what it’s about (but think the aforementioned ‘Jerry Maguire’ meets ‘Moneyball’), but it sounds like a fun little flick to me…
Read more on Ivan Reitman has an NFL Draft themed film in the works…
Why is this such big news, you ask? By crossing the $600 million mark domestically, Marvel’s The Avengers becomes only the third film to ever register such a feat. The film’s global total is now estimated at $1.438 billion, and it stands as the number three film of all time both globally and domestically.
Check out some of the records The Avengers has shattered after the jump…
Read more on ‘The Avengers’ to Cross $600 Million Domestic Today!…
How do you feel about a preliminary Golden Globes-type announcement mid-way through ACCA 2000?
We would reveal the results next Friday in Drama and Musical/Comedy categories and then the official ACCA nominations on July 6th. A special group of readers will be selected to vote on the winners of the Preliminary ACCA categories. Read more on Question for our Awards Circuit Readers!…
 Welcome to the Awards Circuit Community Awards Voting Station. We are diving back in time to revisit films and performances that might have deserved more recognition than previously thought. The next year in question is 2000, the year Ridley Scott’s Gladiator defeated the likes of Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic. Do you feel the same way now? How about when Cameron Crowe’s beloved Almost Famous missed out on a Best Picture mention? Do you feel Bjork should have been among the five strong women for Dancer in the Dark? Does Russell Crowe still get your vote over Tom Hanks or Geoffrey Rush? It’s your time to shine! Check em’ all out and vote for your favorites!
Here are some rules for the voting process of the longlists:
Read more on Awards Circuit Community Awards Year 2000 opens up for voting!…
It’s Tyler Perry like you’ve never seen him before. But can you take him seriously? The actor, best known for being in full drag as Madea, is taking over the role of Alex Cross, a D.C. detective based on the character from the best-selling James Patterson novels. Morgan Freeman previously played Cross in Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls. From the trailer, I’m not so sure Perry pulled it off. In fact, the film kind of looks a mess, and you should be warned that it’s one of those trailers that appears to give the entire film away.
However, as a big fan of LOST, I have long championed Matthew Fox’s transition to film. So while this doesn’t look like a very promising movie, I’m hoping his performance will be good enough to turn some heads and get him better roles in the near future. He’s an underrated talent waiting for the right film opportunity.
Directed by Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious, xXx), Alex Cross opens on October 19th. Check out the trailer and poster after the jump…
Read more on First Trailer and Poster for Thriller ‘Alex Cross’…
To best understand who Batman is, you must first go to the man behind the mask: Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne is often seen as an “irresponsible and superficial playboy” who lives off the inheritance of his family’s private technology firm, Wayne Enterprises, when in essence he has created this childish persona to hide his secret identity. The facade includes being a dim-witted alcoholic, when in reality he is incredibly clever, pretending that the ginger ale in his glass is liquor. It is an ironic reality that the man behind the mask is indeed the mask itself.
There are several variations of origin stories that have been told for “The Caped Crusader.” However, the most commonly told storyline is based on the 1939 Detective Comics series created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. The comic book tells us how Bruce was born into immense wealth as the child of Gotham City socialites Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha. Tragically, his parents were both gunned down in front of his eyes, traumatizing the young boy and planting the seed in him to grow into the crime-fighting “Dark Knight.” He swore an oath to avenge his parents by ridding Gotham City of corruption and evildoers, and took on the disguise of a giant bat to strike terror into his enemies, thus becoming Batman.
Read more on Batman after the jump.
Read more on Understanding the Character: Batman…
 I’ve mentioned it a few times before here on the site, but I’ve only now come to be a Nicolas Winding Refn fan. Until ‘Drive’, I’d always thought he was a mixed bag as a filmmaker (yes, even with the cult favorite film ‘Bronson’), but now he’s put it into gear and I’m real interested in all of his upcoming projects. For those who are fans of his like me, there’s an online documentary that’s making the rounds and is very interesting (including some nice words from Ryan Gosling and others about the director). You can see it after the jump, and feel free to discuss anything Nicolas Winding Refn-related here at The Awards Circuit. Take a look at the doc below…
Read more on Want to watch a Documentary about Nicolas Winding Refn?…
 A flawed, but endlessly fascinating and enjoyable show, The Newsroom is more like enjoyable romps True Blood and Scandal that reach occasional greatness but aren’t classics like The Sopranos or Sorkin’s wonderful The West Wing. Sorkin has crafted a very romantic, some would say idealistic, look at a newsroom and even when this show gets a bit messy or preachy, it still manages to entertain. Critics have been sharpening their knives to dig into this show, and while it deserves a critical eye, this show is crafted for maximum audience appeal and should find a pretty good audience on HBO.
Read more on TV Review: Newsroom (***)…
 This week, we have a very interesting group of films hitting Blu-Ray/DVD for your purchasing pleasure. Especially in terms of my top two selections, there’s an intriguing relationship, since they share the same genre but couldn’t be any further apart from each other otherwise. The other flicks out as well don’t really have that much to offer, but it’s hardly a wasteland (though one release I teased in the most recent podcast is not actually out this week, and rather is hitting in late July). Still, it’s a two horse race this week for my top spot. My choice for the PICK OF THE WEEK frankly came down to last year’s Best Picture winner and one of this year’s surprise successes. Which one did I choose? Well, it may not be the one that you expect (though maybe it is if you’ve been paying attention over the last 9 months or so). It’s:
21 Jump Street
I’ll never argue that this action comedy remake of the television series of the same name is necessary, but man was it ever funny. Besides being a terrific vehicle for Jonah Hill, it’s also the rare flick that finds a good use for Channing Tatum. The movie’s tongue is firmly planted in its cheek, and rightly so. This film deserved all of the success that it received, and now that it’s out on DVD there’s no reason not to add this to your comedy collection. It’s one of the dozen best films of the year so far, if you can believe it…
Read more on Joey’s DVD Picks of the Week (6/26/2012)…
 ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is going to make a lot of money, that’s for sure. The question is just how much, and how long it’ll reign at the top of the box office charts. Universal isn’t sure how much money the Warner Brothers flick will take in, but it’s probably enough to potentially affect their franchise film ‘The Bourne Legacy’. The Playlist is reporting here that the studio is bumping its release date by a week to avoid Batman as best as possible. After the jump you can see how the schedule now shapes up, but I think this makes sense. Bourne should be a fun flick, but it’s no Batman…
Read more on ‘The Bourne Legacy’ moves its release date to avoid ‘The Dark Knight Rises’…
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Every year, I engage in one of the strangest traditions a sports fan can take part in. I spend 3 full days watching the NFL draft. Hours upon hours of coverage on college athletes who are more likely to disappoint than succeed on the pro level, and for some reason I can never get enough. It’s never really been the focus of a movie though (short of a few scenes in ‘Jerry Maguire’), to my sadness. Well, Deadline is reporting here that Ivan Reitman is going to change that, taking on a football comedy spec script called ‘Draft Day’. After the jump you can see what it’s about (but think the aforementioned ‘Jerry Maguire’ meets ‘Moneyball’), but it sounds like a fun little flick to me…
