Link(s) of the week:
The big talk around the web this week centered around everyone’s final predictions before the nominations were announced on Thursday. Hindsight’s a bitch, so you can now look back and see how they all did: The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg, The Playlist’s Oliver Lyttelton, The Film Experience’s Nathaniel Rogers, Awards Daily’s Sasha Stone, Collider’s Adam Chitwood, Living in Cinema’s Craig Kennedy, Rope of Silicon’s Brad Brevet, and In Contention’s Gregory Ellwood, Guy Lodge, and Kris Tapley.
Read more on Around the Circuit: January 5th – January 11th…
The American Cinema Editors (ACE) nominations used to be announced prior to the Oscar nominations, and would be a good bellwether towards the eventual Oscar outcome. But with AMPAS moving up their date to turn in ballots, and ACE sticking firmly to their normal procedures, their noms ended up coming in after the fact. The ACE Eddies award excellence in Film Editing in four categories: Drama, Comedy/Musical, Animated, and Documentary. All five Oscar noms are recognized by ACE. The 63rd annual ACE Eddie Awards will be held on February 16, have a look at the full slate of nominees after the jump.
Read more on ACE Eddie Nominations: Round Up The Usual Suspects…
 It has been said that good things come to those who wait. Many know the story of Gangster Squad being delayed due to the horrific shootings in Aurora, CO in July and having to reshoot a crucial scene (the original was a theater shootout). Whether that re-shot scene had anything to do with the dismal final product we will probably never know but after seeing the film they could have stood to redo the entire film. Gangster Squad is a stylistic mess of a movie that gets bogged down by trying to be every gangster film you’ve ever seen without the aspects that made those movies great.
Read more on Gangster Squad (*½)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Anthony Mackie, emma stone, Film, film reviews, Gangster Squad, Giovanni Ribisi, Josh Brolin, Michael Pena, Mirelle Enos, Robert Patrick, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Terence Johnson
1600 Penn (9:30 ET on NBC) is a new sitcom about the most dysfunctional First Family to date. But after the first scene alone, I knew the main dysfunction would be in the writing. Bill Pullman plays the President (a role he was much more capable of playing 17 years ago in Independence Day), while Jenna Elfman (of Dharma and Greg) is the First Lady. Their children are played by an over-the-top Josh Gad (The Book of Mormon), Martha MacIsaac, Amara Miller, and Benjamin Stockham.
Read more on ’1600 Penn’ (½*)…
With the New Year’s hangover slowly wearing off and few new stimulants entering circulation, there’s now ample time to catch up on the overload of awards-contending films, with the nationwide release of Zero Dark Thirty finally completing the best picture category. Expect the box-office to reflect some of the film’s early critical acclaim, especially since its competing new comers, like Gangster Squadand Quartetgarner only mild curiosity in comparison.
Read more on Weekend Openings: 1/11/2013…
Categories: Weekend Openings Tags: Billy Connolly, Chris Colfer, Chris Messina, Christina Hendricks, Dustin Hoffman, emma stone, Eva Longoria, Fairhaven, Gangster Squad, Jason Clarke, Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, kathryn bigelow, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Quartet, Rebel Wilson, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Zero Dark Thirty
 It’s only the beginning of January, but I feel confident in saying that writer/director Don Coscarelli’s new film ‘John Dies at the End’ will wind up one of the most unique movies of the year. Now, that doesn’t mean it’s an especially good flick, but it’s got some major balls, and I do give partial credit for that. Parts of the film are genuinely inspired and recall the near brilliance of Coscarelli’s prior work, the cult classic ‘Bubba Ho-Tep’. On the other hand, however, there’s far too many moments where things feel half baked or hamstrung by either the bizarre source material or the small scale budget. I have no doubt that Coscarelli stretched those few dollars in creative ways, but the sometimes dodgy CGI does him no favors. Aside from a fun supporting turn by Paul Giamatti, the acting isn’t anything to write home about either. Read more on John Dies at the End (**½)…
Pixar’s new animated short film, The Blue Umbrella, will opens in theaters on June 21, 2013, in front of Monsters University. Have a look at a clip from the film, directed by Saschka Unseld, after the jump.
Read more on Pixar’s ‘The Blue Umbrella’ Short Film Clip…
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