Directed by: Akiva Goldsman
Written by: Akiva Goldsman, based on the novel by Mark Helprin
Stars: Will Smith, Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Matt Bomer, William Hurt, Kevin Durand
Read more on Awards Profile: Winter’s Tale…
 After a couple of days away from the festival (unfortunately the day job can’t be completely ignored!) and a disastrous experience courtesy of the London transport system (missing yesterday’s Argo screening due to a cancelled train has to be the low point of my year so far), I was finally back to Leicester Square for the second week of the BFI London Film Festival. There were plenty of highlights from week 1, which you can catch up with here, but my sixth day at the festival brought me to two great movies: Rolling Stones documentary Crossfire Hurricane, and hilarious black comedy Seven Psychopaths. Reviews after the jump…
Read more on BFI London Film Festival – DAY 6…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: BFI, BFI London Film Festival, Colin Farrell, Crossfire Hurricane, Documentary Feature Film, LFF, London Film Festival, Martin McDonagh, Mick Jagger, Olga Kurylenko, Sam Rockwell, seven psychopaths, The Rolling Stones, Woody Harrelson
 Seven Psychopaths is a movie about…well I’m still processing the film and its many interpretations. On the surface it’s just a black comedy about crazy people acting crazy telling crazy stories. But more than that, Martin McDonagh’s film is an exploration of screenwriting and a bristling take down (send up?) of male dominated action comedies. It’s a film that will leave you puzzled, especially after a rough first half hour, but the more you open your mind to will prove revelatory, entirely engrossing and incredibly funny. While there are so many recursive elements to the story one could get lost but my pal Mark Johnson summed up the set up beautifully: Seven Psychopaths is the tale of a struggling screenwriter (Colin Farrell) who gets mixed up with the mob after his delinquent friends (Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken) kidnap an eccentric gangster’s (Woody Harrelson) precious Shih Tzu.
Read more on Seven Psychopaths (***½)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Christopher Walken, Colin Farrell, film review, film reviews, Gabourey Sidibe, Martin McDonagh, Michael Pitt, Michael Stuhlbarg, Olga Kurylenko, Sam Rockwell, seven psychopaths, Woody Harrelson, Željko Ivanek
 Ladies and gentlemen, we come now to part 3 of the Sizing up series. This one is as close to an all-encompassing grouping of the hopefuls for Best Actor as possible (excluding some no shot contenders). I’m looking to categorize them by their assumed likelihood of a nomination come the big morning, but clearly there’s plenty of guesswork at play here as well. For my money, this is the most competitive category outside of Best Picture and possibly Best Director. There’s a bunch of top-tier contenders that all could win, let alone get nominated, so this is a bit of a top-heavy category.
Read more on Sizing Up: Best Actor…
Categories: Article Tags: analysis, Andy Samberg, Anthony Hopkins, Best Actor, Bill Murray, Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, Colin Farrell, Daniel Day-Lewis, Entertainment/Culture, Hugh Jackman, Jack Black, Jake Gyllenhaal, jamie foxx, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Joaquin Phoenix, John Hawkes, Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, Matthew McConaughey, Oscar hopeful, paul rudd, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Gere, Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Sizing up, Sizing Up series, Tom Hardy, TOM HOLLAND
 If you’re a fan of ‘In Bruges’, then chances are you’ve been looking forward to this for a while now. Martin McDonagh wowed many with his last flick, and now he’s returning to theaters this year with a new film in ‘Seven Psychopaths’, which debuted a Trailer today. Starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, and more, this looks like a fantastically offbeat good time, not to mention being a really clever almost parody of Trailers in and of itself. You can see the Trailer after the jump, but count me in. It debuts at the Toronto Film Festival, and hits theaters in October, which can’t come soon enough for me. Take a gander below:
Read more on Here’s the Trailer for ‘Seven Psychopaths’!…
 The second half of the year is upon us. The race is about to heat up with big Oscar hopefuls coming down the pike. Our John Foote will be in attendance at the Toronto International Film Festival and many films will be unveiling themselves to critics alike. There is a very unclear yet still feasible shape to the race looking from ten thousand feet.
There are internet jitters building for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master starring Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman. With the trailers released and now the film being pushed up to September, it looks as though we may be in store for a master class in filmmaking. Phoenix also looks to be a lead contender for his first Oscar after delivering in his previous nominated works, Gladiator (2000) and Walk the Line (2005). Phoenix does have tough competition ahead of him including what looks to be a critical darling-type performance coming from John Hawkes in Ben Lewin’s The Sessions. Early word is very positive for the film and the turns by Hawkes along with co-stars Helen Hunt and William H. Macy. Since Hawkes’ initial nomination two years ago for Winter’s Bone, he hasn’t shown any signs of letting up. He was arguably left off last year in Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene and will be seen later this year in Julia Dyer’s The Playroom and Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. There seems to be a tremendous following and support for him in his current state. Speaking of Spielberg, we’re still awaiting some type of marketing material for his upcoming Lincoln biopic. No poster or trailer has been released with very few stills leaked online. One starts to think if it will even be ready in time.
Taking a look at the next couple of months, the circuit will begin to reveal itself.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: “It’s the time of the season”…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: Amour, Amy Adams, ang lee, Anna Karenina, Anne Hathaway, Arbitrage, Argo, Ava DuVarney, Ben Affleck, Bill Murray, Bradley Cooper, Brave, bryan cranston, Carey Mulligan, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz, Christopher Walken, Clint Eastwood, Cloud Atlas, Colin Farrell, Daniel Barnz, Daniel Day-Lewis, David O. Russell, Django Unchained, Editor, Elizabeth Olsen, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Flight, Fun-Size, Great Expectations, Halle Berry, Helen Hunt, Hyde Park on Hudson, jamie foxx, Joaquin Phoenix, Joe Wright, John Goodman, John Hawkes, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, judd apatow, Justin Timberlake, kathryn bigelow, Killing Them Softly, Laura Linney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Les Miserables, Liam Neeson, Liberal Arts, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Logan Lerman, Looper, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Martin McDonagh, Michael Haneke, Middle of Nowhere, Moonrise Kingdom, nicole kidman, Not Fade Away, olivia colman, Olivia Williams, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions, Paul Thomas Anderson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin Tarantino, Rian Johnson, Richard Gere, Rise of the Guardians, Roger Michell, Russell Crowe, Rust and Bone, Sam Rockwell, Seth Rogen, seven psychopaths, Silver Linings Playbook, Skyfall, Steven Spielberg, the dark knight rises, The Grandmasters, The Guilt Trip, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Impossible, The Man with the Iron Fists, The Master, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Sessions, tom hanks, Trouble with the Curve, Viola Davis, Woody Harrelson, Wreck-It Ralph, Zero Dark Thirty
 I’m hardly someone who puts the original ‘Total Recall’ from 1990 up on a pedestal or considers it to be a classic (a cult classic maybe), though compared to the new remake that’s hitting theaters this Friday, it comes close. 2012′s edition of ‘Total Recall’ is completely uninspired and manages to commit a cardinal sin when it comes to remaking movies…it manages to make all the changes to the original changes for the worse. Worse still, the remake then decides to follow the same yet now watered down plot. Paul Verhoeven’s original had its tongue firmly planted in cheek and dove into excess at every turn, but Len Wiseman’s new take just goes through the motions. There’s no humor, no sense of fun, and no Mars. Wiseman actually doesn’t do anything especially terrible behind the camera, but the script by Mark Bomback and Kurt Wimmer is pretty sub par, so the trend of Wiseman working with less than ideal screenplays continue. Colin Farrell is adequate in the lead role, but he’s about as far from Arnold Schwarzenegger as it gets. Every which way that you turn, there’s something mediocre or even disappointing to feast your eyes on. Perhaps the only thing the flick succeeds at is showing off some strong visuals, but that’s a hollow victory for the film. Consider this Early Review a warning…
Read more on Total Recall (**)…
 When I get asked about potential 2013 Oscar players (yes, people are already curious), a few films come to mind. Most are ones people expect to hear, but I also mention ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ as well. This story of Walt Disney and the making of ‘Mary Poppins’ has all the makings of being a real player. It’s set to star Tom Hanks as Disney and Emma Thompson as the author of Poppins, and now The Hollywood Reporter is saying here that Colin Farrell has joined the cast as well. After the jump you can get some more details, but I really like how this one is shaping up. Mark my words, it could be an awards player…
Read more on Colin Farrell will assist in ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ for Disney…
 Directed By: Martin McDonagh
Written By: Martin McDonagh
Cast: Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Abbie Cornish, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Olga Kurylenko, Gabourey Sidibe, Kevin Corrigan, Tom Waits, Zeljko Ivanek
Synopsis (Courtesy of IMDB): A struggling screenwriter inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends kidnap a gangster’s beloved Shih Tzu. Read more on Awards Profile: Seven Psychopaths…
 For Your Consideration–Best Supporting Actor–Charlie Day
Film: Horrible Bosses
Director: Seth Gordon
Screenplay: Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein
Realistic Oscar Chances: None
Oscar Scene: Stabbing Kevin Spacey with the EpiPen
Move over Melissa McCarthy, because the best comedic performance of the year by a landslide was Charlie Day in Seth Gordon’s Horrible Bosses. Mind you, I had never heard of Charlie Day before I had watched the film, and had never really bothered to watch any episodes of the popular series, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, so I was going in completely unaware of the uncontrolled fits of laughter I was about to receive by this comedic genius. In Horrible Bosses, Charlie Day plays Dale Arbus, a dental assistant who is an unfortunate (or fortunate if you agree with the choice of all time sexiest woman in the world) victim of on-the-job sexual harassment from his dentist boss, Dr. Julia Harris, played with such sexually volatile glee by Jennifer Aniston. After his boss uses duplicitous methods that implicate Dale in a false sexual involvement with her as leverage if ever he were to suggest she was sexually taking advantage of him, Dale finds himself stuck in hole he cannot easily climb out of. Julia blackmails him into having sex with her, or else she is going to tell his new fiance about a false affair, and Dale sees no solution in sight. His only source of hope comes from a suggestion from his good buddy, Kurt (played with dark wit by Jason Sudeikis), that Dale and their other friend, Nick (Jason Bateman), should take matters into their own hands to rid themselves of the evil entities that are their bosses and find a way to — for lack of a better term — kill them. And so this premise begins a series of unforgettable laughs and moments that make Charlie Day shine into a potential mainstream comic star.
Read more on Circuit Consideration: Charlie Day For ‘Horrible Bosses’…
 Oscar winning scribe William Monaghan steps into the director’s chair for the first time with rather mixed results in the would be stylish crime thriller ‘London Boulevard’. It’s got a few things to like about it, but it’s so haphazardly done and frustrating to watch that any praise for it has to be limited. Monaghan does perhaps have a future directing once he irons out his issues, since he’s able to get some nice performances from his cast (including Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley, and Ray Winstone), but he’s absolutely in love with his own writing, which leads to plenty of scenes that should be on the cutting room floor, or at least trimmed down. That’s hardly an uncommon issue with screenwriters who step up to direct, but it’s still a problem that shoots his film in the foot. His characters are interesting, and the plot regarding a somewhat reluctant criminal had plenty of potential, but it’s such a mixed bag that I can’t give it my recommendation. It’s a step above mediocre, but that’s not much of a compliment. Sadly, that’s about the highest praise that I can muster for this movie. It’s just not worthy of much else.
Read more on London Boulevard (**½)…
- The events of the previous week – as far as the Oscar season goes – were, shall we say, a complete and utter shitstorm. Obviously the Ratner fiasco was the biggest thing on every Oscar-watcher’s mind for the past few days, but we at The Awards Circuit had plenty of other content for y’all despite that, such as:
Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 11/13)…
Categories: Circuit Round-Up Tags: billy crystal, Brett Ratner, Circuit Round-Up, Clint Eastwood, Colin Farrell, dancing with the stars, eddie murphy, Immortals, J. Edgar, Jack And Jill, Keira Knightley, Melancholia, puss in boots, the artist, The Help, The Son of No One, the x factor
 Colin Farrell
Born: May 31st, 1976
Place: Castleknock, Dublin, Ireland
Major Awards and Citations: Boston Society of Film Critics (2000): Won Best Actor for ‘Tigerland’
British Independent Film Awards (2008): Nominee for Best Actor for ‘In Bruges’
Empire Awards U.K. (2003): Nominee for Best Actor for ‘Minority Report’
Golden Globe Awards (2009): Won Best Actor in a Leading Role- Musical or Comedy for ‘In Bruges’
London Critics Circle Film Awards (2002): Won Newcomer of the Year for ‘Tigerland’
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards (2010): Won Best Actor for ‘Ondine’
Oscar Snubs: ‘Tigerland’ (2000) and ‘In Bruges’ (2008)
Colin Farrell is one of those actors that only occasionally shows off his true potential. In the right role, he’s outstanding, but when miscast or caught in something rather mediocre, he lowers himself to the occasion instead of rising to it. Still, he’s given more than a few excellent performances, more than enough to warrant his inclusion as the newest alumnus in the Under the Circuit series here at The Awards Circuit. Farrell is also a Golden Globe winner, something many of the previous subjects in this series can’t claim. Here’s someone, who as you’ll see, runs the gamut in Hollywood in terms of projects, and he’s a guy that I’m confident has his best days still to come. With that said, let’s dive right in and go Under the Circuit with Colin Farrell!
Read more on Under the Circuit: Colin Farrell…
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