The Weinstein Company looks to have another impressive slate of films hitting the stateside this upcoming awards season. Naturally, AMPAS voters, as well as Oscar prognosticators, will be looking to them for strong acting contenders. For the past several years, the Weinstein Company has produced at least one acting winner every year dating back to 2008. Just this last year, they managed to get “it” girl Jennifer Lawrence an Oscar for David O. Russell’sSilver Linings Playbook (2012) along with Christoph Waltz nabbing his second Oscar for Quentin Tarantino’sDjango Unchained (2012).
This year, names like Michael B. Jordan, Forest Whitaker, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Julia Roberts will be fighting it out for recognition. One film that has many reluctant to place high on predictions lists is Justin Chadwick’sMandela: Long Walk to Freedom starring Idris Elba and Naomie Harris. Unsure of the hesitation given its pure Oscar-bait aura, perhaps its Morgan Freeman’s recent nomination for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela in Clint Eastwood’sInvictus (2009) or maybe its the only other films in director Chadwick’s resume include The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) and The First Grader (2010), two decent but very forgettable pictures. Needless to say, we will still anticipate the upcoming film with a certain amount of reservation and hope that Elba’s portrayal can at the very least, propel him to the super-stardom he clearly deserves.
Up until now, there’s been less out there on Guillermo del Toro’s “giant robots vs giant monsters” movie Pacific Rim than you’d expect, but it’s easily one of the more highly anticipated films of 2013. A brand new Trailer has just hit, and it should only increase interest. I’ve always been on the fence to some degree, but now I’m solidly on board. After the jump you can take a gander at the flick, which seems to promise a great summer movie experience. At the very least, it’s going to deliver on its promise of monsters and robots duking it out. Check out why humanity is canceling the apocalypse below. Read more on New Trailer for ‘Pacific Rim’ Drops!…
After the massive success of The Avengers, Marvel is kicking off Phase 2 in earnest as they look towards summer 2015′ sequel to that massive film. But first we’ll be treated to some stand alone sequels, one of which is Thor: The Dark World, which just dropped an intriguing teaser trailer. This film sees Thor fighting to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all. Check it out after the jump! Read more on ‘Thor: The Dark World’ Teaser Trailer Drops, highlights fun reuinions, dark elves…
Awards Circuit Power Hour is up and alive again this week with a jammed-packed agenda for all of your listening pleasures. A lot of great stuff to talk about from the past week:
Directed By: Justin Chadwick Written By: William Nicholson Cast: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, and Mark Elderkin
Synopsis: There is no official synopsis released for this film yet, but it is based on the book “Long Walk to Freedom” by South African President Nelson Mandela.
It’s March! We get started right away and over the past few weeks after the Oscar ceremony, I took some brief stabs at some categories. Those have been tinkered with and will be reflected on the actual Oscar Prediction pages in the next couple of days. The full listing of predicted nominees is on the sidebar with the list of contenders on the Oscar Prediction pages for Picture, Director, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, and Animated Feature.
Obviously categories like Original Song are merely speculation because we don’t know what film will have an eligible song attached. Disney and Pixar films are good for a song or two so that’s always a good place to start. Read more on Oscar Circuit – 2014 Films and Minority Contenders…
Anytime TWC gets behind a biopic, its worth taking notice (just ask Meryl Streep). Golden Globe® winner Idris Elba will be playing the iconic figure, and Skyfall’s Naomie Harris will be playing his wife. After the jump you can have a look at the official press release for more information on the upcoming film, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
So I know we’ve been all awards obsessed for the past few days, but can we take a moment to appreciate two trailers released this week? Warner Bros premiered footage from both of Man of Steel and Pacific Rim at Comic-Con and have been surprisingly quiet about the films till now. First up is the beautiful trailer for Man of Steel about the best superhero of all time aka Superman. I want to be cautiously optimistic cause Zack Snyder is the master of delivering a great trailer and a lackluster film, but I can’t help being excited about the direction they are taking Superman.
In terms of cities being blown up/destroyed/at the center of global disasters, San Francisco is second only to New York City in most destroyed city in film. As someone who grew up in the Bay Area, I always find a perverse delight in seeing San Francisco at the center of destruction in movies so count me in the multitude of people who are enjoying the viral trailer for Guillermo Del Toro’s new film. Pacific Rim, which had an enthusiastic reaction at Comic-Con this summer, is breaking it’s radio silence with a new viral video and blueprints for the robots that will fight the attackers, with rumors swirling that a first trailer will arrive in front of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Check out the cool video and poster after the jump!
The Primetime Emmy Awards are just around the corner and while Joseph and I had fun talking to each other during our Emmy Chatter series, we’re tired of each other’s voices and want to hear from you the readers! So join us and the rest of the staff on Sunday at 7:00/4:00 pm as we live blog the Primetime Emmy Awards, covering everything from red carpet snafus to the awards as they are handed out live. The full list of nominees is available here and you can peep Joseph and I’s predictions after the jump. See you Sunday!
Hello Awards Circuit! The Emmys are right around the corner and we thought it might be fun to break from a traditional article/recap of the nominees and do a chat in live blog form. Each entry will cover a particular section of the nominated field (ie. Drama, Comedy, Reality TV, TV Miniseries or Moive). This weeks chat will focus on the TV Miniseries or Movie category that sees many Hollywood heavyweights battling it out in long form.
OUTSTANDING TV MINISERIES OR MOVIE
American Horror Story
Game Change
Hatfields & McCoys
Hemingway and Gellhorn
Luther
Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia
Terence: I don’t know what your opinion of the nominees is, but this is perhaps the strongest field we’ve had in a while.
Joseph: I concur. I believe any of the nominated series could potentially win, but I pray it’s not the disappointing, thinly-plotted Hemingway & Gelhorn. I’m rooting for Game Change, just because I know American Horror Story will more than likely be nominated next year and the year after and the year after…
Terence: Yeah you’re right about Hemingway & Gelhorn seeming like the weakest in this field. I LOVED American Horror Story this season, although I think it’s committing slight category fraud (no matter what the Emmy Committee says!) But I have a confession to make…
While I liked ‘The Intouchables’ when I saw it earlier this year (and reviewed it here), I easily saw rough edges that suggested a remake wasn’t the worst idea in the world. The combination of Paul Feig in the director’s chair and Colin Firth in the co-lead role of a rich quadriplegic is very promising, and now The New York Post is reporting here that the other leading part could come down to either Idris Elba, Jaime Foxx, or Chris Rock, with Jessica Chastain circling the female lead as well. After the jump you can see a plot summary from my original review, but this could be one to look forward to in the next year or so. It’s now going to be called ‘Untouchable’, but the story should still be the same, and you can see it below…
With all that goes into a movie – even relatively small indies – I sometimes wonder how so many of them end up being as misguided as they are. You have writers, directors, producers, and who knows how many other outside collaborators all giving their inputs on a single story through several pre-production drafts and months of principle photography all the way to post plus test audiences. How does a movie like, say, The Blind Side go through all of that and not have anyone say, “Hey, maybe that line ‘I’m not changin’ that boy’s life…he’s changin’ mine!’ is a little…trite?” Then again, I guess you could apply that level of bafflement to a number of badlyexecutedplans from otherwise smart, driven people. Chalk it up to hubris, blind ambition, too many hands in the pot or whatever; at the end of the day, we’re still going to have to deal with the ill-conceived farrago that is Prometheus in front of us, the kind of bad movie that only a group of highly distinguished artists could make. Read more on Prometheus (*½)…
Oh my, what is this? One of the most anticipated movies of the year seems to be causing a bit of a stir if the early responses are an indication of what’s to come when everyone sees it (and certainly everyone from Awards Circuit will/has)…
That’s right; Ridley Scott’s long awaited sort-of-Alien-prequel-but-not thriller Prometheus is finally upon us! Is it the sci-fi masterpiece that fully lives up to the standard Sir Scott set with Blade Runner and Alien? Well…depends on who you ask. While the majority of critics are leaning positive overall for its visual wizardry and performances, some frustrations have been raised about the film’s script, including our own Mike Ward’s mostly positive take. Frankly, I welcome the debate. Even if it’s as flawed as some of its harshest detractors are saying, I’d rather watch a misfire with huge ambitions than a proficient example of assembly-line filmmaking. Read more on Weekend Openings (June 8-10)…
For about a 4-5 year span, Ridley Scott ruled the movie world. Arriving amidst a post-George Lucas and Star Wars science fiction fervor, Scott brought unpredictability, horror, intensity, and edginess to the science-fiction world with 1979′s iconic Alien. Scott likewise defined much of the look and structure of a great number of post-apocalyptic cinema for decades to come with 1982′s Blade Runner. Both Alien and Blade Runner spawned countless copycats and although Blade Runner failed to initially click with audiences and critics alike, Alien earned the respect and admiration of virtually everyone. With everyone buzzing about Star Wars in 1977, and rightfully so of course, Alien placed science-fiction and horror together on a grand and epic scale, introducing us to another iconic and unforgettable heroine, Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver.
Alien‘s success earned the film two Oscar nominations and a win for Best Visual Effects. As the film proved to be a big success, people demanded more in the franchise and while three sequels have been made, Ridley Scott shared no involvement. Scott likewise avoided any involvement in those ill advised Alien vs. Predator films and truth be told, science-fiction filmmaking in general. However, the itch became too hard to ignore and with Prometheus, Ridley Scott has returned to the genre and franchise that launched his career.
Prometheus is set to debut in the US this Friday and 20th Century Fox is still finding new avenues for marketing. In advanced of its premiere, they’ve released a new poster for the IMAX showings of the film with the tagline “We came from them. They will come for us.”
It seems like Guillermo del Toro is always working on an ambitious project. After bowing out of directing The Hobbit, del Toro turned his sights on Legendary Pictures’ Pacific Rim. Combining monsters and robots, the flick has been shrouded in secrecy until recently. Fanboy Confidential has uncovered the plot synopsis for the film that you can read after the jump.
We at The Awards Circuit do our best to bring you interesting content and breaking news. However, even the super human writers we have here become mortal and miss some of the news. This new Late Pass series will cover any of the major casting or production news we might have missed during the week and will catch you up on items we haven’t written full articles about. Enjoy!
Directed by: Ridley Scott Written by: Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, Charlize Theron
Synopsis:A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
Awards Speculation:
Wait a bloody minute, what’s this film doing here!? Weren’t we only covering possible Oscar contenders with Awards Profiles? We are, and I’m not going to patronize anyone by suggesting that this science-fiction thriller will nab the famous Brit his first Best Director Academy Award, because it won’t. Read more on Awards Profile: Prometheus…
Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal’s upcoming Bin Laden film is beginning to get ready for filming, and of course, that means a cast is required. It originally looked like Joel Edgerton would be in the lead, but it seems he’s not involved anymore. His ‘Warrior’ co-star, however…that’s a different story, plus a great deal of other big names. Deadline has the details:
The Weinstein Company looks to have another impressive slate of films hitting the stateside this upcoming awards season. Naturally, AMPAS voters, as well as Oscar prognosticators, will be looking to them for strong acting contenders. For the past several years, the Weinstein Company has produced at least one acting winner every year dating back to 2008. Just this last year, they managed to get “it” girl Jennifer Lawrence an Oscar for David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook (2012) along with Christoph Waltz nabbing his second Oscar for Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012).
After the massive success of The Avengers, Marvel is kicking off Phase 2 in earnest as they look towards summer 2015′ sequel to that massive film. But first we’ll be treated to some stand alone sequels, one of which is Thor: The Dark World, which just dropped an intriguing teaser trailer. This film sees Thor fighting to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all. Check it out after the jump! 
So I know we’ve been all awards obsessed for the past few days, but can we take a moment to appreciate two trailers released this week? Warner Bros premiered footage from both of Man of Steel and Pacific Rim at Comic-Con and have been surprisingly quiet about the films till now. First up is the beautiful trailer for Man of Steel about the best superhero of all time aka Superman. I want to be cautiously optimistic cause Zack Snyder is the master of delivering a great trailer and a lackluster film, but I can’t help being excited about the direction they are taking Superman.
