 It’s no secret that Terrence Malick is a filmmaker who isn’t for everyone, but up until now it’s always seemed like his movies have at least been for someone. With To the Wonder however, this seems like the type of film he made for him and him alone, resulting in absolutely no enjoyment for the viewer. One only has to look at the scowl on star Ben Affleck’s face throughout most of the film to see how painful an experience Malick’s latest is to experience. That’s about the type of look that I had on while watching the flick. Read more on To the Wonder (*½)…
 Directed By: Ridley Scott
Written By: Cormac McCarthy
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Dean Norris
Synopsis: A lawyer finds himself in over his head when he gets involved in drug trafficking.
Award Speculation:
It’s so unusual how it seems the internet gets their hands on things even before the studios even do. Cormac McCarthy, the author of “No Country for Old Men” and “The Road,” both of which were adapted into films directed by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen and John Hillcoat respectively. The Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men (2007) obviously went on to win four Oscars including Best Picture. The Counselor is McCarthy’s first original screenplay that was sold in January 2012 to Nick Wechsler, Paula Mae Schwartz, and Steve Schwartz who were producers on The Road (2010). Nearly two weeks after the selling of the script, three-time Academy Award nominee Ridley Scott was announced to be directing the project. Read more on Awards Profile: The Counselor…
Exactly two hours before I began writing up this article, the Producers Guild of America had just announced its complete list of nominees. In the “Theatrical Motion Picture” category, one film appeared that virtually no pundit had thought to anticipate: Sam Mendes’ British-produced Skyfall. But after recently crossing the $1 billion mark worldwide, not to mention its widespread critical acclaim and seven BFCA nominations, does this really comes as that much of a surprise? Oh yes, I forgot…Skyfall is a “genre” film, which means its “Best Picture” chances would usually be at the bottom of the barrel when stacked against baitier competitors that seem destined for Oscar® upon announcement. However, it has two things going for it that critically-beloved moneymakers like The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises do not: a late release closer to the pivotal Oscar® date and, most importantly, a huge chunk of support behind it in the form of the Academy’s hefty British voting bloc, who are no doubt beyond astounded by its record-breaking success, and not just for the James Bond franchise either.
Skyfall is currently the 14th highest grossing movie of all-time and the United Kingdom’s top movie earner in history, barely surpassing James Cameron’s Avatar. Not including the Harry Potter movie franchise, Skyfall is also the most successful British film (Eon Productions) ever released. With these figures and the aforementioned accolades and overall success, it may be time to not just realistically consider Skyfall for “Best Picture,” but also come to the realization that we’ve been underestimating the influential power of the Academy’s British voting bloc throughout this entire race. In addition to Skyfall, I’ll now turn your attention towards award hopefuls who have been under-the-radar all season long like Judi Dench as “M” in Skyfall, Maggie Smith in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and even John Madden’s British ensemble dramedy itself. I strongly believe these four British category contenders will receive their major boost from the crucial British voting bloc in the form of Academy Award™ nominations come the morning of January 10th. After the jump, you will see the ‘Skyfall’ category contenders in this first of a two-part article series…
Read more on Are We Underestimating the British Voting Bloc? (‘Skyfall’ Edition)…
Categories: Article Tags: Ann Dowd, Best Supporting Actress, BFCA, British films, Jacki Weaver, Javier Bardem, judi dench, Kelly Reilly, nicole kidman, oscar predictions 2013, oscars 2013, PGA nominations, Precursors, SAG, Sam Mendes, Samantha Barks
Terence Malick’s latest film, To the Wonder, played at the Venice and Toronto film festivals this year, and now we are finally getting a look at this first beautiful trailer. The film, as it seems to be with all Malick’s movies, looks stunning, thanks in large part to the great Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography. The early reviews have been divisive, which is also a commonality with Malick films. To the Wonder stars Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams, and Olga Kurylenko, and opens in the US on April 12th.
Read more on Malick’s ‘To the Wonder’ Trailer Arrives…
 18th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards
Winners to be announced live on the CW Television Network from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on January 10, 2013.
BEST PICTURE
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Read more on Critics Choice Nominations Announced!…
Categories: Article, Editor, News, Precursors Tags: alexandre desplat, Amy Adams, ang lee, Ann Dowd, Ann Maskrey, Anna Lynch-Robinson, Anna Pinnock, Anne Hathaway, Barker Hangar, Ben Affleck, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Bob Buck, Bradley Cooper, Channing Tatum, Chris Dickens, Chris Terrio, Christian Bale, Cinema of the United States, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Claudio Miranda, Dan Hennah, Dan Hennah/Production, Daniel Craig, Daniel Day-Lewis, Danny Cohen, David Gropman, David Gropman/Production, david magee, David O. Russell, Denzel Washington, Designer, Director, Dylan Tichenor, elle fanning, Emily Blunt, Emmanuelle Riva, Entertainment, Entertainment/Culture, Eve Stewart, Eve Stewart/Production, Gina Carano, Helen Hunt, Herbert Kretzmer, Hugh Jackman, Jack Black, Jacqueline Durran, Jake Gyllenhaal, Javier Bardem, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Jim Erickson, Joanna Johnston, Joaquin Phoenix, John Gatins, John Hawkes, John Williams, Jonny Greenwood, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, judi dench, kara hayward, kathryn bigelow, Katie Spencer, Keith Urban, Kym Barrett, Leslie Mann, Lincoln, Logan Lerman, Madagascar, Marion Cotillard, Mark Boal, mark wahlberg, Matthew McConaughey, Melanie Ann Oliver, Memphis, Michael Kahn, Mihai Malaimare Jr., Mila Kunis, Monty Powell, Mumford & Sons, naomi watts, Nationality, Paul Epworth, paul rudd, Paul Thomas Anderson, Paul Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Pierre-Yves Gayraud, Queen, Quentin Tarantino, Ra Vincent, Rebel Wilson, Richard Taylor, Rick Carter, Rick Carter/Production, Robert De Niro, robert downey jr, Roger Deakins, Roman Coppola, Sally Field, Sarah Greenwood, Sarah Greenwood/Production, Set Decorator, Shirley MacLaine, Simon Bright, Stephen Chbosky, Steven Spielberg, Tim Squyres, TOM HOLLAND, Tom Hooper, Tommy Lee Jones, Tony Kushner, Valor Denmark A/S, William Goldenberg, Young Actor/Actress
 Spielberg’s Lincoln and Hooper’s Les Miserables make an impressive showing with the relatively young organization. Javier Bardem from Skyfall and Samantha Barks from Les Miserables make their first showings of the season with nominations. Is there momentum to build for either of the them?
Read more on Washington Film Critics Award Nominees…
Capping off Bond Week at the Awards Circuit is the much anticipated release of Skyfall. Spielberg’s grand biopic Lincoln gets a limited head start to its nationwide release next week.
Skyfall
Read more on Weekend Openings: 11/9/2012…
Categories: Weekend Openings Tags: Alicia Vikander, Cecilia Cheung, Daniel Craig, Daniel Day-Lewis, David Strathairn, Entertainment/Culture, Eric Wareheim, James D'Arcy, James Murphy, James Ransone, Jane, Javier Bardem, Jeremy Power, Joshua Close, judi dench, King, Lincoln, Mads Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Arcel, Oscars, physician, Rick Alverson, Sally Field, Sam Mendes, Sean Baker, Selma Blair, Shanghai, Skyfall, Steven Speilberg, Tim Heidecker, U.S. President, winning director
 After stumbling somewhat with ‘Quantum of Solace’, the Daniel Craig era of James Bond films has recovered spectacularly with ‘Skyfall’. Better even than ‘Casino Royale’, I’d actually wager that this could very well be the best Bond film ever. A phenomenally effective mix of old and new, this is exactly what I wanted out of 007. Credit is deserved all around for this success story, but chief among them has to be director Sam Mendes. The Oscar winner, along with his frequent DP Roger Deakins, has brought a beautiful visual style to this Bond flick. Armed with a strong screenplay from returning scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, along with newcomer John Logan, Mendes and company have given Craig an adventure that both points the spy in a number of new potential directions as well as honoring the past in a way that the franchise has never really done before. The end result is riveting, and easily one of the most satisfying films in the canon, along with one of the best films of the year too. ‘Skyfall’ opens on Friday and should be a massive success. It certainly deserves to be. The talk about a Best Picture nomination is a bit premature, but there’s no denying that this is a great movie.
Read more on Skyfall (***½)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Ben Wishaw, Berenice Marlohe, Bond Week, Daniel Craig, franchise, James Bond, Javier Bardem, John Logan, judi dench, Naomie Harris, Neal Purvis, Ralph Fiennes, Robert Wade, Rory Kinnear, Sam Mendes, Skyfall
 Since Daniel Craig took on the iconic role of the world’s most famous spy back in 2006 there have been some notable ups and downs. Casino Royale, to my mind at least, is one of the best Bond films of all time. Just as with Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye, it introduced us to a completely new interpretation of the character, and with a healthy nod to the immortal traditions of the past, updated the franchise for a new decade and a whole new generation of fans. In it Craig had managed to sculpt the most brooding and rough-around-the-edges Bond yet. Following this came Quantum of Solace, which despite being a pretty decent action blockbuster, gets repeatedly slated because it ventured too far from the traditional Bond mould. Director Marc Forster seemed to draw more inspiration from the fast cuts and man-on-the-run pacing of the Bourne saga, than he did from the sophistication and tradition of 007. Read more on Skyfall (***½)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Berenice Marlohe, Bond girl, Bond Week, Casino Royale, Daniel Craig, film review, James Bond, James Bond films, Javier Bardem, judi dench, Naomie Harris, Quantum of Solace, Ralph Fiennes, Roger Deakins, Sam Mendes, Skyfall
 It’s no secret that minorities don’t often find themselves in serious contention for Oscar in any category. The year they often refer to as the most “international” year for the Academy Awards was at the 2007 ceremony:
- Best Picture – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu (Producer) for Babel
- Best Director – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu for Babel
- Best Actor – Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland
- Best Actor – Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness
- Best Actress – Penelope Cruz in Volver
- Best Supporting Actor – Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond
- Best Supporting Actor – Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls
- Best Supporting Actress – Adriana Barraza for Babel
- Best Supporting Actress – Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls
- Best Supporting Actress – Rinko Kikuchi for Babel
- Best Original Screenplay – Guillermo Arriaga for Babel
- Best Original Screenplay – Co-Writer Iris Yamashita for Letters from Iwo Jima
- Best Original Screenplay – Guillermo del Toro for Pan’s Labyrinth
- Best Adapted Screenplay – Alfonso Cuaron, Hawk Ostby, David Arata for Children of Men
The following year Oscar answered back with one African-American mention in the major categories (Ruby Dee in American Gangster) and Spaniard Javier Bardem winning the Oscar for No Country for Old Men. Name some acting or directing works by minorities that Oscar has overlooked that should have either been either nominated or taken home an Academy Award. Read more on Oscar Question of the Day – Black or White?…
Categories: Editor, Question of the Day Tags: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Dennis Haysbert, Entertainment/Culture, Far from Heaven, Film, Film soundtracks, Javier Bardem, michelle yeoh, Minorities, Oscar, Zhang Ziyi
 Adele, the British chanteuse whose lovely voice and incredible songwriting talent won her 6 Grammys this past February seemed like a no-brainer to contribute a song to the Bond franchise at some point in her career, and now you can hear what that sounds like. Released in some leaked capacity over the past few days, Adele has posted the song “Skyfall” to her personal Youtube page in sync with its iTunes release. The song sounds great (obviously, this is Adele we are talking about) and it re-purposes the original Bond theme, which might keep it from being the contender we all think it is come Oscar time. We know how the Music branch likes to do. Anyways, listen to the full song after the jump!
Read more on Listen to Adele’s Bond theme ‘Skyfall’…
 Many of us have been looking for a big film to begin eagerly anticipating now that ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is over and done with. Personally, now I’ve got it with the latest James Bond flick ‘Skyfall’. Today we have a new Full Trailer for the movie, and it’s pretty sweet (complete with a few Batman vibes, actually). It’s everything you’d like to see 007 doing, and then some. You can take a look at the Trailer after the jump, and get set to have a new adventure with Bond on November 9th, courtesy of director Sam Mendes (and of course with Daniel Craig still in the lead). Take a gander and enjoy…for me November can’t come soon enough. Behold it below.
Read more on Full Trailer for ‘Skyfall’…
 With the big announcement yesterday of the titles that will be debuting/playing at the Toronto Film Festival, the first Plot Synopsis for Terrence Malick’s new film “To the Wonder” was revealed. The film stars Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Olga Kurylenko, and Javier Bardem, and seems to be Malick’s most overt relationship drama in some time, though there are still rumblings that it’s also his most experimental one as well (which would actually be saying something). After the jump you can see the short summary of the picture, and it sets things up very nicely. I may not have been big on ‘The Tree of Life’ last year, but I recognize his talent, and this one has my attention in a big way. You can find the synopsis below.
Read more on Official Plot Synopsis Released for Terence Malick’s “To the Wonder”…
 Since winning an Oscar and having a child, Penelope Cruz has been keeping a low profile, but she poised to come back on screens in a big way. In addition to her role in the new Woody Allen film, To Rome with Love, Deadline has reported that Cruz has signed on to costar in the Ridley Scott directed, Cormac McCarthy scripted film The Counselor, alongside Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Brad Pitt and husband Javier Bardem. Also announced today was that she would be filmming another movie with long time collaborator Pedro Almodovar. The flick Los Amantes Pasajeros (The Brief Lovers) is about an affair on an airplane and will star other Almodovar regulars like Lola Duenas, Javier Camara and Cecilia Roth.
Read more on Penelope Cruz to star in Ridley Scott’s ‘The Counselor’, reteam with Almodovar…
Categories: News Tags: Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, casting, Javier Bardem, Michael Fassbender, news, Pedro Almodóvar, Penelope Cruz, Ridley Scott, To Rome With Love, upcoming projects
 Terrence Malick is as much an enigma as he is an auteur. Famous for going 30 years between films, the titles of his movies are often evocative of more than just the plot therein. Since we are poised to get back to back years of Malick films, it was only a matter of time before his newest one got a title. Filmratings.com broke the news that Malick has decided to name his latest film To the Wonder. The movie starring Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem, and Rachel Weisz, will center on “a man who reconnects with a woman from his hometown after his marriage to a European woman falls apart.”
Read more on Malick’s latest film gets a new title and plot summary!…
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