Is it just me or does it seem like there have been more presenters announced this year than in years past? We are up to 30 presenters and/or “special guests,” so maybe I’m wrong about the amount so far (24 Oscar categories, after all). It just seems like we have had more announcements this year. Have a look at the official press release after the jump.
Read more on Oscar®-Nominated Actors Salma Hayek Pinault, Melissa Mccarthy, Liam Neeson, & John Travolta to Present…
 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
 This year’s race for the Academy Award for Best Actor will have no shortage of worthy nominees; in fact I daresay they could nominate five worthy actors right now. However there are still many more performances to be unveiled, work that will end up in the category, work that will not, disappointing audiences, the Academy and critics. Already I think we have seen a preview of that, though Clay might disagree in Bill Murray’s highly touted work in Hyde Park on Hudson, which after seeing at TIFF I felt would slowly drop out of sight and out of contention. The film’s reception at Telluride was weak, and in Toronto the same thing happened, with a rather shocked audience filing out mumbling about the disappointment they were feeling. I have stated already, Murray is never bad, weak or anything remotely negative, just not strong enough to be an Academy Award nominee. It is merely a good performance and lined up alongside the ones I think have a chance so far, it looks oddly out of place, which of course means nothing. Read more on Lead Actor Overstuffed…
Categories: Article Tags: Anthony Hopkins, Ben Affleck, Bill Murray, Brad Pitt, Burt Lancaster, Cannes, Cannes Best, Christopher Walken, Cinema of the United States, Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Director nomination, Dustin Hoffman, Entertainment/Culture, Film, Flight, François Cluzet, Good Will Hunting, Hugh Jackman, Jack Nicholson, jamie foxx, Jean-Louis Trintignant, John Hawkes, Kirk Douglas, Lancaster, legendary director, Liam Neeson, Mads Mikkelsen, Matt Damon, Michael Shannon, Movie Release, Omar Sy, Oscar, Oscars, Peter Fonda, Pilot, powerful actor, President, Promised Land, Quentin Tarantino, Richard Kuklinski, Richard Nixon, robert duvall, Robert Zemeckis, serious actor, the Academy Award, the Oscars, The Polar Express, Toronto, Toronto International Film Festival, United States
 If you’re looking for the same thrills that ‘Taken’ offered you, then look elsewhere. ‘Taken 2′ is the diet cola of sequels…only 1 calorie of fun as compared to the original, not nearly enough. There’s definitely a bit of fun in seeing Liam Neeson again play a retired CIA agent with a “very special set of skills”, but the initial enjoyment factor from a few years ago is much lower key this time around. Everyone involved seems to be going through the motions, with the cast shortchanged by the director and screenplay especially. Director Olivier Megaton has a great name, but his direction leaves a lot to be desired. As for scribes Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, it feels like they didn’t have their heart in this project. ‘Taken 2′ exists solely because the first one made a ton of money, and it shows in its lackluster execution. The film isn’t overtly bad, but it’s a bit stale already and mainly serves to remind how much better the last installment is while coasting on some of its leftover goodwill. Neeson makes things bearable, but this flick didn’t need to happen. There are worse movies out there, but most are much better than this one…
Read more on Taken 2 (**)…
 With The Paperboy set to hit cineplexes soon, Lee Daniels is hard at work on his next feature film, The Butler. Based on the Wil Haygood’s report “A Butler Well Served by This Election,” the film will tell the story Allen, who worked for eight presidents, starting with Harry Truman in 1952 and ending in 1986 with Ronald Reagan. Daniels has assembled quite the cast for the film (Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Liam Neeson, John Cusack, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams, James Marsden, Aml Ameen and Liev Schreiber are among it’s members) and now we get our first glimpse at Forest Whitaker as the title character via Coming Soon. Take a look at the first image after the jump!
Read more on First Official Image of Forest Whitaker in ‘The Butler’…
Categories: Images Tags: American film directors, Butler, David Oyelowo, Entertainment/Culture, forest whitaker, Images, James Marsden, Jane Fonda, John Cusack, Lee Daniels, Liam Neeson, Liev Schreiber, news, Robin Williams, The Butler
 Most years, at least a few films from the first half of the year manage to get the attention of the Academy in one way or another. The end result is usually a few Best Picture contenders (even if they’re in the minority overall), but this year there seems to be a dearth of real contenders for the top prize. This is not to say that one can’t cross their fingers for some love for ‘The Cabin in the Woods’, expect that a film like ‘John Carter’ could wind up with some technical citations, or look towards any number of indie films to make a surprise leap into the Oscar race with some precursor love, but at the moment there doesn’t seem to be a lot on Oscar’s plate from January through the end of June. That’s not to say that there aren’t possibilities out there, and I’ve actually collected 10 potential contenders that pretty much represent the best first half hopes of 2012 and listed them in alphabetical order. These aren’t necessarily the ones I’d like to see in play, just the ones realistically under any sort of consideration. Most will wind up excluded from many, if not all, categories, but some of these will score nods for sure. The question is just where. By my count, there are 3 legitimate Best Picture contenders in the group, but none of them is anywhere close to a lock (in fact, I’m actually only predicting one of them to get nominated in my own predictions). Time will tell though, so all we can do right now is ponder the potential possibilities…and ponder we shall! Let’s get started, shall well?
Read more on Ten Contenders from the First Half of 2012…
Categories: Article Tags: analysis, Beasts of the Southern Wild, best picture, Entertainment/Culture, Films, first half of the year, Jack Black, Liam Neeson, Moonrise Kingdom, Oscar, Oscar hopefuls, Steven Soderbergh, the avengers, The Cabin in the Woods, The Dark Knight, the dark knight rises
 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
 The first time I saw ‘Batman Begins’, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I had known Christopher Nolan as an indie filmmaker only first then transitioning to big budget fare, and someone who seemed like an odd choice to reboot the Batman franchise (personally I was real interested in seeing Darren Aronofsky’s project come to fruition, but that’s another story). Little did I know that he was the perfect man for the job. For me, this was the moment where I began to look at Nolan in a new light, and also when I developed a newfound respect for comic book/superhero films. This was the first of its kind to really be able to shoot for something more, and actually achieve that feat. Now, it can’t hold a candle to the masterpiece that is ‘The Dark Knight’, but ‘Batman Begins’ is perhaps the more historically important flick. Above all that though, it’s just massively entertaining and an epic coming of age story. From Christian Bale’s lead performance on down, everyone just knew they were part of something special, and acted accordingly. This is an impressive movie, and subsequent viewings have done nothing to detract from its strengths (unless you’re comparing it to the sequel). For my money, this is the best reboot of all time.
Read more on Historical Circuit: Batman Begins (***½)…
Categories: Historical Circuit Tags: Batman Begins, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, David Goyer, Gary Oldman, Katie Holmes, ken watanabe, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Tom Wilkinson
 The first time that I saw ‘Taken’, I was amused by Liam Neeson as a bad ass killing machine and didn’t think much of the rest of the silly flick. Subsequent viewings have made this a real guilty pleasure of mine (though still just as silly), and I won’t lie…I’m excited for the sequel. Well, today we can bring you the Trailer for ‘Taken 2′, and it looks like more of the same (which is either a good or a bad thing, depending on who you are). You can take a look at the flick after the jump, and get set for the film to come out in October. I know that I’ll be there…will you? Decide for yourself below…
Read more on Liam Neeson still has a very special set of skills in the ‘Taken 2′ Trailer!…
 Movies based on products like toys and board games just aren’t a good idea, plain and simple. After the 3 cinematic abortions that were the ‘Transformers’ trilogy, we now have ‘Battleship’, an incredibly poor alien invasion film that embarrasses itself on nearly every level and will likely wind up on many a critic’s worst of 2012 lists (mine included). There’s no element of this flick that isn’t a failure, up to and including its rather jingoistic patriotism which comes across as lazy and unworthy of our service men and women. Director Peter Berg is capable of making a fun movie, but he’s completely asleep at the wheel of this behemoth (or just doesn’t give a damn), as this rivals Michael Bay’s work in terms of a lack of quality on display. From the laughable plot holes to the black hole that are the characters, it’s just terrible all around. Clearly designed to be a tentpole summer movie without any attention given to what would make it a quality piece of cinema instead of a sellable one, this is the easiest way to the movie studios at their worst. Yes, they’re still capable of giving strong filmmakers the keys to their franchises from time to time, and when that happens we get ‘The Dark Knight’, ‘Iron Man’, ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, and even this year’s ‘The Avengers’, but far too often the final product resembles a ‘Transformers’ flick, and we all know how much I hate that (and for those who aren’t aware, it’s kind of a long running joke here at The Awards Circuit that that particular franchise is one of the few able to get me angry and mean in my reviews). ‘Battleship’ is as close as one can get to that type of movie without completely getting my wrath. Even if it didn’t make me mad, this still was a miserable 2 hours plus at the movies.
Read more on Battleship (*½)…
 Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written by: Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan; Story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, based on characters created by Bob Kane.
Cast: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Liam Neeson, Josh Pence, Juno Temple, Matthew Modine, Nestor Carbonelli, Christopher Judge, several noteworthy Pittsburgh Steelers players including Mike Wallace, Maurkice Pouncey, Ben Roethlisberger, and Troy Polamalu, and a rumored cameo from Cillian Murphy.
Read more on Awards Profile: The Dark Knight Rises…
Categories: Award Profile Tags: Anne Hathaway, Bane, batman, Catwoman, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Commissioner Gordon, Gary Oldman, Heath Ledger, Jonathan Nolan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Juno Temple, Liam Neeson, Marion Cotillard, Matthew Modine, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, The Dark Knight, the dark knight rises, Tom Hardy, Wally Pfister
 Incredibly bleak but undeniably powerful, ‘The Grey’ is a tough picture to sit through, but a rewarding one, especially in terms of Liam Neeson’s terrific lead performance. There was talk a few months ago of giving the film a quick qualifying run in December to have Neeson eligible for Oscar consideration (and the plan now is to re-release the movie in October to remind voters of his performance), and while it was too crowded a year for him, this time around…who knows? Neeson does some excellent work here, giving you a character hanging on to life by a thread. Without his acting, this might have been too bleak a film to sit through, though plenty of credit goes to Joe Carnahan for making as consistently dark a movie as this one palatable in a way. The flick is exciting but methodical, the characters are well fleshed out, and the philosophical agenda is somehow a perfect companion to the battle for survival in the snow. This has a lot in common with the work of Ernest Hemingway, and considering that the previews make this out to be the movie where Liam Neeson punches wolves, that’s some high praise. Strong acting all around and a firm directorial hand anchor the film, but it’s Neeson that puts things over the top. He’s combining his recent action hero outings with something deeper, and the result is a real winner.
Read more on The Grey (***½)…
Whoa, where did I go? Well, duty called for the last few weeks, and in my stead Joseph graciously stepped in for me to inform you all of January’s openings. For this week I’ll be able to “drink to the foam” as they say and preview the new releases for the last week of January to distract us from, ahem, some news that hit last Tuesday. Gadzooks, one of them might even be good:
Liam Neeson vs. the elements. A winning combination if ever I’ve heard one. Successfully reinventing himself as a kickass action star with Taken and capitalizing on that with mixed results in Unknown, Neeson’s struggle to survive the Alaskan wilderness after a plane crash looks to continue that formula. And why not? With so many blank-faced, talentless hunks headlining action pictures (but more on that in a minute), isn’t it nice to see audiences clamor for a cerebral, seasoned actor in these roles? Even better is that this film has been praised by critics as an almost unbearably intense survival thriller with surprising philosophical rigor. Its low-key marketing and extreme subject matter won’t make it a bonafide hit, but its star should propel it to the top of the box office with $13-18 million. Read more on Weekend Openings (January 27-29)…
 This film wants to be a Hitchcock movie so bad it almost hurts. Unknown is a mystery thriller that is too ridiculous for its own good. A master filmmaker like the aforementioned one could have kept you from noticing all of the issues, but director Jaume Collet-Serra is not up to the task. The movie wastes solid acting and some decent set pieces, making for an incredibly bland cinematic experience. There’s nothing terrible about it (outside of the script, which is just not up to snuff), but it’s completely average in almost every single other way.
The flick mostly just wants to bring in the Taken crowd, and it’s successful at that, but be warned…this is a far inferior movie.
Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) is in Europe for a conference with his wife Elizabeth (January Jones). When he forgets a piece of luggage, he goes back to get it but winds up being in a terrible car accident. The driver Gina (Diane Kruger) saves him from death, but when he gets out of the hospital, he finds out something horrible. Apparently his identity has been stolen by another man (Aidan Quinn) claiming to be Harris and even his wife seems not to recognize him. Read more on Unknown (**)…
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