 I’m a sucker for a good cerebral experience at the movies where its writer manages to shine in a vivid and imaginative way. When we speak about some of the great screenwriters of the last few decades, I’m sure there will be many that shout out names like Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Benton, David Mamet, and Billy Wilder. Thoughtful, attentive, and stunningly ingenious in both dialogue and execution, these writers are surely among the best. Nearly seven years after Director Marc Forster’s took a swing for Zach Helm’s underrated and wistful screenplay, Stranger than Fiction (2006), stubbornly I remain convinced that this will be remembered as one of the finest screenplays in modern, American cinema in years to come. A near literary and moving narrative, Helm’s silky and heart-rendering script lands firmly on multiple levels of connection, love, and death.
Read more on Age of Cinema – The Power That’s ‘Stranger than Fiction’…
 I’m back once again ladies and gentlemen to do some more Sizing Up! This time around I’m going to be tackling the somewhat slight Best Actress field. For many, this is the worst category of the majors this year and for some the hardest to figure out, especially in terms of a victor. The ultimate winner won’t be of my concern too much now, but I’m seeking to try and make sense of the category and see which ladies can actually get to the final 5. Lots can change between now and the nominations, but this is where I think things currently stand, and it’s certainly a rather fluid list now. At the very least, it’ll be interesting to see how this matches up to the eventual slate of nominees, since so much is sort of guesswork with Best Actress.
Read more on Sizing Up: Best Actress…
Categories: Article Tags: Amy Adams, analysis, Aubrey Plaza, Best Actress, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, elle fanning, Emmanuelle Riva, Entertainment/Culture, Frances Ha, Greta Gerwig, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Jesus Henry Christ, judi dench, Julie Delpy, Kathleen Turner, Keira Knightley, Laura Linney, Leslie Mann, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Marion Cotillard, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, melanie lynskey, melissa leo, Meryl Streep, Michelle Williams, naomi watts, New York City, Oscar hopefuls, Rashida Jones, Sizing up, Sizing Up series, Toni Collette, Viola Davis, Zoe Kazan
 There are few ways that a movie can more clearly annoy me than to start out perfectly mediocre and then reveal its true colors in a ham-fisted that makes it deserve all the wrath it receives. ‘Won’t Back Down’ should be a perfectly forgettable melodrama about mothers fighting to make an inner city school better for children, and it mostly is, except of course for the fact that it’s got the dark underbelly of being anti-union propaganda as well. As much as the film seems to love “teaching”, it really seems to hate teachers, which is an insane contradiction. Sure, some form of education reform is clearly needed in this country, but to suggest that the issue is the Teacher’s Union and their job security is to simplify the problem down to a political point, and I can’t give the movie a pass on that. Sure, Viola Davis is pretty good and Maggie Gyllenhaal isn’t bad, but co-writer/director Daniel Barnz is not a good filmmaker and the only thing you’re left with here is just a strong feeling of dissatisfaction at the way this is handled. I may not have been in love with ‘Waiting for Superman’ a few years ago, but that’s a masterpiece compared to this. I fully expect this movie to wind up on my Bottom 10 list at the end of the year, a far cry from the Oscar potential originally discussed earlier on this year…
Read more on Won’t Back Down (*½)…
 As Telluride and Venice ended and we sit in the heat that is the Toronto Film Festival, I’m updating Oscar Predictions slowly but surely. Screenings are happening daily and the race could change in a matter of seconds. My solution is to update one category per day for the next 20 days. By then Toronto would have ended, and we would be sitting firmly in the clump of the New York Film Festival. I’ve started with the biggest juggernaut, Best Motion Picture, but most importantly I took the opportunity to update the Oscar Tracker with several films and performances added to their respective categories.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Resistance is Futile…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: Amy Adams, Amy Ryan, Ben Affleck, Ben Lewin, Christopher Nolan, Cinema of the United States, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, David O. Russell, Director, Emmanuelle Riva, Entertainment/Culture, F. Murray Abraham, Film, Fisher Stevens, Gone Baby Gone, Hugh Jackman, Jean-Louis Tringnant, Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix, John Goodman, John Madden’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, kathryn bigelow, Lead Actor, letters from iwo jima, Life is Beautiful, Lincoln, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Haneke, Nathaniel Rogers, Oscar, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions 2013, Paul Thomas Anderson, Peter Jackson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin Tarantino, Rian Johnson, Russell Crowe, Slumdog Millionaire, Steven Spielberg, Susan Sarandon, Telluride, Terence Johnson, Terrence Malick, The Godfather Part II, the Oscars, Tom Hooper, Tom Hulce, Toronto, Toronto International Film Festival, Viola Davis
 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
When a Batman film is made, we always tend to sit back and try to figure out who would have been better suited as one of the iconic characters and who fit the role just right. Throughout the years we’ve been discussing the best and worst performances in a Batman flick, and in the recent months since the casting of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, we’ve sat back and doubted the casting decision. But in the end, we’re here to discuss the best and worst female portrayals in a Batman movie.
Before we begin though, I wanted to point out one thing. If Halle Berry’s Catwoman (2004) had been considered a Batman film she would have been named the worst actress in a Batman film. Catwoman wasn’t a Batman film, therefore won’t be seen on this list.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin. Read more on Best & Worst Female Portrayals in a Batman Film…
Categories: Article Tags: Alicia Silverstone, Anne Hathaway, batman, Batman & Robin, Batman Begins, Batman Forever, Batman Returns, Catwoman, Katie Holmes, Kim Basinger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michelle Pfeiffer, nicole kidman, The Dark Knight, Uma Thurman
 30 Days of Batman continues…
I’ve revitalized my review from 2008 of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight with a hybrid, truly analyzing the film with hindsight and perspective:
Director Christopher Nolan has created the newly invented and ultimately prestigious, The Dark Knight, the sequel to his revolutionary Batman Begins. Nolan has completely raised the bar and set the standards high for him and any comic book film that will ever be adapted. Nolan also created one of his darkest pictures to date, definitely his strongest so far from his already impressive film credits which includes Memento and The Prestige. Read more on Historical Circuit: The Dark Knight (***½)…
Categories: Historical Circuit Tags: batman, Batman Begins, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Heath Ledger, Historical Circuit, Jack Nicholson, Jonathan Nolan, Katie Holmes, Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Dark Knight
Directed By: Daniel Barnz
Written By: Brin Hill (screenwriter), Daniel Barnz (screenplay)
Cast: Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Holly Hunter, Ving Rhames, Oscar Isaac, Rosie Perez, and Lance Reddick
Synopsis (via IMDB): Two determined mothers, one a teacher, look to transform their children’s failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children. Read more on Awards Profile: ‘Won’t Back Down’…
I was recently given the assignment of assessing the Oscar chances for the new Daniel Barnz (Beastly) film, Won’t Back Down, in our daily Awards Profile segment. It should post sometime this week or next, but after seeing the initial trailer for the film I might need to reevaluate its chances. The storyline, which deals with failing inner-city schools and the parents and teachers who make a stand against the public education system, seemed baity enough. I even thought this might be the vehicle to earn star Viola Davis a belated Oscar win. However, after the initial trailer, my hopes on the film have slightly diminished.
My first thought after watching the trailer was: Could it be this year’s The Blind Side? It seems to have that family-centric, emotionally-driven, David-over-Goliath theme to it. But I don’t know, man. Something just reeks a bit of stale cheese to me on this. I think Ms. Davis may have to wait.
Have a look at the trailer after the jump…
Read more on ‘Won’t Back Down’ Trailer…
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