 Since my article two weeks ago, I’ve been quite busy watching Dexter. So busy I’m already on season six. My husband, who is ridiculously selfish, asked me to stop watching season six so he could watch too on his down time. So I did and instead rented a few movies from my local red box. I rented three movies that had received overall good reviews from the staff here at The Awards Circuit. Two of the movies I enjoyed, the other one not so much. Read more on What’s Anna Watching?…
Categories: Article Tags: Anna Paquin, Bernie, Dexter, Entertainment, Entertainment/Culture, Films, Jack Black, Jennifer Aniston, Margaret, Matthew McConaughey, paul rudd, Shirley MacLaine, Wanderlust
 A few weeks ago, I was delighted to see Kenneth Longergan’s ‘Margaret’ get a well deserved second moment in the sun. The hype and attention for the Blu-Ray release of ‘Margaret’ has obviously died down now, but a film as interesting and worthwhile as this one deserves an extra moment in the sun, no? Combined with the dearth of DVD/Blu-Ray titles that hit this past week (and will continue to do so without much appeal for the next week or two), I thought it was the right time to dive back into Kenneth Lonergan’s flick and talk a bit about the Extended Cut of the movie that everyone was buzzing about. I’ve now seen this cut and the Theatrical Cut twice at this point, so I think I’m in a good position to get into which one is the preferred cut (though I still wish I’d seen the even longer cut that Clayton was privy to a few years back, but alas) and which version is right for whom. I’ll get into the changes/additions, but mainly I want to focus on what the end result of the new cut of the film is like. What does an additional 36 minutes get you? It certainly has a lot going for it, but is it the “one true” edition? Well, let’s read on and find out, shall we? Here goes nothing…
Read more on Examining the ‘Margaret’ Extended Cut…
With Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret finally hitting Blu-Ray/DVD shelves today, the wonderful PR team has unveiled a cool link that connects all the great actors attached to the film.
This 8 Degrees of Margaret chart reflects the many connections among the characters in the movie and the overlapping film projects they have worked on, and is a fun brain teaser for any film buff. Also, hover your mouse over the chart to see star pop-ups highlighting extra facts about those starring in Margaret.
Take a look after the jump and make sure to purchase Margaret today! You can click on our DVD store on the sidebar and order it directly.
Read more on 8 Degrees of Margaret connects its actors…
 I was twenty-one years old when I saw the three-and-a-half hour cut of Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret. The late and great Sydney Pollack was in attendance in the New York theater. I was writing for The Oscar Igloo then, probably within my first year of employment. I didn’t even understand the concept or potential of film criticism yet. I was in my senior year of college and was just hired as a teacher for a little catholic high school in the area. I still had the obsession of becoming an actor and didn’t realize that my passion was in critiquing. I loved film but I didn’t know how I could be “with” it for all eternity.
Read more on “Margaret” Revisited — Seven Years Later…
 I’ve always been fascinated by the original 3 hour cut of ‘Margaret’, even going back to when Clayton first told me about how much he hated it after seeing an early cut about 3 or 4 years ago. After seeing the trimmed version last year and falling in love with it, my curiosity was only piqued more. Now, it seems that I’ll finally be able to see something close to what Clay did (and he can presumably see the shorter version that I did…I wonder if he’ll like it any more?), as news came out today from The New Yorker here that an extended 3 hour cut of the film is headed to Blu-Ray and DVD in July. After the jump I’ll speculate a bit about what we might see more of (and then go ask the boss man what he remembers), but for now, members of Team Margaret like myself are positively jumping for joy right now (I would have included it in my DVD Column here at the site earlier yesterday but I wanted it to get its own post) and counting the days until we can own this new cut…
Read more on A 3 hour cut of Margaret is going to be coming to DVD in July!…
 Much like Kris Tapley over at In Contention does his list of the 10 best shots of each year, I like to do something similar as well here at The Awards Circuit. The wrinkle for me is that I go with the best/most memorable scenes of the year. It’s also kind of a tie in/companion piece with my article on what films from 2011 will stand the test of time. I couldn’t limit it to just 10, so I included 5 of the 15 runners-up and came up with 15 different scenes that were my personal favorites. 8 of my 10 favorite films of 2011 are on the final cut of the list (all wound up in the piece though when you factor in the honorable mentions), but overall I think these are going to be widely considered some of the best scenes of the year. Of course, I’m eager to read what you all have to say/view as the best of the year as well, so we’ll get to that at the end. For now, let’s get on with it and talk about the best scenes from 2011!
Read more on Which Scenes from 2011 will you remember?…
Categories: Article Tags: Another Earth, Bellflower, Best of the year, Bridesmaids, Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Hugo, Like Crazy, lists, Margaret, Midnight in Paris, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Moneyball, random, Red State, Shame, Super 8, the artist, The Beaver, The Descendants, the girl with the dragon tattoo, The Ides of March, The Muppets, The Tree of Life, Warrior, We Bought a Zoo
Read more on Circuit Round-Up (Week Ending 10/09)…
Categories: Weekend Openings Tags: Best Actress, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, dancing with the stars, Dolphin Tale, Dream House, Francis Ford Coppola, Hugh Jackman, Margaret, Martin Scorsese, oscar predictions, pet peeves, Real Steel, Scre4m, Steve Jobs, Steven Spielberg, Take Shelter, The Ides of March, The Way, What’s Your Number?
"Dolphin Tale" (Warner Bros.)
A spunky romantic comedy, a mindbending suspense/thriller featuring Oscar winning talent, and one of the best received films of the year about a young cancer patient struggling with a life-altering diagnosis all could not match the interest and appeal of dolphins, baseball, animated lions, and Christian firefighters this weekend. As box office receipts were tallied, Warner Bros. “Dolphin Tale” swam past “The Lion King 3D” and “Moneyball” and took the top spot at the box office this weekend, tallying $13.9 million in its second weekend of release.
For Warner Bros., “Dolphin Tale””s victory over the weekend was sweet vindication for a film and a project that seemed to be frozen out of its potential box office success by Disney’s surprising reception for their “Lion King 3D” re-release, which I reported on last week. After initially claiming they would not hold “The Lion King 3D” in theaters for a third weekend, after winning the previous two weekend box office crowns, Disney went for the trifecta and but became victims of attrition and perhaps, ironically, their own marketing. With “The Lion King 3D” arriving on home video today, October 4, 2011, the inevitable television campaign certainly stunted attendance. While “Dolphin Tale” did not deliver a strong per screen average, the inspirational family drama did hold off “Moneyball” and four new contending films. One of which, quickly and against expectations, became the talk of the weekend. Read more on Box Office Final: Resilient “Dolphin” Swims Past The Pack……
Categories: News Tags: analysis, box office report, Courageous, Dolphin Tale, Dream House, Margaret, Moneyball, Sarah Palin - You Betcha!, Take Shelter, The Lion King 3D, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, What's Your Number?
 A full 6 years after it was supposed to have come out, audiences finally are now able to see Kenneth Lonergan’s sophomore feature ‘Margaret’. For me, it’s almost a surreal experience to have sat down and watched it. Delayed by lawsuits and infighting as well as an inability of the filmmaker to find a cut he could live with in the editing room, some had speculated that it might never end up on screens, especially when Martin Scorsese’s editor Thelma Schoonmaker couldn’t even do the job (not to mention Sydney Pollack and Scott Rudin). The thing was, Lonergan had final cut and Fox Searchlight was unwilling to fire a director with that status, so it was a bit of a stalemate. People have gotten to see the flick during this time. Martin Scorsese declared the cut he saw to be a masterpiece, and a few years back our very own editor Clayton Davis got to see an early cut, checking in at over 3 hours. The polite way of phrasing it is that he didn’t care for it and disagreed with Scorsese’s assessment. In all honesty, he absolutely hated it. Well, now in 2011 I’ve seen a much different cut and I come to you all to say…I think I loved it. Granted, it’s clearly still a work in progress, but this is likely as close as writer/director Lonergan was ever going to get it to being done. There’s a sense of randomness to some of the scenes, suggesting the edit is one of many considered, and the pacing is inconsistent…hell, there’s even a boom mike in one shot, but if you focus in on the story and the film itself, it’s kind of beautiful. Maybe I’m reaching, but in many ways this is the big city version of ‘The Tree of Life’, just without all of the religion and writing issues that torpedoed Malick’s vision for me. In all the ways that particular film didn’t work for me, this one did. It’s full of ideas and even more packed with emotion, making for an intense viewing experience.
Read more on Margaret (***½)…
As we wave goodbye to September, the awards season just keeps heating up. A lot of interesting releases this weekend, both wide and limited, some of which could be serious Oscar contenders:
First up in wide release is the dramedy 50/50, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a young man who is diagnosed with cancer. Reviews have praised this film as an intelligent, sincere and surprisingly funny movie that rises far above and beyond your typical “Disease of the Week” Lifetime-esque melodramas. I’m starting to believe that it may actually be a serious threat for a Best Original Screenplay nomination. Box office-wise…eh, I don’t know. Despite support from critics, cancer isn’t exactly an audience-friendly subject. I’m thinking it’ll hit somewhere around the $8-13 million mark by Sunday. Read more on Weekend Openings (September 30-October 2)…
Categories: Weekend Openings Tags: Anna Faris, Anna Paquin, Courageous, Daniel Craig, Dream House, Jeff Nichols, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kenneth Lonergan, Margaret, Michael Shannon, Rachel Weisz, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin - You Betcha!, Take Shelter, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Weekend Openings, What’s Your Number?
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Since my article two weeks ago, I’ve been quite busy watching Dexter. So busy I’m already on season six. My husband, who is ridiculously selfish, asked me to stop watching season six so he could watch too on his down time. So I did and instead rented a few movies from my local red box. I rented three movies that had received overall good reviews from the staff here at The Awards Circuit. Two of the movies I enjoyed, the other one not so much. Read more on What’s Anna Watching?…
