 Directed By: James Gray
Written By: James Gray and Ric Menello
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix, Marion Cotillard, Dagmara Dominczyk, Angela Sarafyan, Ilia Volok, Antoni Carone, and Kevin Cannon
Synopsis (From IMDB): An innocent immigrant woman is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who is being held in the confines of Ellis Island.
Why It Could Succeed:
For starters, I think the title change was a brilliant move by the Weinsteins. Too often indies fall below the radar because of their cryptic titles. “The Immigrant” immediately jumps out and offers a wide range of appeal, as opposed to “Lowlife” which sounds incredibly macabre and enigmatic. Now I happen to find both of those attributes fascinating in film, but I can see why it could be a nightmare for The Weinsteins during the marketing process, trying to ensure they fill as many seats as possible in limited release. Read more on Awards Profile: The Immigrant…
 This year we don’t have the fortune of knowing exactly who will win Best Actress. We have five nominees that include two frontrunners, one possible upset and two actresses who should be honored to receive recognition for their work.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Actress…
Categories: Oscar Circuit Tags: Amour, Anna Karenina, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Best Actress, Deep Blue Sea, Emmanuelle Riva, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Keira Knightley, Marion Cotillard, naomi watts, Oscar Circuit, Oscars, Quvenzhané Wallis, Rachel Weisz, Rust &Bone, Silver Linings Playbook, The Impossible, Zero Dark Thirty
Does it every cross your mind what persuaded someone to pick a certain outfit to wear on the red carpet? The popular trend at Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards was bold colors and simplicity. Anyone who decided to be different and didn’t succeed may have ended up on a different list. Take a look at my list of the Best Dressed women at the SAG awards.
Read more on Screen Actors Guild Awards: Best Dressed…
Categories: Article Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Amy Poehler, Best Dressed, Helen Hunt, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Marion Cotillard, naomi watts, nicole kidman, Nina Dobrev, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Tina Fey
 With the Oscar nominations being announced tomorrow morning and all other nominations revealed, it’s that time folks where we all wonder and debate who will be honored with a nomination Oscar morning.
Read more on Women in Cinema- The “Oscarettes”: Who will be nominated for Best Actress?…
Categories: Oscar Predictions, Women in Cinema Tags: Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Emmanuelle Riva, Helen Mirren, hitchcock, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, La Vie En Rose, Marion Cotillard, naomi watts, Oscars, Quvenzhané Wallis, Rachel Weisz, Rust and Bone, Silver Linings Playbook, The Deep Blue Sea, The Impossible, Winter's Bone, women in cinema, Zero Dark Thirty
 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
 With two (really one) contender left to be unveiled, this is the most exciting awards race I’ve covered in all my years of Oscar prognosticating. Every category is competitive and with races like this, anything can happen. Along with updating the official Oscar Predictions, I’ve updated the major precursors such as the Golden Globe Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
As New York gets ready to lift on Monday, which I’ve attempted to take a stab at, the National Board of Review and Los Angeles Film Critics will start the chain reaction of the awards season. Before anyone knows the winners, I’m seeing this as a three-horse race between Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, and Ben Affleck’s Argo, more particularly the first two films. Currently I’m foreseeing Hooper’s film to lead the way on Oscar nomination morning with 13 nominations, assuming lead Hugh Jackman and standout Eddie Redmayne can plow through some of the veterans in their categories.
Read more on Oscar Circuit – Music vs. History…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: Amy Adams, ang lee, Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Ben Lewin, Bradley Cooper, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Day-Lewis, David Ayer, David O. Russell, Dennis Quaid, Denzel Washington, Dwight Henry, Eddie Redmayne, Editor, Emmanuelle Riva, Entertainment/Culture, Helen Hunt, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Joaquin Phoenix, John Goodman, judi dench, kathryn bigelow, Keira Knightley, Leonardo DiCaprio, Les Miserables, Maggie Smith, Marion Cotillard, Mark Boal, Michael Haneke, Michael Pena, naomi watts, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions 2013, Paul Thomas Anderson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin Tarantino, Robert DeNiro, Sally Field, Samantha Barks, Samuel L. Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hooper, Tommy Lee Jones, Tony Kushner, Zero Dark Thirty
What better way to start off the extended holiday weekend than stranded on with boat with a tiger in the visual and spiritual journey that is Life of Pi? We can also be thankful for the Rise of the Guardians as they band together against a world-wide threat. Then, be sure to avoid the Black Friday rush by ducking into a theater for a slice of Hitchcock. Read more on Weekend Openings: (11/21-11/23)…
Categories: Weekend Openings Tags: ang lee, Animation, Anthony Hopkins, Armand Verdure, Chris Hemsworth, Dan Bradley, David McMahon, Entertainment/Culture, Helen Mirren, Hugh Jackman, Irrfan Khan, Isla Fisher, Jacques Audiard, Josh Hutcherson, Josh Peck, Ken Burns, Kevin Richardson, Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Oscar, Peter Ramsey, Psycho, Sacha Gervasi, Sarah Burns, Scarlett Johansson, Thanksgiving
The Sizing Up Series continues with a look at the slate of Best Supporting Actress contenders. As always, this is as large a grouping of the hopefuls as possible (excluding some no shot contenders and members of bigger ensembles…or else this could have 50 or more people in the article), categorizing them by their assumed likelihood of a nomination come the big morning. Oftentimes, more than a few of the Best Picture nominees wind up with some form of representation here, and this year I think there will be more than a little correlation, but of course absolutely anything is possible with the Academy. We shall see what happens in the end, but enough talk for the time being. I know what you’re all here for, so let’s go right ahead and take a look at the contenders for Best Supporting Actress and size up the field! Read more on Sizing Up: Best Supporting Actress…
Categories: Article Tags: Alicia Vikander, Amanda Seyfried, Amy Adams, analysis, Anne Hathaway, Annette Bening, Bella Heathcoate, Best Supporting Actress, Cate Blanchett, Charlize Theron, Cody Horn, Elizabeth Olsen, Emily Blunt, Emma Watson, Helen Hunt, Isabelle Hupert, judi dench, Julia Stiles, Kerry Bishe, Lorraine Toussaint, Marion Cotillard, olivia colman, Olivia Williams, Oscar hopefuls, Ruby Sparks, Sally Field, Scarlett Johansson, Sizing up, Sizing Up series
 As the awards season is underway, multiple scenarios are playing out in my mind suggesting what can occur for the remainder of the year. Films like The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Zero Dark Thirty are still sight unseen with Django Unchained and Promised Land about to get their first set of eyes. Last week Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables debuted a full-length trailer featuring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, and Amanda Seyfried all showing some singing skills. Supporting Actress frontrunner Anne Hathaway was shown singing “I Dreamed a Dream” for the third time in the Universal Pictures marketing, which leads me to my point of the Oscar Circuit.
The trailer for Les Miserables didn’t do the film any favors. The clunky production design, unnecessary wide-angles, and even the live singing on set didn’t seem as great as I’d thought it’d be. In this latest round of Oscar Predictions, I’ve decided to back from Tom Hooper’s film a little bit. Where momentum and prestige is on the side of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln and Ben Affleck’s Argo, big stage musicals transferred to film aren’t always safe bets. What makes this notion of the film failing to impress even more compelling is Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. If Anne Hathaway were to fall out of the Supporting Actress race, who could win the award in her absence? There are arguably three slots taken in Supporting Actress with Amy Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln), and Helen Hunt (The Sessions). If it’s between those three for the win, Adams will be on her fourth nomination with the other two ladies having Oscars already. Field herself would be 3 for 3 for Oscar nominations, something hard to envision happening. Hunt has had a hard time post-Oscar win and isn’t as beloved as her competitors. This could all work out for the young Amy Adams. Read more on Oscar Circuit – “Master” of Networking?…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: Amanda Seyfried, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins, Beatrice Straight, Ben Affleck, Bradley Cooper, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Day-Lewis, David O. Russell, Denzel Washington, Eddie Redmayne, Editor, Elia Kazan, Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), Entertainment/Culture, Faye Dunaway, golden globes, Hal Holbrook, Helen Hunt, Helen Mirren, Hugh Jackman, Human Interest, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Joaquin Phoenix, John Hawkes, Karl Malden, kathryn bigelow, Keira Knightley, Kim Hunter, Lead Actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep, Michael Haneke, naomi watts, Network, Nicholas Jarecki, Oscar, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions 2013, Oscars, Paul Thomas Anderson, Peter Finch, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Russell Crowe, Sacha Gervasi, Sally Field (Lincoln), Samuel L. Jackson, Sidney Lumet, Steven Spielberg, Supporting Actress, The Hobbit, The Master, the Oscar, Tom Hooper, Vivien Leigh, William H. Macy
Hello there, Awards Circuit readers! I hope you’ve all been enjoying the coverage of the 2012 AFI Film Festival, brought to you by myself, Nicole Melkonian and Tiff Chai. Sadly, the festival has come to an end, but not to worry – there is indeed a silver lining (no pun intended). Below, you will find each of our personal selections as to what is the very best of the best of AFI Film Fest 2012, with one reveal possibly indicative of how next year’s Oscar® ceremony will go down. Without further ado, here are the AFI Fest Staff Awards in above-the-line categories… Read more on AFI Film Fest 2012: Favorites of the Festival…
Categories: Article Tags: ang lee, Best of AFI Fest 2012, Bradley Cooper, David O. Russell, Jacki Weaver, Jennifer Lawrence, Joseph Braverman, Kon-Tiki, Laurence Anyways, Marion Cotillard, Min-Soo Jo, Nicole Melkonian, Pauline Collins, Suzanne Clement, Tiff Chai, TOM HOLLAND, Xavier Dolan
After a reel of footage highlighting the best films of her career thus far, the radiant Marion Cotillard graced the stage for a quick conversation before the curtain rose for her latest contribution to French Cinema, Rust and Bone. She humbly admitted that it was “super weird” and almost “schizophrenic” to see footage of herself spliced together because the characters are all her, yet they’re all different people. When asked about the path that led to her success in acting, she confided in a time when she considered leaving the profession to pursue something else, but meeting with Tim Burton and getting a role in Big Fish convinced her to stick with it. And it’s a good thing she did. Since then, she’s secured roles she feels passionate about, in both French and American films, leading her to an Oscar win for Best Actress for La vie en rose (2007), and teaming up with the likes of Michael Mann, Woody Allen, Steven Soderburgh, and Christopher Nolan along the way. After the brief sit-down, director Jacques Audiard took the stage to introduce his cast, including Matthias Schoenaerts, who, as if in character, appropriately cued the feature presentation with an exclamation of, “Open the curtain, show the movie.”
Read more on AFI Day 5: Rust and Bone (***)…
Categories: Festivals, Film Reviews Tags: Christopher Nolan, Cinema of France, French Cinema, Jacques Audiard, La Vie En Rose, Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Mann, Oscar, Steven Soderburgh, Tim Burton, Woody Allen
The Hollywood Film Awards accompany the Hollywood Film Festival, and honor excellence in filmmaking by recognizing both newcomers and veterans alike. In its 16th year, The Hollywood Film Awards honored the career of Richard Gere, who is coming off an excellent (and perhaps career-best) performance in Arbitrage. After the jump, you can read more about who else was honored at their ceremony, which took place Sunday, October 21st at the Arc Light Cinemas in Hollywood.
Read more on The Awards Season Kicks Off With The Hollywood Film Awards…
 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
 The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers announced today the nominees for the Gotham Independent Film Awards. Moonrise Kingdom and The Master picked up nominations for Best Feature, along with The Loneliest Planet, Jack Black starring Bernie and Ava DuVernay’s well-regarded Middle of Nowhere. Other Oscar hopefuls were among the nominees including Silver Linings Playbook in Best Ensemble and Beasts of the Southern Wild, which picked up 2 nominations in Breakthrough Director and Actor. In addition to the regular awards actress Marion Cotillard, actor/writer Matt Damon, director David O. Russell and producer Jeff Skoll are to receive award tributes.See the full list after the jump! Read more on 2012 Gotham Independent Film Awards nominees led by “Beasts” and “Moonrise”…
Categories: News, Precursors Tags: Ava DuVernay, award shows, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Bernie, Cinema of the United States, David O. Russell, Detropia, Entertainment/Culture, Film, Gotham Awards, Gotham Independent Film Awards, How to Survive a Plague, Independent Feature Project, Independent films, Jeff Skoll, Jeffrey Skoll, Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present, Marion Cotillard, Mark Duplass, Matt Damon, Middle of Nowhere, Moonrise Kingdom, news, Paul Thomas Anderson, Room 237, Safety Not Guaranteed, Silver Linings Playbook, the Gotham Independent Film Awards, The Loneliest Planet, The Master, The Waiting Room, Wes Anderson, Your Sister's Sister
 So what now? With screenings finished, TIFF closed, and New York’s Film Festival looming, how will TIFF impact the Oscar race? Believe it or not it has already begun; in fact it was happening as TIFF was playing out. You could hear the chatter in the theaters, press rooms, and hallways as critics talked with various producers, studio PR folk, or those in the know about how the Oscar race was changing. One thing I heard over and over is that all eyes are on three films for the year end, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, the musical Les Miserables, and Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty. The feeling seems to be until those films are screened and reaction begins to trickle out, one cannot really, truly predict the race, though as we all know, you cannot do that anyway. A conversation which took place behind me was between two executives who had seen a good portion of the footage from Les Miserables, and one of them stated, “it’s unlike any musical ever made, it captures the emotion of the play.” That is good news, and then Thursday night and Friday morning the talk was the Lincoln trailer, which impressed nearly everyone I heard or talked too, in particular the performance of two time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis. Read more on TIFF and the Aftermath…
Categories: Article Tags: American film directors, Amour, Bill Murray, Bradley Cooper, Cinema of the United States, Daniel Day-Lewis, David O. Russell, Dustin Hoffman, Emmanuelle Rivera, Entertainment/Culture, Film, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jennifer Lawrence, Joaquin Phoenix, John Hawkes, Keira Knightley, Les Miserables and Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln, Maggie Smith, Marion Cotillard, Michael Shannon, Oscar, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Quartet, Robert De Niro, screenplay, Supporting Actress, Tagged Image File Format, the Academy Award, The Master, Toronto International Film Festival
 Toronto Film Festival: Walking into the Bell Lightbox building, the new home of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, a massive corporation of which the festival is just a part of, you could feel the festival excitement in the air. Moving into my screening I found my seat and slipped out to use the washroom. Coming back I found a pretty young lady beside me, equally excited about the festival. Turns out she was a screenwriter with a couple of really great things happening in her career now. It was nice to talk to someone so equally thrilled by film on the first day, and who was enjoying a career upswing!!
I saw three films today, two narrative features and one superb documentary. Tomorrow is hellish, with five films (if I can make it to them all) and Saturday looks the same, with a bit of respite on Sunday. The move of the festival from Toronto’s Yorkville to the area in and around King and John has been a challenge for some who were set in their ways. I have to admit I quite liked the films screening at the Varsity because you could move from one screening to another without having to leave the building. Interviews were a couple of blocks away at the Four Seasons, but now things are more spread out. The good thing is more of the city benefits from the entire festival; the good outweighs the…challenges. Read more on TIFF Day 1 – Cotillard shines, Stewart surprises, Documentary contender emerges…
Categories: Article Tags: Amy Adams, Arts, Entertainment/Culture, Film, Garrett Hedlund, James Dean, Jose Rivera, Kirsten Dunst, kristen stewart, La Vie En Rose, Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, On the Road, Sam Riley, Steve Buscemi, the Academy Award, the Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF, TIFF 2012, viggo mortensen, Walter Salles
“…no one can get at it except for me” – Daniel Plainview, There Will Be Blood
That’s how I feel about this Oscar race. I feel I see something that no one else does. I’ve been doing this a long time but I’ve never had the overwhelming feeling like I just figured out the Oscar race in August. I was sitting down to do my Oscar predictions like any other month. Making some switches, moving some contenders, and cleaning out films and performances that we thought would be coming out but still have no release date.
I stared at a few names and had an epiphany. It was as if I was Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind, and the code all came off the page and circled my head in an Oscar sensation. On August 25, 2012 I’ve chosen to make my first ballsy prediction of the year. Terrence Malick and his film, To the Wonder wins Best Director and Best Picture at the Oscars 2013. How did I come to this conclusion you ask? I will discuss this in more detail on this week’s Power Hour which premieres on Monday but I’ll attempt to give you the best break down possible in the following thoughts beginning with the Director field: Read more on Oscar Circuit: “There’s a whole ocean of oil under our feet…”…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: Anne Hathaway, British people, Dave Eggers, Director, Editor, Entertainment/Culture, Film, Good Will Hunting, Gus Van Sant, john krasinski, Keira Knightley, Laura Linney, Lincoln, Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Oscar, Oscar Circuit, Sally Field, Terrence Malick, the Oscar, the Oscars
 Introspective, authentic and marginally innovative, Guillaume Canet’s Little White Lies is one of the longest-running dramedy films in recent memory (154 minutes), and we thank Canet for his refusal to edit his film down to fit the impatient demands of mainstream viewership. What we get instead is a film where characters aren’t just explored; they are plundered. By the time Little White Lies comes to a close, you pretty much know each member of this group of friends to a tee, and are able to overlook the slightly overwrought and emotionally cantankerous conclusion. Dealing with a variety of themes that include relationships, death and human sexuality, Little White Lies may be one of the best kept secrets of 2012 despite being a box office hit in its home country of France two years ago. Read more on Little White Lies (***½)…
Naomi Watts stars in “The Impossible” premiering at TIFF….
Having gone through the announced films with a fine tooth comb I have come up with a list of twenty must sees, the films that will have absolute priority over everything else for at TIFF. That is not to say I will not venture into other movies, I most certainly will, but for now, the twenty discussed within are the films I am making it my mission in life to see first. Understand that the schedules have not yet been made available to the press so there will undoubtedly be overlaps in the screenings, meaning getting a ticket from the TIFF folks or speaking with the film’s publicist to land a seat. They are always helpful to me, always have been, so no problems are foreseen. And of course there are the festivals pre-screenings, which are held ten days before the start of the festival allowing press to see films that are going to be an issue because of their schedule, or in the case of the TV critics, because they will be interviewing. I so do not miss those days, being on television, listening to the producers go to war for interviews, scrambling at the last minute because they have given to us, just a nightmare. There was a time when seeing forty to forty five films was not out of the question, but by the end of the festival my brain was mush and the stories began to run together. I learned to pace myself. Of course my accident in 2001 cut down on the number of films I can see from a sheer physical stand point. Thirty to thirty five is the goal, though twenty eight is where I usually end up. Consider as well, if I am interviewing I need to give up a film here and there, and I hate that. For me TIFF is all about the films…period. That said, if the chance arises to interview some of the major players, I will be there, as always. I have to admit I am getting excited about TIFF. As the days slip past and it comes time for my girls to go back to school, I realize the festival is upon me. Different this year, very different, is Sherri is not here to share it with me. She would bring the girls into the city for the weekend, and though we did not see much of one another, we made it a point to have dinner and coffee together, and I always woke her when I got in. I will miss that. Ariana will be with me that first weekend, swimming and hanging out at the pool, and that will be cool for her, as she loves hotel life. She has never been to a GALA so I will take her to see The Silver Lining Playbook this year, as she adores Jennifer Lawrence.
So for fun, to let you know what I am planning to see at TIFF here’s the top twenty. Read more on Top Twenty Must-See at Toronto…
Categories: Article Tags: Ben Affleck, Bill Murray, Billy Bob Thornton, David O. Russell, Helen Hunt, Helena Bonham Carter, Jennifer Lawrence, Joe Wright, John Hawkes, Keira Knightley, kristen stewart, La Vie En Rose, Laura Linney, Lee Daniels, Lincoln, Marion Cotillard, Michael Shannon, Ralph Fiennes, Richard Kuklinski, robert duvall, Robert Redford, Spike Lee, Terence Malick, tom hanks, Tommy Lee Jones, Walter Salles
Our frontrunner?
Trying to sand down the rough slate that is the Actress categories is an intimidating task. The past few years, the category has produced the likes of Natalie Portman in her career-topping performance in Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan and Marion Cotillard’s transformation like no other in the Foreign Language film, La Vie en Rose.
It’s August. Summer’s coming to an end. Eight months have passed and we have one, count, one, Best Actress contender on the chart. Quvenzhané Wallis is more and more looking like the little engine that could for her heartbreaking turn in Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild. While many are shouting from the rooftops that she could be the one to hold the Oscar, barely reaching the microphone, and being a Cinderella story for the millennium, there’s no one to challenge her as of now.
In the past week, Carey Mulligan has dropped off due to the “sudden” push of The Great Gatsby to summer 2013. Was that telling of something? We’ll discuss on this week’s episode of Power Hour if it was. With Mulligan out, we are struggling to find spots filled from performances coming down the pike.
Read more on “Best” Actress Award or “Whatever We Have Left Over”…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit Tags: Amy Adams, Anna Karenina, Anne Hathaway, Carey Mulligan, Darren Aronofsky, david cronenberg, emily watson, Emmanuelle Riva, Greta Gerwig, Halle Berry, Helen Hunt, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Joe Wright, Julianne Moore, Keira Knightley, La Vie En Rose, Laura Linney, Lost in Translation, Maggie Smith, Marion Cotillard, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Michael Haneke, naomi watts, nicole kidman, olivia colman, Olivia Williams, Oscar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Pride & Prejudice, Rob Marshall, Robert Lorenz, Rose Byrne, Scarlett Johansson, The Great Gatsby, The Weinstein Company Holdings LLC, To the Wonder
 Before I even begin diving into my review of the closing chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, it should be made clear to everyone reading that I liked The Dark Knight Rises well enough for a qualified endorsement. It’s a mostly fun, even rousing action spectacle that contains some truly breathtaking visuals (IMAX is really the only format to experience this in) and builds to a fairly satisfying conclusion; in other words, a good movie.
But it is most definitely not a great one, and I have to admit being astonished at the level of gushing enthusiasm from my colleagues. The film suffers from serious story structure and pacing problems, an honorably attempted but ultimately dull main villain, and tries to bring up a number of topical observations of contemporary events that end up being threadbare at best and disturbingly reactionary at worst.* None of these flaws outright sink the movie, but they do bring it down below the level of Batman Begins, far below the level of The Dark Knight and, perhaps most disappointingly, ends up with Nolan ultimately failing to live up to his promise of staking out a truly new form of superhero epic.
Read more on The Dark Knight Rises (**½)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Anne Hathaway, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, comics and superheroes, disappointment, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Summer Movies, the dark knight rises, Tom Hardy
 Against almost impossible hype, anticipation, and expectations, Christopher Nolan has managed to deliver not just the best Batman film to date, but also the best superhero film of all time with ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (while also once again elevating the playing field for what the genre can be at its pinnacle). In fact, I’d go so far as to argue it’s the best 3rd film of any series, and solidifies this franchise as the best of all time, in terms of pure filmmaking and quality. Both epic and intimate in scale, Nolan is working on a level I’ve never seen from him before. Everything before this for him has been leading up to ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. The same goes for all the returning members of his cast, notably Christian Bale, who I feel gives us the definitive version of Bruce Wayne here, not to mention Batman. This is a brutal film about war, redemption, sacrifice, and a reflection of our current political climate, while still being a rousing and entertaining heroic adventure. It’s damn near perfect, and even more so than ‘The Dark Knight’, this is the film that the Academy should be nominating for Best Picture. Nolan deserves nods for his directing and screenplay duties (the way he uses the city of New York to stand in for Gotham City is stupendous, but I’ll get more into that triumphant decision in a bit) as well, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Quite simply, this is the best film of the year so far, and a surefire awards contender. Nominations obviously have more to do with just quality, but in that regard, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ has that in spades. I had tears in my eyes during the final minutes, and I never expected that. Bravo Mr. Nolan…
Read more on The Dark Knight Rises (****)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Anne Hathaway, batman, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Early Review, franchise, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Oscar hopeful, sequel, the dark knight rises, Tom Hardy, trilogy
 The extraordinary burden placed on director Christopher Nolan to deliver a great film, a good one would disappoint, seems to have fuelled the gifted director to create something simply astounding. Though the film lacks the complex, nightmarish villain of The Dark Knight (2008), Heath Ledger’s Oscar winning turn as The Joker, The Dark Knight Rises is an epic and lifts the comic book film, as the previous picture did to an art form. It is without question the year’s finest film thus far and could land in the Best Picture race. Frankly, Nolan shows everyone associated with The Avengers (2012), a good film, how things are done, by making another masterpiece that finishes his trilogy about the Dark Knight. Nolan has accomplished what George Lucas could not with Return of the Jedi (1983), making a third film that matches the previous two, that takes us further into the characters and the story. Read more on The Dark Knight Rises (****)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Anne Hathaway, Batman Begins, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, DC Comics, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Oscar hopeful, Summer Blockbuster, superhero movie, The Dark Knight, the dark knight rises, Tom Hardy
 Up until ‘Two Lovers’, I’d never fully been able to embrace a James Gray movie, but I’d always been cognizant of the talent the man possessed. That last film really hit me hard though, and now I’m eagerly awaiting his next film, a period piece presumably hitting the fall festival circuit starring Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner. Well, Deadline is reporting here that the flick won’t need to look for a buyer at those fests, as The Weinstein Company has picked it up, adding another potential Oscar player to its stable. After the jump I’ll let you know what the currently untitled (after tentatively being named ‘Low Life’ until very recently) film is about, but stay tuned for some marketing on the movie to hit in the coming months…
Read more on The Weinstein Company has picked up James Gray’s upcoming period piece!…
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