 Directed By: Steve McQueen
Written By: Steve McQueen and John Ridley
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Quvenzhané Wallis, Scoot McNairy, Garrett Dillahunt, Sarah Paulson, Michael Kenneth Williams, Taran Killiam, Dwight Henry, Adepero Oduye, Bryan Batt, Alfre Woodard
Synopsis: 12 Years a Slave is based on the 1853 autobiography of Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped in Washington D.C in 1841 and sold into slavery. He worked on plantations in the state of Louisiana for 12 years before his release. Read more on Awards Profile: 12 Years A Slave…
Categories: Award Profile, Blog Tags: Adepero Oduye, Alfre Woodard, Awards Profile, benedict cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Bryan Batt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dwight Henry, Garrett Dillahunt, John Ridley, Michael Fassbender, Oscar hopeful, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Quvenzhané Wallis, Sarah Paulson, Scoot McNairy, Steve McQueen, Taran Killiam, Twelve Years A Slave
 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
 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
As we discussed on one of our previous Power Hour podcasts, it can be hard to define what a “breakthrough” performance/year really is. It could be someone coming out of seemingly nowhere to land several big roles (ala Jessica Chastain in 2011), or it could be someone who has made a few films and just finally lands that one fantastic role that launches them into stardom (ala Michael Fassbender in 2010). It doesn’t necessarily mean they are new to the screen (though they might be), it just means this is someone who has arrived and it’s time to take notice.
Read more on The 10 Biggest Breakthrough Performances Of 2012…
Categories: Article Tags: Alicia Vikander, Aubrey Plaza, Bradley Cooper, Breakthrough Performances, Dane DeHaan, David Oyelowo, Doona Bae, Jason Clarke, Kelly Reilly, Logan Lerman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Nate Parker, Quvenzhané Wallis, Samantha Barks, Scoot McNairy
 Laurence Anyways (****)
I can count on one hand the amount of times in my life when I’ve left a cinema buzzing from what I’d just watched; exhilarated by the cinematic journey that had unfolded before me and once more head-over-heels in love with those too often insignificant things we call movies. Laurence Anyways had that effect on me today.
If I Killed My Mother was the eye-opening semi-autobiographical debut, and Heartbeats was the difficult sophomore effort born on a whim but executed with distinguished clarity, then Laurence Anyways is Xavier Dolan’s true work of art. Although his first two movies showed vast quantities of talent and untapped potential, this really is Dolan’s most complete, daring, ambitious and ultimately satisfying film yet.
Read more on BFI London Film Festival – DAY 3…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Behn Zeitlin, BFI, BFI London Film Festival, Cinema of Canada, film review, Laurence Anyways, LFF, LGBT, London Film Festival, Melvil Poupaud, Quvenzhané Wallis, REVIEW, Suzanne Clement, Transsexualism, Xavier Dolan
 Despite the issues that I had with ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’, easily the best part of that flick was the lead performance of young actress Quvenzhane Wallis. She’s certainly someone to watch, and it looks like she’ll soon be appearing in a very high profile Oscar contender next year, the film ‘Twelve Years A Slave’. The Playlist is reporting here that she’s joined the cast of Steve McQueen’s highly anticipated film and you can see in the image above/to your right that she’s already on set and performing with the likes of Chiwetel Ejifor. After the jump you can see who she’s co-starring with, but it seems like every month this movie gets more and more interesting to me. I really can’t wait to see it. Read on below for Wallis’ cohorts in the flick…
Read more on Quvenzhane Wallis joins Steve McQueen’s ‘Twelve Years A Slave’!…
 In the grand scheme of film criticism and the notion that groundbreaking directors can be born right out of their first feature, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild is a perfect blend of emotional rapture and glorious narrative. The film tells the story of young Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis), a girl living among her father (Dwight Henry) and neighbors following a natural disaster that may or may not be Hurricane Katrina. Hushpuppy faces the deteriorating environment that threatens her very existence and everyone she loves.
Zeitlin’s direction is controlled and spot-on as he operates the film with a heavy hand of love. His interpretation of a world that belongs to an eight-year-old girl is accurately and effectively moving. Zeitlin casts a spell and digs his way into your soul with his creation of some of the most beautiful characters of the year. The film, reminiscent of an older, more mature version of Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, encapsulates many of the qualities that makes films really extraordinary. Zeitlin’s vision is paramount and while he allows the imagery to become a secondary character, a tactic many director can only dream of, his artistic abilities haven’t even been fully realized…yet. Read more on Beasts of the Southern Wild (***½)…
Looks like this weekend will go down in the books as one of pleasant surprises, both financially and quality-wise. Whether that will translate into Oscar nominations may happen for at least one of them…
Steven Soderbergh and Channing Tatum take us into the world of male strippers in Magic Mike, about a seasoned dancer who takes a rookie under his wing and shows him the ropes. Based on the star’s own beginnings as a club dancer, critics have been very positive on the film, including our own Joey Magidson, who praised its writing, performances and direction from Soderbergh. Rather than being a bubbly dance flick aimed squarely at female audiences, Joey instead relayed back an offbeat and surprisingly in-depth character study of men in an odd profession. Nevertheless, the presence of handsome men taking their clothes off will certainly draw in one kind of audience and turn off another, no matter how different the actual film is. Online and Friday ticket sales were strong and should give the film a good $30-35 million haul. The critical acclaim, however, raises even more intriguing possibilities for its awards prospects. Too racy for the Academy, you say? Tell that to The Full Monty. I would not be surprised to see this among the Best Original Screenplay nominees next January. The performances are less of a certainty, and will probably require a focused campaign to give the well-received work of Matthew McConaughey, Channing Tatum or Alex Pettyfer a shot at an Academy Award nomination. My opinion is that good-looking men already have a hell of a time getting noticed by the Academy when they don’t draw attention to how attractive they are, so I am not betting on any of them any time soon, but that could change… Read more on Weekend Openings (June 29-July 1)…
Categories: Weekend Openings Tags: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Channing Tatum, Magic Mike, Matthew McConaughey, Oscar hopefuls, People Like Us, Quvenzhané Wallis, Sarah Polley, Seth MacFarlane, Steven Soderbergh, Take This Waltz, Ted, Tyler Perry, Weekend Openings
 Another year, another widely loved indie Oscar contender that I just can’t get as excited about as the masses do. Last year, it was ‘The Tree of Life’ that left me cold and wanting more (and ‘The Artist’ to a much lesser extent), and now I find myself not as crazy about ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ as I’d hoped to be. I’m certainly in the minority (even here at The Awards Circuit) with this opinion after wildly successful runs at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals, but I just can’t see what all the fuss is about. This modern-day fairy tale of sorts is a good movie, I grant you that, and at times a very good movie, so it’s certainly got plenty going in its favor, but it doesn’t ever reach that next level for me, and its flaws are readily apparent. For every good element in the flick, there’s a part that I wish was done differently. The acting is mostly terrific, especially by Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry in the lead roles, but the supporting cast is forgettable. The direction by Benh Zeitlin is ambitious, but only some of his choices wind up helping the film, and the same goes for the screenplay by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar. I definitely appreciate this movie (much like ‘The Tree of Life’ last year), and I like it more than I don’t, but overall I don’t really see what’s inspiring such adoration from the majority of people who’ve seen it so far. It may very well end up getting some Oscar nominations, and I don’t think it’d be a terrible selection, but I sure hope 2012 has some better movies in store for us than this odd mix of ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’, ‘George Washington’, and ‘The Tree of Life’.
Read more on Beasts of the Southern Wild (***)…
 The first major Academy Award™ contender is officially upon us with Benh Zeitlin’s hypnotically spellbinding Beasts of the Southern Wild. The hype for this film has been building following the huge responses it received from the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals, so anything less than what we’ve heard to be true would be one massive letdown. I’m not one who buys into hype or goes into a film screening expecting certain emotions to be attained — I simply come at each film as if it’s one untouched, pure and innocent child that I see grow before my eyes. This is why I tend to avoid trailers and plot synopses before checking out a movie. For me, a film’s beauty lies in its organic unfolding, letting your eyes and your mind reap all that is streaming before you, completely unfiltered and without taint. I am very thankful I stuck to my guns before watching Beasts of the Southern Wild. The less you know, the greater you’ll appreciate. I’ll even take it a step further: this is one of those masterpieces that hits you so hard and so fast, it’s nearly impossible to control the urge to immediately re-watch the film. Brimming with speed, ferocity, and performances that will make your eyes turn into miniscule waterfalls, Beasts of the Southern Wild has the potential to take the globe by storm in the same all-encompassing manner as Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. It’s just that powerful. Read more on Beasts of the Southern Wild (****)…
 Directed By: Benh Zeitlin
Written By: Lucy Alibar, Behn Zeitlin
Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry
Synopsis (from IMDB): Faced with her father’s fading health and environmental changes that release an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy leaves her Delta-community home in search of her mother.
Read more on Awards Profile: Beasts of the Southern Wild…
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