It’s time to dive, dive in deep…well, at least as deep as you can in May. As I attempted to unveil the newest set of Oscar Predictions, I realized how many promising films are left to be seen in the remaining seven months. As of now, the only real Best Picture contender that has the legs to make it until the end of the year would be Sarah Polley’sStories We Tell, and that’s a longshot at best given its genre. You can make arguments for films like The Place Beyond the Pines by Derek Cianfrance and even Mud by Jeff Nichols but those will need a well-placed DVD release with a focused campaign, something I’m not sure the studios are willing to bet on. Cianfrance’s film also has an outside shot for Screenplay and a Supporting Actor mention for Ryan Gosling. If anything, this helps him for Nicolas Winding Refn’sOnly God Forgives, if they’re feeling like recognizing him a second time. It feels like eons ago when Gosling was nominated for Ryan Fleck’s Half Nelson (2006) and then later missed other opportunities for Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Blue Valentine (2010), and Drive (2011). Not sure when it will be before he gets back onto the Oscar radar.
As Sony Pictures Classics gears up for the release of Richard Linklater’s beautifully crafted and poignant Before Midnight, the studio has released a clip for your viewing pleasure. In this clip, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) are walking through the beautiful scenery of Greece, speaking about the things they would or would not like to change about each other.
You can read the full review of the film from the Tribeca Film Festival. I suspect the film will be at the very least, a huge contender in Adapted Screenplay but it should definitely be more.
Better late than never right…The festival has officially come to a close and the jury announced their winners for various categories. Many films made their world debut and there are some definite Oscar-worthy contenders in the mix. How they will handle their campaigns and how many voters will actually be able/willing to see the films at hand.
I was pleasantly surprised by many films, both traditional narratives and documentaries. Below is my take on the best films and performances in various categories that played in the prestigious festival held in New York. Read more on Best of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival!…
Richard Linklater’s third film in the Jesse/Celine love story, Before Midnight, is screening again tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival, and a new poster for the film has been released showing the pair soaking up the sun in Greece. Before Midnight goes wide on May 25, but you can read Joey’s Sundance review here, and Clayton’s Tribeca review here while you wait. Have a look at the poster after the jump.
As April has completely come out of nowhere and become fully present, I’ve updated the new Oscar Tracker to keep in mind everything that has already been released this year so far or have screened at major festivals like Sundance, SXSW, and Tribeca.
There’s no super-duper “out there” contender that looks like it can go all the way as of today with the exception of Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight. While the film is an absolute marvel, it won’t be determined until the autumn if it can sustain throughout the summer and become a leading contender like last year with Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts of the Southern Wild. Obviously, the latter was the only film to crack the Best Picture lineup but if we’re in store for a change like AMPAS going back to five Best Picture nominees, as some have speculated, a small indie film like Linklater’s could get lost throughout the summer and fall months. As of now, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy could show up with Linklater in Adapted Screenplay but on their performances alone, they will warrant some consideration. Both are superb in their roles and will have their champions throughout the year. Read more on First Quarter Round-Up – Are There Any Oscar Contenders?…
The Tribeca Film Festival kicked off last Thursday with Pre-Festival screenings giving press and industry personnel the opportunity to see the heavy slate of films the New York festival has to offer. Over the next few weeks, until the official festival kicks off on April 17th, the very best in foreign, documentary, and independent cinema will get some of their first viewings.
Richard Linklater directed and co-wrote the romantic classic Before Sunrise (1995) with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. We have to start by looking at how far this series has come since its inception nearly twenty years ago. At the time, Hawke was fresh off Ben Stiller’s Reality Bites (1994) and was on his way to bigger projects. Starring in the underwhelming yet entertaining White Fang (1991) and having a supporting turn in my favorite film of all-time Dead Poets Society (1989) with Robin Williams; Hawke was on his way from teen sensation to serious character actor. Julie Delpy had a very different journey and was virtually unknown in America. Having roles in the “Three Colors” series as Dominique, her only memorable American roles up to that point were in Roger Avary’s Killing Zoe (1993) as the young Zoe and as Constance in Disney’s adaptation of The Three Musketeers (1993) with Charlie Sheen and Keifer Sutherland. Read more on TRIBECA: Before Midnight (****)…
Sony Pictures Classics has released the first trailer for Richard Linklater’s third film in the Before series. Before Midnight reunites Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) nine years since their last encounter (Before Sunset), and eighteen years since their first (Before Sunrise). The film opens May 24, and you can read Joey’s ***½ review here. Have a look at the trailer after the jump.
Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight was acquired by Sony Classics out of the Sundance Film Festival, and now it seems the distribution company has set a May 24th release date for the film. It will open in New York and Los Angeles first, and then expand to wide release shortly after. You can read Joey’s ***½ review for the film here, and have a look at a few more release dates after the jump.
It’s hard for lightning to strike twice, let alone three times, but somehow the team of Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, and Richard Linklater have done just that with Before Midnight. Almost two decades since they first charmed audiences in Before Sunrise (1995) and nearly a full decade since they returned with the equally impressive sequel Before Sunset (2004), the trio are back and as good as ever.
Co-writer/director Richard Linklater is again content to sit back and let co-writers/stars Delpy and Hawke inhabit these characters. We’ve grown to love and care about them, something the team uses to their advantage in some really interesting ways this time around. As much as it’s a direct sequel, the most compatible film to this one might actually be the recent Judd Apatow flick This is 40. A movie about what happens when youthful love is replaced by something more complex; Before Midnight is a home run for all involved. Read more on SUNDANCE: Before Midnight (***½)…
Over the last few months or so, there was a juicy rumor floating around that the planned second sequel to the indie favorite ‘Before Sunrise’ was already being shot by filmmaker Richard Linklater. Of course it was starring Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke again, with the trio co-writing the script once more, but lots of people poo-pooed that theory. Well, go figure…they were right, as the movie just completed shooting and is headed to the Toronto Film Festival for buyers to purchase. Set in Greece this time around (an interesting location change, but more on that in a bit), I know I’m eager to learn more about the flick, and after the jump you can see a quick statement from Delpy, Hawke, and Linklater, along with my further thoughts on the now trilogy we have. Read on below for more on this surprising yet delightful news…
I’m not sure that the trio of co-writer/director Richard Linklater and co-writers/stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy get enough credit for the films ‘Before Sunrise’ and ‘Before Sunset’. The mere fact that almost everyone agrees that the previously assumed to be needless sequel was just about as good as the original, well…that’s rare. Could they tempt fate and make this a trilogy, as the rumors have said for a year or two now? Apparently, that’s still the plan, according to Colliderhere, where Hawke claims production is just around the corner. I definitely don’t think this is necessary, but I love those two flicks dearly, so I’d surely see this one. After the jump you can see where this new film might go, but the trio working together is good enough for me…
Jack Black easily gives the best performance of his career so far in the quirky true crime story ‘Bernie’. Writer/director Richard Linklater has made a quirky comedy in the vein of the Coen Brothers (think a combination of ‘Fargo’ and ‘Burn After Reading’), though still with his trademarks on hand. The result is an incredibly entertaining and offbeat tale, a film that I actually feel may be one of Linklater’s 5 best to date. Many of his top notch flicks have taken place in small Texas towns (‘Dazed and Confused’ and ‘Slacker’, to name 2), and this movie is no exception. All of Linklater’s touches are ones that add to the film’s effectiveness, but his best decision was working again with Black. He gets a terrific performance out of him, and it’s the glue that holds this project together (alongside strong supporting turns from Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey) and elevates it from a very nice little flick to something memorable. Few actors have turned in the quality of work so far in 2012 that Black gives us here. He disappears into the title role and everything just flows from there. The end result is not just one of the most surprisingly fun and effective indies of the year to date, but one of the year’s best so far as well.
Almost there, folks. One week from today will be the official start of the Summer Movie Season: Franchise Flicks, Explosions, CGI, the whole works. As we say goodbye to the general dumping ground (with the occasional peppering of gems between them), we say hello to four new films debuting today:
A film about a wedding…a box office hit?! Ha! Like that’ll ever happen! Okay, okay, lame-obvious-sarcasm aside, the Judd Apatow-produced The Five-Year Engagement, about a couple whose engagement goes through the ordeal of having their Big Day perpetually delayed hopes to join the ranks of past nuptial-themedcomediesthatfoundunexpectedsuccess. Does it have a chance? It faces an uphill climb; reviews have been alright but hardly as rapturous as Kristin Wiig’s smashing success last year, with most critics praising the romantic chemistry between Jason Segel and Emily Blunt and the script’s mature views on marriage but with a running time that feels like five years. Online activity has also been solid and Segel has made a career of headlining films with respectable openings. I wouldn’t bet on a Bridesmaids-level success but certainly somewhere in the ballpark of $18-23 million. Read more on Weekend Openings (April 27-29)…
Before Sunrise is one of my favorite romantic films of all time, and somehow its sequel Before Sunset managed to be just about as good. The chemistry between co-writers/stars Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke and with co-writer/director Richard Linklater works so well. News has come via Vulture that another movie may be in the works. Here’s the story, but I’m in no matter what:
In 1995′s Before Sunrise a very young Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy spent a long, meandering, romantic night together in Vienna. In the 2004 follow-up, Before Sunset, an older, more jaded Hawke and Delpy spent a long, meandering day together in Paris, still crazy and tortured about each other after all these years. Now it looks like the third film might be on the way. (Berlin for a 24-hour rendezvous?) Speaking to the French publication AlloCine, Hawke said that he thought it was just about time he, Delpy, and their director, Richard Linklater — the threesome who co-wrote the previous films — got started on a third.
It’s time to dive, dive in deep…well, at least as deep as you can in May. As I attempted to unveil the newest set of Oscar Predictions, I realized how many promising films are left to be seen in the remaining seven months. As of now, the only real Best Picture contender that has the legs to make it until the end of the year would be Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell, and that’s a longshot at best given its genre. You can make arguments for films like The Place Beyond the Pines by Derek Cianfrance and even Mud by Jeff Nichols but those will need a well-placed DVD release with a focused campaign, something I’m not sure the studios are willing to bet on. Cianfrance’s film also has an outside shot for Screenplay and a Supporting Actor mention for Ryan Gosling. If anything, this helps him for Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives, if they’re feeling like recognizing him a second time. It feels like eons ago when Gosling was nominated for Ryan Fleck’s Half Nelson (2006) and then later missed other opportunities for Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Blue Valentine (2010), and Drive (2011). Not sure when it will be before he gets back onto the Oscar radar.
