 What better way to spend the holidays than curling up under the covers after a hard day of work and play, ready for a long nap only to then be woken up by a creaking sound, your closet door slowly opening and out emerges a vicious monster ready to steal your screams away! Wait, that actually sounds horrible, so instead I suggest you make the most of this merry season by getting your monster-fill at a screening of Disney•Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. 3D. Like Finding Nemo 3D just a few months back, I hadn’t immersed myself with this timeless Pixar adventure in over a decade. While Monsters, Inc. doesn’t age quite as well as the aforementioned film that traversed the deep blue sea and plundered America’s deep black wallets, you can’t argue against the manic bliss that Mike, Sully and Boo treat you with for an enthralling ninety minutes. Read more on Monsters, Inc. 3D (***½)…
 After what feels like just about an eternity, I finally saw ‘On the Road’ back in early October at one of the first screenings post Toronto. This is a film that’s been on the verge of release so long it’s almost become an annual joke between Clayton and myself about including it in predictions at the start of each season. Well, this is the year that we can finally talk about the adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s legendary book and where it stands in the Oscar race. The verdict on the awards front is that it’s a long shot at best in most categories. Aside from that though, this is a pretty good, if difficult, road trip drama with some notably strong acting from Garret Hedlund and Kristen Stewart especially. Sam Riley is very solid too, but those first two really shine. Walter Salles has shot an absolutely beautiful movie and along with scribe Jose Rivera has captured the words of Kerouac about as well as one could have hoped for (by using the original scroll, actually), even dating back to the days of Francis Ford Coppola seeking to adapt the seminal novel. It’s not especially Academy friendly, and hardly perfect, but it’s not something to completely cross off of your lists either. Time will tell in that regard, but this is a flick worth seeing regardless of its potential for Oscar nominations. The movie opens next week and yes, it was worth the wait, even if it took me almost two months to fully formulate a review of it…
Read more on On the Road (***)…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Alice Braga, Amy Adams, Early Review, Elisabeth Moss, Garrett Hedlund, Jose Rivera, Kirsten Dunst, kristen stewart, On the Road, Oscar hopeful, Sam Riley, Steve Buscemi, Terrence Howard, Tom Sturridge, viggo mortensen, Walter Salles
Steven Vincent Buscemi turned 55 on December 13th. He worked as a firefighter while attending the Lee Strasberg Institute in the 80s. His first role in a motion picture was in Parting Glances, for which he received praise. He received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Male in Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train (1989). In 1990, he played one of Laurence Fishburne’s henchman in Abel Ferrara’s King of New York, and a similar role in the Coen Brothers’ gem Miller’s Crossing (the first of six Coen Brothers’ films he would appear in).
Read more on Circuit 3: Steve Buscemi…
 Somehow, someway, Boardwalk Empire has managed to sustain itself in the upper echelons of great television in spite of the potentially-controversial decision to kill off the series’ second-most important character in the final moments of last season’s finale. Immediately following this jarring narrative twist, Boardwalk Empire was praised by critics and fans alike for its risk-taking and bold storytelling. Truth be told, Boardwalk Empire is the type of show that audiences could easily become bored with if too many episodes go by without a violent death or curve ball thrown at the plot. Still, part of me wondered whether it was the right call to axe *SPOILER ALERT* Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) from the series. In Season Two, Jimmy was unquestionably the most interesting, complex and well-rounded character in the entire cast. Michael Pitt even managed to make us forget we were watching Leonardo DiCaprio Jr. on-screen. Pitt demonstrated an unusual amount of sincerity for a gangster who spent all last season ruining the social position of his adoptive father, Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), so much so that Darmody’s plunge from power drew all our sympathies. We hated Nucky for choosing his thuggish brother Eli over the salvageable Jimmy, and couldn’t shake the feeling that Michael Pitt’s Jimmy Darmody was Atlantic City’s most unfortunate victim. Can Boardwalk Empire thrive or even survive without its most fascinating character, its most gifted actor (Michael Pitt’s Emmy snub elicited more weeps than during his death scene)? Based on last night’s season premiere, it just might.
Read more on TV Review: Boardwalk Empire, Season 3 (***½)…
Categories: TV/Music Tags: Atlantic City New Jersey, Boardwalk Empire, Boardwalk Empire Resolution Review, Boardwalk Empire Review, Boardwalk Empire Season 3, Boardwalk Empire Season 3 Review, Boardwalk Empire Season Three Episode One, Bobby Cannavale, Emmys, Gretchen Mol, HBO, Kelly MacDonald, Michael Pitt, Michael Shannon, Steve Buscemi, Terence Winter, Tim Van Patten
 This is Part 2 of the Drama Series chat. You can check out Part 1 where Joseph and I discussed the supporting actors here.
Terence: Well since you mention sign sealed and delivered awards last time, do we see Jon Hamm finding some way to rig ballots so Bryan Cranston won’t win again?
OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Jon Hamm realizing Cranston will win again
Joseph: No, no, and no. And I hate that. Jon Hamm has deserved his Emmy win for so long. Every time people think it’s his year, it suddenly isn’t and some other person gets the win, mostly Cranston. But Cranston’s new found Hollywood upsurge really makes him an even stronger contender than before, Hamm’s acting hasn’t been praised outside of Mad Men, whereas Cranston’s has been.
Read more on Emmy Chatter: Drama Series, Pt. 2 – Lead Actor, Actress and Series Predictions!…
Categories: Article, Blog Tags: Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, bryan cranston, Claire Danes, Damages, Damian Lewis, Dan Stevens, Dexter, Downton Abbey, Elisabeth Moss, emmy awards, Emmy Chatter, Game of Thrones, Glenn Close, Harry's Law, Homeland, Hugh Bonneville, Jon Hamm, Julianna Marguilles, Kathy Bates, Kerry Washington, mad men, Madeline Stowe, Maggie Smith, Michael C. Hall, Michelle Dockery, Primetime Emmy Awards, Steve Buscemi, The Good Wife
 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
 Anyone who knows me by now, knows that how I much I absolutely LOVE Monster’s Inc., as it was my #2 film of 2001. While my excitement is parked cautiously on the follow-up prequel, Monster’s University, I remember great films like Toy Story have only gotten better with each and every movie. Disney/Pixar has released FOUR different teaser trailers that are all for view below. Read more on Disney/Pixar’s Monster’s University Teaser Trailer(s) Debut!…
 Directed by: Walter Salles
Written by: Jose Rivera (based on the novel of the same name by Jack Kerouac)
Cast: Sam Riley, Garret Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Alice Braga, Steve Buscemi, Terrence Howard, Elisabeth Moss, Giovanna Zacarias, and Danny Morgan
Synopsis (from the Internet Movie Database): Dean and Sal are the portrait of the Beat Generation. Their search for “It” results in a fast paced, energetic roller coaster ride with highs and lows throughout the U.S.
Read more on Awards Profile: On the Road…
Categories: Award Profile Tags: Alice Braga, Amy Adams, Awards Profile, book adaptation, Danny Morgan, Elisabeth Moss, Garrett Hedlund, Jose Rivera, Kirsten Dunst, kristen stewart, On the Road, Oscar hopeful, Sam Riley, Steve Buscemi, Terrence Howard, Tom Sturridge, viggo mortensen, Walter Salles
 Woody Harrelson shines in co-writer/director Oren Moverman’s sometimes uneven but always compelling police drama ‘Rampart’. Harrelson is absolutely phenomenal playing an old school member of the Los Angeles Police Department during a time when the tide is changing and people like him are a thing of the past. Moverman has improved as a director since his good but not great directorial debut “The Messenger”(which scored Harrelson a Supporting Actor nod, in addition to Moverman getting nominated for Best Original Screenplay), and that goes a long way towards giving this film a distinct look and feel. His writing is still somewhat divisive, but I give him credit for not making boring films. He certainly knows how to direct Harrelson, as he gets an Oscar worthy performance out of him here. At its core, this is a character study of a flawed individual and his struggles against himself. Not unlike ‘The Wrestler’, it’s a warts and all look at a relic from the past. It suffers from an occasional lack of focus and a tendency to shortchange other interesting characters in favor of its protagonist., but overall it’s a pretty good flick and a fine awards vehicle for Harrelson and Moverman.
Read more on Rampart (***)…
|
