 Snitch is one of those films that you go in expecting one thing and get those judgments and preconceived notions blown to bits by a sharp screenplay, fantastic acting, and confident direction. A fascinating character study wrapped in the thin shroud of an action thriller, Snitch, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a powerful statement film about drug trafficking, masculinity, and ultimately how humans react when faced with extraordinary circumstances. Read more on Snitch (***)…
As Awards Season draws to a close this weekend, new releases feebly hoping for some viewership are kept to a conservative minimum. With no shortage of derivative action and horror pictures monopolizing theaters in the year’s early months, Dwayne Johnson (in his first of many) joins they fray with Snitch along with paranormal thriller Dark Skies. Mystery, drama Inescapable rounds out the meager showing.
Read more on Weekend Openings: 2/22/2013…
 When the Lionsgate Awards site went LIVE today and listed their slate of contenders involving Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Fisher Stevens’ Stand Up Guys, Gary Ross’ The Hunger Games, Nicholas Jarecki’s Arbitrage, and J.A. Bayona’s The Impossible, I started to analyze how this year could pan out for smaller films that are trying to make a play; even more so, the performances in them.
I’ve touted on podcasts for weeks that Nate Parker utterly deserves a citation in Arbitrage, a raw, authentic turn that stands as one of the year’s bests. His co-star Richard Gere is currently being predicted in the Lead Actor top five, mostly on the notion that after years of ignoring and snubbing, voter’s eyes would finally be open to the charm that Gere portrays in Jarecki’s film. As Hugh Jackman remains a mystery of the season in Les Miserables and the word of Anthony Hopkins’ work in Hitchcock rallies some muted enthusiasm, a first-time nominee is bound to crack the top five. Believe me, Bradley Cooper might have a leg up on Gere given his film’s Best Picture chances and the powerful Weinsteins backing, but perhaps an overdue veteran has the gas to go the distance. Read more on Two Lead Contenders on Lionsgate Awards Plate…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Predictions Tags: An Officer and a Gentleman, Anthony Hopkins, Arbitrage, Bradley Cooper, Chicago, Entertainment/Culture, Ewan McGregor, Films, Fisher Stevens, gary ross, Golden Globe, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, King, Lead Actor, Los Angeles, Margin Call, Movie Release, Mulholland Drive, naomi watts, Nate Parker, New York City, Nicholas Jarecki, Officer, Oscar, oscar predictions 2013, Peter Jackson, Precious, Richard Gere, Rob Marshall, Robert Miller, Screen Actors Guild, screenwriter, Sergio G. Sánchez, Stephen Chbosky, Susan Sarandon, Taylor Hackford, The Impossible, TOM HOLLAND, Watts, Writer
Cloud Atlas (***½)
Simply put, Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer’s Cloud Atlas is an allegory about love, freedom, and the connectivity of the human spirit throughout all of time, space, and everything in between. But there is nothing simple about this film – this challengingly ambitious and wildly intrepid film – that weaves six unique stories through different periods in time (between 1849 and approximately 2346), all following the same actors redefined in each tale by different ethnicities, genders, and ages, in what is almost certainly a nod to reincarnation. If you try to connect the dots between each story being told, you might miss the larger point of the narrative, as Cloud Atlas is most profoundly felt in the sum of all its exuberant parts. And while I was intrigued with each separate story being told, I was surprised by the wave of emotion that hit me as the film pulled itself together marvelously in the end. Cloud Atlas is already an esoteric and devisive film amongst critics and audiences alike, but count this writer as one on the side of this being one of the best films of the year.
Read more on Snippet Reviews…
Categories: Film Reviews Tags: Ben Wishaw, Cloud Atlas, Cloud Atlas review, Entertainment/Culture, Halle Berre, Jim Sturgess, Michelle Williams, Pusher, Pusher review, Seth Rogen, Snippet Reviews, Susan Sarandon, Take This Waltz, take this waltz review, The Wachowskis, tom hanks, Tom Wilkinson
 Arbitrage is a film that might seem like little more than a energetic, well acted film about the financial crisis, but underneath the surface is a hauntingly urgent requiem on the American Dream and the moral fabric of the country. Using a bevy of fantastic performances and a sharp script, the film is a great Rorshach test for audiences on how moralistic their decision making is. Many an audience member will go in completely cold (like I did) and witness a film about Robert Miller, played with great tenacity by Richard Gere, a wildly successful hedge fund manager who is trying to sell his company despite not being able to account for $412 million worth of earnings. It’s a situation most Americans are aware of, but unlike Too Big To Fail or Margin Call, this film aims to make the crisis human, giving us a face of a man who throughout the proceedings tries to get away with many an awful activity. Those dealings include not just the fraudulent sale of his company but blackmail, adultery, and possibly murder. While those transgressions might seem like a turnoff, writer director Nichalos Jarecki wields them in such a way that routinely gives the audience room to choose their own interpretation, making us take ownership of the situations we’re witnessing on screen. By presenting these characters as humans first, and representations of a financial crisis second, the audience is lulled into a sense of camaraderie with the characters, especially Miller. It’s a testament how well the script is written that no matter how much we see Miller squirm or how close the walls come to tumbling down, we root for him till the end. And what does that say about us? Are we any better than Miller if we’re interested in seeing him escape the law?
Read more on Arbitrage (***½)…
 KON TIKI (***)…When I was 12 my grandparents gave me the book about Thor Heyerdahl, a 20th century photographer and ethnographer who in 1947 set out on an extraordinary adventure that everyone told him was impossible. Heyerdahl set out on the 8,000 mile voyage across the Pacific Ocean on a raft built of balsa wood, manned by an under experienced crew. Heyerdahl believed that man early settlers from South America populated Polynesia and their only method of crossing would have been in a manner such as this. The danger of such a crossing is obvious, the madness behind it, perhaps not so clear, but the adventure was right out of the movies. Consider the madness of the lead character in Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo (1978), a half-crazed visionary seeking to do the impossible, and you see that Heyerdahl’s quest is not so terribly different. Read more on TIFF: Pleasant “Tiki,” Sarandon steals “Company,” and Watts isn’t enough for “Impossible”…
Categories: Article Tags: Anna Kendrick, Chris Cooper, Entertainment/Culture, Ewan McGregor, Film, Juan Antonio Bayona, Kon-Tiki, naomi watts, Oscar, Robert Redford, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Terence Howard, the Academy Award, The Company You Keep, The Impossible, TIFF, TIFF 2012
 As Telluride and Venice ended and we sit in the heat that is the Toronto Film Festival, I’m updating Oscar Predictions slowly but surely. Screenings are happening daily and the race could change in a matter of seconds. My solution is to update one category per day for the next 20 days. By then Toronto would have ended, and we would be sitting firmly in the clump of the New York Film Festival. I’ve started with the biggest juggernaut, Best Motion Picture, but most importantly I took the opportunity to update the Oscar Tracker with several films and performances added to their respective categories.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Resistance is Futile…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit, Oscar Predictions Tags: Amy Adams, Amy Ryan, Ben Affleck, Ben Lewin, Christopher Nolan, Cinema of the United States, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, David O. Russell, Director, Emmanuelle Riva, Entertainment/Culture, F. Murray Abraham, Film, Fisher Stevens, Gone Baby Gone, Hugh Jackman, Jean-Louis Tringnant, Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix, John Goodman, John Madden’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, kathryn bigelow, Lead Actor, letters from iwo jima, Life is Beautiful, Lincoln, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Haneke, Nathaniel Rogers, Oscar, Oscar Circuit, oscar predictions 2013, Paul Thomas Anderson, Peter Jackson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Quentin Tarantino, Rian Johnson, Russell Crowe, Slumdog Millionaire, Steven Spielberg, Susan Sarandon, Telluride, Terence Johnson, Terrence Malick, The Godfather Part II, the Oscars, Tom Hooper, Tom Hulce, Toronto, Toronto International Film Festival, Viola Davis
As an actor, Robert Redford has been a part of a few of my favorite films of all time. From Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), to The Sting (1973), to All the President’s Men (1976), his resume is pretty outstanding. As a director, however, the results have been a little more mixed bag. Sure, he has gifted us with some pretty great films like Ordinary People (1980), A River Runs Through It (1992), and Quiz Show (1994), but as of late Redford has created a pretty disappointing track record with films like Lions for Lambs (2007) and The Conspirator (2010). His latest film, The Company You Keep, hopes to change that recent slide.
Read more on Watch the Trailer for Robert Redford’s ‘The Company You Keep’…
 Though you can pretty much tell exactly where the film is going from early on in the proceedings, ‘Robot & Frank’ still manages to come off as a relatively clever and very enjoyable sci-fi dramedy. The biggest asset that this flick has going for it is the lead performance of Frank Langella, along with his interactions with the rest of the cast (including the robot from the title…you really have to see it to fully appreciate how well this works). First time director Jake Schreier has taken Christopher D. Ford’s high concept but sometimes slight script and given it a real soul. It’s the little details that set this one apart, from how the actors play their roles to the elements of the future shown, all the way to how the robot looks. I didn’t fall completely in love with the movie like some people have, but I was consistently interested and smiled a lot. Langella especially is quite good, though I wouldn’t hold my breath for any real awards attention. This could be a solid indie success as the summer ends, and I hope this Early Review gets a few of you to check this unlikely buddy film out when it hits theaters on Friday. It’s well worth it and I hope you take my advice. You won’t regret it.
Read more on Robot & Frank (***)…
Day Seven of the Los Angeles Film Festival™ offered a little something extra aside from my usual screening adventures. For the first time since Clayton, Anna, and Robert all had lunch together earlier this year before the commencing of the 84th Annual Academy Awards, two Award Circuit staff members were able to meet yesterday for the very first time. That’s right, Mr. Terence Johnson flew into Los Angeles last night, ready to plow through this fun and crazy festivity alongside yours truly. It was a surreal moment to finally meet a fellow colleague in-person — we both love working for The Awards Circuit, and to be able to share that adoration and enthusiasm for our job in the flesh was pretty awesome. Without further ado, here are my thoughts regarding Day Seven (I’ll also be including some of Terence’s reflections)… Read more on Los Angeles Film Festival Diaries: Day Seven…
 Directed By: Andy and Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
Written By: Andy and Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
Cast: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Ben Wishaw, Jim Broadbent
Synopsis: “An epic story of humankind in which the actions and consequences of our lives impact one another throughout the past, present and future as one soul is shaped from a murderer into a savior and a single act of kindness ripples out for centuries to inspire a revolution.”
Read more on Awards Profile: Cloud Atlas…
 I have absolutely no clue what to expect with the film ‘Cloud Atlas’, a joint venture between the Wachowskis (Lana and Andy…formerly Larry and Andy) and Tom Tykwer. Based on the highly praised novel by David Mitchell, it’s a layered and bizarre sounding work that could either go horribly wrong or dazzlingly right. We won’t know that until the film comes out, but word has spread from the Cannes Film Festival in an article from The Playlist here that the movie is coming out on December 6th. I’ll share details of the novel after the jump (without spoiling things for the movie, of course), but hey…at least we now know when we’ll be able to see the flick.
Read more on Cloud Atlas will be unleashed on audiences this coming December!…
 I’ve always enjoyed the work of pseudo-cult filmmakers Jay and Mark Duplass. From ‘The Puffy Chair’ to ‘Baghead’ to ‘Cyrus’, they’ve gone from pioneers of the Mumblecore movement to a talented duo that could very well be headed towards major mainstream success in the somewhat near future. With ‘Jeff, Who Lives at Home’, I personally feel that this is their finest work to date, and perhaps their most accessible one as well. It’s their most mature outing, an existential, funny, and moving tale of destiny and family told over one crazy day. The Duplass Brothers fully believe in the mindset of their protagonist Jeff (played beautifully by Jason Segel in his finest performance to date) that everything is connected, and they illustrate it in some subtle and amusing ways. Like their other works, this is more about characters than story, but the balance is more even than usual. Some of their DIY filmmaking tricks (notably the random close-up/zoom-in) is still in play, but I personally don’t mind one bit. This is also their highest profile cast to date, featuring Ed Helms, Judy Greer, and Susan Sarandon in addition to Segel. They all do fine work, and Greer as always is a scene stealer. This is a real winning film and easily one of the best films I’ve seen so far in 2012.
Read more on Jeff, Who Lives at Home (***½)…
 It begins. 2011 film year is behind us and we saw Octavia Spencer crowned Best Supporting Actress for her work in “The Help.” As we embark on the 2012 film year together, I will be breaking down each category individually throughout the month of March. I will also unveil the Awards Circuit Staff Predictions one at a time for all of you to enjoy. Trust me, we all have different takes on what the 2012 season will bring.
We break down the Supporting Actress category first. Any supporting category is difficult to analyze because you never know who will hit it out of the park with a mere eight minute screen time or what borderline Lead performance will be pushed in another category. The rankings of the Supporting Actress are ordered #1 through #25 as you see them on the predictions page but there are outside contenders that could just as easily make the lineup given a strong showing with critics and audiences.
Looking into a crystal ball, Amy Adams will be starring in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” and with three prior nominations (“Junebug,” “Doubt,” and “The Fighter”), Adams could finally score an Oscar. She also has a role in the long-awaited “On the Road” directed by Walter Salles which could catch on. Co-star Kristen Stewart can return to what we loved about her in “Into the Wild.” The question seems to be, is Oscar aching to reward Adams or does she need to be accepted as a leading lady? Have the “Twilight” franchise ruined Stewart forever? Perhaps.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: The Return of the Suffering Wife – Supporting Actress Predictions…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit Tags: Amy Adams, Anna Karenina, Anne Hathaway, Baz Luhrmann, Best Supporting Actress, Charlotte Rampling, Christopher Nolan, Cloud Atlas, Dark Shadows, Django Unchained, Ellen Page, emma stone, Great Expectations, Halle Berry, Helena Bonham Carter, Hyde Park on Hudson, Inside Llewlyn Davis, Jacki Weaver, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, kathryn bigelow, Kelly MacDonald, Kerry Washington, Kirsten Dunst, kristen stewart, Kristin Scott Thomas, Laura Linney, Les Miserables, Liberal Arts, Lincoln, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Mama, Mary J. Blige, Michelle Pfeiffer, Moonrise Kingdom, Nero Fiddled, Nicolas Winding Refn, nicole kidman, Olivia Williams, On the Road, Only God Forgives, Oscar, Parental Guidance, Paul Thomas Anderson, Penelope Cruz, Quentin Tarantino, Rock of Ages, Sally Field, Samantha Barks, Song for Marion, Sparkle, Steven Spielberg, Susan Sarandon, the dark knight rises, The Gangster Squad, The Great Gatsby, The Master, The Paperboy, The Silver Linings Playbook, Tom Hardy, Tom Hooper, Walter Salles, Wes Anderson, Whitney Houston
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