In Theaters This Weekend

Upon his escape from Shawshank

This weekend seems to bring us quite the haul in terms of what to go see. There's our annual exorcism thriller, The Rite, with Anthony Hopkins doing what he does best - intimidating*. There's The Mechanic starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster, and then there are three smaller releases, most likely in larger cities.

Javier Bardem, who recently recieved a Best Actor nomination at this year's Oscars, stars in Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu's Biutiful. A smaller comedy called From Prada to Nada, and Gregg Araki's Kaboom, all in limited release.

More on these films, and their trailers, after the cut -- 

The 83rd Annual Academy Award Nominees

Apparently he has lice or something...

Oh my. What a morning. My alarm clock went off at 5:20am, even though I had nothing to do until around 8:30 or so, for one specific reason - Oscar nomination day. 

Should be its own federal holiday; I swear to God. 

More, and the full list of nominees, after the cut --

RED, Saw 3D, and others on DVD tomorrow.

Retired, and extremely dangerous

It's Monday night. Who knows what that means?

that tomorrow is Tuesday? yes. But, that also means that we get a new shipment of DVD's in to help get us through the week! What are we going to get? Well, we have a choice of five -

Red, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Saw 3D, Nowhere Boy, and Secretariat.

The real question is "which is more worth my money?". Let's take a closer look at each.






More after the cut --

The King's Speech

G-g-got any k-k-k-kings?

It's the type of film we've all seen before - the "high brow British drama", the man who overcomes adversity, the "buddy" movie, etc. The thing that separates The King's Speech from, say... The Queen, or The Deal, or any Stephen Frears pic, is that this film has no pretense. That isn't to say that a certain amount of pretense is a bad thing (I quite enjoy The Queen and The Deal, and most Stephen Frears pictures), but it's to say that this film most certainly knows where its boundaries are, and there isn't a need to ever cross the lines to make a "movie" out of it. It's a storyteller's film - it's a true story. 

More after the cut --

Why I Love Film - #2 (nsfw)

Another slow news day - which means I get to sit back for a moment and remember why it is I do this in the first place, what it is that drives this passion of mine, and how exactly all this came to be.

Doug protects his family, at all costs.

I've always been a fan of justice in film. Fathers going on war paths to protect their families, men standing up to do the right thing, people truly getting what it is they deserve - and, in 2006, I fell in love with the idea all over again. Alexandre Aja's too underseen, and sorely underrated, The Hills Have Eyes remake touched me on a deep personal level.

More, and some spoilers, after the cut --

Catwoman and Saddam - A Match Made in Casting Heaven

Every now and then, a casting director and their team wind up making brilliant decisions that wind up leaving us with devastating and altering performances. From Al Pacino in The Godfather, to Natalie Portman in Black Swan, we've been given the gift of transcendence several times. And, next year, in 2012, we're most likely going to get it again.

More after the cut --

In Theaters This Weekend

Reason #412 why I hate Ashton Kutcher

Two wide releases (The Company Men and No Strings Attached), and a "wider" release of Peter Weir's The Way Back hit cinemas this weekend. Which are you going to see? 

A closer look at all three after the cut --

Blue Valentine

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams make beautiful noise.

2010 has been a magnificent year for film. We've received films from some of cinemas most important directors, new directors have laid claim to their spots as current heavyweights, and we've been given performances that will stand the test of time.

More after the cut --

Takers, Buried, and Others on DVD Today

The screenplay credit for this movie always makes me laugh.
I refuse to believe this movie has a screenplay.

Takers represents the greatest irony in cinema last year - it's a heist film, right? Bank robbers, cops, but it's a heist film for the BET generation. But, the film is presented as acceptable, even notable, escapism. In that, we have our irony: the film's greatest heist has nothing to do with the story. It has to do with the near $60 million gross for the film. We, as a country, were taken.

More after the cut --

The 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards

He honestly doesn't give a damn.

After the disappointing failure of a live feed of the awards show on this blog, I gave up the stress and had a chance to truly enjoy the show as it was meant to be seen. On good ol' fashioned television. Ricky Gervais hosted the party and most of the expected winners won. All in all, it was a normal night, but thanks to Gervais' extraordinarily nonchalant sense of humor, it was definitely a night to remember.

More, plus a list of winners after the cut --

Season of the Witch - Part I.

Nicolas Cage, realizing which movie he's in.

There's a lot to be said about Season of the Witch. Whether or not any of it is good... you'll have to decide that for yourself. After nearly 90 minutes of American actors doing impressions of British actors doing American accents (think... Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), my decision was pretty much made for me as to what I could say. 

More after the cut -- 

Why I Love Film - #1

On days when the news is slow, or when there isn't anything new that I want to see, I like to go back through the archives and revisit the films - and the moments, thereof - that made me fall in love with film in the first place. From a crappy cartoon I loved for some reason when I was a kid, to the Missouri Waltz's inclusion in Winter's Bone, there are way too many reasons for me to count. But... I'm about to try.

So, with the first entry in this series, what better place to start than at the beginning, yes?

More after the cut --

Ridley Scott's Alien prequel births Prometheus

OH, GOOD FOR YOU.

Deadline.com released an exclusive on the formerly upcoming 'Alien' prequel directed by Ridley Scott. Basically, all the exclusive tells us is that we've held out hope for nothing. It isn't happening. BUT - at the same time, we're now holding out hope for something possibly even greater. And while Ellen Ripley won't be battling the slimy black creatures from before, Noomi Rapace is locked in to do battle with... something. Ridley isn't saying what, at this point, only that hardcore Alien fans will be able to see the film as something of a prequel, but he's found a more original and engaging plotline. 

Critics' Choice Awards are in!

And while it hasn't exactly been a frustrating year in terms of predicting the imminent Oscars, at least the 2010 canon has been up to snuff. Lots of great films, even though we had our fair share of crap. Here is a list of the major winners, with the tech winners linked below.

Those trophied after the cut --

3 is a Magic Number - Beasts, Balloons, and Toys.

Only twice in the Academy Award's history has an animated feature film been nominated for Best Picture. Beauty and the Beast broke through and achieved its nomination after its release in 1991, and Up achieved something greater after its release in 2009 - Up battled the existent Animated Feature category, which seems to relegate all animated films into its cage, to become the second animated nominee and the first CGI nominee. And the first to do it with 10 nominees, though that's probably the only reason it happened. Maybe we can thank the unforgivable Wall-E snub for this, as we can thank The Dark Knight for giving us 10 nominees in the first place.

Eddie Knows Best

In the history of the Academy Awards, the Best Editing category has been an indicator for the Best Picture winner. And what's the best indicator for our Editing nominees? The annual ACE Eddie Awards, honoring the best in the field of motion picture splicing.

Martin Scorsese once said that when editing two shots together, you have three shots to contend with. Both shots, plus the one in-between that no one sees. With that sort of mindset, you don't have to wonder why his editor Thelma Schoonmaker and he work so well together.

This year's Feature Film nominees, after the cut -

In theaters this weekend, and "The Lamest Weekend Ever"

*beep*

The first weekend of January is commonly referred to as the worst weekend for film all year. Delayed releases are pushed out of the shelves and into theaters, and the films that no one really had hope for are silently cast out. It's a dead pool of cinema. For a fair example, our only wide release so far this year has been a Nicolas Cage medieval science fiction thriller about a witch whose powers come from the Black Plague. Really? But, don't fret - the review for that is coming soon.

Yahoo! Movie News - Lamest Movie Weekend of the Year

Click above for the full article. But, most worthy of mention are the inclusions of Bride Wars, Leap Year, and Supernova. Now you know that with which we contend. January is, usually, the dead pool for filmgoers.


Last weekend, Season of the Witch was the only wide release we were given. The second weekend in, we're getting Ron Howard's lastest The Dilemma, and the Seth Rogen update of The Green Hornet. Those, and some smaller limited releases. Here's a closer look at each -

Jane Eyre

Cary Fukunaga's decidedly more Gothic adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's moving and disturbing 1847 novel comes to theaters this year. And it's shaping up to be my most anticipated of 2011, right now. 

"It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility;
they must have action, and they will make it if they cannot find it." -
Charlotte Bronte

The Girl With the Hell of a Makeover

"The tattoos aren't drawn in pencil, Mark. They're drawn in ink.
and no, you can't see them."

It could have been Emma Watson, it could have been Kristen Stewart, it could have been Lea Seydoux (I know, right? who?), it could have been... hell, Natalie Portman. Maybe Mila Kunis! It wasn't ever going to be Noomi Rapace again, unfortunately. Wisely, though, she declined to reprise the role she originated. 

Star Wars gets a re-re-release. Again.

First, they take the N-word out of Huck Finn. Now, this?

A New Set. George Lucas Strikes Back. The Return of the Trilogies.