Features
As we head into June and the year’s midway point looms (I know, how did that happen?), my mind inevitably goes into cinematic stocktaking mode, reflecting on what 2009 has had to offer thus far — and at this stage, the reflections aren’t too pretty. In any given year, I usually like to earmark at […]
Entries from May 2009
‘Summer’ loving
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:57 pm · May 31st, 2009
Filed in: Daily
SUNDAY CENTS: Stocked ‘Up’
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 12:43 pm · May 31st, 2009
In the biggest non-shock of the year, Pixar has released a unanimously acclaimed new film and it has topped the box office. What is a little surprising is that “Up” managed to make $68.2 million despite a distinct lack of anthropomorphism. While Disney suits will have to continue to sweat over how they are going […]
Filed in: Box Office · Sunday Cents
Could female directors hit Oscar paydirt this year?
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:31 am · May 30th, 2009
Only the greenest of awards-watchers needs reminding of the following statistic: a mere three women have been nominated for Best Director in the 81-year history of the Academy Awards. It’s long been an embarrassing state of affairs — never more so than in the late 80s and early 90s, when in three out of six […]
Filed in: Daily
WEEKLY WRAP: Closing Cannes and opening ‘Up’
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:36 am · May 30th, 2009
• The Cannes Film Festival wrapped up, with Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” taking the gold, and “Antichrist” nabbing honors too. (The Ecumenical Jury was less impressed.) • In the wake of the festival, we offered an updated survey of the Oscar landscape ahead. • With “Up” finally hitting our screens this week, we chatted […]
Filed in: Daily
Red band ‘Hangover’ trailer
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:45 pm · May 29th, 2009
I saw Todd Phillips’s “The Hangover” last night at The Grove here in Los Angeles and really, you can’t ask for a lot more out of a summer comedy. It doesn’t rank as high as Peter Berg’s “Very Bad Things” on the stag movie meter by any means and it probably squeezed two or three […]
Filed in: Daily
Tell us what you thought of ‘Up’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:26 pm · May 29th, 2009
It’s all Pixar all the time this week. In addition to my “Up” review from a few days ago, there was a Pixar retrospective Tuesday and, just this morning, an interview with director Pete Docter. So enough out of us. You tell us what you thought of Pixar’s latest once you get around to it. […]
Filed in: Daily
Jay Leno’s closes a chapter on ‘The Tonight Show’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 4:08 pm · May 29th, 2009
I’ve been pretty hard on Jay Leno over the years. In the late night wars, he’s had neither the comedic inventiveness nor (certainly) the journalistic capacity to become must-watch TV like David Letterman and, to a lesser extent, Conan O’Brien. Even the sober Tom Snyder proved a more intriguing watch for me when he was […]
Filed in: Daily
Taking Pixar to task
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 4:06 pm · May 29th, 2009
Film writer extraordinaire, James Rocchi — this time wearing the hat of resident film blogger for Redbox — has penned a passionate open letter to Pixar Animation Studios that is a must-read for fans and non-fans alike. I think both of his concerns are valid points. Here is the meat of the piece (mind you, […]
Filed in: Daily
Oscar showmen Billy Crystal, Marc Shaiman bid Leno adieu
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 1:40 pm · May 29th, 2009
I don’t know if anyone’s been watching the last week of Jay Leno’s “The Tonight Show,” but it’s been a solid final slate of guests, culminating with Conan O’Brien’s appearance and a passing of the baton later tonight. I’ve got a longer piece about all of this I’m working on and will post it later […]
Filed in: Daily
INTERVIEW: 20 questions with ‘Up’ director Pete Docter
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:49 pm · May 29th, 2009
Pete Docter’s filmmaking career is as tethered to the history of Pixar as it gets. After all, he was the third animator hired by John Lasseter back in 1990, when the company was a fledgling computer-animation house making it’s name in short films and commercials. Nineteen years (and 10 features) later, the studio has more […]
Filed in: Interviews
‘Toy Story 3’ teaser trailer
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:54 am · May 29th, 2009
Watch it in high def here. Stay tuned for my interview with “Up” director Pete Docter later this afternoon.
Filed in: Daily
‘Apocalypse Now’ — 30 years later
Posted by John Foote · 9:30 am · May 29th, 2009
It was 30 years ago this summer I stumbled out of the old University Theater on Bloor Street in Toronto in shock, too dazed to speak, to stunned to make human contact. Finding a bench on the street I sat down and tried to collect my thoughts. I was 20 years old, an acting student […]
Filed in: Daily
5/29 Web Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:55 am · May 29th, 2009
• More news on the James Tobak/Brett Ratner/Robert Evans John DeLorean biopic. This could be fascinating, but…Ratner? [The Carpetbagger] • Patrick Goldstein responds to the news that Sony, Scott Rudin and Kevin Spacey will bring the Somali pirate saga to the big screen. [The Big Picture] • Catherine Shoard talks to Diane Kruger about her […]
Filed in: Daily
One against ‘Up’
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:57 am · May 29th, 2009
No surprise that the first unmitigated critical slam for “Up” should come from the reliably cranky Armond White, who has made his disdain for Pixar’s output clear on a number of previous occasions. His review goes on to lay out his wider problem with “Pixarism” (good word, that), namely that the films are just too […]
Filed in: Daily
Von Trier: “I am the female character”
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:09 am · May 29th, 2009
There isn’t very much more I can say about the writhing can of worms that is “Antichrist” until I actually get to see the film. (Anyone who can make this happen, you know where to find me.) But it’s worth mentioning this interview with Von Trier in the Independent, if only because it draws attention […]
Filed in: Daily
Concept art from Cameron’s ‘Avatar’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:06 pm · May 28th, 2009
All of this, I imagine, will be appearing in “The Art of Avatar: James Cameron’s Epic Adventure,” which will feature a foreward written by Peter Jackson. Click the images for higher res: (Courtesy: Marketsaw, via /Film)
Filed in: Daily
The only ‘New Moon’-related post you’ll see here…ever
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:31 am · May 28th, 2009
Traffic will take a quantum leap because of this very post alone. I’ll let you decide what that means for society. The press release concerning the debut of the “New Moon” trailer, in part: MySpace Movies is excited to announce the trailer debut for The Twilight Saga: New Moon on Sunday, May 31 at 7:45 […]
Filed in: Daily
What are the best post-apocalyptic films ever?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:28 am · May 28th, 2009
In our daily web round-up posts there tends to be one or two lists in the mix. I’m increasingly stunned at Premiere’s capacity for cooking these things up. It’s almost as if that once-sterling film journalism outlet has become nothing but a list generating machine. Of course, the reason for lists — you’ll hear it […]
Filed in: Daily
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