Features
I think it’s safe to say Lionsgate is winning the one-sheet war this year. You’ll recall the first teaser, which dropped mid-Cannes. Now, courtesy of HitFix, we get this:
Entries from June 2009
‘Precious’ poster #2
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:24 pm · June 30th, 2009
Filed in: Daily
Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Informant!’ gets a trailer
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:28 pm · June 30th, 2009
Could be softball fun or could be an ace up WB’s sleeve. Matt Damon looks outstanding. First time since “Moulin Rouge!” that a movie title features an exclamation point?:
Filed in: Daily
THE LISTS: Top 10 performances from Michael Mann films
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:24 am · June 30th, 2009
With the forthcoming release of Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” (review) dominating — quite impressively, I might add — the publicity circuit this week, all eyes are on Johnny Depp. An Ulmer Scale X factor for this character study posing as a summer blockbuster, Depp’s performance is sure to draw champions and detractors alike for its […]
Filed in: The Lists
The Academy opens the doors to 134 new members
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:56 am · June 30th, 2009
The headline says it all. After bringing in 105 new members last year, the Academy has just announced a new list of 134 names to join their ranks. Actors include Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Jeffrey Wright (woo-hoo!), James McAvoy, Casey Affleck (who should have been brought in after his 2007 nomination), James Franco, Michael Cera […]
Filed in: Daily
Stumping for Molina in ‘An Education’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:04 am · June 30th, 2009
I’m late to the table in some sense given that Lone Sherfig’s “An Education” dazzled audiences five months ago at the Sundance Film Festival. But after catching the film last night, I was left with one mission: spread the word on Alfred Molina. Most of the end-of-year awards talk will surely surround Carey Mulligan’s absolutely […]
Filed in: Daily
Woody does Paris
Posted by Guy Lodge · 9:53 am · June 30th, 2009
Among the many things I love about Woody Allen — his staying power, his eye for talent, more masterpieces than I can count on two hands — is the fact that whenever anyone refers to “the untitled Woody Allen project,” one usually has to ask which one they mean. His unfailing film-a-year work ethic means […]
Filed in: Daily
Mixing Autobots with Decepticons
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:44 am · June 30th, 2009
While “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” tears up the box office while simultaneously rubbing the critical fraternity wrong, some of us can’t help but wonder how the money will effect its performance in the technical categories (a concentrated focus of In Contention in Gerard Kennedy’s seasonal Tech Support columns) come year’s end. Tom O’Neil is […]
Filed in: Daily
6/30 Web Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:01 am · June 30th, 2009
• Paul Dergarabedian bangs the Oscar gong for…”Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?” [Hollywood.com] • Kim Voynar wraps up the LA Film Fest. [Movie City News] • Claudia Eller calls out Hollywood’s A-list for under-performing at the box office this summer while no-name productions have prevailed. [Los Angeles Times] • Brad Brevet kicks the tires […]
Filed in: Daily
POLL: How do you feel about the Academy’s decision to expand the Best Picture category to 10 nominees?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 4:47 pm · June 29th, 2009
It’s been such a busy day I neglected to mention our newst poll, which has been in the sidebar there since last night. The headline says it all, so be heard. And if you haven’t already done so in the latest Off the Carpet column, tell us why you say “yay” or “nay” in the […]
Filed in: Daily
McWeeny on Ponyo
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 4:05 pm · June 29th, 2009
Yesterday was confession time as I got into my own disconnect with the cinema of Hayao Miyazaki, a brand well-respected and certainly cherished the world over but somehow lost on me. His work “nevertheless represents an imagination that…is a welcome dose of creativity in a business sorely lacking it year after year,” I wrote. With […]
Filed in: Daily
Steve Lopez’s would-be Jackson column
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 2:19 pm · June 29th, 2009
Speaking of David Carr, he points us (via his must-follow Twitter page) to a Ventura County Star story today concerning Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez’s recent keynote address for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. The part that caught my eye was a segment dedicated to Lopez’s description of his Michael Jackson column, had […]
Filed in: Daily
The Bagger’s take on Oscar’s shake-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:00 pm · June 29th, 2009
David Carr’s Media Equation column at The New York Times today is the most well-reasoned, knowledgeable take on the Academy’s recent Best Picture shake-up yet. He covers some of the same points I brought up in my Off the Carpet column this morning, but thankfully, he offers something of a rebuttal to the Nikki Finkes […]
Filed in: Daily
Troubling mixed reaction to ‘Enemies’ afoot
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:53 am · June 29th, 2009
It’s not like we didn’t see a divided take coming on Michael Mann’s latest, but the reviews that are trickling in, updated frequently over at Rotten Tomatoes, are troubling indeed. And I have to say, when Rex Reed is one of the few champions of an artistically daring film, what is the world coming to? […]
Filed in: Daily
Michael Jackson’s filmmaker collaborations
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:40 am · June 29th, 2009
Tomorrow’s installment of The Lists is going to be Michael Mann-centric, but I was all set to write up something brief in the way of qualifying Michael Jackson’s contributions to the movie world until I came across this Christopher Campbell posting at Spout Blog. It’d be pretty difficult to go much deeper than he has. […]
Filed in: Daily
OFF THE CARPET: The more the merrier?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:18 am · June 29th, 2009
The Academy dropped a bombshell announcement mid-week, leaving a mixture of cheers and jeers as well as a number of questions that will be answered slowly but surely as a new Oscar season approaches. The chief complaint from those who took umbrage with the decision to open the Best Picture category to 10 nominations is […]
Filed in: Off the Carpet
Bustin’ makes me feel good
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:04 am · June 29th, 2009
For the video game fans in the house… I beat the new “Ghosbusters” game within 24 hours of picking it up. It’s a moderately fun game, though not at all interesting from a story stand point. I bring it up because, after all, when Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis began developing the game, they did […]
Filed in: Daily
Contest winners!
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:37 am · June 29th, 2009
Mr. Gittes and Zach are the big winners from our “Public Enemies” contests and the proud owners of a new poster. Gittes nailed the trivia question, which regarded Michael Mann’s “Arms and the Man” project, developed out of talks with journalist Lowell Bergman before “The Insider” came to fruition. Zach, meanwhile, won out in the […]
Filed in: Daily
Uh, Roger?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:05 am · June 29th, 2009
The day will come when “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” will be studied in film classes and shown at cult film festivals. It will be seen, in retrospect, as marking the end of an era. Of course there will be many more CGI-based action epics, but never again one this bloated, excessive, incomprehensible, long (149 […]
Filed in: Daily
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