Features
• John Campea talks to “Avatar” star Stephen Lang. [AMC Entertainment] • Scott Feinberg spotlights 50 performances that “shoulda been contendas” in the 2009 Oscar race. [And the Winner Is…] • Nikki sez Warner Bros. has broken the studio’s own domestic box office record by crossing $2 billion across the States. Wowsers. [Deadline Hollywood Daily]
Entries from December 2009
12/29 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:58 am · December 29th, 2009
Filed in: Daily
You play to win the game
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:11 pm · December 28th, 2009
Filed in: Et Cetera
Well said
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:07 pm · December 28th, 2009
Curtis essentially took the climactic moment from every romantic comedy and distilled it into one delectable stew and somehow came up with a product that works. In a way, by focusing solely on the crowd-pleasing moments it almost becomes experimental. Not every story hits but enough does to ensure that I felt warm and gooey […]
Filed in: Daily
AFI’s moments of significance in 2009
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 1:14 pm · December 28th, 2009
They should add an “L” between the “F” and the “I.” American Film List Institute. Anyway, this just arrived via press release. The criteria is apparently “accomplishments of considerable merit; influences with either a positive or negative impression; trends, either new or re-emerging; anniversaries or memorials of special note; and/or movements in new technologies, education, […]
Filed in: Daily
New ‘Inception’ trailer
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:38 pm · December 28th, 2009
(Thanks to ThinkHero for the embed.)
Filed in: Daily
OFF THE CARPET: A spade is a spade
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:10 am · December 28th, 2009
Oscar ballots are being mailed to AMPAS members today. So now is the time to pay attention to the buzz, as most ballots are returned within the first couple of weeks (which says everything you need to know about how much time and care is put into the process by voters). However, it’s somewhat amazing […]
Filed in: Off the Carpet
Hey, remember Zeusefer? Who was that masked man?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:46 am · December 28th, 2009
The Oscar coverage game has obviously blown up in the eight years that I’ve been doing it. What started out as old media writing annual, singular columns dedicated to the race at hand (and generally right just before the show or nominations announcement) eventually gave way to niche-oriented sites headed up by passionate individuals who […]
Filed in: Daily
December winner predictions
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:38 am · December 28th, 2009
I gave this an initial stab nearly two months ago. I thought I might as well re-visit things. (And hopefully there won’t be anyone getting their panties in a twist over something as harmless as this. You know who you are.) Best Picture: “Avatar” Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker” Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, […]
Filed in: Daily
On the shots column
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:57 am · December 28th, 2009
I keeping getting asked via comments, email and Twitter, so I’ll just save some breath and make a mention here. Note the last two installments (2007 and 2008) landed in mid-January at the earliest. Expect the same this year, as I haven’t even begun to assemble all the shots and get the lensers on the […]
Filed in: Daily
12/28 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:47 am · December 28th, 2009
• Pete Hammond can’t let go of this notion that “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” is a Best Picture contender. A bunch of number 10 slots aren’t going to cut it, Pete. [Notes on a Season] • Adam B. Vary notes the curious absence of Gene Hackman from the silver screen since the 2004 bomb […]
Filed in: Daily
SUNDAY CENTS: Box office is a Festivus miracle!
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 2:18 pm · December 27th, 2009
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. Holy shit. There’s no other way to describe the box office this weekend, which may well go down as the most attended three days on record. Nearly 35 million tickets were sold and three films grossed more than $50 million each. The number one movie for […]
Filed in: Box Office · Sunday Cents
Holiday film thoughts
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:25 pm · December 26th, 2009
It struck me that I should probably offer up some space for you all to discuss the latest releases since it’s obviously been a slow-moving week, so if you want to speak up on “It’s Complicated,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Up in the Air,” “The Princess and the Frog,” “Nine” or, God bless you, “The Squeakquel,” have […]
Filed in: Daily
“Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it’s our last.”
Posted by Guy Lodge · 3:50 pm · December 25th, 2009
Except not, because I’ve had a pretty darn lovely Christmas Day here in the Irish countryside: snow on the window ledge, more food and champagne than is medically advisable, and nothing ahead of me but the Boxing Day cricket test on TV and hours of free time to ponder my best-of-decade list. Hope your day […]
Filed in: Daily
Jai Ho Ho Ho
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:03 am · December 25th, 2009
A year late with that quip, and I owe it to reader/commenter Adam Smith in any case, but the point being, if yours is a tradition of celebrating today’s holiday, I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable time. It’s beautiful in New York, snow on the ground in the park, the midtown vibe is […]
Filed in: Daily
Precursor updates
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 6:22 pm · December 23rd, 2009
Just a heads up, we’ve been keeping track of all the precursor announcements at our Precursor Circuit page. The latest additions are the London, Phoenix, Oklahoma, Florida and Houston. I hope everyone’s having a fun and relaxing holiday week so far.
Filed in: Daily
Things of beauty: Guy’s best of 2009
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:01 am · December 23rd, 2009
The year of the woman. The year of animation. The year of science-fiction. Depending on who you read (and believe), the final year of the decade has been an awful lot of things. If you’re with Kris, it’s also the best cinematic year of the last ten. If you’re with an awful lot of others, […]
Filed in: Daily
‘Hurt Locker’ sweeps Chicago critics’ awards
Posted by Guy Lodge · 1:43 pm · December 22nd, 2009
Sorry we’re a bit late getting round to this — as you know, Kris and I are in holiday mode this week. Anyway, while the Chicago Film Critics’ Association threw some curveballs in their nominations list, their winners stuck mostly to the status quo. When the “status quo,” however, is one of my favorite films […]
Filed in: Daily
‘An Education’ leads London Critics’ award noms
Posted by Guy Lodge · 12:58 pm · December 22nd, 2009
The London Film Critics’ Circle awards have their cake and eat it by having separate British film categories, in addition to some general fields where the Brits also compete. So UK productions invariably lead the field. Allowing for that and other oddities, this is a very pleasing list for the most part. “An Education” seals […]
Filed in: Daily
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