Features
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. Ever since it unveiled footage at Comic-Con last year, fanboys and internet hounds have been frothing at the mouth for Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick Ass” and now it has finally arrived. Internet buzz is deafening, but also misleading as it’s never quite clear whether we are looking […]
Entries from April 2010
FRIDAY FORECAST: ‘Ass’ vs. crass
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 12:12 pm · April 16th, 2010
Filed in: Box Office · Friday Forecast
Schnabel holds ‘Miral’ for Venice
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:12 am · April 15th, 2010
One of the more eyebrow-raising omissions from the Cannes official selection announced this morning was Julian Schnabel’s “Miral.” The New York artist’s biopic of Hind Husseini, with a cast including Hiam Abbass, Willem Dafoe and Freida Pinto, had been widely deemed a good bet for the competition lineup, given its lofty arthouse profile and the […]
Filed in: Daily
Cannes official selection unveiled, includes Leigh, Iñárritu
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:17 am · April 15th, 2010
Okay, before you ask, “The Tree of Life” is reportedly not ready — though the Cannes selection has apparently seen a cut, so never say never. Four slots in the competition lineup have yet to be filled. That aside, many of the expected names are present and correct, including former Cannes champs Leigh, Kiarostami, Mikhalkov, […]
Filed in: Daily
Hurry, only 319 days until…
Posted by Guy Lodge · 9:29 am · April 14th, 2010
We have less than a month left until Cannes likely triggers the first mass Oscar chatter of the year. (More so if Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” is included in tomorrow’s Official Selection announcement.) These are precious days, then … enjoy them while they last. Of course, if my “precious” is your “miserable,” and […]
Filed in: Daily
Scorsese and Herzog venture into 3D
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:52 am · April 14th, 2010
If you can’t fix it, you’ve got to stand it. And so it is, apparently, with me and 3D. As I’ve written before, I’m not a big fan of Hollywood’s favorite rediscovered gimmick. As a gee-whiz novelty — expertly embellishing the odd genuine event film like “Avatar” — it works a treat. As a now-regular […]
Filed in: Daily
LIFE WITHOUT OSCAR: 1937 and 1938
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 3:56 pm · April 13th, 2010
Catch up with the idea behind this series here. 1937 saw Spencer Tracy win the first of his back-to-back Best Actor Oscars and Luise Rainer win the second of her back-to-back Best Actress Oscars. The Academy wasn’t as in to spreading the wealth in those days as it is now. Just ask Meryl Streep. In […]
Filed in: Life Without Oscar
WB going mo-cap for ‘Green Lantern’ threads
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:26 am · April 12th, 2010
Remember all that talk last year about how actors saw “Avatar” as a threat to the future of their profession? Well, it seems the costume designers should be shaking in their boots as well. Thanks to Peter Sciretta at /Film, news has trickled down that the reason we haven’t gotten a glimpse of Ryan Reynolds […]
Filed in: Daily
Streep elected to American Academy of Arts and Letters
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:57 am · April 12th, 2010
Any Meryl Streep fans still sulking over over her twelfth consecutive Oscar loss last month should dry their eyes right about now. This morning brings the news that the actress has just been honored by a rather tonier Academy, as the American Academy of Arts and Letters has appointed Streep to their ranks. Streep joins […]
Filed in: Daily
New production photos further reveal Nolan’s ‘Inception’ as a design spectacle
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:32 pm · April 11th, 2010
Production designer Guy Dyas has always associated himself with films that boast elaborate art direction. Even during his early years as a concept artist, the films were design-heavy. “Men in Black,” “Wild Wild West” and “Galaxy Quest” are examples. Later: Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes” and elements of the Wachowski brothers’ “The Matrix Reloaded” […]
Filed in: Daily
SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Date’ and ‘Titans’ clash
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 12:05 pm · April 11th, 2010
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. Every studio but Fox is reporting that “Clash of the Titans” won the box office this weekend, but Rupert Murdoch and co. insist it was, in fact, “Date Night.” Final results won’t be unveiled until tomorrow, but for now, we have to take their word for […]
Filed in: Box Office · Sunday Cents
FRIDAY FORECAST: Save the ‘Date’
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 3:13 pm · April 9th, 2010
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. The one and only new studio release this weekend is “Date Night” from Fox. The film stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey, who both have legions of fans from their Thursday night NBC television shows, and a number of decent box office hits under their belt […]
Filed in: Box Office · Friday Forecast
‘The Kids Are All Right’ trailer
Posted by Guy Lodge · 1:10 am · April 9th, 2010
As you know, I’m a big fan of this Focus summer release, which puts a neat mainstream spin on progressive sexual politics, and boasts Julianne Moore’s best performance in eight years to boot. It’s interesting (and, I think, appropriate) to see this trailer putting the film’s comedic properties front-and-center rather than going for the highbrow […]
Filed in: Daily
García Bernal among names added to Cannes jury
Posted by Guy Lodge · 9:16 am · April 7th, 2010
Just over a week away from the announcement of the official selection for this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and any festival-related news is received gratefully by the blogging community. Today, those who deemed Tim Burton too “Hollywood” a choice as this year’s jury president might be appeased by a host of more arthouse-leaning names lined […]
Filed in: Daily
LIFE WITHOUT OSCAR: 1935 and 1936
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 6:08 pm · April 6th, 2010
Catch up with the idea behind this series here. Moving right along here, 1935 holds a place in Academy history as the year that MGM launched a press ad campaign for its film “Ah, Wilderness!,” the first of any kind of public baiting. Wouldn’t you know it, the campaign failed and the film was shut […]
Filed in: Life Without Oscar
SHORT TAKE: “Kick-Ass” (**)
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:50 am · April 6th, 2010
“With no power comes no responsibility,” smirks high school student Dave Lizewski (aka Kick-Ass) over halfway through British director Matthew Vaughn’s slick, smug bubblegum-burst of a superhero movie. “Except that’s totally not true.” This essentially meaningless inversion of Lizewski’s Marvel stablemate Peter Parker’s motto – one wonders which half of the original aphorism is “totally […]
Filed in: Reviews
3D effects for ‘Secret of Kells’ follow-up?
Posted by Guy Lodge · 8:39 am · April 5th, 2010
(Earlier, this story accidentally credited the incorrect source — apologies to Brendon Connelly and /Film UK.) Following his surprise Oscar nomination for “The Secret of Kells,” which only recently landed in U.S. theaters, Irish animator Tomm Moore is already deep into his follow-up, “Song of the Sea.” The film, which should go into production later […]
Filed in: Daily
Nolan on dreaming up ‘Inception’
Posted by Guy Lodge · 8:04 am · April 5th, 2010
I’ve largely steered clear of the frantic speculation over Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” that has done the online rounds for several months now. For one thing, I’d like to spare the film the pressure of overhype — some fans appear to be expecting something between “Memento: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” and the second coming of Christ […]
Filed in: Daily
Fletcher rides Oscar momentum to directorial debut
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:04 am · April 5th, 2010
In retrospect, Geoffrey Fletcher’s Best Adapted Screenplay win for “Precious” at last month’s Academy Awards shouldn’t have come as quite the shock it did. In the last few years, Oscar voters have been especially kind to newcomers in the writing races, with this year’s pair of freshman winners, Fletcher and Mark Boal, coming on the […]
Filed in: Daily
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