http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4911145580001

NEW YORK – You may not believe it, but Carey Mulligan isn't a fan of singing in public.  Somehow though the soon to be 30-year-old actress and wife of “Mumford & Sons” lead singer Marcus Mumford keeps find herself stretching her vocal chords in one movie after another.  It started with Steve McQueen's “Shame” and continued with the Coen Bros.' “Inside Llewyn Davis.” Mulligan avoided it in Baz Luhrmann's “The Great Gatsby,” but now find herself singing acappella in Thomas Vinterberg's “Far From The Madding Crowd.”  Speaking to Mulligan earlier this month, HitFix asked how she was handling being pigeonholed as a – gasp – songstress!

“Persecuted is more the question? I know it's so strange,” Mulligan says. “It keeps happening to be int he script and I'm constantly fighting with it. I did fight it a little bit with this one, but I was quickly put in my place by the producers and the director.”

In “Madding” Mulligan plays Bathsheba Everdene, the iconic heroine of Thomas Hardy's classic Victorian era novel.  Bathsheba inherits a down on its luck family farm at a relatively young age and takes the reigns in order to turn it around.  During a dinner with a potential suitor (Michael Sheen) and a staff looking for inspiration, Bathsheba sings allowing moviegoers to hear Mulligan's beautiful voice once more.

While Sheen, as William Boldwood, and Tom Sturridge, as Sgt. Francis Troy, are Bathsheba's initial love interests, it's clear from early on that the relatively poor sheep farmer Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts) is her true match.  The entertaining aspect of “Madding” is watching Bathsheba's emotional maturation as she comes to this obvious realization.  Still, we had to ask Mulligan why she thinks Bathsheba takes so long in succumbing to Gabriel's charms.

“I think the first time she meets him is she says 'no' because she doesn't know him,” Mulligan says of Oak's initial marriage proposal in the movie.  “He proposes when she's 18 after basically just seeing her a field a few times and asks her to marry and she says no, because why would you? Which is great because most women of that time would often accept proposals of marriage just for stability. Then her story changes and she suddenly is a land owner. She inherits some money and she's land owner and her social status is different. Their story gives her so many twists and turns.”

For more on Mulligan's thoughts on “Madding” and her experiences working a sheep farm (she gets down and dirty) check out the video embedded at the top of this post.

Also, check out Michael Sheen discussing his character and working with Mulligan in the video embedded at the bottom of this article.

“Far From The Madding Crowd” opens in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco tomorrow.  It expands close to other major markets on May 8.

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Eager online press got a look at George Miller's “Mad Max: Fury Road” Wednesday night in Los Angeles, with the filmmaker on hand to discuss his return to the world of his visionary debut with fellow director Edgar Wright. The unrelenting, cacophonous vehicular gumbo, which is all set to be unleashed on unsuspecting attendees of next month's Cannes Film Festival, hardly feels like the product of a 70-year-old man. And indeed, Miller's enthusiasm for discussing the work was as palpable as that pulsing through every innervating moment of the film itself.

“I thought I was done on the first one,” Miller said of the original film. “Then the second one came along and it was a way to try it again and do something better. I was just learning how to make films. I'm still learning how to make films. But these things stay in the back of your head and they keep popping up and they won't go away. Pretty soon you become obsessed. Then one day you find yourself in the middle of that,” he said, pointing to the blank screen that had just showcased his opus.

The journey for “Fury Road” began well over a decade ago, however. Miller was all set to dive in on the project, a reboot of the original franchise with Tom Hardy in the iconic Mel Gibson role, in 2001. But the American dollar collapsed in the wake of 9/11 and the budget ballooned. Then unprecedented rains in the Australian Outback left flowers where there was once red desert, hardly the proper setting for a world marked by a lack of water. The production waited a year for it to dry up, but it never did, so everything was relocated from the east coast of Australia to the west coast of Namibia in Africa.

In the interim, Miller kept busy in the world of animation. He directed the 2006 film “Happy Feet” for Warner Bros. and its 2011 sequel. He said he learned a great deal working in that medium, lessons that would go on to inform “Fury Road.”

“Polanski, a master filmmaker, said there is only one perfect place for the camera at any given time,” Miller said. “When you shoot animation, and you have exactly the same performance, exactly the same words, exactly the same lighting, but you shift the camera, you're virtually able to prove that. You can experiment with the camera in animation with no cost. And you would find, as best as you could, that ideal place…That's why I think some of the best filmmaking comes out of places like Pixar and DreamWorks and all the animation houses, because they know where they can put the camera.”

It reminded him of his early epiphanies about the language of cinema, growing up watching movies from the outside of a drive-in theater, silently. It was then that he became enamored by silent films and came to understand the basic syntax of film. “In Kevin Brownlow's 'The Parade's Gone By,' he said all of film language was defined by the silent movies,” Miller said.

Those early interests are what attracted him to action filmmaking, too, movies like “Bullitt” and “The French Connection.” He also spoke of Steven Spielberg's expert grasp of montage film language. “I'd watch things like the chariot race from 'Ben-Hur,' which is an extended piece without any dialogue, I think, and how it was constructed,” he said. “I realized you're not slumming in action, because you're trying to use a language that cannot be rendered in another medium. You can't do it in the theater. You can't do it live.”

Getting back to “Fury Road,” with all of the early logistical hiccups out of the way and production in Namibia ready to go, and even with the amount of detailed preparation those delays consistently afforded, the day-to-day process of actually making the film was a gargantuan undertaking. “For 120 days, every day was a big stunt day,” he said. Then there was the use of practical effects and heavy stunt work, all of which was necessary given the kind of movie Miller wanted to make.

“You couldn't make this as a CG movie,” he said. “You create a chaotic event and there's so much detail, particularly with sand and objects flying apart. It's very hard to predict that stuff. There are simulations, but we haven't really got to the point where you can have that sort of mathematical detail in the simulations. Plus, you didn't have to wait for it. You pull off a stunt, check the camera, and yeah, you got it.”

Wright took a moment then to mention that if ever a movie screamed for the Academy to finally institute an Oscar for stunts, as has been debated for years, this is the one. And Miller was obsessed with safety as well. “The notion of hurting somebody really badly was there,” he said. “But we had great riggers, the guys who fly those people around in one take for the Olympic ceremony in Beijing and Sydney, they were on top of it.”

He even lured legendary cinematographer John Seale out of retirement to capture all of this madness, when former “Mad Max” lenser Dean Semler was unable to commit at the last minute. An Oscar winner for “The English Patient” and “a very fit sailor,” Miller called him, Seale would be up on top of the giant Frankenstein, semi-trailer-like “war rig” that tears through the scenery in the film, right in the thick of the action. “He turned 70 on the movie,” Miller said. “And he operated. He's not intimidated by multiple cameras.”

Ultimately, some 480 hours of footage was shot thanks to the use of digital cameras. That's three weeks of non-stop action, if you were to watch it in one go. In the end, all of it was dumped in the lap of Miller's editor Margaret Sixel, who had to find the two hours that make up “Fury Road.” So from stem to stern, it was a production that lived and died on every aspect of the process, a boisterous ride that feels like the very rally cry of cinema itself.

Miller offered a choice quote to sum it all up.

“Bernard Herrmann said that cinema is a mosaic art,” he said. “It's all the little pieces that go together that make up the whole. So you find those little pieces.”

“Mad Max: Fury Road” will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 14. It opens nationwide May 15.

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Get ready Donut Time.  Your 15 minutes of fame is right around the corner.  The old school donut shop on the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Highland Ave. is the beginning and end point for Sean Baker's triumphant drama “Tangerine” and the Sundance breakout is about to turn it into an LA cinematic landmark.

Executive produced by Mark and Jay Duplass, “Tangerine” follows one particularly dramatic day in the lives of transgender hookers Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) and her BFF Alexandra (May Taylor).  It's Christmas Eve and Sin-Dee has just gotten out of a stint in LA County Jail.  She's looking for her boyfriend/pimp Chester (“Treme's” James Ransone), but the day gets off to a rocky start when Alexandra slips that he's been cheating on her with another girl (a “real” fish).  What then transpires is a roller coaster of drama and comedy which mostly takes place over a 2.7 mile stretch between Donut Time and the Metro station at Vermont and Santa Monica (with one touching detour to Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood).  

Baker and co-cinematographer Radium Cheung shot the entire film on iPhones and that provides it with an intensity and intimacy that few films can match.  (And, yes, they did play with filters both during the shoot and in post production to give the film a distinctive look).  What really drives the movie, however, are the incredible performances from newcomers Rodriguez and Taylor. They are simply incredible and deserve some serious Independent Spirit Award love when nominations are announced in December.

Keeping all that in mind, check out the red band trailer embedded at the top of this post.  

“Tangerine” opens in limited release on July 10.  Don't miss it.

All week long our writers will debate: Which was the greatest film year of the past half century? Check here for a complete list of our essays.

The end of the 1990s was the end of an era on the big screen. The independent filmmaking movement that started the decade had taken full bloom and infiltrated the business. Major studios had begun to jump headlong into the “dependent” game, amping up prestige product and utilizing the awards season as a marketing tool. The blockbuster landscape at the summer multiplex had been interesting, full of original concepts (good and bad), but something else was on the way – a new overlord in the business of film, and one that would more or less make the age of the movie star (at least as we had come to know it) a thing of the past.

For those reasons and a slew of others, I consider 1999 to be the greatest film year the cinema has seen. And that's not necessarily “greatest” as in value judgment. For as many exciting things that were happening creatively, equally alarming things were happening to shift the landscape of this industry. Whether you consider them for good or bad is up to you, but their impact is unmistakable, and any year that can lay some claim to that kind of a shift cannot be denied.

So let's start there…

We're in the midst of “Star Wars” madness right now as director J.J. Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy prepare to unleash “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” onto the world in December. Back in May of 1999, “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” proved the insatiable appetite for this franchise, which had been starved throughout most of the 1980s, was still very much alive. It was more or less tested and confirmed through the expanded universe materials of the 1990s, books, comics and video games stoking the flames. In 1993, filmmaker George Lucas announced his intention to revisit the world he created with a new trilogy, and a packaged re-release of the original trilogy in 1997 further established that the audience was ready and willing. It was an exciting time, and it may well have signaled the beginning of a new bedrock philosophy in Hollywood: brand appeal.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD7bpG-zDJQ]

Before 1999, when you looked at box office results, they were dominated by movie stars. Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks, these were the draws. Slowly thereafter, particularly as the industry turned to the world of comic books for fodder (“Blade” was a bit of a testing ground in 1998 with 2000's “X-Men” and 2002's “Spider-Man” soon to follow), intellectual properties and preexisting material began to drown out those big names. In 2011, finally, every film on the list of top 10 domestic grossers was either a sequel or, in the case of “Thor,” part of an interlinking cinematic universe spread across multiple properties.

You can probably trace a lot of that back to “The Phantom Menace.” It was a huge part of changing the boardroom thinking of this business and morphing it into what we have today.

With all that in mind, I also find it sort of fascinating that my own favorite entry from the year, Michael Mann's “The Insider,” dealt so heavily in corporate synergy at the expense of all else. This was three years after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed for the streamlined, everything-is-owned-by-six-companies world we live in today (which led to movie studios being gobbled up by conglomerates and, not to oversimplify, fertilize a current environment that has entities like Disney aiming for multimedia brand extension on a staggering scale).

Of course, over-conglomeration is nothing new in Hollywood. After all, Mel Brooks sent up Paramount corporate parent Gulf + Western as “Engulf and Devour” in 1976's “Silent Movie,” a full year before anything called “Star Wars” entered the public consciousness. But there's no mistaking the sense of liftoff that occurred at the end of the millennium.

Beyond all that, 1999 was just so rich. Going back to the independent filmmaking movement, those rebels were fully coming into their own as the new titans, with a list of works to rival any “great year.” Paul Thomas Anderson gave us the bold and dramatic interconnectivity of “Magnolia.” David O. Russell offered up the first real dissection of the Gulf War with “Three Kings,” a story of honor in the face of greed. DreamWorks finally caught its stride with an exciting new filmmaker (Sam Mendes) at the helm of “American Beauty.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnamcFv_N9Q] [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdal5c1TfmE] [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UuRFr0GnHM]

Moreover, masterpieces seemed to come left and right – Anthony Minghella's “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (latter-day Hitchcock at its finest); Brad Bird's “The Iron Giant” (animation with dramatic heft before Pixar came to own that niche); Alexander Payne's “Election” (a witty satire announcing a vital new voice); Spike Jonze's “Being John Malkovich” (the arrival of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, willfully bending the form into something new); David Fincher's “Fight Club” (also tying into the theme of corporate overload). The list is endless.

In addition to all of this, the greatest practitioner of the form (OK, “in my opinion”) gave us his final film as well. And indeed, “Eyes Wide Shut” was right up there with director Stanley Kubrick's finest work. I might add that, at a time when their cachet was (as noted) starting to wan, it was one that intriguingly dealt with our perspective of movie stars, given his casting choices of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

What's also interesting about “Eyes Wide Shut” is something my colleague Drew McWeeny has noted before. “The Thin Red Line” hit in December of 1998 (and went wide in January of 1999), while of course “The Phantom Menace” landed in May. That means there was one a moment in history when Terrence Malick, Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas – probably the least prolific top tier filmmakers around – were working on a movie at the same time. Craaaazzzyyy.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4JW9_T_ca0]

Elsewhere, “The Blair Witch Project” was an equally notable piece of this puzzle. The found footage genre didn't start there, but it certainly became viable on a larger scale as soon as that micro-budget flick raked in over $100 million at the box office. As well, the film utilized an innovative internet marketing campaign at a time when that little tool was first really being explored for such purposes. Another film tapped into the online world to reach audiences, too, and we would be remiss not to mention it.

Andy and Lana Wachowski's “The Matrix” is, for many, the identity of 1999 in film. The ultimate dramatic representation of a techno-world on the brink of change, that March release seemed to be the spark that ignited everything else that year. “Neuromancer” author William Gibson called it “arguably the ultimate cyberpunk artifact,” and indeed, when the story of 1999 is told, “The Matrix” may well be its centerpiece.

There are things I haven't mentioned that of course deserve notice. I consider “Sleepy Hollow” to sort of be the ultimate Tim Burton experience (and that's not a pejorative). Doug Liman's “Go” fits well in the stride of independent filmmakers bursting forth, a pastiche of broken narrative ideas that were blooming throughout the decade. Mike Judge's “Office Space” captured corporate ennui perfectly. Pixar hit the gas with “Toy Story 2” as it would soar headlong into a new decade that would yield the animation studio's greatest work. I quite love the staggeringly human places David Lynch (of all people) reached with “The Straight Story.” Oliver Stone's “Any Given Sunday” proved Jamie Foxx could go and was just such an electrifying experience overall. And Martin Scorsese's “Bringing Out the Dead” seemed like the final toll of a stylistic bell that had been reverberating for 10 years by that time, an underrated modern classic.

What's bothersome, if anything, is how much the Academy snoozed on all of this. This is the year after Harvey Weinstein pulled a fast one on Steven Spielberg's “Saving Private Ryan” with a “Shakespeare in Love” Best Picture victory, so his outfit was in full swing with “The Cider House Rules.” And while that John Irving adaptation may have dabbled in not-so-safe content like abortion, it was still very much an in-their-wheelhouse play for voters that stuck out like a sore thumb amid all this bold creativity. The same might even be said of Frank Darabont's “The Green Mile.”

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I maintain a love/hate relationship with “American Beauty,” captured in jaw-dropping strokes by cinematographer Conrad L. Hall, but not without its issues that would fill many more column inches. “The Insider” is a masterpiece, full stop, and M. Night Shyamalan's “The Sixth Sense” – a money-making monster – announced a promise that, we know now, would never be kept. But those were your Best Picture nominees. It didn't feel properly representative.

In any case, you look at all of these names and one thing stands out: Today's masters working alongside yesterday's. And that is what I truly take away from 1999. It was a time of change in the business and in the world, starkly reflected in the art of cinema. There has never been anything quite like it. For those reasons and more, 1999 is the greatest film year of all time.

Other pieces in this series:

1973 by Brian Formo

1974 by Daniel Fienberg

1977 by Louis Virtel

1980 by Richard Rushfield

1982 by Alan Sepinwall

1988 by Drew McWeeny

1995 by Jane Hu

1998 by Michael Oates Palmer

1999 by Kris Tapley

2001 by Chris Eggertsen

2012 by Zara Lisbon

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NEW YORK – Matthias Schoenaerts is best known for his roles in the acclaimed French drama “Rust and Bone” alongside Marion Cotillard and in last September's thriller “The Drop” opposite Tom Hardy, but the Belgian actor has spent a good chunk of the past 18 months shooting a number of period pieces with Oscar friendly actors.  The first, “A Little Chaos” with Kate Winslet, debuted at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival to not so great reviews.  The second, “Suite Française” with Michele Williams, has already opened to mixed reviews in most of Europe and there currently is no U.S. release date.  The third, “Far From The Madding Crowd,” which finds him romancing Carey Mulligan, has earned mostly positive notices so far and opens in limited release Friday.

Adapted from Thomas Hardy's classic novel, “Madding” centers on Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan), a young woman who inherits a struggling family farm in the English countryside and is determined to make it turn it around on her own. Schoenaerts plays Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer who isn't as rich or noble as some of Bathsheba's other suitors, but is the obvious great catch she can't see standing right in front of her.  During an interview with HitFix earlier this month, Schoenaerts discussed his impressions of working alongside Mulligan as well as his amusement over reporters constantly asking him about one particular farming scene in “Madding.”  More importantly, however, Schoenaerts spoke about the fourth period film on his upcoming slate, “The Danish Girl.”

Tom Hooper's latest drama tells the true story of Lili Elbe, one of the first transgender women to publicly acknowledge receiving sexual reassignment surgery.  The film has been in development for years with stars such as Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron on board to play Elbe at one point or another. Hooper's version finds Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne playing Elbe and the first photo of him in character created quite a stir when it was released a few months ago.  It's still unclear what role Schoenaerts is playing in the movie, but he was quite frank when asked about his experience shooting the picture.

“We finished it like a week ago. I had a blast,” Schoenaerts says. “Working with Tom Hooper is an experience. Extremely sharp, committed, intelligent and has a sense of humor.”

Then, without prompting, Schoenaerts volunteered, “And then you have Eddie Redmayne who I'm sure he's gonna get a second Oscar nom. It's impossible. What I've seen him do. It's probably second Oscar period. Not even just a nod, period.”

He then added, “There is also Alicia Vikander who is extremely talented. So, it was a wonderful team of creative talents and I was blessed to be a part of it.”

Vikander is currently making waves in Alex Garland's hit Sci-Fi thriller “Ex Machina.”

“The Danish Girl” isn't hitting theaters until Nov. 27 and its unclear whether Hooper will have it ready for one of the four big fall film festivals.  That being said, Schoenaerts' comments should only increase the anticipation for what has become one of awards seasons must-see movies.

For more from the always charming Schoenaerts and his thoughts on both “Madding” and “Danish Girl” check out the video embedded at the top of this post.

“Far From The Madding Crowd” opens in select theaters on Friday.

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Woody Allen is returning to Cannes next month with his 46th directorial effort, “Irrational Man.” It's Allen's second collaboration with his latest lady muse, Emma Stone, and his first with the always mercurial, but talented Joaquin Phoenix.  Based on the trailer released today, “Irrational” appears to center on a “radical” philosophy professor, Abe Lucas (Phoenix), and the relationships he develops with a younger student (Emma Stone) and another professor (Parker Posey). Oh, and he might be going through some sort of mid-life crisis.  It's all pretty much expected from Allen at this stage of his career, except for one tiny element, a substantial role for the one and only Ms. Posey.

The darling of the independent film world for a good portion of the '90s, Posey hasn't had a substantial film role since her Independent Spirit Award nominated performance in 2007's “Broken English.” Instead, she's found critical acclaim for her recurring roles on shows such as “Louie,” “The Good Wife” and “The Big C.”   While she's recently joined the cast of BYU TV's “Granite Flats,” it looks like “Irrational” might finally provide Posey with some quality big screen material.  Considering some of the horrible misfires she's had over the past five years (we're looking at you “The Love Guide” and “Price Check”) we've got to believe Allen's latest can't be any worse (yes, we're going to try and forget about “Magic in the Moonlight” as well).

Check out the new trailer embedded at the top of this post.  Should we be excited for Allen's new flick?

“Irrational Man” opens in limited release on July 17.

Have you been watching this last leg of David Letterman shows as the late night king prepares to retire next month? If not, you're missing out. It's classy send-off after classy send-off, and Tuesday night, Michael Keaton decided to swing back by to say goodbye to his old pal from the comedy club circuit. We're a few months removed from the “Birdman” star losing the Academy Award to “The Theory of Everything” star Eddie Redmayne on Oscar night, and he had a few thoughts on that, it turned out.

Keaton told a story about being at the Academy Nominees Luncheon in February and a distinguished industry vet gushing about his performance in Alejandro González Iñárritu's film, which itself went on to win four Oscars including Best Picture. “I thought to myself, 'Psh, I am a lock…That's about it. That's all I need!'” he recalled. “And as I get up he says, 'Just remember, Michael, when it comes to winning an Academy Award, illness always wins.' And I thought, 'I am so f**ked right now.' I went from 'This is a done deal' to 'I'm done!'”

I'm sure there will be those who take that as a slight to Redmayne, but whatever. Letterman, by the way, commented on Keaton's loss following the Oscars by feigning bewilderment over a film winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay but not Best Actor.

Check out the clip below. And seriously, watch these last episodes. It's the end of an era.

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If you don't believe awards season runs 365 days a year look no further than the news today that Alcon Entertainment has acquired the U.S. rights to “The 33.”  Based on the Copiapó mining accident in 2010, the new drama centers on 33 minters who were trapped for 69 days in a collapsed copper-gold mine in Northern Chile.  Their plight captured the attention of the world and, surprise, Hollywood came calling.  Independently financed by Phoenix Pictures and Half Circle, “33” is being distributed in Chile by 20th Century Fox, but not in the U.S. The news Alcon came on board and Warner Bros. will distribute makes this a somewhat unusual story.

Alcon announced that WB will release “The 33” on Nov. 13 which is smack dab in the middle of Oscar season.  Warner Bros. marketing and publicity teams have three other films that are expected to be awards players; Scott Cooper's “Black Mass,” Jeff Nichols' “Midnight Special” and Ron Howard's “In the Heart of the Sea.” The studio also debuted impressive footage from Ryan Coogler's “Creed” at CinemaCon last week which could have an awards-worthy turn by star Michael B. Jordan. Throw in assumed below the line campaigns for George Miller's “Mad Max: Fury Road” and Joe Wright's “Pan” and its easy to see how busy the WB team may be.  So, why would Alcon pick up “The 33” and throw it into this combustible mix let alone open it against the second weekend of “SPECTRE” and “The Peanuts Movie”?

Directed by Mexican born filmmaker Patricia Riggen, whose best received work was 2007's “Under the Same Moon,” the first teaser for “The 33” plays like an old fashioned tearjerker centered around miner Mario Sepúlveda played by Antonio Banderas. The rest of the cast includes notable names such as Juliette Binoche, Gabriel Byrne, Adriana Barraza and Rodrigo Santoro.  But, it also features less prestige friendly actors including Lou Diamond Phillips and James Brolin which would make any studio exec raise an eyebrow.  Even after watching the preview the movie just seems hard to peg. Is it a tearjerker that could be a counter programming play?  Are Alcon and WB hoping to reach Hispanic audiences that have helped turn Lionsgate's Pantelion Films partnership into a profitable venture with hits such as “Instructions Not Included” and “Cantinflas”? Or, have Riggen and producer Mike Medavoy (“Black Swan,” “Zodiac,” “Shutter Island”) fashioned a critical surprise?  We hope it's the former.  Alcon has made smart moves with “The Blind Side” and “Prisoners,” but they must still be smarting from the miscalculation of releasing “The Good Lie” during a similar time frame.

As for 20th Century Fox, it's not surprising they didn't pick up U.S. rights. The studio already has  Alejandro González Iñárritu's “The Revenant,” Ridley Scott's “The Martian” and David O. Russell's “Joy” as potential awards players.  Fox Searchlight has John Crowley's “Brooklyn,” Luca Guadagnino's “A Bigger Splash,” Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” and there are reports they will soon pick up Cannes player “Youth” from filmmaker Paul Sorrentino.  Clearly, the last thing the Fox family needs is another potential awards player to deal with this calendar year.

Check out the international trailer for “The 33” below.  Does it smell like an awards player to you?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_rlT81FNlw]

Andrew Lesnie, the Oscar-winning cinematographer of the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” franchises, has reportedly died of a heart attack. He was 59.

Initial reports surfaced late Monday night on Twitter and Ain't It Cool News' Eric Vespe confirmed the reports soon after.

Lesnie's family is expected to make an official statement at a later time.

Devastating news from home. The master of the light, genius Andrew Lesnie has passed on .

– Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) April 28, 2015

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Lesnie received his Academy Award for “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” in 2002, a towering achievement that represented a visionary new direction for epic filmmaking, courtesy of director Peter Jackson. He was then inexplicably passed over for nominations for “The Two Towers” and particularly the 11-Oscar sweeper “The Return of the King,” each of them no less stunning (and indeed, part of an organic whole).

Lesnie was behind the camera on films like 1995's “Babe” and its sequel before Jackson tapped him to help bring the world of Middle Earth to the big screen. In addition, he captured the worlds of blockbusters like “King Kong,” “I Am Legend” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” in his lens, always doing so with a fresh take, never derivative despite working in territory that could easily be given to derivation. For those reasons and many more, this is a considerable loss.

Most recently actor-turned-filmmaker Russell Crowe used Lesnie's talents on “The Water Diviner,” which just made it to US theaters last week after opening in select territories across the globe in December and earlier this year.

UPDATE: Peter Jackson has posted the following to Facebook:

Novaer. Hantanyel órenyallo.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWMFpxkGO_s][youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7moDz0Ftmc]

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The life of Harriet Tubman has been screaming for the feature film treatment for ages. Outside of – what, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?” – there's never really been a movie depiction of the famed abolitionist. Well, thanks to HBO and Amblin, that's all about to change. And Viola Davis is going to knock this out of the park.

The Oscar-nominated star of “Doubt” and “The Help” will star in the TV film, based on the Kate Clifford Larson biography “Bound for the Promised Land. Writer Kirk Ellis (“John Adams,” also at HBO) will pen the script and Doug Ellin (“Entourage”) will produce.

Two other projects about the Underground Railroad have also been in the works: WGN's miniseries “Undeground” (produced by Akiva Goldsman) and NBC's “Freedom Run” miniseries (produced by Stevie Wonder). So obviously something is in the water.

I take from all of this a fantastic role for Davis, who has popped up in supporting roles here and there since really owning “The Help” four years ago, but should be front and center way more often than she is. Heading up TV's “How to Get Away with Murder” has been great for her, and “Suicide Squad” will be a whole new level of exposure. I'm just saying I'm ready for someone to write her “Aliens,” alright?

The Tubman project is currently untitled.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4912076616001

It's kinda freaky if I'm flying at 30,000 feet and something like “Air Force One” or “Flight” comes on as the in-flight movie. (Particularly in the case of the latter, as talking to screenwriter John Gatins about his research on that one has forever unhinged something in me.) I guess if movies were shown on buses, “Speed” would make a dicey proposition, too. So hats off to the astronauts who took in “Gravity” for movie night aboard the International Space Station recently.

#Movie night in micro #Gravity aboard #ISS on our new HD projector which we use for conferences, tech software, etc.. pic.twitter.com/Mhb03U3alz

– Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) April 25, 2015

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Captain Scott J. Kelly Tweeted out the above image over the weekend. But now I'm just sort of curious as to what else they watch up there. We're entering outdoor movie season, when things like “Ghostbusters” and “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” run constantly on pop-up screens and facades all across the country. What would an International Space Station Film Festival program look like? Ill take a stab:

“2001: A Space Odyssey” (obviously)
“2010” (super underrated)
“Alien” (I mean…)
“Apollo 13” (“ARE WE ON VOX?”)
“Mission to Mars” (because De Palma)
“Moon” (might be better on, you know, the moon)
“The Right Stuff” (because Shepard)
“Silent Running” (Dernsy!)
“Solaris” (either one)
“Sunshine” (a personal favorite)

And, seriously, I'd just go ahead and throw in:

“Jason X” ( :/ )

#StarWarsDiss

LAS VEGAS – It's not an understatement to suggest that since they last presented their wares to the world's theater owners Sony Pictures has had a pretty dramatic 12 months .  

December's North Korean hacking scandal made the release of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's “The Interview” a global news story where the studio and exhibitors blamed each other for not screening the film in mainstream theaters.  And, frankly, when POTUS gets involved there better be a lot of water under that bridge to put all that behind you.  Five months later Sony has a new Chairman (Tom Rothman) and, luckily, much better films to help heal some delicate wounds. The studio didn't have the star power to rival previous presenters Paramount and Warner Bros, but they did bring a lot of new footage and also made some news.

First, let's get to the news. Sony revealed that a new “Jump Street” movie is on the way (what number is anybody's guess), “The Equalizer 2” is in the works which is notable as it would be Denzel Washington's first franchise and, more shocking, Philip Lord and Chris Miller are working on an animated version of “Spider-Man” for 2018.  It was also notable that the studio never mentioned “The Sinister Six” which many wonder is still in the works now that Marvel Studios is going to reboot Spidey so he can live in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Yes, sometimes ignoring a problem only creates more news.

Second, let's quickly look over what previews either didn't impress or have major question marks.

“The Walk”
Robert Zemeckis' chronicle of a key moment in aerialist Philippe Petit's life looks breathtaking visually, but the more we hear Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the daredevil the more concerned we become.  In this context it's just incredibly hard to take Gordon-Levitt's french accent seriously. Yikes.

“Goosebumps”
The potential franchise based on R.L. Stine's popular book series will remind you of a “Night at the Museum” movie.  That observation will make stockholders happier than critics.

“Transylvania Hotel 2”
Granted, it was one sequence, but this sequel doesn't seem as funny as the original. Of course, we haven't heard Mel Brooks as Dracula's dad, but is that really a game changer? Well, maybe for five-year-olds.

“The Perfect Guy”
If this movie was just about Sanaa Lathan's character falling for Michael Early's character that might make for an interesting dramatic romance. The fact Early's character turns into a psychopath drew laughs from the audience.  

“The 5th Wave”
Aliens are coming and Cassie (Chloë Grace Moretz) is just trying to survive long enough to be reunited with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, the spectacle looked weak (even for unfinished CG).  The footage reminded this pundit of 2009's “Knowing” with Nicolas Cage and, no, that's not a good thing.

Third, and most importantly, let's get to what perked our interest and might just make some noise during awards season.

“Ricki and the Flash”
Sony Pictures might not want to hear it, but there is no way Meryl Streep is not a Best Actress nominee contender for “Ricki.”  Certainly, not after the preview they showed at CinemaCon.  The drama finds Streep playing Ricki, a woman who has spent most of her on the road as a C or B level rock star.  She abandoned her family for her career and now returns home to help her daughter Julie (Streep's real life offspring Mamie Gummer) deal with the consequences of her husband leaving her.  The movie looks commercial, but not as commercial as say “It's Complicated,” “Mamma Mia,” “Hope Springs” or even “Julie and Julia” (which she was nominated for). And, truthfully, the trailer got a great reaction from the exhibitors on hand.

“Xmas”
The preview drew laughs with the title card “From the people who tried to bring you The Interview.”  This dramedy finds Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie as life long friends who made a pack to spend every Christmas together after the death of one of their parents (I believe it was Rogen's family).  After 14 years, however, it looks like the fun will be coming to an end.  Rogen's wife (Jillian Bell) is expecting and life seems to be drawing them in different directions.  Most of the preview, however, featured Rogen's character in very funny situations.  In one scene he's partied so much can't stop himself from throwing up during a Christmas Eve mass (worth noting his character is pointedly Jewish in the movie). As he tries to leave the main lobby he ends up throwing up in front of the entire congregation.  That might sound a tad too raunchy for some, but, overall, it felt like a winner.

“Money Monster”
Jodie Foster's thriller about a CNBC-esque pundit (George Clooney) who is held hostage by a disgruntled fan (Jack O'Connell) looks very, very good.  Sony does not want this movie to be perceived as an awards picture (one reason they keep sticking to the 2016 release date), but once you throw in Julia Roberts as Clooney's producer this looks like a borderline prestige play. Think “Inside Man” without the bank robbery and masked gunmen.

“SPECTRE”
Sony did the unconventional play here. Instead of showing a major action scene such as Bond taking down the bad guy on a moving train in “Skyfall,” they went in an a completely dramatic direction.  We find our master spy (Daniel Craig) at his barely unpacked apartment. He's alone and deep in thought.  Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) shows up to deliver him a work package. She then starts to question his actions in Mexico (earlier in the film) in an attempt to find out what's exactly wrong with him (it appears everyone is worried about 007 back at MI6). What is he hiding?  Bond shows her a video which features a cameo from an old friend (no spoilers here).  It features a very specific message that, frankly, was slightly hard to understand in the context of the scene.  The preview then cuts to a shot of Bond pushing Monica Bellucci up against a wall. There's some clear erotic tension in their as he puts his face next to hers and delivers the classic “Bond, James Bond” line.  Like the publicly released teaser before it, Sam Mendes looks like he has another gorgeous 007 adventure on his hands.  Then again can Christoph Waltz live up to Javier Bardem's tour de force in “Skyfall”?  We'll soon find out.

Which Sony Pictures release are you most looking forward to? Share your thoughts below.

LAS VEGAS – CinemaCon wrapped up its fifth year with their version of the Hollywood Film Awards, a fake awards show where the winners were predetermined and picked by studio lobbying and, um, who was available.  This year's winners included Best Actress Oscar champ Julianne Moore, Francis Lawrence, Elizabeth Banks, the cast of the “Fantastic Four,” Rose Byrne and Paul Feig (who had his “Spy” actor Bobby Cannavale walk on stage and throw a pie in his face).  The, cough, winners who really stole the show, however, were Amy Schumer, Kevin Hart and Paul Rudd.

Because the show isn't broadcast and it's unlikely video will ever be released, what better way to end our CinemaCon coverage with some of the best acceptance speeches of the night.  Let's begin with “Trainwreck” star Schumer who won Breakthrough Performer of the Year and had the funniest overall speech of the night.

“You guys, let's get very real right now.  First off all, NATO.*  I've always been such a huge fan of you guys,” Schumer says.  “Like, I just learned you guys are called NATO, but I love that you show movies because a movie theater is the first place I was ever fingered.  (Laughs.) Coincidentally, also the last place.” (Laughs.)

*NATO stands for National Association of Theater Owners

Schumer continues, “Look I'm new to Hollywood, obviously. I haven't gotten an eating disorder yet, but I already feel like I want to ask you guys a favor if it's not too much.  If you could only show 'Trainwreck' this summer. I mean, I know you have other movies. I know you guys don't let money run you. It's the heart.  And that's fine if you don't want do that, just don't show anymore Kevin Hart movies. (Laughs.)  Hear me out.  Hear me out.  I want to bring back our girls and give back Kevin Hart.”*

*We're not sure if this is a RuPaul's Drag Race reference, but if so, kudos Ms. Schumer.

“In all seriousness, I want to thank my publicist who has tried to leave me several times. I don't know why,” Schumer says. “My agent, Josh Katz, who took me sailing and almost killed me and my sister. I want to thank Universal, Donna Langley, Ron Meyer…other very important people.” (Laughs.)

“The theater owners! We had bad parents, my sister and I.  We snuck into so many movies,” Schumer says. “We would go see a movie and then we'd run into another theater and then you'd see another movie, so I'm sorry about that. (Laughs.) Always sneak booze in. Always. But, still. If I have a day I want to go see a movie. And, yeah, I never really thought about the theater owners. Now, I've met some of you and you're cool people. I didn't even know you existed and then we met today and we were drinking.  Two people from Memphis, you guys were cool. Texas chick was cool. I will come to every theater and have a drink with you. If you want that I'll do that.  You know who won't do that? Kevin Hart!  I know I need to wrap it up, which is something I've never done before…”

Schumer then invited her sister on stage who walked right up to the podium, grabbed her award and kept walking right off stage. 

Kevin Hart was on hand to accept the Comedy Star of the Year award.  Hart immediately went after the audience for how low energy they were.  (Only the CinemaCon crowd could stay seated for Julianne Moore who won what was basically a lifetime achievement honor).

“Yeah, let's turn down the energy in here,” Hart says. “You guys are on fire all night. How you guys bring it for everyone who comes up to this podium, stop the noise!  Shit. (Laughs)   You distributors know how to bring it, yeah!”

Hart then really begins, “First and foremost, thank you CinemaCon. This is great. This is nice. Before I say anything silly I want to say I understand the value of what you do, the value of what you bring to every actor and actresses' portfolio. We don't have a career without a place for people to see our content. I love you for that. I thank you for that.  I'm a millionaire because of that. (Laughs.)”

“I want to thank my company who are here, Hartbeat Productions,” Hart says. “If you guys don't know who they are, that's the one black row.  That's all my people there. It's three of us and Michael B. Jordan. We're representing African-Americans tonight.  We [expletive] brought it. We look good tonight.”

Hart then actually gets somewhat serious, adding, “Look man, I would love sit up here and play around tonight, but I'm actually can't play because I'm touched by what's going on.  My career is doing nothing but going upward and I don't want to jinx it. I think if I'm an asshole you guys may turn against me. (Laughs.)  I don't want that to happen. Right now you are all on my side and I don't look as cool as I thought I would behind this podium because you can't see my suit. (Laughs.) This is a waste of a suit right now. I thought you would [expletive] love it, but you can't see nothing. I look like a guy with just a [expletive] head.”  

Paul Rudd wrapped up the night winning Male Star of the Year.  Like Hart and Schumer before him, the “Ant-Man” star had realized just how silly the entire event really was.   

“When I got the E-mail that I had received this, that I got this award, I couldn't believe it,” Rudd says. “And this is true, when I received it there was no space between 'male' and 'star' so I read it as 'malestar.' (Laughs.) I didn't know what that was.  So, I googled it and apparently malester in Spanish means upset stomach.  So, CinemaCon has chosen me as Upset Stomach of the Year which makes sense.”

“I'm so touched. My whole team is here, minus Debbie Klein, my lawyer, who had some bullshit excuse about showing her son colleges.  Thank you Marvel and Disney. I mean, for paying for this (he winks at the crowd) and flying me out here and putting me in such luxurious accommodations and picking up the incidentals,” Rudd says as the crowd begins to laugh.

“I feel like I have to apologize for buying the giant block of porn and not the individual movie. (Laughs.) It was value call, but in hindsight I realize it was pushy. Too much.  More importantly, I feel I owe an apology to you, the theater owners, because porn is something that should be watched on a giant screen, in a crowded theater, filled with people who share common interests.”

And that was the biggest laugh of the night.

Rudd eventually noted, “My greatest experiences in my life was seeing movies in a movie theater. I remember the first movie I ever saw in a theater which was 'The Rescuers.' I heard a gasp, was that your first movie too? I remember the first rated R movie I ever saw which was 'Used Cars.'  But, I don't remember the first movie I ever watched on demand or on cable.”

And, as you'd expect, that line got the most spontaneous applause of the night.

Rudd continues, “I do remember the first movie I ever saw in a theater that I loved so much I stayed and watched it again.  That was 'Footloose' and I don't feel good about that at all. (Laughs.)  I don't know about that one. I guess that Ren McCormack did it, I guess, for me.”

“Finally, there are so many great movies coming out this year and so many great actors who have given great performances or are going to give great performances,” Rudd says. “I mean, George Clooney, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Tom Hanks – I just want to say to those guys – stick to it. It's not about the awards or the accolades. (Laughs.)  We're all just students of the game, really.  All this means is that I'm better than you this year. (Laughs.) Who knows, maybe you guys or one of those guys might just be up here and I will be the one in the audience ducking out halfway to catch 'Puppetry of the Penis.' (Laughs.)”

For more on CinemaCon, check out these individual reports:

Chris Pratt, 'Crimson Peak' and 8 other takeaways from Universal Pictures
'The Revenant,' 'Joy,' and 'The Martian' look like Oscar players for 20th Century Fox
Clint Eastwood says he didn't threaten to kill Michael Moore
'Zoolander' steals the spotlight from 'The Terminator' at Paramount's CinemaCon panel
'Magic Mike XXL' and a potential Johnny Depp comeback top WB's CinemaCon sneaks
Tom Cruise hung on to a plane eight different times for 'Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation'

LAS VEGAS – It's been a fantastic 2015 so far for Universal Pictures.  “Fifty Shades of Grey” has earned $568 million worldwide and “Furious 7” has taken in $300 million domestic and $1.15 billion globally.  Universal was the last studio to present their slate to the world's theater owners and, as you can guess, they were pretty bullish on what's to come.

Unlike some of their competitors, however, Universal joined Sony Pictures 20th Century Fox by actually making some news during their presentation.  The next “Fifty Shades” movies have titles and release dates and Vin Diesel himself appeared on hand to announce “Furious 8's” April 14, 2017 opening day. Other talent on hand included Seth MacFarlane (“Ted 2”), Amy Schumer (“Trainwreck”), Chris Pratt (“Jurassic World”) and Dr. Dre and Ice Cube (“Straight Outta Compton”).  

Here are some quick takeaways from Universal's upcoming slate.

“Everest” looks, um, epic
Slight hint to Warner Bros. You might want to move “Black Mass”* off Sept. 18.  Right now, “Everest” has the goods for a record Sept. opening with an all-star cast hitting a rocky road on the world's tallest peak.  In the footage shown the movie appears to center more on John Hawkes and Josh Brolin than Jake Gyllenhaal and Jason Isaac, but that they were in more of the money shots.  Oh, and for all of you Keira Knightley fans out there, her role is mostly that of concerned wife/girlfriend on the phone.

*We think “Mass” could be exceptional, but “Everest” will steal their audience.

Seth MacFarlane's “Ted 2” will be as massive as you think it will be
The CinemaCon preview was actually just a few more scenes from the first trailer with the Tom Brady moment seen in the Super Bowl spot, but it easily earned some of the biggest laughs from the audience. MacFarlane crashed with a lame “Paul Blart” joke, but recovered quickly noting that movie theaters should embrace stoners more. “More stoners in the audience mean more pop corn sales. Maybe don't give them such a hard time.” (This actually killed).

Amy Schumer ruled
You know what works with people who have spent four non-stop days in Vegas? A legitimately hilarious stand up comic who knows how to work a room. Schumer immediately came out and ripped MacFarlane for his one joke that bombed and proceeded to win the crowd over while introduce her already critically acclaimed new comedy “Trainwreck.” It's been a good week for Schumer.

Newsflash: “Crimson Peak” is probably not an awards movie and that's O.K.
Guillermo Del Toro was there to introduce “Peak” and says it's one of the movies he's most proud of.  “Peak” has long been seen as a fringe Oscar contender and the new footage makes it appear less so.  From what we saw “Peak” is much more of a horror movie than “Pan's Labyrinth.”  Emphasis on “much.”  The production design, costumes and cinematography look remarkable, but we're not sure it's anything more than a big commercial play (and that's O.K.).

“Straight Outta Compton” may be more political than people think
Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and director F. Gary Gray introduced a longer preview at N.W.A.'s origin story and it increasingly looks like a must-see movie for the summer.  The LAPD and FBI persecution the band dealt with appears to be a significant part of the movie and couldn't be more timely.  No matter how it does in theaters, it seems a lot of moviegoers will walk away with a lot more respect for the Hip-Hop legends.

Kevin Hart is voicing a bunny in “The Secret Life of Pets”
2016's Illumination release going to be massive.  Louis C.K. is the cute dog lead Max, Jenny Slate is an always hungry fat cat, Eric Stonestreet is a huge doggie and Kevin Hart? America's comedy superstar is playing an adorable white bunny.  The footage shown was Pixar-esque (imagine Walt Disney Animation's “Feast” slightly more CG) and it screams summer blockbuster.  

It's hard to keep “The Visit's” M. Night Shyamalan quiet
What's scarier? The prospect of the “Sixth Sense” director babbling on hours on end as he did to present the trailer for “The Visit” or the movie itself? Based on that preview…

Elizabeth Banks knows how to work a room
“It's hard to follow the billion dollar movie and the movie with whips but here we go!” That was Elizabeth Banks after she had to come out to present “Pitch Perfect 2” following the “Fifty Shades” news and Vin Diesel's in-person “Furious 8” release date announcement.

Sadly, “Sisters” with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler was a big disappointment
We're huge Tina Fey and Amy Poehler fans.  That makes the fact the extended preview for their new comedy “Sisters” was so flat even more disheartening.  The duo play siblings who return home to clean out their childhood home after their parents have sold it.  With their parents no longer staying there, they decide to hold the raucous party they always wanted to while they were in High School.  The good news?  Maya Rudolph has a cameo (maybe more).  The bad news?  We didn't laugh. It doesn't help that director Jason Moore said they shot it last summer.  Maybe there is still time for reshoots?

Chris Pratt is front and center in “Jurassic World”
With Star-Lord on hand, Universal showed an extended preview of the long awaited and fourth “Jurassic” flick.  Some key revelations?  Towards the beginning of the movie they don't evacuate the island because they believe they can capture the hybrid dino without it getting into any dangerous areas. You've seen the shot of Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard's character looking at a field of fallen Apatosaurus.  What you haven't seen is is Howard's character crying as one of them dies in front of her (yes, she has a soul).  Beyond that? No one has to worry about Pratt taking second fiddle to his younger co-stars.

Which upcoming Universal Studios release are you most excited about? Share your thoughts below.

LAS VEGAS – 20th Century Fox found themselves mostly on the Oscar sidelines last year thanks to “Gone Girl” director David Fincher's unwillingness to partake in such matters, but 2015 looks like it's going to be a completely different story.  On Thursday the studio highlighted much of its upcoming slate including footage from expected hits such as “Spy,” “The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials” and “Victor Frankenstein.”  What really popped, however, are four titles that could make big waves during the upcoming awards season.

The footage from Ridley Scott's “The Martian” depicts a faithful adaptation of Andrew Weir's novel. A crew of NASA astronauts finds themselves racing to evacuate their base on Mars as a gigantic storm approaches.  The problem is one member of the crew, Mark Whatley (Matt Damon), doesn't make the escape vehicle in time.  The preview actually begins with Jeff Daniels' character telling a press conference Whatley is presumed dead.  Truthfully, he awakes alone on the Red Planet and begins to chronicle how he'll survive what he believes will be a four-year wait to be rescued.  Eventually NASA is shocked to discover that Whatley is alive. It's unclear what their plan is, but Whatley's fellow astronauts (including Jessica Chastain) are already safe and secure on a ship on a long way home to Earth. Even though it could mean risking their own lives, they want to lead a “mutiny,” however, and turn the ship around to rescue Whatley (or that's how it appears).  Is a happy ending unavoidable? Good question.

Simplified, “The Martian” features familiar elements from “Gravity,” “Interstellar” and “Castaway.” We see shots of Whatley beginning to grow his own food so he can turn 33 days of supplies into 1,460 days of subsistence.  A “space docking” reference is eerily similar to the same plot point in Chris Nolan and Alfonso Cauron's films.  Still, Fox smartly pushes the impressive cast with shots of Chastain, Kristen Wiig (earthbound and concerned), Donald Glover (appears he's one of the crew), Sean Bean, Chiwetel Ejiofor and the aforementioned Daniels.  Damon looks slimmed down and 180 degrees more optimistic than…the stranded astronaut he played in “Interstellar” (no, we're still not sure why he decided to take on storylines that are so similar).  Is it really an awards movie?  This pundit isn't so sure, but it certainly excited some of my peers who were also on hand for Fox's show and tell.

One movie that is absolutely on its way to a top slot on the next contender countdown is Alejandro González Iñárritu's “The Revenant.”  The extended footage began with title cards reminding viewers this is a true story and that Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki have spent months bringing Michael Punke's novel to life by shooting in the remote wilderness and only in natural light.  DiCaprio and Tom Hardy were the only two recognizable cast members, but this dark frontiersman tale seems both epic and intimate at the same time.  “The Revenant” looks harrowing and painful. If the cast and crew went through an ordeal filming it the audience is going to feel their pain. Overall, the movie simply looks stunning and you wonder if it's too early to start hyping Lubezki as a potential three-time Oscar winner. One particular shot finds the camera strapped either to the side or leg of DiCaprio as he rides horseback into battle. It's an iconic image, but would we expect any less from Iñárritu and Chivo?

Fox's third awards player looks like David O. Russell's “Joy.”  Reuniting Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, Annie Mumolo and Russell's original story appears to be a dark and grounded drama.  No hints of dramedy or laughs here.  While the footage didn't feature any dialogue there is scarcely any lightness that would remind you of “American Hustle” or “Silver Linings Playbook.”  And, as if it was ever a question, you can absolutely put Lawrence on your potential Best Actress nominees for this one. She's clearly the central character.  Frankly, “Joy's” surprising tone and imagery make it more of a wildcard than “Martian” or “The Revenant.” The movie also has a Christmas day release, but it will be curious to see if Fox decides to put it on the prestige festival circuit to grow word of mouth.  

Lastly, Fox actually kicked off its presentation with a long look at their CG animated adaption of the classic comic strip “Peanuts.”  Blue Sky Animation hasn't earned the critical kudos of its peers, but “Peanuts” may change that.  The studio made it very clear they revere creator Charles M. Schulz's work and the preview didn't include anything that would even come close to scaring purists. This story is about Charlie Brown and his shy affection for a red headed girl in his neighborhood.  You don't need to worry about Snoopy going on a Las Vegas roadtrip or anything silly like that.  This is meant to be a tale that stays true to Schulz's original vision.  In fact, the best moment was when Charlie Brown has a thought bubble and it appears as a black and white two-dimensional drawing just like the original comic strip. “Peanuts” looks like it has heart without being saccharine and has found away to include Schulz's stylistic flourishes within a 3D context.  It's unclear if Pixar's “Inside Out” will have any really competition for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, but “Peanuts” could surprise as a worthy threat for the crown.

Needless to say, while 20th Century Fox has some big blockbusters on hand for the summer, it's Fall and Winter releases will find it smack dab in the middle of major Oscar players. And don't say we didn't tell you way back in April.

Which 20th Century Fox release are you most looking forward to? Share your thoughts below.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4909703903001

So far actor-turned-filmmaker Scott Cooper has directed Jeff Bridges to his first Oscar (2009's “Crazy Heart”) and arguably shepherded Christian Bale to his finest performance to date (2013's “Out of the Furnace”). With the upcoming “Black Mass,” depicting the life and times of Boston crime boss Whitey Bulger, it looks like he's dragged Johnny Depp from the funk of franchise dreck to what could be one of the most towering performances of the actor's career.

At least, that's the vibe I'm getting from a tightly assembled trailer for the film, which uses just one scene to showcase the vibe and presence Depp is putting out there as Bulger. As soon as the frame opens on those blue contacts…wow. I'm pretty excited for the look of this thing, too, as cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi killed it on “Furnace” and is one of the best in the game right now. This one looks like it drips with the same brooding atmosphere as that.

Warner Bros. currently has the film slated for a September release, so a Toronto Film Festival bow is certainly possible. The Telluride Film Festival was interested in both “Crazy Heart” and “Out of the Furnace,” and WB has seen luck there with “Argo” and “Gravity” (as did “Black Mass” producer John Lesher with “Birdman” last year), so that's potentially on the table, too. Either way, if a successful showcase at CinemaCon this week didn't already do the trick, this trailer problem should: Put Depp on your Oscar longlists.

Check out the “Black Mass” trailer embedded above.

LAS VEGAS – Clint Eastwood took center stage at CinemaCon on Wednesday during a lunch and Q&A reflecting on his career.  The 84-year-old legend was on hand to receive an award from Fandango for “American Sniper,” his biggest hit to date.

“Sniper,” the story of U.S. sniper and Iraq veteran Chris Kyle, found surprising support from both sides of the political aisle. There were some outspoken dissenters, however, and during a conversation with THR's Stephen Galloway, Eastwood volunteered to clear up one particularly nasty rumor that had made the rounds regarding fellow Oscar winner Michael Moore.

In January, Moore made a number of comments about how he views snipers as “cowards.”  These are opinions based on the fact his own Uncle had been killed by one during WW II.  As you'd expect, the conservative media did not take these statements lightly and it created something of a firestorm even though it was really more of a general difference of opinion than a political statement.

“People said to me, 'What do you think about what Michael Moore is saying? That this film is that…' And I said, 'He's probably right.  Any way you want to look at it is different.  So, that's his opinion, so to it,'” Eastwood, a longtime Republican supporter, recalls.  “Well, everyone keeps saying I threatened to kill Michael Moore.  That's not true.'”

He pauses and then jokes, “It isn't a bad idea.”

That caused a wave of laughter in the audience, but Eastwood quickly added, “He's just expressing an opinion. I think once years ago someone asked me [what I would do] if a guy like him or somebody like that came with a whole film crew started filming me like they did with Charlton Heston. Unfortunately, Charlton was ill at the time and ailing with Alzheimer's, so it was a little bit of a downer when you read about it. But I thought, 'Well, he's on your property so I guess you can shoot him.' The old 'Get off my lawn.' That was fun to deliver”

Eastwood says he's never met his fellow Oscar winner, but noted, “I'm all for everybody whatever their attitudes are.  That's what is great about this country. You can think whatever you want. Nobody has to agree with you.”

In other news, Eastwood surprised many industry watchers by revealing he's no longer working on the high profile biopic of Atlanta Olympic bombing hero Richard Jewell.  

“We milled that around, but I don't know if that's going to [happen],” Eastwood says. “Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don't. That was an interesting one. I have several interesting things out there I'm kind of milling about.”

Last month it was reported that Eastwood was attached to the project that would have reunited “Wolf of Wall Street” stars Jonah Hill (as Jewell) and Leonardo DiCaprio (as Jewell's lawyer).  There were some questions, however, if 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. could work out joint distribution and we can only speculate that might have had something to do with Eastwood bowing out.

On a lighter note, Eastwood also revealed Wes Anderson's “Grand Budapest Hotel” was the last movie he paid to see in a theater (“I liked it a lot”), he's looking forward to seeing his son Scott Eastwood's new movie “The Longest Ride” (he joked Scott is having more luck with the ladies than he is) and that he has no interest in doing a superhero flick even though he read comics as a kid.

LAS VEGAS – Without massive tentpoles on the horizon this year, Paramount Pictures pulled off the impossible and actually created some buzz Tuesday morning on the first full day of CinemaCon.  It all began with the Arnold Schwarzenegger kicking things off with a sneak of “Terminator: Genisys.”

“We all know the first three 'Terminators.'  The one's I were involved with, the only ones that count made over $1 billion worldwide,” Schwarzenegger says to the delight of the audience. “Script was fantastic when I read it. Great actors. Great producers. Paramount, thank you all for being such passionate people…I can talk about this movie for hours, but you want to see a little action.”

Twelve minutes of the still “work in progress” were then shown and, essentially, it was just extended views of shots or scenes in the latest trailer.  The human's future assault on the machines is much grander than what most of the public has seen so far, but we're still wondering why the future looked cooler and more realistic in 2009's “Terminator: Salvation.”  That being said, Emelia Clarke's Sarah Connor is growing on us.

Paramount's master of ceremonies, Vice Chairman Rob Moore, eventually segued to what was probably the best part of the company's presentation.  In a taped bit, Ben Stiller appeared as Zoolander and, honestly, it was hilarious. Zoolander kept confusing CinemaCon with Comic-Con, but wasn't even sure if it was New York or San Diego Comic-Con.  He told everyone “Zoolander 2” would be a documentary about the last 15 years of his life and reminded everyone about the amazing $45 million the first movie made domestically and the $15 million it made internationally (this got a huge laugh from the attendees).  And then, Billy Zane popped by. “Hi Billy Zane,” Zoolander says. After about a minute of awkward silence Zane replies, “O.K., I think I'm gonna go now.” Zoolander also made sure everyone knew “Zoolander 2” was coming out on President's Day weekend which is a three day weekend, but the movie is still “Zoolander 2,” not “Zoolander 2 3 day weekend.” He also debuted a new runway look he called Pasaw which is actually spelled PSA which stands for per screen average (and, yes, it was just Blue Steel).  

This was one of those great Stiller bits that makes you wish he'd host the Oscars or even the Golden Globes (he's turned down the former previously).  Unfortunately, because it's so industry focused the chances of Paramount releasing the video online are slim (we asked), but if you're crossing your fingers “Zoolander 2” will be worth the wait, so far, so good.

A little known actor named Tom Cruise also made an appearance to talk about his new film “Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation.” You can read about it here.

Other highlights included:

“Daddy's Home”
This new comedy reunites Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as a step dad and a dad who – shocker – devolve into a crazy rivalry for their kids affections. It did not get a lot of laughs until the final moment, when Ferrell's character drunkingly throws a basketball by accident at the head of an NBA cheerleader during a game.  Yes, we still can't help laughing at people having balls thrown at their heads. You can watch a fan's recording of the scene during a New Orleans Pelicans game here.

“Transformers”
Paramount announced Michael Bay is working on the next film, but did clarify if he was directing and only said it was “coming soon” which means no release date as of yet.

“Monster Trucks”
A quick :30 of footage played on the screen and gave us our first glimpse of the Nickelodeon Films Christmas release.  The movie looks very much like “Cars,” but the “faces” of the trucks are less cartoony than that Pixar, um, monster.

“Star Trek 3”
We have a logo and it looks like the previous “Star Trek” font with a “3” next to it! Theater owners were also screened what must have been just a :90 video of producer J.J. Abrams introducing new director Justin Lin, giving him some props and saying they were shooting this summer. That was it (really).

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2”
Moore did not refer to it with the rumored title “Half Shell,” but did reveal that classic characters Bebop and Rocksteady will appear in the sequel.

Upcoming films such as “Rings” and a new “Paranormal Activity” were mentioned in passing, but no details beyond release dates were given.