Features
I’ve seen the Coen brothers’ “True Grit” twice now, and it’s not because the film is some “Inception”-like, mind-bending narrative maze. Quite the opposite, actually. I saddled up to it a second time yesterday morning because I wasn’t quite anticipating what I got the first time around and I wanted to consider it further knowing […]
The Coens’ no-frills ‘True Grit’ hearkens to western heyday
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:00 am · December 1st, 2010
Filed in: Reviews
9/23 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Brolin on Stone and Allen, remembering ‘Goodfellas’ and a ‘Boonmee’ how-to
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:06 am · September 23rd, 2010
• In a joint venture with Interview magazine, Roger Ebert corners Casey Affleck on “I’m Still Here.” [Chicago Sun-Times] • Kevin Gray talks “Wall Street” and Woody Allen with Josh Brolin. [Vulture] • Steve Pond runs a comb through the contenders so far to gauge strengths and weaknesses. [The Odds]
Filed in: Daily
Stone charges back with subprime ‘Money Never Sleeps’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:58 am · September 21st, 2010
It’s taken me some time to get around to writing about Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” because watching the film was like have your bubble burst (no pun intended). Where the director’s 1987 original worked from a tight, disciplined script that never took its eye off the ball, this follow-up is a loose, […]
Filed in: Reviews
9/20 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Timberlake’s Oscar hopes, Brolin’s peculiar suggestions, flurry of Toronto purchases
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:39 am · September 20th, 2010
• Tom O’Neil wrangles up perspectives on Justin Timberlake’s Oscar potential for “The Social Network.” [Gold Derby] • Steven Zeitchik sits down with “Catfish” directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. [Los Angeles Times] • Debating the ethics of movie spoilage on a user-generated web encyclopedia might be the very definition of futility, but the Gray […]
Filed in: Daily
SHORT TAKE: “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” (**1/2)
Posted by Guy Lodge · 10:29 am · May 14th, 2010
Cannes Film Festival “Is greed good?” Gordon Gekko asks near the beginning of Oliver Stone’s glib, gleaming and endearingly trashy sequel to his 1987 corporate morality tale. Delivering the line, a looser-haired but stiffer-skinned Michael Douglas can barely resist licking his lips and winking; this is his earlier, Oscar-winning performance turned inside-out, emerging as lascivious […]
Filed in: Reviews
12/9 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:10 am · December 9th, 2009
• Just in time for BFCA and SAG balloting, Dennis Lim takes a second look at “Public Enemies.” [Los Angeles Times] • Steven Zeitchik reports casting news before it’s official: Josh Brolin is being considered for “Men in Black 3.” I’m down. [Hero Complex] • David Poland talks “The Lovely Bones” with Peter Jackson. [The […]
Filed in: Daily
First look at Josh Brolin as ‘Jonah Hex’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:15 am · June 3rd, 2009
You probably know we’ve been following the upcoming adaptation of DC Comics’ “Jonah Hex” pretty closely around these parts. It’s the intersection of westerns and comic books. How could I not be all over that? Then again, despite having each of the 40-some issues of the recently re-booted “Jonah Hex” comics series, I’ve only read […]
Filed in: Daily
Who almost starred in the season’s Oscar nominated films?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:37 am · February 17th, 2009
The folks at notstarring.com have put together a list of the year’s Oscar contenders and the stars who turned down opportunities to star in them. There is, of course, Nicolas Cage in “The Wrestler” and Russell Crowe in “Australia.” Heath Ledger is also mentioned for the latter (somehow I didn’t know that). “The Curious Case […]
Filed in: Daily
Sorry, Josh
Posted by Guy Lodge · 8:18 am · February 14th, 2009
I like Josh Brolin a great deal, and I particularly like his performance in “Milk” — a courageous display of against-type delicacy and ambiguity that would be a worthy winner of Best Supporting Actor honours in most years. Unfortunately for him, most years don’t have the perfect storm of industry sentiment, audience popularity and landmark […]
Filed in: Daily
Brolin, Hopkins to star in Woody Allen’s latest
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:10 pm · February 11th, 2009
This one just landed in the ole’ inbox. Might as well pass it on: Academy Award nominee Josh Brolin and Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins are the first to be cast in Woody Allen’s latest untitled film. A return to Europe for Allen, the new film shoots in London this summer and reteams the director […]
Filed in: Daily
SANTA BARBARA: Writers talk writing, Cruz walks the red carpet
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:38 am · January 25th, 2009
Yesterday was another busy event day for the Santa Barbara fest. It was a shame the Director’s Panel was canceled, but participant Andrew Stanton switched gears to join Robert Knott (“Appaloosa”), Tom McCarthy (“The Visitor”) and Dustin Lance Black (“Milk”) for an Anne Thompson-moderated discussion on their work at the keyboard this year. It was […]
Filed in: Daily
All eyes on left field
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:15 am · January 21st, 2009
The nominations announcement is, oh, 18 hours away (yeah, we count minutes at this stage). Even though I’m well on the record as being a prognosticative pussy this year, I can’t shake the feeling that we’re in for our share of surprises. I doubt I’m alone. You can go back over Oscar history and write […]
Filed in: Daily
If nominated, will Clint win Best Actor? I think so…
Posted by John Foote · 10:26 am · January 10th, 2009
Though it ain’t over till it’s over, I think the five nominees for best actor have all but been decided. Come nomination morning, I expect to hear the names of Clint Eastwood, Sean Penn, Frank Langella, Mickey Rourke and Richard Jenkins. Of course I have no way of knowing if this is how things will end […]
Filed in: Daily
Josh Brolin/Netflix announcement?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:26 pm · December 19th, 2008
This just arrived in the ole’ inbox. I have no idea what this is all about unless I’ve missed the boat somewhere along the line here, but my interest is certainly piqued: WHO: Josh Brolin, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, and Film Independent’s Dawn Hudson. WHAT: Josh Brolin, Netflix, and Film Independent to announce an exciting endeavor […]
Filed in: Daily
‘Slumdog,’ ‘Hunger,’ ‘Happy’ rule London crix nods
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:40 pm · December 18th, 2008
Sorry for following up on this so long after Kris’ teaser… what can I say? It’s Christmas party central round these parts. Anyway, the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards are a bit of an odd duck in the kudos calendar, but not an uninteresting one. They tend to try to have their cake and eat […]
Filed in: Daily
Golden Globes: ‘Slumdog,’ ‘Button’ steady…whither ‘Milk?’
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:20 am · December 11th, 2008
Well, I said yesterday one should always expect oddities with the Golden Globes … but even with that in mind, they never fail to pull out some genuine “WTF” moments. Tom Cruise’s goofy Best Supporting Actor nod for “Tropic Thunder” may have been the most eccentric revelation of the morning, but surely the most significant […]
Filed in: Daily
‘Milk,’ ‘Happy’ win big with NYFCC
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:03 am · December 10th, 2008
The Best Picture victory for “Milk” is going to be the lede for most people as far as today’s New York Film Critics Circle awards is concerned, but the bigger story is “Happy-Go-Lucky,” which finds itself right back in the thick of the Oscar conversation. The group handed Mike Leigh and Sally Hawkins honors for […]
‘Ballast,’ ‘River,’ ‘Rachel’ lead the Indie Spirit nods
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:26 am · December 2nd, 2008
I’m late to the table on today’s Independent Spirit Award nominations because I’ve been toiling away on the latest Oscar column (which should be up shortly). Obviously, Sony Pictures Classics dominated the scene but I’m glad to see that this year’s crop is more “independent” than in years past. One nomination that stuck out to […]
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