Steven Spielberg couldn’t have put it more concisely during his presentation of the Best Picture category last night. To paraphrase, he noted that whichever films did not happen to win Best Picture this year would join the ranks of numerous classics of the medium. Was it preemptive damage control? I hope not. Why be apologetic? […]
OFF THE CARPET: Sun came up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:11 am · February 28th, 2011
Filed in: Off the Carpet
11/26 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: The hairy task of ‘Tangled,’ Britain’s Oscar potential, Julianne Moore a best bet?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:42 am · November 26th, 2010
• Steve Pond chats with “Casino Jack” star Kevin Spacey. [The Odds] • Rebecca Keegan writes up the hairy task of creating Rapunzel in “Tangled.” [24 Frames] • Marc Lee thinks it’s looking up for Britain at the Oscars this year. [Daily Telegraph]
Filed in: Daily
OFF THE CARPET: Leading men in the spotlight
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:14 am · October 25th, 2010
About a year ago I took to examining the 2009 Best Actor race. The frontrunners for five slots seemed to be, in order, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Jeremy Renner, Morgan Freeman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Viggo Mortensen and Robert De Niro. A day later press members received their first invites to “Crazy Heart” screenings and were notified […]
Filed in: Off the Carpet
9/14 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:11 am · September 14th, 2010
• Ben Affleck discusses “The Town” across the pond. [Daily Telegraph] • The Best Picture race begins to take shape for Sasha Stone. [Awards Daily] • Michael Cieply talks to Kevin Spacey about his work as “Casino Jack” and his involvement with “The Social Network.” [New York Times]
Filed in: Daily
‘Bagman’ trailer
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:30 pm · June 29th, 2010
Mike Fleming reported at Deadline yesterday that George Hickenlooper’s “Bagman” (formerly “Casino Jack,” or maybe it still is, who knows), which debuted at Sundance and could be a power play for lead actor Kevin Spacey if it’s ever picked up, is being shopped around town after a distribution deal with Metropolitan fell through. So I […]
Filed in: Daily
The Great Performances: 1999
Posted by John Foote · 9:18 pm · November 7th, 2009
1999 was a strange year. And it’s hard to believe a full decade has slipped past since. There were some great award-winning performances, to be sure, but there seemed to be just as many not nominated that certainly should have been. Ten years later, I remain stunned that Reese Witherspoon was not nominated for her […]
Filed in: Daily
10/16 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:44 am · October 16th, 2009
• Nathaniel Rogers weighs in on Christopher Plummer’s upcoming whirlwind campaigns. [The Film Experience] • John Hiscock sits down with 2009’s “it” girl, Carey Mulligan. [Daily Telegraph] • Enter a contest to design the actual one-sheet for Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist.” [CHUD]
Filed in: Daily
The Great Performances: 1995
Posted by John Foote · 4:06 pm · October 10th, 2009
Based on some of the comments I received last week regarding my article on great acting, I took the suggestion of a young lady and am kicking off a series of articles, one per week, that will explore the best performances ofeach year, beginning today with 1995. So let’s go back and work our way […]
Filed in: Daily
Martin and Fey: the obvious choice
Posted by Guy Lodge · 1:05 pm · October 8th, 2009
It seems the annual spitballing over who will/should host next year’s Academy Awards ceremony has already started. Sasha Stone has compiled a list of her own preferred men (and women) for the job, while Kris has other ideas. (More seriously, his Kevin Spacey suggestion last year remains one I’m completely on board with.) Meanwhile, Kris […]
Filed in: Daily
SHORT TAKE: “The Men Who Stare at Goats” (***)
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:23 am · September 8th, 2009
Venice Film Festival A trim, lively comedy powered by a winning quartet of personality performances and an endearingly naff drive-time rock soundtrack, Grant Heslov’s helming debut “The Men Who Stare at Goats” doesn’t make too many demands of its audience. In return, we shouldn’t make too many demands of the film. Anyone looking for a […]
Filed in: Reviews
7/23 Web Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:26 am · July 23rd, 2009
• Kim Voynar wonders where the Brat Pack for today’s generation is. [Movie City News] • Judd Apatow gets the MOMA treatment in NYC. [Movieline] • Andrew O’Hehir talks “Shrink” with actor Kevin Spacey. [Beyond the Multiplex]
Filed in: Daily
Spacey offers his services
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:15 am · May 15th, 2009
AwardsDaily has passed on some talk that Kevin Spacey has his eye on hosting next year’s Academy Awards, suggesting starting a Twitter campaign to make it happen. He’s obviously being flippant, but it strikes me as a damn fine idea. Of course, Spacey’s not the first person to suggest he might be the man for […]
Filed in: Daily
SHORT TAKE: “Moon” (***1/2)
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:38 am · May 5th, 2009
In the harrowing finale of Alejandro Amenábar’s “Abre Los Ojos,” actor Chete Lera screams in defiance at the unthinkable events unfolding around him: “I’m real and I have two daughters!” Falling to his knees, he slowly accepts the gut-wrenching realization that is the film’s final twist. That idea is front and center in Duncan Jones’s […]
Filed in: Reviews
“You’re so money and you don’t even know it.”
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:20 pm · December 13th, 2008
Tim Gray has put together a typical response piece to the Hugh Jackman emcee news over at Variety, but the real interesting bits are as follows: “[W]e are trying to turn a corner and to give the evening more of a nightclub-party feel — which it once had,” said the show’s producer Laurence Mark. And… […]
Filed in: Daily
Hugh Jackman named Oscar host
Posted by Guy Lodge · 10:21 am · December 12th, 2008
The news is out — the Australian thesp and “Sexiest Man Alive” will host February’s 81st Academy Awards. And why not? He’s charismatic, well-liked by all, a bona fide movie star and a genuine showman who has proved his mettle at this short of thing before by hosting the Tony Awards (and winning an Emmy […]
Who should host the Oscars?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 4:39 pm · October 24th, 2008
This morning I linked to our friend John Campea at The Movie Blog who offered up a list of 15 possibilities for host of this year’s Oscar festivities. Producers Bill Condon and Larry Mark are hard at work putting the show’s particulars together (when Condon has a few moments away from that Richard Pryor biopic […]
Casting the 2008 election
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 6:50 am · October 16th, 2008
Rope of Silicon has a sweet feature up today: “Casting the 2008 Election.” It’s one of those lists I wish I had thought of, and for the most part, it’s spot on, some real zingers: Bruce Campbell as Mitt Romney, Harold Ramis as Keith Olbermann, Kevin Spacey as Mike Huckabee. Some of the choices don’t […]
Filed in: Daily
REVIEW: “Superman Returns” (***)
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:09 pm · June 27th, 2006
When he was appointed to bring one of the most socially complex comic book series to the screen in the form of 2000’s “X-Men,” director Bryan Singer had in front of him the opportunity to usher realism and tangibility into the genre. While that first installment in a franchise that has this year gone terribly […]
Filed in: Reviews