Features
In coming up with an idle, pop-related title for this post, I was faced with two choices: the one I eventually went with, or “We don’t need another hero.” I decided against the latter — partly because I’m sure other writers have already exhausted it, partly because The Bangles can always do with another shout-out […]
Hero takes a fall
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:35 pm · June 16th, 2011
Filed in: Daily
‘Never Let Me Go’ tops London Evening Standard noms
Posted by Guy Lodge · 12:05 pm · January 4th, 2011
The London Evening Standard Awards, a particularly bijou set of critics’ honors reserved for British titles and talent, tend to swerve a little left of the expected — chosen as they are by a jury of six disparate, but equally opinionated, critics. So it is this year: obviously “The King’s Speech” and “Another Year” feature […]
Filed in: Daily
Stephen King’s top 10 films of 2010
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:22 am · November 24th, 2010
Entertainment Weekly columnist (and a dabbler in fiction) Stephen King is the first out of the gate this year with a top 10 list, beating the usual early likes of Peter Travers et al to the punch. King’s lists are always, shall we say, unique. They generally lean toward the populist and make it rather […]
Filed in: Daily
WEEKLY WRAP: ‘127 Hours’ dissent, BIFA nods, interviews
Posted by In Contention Staff · 5:10 am · November 6th, 2010
• Guy didn’t much care for “127 Hours.” That got you talking. • Happily, Kris did, and got talking to director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy. • The British Independent Film Award nominations threw some surprises into the mix, handing scads of noms to “The King’s Speech”… and “Kick-Ass.” • Chad’s Life Without Oscar […]
Filed in: Daily
‘King’s Speech’ leads BIFA nods, ‘Another Year’ snubbed
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:48 am · November 1st, 2010
Mike Leigh has long bemoaned the fact that he gets more respect from American awards bodies than those in his homeland. He received further proof of that this morning, as his broadly acclaimed new feature, “Another Year,” was snubbed in the top category at the British Independent Film Awards in favor of, among others, Matthew […]
Filed in: Daily
OFF THE CARPET: Taking the temperature
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:28 pm · May 23rd, 2010
Now that we’re on the other side of Cannes, I felt it was a good time to put a finger to the wind, stare into the tea leaves, shake the magic 8-ball and basically just take stock of where we’re at roughly three months away from the start of the 2010-2011 film awards season. The […]
Filed in: Off the Carpet
FRIDAY FORECAST: ‘Babies’!
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 1:44 pm · May 7th, 2010
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. The babies are finally here guys! You’ve oohed and ahhed at penguins and oceans and Michael Moore, but this documentary finally gives you the chance to ooh and ahh at humans. Specifically, little ones. There’s also a silly sounding movie about a man who wears a […]
Filed in: Box Office · Friday Forecast
SUNDAY CENTS: For real this time, ‘Dragon’ ‘Back-Up’ to #1
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 12:08 pm · April 25th, 2010
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. No photo finishes and no Monday recounts needed. “How to Train Your Dragon” has definitely topped the chart this weekend, four weeks after debuting there. The last time a film leapt back up to number one after a three week hiatus was “The Passion of the […]
Filed in: Box Office · Sunday Cents
FRIDAY FORECAST: A bunch of ‘Losers’
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 2:03 pm · April 23rd, 2010
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. Jennifer Lopez hasn’t been on screen since “El Cantante” in 2007 and hasn’t toplined a romantic comedy since “Monster-in-Law” in 2005. That’s a long, five year gap and it’s no surprise that J. Lo is returning to the only genre that has brought her success to […]
Filed in: Box Office · Friday Forecast
SUNDAY CENTS: New releases ‘Dragon’ behind
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 12:21 pm · April 18th, 2010
*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. Internet nerds once again failed to make their presence known at the multiplex as “Kick Ass” surrendered to the runner-up spot on a relatively weak frame. As significant as online and fanboy buzz can be, time and again it has led to disappointing debuts more than […]
Filed in: Box Office · Sunday Cents
FRIDAY FORECAST: ‘Ass’ vs. crass
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 12:12 pm · April 16th, 2010
*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 […]
Filed in: Box Office · Friday Forecast
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
My most anticipated films of 2010
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:45 am · January 1st, 2010
Annually I put together a hasty list of my most anticipated films of the New Year on January 1. I got rid of the pomp and circumstance around the perennial post a while back and just stuck with the list. But a couple of things… I’m not sure if Kevin Macdonald’s “The Eagle of the […]
Filed in: Daily
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