Category Archives: Contenders
New Trailer for Sacha Gervasi’s “Hitchcock”
God, I cannot wait for this film. This trailer looks so fantastic. The film, released by Fox Searchlight, is due out November 23rd.
Anthony Hopkins is clearly gonna be in the front-running for Best Actor this awards season, as his portrayal of Hitch seems to be spot on.
Helen Mirren also appears to be at the top of her game as Hitch’s wife Alma.
I’m not the hugest Scarlet Johansson fan, but she at least looks a lot like Janet Leigh.
What I am most exited for, though, is Michael Stuhlbarg’s take on Hollywood dynamo Lew Wasserman. Yes. Good.
You can watch the new trailer here:
New Poster and Featurette For Tom Hooper’s “Les Misérables”
After first trailer I was excited for Anne Hathaway, but that was about it as far as Academy Award winner Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) and his new version of Les Mis was concerned. But then last week they released a behind the scene featurette (posted below) that had interviews with the cast discussing how they recorded the music live as they were filming. They were so excited, that I became excited. Now we’ve got this poster, which is a take on the classic artwork for the musical. I can dig it.
Site Update: The Contenders
Since today is officially the first day if Autumn, I’ve updated the side column called “The Contenders” with various thoughts of who might get nominated come Oscar. This is just a preliminary list, mostly sight-unseen, based on the pedigrees of the projects. As we get further into “awards season,” I’ll continue to update. For now, I’ll post the list after the cut as well.
Q&As With The Cast and Director of “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
Since Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy has finally gone into wide(r) release, a lot more people have gotten a chance to see the film (and one of my favorites from 2011). I hope if it’s playing in a theater near yo,u, you give it a watch. And if for some reason you are a voting member of the Academy and you are reading this, put Gary Oldman on your ballot for Best Actor.
Anyways, here are some great Q&As with Gary Oldman, Mark Strong and director Tomas Alfredson that are well worth your watch.
Films About Film Lead The Critics’ Choice Awards Nominations
Both Hugo and The Artist lead the nominations with 11 each. Nice to see Drive pop up in a few categories. It’s also interesting to notice Andy Serkis’ motion capture performance in Rise of the Planet of the Apes is appearing in several critics’ nominations. I don’t think the Academy will jump on that bandwagon though.
BEST PICTURE
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
BEST ACTOR
George Clooney – “The Descendants”
Leonardo DiCaprio – “J. Edgar”
Jean Dujardin – “The Artist”
Michael Fassbender – “Shame”
Ryan Gosling – “Drive”
Brad Pitt – “Moneyball”
BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis – “The Help”
Elizabeth Olsen – “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
Meryl Streep – “The Iron Lady”
Tilda Swinton – “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Charlize Theron – “Young Adult”
Michelle Williams – “My Week With Marilyn”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh – “My Week With Marilyn”
Albert Brooks – “Drive”
Nick Nolte – “Warrior”
Patton Oswalt – “Young Adult”
Christopher Plummer – “Beginners”
Andrew Serkis – “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo – “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain – “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy – “Bridesmaids”
Carey Mulligan – “Shame”
Octavia Spencer – “The Help”
Shailene Woodley – “The Descendants”
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Asa Butterfield – “Hugo”
Elle Fanning – “Super 8”
Thomas Horn – “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Ezra Miller – “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Saoirse Ronan – “Hanna”
Shailene Woodley – “The Descendants”
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Help
The Ides of March
BEST DIRECTOR
Stephen Daldry – “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist”
Alexander Payne – “The Descendants”
Nicolas Winding Refn – “Drive”
Martin Scorsese – “Hugo”
Steven Spielberg – “War Horse”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“The Artist” – Michel Hazanavicius
“50/50” – Will Reiser
“Midnight in Paris” – Woody Allen
“Win Win” – Screenplay by Tom McCarthy, Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
“Young Adult” – Diablo Cody
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“The Descendants” – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” – Eric Roth
“The Help” – Tate Taylor
“Hugo” – John Logan
“Moneyball” – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Story by Stan Chervin
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“The Artist” – Guillaume Schiffman
“Drive” – Newton Thomas Sigel
“Hugo” – Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” – Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” – Janusz Kaminski
BEST ART DIRECTION
“The Artist” – Production Designer: Laurence Bennett, Art Director: Gregory S. Hooper
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” – Production Designer: Stuart Craig, Set Decorator: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo” – Production Designer: Dante Ferretti, Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“The Tree of Life” – Production Designer: Jack Fisk, Art Director: David Crank
“War Horse” – Production Designer: Rick Carter, Set Decorator: Lee Sandales
BEST EDITING
“The Artist” – Michel Hazanavicius and Anne-Sophie Bion
“Drive” – Matthew Newman
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” – Thelma Schoonmaker
“War Horse” – Michael Kahn
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“The Artist” – Mark Bridges
“The Help” – Sharen Davis
“Hugo” – Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” – Michael O’Connor
“My Week With Marilyn” – Jill Taylor
BEST MAKEUP
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady
J. Edgar
My Week With Marilyn
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
The Tree of Life
BEST SOUND
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Super 8
The Tree of Life
War Horse
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
BEST ACTION MOVIE
Drive
Fast Five
Hanna
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
BEST COMEDY
Bridesmaids
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Horrible Bosses
Midnight in Paris
The Muppets
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
In Darkness
Le Havre
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
Where Do We Go Now
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Buck
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Page One: Inside the New York Times
Project Nim
Undefeated
BEST SONG
“Hello Hello” – performed by Elton John and Lady Gaga/written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin – Gnomeo & Juliet
“Life’s a Happy Song” – performed by Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – The Muppets
“The Living Proof” – performed by Mary J. Blige/written by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman and Harvey Mason, Jr. – The Help
“Man or Muppet” – performed by Jason Segel and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – The Muppets
“Pictures in My Head” – performed by Kermit and the Muppets/written by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis and Chen Neeman – The Muppets
BEST SCORE
“The Artist” – Ludovic Bource
“Drive” – Cliff Martinez
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
“Hugo” – Howard Shore
“War Horse” – John Williams
New Poster for My Week With Marilyn
I’m bummed to see that My Week With Marilyn isn’t opening until November 23rd now (that is gonna be one booked weekend for me), but I do love this new poster.
“Shame,” “Tyrannosaur” and “Tinker Tailor” Lead British Independent Film Award Nominations
So many films on this list that I’ve yet to see, but definitely want to. Hopefully we’ll see a little bit of an overlap between these nominations and the Oscars. Mostly I’m thinking for Steve McQueen, Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, though Shame‘s NC-17 rating may still be a hurdle the film’ll need to overcome stateside. I’d also like to see a Best Actor nomination for Gary Oldman. I still haven’t seen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but boy is he overdue. He’s never even been nominated! That’s a travesty that must be remedied soon.
The winners are decided by an independent jury comprised of people from within the British film industry. This year’s jury includes: Josh Appignanesi (Director / Writer), Lucy Bevan (Casting Director), Edith Bowman (Broadcaster), Mike Goodridge (Editor), Ed Hogg (Actor), Neil Lamont (Art Director), Mary McCartney (Photographer), Molly Nyman (Composer), Debs Paterson (Director / Writer), Tracey Seaward (Producer), Charles Steel (Producer), David Thewlis (Actor), Ruth Wilson (Actress) and Justine Wright (Editor). The winners be announced on December 4th. Full list of nominees after the cut.
New Trailer For Steve McQueen’s “Shame”
This looks fantastic. I’m already really digging the mood and Fassbender and Mulligan seem to be firing on all cylinders.
You can watch the trailer here. Shame is set to open in the US on December 2nd.
New Poster For Eastwood’s “J. Edgar”
Somehow I missed this poster over the weekend, but boy do I love it. I saw this trailer in theaters a few times over the last week and I just cannot wait to see the film for myself.
The film is due out in theaters on November 9th (limited) and November 11th (worldwide).
New Trailer for “My Week With Marilyn”
This is one of my most anticipated films of the year. The cast looks divine, anchored by what looks to be another fabulous turn by Michelle Williams as the world’s most famous blonde. I have been a huge Marilyn Monroe fan for about ten years now. I think she is one of the most under-appreciated actresses and misunderstood people of the twentieth century. I hope this film does her justice.
You can watch the trailer here at Yahoo! movies. The film is set to have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on October 9th and will open in theaters on November 4th in the United States and November 18th in the UK.
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