15 articles
Oscar documentary scandal: The real reason too many good movies got left out
2 hours ago | EW.com - The Movie Critics | See recent EW.com - The Movie Critics news »
The 15-film "short list" for this year's Best Documentary competition in the Academy Awards has provoked more than the usual shock and outrage, and for good reason. Every year, there's a certain level of white-noise griping about Oscar "snubs." This year's list, though, isn't just lackluster -- there's something fundamentally off about it. It's almost perverse. Compiled by a star chamber of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters (it's not specified how many of the 151 documentary branch members actually watch the films and produce the final roster), the list omits far too many of the documentaries -- like, »
- Owen Gleiberman
Kick-Ass Gets A UK Distributor
8 hours ago | | See recent news »
Good news, British readers: Kick-Ass, the really exciting, very funny and slightly twisted new film from Matthew Vaughn, has found a UK distributor. Yes, Universal will be bringing us the tale of superheroes minus superpowers, which is good news for audiences still waiting more than a month after it found a Us distributor.The film is based, of course, on the Mark Millar comics about a boy who decides to become a superhero without the benefit of superpowers, super-suits or super-anything else. Except for maybe super-ability-to-get-his-ass-kicked.It stars Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz, Nicolas Cage and Mark Strong. We suspect that the UK release date will closely mirror the planned Us release on April 16, but we'll bring you confirmation of that as soon as we have it. »
IFC & Netflix Team To Stream 53 Indies
8 hours ago | IndieWIRE | See recent indieWIRE news »
IFC Entertainment and Netflix have announced a partnership that gives Netflix the U.S. rights to 53 unique titles from IFC Entertainment. Through this agreement select titles from IFC Entertainment’s library of independent films will become available to be streamed instantly to televisions and computers via the Netflix service. The deal was announced jointly by Lisa Schwartz, executive vice president for IFC Entertainment, and Robert Kyncl, vice president of content acquisition for … »
'Young and the Restless' star Peter Bergman on Eric Braeden: 'We all thought he was going to be gone'
16 minutes ago | EW - Hollywood Insider.com | See recent EW.com - Hollywood Insider news »
On Nov. 27, Peter Bergman will celebrate his 20th year playing Jack Abbott on CBS's top-rated The Young and The Restless. The veteran soap star (he previously played Dr. Cliff Warner on ABC's All My Children) talked exclusively to EW.com about what it was like to originally assume the role, how he felt about his character talking to a ghost, and whether he and the cast believed that Eric Braeden would ever really quit the show. EW: What was it replacing Terry Lester, who had previously played Jack Abbott, 20 years ago? Peter Bergman: He had burned every bridge he could burn before he left. »
- Lynette Rice
Review: Planet 51
24 minutes ago | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »
As voiced by Dwayne "the artist formerly known as The Rock" Johnson, astronaut Chuck Baker is the paragon of all-American achievement -- that is, until he conquers a far off world with an unexpected population, one inexplicably steeped in our '50s-era culture and terrified by the prospect of an alien invader in human form. More unfortunately for us, Chuck has landed smack-dab in the middle of Planet 51, a short-sighted assembly of sci-fi references and scatalogical humor that should nonetheless placate undemanding tots and, by extension, their undiscerning parents for ninety minutes or so.
Filed under: Action, Animation, Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sony, Theatrical Reviews
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- William Goss
Our Commenters of the Week Win A T-Shirt Emblazoned with TV's Hottest New Catchphrase!
25 minutes ago | Movieline | See recent Movieline news »
The CW is desperately trying to make Heather Locklear and Melrose Place happen, and who are we to stand in the way? And so it is that the writers of our five best comments this week will receive a t-shirt featuring Locklear's instant-classic, not-overwritten-at-all-why-would-you-say-that rejoinder, "I'm not so sure it dissipated." Someday, when we are all 55-year-old gay men (this happens to everyone), we will pass this line down to the twinks of the future and remember a time when TV bitchery was at its most torturously composed peak. So who are our winners? »
With Law Abiding Citizen, payback is making a comeback
41 minutes ago | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
Why does recession bring with it a thirst for dumb revenge dramas?
Law Abiding Citizen, which I should say at the outset is a terrible, terrible movie – either the stupidest of the year so far or the most unintentionally funny – takes the urban revenge movie and grafts on to it certain depressing innovations from other genres, including the serial killer-as-genius trope from The Silence Of The Lambs, and the post-Saw/Hostel enthusiasm for torture-porn and mega bloodshed. Let's just say it doesn't tell us much except that the revenge movie is back with, um, a vengeance.
Gerard Butler plays a man who takes complicated, detailed and violent revenge against the killers who raped and murdered his wife and daughter. Thing is, he's already in jail when most of the killings occur (cue evil genius!), which doesn't stop one victim from being surgically deprived of various extremities, up to and including his Johnson (hello, »
- John Patterson
This week's new cinema previews
41 minutes ago | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
A Serious Man (15)
(Ethan & Joel Coen, 2009, Us) Michael Stuhlbarg, Sari Lennick, Richard Kind. 105 mins.
A "proper" Coens movie after the brothers' recent, atypical efforts, and it's one of their, and the year's, best, striking that contradictory, tragicomic, mundane-surreal tone only they can achieve. Harking back to their own late-1960s youth, it's a portrait of one man's suburban hell, with Stuhlbarg's Jewish physics professor plagued by all manner of uncertainty: domestic, religious, scientific. He doesn't even know whether to laugh or cry. The result is a procession of unforgettable scenes and characters, with a mighty metaphysical wallop.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (12A)
(Chris Weitz, 2009, Us) Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart. 131 mins.
Legions of fanatics have had this film's release date tattooed on their brains for a year already. For non-Twi-hards, it's more of the same swoony, hormonal teen angst with a supernatural edge and hot young stars to die for – literally. »
- Steve Rose
Exclusive: Producer Joel Silver on Ninja Assassin, Lobo, Sgt. Rock, The Losers, Unknown White Male, More
41 minutes ago | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »
With Warner Bros. Ninja Assassin set for release next week, the studio held a press day this afternoon here in Los Angeles. While I’ll have plenty of video interviews for you to watch over the next few days, the first one I’d like to share is with producer Joel Silver. Also, since Silver is producing tons of other projects like Sherlock Holmes, The Losers, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, Unknown White Male, and The Book of Eli, I figure his interview is the first one I should post.
While I didn’t get any major scoops, I did find out what’s up with Lobo and what does he think of Jeffrey Dean Morgan for the role. Also, we talked about how Francis Lawrence landed the directing job on Sgt. Rock and does he think it might get made next year. Of course many other subjects were talked about so »
- Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub
The second outing of John Hurt
44 minutes ago | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
He got his big break playing Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and now, 34 years later, John Hurt is at it again
There's something disturbing about John Hurt. That familiar Mount Rushmore face seems to have ironed itself out. It was once compared to a komodo dragon – even his lines seemed to have lines – but today he looks peachy as a schoolboy. You've been on the Botox, haven't you? He roars with how-dare-you laughter. "Nah! Hahahaha! No. Don't say that. That would be awful. Not in a million years would I do that." He's got a point: take away the cracks and creases, and his job prospects would diminish no end. His face is one of the most distinctive in the movies. Almost as distinctive as his voice, dripping with honey and acid, often at the same time. Look, he admits, there might well be a reason for his »
How Paranormal Activity became a frightening success
46 minutes ago | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
Social networking sends $15,000 shocker inspired by Fawlty Towers into box-office hall of fame
There is nothing remotely scary about the beige library in the Soho Hotel. It's calm, quiet, bland. Yet towards the end of a low-key interview with Oren Peli, who's in London for less than 24 hours to promote his smash-hit low-budget horror flick Paranormal Activity, there's a loud creak in the corner of the room and I find myself leaping out of the armchair. Peli sits deep in the sofa. He doesn't move. I think I've been hearing things. Peli simply smiles. He nods; he heard it too.
Weeks after watching Paranormal Activity it's easy to be spooked by every creak, even in the middle of the day. Filmed over seven days and nights in Peli's suburban San Diego house in 2006, Paranormal Activity is a mock documentary in the style of The Blair Witch Project; we watch a »
- Amy Raphael
This week's DVD and Blu-ray releases
49 minutes ago | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
Terminator – The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Terminator Salvation
DVD & Blu-ray, Warner, Sony
If nothing else, watching McG's Terminator Salvation at least puts Christian Bale's infamous on-set meltdown into perspective; if you had to pretend to be angry for so long in front of the camera then you'd probably end up angry in real life. Bale's angry John Connor is a one-note performance, the problem being it's the wrong note. That's not the only drawback: McG has a similar one-dimensional take on the material. He seems to think the Terminator films are about robots and explosions and nothing else. And Bale has to share the narrative with Sam Worthington's turn as an unwilling cyborg, the result being the film plays as if it has two competing co-stars and no real direction. Far more Terminator-ish is the now-cancelled TV series The Sarah Connor Chronicles, led by Lena Headey. Science-fiction television shows, »
- Phelim O'Neill
This week's film event previews
49 minutes ago | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
London Children's Film Festival, London
Is it wrong that the prospect of a Tim Burton Bedtime Stories Pyjama Party is as appealing to adults as it will be to movie-loving kids? With a sweet-making workshop and screenings of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Corpse Bride, it's just one of loads of great activities over the festival's two weekends, which also include a play-along musical session to two Buster Keaton classics. Adult fans will be dribbling with excitement at the UK premiere of Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo, and there are scores of international features and retro TV treats.
Barbican, Sat to 29 Nov, visit lcff.org.uk
Andrea Hubert
German Film Festival, London
Modern German cinema continues to capture the same spirit of innovation pioneered by 1970s trailblazers Fassbinder and Herzog, with films such as The Lives Of Others gaining a swathe of international awards. And the subject matters at hand »
- Andrea Hubert, Phelim O'Neill
This week's internet reviews
49 minutes ago | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
This month Jim Carrey has been spending his billions on his website, which is just about the daftest and most brilliant official actor's site imaginable. Indeed, it is the website for which the word "awesome" was invented. Godlike magnificence awaits you as a tableau of giant sea monsters, skyscrapers and cut-out Jims (the one with his head stuck on top of a bird's body takes you to his Twitter page) unfolds to yet more Terry Gilliam-esque collages of Carrey in various heroic poses. Click around and you'll discover trailers, family pictures, TV clips and music by his 21-year-old daughter.
Information Is Beautiful
David McCandless believes that an "amazing all-graphic future of civilisation" awaits us. Not really, but he is very keen on charts, venn diagrams, mind mapping and information art which he puts to regular use at the Guardian's magnificent Datablog and here, where he collates the »
- Johnny Dee, David McCandless
Our guide to the 'straight to CD' genre
50 minutes ago | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »
The Guidelines: random notes from pop culture
There are copious strings to 50 Cent's platinum bow. As well as being a rapper, self-help guru and inspiration to many, he's an actor and videogame voiceover artiste. Recently added to that list is "short film auteur". Before I Self Destruct is a semi-autobiographical tale of murder and revenge – with added lesbian sex scenes – which will be included with Fiddy's forthcoming album of the same name, creating a whole new genre: straight to CD. Here's how to make your own ...
When To Do It
There comes a point in the career trajectory of major pop stars when the people employed to say "no" to things become surplus to requirements. Without them, ill-advised concept albums are recorded, strange product endorsements are accepted, or, in extreme cases, diamond-encrusted necklaces shaped like a weeping Virgin Mary are worn to display your love of religion. It's at this »
- Michael Cragg
Academy Sets Animated Short Shortlist
53 minutes ago | IndieWIRE | See recent indieWIRE news »
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 animated short films will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards. Thirty-seven pictures had originally qualified in the category. The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting in screenings held in New York and Los Angeles. Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will … »
Entourage Creator Doug Ellin: 'Homophobic and Racist Jokes Completely Unacceptable Unless We Write Them Into Script'
55 minutes ago | Movieline | See recent Movieline news »
Well, this is upsetting. Actor Rex Lee -- who plays Lloyd, Ari Gold's long-suffering assistant on the sufferingly long-running HBO series Entourage -- has revealed to TMZ that he has been the target of workplace harassment from certain members of the crew, who regularly crack jokes about his race and sexual orientation. To the rescue, then, comes series creator and showrunner Doug Ellin, who enforces a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to jokes about gays and minorities on his set. Told of the cracks, Ellin said he was "shocked and horrified," and "will be speaking to everybody before we start filming again in March. It's not something condoned or acceptable."
So to be clear, if any crew member should say anything along these lines on the set on Entourage, they will be immediately fired: »
'New Moon' Reactions, Oprah And Birthdays For Larry King And P. Diddy In Today's Twitter-Wood
55 minutes ago | MTV Movies Blog | See recent MTV Movies Blog news »
Oprah's announcement that her show may end its 25-season run in 2011 was almost enough to unseat "New Moon" as the top trending topic of the Twitter-Wood feed today. Kevin Nealon and Wil Wheaton both had a opinions on her possible bow out of syndication, while Eli Roth and Kevin Smith helped keep "Twilight" alive in Twitter conversation.
Two big names celebrated birthdays last night in very public fashion, as P. Diddy entertained a few folks on my follow list and Larry King got a little rowdy in my pick for Twitter Pic of the Day. Check that out after the jump along with Jeremy Piven's Calgary Flames trip and Danny DeVito's wholesome moment with Carrie Fisher. I'm @brianwarmoth, and this is the Twitter-Wood report for November 20, 2009.
Twitter Pic of the Day:
@kingsthings http://twitpic.com/q94op - Who is that masked man? @RyanSeacrest with Don Johnson at my b-day party. »
- Brian Warmoth
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