Awards.Hell.ca

The Crowded Animated Feature Problem

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:14:13 -0500

Kris Tapley over at In Contention has alerted me to an interesting problem: there's too many good animated films out there this year. With so many -- sixteen eligible altogether -- the field will probably be expanded to five nominees...

'An Education' Heats Up

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:38:05 -0500

An Education has played in at least ten film festivals over the past year and has gotten rave reviews out of each one. A coming-of-age drama about a sixteen-year-old British girl (Carey Mulligan) who falls for a charming but less-than-morally-sound...

Roman Polanski's Arrest Makes Everyone Go Insane

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:58:27 -0500

Funny how controversies that are thirty years old can come back with such a vengeance. As you probably know, over the weekend Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland in a sting set up by L.A. prosecutors. He'll very possibly be...

First Best Picture Predictions

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:01:31 -0500

Awards Daily's currently running a poll on what folks think will be nominated for Best Picture. So far, the top ten results are: -The Hurt Locker (8%) -Nine (8%) -Up in the Air (8%) -An Education (7%) -The Lovely Bones...

David Fincher. Aaron Sorkin. Justin Timberlake?

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:45:45 -0500

It's official: Justin Timberlake has been cast in "The Facebook Movie." Actually, the tentative title is The Social Network, but it will always, always be known as "The Facebook Movie." Timberlake will play Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster, who was...

Roger Ebert Weighs in at Toronto

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:31:31 -0500

Roger Ebert, writing more than ever, has been posting a ton of articles on his blog about his experiences at the currently-in-progress Toronto Film Festival. So what's he had to say? On Creation, the Charles Darwin movie starring real-life couple...

'Up in the Air' Teaser Trailer: Poetic?

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:58:22 -0500

Slashfilm landed a web-exclusive teaser trailer for the Jason Reitman/George Clooney movie Up in the Air, and it looks surprisingly...poetic: Combining Clooney's soothing voice with the terrific cinematography just plain works. I think Reitman knows what he's doing. The movie...

All About the Movies

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:59:44 -0500

AwardsDaily has posted a great rundown article describing the upcoming Oscar fever and listing the major contenders coming up at September's Toronto Film Festival. When you’re an awards watcher it all becomes about whether the film lives up to its...

New Best Picture Vote-Tallying Rules

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:33:22 -0500

In the past, when there were five nominees for Best Picture, a winner was figured out pretty easily: everybody in the Academy picked the one they liked, and the movie with the most votes won. That meant one movie could...

The 'Men Who Stare at Goats' Trailer

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:20:28 -0500

The Green Zone abandoned the Oscar season last month, but we still have another military-themed movie coming out this fall: Men Who Stare at Goats, an adaptation of Jon Ronson's supposedly nonfiction book. I thought I was going to hate...

Shutter Island Says Goodbye to the Oscar Season!

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:38:38 -0500

In the biggest shock to the Oscar season since the Best Picture field was expanded to accommodate ten nominees, Paramount Pictures has pushed Shutter Island out of the fall and into a February release date. Usually, a shove to...

'Inglourious Basterds' Does $38 Million

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:07:04 -0500

It got a lot of bad reviews at Cannes. The New York Times ran a story about how if it failed, it would basically bankrupt The Weinstein Company. But when the time came, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds scored a...

'The Lovely Bones' Full Trailer: Great, but Still a Question Mark

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:33:36 -0500

I really don't know how this one will pan out at all. Peter Jackson has a way of coming in with lowered expectations and then blasting you out of the water -- even on King Kong, he managed a Best...

Say Goodbye to 'The Wolfman' and 'Green Zone'

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:58:13 -0500

Exhibit A: a remake of a horror classic starring Benicio Del Toro that's had a troubled production (director Mark Romanek left right before filming and was replaced by Joe Johnston) but seems like a lock for makeup awards. Exhibit B:...

'A Serious Man' Is a Seriously Trippy Trailer

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:54:29 -0500

If you took all the Coen Brothers references out of this trailer, you'd still be able to peg it as a Coen Brothers movie right away -- simply because it's unlike any trailer you've ever seen. Watch it, don't try...