Barack Obama On THE BUTLER, Oprah, Forest Whitaker And Cuba Gooding, Jr.
He’s no A.O. Scott, but the coolest president ever has seen Lee Daniels’ The Butler (read my four star review here) and he’s giving the film high praise. Barack Obama, in an interview on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, said the movie, which is out now and scoring big Oscar buzz, even made him tear up a bit: You know, I did see The Butler, and I did tear up. I teared up just thinking about not just the butlers who have worked here in the White House, but an entire generation of people who were talented and skilled, but because of Jim Crow, because of discrimination, there was only so far they could go. And yet, with dignity and tenacity, they got up and worked every single day, and put up with a whole lot of mess because they hoped for something...
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The Contenders: Matthew McConaughey Starrer DALLAS BUYERS CLUB Moves To November
If Matthew McConaughey doesn’t win an Oscar this year, it will be a travesty of epic proportions. Between his spectacular performance in Mud, his role in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street and what looks to be the role of his career in Dallas Buyers Club, the often underappreciated actor has more routes to an Academy Award this year than even a Weinstein movie. Well, Focus Features much see Oscar gold in McConaughey’s future, too. The distributor is moving up the release date of the AIDS drama Dallas Buyers Club from Dec. 6 to Nov. 1, putting it in prime Academy Awards territory. Dallas Buyers Club, directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, tells the real-life story of Texas electrician Ron Woodroof who took on the US medical establishment by smuggling antiviral meds in to the US at the height of the AIDS crisis. The new release...
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The Contenders: Jennifer Lawrence Goes For Supporting In AMERICAN HUSTLE
Oprah Winfrey, your competition for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar just got a little steeper. On the heels of the announcement that Meryl Streep will be campaigned for Supporting Actress in August: Osage County, now we officially know that last year’s Best Actress winner is going supporting as well. In American Hustle, Jennifer Lawrence plays the wife of Christian Bale’s character, one of two con men who work with the Feds to bring down mobsters and criminal politicians. Instead of competing with co-star Amy Adams in the Best Actress category, a representative from the film told Gold Derby that Lawrence would be placed in the supporting actress category alongside frontrunner Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels’ The Butler) and perennial contender Streep. This could work out for Lawrence in the end because both Oprah and Streep in the mix for The Weinstein Company...
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Bennett’s Miller FOXCATCHER Moves to Sony Picture Classics, Stakes Out Awards Season Release Date
Director Bennett Miller’s latest film Foxcatcher starring Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo and Steve Carell will hit theaters on Dec. 20, just in time for awards season, with Oscar player Sony Picture Classics releasing the film. Originally Miller’s film about Olympic wrestlers Mark Schultz (Tatum) and Dave Schultz (Ruffalo) and their relationship with Dave’s friend and murderer John duPont (Carell) was scheduled to be released by Sony’s Columbia Pictures. However, someone decided that Columbia wasn’t the place for a movie that is “unique and complex.” That’s what SPC does. SPC, of course, released similarly-themed Miller’s Capote and got Philip Seymour Hoffman the Oscar for Best Actor, while the movie was also nominated for Picture, Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actress. It doesn’t really matter who distributes Foxcatcher, in the end. I was planning to be there either way. Miller’s films aren’t movie that ever...
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Ellen To Host The Oscars – Big 6 Morning Report
Ellen Degeneres took to Twitter this morning to announce that she’ll be returning for her second Oscar gig, saying “It’s official: I’m hosting the #Oscars! I’d like to thank @TheAcademy, my wife Portia and, oh dear, there goes the orchestra.” Ellen last hosted the Oscars in 2007. (Twitter) Is Arika coming back to life at WB? Seems so, with Variety reporting that Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax, The Unknown) has been tapped to direct the picture, which is being produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. (Variety) Billy Bob Thorton is going to Fargo. The actor will re-team with the Coen brothers for the TV adaptation of the Coens’ masterpiece. (The Playlist) Chris Evans is set to make his directorial debut with the film 1:30 Train. The film is a Before Sunrise-style story about a man and woman who meet in Manhattan and spend an evening together before...
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14 Movies From 2013 That Could Strike Oscar Gold
Sure the Oscars may be seven months away, but once the Telluride Film Festival opens a month from now, Oscar season will officially begin. With both Venice and Toronto announcing their line-ups this week, as well, the contenders are starting to take form. So here’s a very early look at some of the movies that could be up for Oscar on March 2, 2014, at the 86th Academy Awards. 1.) The Butler If I had to pick one movie most likely to win Best Picture today, Lee Daniels’ The Butler would be it. It just looks like an Oscar movie. The Weinsteins are 100 percent behind it, they stirred up a controversy to make it look like a movie worth rooting for, and it has the Precious team behind it. With Oprah poised to lock in Best Supporting Actress...
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