Big 6: OH BROTHER soundtrack at 10, more
‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ soundtrack grows with age A decade later, the “O Brother” soundtrack ranks as one of the 200 bestselling albums of all time, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America. It’s been certified platinum eight times over for sales of more than 8 million copies. Read the full LA Times article Streaming Video’s Emerging Bounty The shelves of the two leading services, Netflix Instant and Hulu Plus, seem to be full of films you’ve never heard of, arranged in no particular order. The latest hits haven’t arrived yet, and there’s no one around to help you out except for the digital equivalent of the surly, underpaid clerk: those “recommended for you” algorithms that pretend to know your taste but come up with the oddest suggestions imaginable. Read the full NY Times article Pop-up cinemas: top...
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Jennifer Lawrence is Katniss in THE HUNGER GAMES
After weeks of rumors, Jennifer Lawrence landed Hollywood’s most coveted role for a young actress, that of Katniss Everdeen in Gary Ross’s adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games. Lawrence was duking it out with 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld for the part, but watching a 14-year-old play a 17-year-old who kills other teenagers is a lot to take in for your average audience. Both actresses have true grit, but Lawrence’s darker, grittier turn Winter’s Bone (and her age) made her the obvious choice for the part. More details from MTV: According to Lionsgate, the 20-year-old actress is a fitting choice due to her “meteoric ascent” to Hollywood stardom with her Oscar-nominated role in Winter’s Bone, to be followed by roles in Matthew Vaughn’s X Men: First Class and The Beaver, directed by Jodie Foster. Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins has...
Read MoreTHE KING’S SPEECH, THE SOCIAL NETWORK, THE FIGHTER… and the Oscar delusion
I haven’t written much about the Oscar race this year. That’s in no small part due to The Social Network’s critics award sweep early on in the race. Yes, I’ve had a chip on my should since David Fincher’s Facebook thriller, dark comedy, social satire, Shakespearean morality tale… whatever it is… won the National Board of Review’s Best Picture award in December and flattened the competition in every major critics poll after that. The Social Network reigned until Oscar nomination day, when The King’s Speech scored 12 nominations, more than any other picture. The King’s Speech has since won the PGA prize. And the SAG ensemble acting award. And the DGA prize for Tom Hooper’s direction, which is the most consistent Best Picture bellwether. Hooper’s victory and the sudden surge in popularity for The King’s Speech isn’t really surprising. Sony/Columbia can’t campaign for...
Read MoreYear in Review – Best Films of 2010
I was fully prepared to start out this post calling 2010 the worst year for film in my moviegoing lifetime. Part of that stems from the fact that many Hollywood movies were really bad in 2010. Terrible even. But there’s also this: I’ve had to sit through an Oscar season where good but not great films like The Social Network, True Grit, and The Fighter are being heralded as masterpieces, along with high art torture porn like Black Swan. By time I got around to even thinking about this post, I was exhausted and frustrated. Then I looked at my running list of 2010 movies screened. Going through all the great films I’ve seen this year, I realized that it wasn’t a bad year for everyone… just American narrative film (docs excluded). That sounds really pretentious, I know, but my...
Read MoreCritics’ Choice Award nominees 2010-2011
Black Swan leads with 12 nominations. From the BCFA: BEST PICTURE 127 Hours Black Swan The Fighter Inception The King’s Speech The Social Network The Town Toy Story 3 True Grit Winter’s Bone BEST ACTOR Jeff Bridges – “True Grit” Robert Duvall – “Get Low” Jesse Eisenberg – “The Social Network” Colin Firth – “The King’s Speech” James Franco – “127 Hours” Ryan Gosling – “Blue Valentine” BEST ACTRESS Annette Bening – “The Kids Are All Right” Nicole Kidman – “Rabbit Hole” Jennifer Lawrence – “Winter’s Bone” Natalie Portman – “Black Swan” Noomi Rapace – “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” Michelle Williams – “Blue Valentine” BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Christian Bale – “The Fighter” Andrew Garfield – “The Social Network” Jeremy Renner – “The Town” Sam Rockwell – “Conviction” Mark Ruffalo – “The Kids Are All Right” Geoffrey Rush...
Read More2011 Film Independent Spirit Award nominations
Winter’s Bone leads the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Award nominations with 7 nods, followed by The Kids are Alright with 5. Rabbit Hole, Black Swan and Greenberg came in with 4 each. Take a look at the Best Actress category, too. Four or five of those six Spirit Award award nominees will likely go on to Oscar nominations. Can you guess which ones? (Here’s a clue: Sorry, Greta.) From Film Independent: BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer, Executive Producers are not listed) 127 Hours Black Swan Greenberg The Kids Are All Right Winter’s Bone BEST DIRECTOR Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan Danny Boyle – 127 Hours Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right Debra Granik – Winter’s Bone John Cameron Mitchell – Rabbit Hole BEST SCREENPLAY Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right Debra...
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