The American Film Institute has named its top 10 American films of 2008, and there are some pretty big surprises. “The Dark Knight” and “Wall-E” are the two awards-bound mainsteam hits of this year, so its no surprise to see them, but the inclusion of “Iron Man” is a bit of a shocker. Then again, […]
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Huh? OK, I know Jon Stewart’s two years as host didn’t exactly bring in the ratings and the Chris Rock year made everybody uncomfortable when he started poking at fun at Jude Law, but Hugh Jackman? ABC announced today that Jackman will host the Oscars on Feb. 22, 2009. Earlier in the year, I was […]
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The 66th Annual Golden Globes Awards nominees were just announced this morning. Thanks to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, it looks like Sam Mendes’ “Revolutionary Road” is back in business, as is “Benjamin Button.” As much love as they gave to “Button,” though, they left out perennial Golden Globe favorite Cate Blanchett. “Milk,” which swept […]
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Update: Looks like Chris Weitz will be directing “New Moon.” OK, I’m the first to admit that the box office juggernaut “Twilight” was not a groundbreaking movie or anything. But what surprised me about it was how convincing the love story was. Yes, it was shot on a woefully low budget and it was missing […]
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The National Board of Review today named “Slumdog Millionaire” the 2008 Best Film of the Year, which is pretty crazy because they are usually pretty mainstream. Notice that while “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” didn’t win the big prize, it did win director. Clint Eastwood for Best Actor is a huge upset over Sean […]
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Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, in his increasingly angry and fun-to-read Roger Ebert’s Journal has once again hit the nail on the head. His subject? The fact that movie critics everywhere are getting fired and thoughtful reviews are being replaced by celebrity news briefs about Britney’s clubgoing or cute bits about how Suri “won’t wear pants.” I quote: “The celebrity […]
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Thanks to Scene-Stealers contributor Tony Sams for these links. Interview magazine has a history of really cool interviews, and new to their website are three artist-interviewing-artist interviews that are pretty great. You get to hear Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese talk about the differences in growing up Italian-American and African-American in New York City, and […]
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The Satellite Awards predict the Golden Globes, which predict the Oscars. In between, there are the Critic’s Choice Awards, AFI’s Top 10, and just about every film critic society from Los Angeles to New York. (I myself am a member of the KC Film Critic’s Society, and we’ll be voting on Jan. 6.) Between now […]
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Michael Mann’s (“Heat,” “Ali”) new picture is an adaptation of Brian Burrough’s book “Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43.” It stars Johnny Depp as legendary criminal John Dillinger and Christian Bale as famed FBI agent Melvin Purvis. Billy Crudup is FBI head Herbert Hoover and the movie is […]
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Well, the short list for Oscar Documentary nominations has been released. Last year, the committee snubbed the best doc of the 2007, “The King of Kong.” This year, one of the biggest non-fiction films of the year, “Young@Heart,” was declared ineligible for a nomination because it was shown on TV first. Also, Alex Gibney’s “Gonzo: […]
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I’m on my lunchbreak now, and this is what I found out today… First Showing says that the newest Nick Frost/Simon Pegg movie will NOT be directed by Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz”), but Greg Mottola (“Superbad”). Ridley Scott (“Blade Runner,” “Gladiator”) is directing a movie based on … wait for it […]
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Variety is reporting that Antonio Banderas is in final negotiations to play surrealist Salvador Dali in the Simon West-helmed indie biopic “Dalí .” I would absolutely love to see a movie that portrays one of the 20th Century’s most interesting media manipulators and artists, but is Simon West really the director to do this? The […]
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“The Incredible Hulk” director Louis Leterrier’s remake of “Clash of the Titans” will be filmed on backlots with lots of greenscreen digital backgrounds like Zack Snyder’s “300,” and will star Sam Worthington in the Harry Hamlin-originated role of Perseus. The only cause I see for celebration is that the movie is written by Lawrence Kasdan […]
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It is way to early to think about this (or maybe not, since Oliver Stone’s “W” dramatized the life of a sitting president), but I keep hearing the word “history” used over and over again today in the media. Barack Obama getting elected the 44th President of the United States is certainly historic. I even […]
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Have you seen the stickers and yard signs that read: “Colbert ’08 (and so can you)”? Heard enough of Obama/McCain? A fictional presidential campaign for Stephen Colbert has been brewing in the backdrop of many prominent Marvel comic books for the last 10 months. Over a dozen of the comic industry giant’s titles have featured […]
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