TEASER: "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes"

It's here! The first teaser for the Planet of the Apes sequel, coming out next summer.

Movie of the Day: "Bad Santa" (2003)

Our Movie of the Day series returns this week with what I like to think of as some "alternative" Christmas movie titles. I've already posted my traditional ten favorite Christmas movies on the December movie page, so this week here are some darker, weirder, but nonetheless Christmas-themed films to watch at the holidays. Bad Santa is one of the best, a hilarious and hilariously dark comedy starring Billy Bob Thornton in what's probably my favorite performance of his ever. He's fall down drunk and small time crook Willie T. Stokes, partnered with Tony Cox to rob department stores during the holidays by posing as Santa and his elf. He puts not even the minimum effort into it of course and insults and depresses everyone he meets, even a mentally handicapped kid. There are no holds barred with the crudeness of it all, and without compromising a single ounce of the black comedy hilarity (he even beats up some junior high bullies and is proud of himself for it), a sweet and heartwarming message is preserved in the end, if in a rather perverse way. I love this movie, even though it's not for everyone- it never fails to make me laugh. The great cast includes the late Bernie Mac and John Ritter.

Trailer:

Austin and Phoenix Critics: One for "Her," One for "12 Years"

The Austin critics go for Spike Jonze's Her, while Phoenix sticks with 12 Years a Slave, and both give Alfonso Cuaron directing honors, which seems to be the trend among all the critics, possibly indicating a potential split at the Oscars.

AUSTIN

• Film: Her
• Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Actress: Brie Larson, Short Term 12
• Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
• Original Screenplay: Her
• Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
• Cinematography: Gravity
• Score: Her
• Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
• Documentary: The Act of Killing
• Animated Film: Frozen
• First Film: Fruitvale Station
• Breakthrough Artist: Brie Larson, Short Term 12
• Austin Film: Before Midnight
• Special Honorary Award: Scarlett Johansson, Her

PHOENIX

• Picture: 12 Years a Slave
• Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
• Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
• Ensemble Acting: American Hustle
• Original Screenplay: Nebraska
• Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
• Live Action Family Film: Oz the Great and Powerful
• Overlooked Film of the Year: The Kings of Summer and The Spectacular Now (tie)
• Animated Film: Frozen
• Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
• Documentary: 20 Feet From Stardom
• Original Song: "Let it Go," Frozen
• Original Score: Frozen
• Cinematography: Gravity
• Editing: Gravity
• Production Design: Gravity
• Costume Design: The Great Gatsby
• Visual Effects: Gravity
• Stunts: Fast & Furious 6
• Breakthrough Performance on Camera: Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera: Lake Bell, In a World...
• Youth Performance- Male: Tye Sheridan, Mud
• Youth Performance- Female: Sophie Nelisse, The Book Thief

Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "The Blue Angel" (1930)

The movie that turned Marlene Dietrich into an icon in the early 1930's, and marked the beginning of her famous 7-film collaboration with Josef Von Sternberg. This is a very dark, almost disturbing story of a pathetic old man (Emil Jannings) who becomes the cuckold of the cool, calm, preternaturally collected Dietrich. The way director Sternberg shot and lit Marlene Dietrich became the stuff of Hollywood legend and it all starts here. It's a great movie, and if I were you I'd be sure to watch it in its original German (although they did shoot two versions, with one in English).

The only trailer for this movie is without subtitles, so instead here's the famous scene (in English) of Marlene waltzing into movie history by singing "Falling in Love Again."

Toronto Chooses "Inside Llewyn Davis"

Yes! Finally, someone dares to be different. Toronto critics go against the curve and pick the Coens' Inside Llewyn Davis for Best Picture.

• Picture: Inside Llewyn Davis
• Actor: Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
• Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Screenplay: Her
• First Feature: Neighboring Sounds
• Animated Feature: The Wind Rises
• Foreign Language Film: A Touch of Sin
• Documentary: The Act of Killing

"12 Years" Dominates Chicago Film Critics

Chicago weighs in and crowns 12 Years a Slave with just about everything:

• Film: 12 Years a Slave
• Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
• Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
• Documentary: The Act of Killing
• Breakthrough Performance: Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color
• Most Promising Filmmaker: Destin Daniel Cretton, Short Term 12
• Original Screenplay: Her
• Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
• Animated Film: The Wind Rises
• Foreign Language Film: The Act of Killing
• Original Score: Her
• Production Design: Gravity
• Cinematography: Gravity
• Editing: Gravity

REVIEW: "Blue is the Warmest Color" (2013) Adele Exarchopoulos, Lea Seydoux. Dir. Abdellatif Kechiche

A coming of age drama about a young girl discovering her sexuality and in the process, discovering who she is and what she wants in life. Sounds as if it's been done before, and the truth is it has, but these kinds of stories will always have a place in the movies as new generations come of age, and Blue is the Warmest Color (or in France, The Life of Adele, Parts 1 and 2) is just as much a story about modern French society today, and couldn't be more timely or contemporary in feeling.

Adele (played by newcomer Adele Exarchopoulos in a wonderfully natural performance) is a 16 year old girl in high school at the beginning of this movie, vaguely lost in her own thoughts and mixed up feelings about herself. We see her daily routine in intimate close-ups, as director Abdellatif Kechiche seems to have had quite a visual love affair of his own with his leading lady, as the camera fetishizes every part of her, from her mouth to her arms, her legs and everything in between. This extremely intimate and personal style of filmmaking recalls a kind of documentary approach (there is no musical score in this film) and takes us inside Adele's head and into the daily experience of her life as she goes to school, eats dinner with her parents, and has her first sexual experience with a boy who likes her. She thinks she likes him too, but then it turns out something's missing, and that spark of passion Adele is looking for is found in a love-at-first-sight glance with a blue-haired twentysomething woman on the street, played by Lea Seydoux, in the second commanding performance of the movie.

The young woman is Emma, a fine arts major in college, who zeroes in on Adele when she wanders into a gay bar one night looking for her. Their connection is immediate and vital, and elicits exactly the kind of passion Adele is looking to experience. The multi-year relationship she embarks on with Emma is essentially the story of first love and sexual awakening, that explores in intimate detail the world of these two characters and the different facets of life their relationship encounters. We see the inevitable clash between them as drawing partly from class differences (Emma is upper middle class with liberal parents who encourage artistic expression, while Adele is of a working class background with an old-fashioned father who values hard work and a "real" job above everything else), and partly due to Adele's still ambivalent sexuality, which is ultimately left open to interpretation. She finds the passion and awakening she seeks with Emma, and yet throughout the film she remains looking for ultimate fulfillment, never quite satisfied and still with a lot of her life yet to be lived.

The two performances are extraordinary in this film, and extraordinarily brave, as the actresses claimed to have been put through hell by their director, and it shows on screen. The notorious sex scenes, which caused a rowdy controversy at the Cannes Film Festival, are explicit in every sense and it's difficult to imagine how certain acts were faked- yet with much of the film's themes exploring how explosive physical passion can arise due to a particular connection with another person, the graphic nature does not seem entirely out of place, and the actresses make their characters feel real and developed, the sexual attachment between them genuine. It may or may not be true that Kechiche was leery in places (the length of the first sex scene in particular, at 7 minutes, could well be considered excessive), but there is a scene in the film where a character ponders aloud the mystery of female pleasure and bemoans the fact that men will never know the true nature of it, yet will always try to depict it- it's hard not to hear that as a verbal expression of Kechiche's intentions with this movie.

And the film turned out to be an incredibly moving and effective love story, with some of the best acting you'll see all year, for which half the credit must go to the director himself, who used an intense, painstaking approach to elicit emotions as raw and real as possible- and whatever the process, the end result was a powerful and wonderful movie, one of the best and most emotional of the year.

* * * *

TRAILER: "22 Jump Street"

The red-band trailer for the sequel to 2012's 21 Jump Street is here. I thought the first one was actually pretty funny, so maybe this will be good:

Indiana and Southeastern Critics Jump on the "12 Years" Bandwagon

Whew. Two more critics groups today confirm the 12 Years surge, but at least have some appreciation for the variation in Indiana's other winners. Southeastern, not so much.

INDIANA FILM JOURNALISTS

• Film: 12 Years a Slave
• Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
• Actress: Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color
• Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
• Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
• Original Screenplay: Her
• Adapted Screenplay: Before Midnight
• Score: 12 Years a Slave
• Animated Feature: Frozen
• Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
• Documentary: The Act of Killing
• Original Vision Award: Her

SOUTHEASTERN FILM CRITICS

• Film: 12 Years a Slave
• Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
• Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
• Ensemble: American Hustle
• Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
• Original Screenplay: American Hustle
• Documentary: The Act of Killing
• Foreign Language Film: The Hunt
• Animated Film: Frozen
• Cinematography: Gravity

2013 Critics Choice Nominations

So, obviously we've been revealing critic's choices for the past two weeks, but this particular group is the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the largest national organization of critics in the country, and the only ones with their own televised ceremony, the Critics Choice Awards. Curiously taking place this year after the Golden Globes (in recent years they've liked to place themselves first), their influence may be less prominent this time, but of late they've become one of the best Oscar predictors of all the various precursors. Their award show is often lame and low-budget (it now airs on the CW of all places), but their choices have been pretty on the money the past few years, so they're worth noting.

Best Picture

• American Hustle
• Captain Phillips
• Dallas Buyers Club
• Gravity
• Her
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Nebraska
• Saving Mr. Banks
• 12 Years a Slave
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
• Spike Jonze, Her
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
• David O. Russell, American Hustle
• Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Actor

• Christian Bale, American Hustle
• Bruce Dern, Nebraska
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
• Robert Redford, All is Lost

Best Actress

• Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Sandra Bullock, Gravity
• Judi Dench, Philomena
• Brie Larsen, Short Term 12
• Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
• Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Best Supporting Actor

• Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
• Daniel Bruhl, Rush
• Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
• Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
• James Gandolfini, Enough Said
• Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress

• Scarlett Johansson, Her
• Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
• Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
• Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
• June Squibb, Nebraska
• Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels' The Butler

Best Young Actor/Actress

• Asa Butterfield, Ender's Game
• Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color
• Liam James, The Way, Way Back
• Sophie Nelisse, The Book Thief
• Tye Sheridan, Mud

Best Acting Ensemble

• American Hustle
• August: Osage County
• Lee Daniels' The Butler
• Nebraska
• 12 Years a Slave
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay

• American Hustle
• Blue Jasmine
• Her
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Nebraska

Best Adapted Screenplay

• August: Osage County
• Before Midnight
• Captain Phillips
• Philomena
• 12 Years a Slave
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Art Direction

• Gravity
• The Great Gatsby
• Her
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• 12 Years a Slave

Best Cinematography

• Gravity
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Nebraska
• Prisoners
• 12 Years a Slave

Best Costume Design

• American Hustle
• The Great Gatsby
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Saving Mr. Banks
• 12 Years a Slave

Best Editing

• American Hustle
• Captain Phillips
• Gravity
• Rush
• 12 Years a Slave
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Makeup

• American Hustle
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Lee Daniels' The Butler
• Rush
• 12 Years a Slave

Best Score

• Gravity
• Her
• 12 Years a Slave
• Saving Mr. Banks

Best Song

• "Atlas" (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)
• "Happy" (Despicable Me 2)
• "Let it Go" (Frozen)
• "Ordinary Love" (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
• "Please Mr. Kennedy" (Inside Llewyn Davis)
• "Young and Beautiful" (The Great Gatsby)

Best Visual Effects

• Gravity
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Iron Man 3
• Pacific Rim
• Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Animated Feature

• The Croods
• Despicable Me 2
• Frozen
• Monsters University
• The Wind Rises

Best Action Movie

• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• Iron Man 3
• Lone Survivor
• Rush
• Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Actor in an Action Movie

• Henry Cavill, Man of Steel
• Robert Downey, Jr., Iron Man 3
• Brad Pitt, World War Z
• Mark Wahlberg, Lone Survivor

Best Actress in an Action Movie

• Sandra Bullock, Gravity
• Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• Evangeline Lilly, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
• Gwyneth Paltrow, Iron Man 3

Best Comedy

• American Hustle
• Enough Said
• The Heat
• This is the End
• The Way, Way Back
• The World's End

Best Actor in a Comedy

• Christian Bale, American Hustle
• Leonardo Dicaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
• James Gandolfini, Enough Said
• Simon Pegg, The World's End
• Sam Rockwell, The Way, Way Back

Best Actress in a Comedy

• Amy Adams, American Hustle
• Sandra Bullock, The Heat
• Great Gerwig, Frances Ha
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Enough Said
• Melissa McCarthy, The Heat

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie

• The Conjuring
• Gravity
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• World War Z

Best Foreign Language Film

• Blue is the Warmest Color
• The Great Beauty
• The Hunt
• The Past
• Wadjda

Best Documentary

• The Act of Killing
• Blackfish
• Stories We Tell
• Tim's Vermeer
• 20 Feet From Stardom

Virtually nothing of note here, as the BFCA figured out a way to cover their bases and nominate pretty much everyone by adding so many categories of film. For people who call themselves critics they sure aren't very discerning- It's like the ridiculous Satellite nominations all over again. But American Hustle and 12 Years lead the field, and with 12 Years becoming the consensus critics vote in regional groups across the country, I'd expect it to prevail at these awards next month. The only other thing worth picking up on is the fact that Dallas Buyers Club may have a better shot at making the Best Picture lineup than previously thought.

St. Louis, Dallas Ft. Worth, Online Film Critics

More critics groups results, all favoring 12 Years. Although when a pattern starts to emerge in several categories I wonder sometimes if people are just falling victim to the dreaded 'consensus' thinking- I don't understand why Jared Leto, for example, seems to be the only choice for Supporting Actor, when people like Michael Fassbender (ok, so he won the Online Critics) and Daniel Bruhl are just as good (if not better) in their movies. It makes me suspect this is old- fashioned thinking that any man who plays gay or transsexual automatically receives awards for it. And I don't think Cate Blanchett should be cruising Helen Mirren-style to the Oscar podium either- there are other worthy performances in that category, especially this year.

ST. LOUIS

• Film: 12 Years a Slave
• Director: Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
• Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
• Original Screenplay: Her
• Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
• Cinematography: 12 Years a Slave and Gravity (tie)
• Visual Effects: Gravity
• Score: Her
• Soundtrack: Inside Llewyn Davis
• Art Direction: The Great Gatsby
• Documentary: Blackfish
• Non-English Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
• Comedy: Enough Said and The World's End (tie)
• Animated Feature: Frozen
• Art-House or Festival Film: Short Term 12
• Scene: 12 Years a Slave ("The Hanging Scene")

DALLAS FT. WORTH

• Film: 12 Years a Slave
• Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
• Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
• Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Foreign-Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
• Documentary: 20 Feet From Stardom
• Animated Film: Frozen
• Cinematography: Gravity

ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY

• Picture: 12 Years a Slave
• Animated Feature: The Wind Rises
• Foreign Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
• Documentary: The Act of Killing
• Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Supporting Actor: Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
• Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
• Original Screenplay: Her
• Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
• Editing: Gravity
• Cinematography: Gravity

Joan Fontaine 1917-2013

A sad day for the film world, as silver screen star Joan Fontaine has now passed away at the age of 96. Famous in the 1940's and 50's for her roles in The Women, Hitchcock films Rebecca and Suspicion (for which she won Best Actress), Jane Eyre, and Letter From an Unknown Woman, just to name a few of her biggest classics. Also the sister of Olivia de Havilland, with whom her sibling rivalry was among the most famous in Hollywood history. The two had been estranged for decades and though Olivia was the oldest, Joan is the first to pass on.

Here's the original trailer for 1940's Best Picture winner, Rebecca, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and co-starring Laurence Olivier (you should definitely see this movie if you haven't- it's one of the best early Hitchcock's):