Here they are with Charlie Rose talking about Gravity:
VIDEO: A Tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman
Here's a great video tribute to the many performances Philip Seymour Hoffman gave in his career:
FINAL TRAILER: "Divergent"
The last trailer for the new teen franchise Divergent, has been released. The movie's coming out March 21st:
Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Jules and Jim" (1962)
An all-time classic of the French New Wave is out on blu-ray today. From director Francois Truffaut, this is the story of a love triangle between a girl (Jeanne Moreau) and her two guys in pre-WWI Paris. Truffaut plays all kinds of tricks with the camera and the style, and the whole film still feels fresh, creative and totally original, even today. This was one of the defining films of the 50's and 60's new wave era (along with movies like Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless and Truffaut's own The 400 Blows), and every bit of it holds up. Seek it out as soon as you can.
Original 1962 Trailer:
TRAILER #2: "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
The new trailer for the Captain America sequel, coming out in April:
London Film Critics go for 12 Years a Slave
The London critics gave 12 Years their top prize, but gave the directing win to Alfonso Cuaron, following what seems to be the distinct pattern of the year. Most think the Oscars will split the exact same way, but I'm having a hard time seeing how you can predict that to happen under a preferential ballot system, where the movies are ranked, and getting the right number of 2's and 3's count even more than 1's- even if you intend to split it might not happen that way. Remember, the Oscars are the only place that uses that system, which means all these other split wins are coming under a simple "most votes wins" ballot. We still don't know how things will play out because of that:
- Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
- Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
- Technical Achievement: Gravity
- Breakthrough British Filmmaker: Jon S. Baird, Filth
- British Actor of the Year: James McAvoy (Filth, Trance, Welcome to the Punch)
- British Actress of the Year: Judi Dench, Philomena
- Young British Performer: Conner Chapman, The Selfish Giant
- British Film of the Year: The Selfish Giant
- Actress of the Year: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
- Actor of the Year: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
- Documentary: The Act of Killing
- Foreign-Language Film: Blue is the Warmest Color
- Screenwriter of the Year: Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
- Director of the Year: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
- Film of the Year: 12 Years a Slave
BOX OFFICE 1/31-2/02: "Ride Along" Stays at Number One
Super Bowl weekend is traditionally a slow weekend at the box office, and this was no exception, as Ride Along coasted to #1 again with just $12 million, bringing its total to $93 million. That and Lone Survivor are the first big hits of the new year, as the latter film crossed $100 million this weekend as well. New release That Awkward Moment came in at #3, with $9 million and a "B" Cinemascore, which isn't terrible considering the mostly unknown cast of up and comers- this should provide a boost in visibility to Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan at least.
Meanwhile the long delayed release of Labor Day finally arrived, but with dismal reviews (32% on Rotten Tomatoes), and the Kate Winslet/Josh Brolin romantic melodrama bombed completely, opening to just $5 million on 2500 screens. And of course Frozen came in with another $9 million, boosted by a sing-a-long release, and brought its insane total to $360 million domestic (and nearing a billion worldwide). The other animated release, The Nut Job filled out the top five, with $7 million, bringing its own total to $50 million, but the family films should finally have some competition next week when The Lego Movie opens.
Top 5:
- Ride Along- $12.3 million
- Frozen- $9.3 million
- That Awkward Moment- $9 million
- The Nut Job- $7.6 million
- Lone Survivor- $7.2 million
Philip Seymour Hoffman 1967-2014
The New York Times reports that Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his Manhattan apartment this morning of an apparent drug overdose. A syringe was found in his arm along with a bag of heroin nearby. Hoffman was 46 and is survived by three young children with his partner Mimi O'Donnell, a costume designer. He'd been in so many movies over the past fifteen years, including Capote, for which he won Best Actor in 2006, but I can't even name how many films I've seen him in that I loved. Here were just some of my favorites: Almost Famous, Doubt, The Master, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Charlie Wilson's War, The Savages, and Moneyball. He was an incredible actor that you always looked forward to seeing onscreen and this is an incalculable loss.
Here he is as rock critic Lester Bangs in Almost Famous, a movie that I adore:
The trailer for The Savages, an underrated movie from 2007 with great performances from him and Laura Linney:
And winning Best Actor for Capote in 2006:
WGA Awards 'Her,' 'Captain Phillips'; ASC Honors 'Gravity;' 'Frozen' Tops the Annie Awards
The Writers Guild offered up a couple of upsets tonight at their awards dinner:
- Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
- Adapted Screenplay: Billy Ray, Captain Phillips
- Documentary: Sarah Polley, Stories We Tell
American Hustle was expected to win for original, but was trumped by Spike Jonze and Her, which probably makes it the favorite for the Oscar now, but only slightly. Adapted Screenplay going to Captain Phillips was something of a surprise, but since 12 Years a Slave was ineligible for consideration here, that will very likely not repeat at the Oscars. Meanwhile, the American Society of Cinematographers gave their top film award to Emmanuel Lubezki for Gravity, which was not a shock, as it's practically guaranteed to take the Cinematography Oscar next month as well.
On another awards ceremony that took place tonight, Frozen dominated at the Annie Awards, winning five on its way to picking up the Oscar as well:
- Best Animated Feature: Frozen
- Best Animated Special Production: Chipotle Scarecrow
- Best Animated Short Subject: Get a Horse
- Best Animated Effects in Animated Production: The Croods
- Best Animated Effects in Live Action Production: Pacific Rim
- Character Animation in an Animated Production: The Croods
- Character Animation in a Live Action Production: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
- Character Design in an Animated Feature: The Croods
- Directing: Frozen
- Music: Frozen
- Production Design: Frozen
- Storyboarding: Monsters University
- Voice Acting: Josh Gad, Frozen
- Writing: Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind Rises
- Editorial: Monsters University
Happy February: A Month of Movie Romance
We're at the start of a new month, which means the new batch of movies for February is now here! For the occasion I've posted ten of my favorite love stories as a tribute to romance in the month of Valentine's Day. They include some of my very favorite movies ever, like The Lady Eve and Trouble in Paradise, two romantic comedy classics that I really think you should look for, but also some modern ones, like Pride and Prejudice and Sleepless in Seattle. Head on over the the Movies of the Month page for the February description, and then click here for the list of films under February: Be My Valentine. Have a good time with the this month's love stories, everyone!
Maximilian Schell 1930-2014
The Austrian-born Old Hollywood star Maximilian Schell passed away today at the age of 83. He was most known for his Oscar winning role in the 1961 film Judgment at Nuremberg, where he played the attorney for Burt Lancaster's judge accused of collaborating with the Nazis during WWII. His other significant parts were in movies like Topkapi (1964), The Man in the Glass Booth (1975), Julia (1977), Deep Impact (1998), and in his later career he became a director of many German films, notably Marlene, the famous 1984 documentary about Marlene Dietrich.
Here he is winning his Oscar for Judgement at Nuremberg (which is an incredible movie, by the way- you should definitely seek it out if you haven't seen it):
TRAILER: "A Million Ways to Die in the West"
Trailer for the new Seth MacFarlane comedy western, seemingly a vehicle to finally launch himself as a personality rather than his disembodied voice through his various animated characters. The movie's written and directed by him and coming out May 30th:
