So, the latest entry in our nostalgia-crazed culture is the sequel to 1995's Independence Day, and call me crazy but whatever this is looks nothing like the cheesy, B-movie fun of that disaster epic, even with Roland Emmerich at the helm again. Doesn't this look overly self-serious and drab? Funny, that's not what I remember that movie being like at all. No Will Smith in this one, but we do get Liam Hemsworth, so...yay?
X-Men Are Back in Trailer for 'Apocalypse'
So Jennifer Lawrence doesn't feel like putting hours worth of makeup on, even though she's playing a comic book character who's entirely blue, so the answer to that is shapeshifter Mystique is now a blond girl all the time who looks jut like Jennifer Lawrence and no one else. That's bullshit. That's the most annoying thing about this trailer. I don't even care about anything else.
The Turtles Are Back in the Trailer for 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2'
I just can't get over how incredibly ugly these turtles look. They do the jokes and the flips and everything, but they look like complete shit. Shudder. Arrow's Stephen Amell makes his major movie debut as Casey Jones in this, but why he wanted his first big movie role to be the sequel to the Ninja Turtles mess, I have no idea. I'll be staying far, far away from this one.
'The Legend of Tarzan' Gets a Trailer
Oh boy- I think we may be looking at a Pan-type bomb here. Just about everything in this trailer is a dark, washed out, ugly CG mess- kinda reminds me of Peter Jackson's King Kong, at least the parts on the island. If you've been wanting a new Tarzan movie for a while, I wouldn't get your hopes up for this one.
Rooney Mara was nominated in Lead for 'Carol,'- will Oscar follow suit?
'Carol' Leads the 2015 Golden Globe Nominations
Rooney Mara was nominated in Lead for 'Carol,'- will Oscar follow suit?
The Hollywood Foreign Press today somewhat mitigated the flat out wackiness of yesterday's SAG nominations, by choosing many of the full-blooded Oscar contenders here, including Spotlight, Carol, The Revenant, Room and The Martian in major categories. But they did leave some films out, most surprisingly Brooklyn, which got a sole Best Actress nomination for Saoirse Ronan, undoubtedly leaving Brie Larson the frontrunner for the Globe win, since Room landed Best Picture AND Best Screenplay noms. Looks like Ronan's not running away with that like I thought. The Big Short was also on the rise again, landing noms for Screenplay, Picture, Steve Carell and Christian Bale, so we definitely need to look out for that one as a latebreaker. And even though Spotlight got the major nominations it was supposed to, its actors were completely shut out today, with no one from its praised ensemble getting in due to vote-splitting. Time for Open Road to move Michael Keaton into lead I think, in order to try to get at least one of these guys in, instead of crowding everyone into supporting, where they're cannibalizing each other. But it's important to remember that the HFPA is NOT the industry, so even though I expect many of these films to get recognition, the Academy and the guild voters are going to go their own way- maybe they'll love Brooklyn a lot more, for example.
Best Film Drama
"Carol"
"Mad Max: Fury Road"
"The Revenant"
"Room"
"Spotlight"
Best Film Drama Actor
Bryan Cranston, "Trumbo"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"
Michael Fassbender, "Steve Jobs"
Eddie Redmayne, "The Danish Girl"
Will Smith, "Concussion"
Best Film Drama Actress
Cate Blanchett, "Carol"
Brie Larson, "Room"
Rooney Mara, "Carol"
Saoirse Ronan, "Brooklyn"
Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl"
Best Film Comedy/Musical
"The Big Short"
"Joy"
"The Martian"
"Spy"
"Trainwreck"
Best Film Comedy/Musical Actor
Christian Bale, "The Big Short"
Steve Carell, "The Big Short"
Matt Damon, "The Martian"
Al Pacino, "Danny Collins"
Mark Ruffalo, "Infinitely Polar Bear"
Best Film Comedy/Musical Actress
Jennifer Lawrence, "Joy"
Melissa McCarthy, "Spy"
Amy Schumer, "Trainwreck"
Maggie Smith, "The Lady in the Van"
Lily Tomlin, "Grandma"
Best Film Supporting Actor
Paul Dano, "Love and Mercy"
Idris Elba, "Beasts of No Nation"
Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies"
Michael Shannon, "99 Homes"
Sylvester Stallone, "Creed"
Best Film Supporting Actress
Jane Fonda, "Youth"
Jennifer Jason Leigh, "The Hateful Eight"
Helen Mirren, "Trumbo"
Alicia Vikander, "Ex Machina"
Kate Winslet, "Steve Jobs"
Best Director
Todd Haynes, "Carol"
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "The Revenant"
Tom McCarthy, "Spotlight"
George Miller, "Mad Max: Fury Road"
Ridley Scott, "The Martian"
Best Screenplay
"Room"
"Spotlight"
"The Big Short"
"Steve Jobs"
"The Hateful Eight"
Best Score
"Carol"
"The Danish Girl"
"The Hateful Eight"
"Steve Jobs"
"The Revenant"
Best Song
"Love Me Like You Do" - "Fifty Shades of Grey"
"One Kind of Love" - "Love and Mercy"
"See You Again" - "Furious 7"
"Simple Song #3" - "Youth"
"Writing's On the Wall" - "Spectre"
Best Animated Feature
"Anomalisa"
"The Good Dinosaur"
"Inside Out"
"The Peanuts Movie"
"Shaun the Sheep"
Best Foreign Language Film
"The Brand New Testament"
"The Club"
"The Fencer"
"Mustang"
"Son of Saul"
In the comedy categories, I'm predicting Amy Schumer will likely take that Globe win over Jennifer Lawrence and Melissa McCarthy, although kudos to the Globes for finally nominating McCarthy, along with Spy for Best Picture. About time. Another fun fact here: Aaron Sorkin has been nominated by the HFPA for every single film he's ever written- no kidding. Best Picture comedy is between The Big Short and The Martian, obviously, but The Martian missed a Screenplay nod, so that's going to be a tight race. I actually think the Best Director nominees here may match Oscar exactly, when they're revealed in January, and another kudos to the Globes for nominating Mad Max in Best Picture drama. It's still a fight for that Oscar nod though, even if George Miller gets in for director.
'The Big Short' is coming up strong with SAG and HFPA- will the industry follow their lead?
First Trailer for Steven Spielberg's 'The BFG'
Here's a first look at Spielberg's adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic The BFG, which was scripted by the now late Melissa Mathison. Who knows if it'll be any good- it's been a while since Spielberg played in the children's fantasy genre, but maybe it'll have an air of magic to it.
2015 SAG Nominees Include 'Trumbo,' 'Beasts of No Nation' and 'Straight Outta Compton'
Well, these are some of the wildest SAG nominees we've seen in a long time, perhaps since 2007, when the Ensemble award matched 1 for 5 with the Oscar Best Picture nominees. Seriously, Trumbo? Straight Outta Compton? There a some TV actors in the mix here, including Sarah Silverman, Bryan Cranston- the Screen Actors Guild is about 100,000 members, by far the biggest and most diverse guild that includes mostly actors from television, so that may explain some of this, including the attention paid to Netflix's Beasts of No Nation. But if anything can be gleamed from this, it looks like Spotlight being the only potential Oscar movie to hit the nominees in Ensemble, may mean the movie's already won Best Picture. Not since 1995's Braveheart has there been a film that won that failed to even get nominated at SAG.
BEST ACTOR
- Bryan Cranston, "Trumbo"
- Johnny Depp, "Black Mass"
- Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"
- Michael Fassbender, "Steve Jobs"
- Eddie Redmayne, "The Danish Girl"
BEST ACTRESS
- Cate Blanchett, "Carol"
- Brie Larson, "Room"
- Helen Mirren, "The Woman in Gold"
- Saoirse Ronan, "Brooklyn"
- Sarah Silverman, "I Smile Back"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Christian Bale, "The Big Short"
- Idris Elba, "Beasts of No Nation"
- Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies"
- Michael Shannon, "99 Homes"
- Jacob Tremblay, "Room"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Rooney Mara, "Carol"
- Rachel McAdams, "Spotlight"
- Helen Mirren, "Trumbo"
- Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl"
- Kate Winslet, "Steve Jobs"
Some other random things to note- The Big Short might be a much bigger Oscar player than anyone thought, only Rachel McAdams and none of the men from Spotlight were nominated, meaning there may be vote splitting going on there, The Martian was completely snubbed despite not being a late release and definitely being seen by everyone in the nominating committee- that's a warning sign, and not one of the female led Oscar movies- Carol, Brooklyn or Room- made it into the Ensemble category. I wouldn't be surprised if Brooklyn is the only one that makes it to Best Picture of that trio now. The Golden Globe nominations come out tomorrow morning and could well look completely different, so we could be in for a chaotic, totally up in the air race this year.
DC Critics Go for 'Spotlight;' AAFC Likes 'Straight Outta Compton'
From now on we're heading into the regional critics phase of awards season, with announcements coming almost every day. First, it's the Washington D.C. critics group, which also gave Spotlight the top prize, followed by George Miller in director, Leo Dicaprio in Best Actor, and another one for Saoirse Ronan in Actress.
WASHINGTON DC FILM CRITICS
- Best Film: Spotlight
- Best Director: George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
- Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
- Best Actress: Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
- Best Supporting Actor: Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)
- Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)
- Best Acting Ensemble: Spotlight
- Best Youth Performance: Jacob Tremblay (Room)
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Room
- Best Original Screenplay: Inside Out
- Best Animated Feature: Inside Out
- Best Documentary: Amy
- Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul
- Best Original Score: Sicario
- Best Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road
- Best Cinematography: The Revenant
- Best Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road
AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION
- Best Picture: "Straight Outta Compton"
- Best Director: Ryan Coogler, “Creed”
- Best Ensemble: "Straight Outta Compton"
- Best Actor: Will Smith "Concussion"
- Best Actress: Teyonah Parris "Chi-Raq"
- Best Supporting Actor: Jason Mitchell "Straight Outta Compton"
- Best Supporting Actress: Tessa Thompson "Creed"
- Best Independent Film: "Chi-Raq”
- Best Screenplay: “Dope”
- Breakout Performance: Michael B. Jordan “Creed”
- Best Animation: "The Peanuts Movie"
- Best Documentary: "A Ballerina’s Tale"
BOX OFFICE 12/04-12/06: 'Mockingjay' and 'Krampus' Lead a Slow Post-Thanksgiving Weekend
The weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally pretty sleepy, and this one was no exception, as Mockingjay-Part 2 topped for the third week in a row, bringing in another 18 million for a new total of 227 million domestic. It was followed by the only new wide release, the Christmas themed black comedy film Krampus, which came in ahead of expectations with about 16 million on top of middling reviews, for second place.
Following them was Creed, which had a decent hold, earning another 15 million for a total of 65 million so far, while The Good Dinosaur fell off a cliff from last week, coming in with just 15 million after opening in the mid-50's. This will make it Pixar's first film never to hold the number one spot at the box office. Spectre rounded out the top five, bringing its own domestic total to 184 million.
Top 5:
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2- 18.6 million
- Krampus- 16 million
- Creed- 15.5 million
- The Good Dinosaur- 15.5 million
- Spectre- 5.4 million
In limited release, Spike Lee's Chi-Raq opened pretty well, with over a million from 305 screens, while of the Oscar contenders in theaters, Spotlight and Brooklyn seem to be holding up the best, along with Carol, although that one is waiting a good long while before expansion in order to maximize its box office prospects from awards boosts. Next week, amid extremely muted fanfare, Ron Howard's Moby Dick story In the Heart of the Sea comes out, and a few more limited releases in The Big Short, Legend and The Lady in the Van. See you then.
'Ex Machina' Wins Big at the British Independent Film Awards
The BIFAS tonight loved Alex Garland's Ex Machina, giving it four big prizes instead of spreading the wealth this year. But again, Saoirse Ronan taking Best Actress here over Charlotte Rampling indicates that she's going to have the British bloc behind her and should be favored to win the Bafta, helping her along on her road to the Oscars- I really loved Brooklyn, so I have to say that's my favorite awards story this season so far.
- Short Film: Edmond
- International Indie Film: Room
- Achievement in Craft: Ex Machina
- Promising Newcomer:Abigail Hardingham, Nina Forever
- Supporting Actor: Brendan Gleeson, Suffragette
- Supporting Actress: Olivia Colman, The Lobster
- Screenplay: Ex Machina
- Producer of the Year: Kajaki
- Debut Director: Stephen Fingleton, Survivalist
- Actor: Tom Hardy, Legend
- Actress: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
- Director: Alex Garland, Ex Machina
- Picture: Ex Machina
'Spotlight' Sweeps Top Prizes at LA, Boston and New York Online Critics
Well, this is turning out to be an interesting year. Spotlight did indeed take Best Picture at all three of these critics groups today, but that did not necessarily correspond with Best Director for any of them, and if you look on down the line at the other major categories, there wasn't much overlap at all in places like Best Actor, Actress, Screenplay or anything else. This is the opposite of a consensus year, even if it looks like Spotlight is kinda out in front. Still, the fact remains that NBR, NYFCC and LA- three of the four major critics groups, since the NSFC doesn't announce until January- all awarded a different movie in Best Picture. We may have to wait for the industry awards and guilds to see what's really going on this year, because critics are split up all over the place.
LA FILM CRITICS
- Best Picture: Spotlight (Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road)
- Best Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road (Runner-up: Todd Haynes, Carol)
- Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs (Runner-up: Geza Rohrig, Son of Saul)
- Best Actress: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years (Runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn)
- Best Supporting Actor: Michael Shannon, 99 Homes (Runner-up: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies)
- Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina (Runner-up: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria)
- Best Screenplay: Spotlight (Runner-up: Anomalisa)
- Best Cinematography: Mad Max: Fury Road (Runner-up: Carol)
- Best Production Design: Mad Max: Fury Road (Runner-up: Carol)
- Best Editing: The Big Short (Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road)
- Best Score: Anomalisa & Carol (Runner-up: The Hateful Eight)
- Best Foreign-Language Film: Son of Saul (Runner-up: The Tribe)
- Best Documentary: Amy (Runner-up: The Look of Silence)
- Best Animation: Anomalisa (Runner-up: Inside Out)
- New Generation: Ryan Coogler, Creed
The most interesting and impactful thing the all important LA critics did today was award George Miller in director- I now think he's a lock to get an Oscar nomination now, even if Mad Max is still fighting for one in Picture. Michael Fassbender also got a boost for Steve Jobs, which hasn't shown up much in the critics awards so far, and needed some extra attention.
BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS
- Best Original Score: Love & Mercy (Runner-up: Creed)
- Best Editing: Mad Max: Fury Road (Runner-up: Spotlight)
- Best Cinematography: Carol (Runner-up: The Revenant)
- Best New Filmmaker: Marielle Heller, The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Runner-up: Alex Garland, Ex Machina)
- Best Animated Film: Anomalisa & Inside Out (tie)
- Best Documentary: Amy (Runner-up: The Look of Silence)
- Best Screenplay: Spotlight (Runner-up: Carol)
- Best Ensemble: Spotlight (Runner-up: The Big Short)
- Best Supporting Actress: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria (Runner-up: Alicia Vikander)
- Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies (Runner-up: Sylvester Stallone, Creed)
- Best Actress: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years (Runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn)
- Best Actor: Paul Dano, Love & Mercy and Leonardo Dicaprio, The Revenant (tie)
- Best Director: Todd Haynes, Carol (runner-up: Tom McCarthy, Spotlight)
- Best Picture: Spotlight (Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road
- Best Foreign-Language Film: The Look of Silence (Runner-up: White God)
These are the real Boston film critics, and they did go for the hometown Spotlight up top, but decided, along with LA, to support Charlotte Rampling as a dark horse to get an Oscar nod in Best Actress for the critical fave, 45 Years. What's more interesting there, frankly, is that Saoirse Ronan came in second at both critics groups, after winning New York the other day and picking up the BIFA in London tonight as well. People, I really think she's becoming the favorite to win the Oscar for Brooklyn, and become one of the youngest Best Actress winners ever. The tea leaves are being spilled.
NEW YORK ONLINE
- Breakthrough Performance: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl & Ex Machina)
- Supporting Actress: Rooney Mara, Carol
- Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
- Screenplay: Spotlight
- Cinematography: Mad Max: Fury Road
- Use of Music: Love & Mercy
- Debut Director: Alex Garland, Ex Machina
- Director: Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
- Actress: Brie Larson, Room
- Actor: Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
- Ensemble: Spotlight
- Foreign-Language Film: Son of Saul
- Documentary: Amy
- Picture: Spotlight
- Animated Feature: Inside Out
The online NY critics stayed mostly middle of the road and went for Brie Larson, but again, tellingly, Saoirse Ronan was the runner-up. It might be notable that Amy and Son of Saul seem to have a strong handle on winning the documentary and foreign language film categories at all of these groups as well, but Amy is still fighting for that Oscar nod from the snobby doc branch of the Academy, which looks down on the "entertainment" docs. And Paul Dano winning for Best Actor here and at Boston is more a sign of the Best Actor race being weak this year for the first time in a while, as no one seems to want to award the genuinely placed "lead" performances and are reaching outside the box for other options.
Boston Online Critics Go For 'Mad Max' as Year's Best
Boston has two critics groups, the Boston Society of Film Critics and the online group, so this one is the lower tier- the BSFC hasn't announced yet. But these guys certainly loved Mad Max and Creed, and this is Saoirse Ronan's second Best Actress win, as well as Kristen Stewart's second in supporting. I didn't mention the Stewart thing at the NYFCC the other day, because frankly, Clouds of Sils Maria was a tiny movie that about 4 people saw in total, so even if critics decide to make a weird rally for her in this, there's no guarantee that could happen at the Oscars. Certainly didn't work out for Tilda Swinton in Snowpiercer last year. I am liking the tilt towards mainstream genre appreciation from critics in the bigger categories this year, at least, so far. I would assume the BFSC would have some more appreciation of the hometown set Spotlight though, right? We'll see. Boston, LA and the New York Online critics are set to break on Sunday.
BEST PICTURE:
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
BEST DIRECTOR:
George Miller, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
BEST ACTOR:
Michael B. Jordan, CREED
BEST ACTRESS:
Saoirse Ronan, BROOKLYN
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Sylvester Stallone, CREED
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Kristen Stewart, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
BEST ENSEMBLE:
SPOTLIGHT
BEST SCREENPLAY:
Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, SPOTLIGHT
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
SON OF SAUL
BEST DOCUMENTARY:
AMY
BEST ANIMATED FILM:
INSIDE OUT
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
John Seale, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
BEST EDITING:
Margaret Sixel, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Junkie XL, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR:
1. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
2. CREED
3. BROOKLYN
4. CAROL
5. SPOTLIGHT
6. CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
7. BRIDGE OF SPIES
8. THE MARTIAN
9. ANOMALISA
10. TANGERINE
