Will Smith Meets Love, Time and Death in 'Collateral Beauty'

This movie's coming out at Christmas as ultimate counter programming to the juggernaut that is Rogue One, and it looks pretty Hallmark-y, but what a cast, huh? There must have been something there that attracted all these names. It looks like a spin on A Christmas Carol, which makes it good for the holiday release, but I don't know. You want to root for these kinds of movies, because it's what we wish studios would make more of- an original script with big name actors. But they also have to be good (or at least successful) to keep that concept alive. So here's hoping.

Jackie Chan Among 2016's Honorary Oscar Recipients

The honorees for this year's Governor's Awards have been announced, and the Academy has made some unusual, but inspired choices this time around. The most familiar name among the bunch is the legendary Jackie Chan of course, who receives the award after four decades of brilliant and innovative contributions to action cinema as a master choreographer, stuntman and filmmaker as well as global superstar. In fact, it's hard to believe that at 62, the only question might be is he too young to receive what's seen as the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award (but hey, Spike Lee got this last year at 58, so if he can get one...). The other recipients are the British film editor Anne Coates, whose work includes Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, The Elephant Man, In the Line of Fire and Out of Sight, documentarian Frederick Wiseman, whose films were never even nominated for an Oscar, and casting director Lynn Stalmaster, who's filmography dates from the late 1950's to the early 1980's, and includes films like I Want to Live!, Judgment at Nuremberg,  In the Heat of the Night, Jeremiah Johnson, Fiddler on the Roof, The Last Detail, Bound for Glory, Superman (we can thank him for discovering Christopher Reeve) and Being There. The 8th Annual Governor's Awards will take place on November 12th.

New Trailer for Isabelle Huppert in Paul Verhoeven's 'Elle'

For me, this is absolutely my most anticipated film of the year. Verhoeven at his best makes shocking, bold, fiercely original and often female empowering films, and despite the controversy amidst the raves that this movie drew at Cannes, its garnered some of the best reviews I think I've ever seen for his usually divisive films. I'm betting that Isabelle Huppert will finally land her long overdue Oscar nomination for Best Actress, since this is really her movie, through and through.

Trailer for Sweden's Animated Oscar Entry 'My Life as a Courgette'

GKids, the studio that does the noble work of distributing foreign animated films in the U.S., has officially picked up Sweden's Oscar entry for animated film this year, the French language My Life as a Courgette (or zucchini). If you're like me, who's often tired of the same looking CG animation that comes out all the time here, this one looks like a gem, and it apparently is to the people who saw it at Cannes. Just from watching this, I'm pretty sure that it will be one of the year's Oscar nominees in the category.

Gene Wilder 1933-2016

Another star has been taken from us in the year 2016, which has sadly seen the departures of many icons from this earth. Gene Wilder, the comedic legend who had been immortalized on screen for Willy Wonka and his collaborations with director Mel Brooks, has passed away at the age of 83, from complications of Alzheimer's. He leaves so many great films and performances behind, most notably The Producers (1968), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (also 1974). All four of those classics have stood the test of time to be remembered today as iconic, and his Willy Wonka was so dominant a character that the original title of that book had to be renamed from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to accommodate who the true star was. Wilder was Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his turn in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde, and was also known for his four films with Richard Pryor, most notably 1976's Silver Streak. His marriage to SNL star Gilda Radner in 1984 was well documented, as they starred in three films together and stayed married until her death from ovarian cancer in 1989, after which he stayed involved in promoting cancer awareness and founded a detection center and community organization both named after her. He was nominated for a second Oscar for co-writing the Young Frankenstein screenplay with Mel Brooks, and his last acting appearance was an episode of Will & Grace in 2003. He had an amazingly sweet, vulnerable, open screen presence that invited you in to see the bursts of manic energy and eccentricity hidden under the surface of his performances. He will be dearly missed.

It's really amazing to think that Gene Wilder essentially makes this movie work, as he was really the only compelling character in it. You can thank Wilder's inspired, magical performance for that entirely, epitomized in this song:

And if you haven't seen Young Frankenstein, please do so immediately. I think this was his greatest performance (although some would probably stick with Willy Wonka):

David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike Fall in Love in 'A United Kingdom'

In the second fall season movie about a famous interracial marriage in history, Oyelowo and Pike star as Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams Khama, the couple whose marriage rocked South Africa under apartheid in the late 1940's and 50's. This film is premiering at the London Film Festival in October, but usually when there are two films of a competing theme, one of them gets a leg up. I have a feeling Loving will the movie that sets sail of these two, but that may be because I can tell the performances of Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga are more of the showcase sort. This looks more like a romanticized love story, so it may be seen as lighter. Then again, who knows? Trailers can be deceiving.

First Trailer for Casey Affleck in 'Manchester By the Sea'

This film from director Kenneth Lonergan premiered at Sundance to rave reviews, was immediately labeled a major potential Oscar contender, and was eventually bought by Amazon. The studio wants to launch it as its first awards candidate, and in doing so it needs to release it in theaters, unlike what Netflix did last year with Beasts of No Nation. They're planning a limited release in November, right around Thanksgiving, as the perfect date for these kinds of films, so we'll see if this family drama about grief (it seems it may be a bit reminiscent of something like Ordinary People) can take off. I'm guessing Casey Affleck (the greater Affleck, I've always thought, as far as acting talent goes) can probably land a Best Actor nomination at least, but the movie could be in there all across the board, especially once critics chime in. The trailer seems a bit mild, but it's always kind of hard to market old school family dramas in an interesting way. I trust the buzz out of Sundance on it more.

Emma Stone Sings in New Trailer for 'La La Land'

What do you guys think of her voice? It's...okay, I guess. I mean, come on, she's no Judy Garland or anything. I think this movie is going to be a love it or hate it situation, like most exercises of this kind usually are. Looks gorgeous though, that's for sure. Tech noms galore. As for the rest of it, we'll be finding out very soon, since it's premiering at Venice and will be showing at Telluride in just a couple weeks.