2011 SAG Awards Results Arrive!

The Screen Actors Guild Awards went down yesterday, and we have the list of the winners here! As usual, some were expected and some came completely out of left field. Below you'll see the list as well as some notes in blue as to my thoughts of the overall results.

Win a Date With JUSTIN BIEBER and a Free Screening of "NEVER SAY NEVER"

ADVANCE TICKETS FOR THE “JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER” MOVIE ON SALE TOMORROW!

The Ultimate Golden Ticket Will Be Awarded To One Lucky Fan

Movie Opens in RealD 3D, Digital 3D and 2D Nationwide on February 11, 2011

HOLLYWOOD, CA (January 31, 2011) - Paramount Pictures announced today that advance tickets for the upcoming movie JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER will go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday, February 1st. Tickets will be available online and at participating theatre box offices across North America.

The 38th Annual Annie Award Nomination List for 2011 Arrives!

With all the hub-bub about the upcoming Academy Awards, one should not forget about the Annie Awards, the highest award honor exclusive to animation. An annual event at Royce Hall in Westwood, CA; all of animations highest rollers get together to celebrate the years achievements in black tie. Previous winners and guests include Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline), Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice), Andreas Deja (Lead Character Animator at Disney), Ron Clements & John Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin), Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon), John Lasseter, Ed Catmull, Jeffery Katzenberg, and many many more.

After the jump is the list of nominations (production and individual) for this years Annie Awards which will take place on Saturday, February 5th at Royce Hall. Tickets to the award ceremony are $25, and are available here. Who do you think will go home with an Annie this year?

Of Cats and Remakes: A Well Done Reboot

            Contemporary Hollywood seems obsessed with franchising sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots and although our short-term memories have led us to believe this is a new phenomenon, it is actually as old as Hollywood itself. Back in the day before home video the only way to find a new audience for an old movie was to remake it; when sound was introduced all the major studios remade their largest box-office hits as “talkies”. At times remakes can work; they are elegantly updated to find a new audience. Other times we get The Incredible Hulk, which was nothing above a piece of loud shit and an embarrassment to the career of a great actor. But sometimes we get something completely new; this was the case with Cat People (1942) and Cat People (1982). Made forty years apart from each other these movies could not be more different from each other and yet they explore the same themes of irrational fear and sexual repression, in their own way. And are equally effective, once again, each in their own way.

      

Sneak Peek: JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER

Soon teen heartthrob Justin Bieber will be swinging into a theater near you with his newest film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. There isn't too much to the film besides that it is a concert documentary piece, telling the life of Justin Bieber. The film is his life today inter-cut with some of his home videos from when he was younger - with a guest appearance from Usher, and should provide more into the life of 'The Bieb' than we've heard on the radio and read on twitter. The film also features appearances by Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Jaden Smith, and Chad Kroeger.

 

Check out these exclusive clips after the Jump...

Sneak Peek: The first two minutes of RIO

 

 

 

 

<br/><a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/rio-exclusive-films-first-two-minutes/5eq4owv?src=v5:embed:&fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="'Rio' Exclusive: Film's First Two Minutes">Video: 'Rio' Exclusive: Film's First Two Minutes</a>

What do you think?

Review: THE KING'S SPEECH

THE KING'S SPEECH: A Sight to Hear

By Nick Adams

The Oscar nominations were released last Monday and at least one drama set during World War II was nominated for Best Picture (and 11 other awards). Keeping in line with such shocking news, the Steelers made the NFL playoffs and I ate pizza this week. Yeah, yeah. WWII was arguably the grandest, uniting event in human history, so it’s about time they made a movie about it. In earnest, I went into the movie expecting Oscar-bait rammed down my profanity-laced throat but instead left the theater baffled. While not quite in the same game-changing, defiantly original, pantheon of history’s best cinema, “The King’s Speech” is solidly worthy of every aforementioned award nomination.

And You Thought Michael Bay Was Over The Top?

This is why I love Bollywood. They have even less restraints than Michael Bay when it comes to ridiculous action and so much more creativity too!

If you enjoyed this I suggest you check out the Dhoom saga as well.










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Review: SANCTUM

            Somehow I cannot find the right words to describe Sanctum. A few hours after coming out of the screening room and I still feel trapped miles below the surface of the Earth; I still feel as if someone forced their hand down my throat clenched my stomach with their fist and didn’t let go. This is a painfully visceral movie.  But I am still in awe of the sights I just experience; I just saw heaven and hell within the same movie. This is an exhilarating thrill of a movie.

            It is both an effective and breathtaking (latterly and figuratively) movie. Sadly, embarrassingly bad dialogue and flat characters bring all of this crashing down nearly to B-movie levels.  But you know what?

            I didn’t care.

Dreamworks' "Rise of the Gaurdians" gets cast

Glendale, CA – January 27, 2011 – DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Nasdaq: DWA) today
named its all-star cast for Rise of the Guardians, featuring Chris Pine in the lead role of Jack
Frost, together with Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Jude Law. The film,
scheduled for release on November 21, 2012, is based on “The Guardians of Childhood,” a series 
of highly anticipated children’s books by William Joyce.

Behind the Scenes of: Rango

"Rango" is an upcoming movie by Gore Verbinski, who rose to fame directing the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy. Now it seems, he has moved into animation, directing "Rango", which is due to theaters this March. Verbinski has not left his familiar territory completely though. Johnny Depp and Bill Nighy, both large parts of the 'Pirates' franchise have come along with him to this project as well. But, Verbinski is treading new ground as well, and that is in how the actors are being recorded for the film.

Willow Smith to play Annie in Remake of 1982's Annie

Will Smith is certainly taking his family right up to his level of celebrity. Reports today confirmed that his daughter, Willow Smith, known for the hit single Whip My Hair, is going to be playing "Annie" in a remake of the 1982 film Annie which will be produced by acclaimed music producer, Jay-Z. This keeps with the Smith family trend of remaking popular 80's films, starting with last years Karate Kid starring Jaden Smith, Will Smith's son.  What do you think about this decision? Is it time for a remake of Annie? Is Willow right for the part? I haven't seen her acting ability yet, but I have listened to Whip My Hair. That was alright.



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Orson Welles’ lost “masterpiece”.

Shot in 1972 The Other Side of the Wind was Orson Wells’ last film but because of numerous legal property lawsuits and Wells’ ailing health at the time the shooting wrapped up the film was never edited. Let alone released!

            Despite the rumors over the last 30somthing years all the raw footage has been hidden away from the public’s view. Could it be that we will finally be able to see the unfinished masterpiece? According to Kenneth Sidle, a Los Angeles lawyer who has been involved in the legal dispute for years the answer is…

Feature: Nick Adams on: The Social Network

"THE SOCIAL NETWORK": Sorkin takes One Giant Step Sideways
By Nick Adams

In 1941, the film “Citizen Kane” was a critical success, earning several Oscar nominations—including Best Picture. The dramatic film was particularly praised for its script, cinematography, music and non-chronological narrative structure. The film itself followed characters trying to label the ‘eccentric’ (read: “crazy but rich”) billionaire of an organization that proved as popular as it was controversial—much like the protagonist himself. The protagonist was a loner and, to a scene, the smartest guy in the room. This overt, and only arguably deserved, self-assuredness was met with scorn and ridicule from friends and family, eventually leaving the protagonist isolated in his fortress of material success.

‘Copy and paste’ for “The Social Network.”

60 Second Fight Club

Keeping with the trend of films remade to be told in 60 seconds for the Virgin Radio Fake Film Festival, in Vancouver, BC. Alison Parker just sent hers over too. It's Fight Club - but told in 60 seconds. Once again, spot on with the actors mostly, and over all very well shot.  Enjoy!

The 83rd Annual Oscar Nomination List for 2011 Arrives!

 

 Once again, the Academy Awards are upon us. Here is their list of nominations for this 2011 season. While it is shocking that some films haven't made the list, many of the ones that have deserve it. It's been a pretty good year for cinema, and there were many great movies the Academy had to choose from. Too bad not everything good could get up here, though. As you read the official list - you will see a few of my notes (in blue) of thoughts or things I would have done differently.

 

Review: THE DILEMMA

The Dilemma is a story about two good friends, who find themselves in a huge mess of problems. Ronny (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Kevin James) have been best friends since college. Now, they work together in the world of auto design, and are about to come through on a very big break through which is making an electric car sound like a gas powered one. Ronny has a lovely girlfriend, Beth (Jennifer Connely), who he is afraid of proposing to, and Nick has been married for a while now to a girl he met back at school, Geneva (Winona Ryder). Sure this is all pretty stressful stuff, but then Ronny sees Geneva kissing a mysterious fellow at the botanical gardens, and that is when the dilemma begins.

Avatar 2 & 3 Release Dates Announced

That's right lovers of Pandora. You can currently expect to return to Pandora and the world of Avatar on Christmas 2014 and then again on Christmas 2015. Let's hope the journey is a little more original this time.

 

The Wachowskis Return to The Matrix..... again....

Remember this marvelous franchise? Wait, let me rephrase. Remember when a fantastic film came out in 1999, and then got way too caught up in itself with two later sequels? The Matrix Trilogy. And according to star Keanu Reeves, it will soon become The Matrix Quintilogy.

 

Ad Classic: LANCE ACORD, THE FORCE, VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT

            Sometimes you do not need much to have a profound effect on people, and a great piece of fiction can come from some very unexpected origins. We started this “ad classics” as a manner of celebrating the work of great filmmakers working outside film itself, as well as a matter of proving that a great story, and characters, can be told in 30 seconds. I quote us when I say; “a commercial is a movie told in thirty seconds (sometimes up to two minutes); nowadays it feels some movies are commercials told in ninety minutes (sometimes even longer)”.

            Directed by Lance Acord, whose cinematography credits include Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, and Where the Wild Things Are, Volkswagen’s The Force became an unexpected hit when it had 13 million views before it even aired! That is the power of a good campaign. Afterwards it has become the most watched commercial ever! So my guess is that you have probably already watched it. If not here it is: 

Review: DAZED AND CONFUSED

            

            We haven't done this in a time but it is another of those iTunes rentals reviews. This is a film that came out about fifteen years go and you probably missed. I am recommending it so here is my review:

            By the end of Dazed and Confused one of the kids states the following about his high school experience, “If I ever say these were the best years of my life, remind me to kill myself.” This is one of those rare high school movies that look upon those years not under a romanticized nostalgic lens but as they were in reality: uneasy and agonizing, yet carefree and hopeful. It is a bit of an anthropological study, but mostly just an invitation to come hang out with your high school memories for one day.

 

Scott Pilgrim VS 60 Seconds

Looks like an incredible amount of effort went into this one. Sums up the movie brilliantly, is very well edited, and here and there the actors look just like their big screen counter parts!

What We Like: JC's Favorites 2

It is time to start a second round of the films that make up our favorites. It is hard to review films objectively. Well, actually it is impossible. Film reviewing is entirely based on opinion alone; would I recommend these movies? Yes, and if you like the types of movies I like then you should check them out. So what are the movies that make up my favorites? These are movies that are unique (there really isn’t any other movie like them or there hasn’t been in a very long time); these are movies that one can watch multiple times and not get tired of them (you might be surprised but I probably do watch these a lot more than any other movie) and these are films that I would love for you to buy,/rent, and check out because if you like movies like I do you will love these.

        

Delayed Reviews: TRUE GRIT, DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS, & MACHETE

Hey guys. We watch a lot of movies, but sometimes we don't get them all reviewed. Here's a 3-review post of the films we've failed to judge and notify you about.