The Cinema Salmon

Awards Season: Washington Area Film Critics Association Awards - NOMINEES

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:56:31 -0800

Awards Season: Washington Area Film Critics Association Awards - NOMINEES:

Best Film:
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Hugo
Win Win

Best Director:
Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)
Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

Best Actor:
George Clooney (The Descendants)
Jean…

These look about right…

Awards Season: Awards Season - SCHEDULE

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 14:19:41 -0800

Awards Season: Awards Season - SCHEDULE:

awards-season:

November 29, 2011 - 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations announced

November 29, 2011 - New York Film Critics’ Circle winners announced.

December 1, 2011 - Satellite Awards nominations announced

December 1, 2011 - National Board of Review winners announced.

December 2, 2011 - …

contrappunto: Christian Bale & Terrence Malick filming on...

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 09:13:09 -0700

contrappunto:

Christian Bale & Terrence Malick filming on stage during Bright Eyes @ Austin City Limits 9-16-2011 by danfun on Flickr.

My First Oscar Predictions of the Season

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:13:00 -0700

Take a stab in the dark, poke out an eye, and it’s truly the blind leading the blind:

FILM
The Descendants
The Artist
J. Edgar
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Drive
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

ACTOR
Michael Fassbender – Shame
George Clooney – The Descendants
Christopher Plummer – Barrymore
Jean Dujarden – The Artist
Leonardo Dicaprio – J. Edgar

ACTRESS (I picked 6. I tried to reduce it to 5 but I couldn’t.)
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin
Kirsten Dunst – Melancholia
Charlize Theron – Young Adult
Rooney Mara – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

SUPP. ACTOR
Armie Hammer – J. Edgar
Ezra Miller – We Need To Talk About Kevin
Christoph Waltz – Carnage
Daniel Craig – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Thomas Horn - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

SUPP. ACTRESS
Shaileen Woodley – The Descendants
Keira Knightley – A Dangerous Method
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Jessica Chastain – Everything
Vanessa Redgrave – Coriolanus

awards-season: As the Toronto International Film Festival...

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:48:03 -0700

awards-season:

As the Toronto International Film Festival prepares to unleash scores of movies onto the general public, critics and industry folk alike, reviews are starting to come in for Moneyball. Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jonah Hill, has been touted as a strong contender for awards come Oscar season. But has it lived up to its promise? So far, it looks like it.

Jeff Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere writes, “Bennett Miller’s Moneyball (Sony, 9.23) is my idea of a triumph. A triumph of surprise and deception, I should add. It’s an emotionally low-key, thinking man’s Field of Dreams — a smart, true-to-life, business-of-baseball movie with a touch of the mystical and the sublime, and propelled along by a highly pleasurable lead performance by Brad Pitt. It’s not just the emotional and spiritual currents that makes it great, but the subtlety of them.” He also adds that Hill is “perfect” and Hoffman is “tight and testy and spot-on”.

The Hollywood Reporter calls it “a strong, rewarding effort to pull unusual personalities and a timeless story from a welter of Inside Baseball” and praises the chemistry between Pitt and Hill, describing them as a “a great comedy act” and “delights”.

Moviefone writes, “Much better is the brief moment where Brand shows Beane a tape of a young prospect hitting a home run without even realizing it. “It’s a metaphor,” Brand says, and Beane speaks for the audience when he snaps back, “I know it’s a metaphor.” Still, it applies to more than just Beane; audience members, too, may look back on this deceptively quiet, even plodding film and realize that, like a pitcher’s duel on a long summer day, it meant more than they realized — and maybe more than anyone had a right to expect.”

Alex Billington of FirstShowing.net awarded the film 7.5/10 and wrote, “Moneyball isn’t a home run, but at least a double, and if the player is really good, a triple.”

Sean O’Connell of HollywoodNews.com writes that Pitt’s performance is the highlight of the film. ” It’s a great performance in a solid movie. If “Moneyball” hits a triple, Pitt smacks a home run over the left field wall.”

More reviews as they come in.

awards-season: Venice is not the only town hosting a film...

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:10:21 -0700

awards-season:

Venice is not the only town hosting a film festival this weekend - Telluride just got underway with a screening of Alexander Payne’s The Descendants and early word is incredibly positive, with critics calling George Clooney’s performance one of his all-time best. After a week of enduring middling reviews for films like A Dangerous Method, The Ides of March and Carnage, it is refreshing to see a film hit a home-run with the critics.

Peter Sciretta of /Film tweeted, “Loved Alexander Payne’s The Descendants. Worn out from emotion. Great performances from George Clooney.”

Sasha Stone of Awards Daily communicated, “The descendants is emotionally charged, funny, brilliant ensemble. Clooney great” and in a follow-up message, “Shailene Woodley is very good in The Descendants - absolutely nomination-worthy. But others too. Payne is great with actors.”

Anne Thompson wrote “The Descendants is another win for Alexander Payne and Fox Searchlight—and a possible Oscar grab for George Clooney as a father with 2…”

Scott Feinberg wrote in his analysis of The Descendants’ Oscar chances, “my gut feeling is that The Descendants will face an uphill climb for a best picture nod. I do, however, think that Clooney’s chances for a best actor nod are much stronger; he gives one of his best performances to date (probably his most vulnerable, too, which never hurts with voters).” Additionally, he noted that the film’s writers Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon will likely bag another screenplay nod.

Kris Tapley of InContention bemoaned the lack of density exhibited in some of Payne’s previous efforts, but nevertheless praised the film as “a complete piece of thematic work” and “a great vehicle for George Clooney to stretch”.

Jeff Wells of Hollywood Elswhere tweeted, “Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants”, a Hawaiian family drama about death and letting go and waking up, is deep and real and true to life.”/”George Clooney’s performance as a beleagured, soon-to-be-widowed dad is touching, real, honest. He’s immediately in Best Actor contention.”/”I for one love the abrupt, subtle tonal shifts between straight drama and whaddaya-gonna-do, throw-up-your-hands, low-key comedy. Perfect.”

Yaaaay! Love Alexander Payne. So relieved to hear The Descendants is ace.

awards-season: The glamorous cast of The Ides Of March hit the...

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:31:59 -0700

awards-season:

The glamorous cast of The Ides Of March hit the red carpet at the Venice Film Festival. All that is missing is the film’s dapper leading man Ryan Gosling.

PSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

It’s gooorgeous.

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:44:23 -0700

It’s gooorgeous.

awards-season: First glimpse at Tom Hanks and Thomas Horn in...

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:30:34 -0700

awards-season:

First glimpse at Tom Hanks and Thomas Horn in Stephen Daldry’s screen adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Hrm, Tom Hanks is still totally not what I imagined for Tom Schell.

Photo

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 23:56:00 -0700

awards-season: Moneyball (2011) - Trailer I’ve been...

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 05:45:30 -0700

awards-season:

Moneyball (2011) - Trailer

I’ve been waiting for this to show up on my dash so I can reblog. One of my most anticipated. [I come from a country without baseball, yet baseball movies are my jazz…]

"A Best Picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit. If there are only eight..."

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 03:31:28 -0700

“A Best Picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit. If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honor in a given year, we shouldn’t feel an obligation to round out the number.”

- Thank fuck, AMPAS will no longer insist on 10 Best Picture nominees.

Tim Burton’s ‘Big Fish’ Coming to Broadway

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 05:04:00 -0700

Father issues and buckets of tears are soon coming to a Big Apple stage. Producers just announced that Big Fish, best known for its 2003 film adaptation directed by Tim Burton, will be turned into a Broadway musical with a book by John August, music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and director Susan Stroman. August wrote the screenplay for the Burton film based on the original novel by Daniel Wallace, Lippa did the music for The Addams Family musical and Stroman directed the most recent film version of Mel Brooks’ The Producers. Producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Oscar winners for American Beauty, hope to open the show on Broadway in the Spring of 2012.

The New York Times were among the first to report the story along with the following statements from the producer. Here’s Dan Jinks:

John August and Andrew Lippa have taken inspiration from Daniel Wallace’s book and Tim Burton’s movie and completely re-imagined this ambitious story for the stage. They have created a musical that is enormously entertaining, hilariously funny and spectacularly moving.

And here’s Bruce Cohen:

We are ecstatic to be working with this generation’s pre-eminent director/choreographer, launching Big Fish on the eve of her double Tony nominations for The Scottsboro Boys. Susan Stroman has the artistic vision and talent to bring this tale of reconciliation between a father and son to the stage.

The story of Big Fish is ripe for a musical adaptation. It’s about a man named Edward Bloom who all his life told incredibly vivid, imaginative, and fantastic stories about his life. Stories that his son, Will, never believed. Now that Edward is dying, Will goes back through his father’s past to figure out who he really was. In the film, Edward was played by both Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney while Will was played by Billy Crudup.

There’s so much that can be done with this story both visually and emotionally, plus the fact that August wrote the show with a whole new medium in mind is certainly promising. We’ll be keeping an eye on this one.

awards-season: First look at Edward Norton and Bill Murray on...

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 07:05:02 -0700

awards-season:

First look at Edward Norton and Bill Murray on the set of Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom”. [via]

Oh, yes please. Damn. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Sun, 29 May 2011 02:55:18 -0700

Oh, yes please. Damn. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

contrappunto: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher,...

Sat, 28 May 2011 18:49:30 -0700

contrappunto:

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher, 2011) - International Red Band Trailer

JUST FUCKING WOW

SERIOUSLY, FINCHER.

Yes please.

Thu, 26 May 2011 23:21:35 -0700

Yes please.

Trailer for The Descendants. I’m looking forward to this...

Thu, 26 May 2011 00:00:32 -0700

Trailer for The Descendants.

I’m looking forward to this film because I love Alexander Payne’s work, but if I didn’t know this was his film, I doubt I’d be interested based on this trailer.

Also, ok, brace yourself, this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever thought based on a 150 second trailer, but I don’t “get” George Clooney in this role…at all. I hear his voice now and my brain says, “Suits, business, flying, drinking scotch, hating children, chasing tail and one quote-unquote dramatic moment with some horses.” I didn’t realize I had any negative thoughts towards him until this trailer. This trailer has unlocked my Clooney Rage. This is bizarre and uncalled for. Surely my Clooney Rage would have come some time around Nipples On The Batsuit?

Terrence Malick made (almost) secret appearance at Cannes

Wed, 25 May 2011 23:23:00 -0700

In what may be the festival’s best-kept secret, famously shy director Terrence Malick made a surreptitious and ultra-brief appearance at the festival premiere of his new movie, The Tree of Life, Monday night. Even as they clapped and cheered, most of the audience had no clue he was there.

Media outlets reported him as a no-show at his own premiere after he didn’t attend a press conference earlier in the day. At the morning press conference, jounalists including Roger Ebert’s wife Chaz, grilled actors Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and the film producers about why Malick refused to come to Cannes and speak to reporters. But, apparently, festival officials knew he was in town, as did the key actors in the film. How they kept it under wraps when the festival is crawling with hundreds of journalists and paparrazzi is a minor miracle of camera-dodging. Maybe it’s hard to be spotted in a glittering crowd that includes Angelina Jolie, Mick Jagger, Sean Penn and Gwen Stefani, among other famous premiere guests.

After the film ended and the premiere audience engaged in a hearty ovation for his latest magnum opus, a moving odyssey through time and memory, the iconoclastic Malick slipped in quietly, having avoided the red carpet and somehow arranging for TV cameras to point away.

“I saw him before the film and he was really very upset because he didn’t want anyone to feel bad or be insulted, but he just couldn’t do it,” said Tree of Life star Jessica Chastain. “He’s incredibly shy and he doesn’t like being photographed. And on that red carpet, I felt like I was going to faint. It was so much coming at me.”

Chastain and co-star Pitt, as well as the film’s producers who were on hand for an earlier press confernce and on the red carpet, are amazingly protective of the director they so admire. They seem to take Malick’s feelings into account as if he were a rare and easily wounded creature. While touching and rather astounding to see the level of protective concern shown for the director they worked with for six years on Tree of Life, actors in previous films like The Thin Red Line also exhibited a similar protectiveness.

“I’m actually really glad he didn’t walk that carpet,’ said Chastain. “There’s so much energy, and it was beautiful and there’s a lot of support, but it’s a lot to feel.”

In the midst of the extended ovation in side the Palais’ Grand Theatre Lumiere, Malick surreptitously entered and was suddenly in the actors’ midst.

“Brad and I are standing there and everyone’s applauding, I looked over and in walked Terry,” said Chastain, her calm, measured voice rising excitedly. “I don’t think people realized it. The festival of course knew, but it was a last minute thing. And the camera kind of turned to the ground even though the premiere was being televised. There was nothing for like a minute on the screen and that’s because Terry came in. He stood there and everyone was clapping. The festival director was going ‘Yes!’ and throwing his arms up and trying to get everyone to recognize who Terry is. I came over and hugged Terry and Brad hugged Terry and Terry hugged his wife and it was a beautiful moment. It lasted like a minute and then he was gone.”

If a director pops into a crowded theater and draws no attention to himself, did it really happen?

I hate this poster, but so excited that it exists because I want...

Mon, 23 May 2011 20:04:14 -0700

I hate this poster, but so excited that it exists because I want this movie in my life pronto. There has been an Alexander Payne-shaped hole in my cinema life over the past several years.