2017 Golden Globe Award Nominations Announced

The Golden Globe Award is a movie accolade bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).  The award recognizes excellence in both film and television.  The annual awards ceremony is a major part of the film industry’s award season.

The 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards nominations were announced on Monday, December 12, 2016.  The 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Fallon, host of “The Tonight Show.”  The ceremony will air on Sunday, January 8, 2017 on NBC, beginning at 8:00 (EST) and 5:00 (PST).

2017 / 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards nominations:

Best Motion Picture – Drama:
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“Lion”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:
“20th Century Women”
“Deadpool”
“La La Land”
“Florence Foster Jenkins”
“Sing Street”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama:
Casey Affleck – “Manchester by the Sea”
Joel Edgerton – “Loving”
Andrew Garfield – “Hacksaw Ridge”
Viggo Mortensen –  “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington – “Fences”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama:
Amy Adams – “Arrival”
Jessica Chastain – “Miss Sloane”
Isabelle Huppert – “Elle”
Ruth Negga – “Loving”
Natalie Portman – “Jackie”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:
Colin Farrell – “The Lobster”
Ryan Gosling – “La La Land”
Hugh Grant – “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Jonah Hill – “War Dogs”
Ryan Reynolds – “Deadpool”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy:
Annette Bening – “20th Century Women”
Lily Collins – “Rules Don’t Apply”
Hailee Steinfeld – “The Edge of Seventeen”
Emma Stone – “La La Land”
Meryl Streep – “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:
Mahershala Ali – “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges – “Hell or High Water”
Simon Helberg – “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Dev Patel – “Lion”
Aaron Taylor-Johnson – “Nocturnal Animals”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:
Viola Davis – “Fences”
Naomie Harris – “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman – “Lion”
Octavia Spencer – “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams – “Manchester by the Sea”

Best Director – Motion Picture:
Damien Chazelle – “La La Land”
Tom Ford – “Nocturnal Animals”
Mel Gibson – “Hacksaw Ridge”
Barry Jenkins – “Moonlight”
Kenneth Lonergan – “Manchester by the Sea”

Best Screenplay:
“La La Land”
“Nocturnal Animals”
“Moonlight”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Hell or High Water”

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language:
“Divines” – France
“Elle” – France
“Neruda” – Chile
“The Salesman” – Iran/France
“Toni Erdmann” – Germany

Best Motion Picture – Animated:
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
“Moana”
“My Life as a Zucchini”
“Sing”
“Zootopia”

Best Original Song – Motion Picture:
“Can’t Stop the Feeling” – “Trolls”
“City of Stars” – “La La Land”
“Faith” – “Sing”
“Gold” – “Gold”
“How Far I’ll Go” – “Moana”

Best Original Score – Motion Picture:
Nicholas Britell– “Moonlight”
Justin Hurwitz – “La La Land”
Johann Johannsson – “Arrival”
Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka – “Lion”
Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, Benjamin Wallfisch – “Hidden Figures”

Best Television Series – Drama:
“The Crown”
“Game of Thrones”
“Stranger Things”
“This Is Us”
“Westworld”

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy:
“Atlanta”
“Black-ish”
“Mozart in the Jungle”
“Transparent”
“Veep”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama:
Rami Malek – “Mr. Robot”
Bob Odenkirk – “Better Call Saul”
Matthew Rhys – “The Americans”
Liev Schreiber – “Ray Donovan”
Billy Bob Thornton – “Goliath”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama:
Caitriona Balfe – “Outlander”
Claire Foy – “The Crown”
Keri Russell – “The Americans”
Winona Ryder – “Stranger Things”
Evan Rachel Wood – “Westworld”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy:
Anthony Anderson – “Black-ish”
Gael García Bernal – “Mozart in the Jungle”
Donald Glover – “Atlanta”
Nick Nolte – “Graves”
Jeffrey Tambor – “Transparent”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy:
Rachel Bloom – “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – “Veep”
Sarah Jessica Parker – “Divorce”
Issa Rae – “Insecure”
Gina Rodriguez – “Jane the Virgin”
Tracee Ellis Ross – “Black-ish”

Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:
“American Crime”
“The Dresser”
“The Night Manager”
“The Night Of”
“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:
Riz Ahmed – “The Night Of”
Bryan Cranston – “All The Way”
Tom Hiddleston – “The Night Manager”
John Turturro – “The Night Of”
Courtney B. Vance – “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:
Felicity Huffman – “American Crime”
Riley Keough – “The Girlfriend Experience”
Sarah Paulson – “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Charlotte Rampling – “London Spy”
Thandie Newton – “Westworld”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:
Olivia Colman – “The Night Manager”
Lena Headey – “Game Of Thrones”
Chrissy Metz – “This Is Us”
Mandy Moore – “This Is Us”
Kerry Washington – “Confirmation”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:
Sterling K. Brown – “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Hugh Laurie – “The Night Manager”
John Lithgow – “The Crown”
Christian Slater – “Mr. Robot”
John Travolta – “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”

CECIL B. DEMILLE AWARD: Meryl Streep

----------------------

2016 Critics' Choice Movie Awards Name "La La Land" Best Picture of 2016

The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada.  It represents almost 300 television, radio and online critics. For additional information about the BFCA and their memberships, visit www.criticschoice.com.

The winners of the 22nd Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards were revealed at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards on Sunday, December 11, 2016 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.  The award ceremony was hosted by T.J. Miller and aired on A&E.

The 22nd Annual Critics' Choice Movie Award winners (for the year in film, 2016):

BEST PICTURE
La La Land

BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea

BEST ACTRESS
Natalie Portman – Jackie

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali – Moonlight

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis – Fences

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Moonlight

BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle – La La Land

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Tie
Damien Chazelle – La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester by the Sea

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Heisserer – Arrival

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Linus Sandgren – La La Land

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
La La Land – David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco

BEST EDITING
Tom Cross – La La Land

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Madeline Fontaine – Jackie

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
Jackie

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Jungle Book

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Zootopia

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Hacksaw Ridge

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Margot Robbie – Suicide Squad

BEST COMEDY
Deadpool

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Meryl Streep – Florence Foster Jenkins

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
Arrival

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Elle (France, Germany, Belguim)

BEST SONG
City of Stars – La La Land

BEST SCORE
Justin Hurwitz – La La Land

-------------------

Paramount Pictures Announces Special Showing of "Florence Foster Jenkins"

GO BEHIND THE SCENES OF “FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS” WITH SPECIAL CURTAIN CALL SCREENINGS ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 11

THE EVENT WILL FEATURE A Q&A WITH STARS MERYL STREEP, HUGH GRANT AND SIMON HELBERG AND EXCLUSIVE BONUS FOOTAGE

HOLLYWOOD, CA – To celebrate the release of “FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS,” Paramount Pictures is taking audiences behind the scenes of the film with a one-night-only CURTAIN CALL event, a special 10-minute theatrical experience offered to ticketholders on Thursday, August 11, 2016.

The event features a Q&A taped exclusively for the Curtain Call with the film’s stars Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg on the making of the film, along with bonus behind-the-scenes footage. The Curtain Call screenings are playing in theaters nationwide as part of the regular admission for all showings of the film that evening.

Tickets are on sale online and at theater box offices. Please check local listings for showtimes.

Set in 1940s New York, “FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS,” from Paramount Pictures, Pathé and BBC Films, is the true story of the legendary New York heiress and socialite (Meryl Streep) who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great singer. The voice she heard in her head was beautiful, but to everyone else it was hilariously awful. Her “husband” and manager, St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant), an aristocratic English actor, was determined to protect his beloved Florence from the truth. But when Florence decided to give a public concert at Carnegie Hall, St. Clair knew he faced his greatest challenge. The film stars Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg, Rebecca Ferguson and Nina Arianda.

Produced by Michael Kuhn and Tracey Seaward. Written by Nicholas Martin. Directed by Stephen Frears. Executive Producers Cameron McCracken, Christine Langan and Malcolm Ritchie.

“FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS” is in theaters August 12, 2016.


About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Television, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

------------------

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 5th to 11th, 2016 - Update #50

Support Leroy on Patreon.

COMICS - From CinemaBlend:  Mark Ruffalo on the changing dynamic between Hulk and Bruce Banner in "Thor: Ragnarok" (Thor 3).

---------------
COMICS - From JustJared:  Set photos from "Wolverine" with bearded Hugh Jackman.

---------------
OBIT/MUSIC - From YahooMusic:  22-year-old Christina Grimmie, who finished third on NBC's singing competition, "The Voice" (in 2014), was shot and killed at a concert venue in Orlando, Florida, Friday, June 10, 2016.

From YahooNews:  Christina Grimmie's killer has been identified.

---------------
MOVIES - From THR:  Mel Gibson and writer Randall Wallace are working on a sequel to "The Passion of the Christ."

---------------
SPORTS/CRIME - From YahooNews:  Stanford rapist, Brock Turner, banned for life by USA Swimming.  A competitive swimmer for Stanford, Turner had apparently planned on competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic swimming team.

From YahooNews:  Rape friendly judge, Aaron Persky, also was a student-athlete at Stanford - just like Brock Turner to whom Persky gave a slap-on-the-pinky sentence for sexual assault.

From YahooNews:  Some jurors have refused to serve Judge Aaron Persky.

---------------
SPORTS - From YahooSports:  Trying to be one of the guys, Tampa Bay Rays and Orlando Magic sideline reporter, Emily Austen, dropped some racist comments.  It cost her her job.

---------------
MOVIES - From Variety:  Angelina Jolie interested in "Murder on the Orient Express" remake.

-------------
COMICS - From CinemaBlend:  Sharon Stone drops more clues about her upcoming role in a Marvel movie.

---------------
JAMES BOND - From Forbes:  Will Warner Bros. end up as the new distributor of James Bond films, with Christopher Nolan directing at least one Bond feature?

--------------
OBITS - From YahooSports:  Legendary professional hockey player, Gordie Howe, "Mr. Hockey," has died at the age of 88, Friday, June 10, 2016.  Howe played 26 years in the NHL and six in the WHL.  He won four Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings.

From YahooSports: World reacts to the death of Gordie Howe.

---------------
HARRY POTTER - From Deadline:  Here is a review of the first preview performance of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."

---------------
MOVIES - From Deadline:  Universal is making a film adaptation of "Battlestar Galactica," apparently the original 1978 version (and not the 2003-reboot).  Director Francis Lawrence is reportedly interested in helming the film.

---------------
MOVIES - From Variety:  Jennifer Lawrence joins director Adam McKay (The Big Short) for a drama.

---------------
CRIME - From BuzzFeed:  The Stanford rape victim's releases her "Victim Impact Statement."

---------------
BLACK LIVES MATTER - From RSN:  Black Lives Matter activist, Jazmine Richards, jailed.

---------------
POLITICS - From YahooNews:  Barack Obama endorses Hillary Clinton.

---------------
COMICS - From THR:  Michael B. Jordan seems to confirm that he will be in Marvel's "Black Panther."

---------------
MOVIES - From ScreenRant:  Word on the cinematic streets is that Chris Nolan will crash a vintage WWII plane during the filming of "Dunkirk."

--------------
MOVIES - From Deadline:  Ron Howard and Brian Grazer are working on an adaptation of the science fiction novel, "Seveneves," for Skydance.

---------------
PIXAR - From YahooMovies:  More new clips from "Finding Dory."

---------------
COMICS - From YahooMovies:  Oscar-winner actor, J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) has gotten buffed and shredded for his role in the "Justice League" movie.

---------------
COMICS - From TheWrap:  Warner Bros.' "Suicide Squad" movie earns a rating of PG-13.

---------------
BOX OFFICE - From FlickeringMyth:  "Warcraft" opens huge in China, and passes $100 million worldwide.

---------------
COMICS - From Deadline:  Sacha Baron Cohen is apparently interested in playing the lead role in a film adaptation of the newspaper comic strip, "Mandrake the Magician."

---------------
ECO - From Truthout:  Two actors associated with the "Star Trek," James Cromwell and John "J.G." Hertzler, are arrested for an anti-fossil fuel protest.

----------------
COMICS - From YahooFinance:  Are high-value comic books a better investment than the stock market?

---------------
MOVIES - From TheGuardian:  Tom Hiddleston said he doubts that he will succeed Daniel Craig as James Bond.

---------------
MOVIES - From CinemaBlend:  Eddie Murphy and Brett Ratner teaming up for Netflix mockumentary.

---------------
COMICS - From CinemaBlend:  The title of the third Wolverine movie, which is supposed to be the last time Hugh Jacksman plays the characters, is rumored to be titled "Weapon X."

---------------
MOVIES - From YahooCelebrity:  Meryl Streep lathers her face in orange, wears a fat suit with a ridiculously long tie and lampoon Donald Trump.

---------------
SPORTS/OBITS: - From ESPN:   MMA (mixed martial arts) sensation and legend, Kimbo Slice, has died at the age of 42, Monday, June 6, 2016.

---------------
MOVIES - From Deadline:  John Boyega is the lead in the "Pacific Rim" sequel.

---------------
COMICS - From Deadline:  The fall-scheduled "Reborn" comic book might be the next hot Hollywood property from comic book writer, Mark Millar.

---------------
MOVIES - From YahooTech:  Vin Diesel shows off cast photo from "Fast 8."

---------------
CRIME - From YahooStyle:  Stanford rapist, Brock Turner, is at the head of a truly awful case.  He gets off with a slap on the pinky.

---------------
MUSIC - From YahooMusic:  ABBA performs together on stage for the first time in 30 years.

---------------
TELEVISION - From YahooFinance:  John Oliver, host of "Last Week Tonight," buys about $15 million dollars of medical debt from besieged people.

---------------
AWARDS - From YahooMovies:  At the 10th Spike TV Guy's Choice Awards, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck tease their bromance.

---------------
BOX OFFICE - BoxOfficedMojo:  The winner at the 6/3 to 6/5/2016 weekend box office is "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" with an estimated take of $35.25 million.

---------------
BOOKS - From Truthout:  The beloved lesbian vampire returns in a new printing of "The Gilda Stories.

---------------
STAR TREK - From ScreenRant:   The CBS "Star Trek" revival adds familiar Trek scribes to its writing staff.

---------------
HARRY POTTER:  From People:  J.K. Rowling does not care what the racists thinks.  She gives her blessing to actress Noma Dumezweni, who is black, playing a grown up Hermoine Granger in the play, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."

---------------
Muhammad Ali:

From Wikipedia:  Muhammad Ali's page.

From RSN:  Thousands mourn Ali.

From YahooSports:  Live streaming and memorable moments from Muhammad Ali's funeral.

From YahooSports:  Louisville mourns its native son, Muhammad Ali.

From YahooSports:  Ali to be honored at a public funeral on Friday, June 10, 2016.

From TheNewYorker:  David Remnick on the outsized life of Ali.

From YahooSports:  The "Ali Summit" (in which Ali announced that he would not serve in the Vietnam War) was a transformational moment in U.S. history.

From Variety:  Celebrities and athletes pay tribe to Ali.

From CBB:  Johnny Bullet webcomic offers an extra episode honoring Muhammad Ali.

From RollingStone:  The legacy of Muhammad Ali and his enemies.

From LATimes:  There will never be another Muhammad Ali.

From RSN:  Ali's biggest win - in the Supreme Court.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from April 24th to 30th, 2016 - Updated #33

Support Leroy on Patreon.

COMICS - From CBR:   See Batman's costume redesign for the comic books.

---------------
MOVIES - From TheWrap:  Director Seth Grahame-Smith has left Warner Bros.'s film, "The Flash," over "creative differences."

---------------
MOVIES - From DarkHorizons:  After nearly killing their lead in a stupid stunt, Fox puts the final "Maze Runner" film, "The Death Cure" on indefinite hold.

----------------
MOVIES - From Variety:  Will Ferrell backs out of playing Reagan.

---------------
TELEVISION - From Variety:  John Krasinski will play the lead in Amazon's "Jack Ryan" series.

---------------
ECO - From RSN:  Bianca Jagger asks, Will the Paris Climate agreement deliver?

---------------
ANIMATION - From Variety:  NBCUniversal to acquire DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion. Chris Meledandri, head of Universal’s Illumination Entertainment animation wing, will oversee operations, but the DreamWorks Animation brand will remain intact as an imprint.

From Variety:  Also, is Chris Meledandri the new John Lasseter (the co-founder of Pixar)?

---------------
MOVIES/BOOKS - From TheTrackingBoard:  People fight over publishing and film rights for a YA book , The Final Six, that hasn't even been written.

---------------
MOVIES - From Collider:  New images from "Alien: Covenant" (Alien 5), which has supposedly started filming.

---------------
COMICS - From TheWrap:  Stephen Merchant joins "Wolverine 3.

----------------
MOVIES - From YahooMovies:  Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) will replace Angelina Jolie as "Lara Croft" in the Tomb Raider film series reboot.

---------------
BLACK LIVES MATTER - From BuzzFlash:  The history of racism and slavery in Washington D.C.

---------------
MOVIES - From Variety:  Will Ferrell to play Ronald Reagan.

---------------
COMICS - From YahooMovies:  Marvel Studios releases a statement defending the casting of Tilda Swinton as "The Ancient One" in "Doctor Strange."  The character was originally a Tibetan-type.  The casting does not bother me.  I'm all for color-blind casting, especially when it's that fine-ass Tilda Swinton.

---------------
MUSIC - From YahooNews:  Laolu Senbanjo, the Nigerian artist who did the body art in Beyonce's new visual album, talks.

---------------
COMICS - From YahooMovies:  Spider-Man takes on The Winter Soldier in new "Captain America: Civil War" clip (#10).

--------------
COMICS - From BleedingCool:  The sexual harassment spotlight on DC Comics/Entertainment continues to grow.

---------------
MOVIES - From Variety:  Our Star wars heroine, Daisy Ridley, to star in a Holocaust drama, "The Lost Wife."

---------------
MOVIES - From CinemaBlend:  Some concept art from "Alien: Covenant" (or Alien 5) reveal the return of a fan favorite character.

---------------
MOVIES - From CinemaBlend:  This deleted scene from "A Nightmare on Elm Street" changes the story.

MOVIES - From CinemaBlend:  Wesley Snipes sighs a two-picture deal with WWE Studios.

---------------
TELEVISION - From TVLine:  See the 200+ crazy cast from the "Twin Peaks" revival.

---------------
MUSIC - From Vulture:  "Lemonade" shows Beyonce the "brilliant filmmaker."

--------------
COMICS - From Vulture:  Nathan Fillion has been cast as "Simon Williams" (sometimes known as "
Wonder Man") in "Guardians of the Galaxy 2."

---------------
BLACK LIVES MATTER - From YahooNews:  Cleveland settles a lawsuit brought against the city by the family of Tamir Rice, a minor killed by city police officers.

---------------
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 4/22 to 4/24/2016 weekend box office is "Jungle Book" with an estimated take of $60.8 million.

---------------
LGBT - From NYTimes:  Finding love again, this time with a man - Former Senator Harris Wofford.

---------------
TELEVISION - From TheWrap:  A catch-up guide to "Game of Thrones."

---------------
MUSIC - From ABCNews:  Beyonce has released a new album, "Lemonade," available for streaming on Tidal.

---------------
COMICS - From BleedingCool:  Rich Johnston knew it - Marvel's proposed Inhumans movie was destined to be done away with.

---------------
ECO - From EcoWatch:  Leonardo DiCaprio on the Paris Agreement.

---------------

TRAILER:

From YouTube:  The final trailer for "X-Men Apocalypse."

From YouTube:  A making of featurette concerning Stephen Frears upcoming "Florence Foster Jenkins" starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites for the Week of April 19th to 25th, 2015 - Update #20

NEWS:

From TheVulture:  There will be an eighth film in the "Fast & Furious" franchise.

-------------
From SlashFilm:  Denzel Washington's The Equalizer is getting a sequel.

--------------
From YahooMovies:  First photos from Point Break remake.

--------------
From io9:  New "Star Trek" movie may be titled, "Star Trek Beyond."

--------------
From TheWrap:  Emma Stone and Steve Carell will play Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in a movie about their (in)famous tennis match.

---------------
From Variety:  Meryl Streep has funded a screenwriting lab for women writers over 40.

----------------
From Variety:  For the third weekend in a row, Furious 7, wins the weekend box office.  The seventh entry in the "Fast & Furious" franchise earned an estimated $29.1 million to top the April 17th to 19th, 2015 weekend.

-----------------
From TheWrap:  John Ridley won an Oscar for writing 12 Years a Slave and is the creator of the acclaimed ABC series, "American Crime."  Now, he's developing an unnamed Marvel Comics series for ABC.

From TVGuide:  So what is John Ridley working on for Marvel?  Here's some speculation.
-----------------


COMICS:

From THR:  Jared Leto's Joker revealed - with tattoos and metal.

----------------
From CinemaBlend:  Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the hot dudes behind the 21 Jump Street movies and The LEGO Movie, are working on an animated Spider-Man film - reported CinemaCon.

----------------
From CinemaBlend:  The search for the next Spider-Man is reportedly down to 5 actors.

----------------
From YahooMovies:  Joss Whedon praises Edgar Wright's "Ant-Man" screenplay.

-----------------
From BleedingCool:   Sony email links may have spurred on Spider-Man's inclusion in "Captain America 3."


----------------
From NerdReactor:  New Fantastic Four trailer, now with more Doctor Doom.

-----------------
From NerdReactor:  No post-credits seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron... hmm.

-----------------
From YahooTV:  Stan Lee throws some shade at DC Comics movies.

------------------
From YouTube:  "Batman v. Superman" trailer.


STAR WARS:

From CheatSheet:  How to get your Star Wars fix before "The Force Awakens."

------------------
From Variety:  The plot of "Star Wars: Rogue One" will apparently focus on a plot to steal the secrets of the Death Star.


TRAILERS:

From YouTube:  20th Century Fox debuts in the new Fantastic Four trailer.


OBITS:

From YahooTV:  The actor Sawyer Sweeten has died.  Sawyer and his twin brother, Sullivan, starred on "Everybody Loves Raymond."  Sawyer played one of the twin brothers, Geoffrey Barone.  Sullivan played Michael.  They were Ray Barone's twin boys.  Sullivan died of a suspected suicide on Thursday, April 23, 2015.

------------------
From the HollywoodReporter:  The actor Ben Powers died April 6, 2015.  Powers, who was 64, played Keith Anderson, the husband of Thelma, on "Good Times," during the show's final season.

-----------------
From Variety:  The actor,  Jonathan Crombie, died at the age of 48 on Wednesday, April 15, 2015.  He was known for his role on the Canadian "Anne of Green Gables" miniseries, which was first broadcast in the United States in 1986.

Patricia Arquette Wins Best Supporting Actress Oscar

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood” WINNER

Laura Dern in “Wild”
Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”

Oprah Winfey, Benedict Cumberbatch Among Oscar Nominee Presenters at 87th Oscars

Oscar® Nominees Cotillard, Cumberbatch, Streep, Winfrey And Witherspoon To Present At 87th Oscars®

Oscar® nominees Marion Cotillard, Benedict Cumberbatch, Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon will be presenters at this year’s Oscars®, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today. The Oscars, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will air on Sunday, February 22, 2015 live on ABC.

Cotillard is nominated for Actress in a Leading Role for “Two Days, One Night.” She previously won an Oscar in this category for the 2007 film “La Vie en Rose.”

Cumberbatch is nominated for Actor in a Leading Role for “The Imitation Game.”

Streep earned a record 19th acting nomination this year for her supporting role in “Into the Woods.” She previously took home Oscars for her lead performances in “Sophie’s Choice” (1982) and “The Iron Lady” (2011), and her supporting performance in “Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979). Streep’s previous Best Actress nominations were for “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” (1981), “Silkwood” (1983), “Out of Africa” (1985), “Ironweed” (1987), “A Cry in the Dark” (1988), “Postcards from the Edge” (1990), “The Bridges of Madison County” (1995), “One True Thing” (1998), “Music of the Heart” (1999), “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006), “Doubt” (2008), “Julie & Julia” (2009) and “August: Osage County” (2013). She also received Best Supporting Actress nominations for “The Deer Hunter” (1978) and “Adaptation” (2002).

Winfrey is nominated for Best Picture as one of the producers of “Selma.” She was previously nominated for Actress in a Supporting Role for “The Color Purple” (1985). She received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2011.

Witherspoon is nominated for Actress in a Leading Role for “Wild.” She previously won an Oscar in this category for the 2005 movie “Walk the Line.”

The 87th Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscars, produced by Zadan and Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites: June 15 to June 21, 2014 - Updated #6

NEWS:

From The Wrap:  Meryl Streep makes a move to television as she will play opera legend Maria Callas in a television film for HBO.  Director Mike Nichols is adapting the Broadway play, "Master Class," which tells the story of Callas' life.

--------------------

From Variety: The next "Bourne" movie, starring Jeremy Renner, has been moved from August 14, 2015 to July 15, 2016,  That film will ostensibly be a sequel to the Renner-starring The Bourne Legacy.

---------------------

From Variety:  Apparently the F. Gary Gray N.W.A. biopic will take Bourne's August 2015 release date.

From Cinema Blend:  Speaking of the N.W.A. biopic, the film reportedly has its actors to play the lead characters, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, and Dr. Dre.  O'Shea Jackson, Jr. will apparently play his father, Ice Cube, whose birth name is O'Shea Jackson.  At one point, Michael B. Jordan was eyed to play Cube, but his role in the Fantastic Four reboot may have squashed that.

---------------------

From Yahoo:  John Cusack and Adrien Brody join Jackie Chan in the Chinese-language film, "Dragon Blade."  It looks to be the most expensive Chinese-language made to date at $65 million.

---------------------


COMIC BOOK MOVIES:

From Marvel:  Rosario Dawson joins Marvel's Netflix series, "Daredevil," which is scheduled to debut in early 2015.

--------------------

From The Wrap:  Jon Spaihts who wrote Ridley Scott's Prometheus is apparently writing Marvel Studios' planned "Doctor Strange," movie, which would be based on the surgeon turned Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange a/k/a/ Doctor Strange.  Scott Derrickson, who directed the low-budget hit horror film, Sinister, is apparently directing the film.  Jared Leto and Benedict Cumberbatch are the top choices to play Strange.

--------------------

From Yahoo Celebrity: Ben Affleck buffs up for Batman role in Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.


---------------------

STAR WARS News:

From Yahoo:  Harrison Ford broke his leg, not his ankle.

---------------------

From Heat Celeb News:  More on Harrison Ford's injury on the set of Star Wars Episode VII.

---------------------

From GoSanAngelo:  Here is an interesting article about fans who spend much money and time to build their own Star Wars droids.  There is even a club, Astromech.net.

---------------------


MISC:

Surprising article from a few years ago:  I was a drunk teenaged wizard.

---------------------

From Yahoo: In this installment of Hollywood Time Capsule, the 1999 flick, Wild Wild West, gets a look-back via Entertainment Weekly.

----------------------


OBITS:

From the New York Times and Indiewire: Casey Kasem, the famous American disc jockey, radio personality, and voice actor, died Sunday, June 15, 2014.  He was 82-years-old.  Kasem was born Kemal Amen Kasem in Detroit on April 27, 1932 to Lebanese immigrant parents.

I remember Kasem for several reasons.  First of all, I was a big fan of his syndicated radio show, "America's Top 40." Beginning in 1970 and continuing for 24 years, Kasem played the top forty songs on Billboard magazine's weekly "Hot 100" singles chart.  There was also a syndicated television version of the show in the 1980s that showed the music videos for the top ten songs of the week on the "Hot 100" singles chart, and sometimes for songs on Billboard's other singles chart.

But I most treasure and love Casey Kasem as the voice of cartoon character, Norville "Shaggy" Rodgers, beginning with the animated series, "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" (1969) and continuing until 1997.  He also provided the voice of Robin on "Super Friends" and Alexander on "Josie and the Pussycats."

Negromancer sends condolences to Casey Kasem's family and friends.  R.I.P. Shaggy.

-------------------------

From Yahoo Sports:  Former Major League Baseball player, Tony Gwynn, died today, Monday, June 16, 2014 at the age of 54.  He was one of the greatest hitters in the history of Major League Baseball and the greatest pure hitter of his generation.  He played with the San Diego Padres for 20 years (his entire career) and was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007.  He was named on 532 of 545 Hall of Fame voting ballots, for one of the highest percentages ever, 97.61.  Negromancer sends its condolences to Tony Gwynn's family, friends, colleagues, and teammates.  R.I.P. slugger.

--------------------------

From the New York Times and Yahoo Sports:  I think I've stated before that the Pittsburgh Steelers are my favorite NFL team.  Well, I was saddened to learn that beloved head Coach Chuck Noll died Friday night, June 13, 2013.  Charles Henry Noll was born on January 5, 1932.  He was 82-year-old.

Noll built the "Steel Curtain" Steelers of the 1970s, one of the most dominant teams in NFL history.  The Steelers won the Super Bowls in the 1974, 1975, 1978, and 1979 seasons.  They were the first team to win four Super Bowls.  Noll coached the Steelers from 1969 to 1991 and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, his first year of eligibility.

Rest in peace, Coach.  Negromancer offers condolences to Chuck Noll's family and friends.

Cate Blanchett Wins 2014 "Best Actress" Oscar

Performance by an actress in a leading role:

 Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine” WINNER

Nominees:
Amy Adams in “American Hustle”
Sandra Bullock in “Gravity”
Judi Dench in “Philomena”
Meryl Streep in “August: Osage County”

Nevada Film Critics Choose "12 Years a Slave"

The Nevada Film Critics Society (NFCS) is apparently a society of film critics who reside in Nevada and produce film reviews for print, broadcast, radio, and online.

The Nevada Film Critics Society's 2013 Awards for Achievement in Film:

Best Film - 12 Years A Slave

Best Actor - Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Actress - Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

Best Supporting Actor - Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Supporting Actress - Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)

Best Youth Performance - Sophie Nelisse (The Book Thief)

Best Director - Alfonso Cauron (Gravity)

Best Ensemble Cast - August: Osage County

Best Animated Movie – Frozen

Best Production Design - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Best Cinematography - Gravity

Best Visual Effects – Gravity

--------------------------------------------


http://nevadafilmcriticssociety.org/

Oscar Nominees Luncheon is Today

Oscar® Nominees to be Honored at Academy Luncheon

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — More than 150 Oscar® nominees will come together at noon on Monday, February 10, at the Beverly Hilton when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors this year’s Oscar contenders at its annual Nominees Luncheon.

Among the Lead Actor and Actress nominees, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matthew McConaughey and Meryl Streep are expected to attend the pre-Oscars® event. Supporting Actor and Actress nominees Barkhad Abdi, Bradley Cooper, Jonah Hill, Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong'o, Julia Roberts and June Squibb also will join in the celebratory lunch.

All five nominees in the Directing category, Alfonso Cuarón, Steve McQueen, Alexander Payne, David O. Russell and Martin Scorsese, are expected to attend as well.

Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Review: "The Ant Bully" is Impressive (Happy B'day, Nicolas Cage)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Ant Bully (2006) – computer animation
Running time:  89 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some mild rude humor and action
DIRECTOR:  John A. Davis
WRITER:  John A. Davis (based upon the John Nickle)
PRODUCERS:  Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, and John A. Davis
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Ken Mitchroney (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Jon Price
COMPOSER:  John Debney

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  (voices) Zach Tyler Eisen, Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Paul Giamatti, Regina King, Bruce Campbell, Lily Tomlin, Cheri Oteri, Larry Miller, Allison Mack, Ricardo Montalban, and Myles Jeffrey

The subject of this movie review is The Ant Bully, a 2006 computer-animated fantasy film  from director John A Davis.  The movie is a joint venture from Warner Bros. Animation, Legendary Pictures, DNA Productions and Playtone, which is the production company owned by partners, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.  The movie is based on The Ant Bully, a 1999 children’s picture book written and drawn by John Nickle.  The Ant Bully the film focuses on a boy who terrifies an ant colony and then finds himself magically shrunken down to insect size and sentenced to hard labor.

Ten-year old Lucas Nickle (Zach Tyler Eisen) doesn’t have any friends, and he’s always the target of the neighborhood bully, Steve (Myles Jeffrey), and his gang.  His sister, Tiffany (Allison Mack) mostly ignores him.  His father, Fred (Larry Miller), is too busy planning his wedding anniversary trip to Puerto Vallarta, and his grandmother, Mommo (Lily Tomlin), is just plain weird.  However, Lucas finds his mother, Doreen (Cheri Oteri), to be a bit overbearing, and he hates that she calls him “Peanut.”

Lucas takes his frustrations out on the anthill in his front yard – tormenting the ants by frequently flooding their territory.  Lucas thinks of them as “just a bunch of stupid ants,” but he doesn’t know that the anthill is a complex society, in which the members of that colony have names, relationships, emotions, and responsibilities.  They decide to fight back against Lucas – the one they know as the “Destroyer,” so Zoc (Nicolas Cage), a wizard ant, concocts a potion to take care of the Destroyer.  After the ants pour the magic elixir down his ear, Lucas shrinks down to their size, and the ants promptly take him to stand trial for “crimes against the colony.”

The wise Ant Queen (Meryl Streep) sentences Lucas to live amongst the ants and learn their ways so that he can become an ant.  Zoc’s girlfriend, Hova (Julia Roberts), a nurse ant, volunteers to mentor the miniaturized Lucas, much to Zoc’s chagrin.  With the help of Kreela (Regina King), a forager ant, and Fugax (Bruce Campbell), a scout ant, Hova helps the reluctant Lucas fit into the colony.  Lucas’ skills and new friendships are tested when he and the ants must have to take on Stan Beals (Paul Giamatti), a local exterminator, in an epic air battle over the Nickles’ front lawn.

There were so many computer-animated movies that received a wide theatrical release in 2006 that some were bound to get lost in the shuffle.  One of the lost was The Ant Bully, an excellent talking animal fable produced by actor Tom Hanks’ production company (Playtone) and the computer animation studio behind Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, DNA Productions.  Written for the screen and directed by the creator of Jimmy Neutron, John A. Davis, The Ant Bully is several times better than Jimmy Neutron, in terms of story, voice acting, and animation.

Adapting John Nickle’s book, Davis wrote a traditional animal fable that teaches a lesson or makes a moral point, but is not didactic or overbearing.  Davis simply uses comedy, adventure, action, dramatic conflict, and obstacles to make a point that a group of individuals with different skills can work together and make the whole better.  However, to take Davis’ film as saying that the group is good and the individual is bad would be a poor misreading.

The voice performances are quite good.  For all the star power the voice cast has, what stars like Julia Roberts and Nicolas Cage do is bring color and character to the parts the play.  Zach Tyler Eisen simply brings Lucas Nickle to life.  Lucas’ troubles fitting in, his stubbornness, and his struggle to break away from mommy all seem genuine.  Even Regina King, Bruce Campbell, Lily Tomlin manage to add much comic flavor to the film via their supporting roles.

At first, The Ant Bully’s animation seems to make every thing look plastic and fake, but perhaps, the eyes need time to adjust.  The film is imaginative in concept and design – especially in building a world of outsized and giant sets for tiny beings.  Everything has texture and surface quality to it.  The exoskeletons of the ants and wasps actually look solid; it’s as if the eyes are actually touching the surfaces to verify what is genuine.  The character movement is good, and jumps up to wonderful and superb during all the big action set pieces – especially during the air battle at the end.

Fans of computer animation and also families that want to share a movie with a good message absolutely won’t go wrong with The Ant Bully.  We follow Lucas down into the anthill where awaits a world of wonder and magical animal creatures that dazzle the eyes and sometimes blow the mind.  And the movie’s pretty funny, too.

8 of 10
A

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Updated:  Tuesday, January 07, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "The Manchurian Candidate" Remake a Missed Oppurtunity

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 166 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Running time: 130 minutes (2 hours, 10 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence and some language
DIRECTOR:  Jonathan Demme
WRITERS:  Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris (based upon the film screenplay by George Axelrod and based upon a novel by Richard Condon)
PRODUCERS:  Tina Sinatra, Scott Rudin, Jonathan Demme, and Ilona Herzberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tak Fujimoto, ASC
EDITORS:  Carol Littleton, A.C.E. and Craig McKay, A.C.E.
COMPOSER:  Rachel Portman
BAFTA Award nominee

DRAMA/THRILLER with elements of mystery and science fiction

Starring:  Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, Jon Voight, Kimberly Elise, Jeffrey Wright, Ted Levine, Anthony Mackie, Bruno Ganz, Simon McBurney, Al Franken, and Miguel Ferrer

The subject of this movie review is The Manchurian Candidate, a 2004 thriller and drama film from director Jonathan Demme.  The film is an adaptation of the 1959 novel, The Manchurian Candidate, from author Richard Condon.  It is also a re-imagining of director John Frankenheimer’s 1962 film adaptation of the book.  In the 2004 film, a war veteran begins to believe that during the Gulf War, soldiers in his U.S. Army unit were kidnapped and brainwashed for sinister purposes.

If you’re going to remake a great movie, you should try to make the new movie also be a great film, or at the very least try to make it a…very good film.  The Manchurian Candidate, Jonathan Demme's (The Silence of the Lambs) update of the Frank Sinatra classic of the same title, which was directed by John Frankenheimer, is neither great nor very good.  It’s the worst thing one could get from the esteemed filmmakers involved in the project, all of whom have glowing resumes.  The new The Manchurian Candidate is a flat out average film that’s barely worth an exciting trip to the video store.

In the original 1962 film, the Manchurian Candidate was a sleeper agent/assassin trained by the Red Chinese.  In the new film, the sleeper agent is Raymond Prentiss Shaw (Liev Schreiber).  Raymond Shaw is the subject of a mind control project by Manchurian Global, a huge conglomerate with its hands in everything from providing services to the military to funding political campaigns and owning politicians.  With the help of their political cronies and Raymond’s mother, Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw (Meryl Streep), Raymond, a young Congressman from New York, is made the Vice-Presidential nominee on the opposition (likely the Democrats, but not directly named) party’s ticket in the upcoming presidential race.

Raymond had once been Sergeant Raymond Shaw back in 1991 during Operation Desert Shield just before it became Operation Desert Storm.  He answered to U.S. Army Major Bennett Marco (Denzel Washington).  Washington, Shaw, and the rest of their platoon were ambushed in Iraq, but all they remember about the incident is that Shaw single-handedly saved the lives of the entire platoon (except for two men who were killed during the attack) after Major Marco had been knocked unconscious.

However, Ben Marco runs into another platoon buddy, Corporal Al Melvin (Jeffrey Wright), after a Boy Scout assembly where Marco recounts Shaw’s heroism.  Melvin is disheveled, and he tells Marco a fantastic tale of strange dreams he’s been having about their platoon being kidnapped and experimented on after they were ambushed.  Melvin’s story contradicts the official version of what happened in Kuwait, the one that made Shaw a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.  Although, Marco is uncomfortable with Melvin’s tale, he knows there is a ring of truth to it because he also has never been comfortable with the official version of the ambush and their rescue.  He thinks someone was inside his head after his platoon was ambushed, and he wonders if the same thing happened to Shaw.  Marco must find out, and he’s running out because the nation just may be voting for a man whose mind is controlled by sinister forces.

It’s supposedly not always fair to compare the new version of something to the old, but it happens anyway.  Nearly everything that made the classic black and white The Manchurian Candidate an unusually creepy and unique suspense thriller is present in the 2004 version, but the filmmakers have taken the characters, plot, and settings (Korea becomes the Persian Gulf in the new film) and made a flat thriller, in which the thrills only occasionally register.  The surprises are mild, and while the changes made for the new film seem like novel ideas, the filmmakers don’t get much heat from them.

I blame everybody.  Denzel Washington’s performance is either phoned in or overwrought, but it’s his worst in a long time.  Meryl Streep tries to get traction from her evil character, but it’s a performance wasted on an all-too-phony character; besides, Ms. Streep just can’t replace Angela Landsbury’s mega evil mom from the original.  I place the most blame on director Jonathan Demme.  Back in the 1980’s, his novel spin on pedestrian film stories and his quirky characters were stunningly refreshing.  He hit the big time with the hugely entertaining and very well done The Silence of the Lambs, but since then, he has become a big time Hollywood player making mediocre films.  He continues that trend with The Manchurian Candidate.

Early Internet rumor mongering about The Manchurian Candidate described this film as a hot political potato that took sharp swipes at President Hand Puppet and his administration, swipes that would draw blood like Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 did, but no such luck.  You wouldn’t miss much if you waited for this to appear on TV – basic cable TV.

4 of 10
C

NOTE:
2005 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Meryl Streep)

2005 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Meryl Streep)

2005 Black Reel Awards:  2 nominations:  “Best Supporting Actor” (Jeffrey Wright) and “Best Supporting Actress” (Kimberly Elise)

Updated:  Sunday, November 10, 2013


The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: Streep, Jones Give "Hope Springs" Some Bounce

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 99 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


Hopes Springs (2012)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic content involving sexuality
DIRECTOR: David Frankel
WRITER: Vanessa Taylor
PRODUCERS: Todd Black and Guymon Casady
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Florian Ballhaus
EDITORS: Matt Maddox and Steven Weisberg
COMPOSER: Theodore Shapiro
Golden Globe nominee

COMEDY

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, Jean Smart, Ben Rappaport, Marin Ireland, Patch Darragh, Brett Rice, Elisabeth Shue, and Mimi Rogers

Hope Springs is a 2012 romantic comedy-drama from director David Frankel. The film focuses on a married couple in therapy.

Kay (Meryl Streep) and Arnold Soames (Tommy Lee Jones) have been married for thirty-one years. Kay believes that they are in need of help to put the spark back in their marriage. She enrolls them in an intense, week-long counseling session with Dr. Bernard Feld (Steve Carell). The couple travels to a coastal resort town in Maine where Feld’s Center for Intensive Couples Counseling is located. But Arnold isn’t cooperative, and Kay learns that the couple’s problems aren’t necessarily one-sided.

Hope Springs is interesting simply because it is a romance about old people will to talk about their lusts and sexual fantasies, or at least struggle with the implications of denying them. Heck, any movie in which Tommy Lee Jones plays a character who admits how much he wants oral sex from his wife is worth watching. Seriously, folks: there is some fine acting here. Streep and Jones create a couple in a deep rut so convincingly that I found myself feeling really sorry for them. Without being explicit, both actors construct sex scenes that are as raw and intimate as they are clumsy and forlorn. Yeah, I was invested in the Soames’ working out their marital issues.

Unfortunately, Steve Carell is reduced to being basically a talking head, although I strangely found him believable as a marriage counselor or therapist. His character always felt restrained, as if Carell was fighting to break free of some invisible bonds forced on him by the narrative. For what little he does, any good actor without Carell’s fame could have delivered the same performance Carell does.

Also, this film has a terrible soundtrack; it almost ruins the movie.

Still, I recommend this film to fans of Streep and Jones. Honestly, you won’t find acting this good, in which both characters have this level of depth, in many romance films. Hope springs that there are more movies like Hope Springs... but with a better soundtrack.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2013 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Meryl Streep)

Review: "Lions for Lambs" is a Political Film That Roars (Happy 50th B'day, Tom Cruise)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

Lions for Lambs (2007)
Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – R for some war violence and language
DIRECTOR: Robert Redford
WRITER: Matthew Michael Carnahan
PRODUCERS: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tracy Falco, Andrew Hauptman, and Robert Redford
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Philippe Rousselot (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Joe Hutshing

DRAMA/WAR

Starring: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Michael Peña, Andrew Garfield, Peter Berg, Kevin Dunn, and Derek Luke

Lions for Lambs is a 2007 drama from director Robert Redford. The film stars Redford, Meryl Streep, and Tom Cruise in a story that connects the actions of a veteran television reporter, a powerful U.S. Republican senator, a college professor, and a stranded platoon of soldiers trapped in Afghanistan.

Tom Cruise re-launched United Artists as viable movie studio with Lions for Lambs, the Robert Redford-helmed look at America's “War on Terror.” Using a complex three-pronged narrative, Redford (who also stars in this film) connects the lives of the movie’s characters by politics and bloodshed. While a young, but powerful Washington senator goes toe to toe with a reporter, who on the down side of her career, on the issue of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, an idealistic professor and Vietnam veteran tries to keep a promising student engaged, while two of his former pupils struggle to survive behind enemy lines in Afghanistan.

At an unnamed California university, the anguished Professor Stephen Malley (Robert Redford) calls Todd (Andrew Garfield), a talented, but aimless student who usually misses class into his office for a heart to heart conversation. Malley is trying to reach this privileged, but disaffected student to hopefully encourage him to do something to make change rather than just be cynical about the current state of affairs. Two of Prof. Malley’s students volunteered to join the U.S. military and now serve with Special Forces in the “War on Terror.” This bold decision by Arian Finch (Derek Luke) and Ernest Rodriguez (Michael Peña) has left Malley both moved and distraught, but he wants to share their determination to make a difference with Todd.

Unbeknownst to Malley, Arian and Ernest are stranded on a snowy mountainside in Badakhshan, Afghanistan as Taliban fighters move in and their commanders struggle to get them out.

Meanwhile, charismatic Presidential hopeful, Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) is giving probing TV journalist Janine Roth (Meryl Streep) a bombshell of a story, as the two go toe to toe over the “War on Terror.” Sen. Irving has used his influence to launch a new phase in the war in Afghanistan – one that will affect the fates of Arian and Ernest, as arguments, memories, and battle weave these three stories ever more tightly together.

Much has been made of the lack of success at the box office of films dealing with Iraq (Rendition, In the Valley of Elah), which is really no surprise considering how disconnected so many Americans are from the “Global War on Terror,” not to mention how unpopular the Iraq War is among Americans and in other nations. This unpopularity and lack of connectivity is precisely why a film like Lions for Lambs is so important. Lions for Lambs is so indicative of our current state of affairs as Americans as to be painful. No wonder the film received mostly middling to negative reviews and was a dud at the box office. Like Spike Lee’s scandalous 1987 film, School Days, Redford’s film insists on throwing the painful but necessary truth in our faces, and so many Americans would rather be chasing the latest consumer toys or obsessing over meaningless pop culture tittle-tattle. It has been said that Lions for Lambs is too “talky,” supposedly a handicap for a film.

Lions for Lambs does talk a lot, but it has something to say and we should be listening.

Still, Cruise (who gives the film’s best and sharpest performance, by far) and Streep arguing history, politics, and war as a ruthlessly ambitious politician and a jaded reporter, while American servicemen die is a sign of the times. Watching Redford’s old school activist professor trying to get Garfield’s cynical and spoiled rich boy get engaged in change while the student’s classmates shed blood for him is deeply saddening. While Peña’s Ernest and Derek’s Arian are lions in this supposed war for our civilization, the lambs are back home holding the keys to the lions’ fates.

Redford’s film clearly asks that a country embrace a more selfless agenda and do some serious soul searching, instead of acting and lying in our own self-interests. It’s good when a Hollywood movie tackles the national mood and asks tough questions. It means that American cinema still matters beyond being mere corporate product.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

---------------

"The Iron Lady" is Rusty and Crusty

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 40 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Iron Lady (2011)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.K. with France
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some violent images and brief nudity
DIRECTOR: Phyllida Lloyd
WRITER: Abi Morgan
PRODUCER: Damian Jones
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Elliot Davis (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Justine Wright
COMPOSER: Thomas Newman
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/HISTORICAL/BIOPIC

Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman, Susan Browne, Alexandra Roach, Henry Lloyd, Anthony Head, and Nicholas Farrell

The Iron Lady is a 2011 British drama starring Meryl Streep. The film dramatizes pivotal moments in the life of Margaret Thatcher, the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Thatcher was also the longest serving Prime Minister of the 20th century.

The film opens in late 2008 and finds former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), struggling with dementia. Over the course of a few days, Thatcher looks back on the defining moments of her personal and professional life, while she also reminisces with her late husband, Denis Thatcher (Jim Broadbent). Meanwhile, her daughter, Carol (Olivia Colman), worries about her mother’s seeming inability to distinguish between the past and the present and also to let go of Denis’ possessions. Carol doesn’t know that her mother’s hallucinations involve conversations with her dead husband.

The Iron Lady won two Oscars, including a best actress win by Meryl Streep for her portrayal of Thatcher. Streep is good, but this movie is a disaster. It’s like some kind of Kabuki puppet theatre version of a British movie. Frankly, the movie is so stiff and weird, and for that reason alone, I think someone else should have won the best actress Oscar (Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs or Viola Davis for The Help). As for the best makeup Oscar: if making actors look like prune-faced goblins is Oscar-worthy, then, this film’s makeup guys, Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland, should also get a genius grant.

I was not a fan of Thatcher growing up, but I remember her tremendous stature in the world, especially in Europe and in the United States. Thus, this movie is too small for such a monumental figure, although there are a few moments when Streep brings out Thatcher’s unbending will in way that aroused me and even made me hetero for a few moments (Hee hee).

However, The Iron Lady is ultimately a poor highlight reel about a powerful woman who broke down barriers. This isn’t really a movie about Margaret Thatcher; it’s a movie about an old lady with dementia. Even a non-fan of Thatcher, like myself, thinks she deserves better.

3 of 10
D+

NOTES:
2012 Academy Awards: 2 wins: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Meryl Streep) and “Best Achievement in Makeup” (Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland)

2012 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Leading Actress” (Meryl Streep) and “Best Make Up & Hair” (Mark Coulier, Marese Langan, and J. Roy Helland); 2 nominations: “Best Original Screenplay” (Abi Morgan) and “Best Supporting Actor” (Jim Broadbent)

2012 Golden Globes, USA: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Meryl Streep)

Sunday, May 20, 2012

"Stuck on You" Not a Typical Farrelly Brothers Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 76 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux


Stuck on You (2003)
Running time: 118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, and some language
DIRECTOR: The Farrelly Brothers
WRITERS: Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly; from a story by Charles B. Wessler, Bennett Yellin, and the Farrelly Brothers
PRODUCERS: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, Bradley Thomas, and Charles B. Wessler
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dan Mindel (D.o.P)
EDITORS: Christopher Greenbury and Dave Terman
COMPOSER: Charlie Gartner

COMEDY with elements of drama

Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Eva Mendes, Cher, Seymour Cassel, Griffin Dunne, Wen Yann Shih, Jackie Flynn, Terence Bernie Hines, with Frankie Muniz, Jesse Ventura, and Meryl Streep

The subject of this review is Stuck on You, the 2003 comedy from brotherly filmmaking duo, Bobby and Peter Farrelly. The film follows the adventures of conjoined twin brothers who want to become professional actors.

In the Farrelly Bros.’ film, Stuck on You, Bob Tenor (Matt Damon) and his brother Walt (Greg Kinnear) are conjoined twins (also known as Siamese twins) living in Martha’s Vineyard and working at Bob restaurant, Quickie Burger. When Walt decides to pursue his acting career, Bob, of course, has to move to L.A. with Walt. The twins find fame and fortune when Cher (playing herself) picks the boys to be “co-stars” in a new TV show she’s obliged to do, hoping that the presence of the conjoined siblings will get the show cancelled. Of course, it doesn’t work, and the brothers become the program’s true stars. When Bob loses her girlfriend, however, the brothers may just have to do the thing that’s been in the back of their minds for most of their lives – have a difficult and dangerous surgery that will separate them. And even then, can they stand being apart from each other?

Farrelly films are known for the sibling directors including such shocking elements as characters with handicaps, physical deformities, retardation, and anything that makes a person really stand out in a crowd. Some of their characters are also astoundingly dumb, naïve, and stupid. Farrelly films succeed because their characters oddities make us uncomfortable, no matter how PC or charitable we may pretend to be. Within the context of the film, all the characters may act as if nothing is peculiar, but we know better, and this strangeness often leads to belly laughs.

In this Stuck on You, the Farrelly’s have toned things down considerable. Odd and odd-looking character prevail, but it all seems somewhat mundane, as if odd really isn’t odd. It’s part of the everyday fabric of the outside world. The citizens of Bob and Walt’s hometown certainly don’t act as if anything is “wrong” with the brothers; indeed, even the folks in la-la land don’t act all that freaked out by conjoined twins.

What makes Stuck on You work and that’s different from other Farrelly Bros. films is the poignancy; there is a realness to the story that goes beyond the usual craziness of Farrelly world. Damon and Kinnear are very good actors, and they sell us on the close-knit relationship between the brothers. Both are good-looking men and have charming personalities, so the audience is likely endeared to them. The closer the actors make us feel towards the characters, the more likely we’re going to laugh at the crazy things that happen to them and root for them to overcome obstacles.

Ultimately, it’s Damon and Kinnear who really sell this film as a heart-warming comedy and make it worth watching. That’s important because, Stuck on You is the antithesis of Farrelly classics like Kingpins and There’s Something About Mary. For all the laughs, the film is, indeed, quite dramatic, and while that drags at the film a few times, there are many heart-warming moments to go along with the belly laughs.

7 of 10
B+

Meryl Streep Wins Best Actress Oscar for "The Iron Lady"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

WINNER - Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady

Nominees:
Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis for The Help
Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn

2012 BAFTAs Name "The Artist" Best Film

The Orange British Academy Film Awards (also known as the BAFTAs) are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). It is the British counterpart of the Oscars.

The 2012 Orange British Academy Film Awards ceremony was held on Sunday, February 12, 2012 at London's Royal Opera House.  To no one's surprise, the black and white, silent film, The Artist, was the big winner, capturing the best film prize and winning in 7 of the 12 categories in which it was nominated.

2012 Orange British Academy Film Awards winners:

BEST FILM
WINNER: THE ARTIST - Thomas Langmann

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
WINNER: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY - Tomas Alfredson, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo, Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
WINNER: TYRANNOSAUR - Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

DIRECTOR
WINNER: THE ARTIST - Michel Hazanavicius

DOCUMENTARY
WINNER: SENNA - Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees, Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan, Manish Pandey

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
WINNER: THE ARTIST - Michel Hazanavicius

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
WINNER: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY - Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
WINNER: THE SKIN I LIVE IN - Pedro Almodóvar, Agustin Almodóvar

ANIMATED FILM
WINNER: RANGO - Gore Verbinski

LEADING ACTOR
WINNER: JEAN DUJARDIN - The Artist

LEADING ACTRESS
WINNER: MERYL STREEP - The Iron Lady

SUPPORTING ACTOR
WINNER: CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER - Beginners

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
WINNER: OCTAVIA SPENCER - The Help

ORIGINAL MUSIC
WINNER: THE ARTIST - Ludovic Bource

CINEMATOGRAPHY
WINNER: THE ARTIST - Guillaume Schiffman

EDITING
WINNER: SENNA - Gregers Sall, Chris King

PRODUCTION DESIGN
WINNER: HUGO - Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo

COSTUME DESIGN
WINNER: THE ARTIST - Mark Bridges

SOUND
WINNER: HUGO - Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
WINNER: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 - Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery

MAKE UP & HAIR
WINNER: THE IRON LADY - Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland, Marese Langan

SHORT ANIMATION
WINNER: A MORNING STROLL - Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe

SHORT FILM
WINNER: PITCH BLACK HEIST - John Maclean, Gerardine O'Flynn

ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD
WINNER: ADAM DEACON

ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP
Martin Scorsese

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA
John Hurt