Wednesday
Jan262011

"Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" Set Photos

Set in Eastern Europe, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) returns for another ride through the gates of Hell as the flaming skull vigilante ‘Ghost Rider’.


Wednesday
Jan262011

New "Sucker Punch" Character Sheets

Close your eyes. Open your mind. You will be unprepared.

“Sucker Punch” is an epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality.  Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.

She has been locked away against her will, but Babydoll (Emily Browning) has not lost her will to survive.  Determined to fight for her freedom, she urges four other young girls—the outspoken Rocket (Jena Malone), the street-smart Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), the fiercely loyal Amber (Jamie Chung) and the reluctant Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish)—to band together and try to escape their terrible fate at the hands of their captors, Blue (Oscar Isaac), Madam Gorski (Carla Gugino) and the High Roller (Jon Hamm).

Led by Babydoll, the girls engage in fantastical warfare against everything from samurais to serpents, with a virtual arsenal at their disposal.  Together, they must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to stay alive.  But with the help of a Wise Man (Scott Glenn), their unbelievable journey—if they succeed—will set them free.

Wednesday
Jan262011

"Breaking Dawn: Part 1" Official Logo

In the highly anticipated next chapter of the blockbuster ‘The Twilight Saga’, the newfound married bliss of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) is cut short when a series of betrayals and misfortunes threatens to destroy their world. After their wedding, Bella and Edward travel to Rio de Janeiro for their honeymoon, where they finally give in to their passions. Bella soon discovers she is pregnant, and during a nearly fatal childbirth, Edward finally fulfills her wish to become immortal. But the arrival of their remarkable daughter, Renesmee, sets in motion a perilous chain of events that pits the Cullens and their allies against the Volturi, the fearsome council of vampire leaders, setting the stage for an all-out battle.

Wednesday
Jan262011

New "Scream 4" Images

Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), now the author of a self-help book, returns home to Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. There she reconnects with Sheriff Dewey (David Arquette) and Gale (Courteney Cox), who are now married, as well as her cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) and her Aunt Kate (Mary McDonnell). Unfortunately Sidney’s appearance also brings about the return of Ghostface, putting Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, along with Jill, her friends, and the whole town of Woodsboro in danger.

Wednesday
Jan262011

New "Battle: Los Angeles" Poster

For years, there have been documented cases of UFO sightings around the world - Buenos Aires, Seoul, France, Germany, China. But in 2011, what were once just sightings will become a terrifying reality when Earth is attacked by unknown forces. As people everywhere watch the world's greatest cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. It's up to a Marine Staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to draw a line in the sand as they take on an enemy unlike any they've ever encountered before.

Wednesday
Jan262011

First "Source Code" Poster

When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. In an assignment unlike any he's ever known, he learns he's part of a government experiment called the "Source Code," a program that enables him to cross over into another man's identity in the last 8 minutes of his life. With a second, much larger target threatening to kill millions in downtown Chicago, Colter re-lives the incident over and over again, gathering clues each time, until he can solve the mystery of who is behind the bombs and prevent the next attack. 

Wednesday
Jan262011

Here Is The "Hanna" Poster 

Raised by her father, an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Finland, Hanna's upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own. As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.

Wednesday
Jan262011

Emile Hirsch Living 'The Motel Life'

One of Hollywood's finest young talents has found a new project. 

The Trades are reporting Emile Hirsch (who hasn't been seen in a major role since 2008's Milk) has joined the film adaptation of Willy Vlautin's novel, The Motel Life.  Hirsch is the first to sign on to the project which is still without a director or writer (must have been a hell of a novel if there's no script yet).

The Motel Life tells the story of two brothers who skip Reno after being involved in a fatal accident.  No word yet on who will play Hirsch's brother in the film, but can I suggest James Franco?  Him and Hirsch seem to have gone down similar career paths and would be great to see them together on screen again.

Production is aiming to start sometime this year so expect more announcements on this project coming sooner rather than later.

The full synopsis for The Motel Life is listed below [via Amazon]:

In a gritty debut, Vlautin explores a few weeks in the broken lives of two working-class brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee Flannigan, who abruptly ditch their Reno motel after Jerry Lee drunkenly kills a boy on a bicycle in a hit-and-run. The two are case studies in hard luck: their mother died when they were 14 and 16, respectively; their father is an ex-con deadbeat; neither finished high school. Frank has had just one girlfriend, motel neighbor Annie, whose mother is an abusive prostitute. An innocent simpleton, Jerry Lee is left feeling suicidal after the accident, despite his younger brother's efforts (à la Of Mice and Men's Lenny and George) to console him: "It was real quiet, the way he cried," says Frank, "like he was whimpering." On returning to Reno, an eventual reckoning awaits them. Vlautin's coiled, poetically matter-of-fact prose calls to mind S.E. Hinton—a writer well-acquainted with male misfit protagonists seeking redemption, no matter how destructive. Despite the bleak story and its inevitably tragic ending, Vlautin, who plays in the alt-country band Richmond Fontaine, transmits a quiet sense of resilience and hopefulness.

Wednesday
Jan262011

Full List of 2011 Academy Award Nominations

Best Picture
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The Kids Are All Right ”
“The King’s Speech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”
“Toy Story 3″
“True Grit”
“Winter’s Bone”

Best Direction
Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan”
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
David Fincher for “The Social Network”
Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech”
David O. Russell for “The Fighter”

Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
James Franco in “127 Hours”
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Adapted Screenplay
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy for “127 Hours”
Aaron Sorkin for “The Social Network”
Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich for “Toy Story 3″
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini for “Winter’s Bone”

Original Screenplay
Mike Leigh for “Another Year”
Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson for “The Fighter”
Christopher Nolan for “Inception”
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for “The Kids Are All Right”
David Seidler for “The King’s Speech”

Animated Feature
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“The Illusionist”
“Toy Story 3″

Art Direction
“Alice in Wonderland”: Robert Stromberg (Production Design), Karen O’Hara (Set Decoration)
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″: Stuart Craig (Production Design), Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)
“Inception”: Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design), Larry Dias and Doug Mowat (Set Decoration)
“The King’s Speech”: Eve Stewart (Production Design), Judy Farr (Set Decoration)
“True Grit”: Jess Gonchor (Production Design), Nancy Haigh (Set Decoration)

Cinematography
“Black Swan”: Matthew Libatique
“Inception”: Wally Pfister
“The King’s Speech”: Danny Cohen
“The Social Network”: Jeff Cronenweth
“True Grit”: Roger Deakins

Costume Design
“Alice in Wonderland”: Colleen Atwood
“I Am Love”: Antonella Cannarozzi
“The King’s Speech”: Jenny Beavan
“The Tempest”: Sandy Powell
“True Grit”: Mary Zophres

Documentary (Feature)
“Exit through the Gift Shop”
“Gasland”
“Inside Job”
“Restrepo”
“Waste Land”

Documentary (Short Subject)
“Killing in the Name”
“Poster Girl”
“Strangers No More”
“Sun Come Up”
“The Warriors of Qiugang”

Film Editing
“Black Swan”: Andrew Weisblum
“The Fighter”: Pamela Martin
“The King’s Speech”: Tariq Anwar
“127 Hours”: Jon Harris
“The Social Network”: Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Foreign Language Film
“Biutiful”: Mexico
“Dogtooth”: Greece
“In a Better World”: Denmark
“Incendies”: Canada
“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)”: Algeria

Makeup
“Barney’s Version”: Adrien Morot
“The Way Back”: Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Wolfman”: Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)
“How to Train Your Dragon”: John Powell
“Inception”: Hans Zimmer
“The King’s Speech”: Alexandre Desplat
“127 Hours”: A.R. Rahman
“The Social Network”: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″ Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Short Film (Animated)
“Day & Night”: Teddy Newton
“The Gruffalo”: Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
“Let’s Pollute”: Geefwee Boedoe
“The Lost Thing”: Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
“Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)”: Bastien Dubois

Short Film (Live Action)
“The Confession”: Tanel Toom
“The Crush”: Michael Creagh
“God of Love”: Luke Matheny
“Na Wewe”: Ivan Goldschmidt
“Wish 143″: Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Sound Editing
“Inception”: Richard King
“Toy Story 3″: Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
“Tron: Legacy”: Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
“True Grit”: Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
“Unstoppable”: Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing
“Inception”: Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
“The King’s Speech”: Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
“Salt”: Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
“The Social Network”: Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
“True Grit”: Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects
“Alice in Wonderland”: Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″: Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
“Hereafter”: Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
“Inception”: Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
“Iron Man 2″: Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Tuesday
Jan252011

A Take on the Major 2011 Oscar Nominations

BEST PICTURE:

Black Swan (Fox Searchlight Pictures), Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers

The Fighter (Paramount Pictures), David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers

Inception (Warner Bros. Pictures), Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers

The Kids Are All Right (Focus Features), Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers

The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company), Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers

127 Hours (Fox Searchlight Pictures), Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers

The Social Network (Columbia Pictures), Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers

Toy Story 3 (Disney•Pixar), Darla K. Anderson, Producer

True Grit (Paramount Pictures), Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

Winter's Bone (Roadside Attractions), Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Take: No complaints here.  I think this list represents all of the best films of the year with no second guessing.  It's obviously a two-horse race between The Social Network and The King's Speech, but watch out for The Fighter.  I'd say that's this year's dark horse.

 

DIRECTING:

Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

David O. Russell - The Fighter (Paramount Pictures)

Tom Hooper - The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company)

David Fincher - The Social Network (Columbia Pictures)

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - True Grit (Paramount Pictures)

Take: Another year, another snub for Christopher Nolan.  Don't get me wrong, all the nominees here are well deserving (especially Aronofsky, Russell, and Fincher), but the Coen Bros.?  True Grit was a great film but they just won two years ago with No Country for Old Men and are probably last on eveyone's list to win because of that.  Nolan deserved a nomination, hands down.

 

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Javier Bardem - Biutiful (Roadside Attractions)

Jeff Bridges - True Grit (Paramount Pictures)

Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network (Columbia Pictures)

Colin Firth - The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company)

James Franco - 127 Hours (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Take: Firth is the favorite and will most likely win, but common Academy, what about Mark Wahlberg?  The guy put himself through hell for four years both for his role in The Fighter and to get the film made.  No other actor on this list can say they did anything close to that.  He deserved a nomination.

 

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right (Focus Features)

Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole (Lionsgate)

Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone (Roadside Attractions)

Natalie Portman - Black Swan (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine (The Weinstein Company)

Take: It's either going to be Portman or Bening.  Sorry Nicole, but you're just there for show.

 

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Christian Bale - The Fighter (Paramount Pictures)

John Hawkes - Winter's Bone (Roadside Attractions)

Jeremy Renner - The Town (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right (Focus Features)

Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company)

Take: Christian Bale will win.  Next.

 

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Amy Adams - The Fighter (Paramount Pictures)

Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company)

Melissa Leo - The Fighter (Paramount Pictures)

Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit (Paramount Pictures)

Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom (Sony Pictures Classics)

Take: Great list, great nominees.  Very impressive for the young Hailee Steinfeld, but I think this is Melissa Leo's to lose.

 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

127 Hours (Fox Searchlight Pictures), Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy

The Social Network (Columbia Pictures), Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

Toy Story 3 (Disney•Pixar), Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich

True Grit (Paramount Pictures), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Winter's Bone (Roadside Attractions), Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Take: Based on this whole award season so far, this is Aaron Sorkin's without a doubt.  Would be shocked if he doesn't win.

 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Another Year (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Mike Leigh

The Fighter (Paramount Pictures), Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson

Inception (Warner Bros. Pictures), Written by Christopher Nolan

The Kids Are All Right (Focus Features), Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg

The King's Speech (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Seidler

Take: Any of these films could win, but my gut tells me they will give it to Nolan for Inception based on his snub for Best Director.