The 21st century is less than two decades old, but its first batch of Best Picture winners already paint an extraordinary portrait of a world in flux. From a massive historical epic to an intimate digital indies — from a musical that riffs on showbiz standards to period drama that reflects on present crises — these 17 films range from “problematic” to “perfect” and hit all points in between. More than that, they illustrate Hollywood’s evolving definition of greatness, and the relationship between the film industry and the times that forge it.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions
Here are the 17 Best Picture winners of the 21st century, ranked from worst to best.
17. “Crash”
“Brokeback Mountain” deserved better, but the Academy didn’t know it. Paul Haggis’ painfully obvious ensemble drama about racial prejudices in Los Angeles was a smug, one-note drama designed to make white liberals feel good about themselves. (It took a...
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions
Here are the 17 Best Picture winners of the 21st century, ranked from worst to best.
17. “Crash”
“Brokeback Mountain” deserved better, but the Academy didn’t know it. Paul Haggis’ painfully obvious ensemble drama about racial prejudices in Los Angeles was a smug, one-note drama designed to make white liberals feel good about themselves. (It took a...
- 12/1/2017
- by David Ehrlich and Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The Flash's Barry Allen is back to borrowing problems from the future, whether he knows it or not.
After six months adrift in the Speed Force, Barry (Grant Gustin) is back on terra firma. Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) and Cisco (Carlos Valdes) fished their pal out of his time stream prison during the season 4 premiere, but not without a few complications. The Scarlet Speedster clearly bumped into John Nash during his wanderings, stopping to siphon off a little Beautiful Mind madness for his own purposes. It's this moment of insanity that confirmed our suspicions that Barry will follow his father's footsteps -- right up the steps to Iron Heights.
After six months adrift in the Speed Force, Barry (Grant Gustin) is back on terra firma. Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) and Cisco (Carlos Valdes) fished their pal out of his time stream prison during the season 4 premiere, but not without a few complications. The Scarlet Speedster clearly bumped into John Nash during his wanderings, stopping to siphon off a little Beautiful Mind madness for his own purposes. It's this moment of insanity that confirmed our suspicions that Barry will follow his father's footsteps -- right up the steps to Iron Heights.
- 10/11/2017
- by editor@buddytv.com
- buddytv.com
Author: Zehra Phelan
The Selma and A United Kingdom actor David Oyelowo has signed up to movie adaptation Arc of Justice which tells the groundbreaking story of the Clarence Darrow-Ossian Sweet civil rights cases which also has The Nice Guys actor, Russell Crowe rumoured to be in talks to join on the project.
Based on Kevin Boyle’s book “Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age,” the true story centres on a racial incident in 1925 Detroit that put African-American doctor Ossian Sweet (Oyelowo) on the stand for murder. His defence was funded by the nascent National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and led by Darrow (Crowe).
Jose Padilha, who directed and produced the successful dual language Netflix series Narcos, will take the director’s chair with Max Borenstein and Rodney Barnes having already written the script. Gordon, Borenstein, Hawk Koch,...
The Selma and A United Kingdom actor David Oyelowo has signed up to movie adaptation Arc of Justice which tells the groundbreaking story of the Clarence Darrow-Ossian Sweet civil rights cases which also has The Nice Guys actor, Russell Crowe rumoured to be in talks to join on the project.
Based on Kevin Boyle’s book “Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age,” the true story centres on a racial incident in 1925 Detroit that put African-American doctor Ossian Sweet (Oyelowo) on the stand for murder. His defence was funded by the nascent National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People and led by Darrow (Crowe).
Jose Padilha, who directed and produced the successful dual language Netflix series Narcos, will take the director’s chair with Max Borenstein and Rodney Barnes having already written the script. Gordon, Borenstein, Hawk Koch,...
- 5/9/2017
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
You’re likely unfamiliar with the Bre-x mining scandal of the 1990s. Gold is counting on that. Like A Beautiful Mind, it’s built itself wholly around a big twist, despite being based on real events which anyone could look up. However, the twist in A Beautiful Mind works because it helps the audience understand how the protagonist can’t trust his own point of view. When John Nash realizes that he’s been hallucinating several other characters, we can understand his disorientation. But Gold’s twist carries no weight because it comes from the movie being told from precisely the wrong point of view.
It’s unavoidable to talk about this without spoiling the plot, and while that usually isn’t a big issue with based-on-a-true-story films, Gold loses a lot of the impact it’s trying to make without the surprise. So if you want to get the most that a weight-gained,...
It’s unavoidable to talk about this without spoiling the plot, and while that usually isn’t a big issue with based-on-a-true-story films, Gold loses a lot of the impact it’s trying to make without the surprise. So if you want to get the most that a weight-gained,...
- 12/30/2016
- by Daniel Schindel
- The Film Stage
When Barack Obama announced this week the latest recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest honor that can be bestowed upon a civilian, there were many prominent names, people whose stories are widely known throughout pop culture including Michael Jordan, Robert Redford, Bill and Melinda Gates, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Hanks, Ellen DeGeneres, Lorne Michaels, Diana Ross, and Robert De Niro.
The Names You Didn't Recognize On The Presidential Medal of Freedom List
Amid that glittering Medal of Freedom list, there were two lesser known names that gladdened my heart: Grace Hopper and Margaret H. Hamilton. That they are lesser known is a crime, really. Each has been a pioneer in the history of computing, and each deserves a bigger place in our cultural conversation. It is to the president’s credit that in his last group of Medal of Freedom recipients, he included two of our country’s greatest scientists,...
The Names You Didn't Recognize On The Presidential Medal of Freedom List
Amid that glittering Medal of Freedom list, there were two lesser known names that gladdened my heart: Grace Hopper and Margaret H. Hamilton. That they are lesser known is a crime, really. Each has been a pioneer in the history of computing, and each deserves a bigger place in our cultural conversation. It is to the president’s credit that in his last group of Medal of Freedom recipients, he included two of our country’s greatest scientists,...
- 11/17/2016
- by David Bloom
- Tubefilter.com
All the elements inherent in many successful movies are present in the upcoming Colin Firth and Jude Law biographical film, Genius. Gifted actors (the aforementioned are joined by Nicole Kidman and Laura Linney, among others), a seasoned screenwriter (John Logan, who wrote Gladiator and The Aviator, among others), and the trappings—from costumes to sets—of period movies. But, when it comes to the end product, the total for Genius is not greater than the sum of its parts. The film is loud on the surface but mostly flat underneath.
Jude Law plays the misunderstood early 20th Century American novelist Thomas Wolfe. In the opening scenes, he walks into the office of famed New York editor Max Perkins, already a successful publisher of the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Perkins, played by a solid Colin Firth (one of the few outstanding lead performances in the film), becomes...
Jude Law plays the misunderstood early 20th Century American novelist Thomas Wolfe. In the opening scenes, he walks into the office of famed New York editor Max Perkins, already a successful publisher of the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Perkins, played by a solid Colin Firth (one of the few outstanding lead performances in the film), becomes...
- 6/8/2016
- by J Don Birnam
- LRMonline.com
*Updated* Russell Crowe confirms earlier reports that he is going to play Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in The Mummy.
Earlier this week, news broke that Russell Crowe was in discussions to join The Mummy as the classic literary character with a dual personality. Shedding some light on the matter is Crowe himself, who confirmed his involvement while on the press rounds for his new film, The Nice Guys.
Speaking with Collider, Crowe had this to say when asked if he is “officially” on board The Mummy:
“Yeah, I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna play Dr. Henry Jekyll, Fellow of the Royal Society. It’s very interesting, what they’re gonna do with that stuff. I’ve had a couple of chats about it with the director (Alex Kurtzman).”
Previously: According to THR, Crowe is in “early talks” to appear as Dr. Jekyll and his alter ego,...
Earlier this week, news broke that Russell Crowe was in discussions to join The Mummy as the classic literary character with a dual personality. Shedding some light on the matter is Crowe himself, who confirmed his involvement while on the press rounds for his new film, The Nice Guys.
Speaking with Collider, Crowe had this to say when asked if he is “officially” on board The Mummy:
“Yeah, I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna play Dr. Henry Jekyll, Fellow of the Royal Society. It’s very interesting, what they’re gonna do with that stuff. I’ve had a couple of chats about it with the director (Alex Kurtzman).”
Previously: According to THR, Crowe is in “early talks” to appear as Dr. Jekyll and his alter ego,...
- 5/7/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
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How crazy was the Joker in The Dark Knight? Ryan looks at what game theory can tell us about the villain and his motivations...
“You wanna know how I got these scars?” Heath Ledger’s Joker asks in The Dark Knight. It’s a rhetorical question the Clown Prince of Crime utters twice in the film, followed by two very different stories - one involving his alcoholic father, the other concerning his ex-wife and a razor blade.
These stories are the perfect illustration of the character’s ambiguity, as written by Jonathan and Christopher Nolan. One story could be true, the other false. Or they both might be true; the Joker’s scars may have become as ghoulish as they are because of these two separate incidents. Or maybe neither is true; it’s all part of the trickster’s slippery persona.
Like John Doe in David Fincher’s Seven,...
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How crazy was the Joker in The Dark Knight? Ryan looks at what game theory can tell us about the villain and his motivations...
“You wanna know how I got these scars?” Heath Ledger’s Joker asks in The Dark Knight. It’s a rhetorical question the Clown Prince of Crime utters twice in the film, followed by two very different stories - one involving his alcoholic father, the other concerning his ex-wife and a razor blade.
These stories are the perfect illustration of the character’s ambiguity, as written by Jonathan and Christopher Nolan. One story could be true, the other false. Or they both might be true; the Joker’s scars may have become as ghoulish as they are because of these two separate incidents. Or maybe neither is true; it’s all part of the trickster’s slippery persona.
Like John Doe in David Fincher’s Seven,...
- 3/10/2016
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Two if by Sea: Howard’s Whaling Expedition Sinks to the Fathoms
Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby-Dick is one of the seminal epics of American literature, adapted several times for film and television over the decades, though John Huston’s 1956 film version still stands as the most accomplished cinematic rendering. Director Ron Howard adapts Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2000 novel In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, a retelling of the aquatic ordeal upon which Melville based his famous text. Suffering from some obnoxious moments of stilted bids at heroic nobility from its central characters and weighted down with considerable cliché, the screenplay, adapted by Charles Leavitt, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, is a framed narrative that doesn’t seem to have sparked the passion of its adapters. Saddled with a PG-13 rating, which hampers the narrative’s more sensational elements, (such as the depiction...
Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby-Dick is one of the seminal epics of American literature, adapted several times for film and television over the decades, though John Huston’s 1956 film version still stands as the most accomplished cinematic rendering. Director Ron Howard adapts Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2000 novel In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, a retelling of the aquatic ordeal upon which Melville based his famous text. Suffering from some obnoxious moments of stilted bids at heroic nobility from its central characters and weighted down with considerable cliché, the screenplay, adapted by Charles Leavitt, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, is a framed narrative that doesn’t seem to have sparked the passion of its adapters. Saddled with a PG-13 rating, which hampers the narrative’s more sensational elements, (such as the depiction...
- 12/9/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
By Patrick Shanley
Managing Editor
In Love & Mercy, this year’s biopic of Beach Boys’ frontman Brian Wilson (Paul Dano, John Cusack), Elizabeth Banks stars as Melinda Ledbetter, Wilson’s wife and manager who supported the singer when his mental health began to fail in the 1980’s. The actress received high praise for her performance and may be in the running come Oscar season.
The role of the supportive female caretaker for a mentally ill man is one that has been portrayed on the big screen by many legendary actresses and has, in many cases, been awarded with recognition from the Academy.
Taking on the role of emotional supporter to a mentally ailing individual requires heavy lifting from an actress, and the Academy has shown their appreciation for the feat in recent years as well as throughout its nearly nine decades-long history.
2012’s Silver Linings Playbook centered on a young...
Managing Editor
In Love & Mercy, this year’s biopic of Beach Boys’ frontman Brian Wilson (Paul Dano, John Cusack), Elizabeth Banks stars as Melinda Ledbetter, Wilson’s wife and manager who supported the singer when his mental health began to fail in the 1980’s. The actress received high praise for her performance and may be in the running come Oscar season.
The role of the supportive female caretaker for a mentally ill man is one that has been portrayed on the big screen by many legendary actresses and has, in many cases, been awarded with recognition from the Academy.
Taking on the role of emotional supporter to a mentally ailing individual requires heavy lifting from an actress, and the Academy has shown their appreciation for the feat in recent years as well as throughout its nearly nine decades-long history.
2012’s Silver Linings Playbook centered on a young...
- 10/13/2015
- by Patrick Shanley
- Scott Feinberg
By Patrick Shanley
Managing Editor
After its premiere at the New York Film Festival at the beginning of this month and a limited release this past weekend, Steve Jobs, the latest biopic about the Apple co-founder from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and director Danny Boyle, has been generating buzz as a serious Oscar contender, with attention for star Michael Fassbender‘s portrayal of the late tech titan.
Jobs’ personal and professional life have been the subject of much argumentation in recent years, as some view him as an innovative genius while others regard him as a tyrannical businessman who demanded too much of his employees.
Such controversial figures have traditionally been great Oscar fodder for filmmakers working in the biopic genre despite the negative perception many audience members may have of the films’ subjects.
U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle‘ s autobiography, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.
Managing Editor
After its premiere at the New York Film Festival at the beginning of this month and a limited release this past weekend, Steve Jobs, the latest biopic about the Apple co-founder from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and director Danny Boyle, has been generating buzz as a serious Oscar contender, with attention for star Michael Fassbender‘s portrayal of the late tech titan.
Jobs’ personal and professional life have been the subject of much argumentation in recent years, as some view him as an innovative genius while others regard him as a tyrannical businessman who demanded too much of his employees.
Such controversial figures have traditionally been great Oscar fodder for filmmakers working in the biopic genre despite the negative perception many audience members may have of the films’ subjects.
U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle‘ s autobiography, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.
- 10/12/2015
- by Patrick Shanley
- Scott Feinberg
A genre constantly overlooked at awards ceremonies, sci-fi cinema is full of stunning performances - like these...
Should we care whether the Academy likes science fiction or not? Does it matter that the genre and its best performances are regularly overlooked by most mainstream awards bodies? Probably not. But consider this: cinema is by now a long-established artform. Movies chart all aspects of the human condition: birth, death, happiness, sadness, ennui, fear, elation, empathy.
The best sci-fi movies arguably achieve the same thing. Where else is the sense of mystery and triumphant discovery felt more keenly than in, say, Solaris? What other genre could explore the nature of addiction with the same humour and pathos as A Scanner Darkly? Could the themes of ageing and disease in The Fly be transposed to a realistic drama and still be as thrilling, bizarre and tragic?
It’s still the case that science...
Should we care whether the Academy likes science fiction or not? Does it matter that the genre and its best performances are regularly overlooked by most mainstream awards bodies? Probably not. But consider this: cinema is by now a long-established artform. Movies chart all aspects of the human condition: birth, death, happiness, sadness, ennui, fear, elation, empathy.
The best sci-fi movies arguably achieve the same thing. Where else is the sense of mystery and triumphant discovery felt more keenly than in, say, Solaris? What other genre could explore the nature of addiction with the same humour and pathos as A Scanner Darkly? Could the themes of ageing and disease in The Fly be transposed to a realistic drama and still be as thrilling, bizarre and tragic?
It’s still the case that science...
- 9/9/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
A Beautiful Mind producer Brian Grazer has paid a heartfelt tribute to John Nash, the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician who inspired the film.
Nash, who was 86, was killed alongside his 82-year-old wife Alicia when their taxi crashed in New Jersey on Sunday (May 24).
"Their lives ended together in the same way that they lived," Grazer told Variety.
"Theirs was a such a brilliant collaboration. Alicia was so powerful in enabling him to have his moments of triumph.
"His life was really hard. The beauty came from the power of their love to create those triumphs."
Grazer also recalled the time he 'auditioned' for the couple before production on the film began.
"I asked them, 'When the movie is finished and you're in the theater watching it, what is your fantasy of the experience?'"
"Alicia responded by saying 'If the story is about love, we'll feel really comfortable'. And that idea...
Nash, who was 86, was killed alongside his 82-year-old wife Alicia when their taxi crashed in New Jersey on Sunday (May 24).
"Their lives ended together in the same way that they lived," Grazer told Variety.
"Theirs was a such a brilliant collaboration. Alicia was so powerful in enabling him to have his moments of triumph.
"His life was really hard. The beauty came from the power of their love to create those triumphs."
Grazer also recalled the time he 'auditioned' for the couple before production on the film began.
"I asked them, 'When the movie is finished and you're in the theater watching it, what is your fantasy of the experience?'"
"Alicia responded by saying 'If the story is about love, we'll feel really comfortable'. And that idea...
- 5/25/2015
- Digital Spy
Mathematician John Nash and his wife Alicia, subjects of the Oscar-winning 2001 film "A Beautiful Mind," were killed in a New Jersey automobile accident Sunday. They were 86 and 82 respectively. The car reportedly crashed into the guard rail, and the couple was ejected from the vehicle. They were pronounced dead at the scene. Rip Brilliant #NobelPrize winning John Nash & and his remarkable wife Alicia. It was an honor telling part of their story #ABeautifulMind — Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) May 24, 2015 The Nashes were portrayed by Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly in Ron Howard's film. Connelly won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar while the film also won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. "This is a great loss," Connelly said in a statement. "John and Alicia Nash were an inspiration and I have deep admiration for all that they accomplished in their lives. My thoughts are with their family." Nash is renowned...
- 5/24/2015
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
The stars, director and producer of “A Beautiful Mind” expressed sadness Sunday over the death of mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr., whose life inspired their 2001 Best Picture Oscar winner. Nash was killed Saturday with his wife Alicia when the taxicab they were riding in lost control and crashed on the New Jersey Turnpike. As news of their deaths emerged, Brian Grazer, who produced “A Beautiful Mind” remembered Nash and his wife. “John Nash offered humanity one of the most incredible triumphs. While he was coping with schizophrenia, he earned the Nobel Prize,” Grazer said in a statement to TheWrap Sunday.
- 5/24/2015
- by Anita Bennett
- The Wrap
The Nobel Prize-winning mathematician who inspired the Oscar-winning film A Beautiful Mind has died in a car crash.
John Nash was killed alongside his 82-year-old wife Alicia when their taxi crashed in New Jersey, reports BBC News.
The 86-year-old Princeton University mathematician was portrayed by Russell Crowe in the 2001 film, which depicted Nash's struggles with schizophrenia as well as his groundbreaking work in game theory.
Crowe has tweeted his sympathies to Nash's family, saying he's "stunned" by the news.
Stunned...my heart goes out to John & Alicia & family.
An amazing partnership. Beautiful minds, beautiful hearts. https://t.co/XF4V9MBwU4
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) May 24, 2015
He wrote: "Stunned... my heart goes out to John & Alicia & family. An amazing partnership. Beautiful minds, beautiful hearts."
The movie's director Ron Howard also paid tribute to the couple, writing: "It was an honour telling part of their story."
"John's remarkable achievements inspired generations of mathematicians,...
John Nash was killed alongside his 82-year-old wife Alicia when their taxi crashed in New Jersey, reports BBC News.
The 86-year-old Princeton University mathematician was portrayed by Russell Crowe in the 2001 film, which depicted Nash's struggles with schizophrenia as well as his groundbreaking work in game theory.
Crowe has tweeted his sympathies to Nash's family, saying he's "stunned" by the news.
Stunned...my heart goes out to John & Alicia & family.
An amazing partnership. Beautiful minds, beautiful hearts. https://t.co/XF4V9MBwU4
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) May 24, 2015
He wrote: "Stunned... my heart goes out to John & Alicia & family. An amazing partnership. Beautiful minds, beautiful hearts."
The movie's director Ron Howard also paid tribute to the couple, writing: "It was an honour telling part of their story."
"John's remarkable achievements inspired generations of mathematicians,...
- 5/24/2015
- Digital Spy
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the release of "Crash" (on May 6, 2005), an all-star movie whose controversy came not from its provocative treatment of racial issues but from its Best Picture Oscar victory a few months later, against what many critics felt was a much more deserving movie, "Brokeback Mountain."
The "Crash" vs. "Brokeback" battle is one of those lingering disputes that makes the Academy Awards so fascinating, year after year. Moviegoers and critics who revisit older movies are constantly judging the Academy's judgment. Even decades of hindsight may not always be enough to tell whether the Oscar voters of a particular year got it right or wrong. Whether it's "Birdman" vs. "Boyhood," "The King's Speech" vs. "The Social Network," "Saving Private Ryan" vs. "Shakespeare in Love" or even "An American in Paris" vs. "A Streetcar Named Desire," we're still confirming the Academy's taste or dismissing it as hopelessly off-base years later.
The "Crash" vs. "Brokeback" battle is one of those lingering disputes that makes the Academy Awards so fascinating, year after year. Moviegoers and critics who revisit older movies are constantly judging the Academy's judgment. Even decades of hindsight may not always be enough to tell whether the Oscar voters of a particular year got it right or wrong. Whether it's "Birdman" vs. "Boyhood," "The King's Speech" vs. "The Social Network," "Saving Private Ryan" vs. "Shakespeare in Love" or even "An American in Paris" vs. "A Streetcar Named Desire," we're still confirming the Academy's taste or dismissing it as hopelessly off-base years later.
- 5/6/2015
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
The Imitation Game features Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, a mathematician and computer science pioneer who, along with his fellow code-breakers, broke the Nazi Enigma code to help end World War II. Though Turing was hailed as a hero, he was eventually arrested and prosecuted for homosexuality, along with 49,000 other British men and women. Turing chose to be chemically castrated rather than face imprisonment, so he could continue his work, and it is believed that he committed suicide a few years later. Queen Elizabeth II posthumously pardoned Turing in 2013.
On Jan. 21, Stephen Fry led a discussion about the The Imitation Game following a screening of the film for BAFTA voters, discussed Queen Elizabeth’s pardon and suggested that the 49,000 persecuted men and women should be as well. Chad Griffin, the president of Human Rights Campaign, which is honoring The Imitation Game at its Human Rights Gala on Jan.
Managing Editor
The Imitation Game features Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing, a mathematician and computer science pioneer who, along with his fellow code-breakers, broke the Nazi Enigma code to help end World War II. Though Turing was hailed as a hero, he was eventually arrested and prosecuted for homosexuality, along with 49,000 other British men and women. Turing chose to be chemically castrated rather than face imprisonment, so he could continue his work, and it is believed that he committed suicide a few years later. Queen Elizabeth II posthumously pardoned Turing in 2013.
On Jan. 21, Stephen Fry led a discussion about the The Imitation Game following a screening of the film for BAFTA voters, discussed Queen Elizabeth’s pardon and suggested that the 49,000 persecuted men and women should be as well. Chad Griffin, the president of Human Rights Campaign, which is honoring The Imitation Game at its Human Rights Gala on Jan.
- 1/27/2015
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
Oscar voting opened Monday, and like clockwork, the haters have come calling. As Deadline’s Pete Hammond wrote on Monday, ’tis the season for controversy over fact-based awards contenders: Now, Bennett Miller’s real-life Olympian tragedy Foxcatcher and Tim Burton’s art exposé Big Eyes have joined Mlk Jr. drama Selma, the Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game and Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken in ducking for cover over accuracy issues in mixing fact-based stories with narrative structure.
Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz, who’s played by Channing Tatum in Foxcatcher, publicly supported the film through its November theatrical release. That changed drastically in a series of angry online rants this week as Schultz turned on the Golden Globe-nominated pic, which won Miller the Best Director prize at Cannes. He blasted Miller and the film on Facebook after he read reviews dwelling on the suggestion of a sexual relationship between him and...
Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz, who’s played by Channing Tatum in Foxcatcher, publicly supported the film through its November theatrical release. That changed drastically in a series of angry online rants this week as Schultz turned on the Golden Globe-nominated pic, which won Miller the Best Director prize at Cannes. He blasted Miller and the film on Facebook after he read reviews dwelling on the suggestion of a sexual relationship between him and...
- 1/1/2015
- by Jen Yamato
- Deadline
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
Jake Gyllenhaal takes to the streets of Los Angeles as a sleazy freelance TV crime reporter intent on capturing footage of accidents and crime in Nightcrawler, screenwriter Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut. The film has received praise since its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival — the Los Angeles Times‘ Kenneth Turan described the film as “pulp with a purpose” — and has built Oscar buzz since then. Turan also hailed cinematographer Robert Elswit’s ability to make “Los Angeles look like the dream and the nightmare rolled into one.”
Gilroy’s film has earned comparisons to Crash (2004), another L.A.-based crime drama that shocked many when it won best picture at the 2005 Oscars. With a vast majority of Academy members living in and around L.A., films located in L.A. may appeal to voters. Tom Ortenberg, the CEO of Open Road Films, Nightcrawler’s distributor,...
Managing Editor
Jake Gyllenhaal takes to the streets of Los Angeles as a sleazy freelance TV crime reporter intent on capturing footage of accidents and crime in Nightcrawler, screenwriter Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut. The film has received praise since its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival — the Los Angeles Times‘ Kenneth Turan described the film as “pulp with a purpose” — and has built Oscar buzz since then. Turan also hailed cinematographer Robert Elswit’s ability to make “Los Angeles look like the dream and the nightmare rolled into one.”
Gilroy’s film has earned comparisons to Crash (2004), another L.A.-based crime drama that shocked many when it won best picture at the 2005 Oscars. With a vast majority of Academy members living in and around L.A., films located in L.A. may appeal to voters. Tom Ortenberg, the CEO of Open Road Films, Nightcrawler’s distributor,...
- 12/31/2014
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
It seemed this year that if any artist was due for the retrospective treatment, it was "Unbroken" cinematographer Roger Deakins. While I of course did not address all of the 50-plus films he has shot throughout his illustrious career during a recent extended interview, I settled on a few in particular that I think represent a nice cross-section of his work. Each of them — "Nineteen Eighty-Four," "Sid and Nancy," "Barton Fink," "The Shawshank Redemption," "Kundun," "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "The Village" — will get their own space in the next few days. 2001 was an interesting year for Roger Deakins. With John Nash biopic "A Beautiful Mind" — the only time he's ever worked with director Ron Howard — he shot the year's Best Picture winner, while his on-going collaboration with the Coen brothers' yielded "The Man Who Wasn't There" and the chance to work on a cinematographer's dream: a film noir.
- 12/19/2014
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
wikipedia
Over the past couple of years, the Ufc has probably had more disgruntled fighters than ever before. Rampage Jackson. Tito Ortiz. Nate Quarry. Tim Kennedy. Nick and Nate Diaz. These are just a handful of names past and present that are recognizable – there are a lot, lot more. Even current featherweight champion Jose Aldo has complained about his compensation from the company.
With the Ufc recently closing an official uniform deal with Reebok that eliminates all outside sponsorships for Ufc fighters at official events and fight weeks (fighters can still get sponsors, they just can’t have them on display during the periods mentioned), fighters are more agitated than ever before.
Well, it seems some may be pushing back.
According to a report from Bloody Elbow, current and former Ufc fighters have obtained legal representation and are launching a class action lawsuit worth hundreds of millions of dollars alleging that Zuffa,...
Over the past couple of years, the Ufc has probably had more disgruntled fighters than ever before. Rampage Jackson. Tito Ortiz. Nate Quarry. Tim Kennedy. Nick and Nate Diaz. These are just a handful of names past and present that are recognizable – there are a lot, lot more. Even current featherweight champion Jose Aldo has complained about his compensation from the company.
With the Ufc recently closing an official uniform deal with Reebok that eliminates all outside sponsorships for Ufc fighters at official events and fight weeks (fighters can still get sponsors, they just can’t have them on display during the periods mentioned), fighters are more agitated than ever before.
Well, it seems some may be pushing back.
According to a report from Bloody Elbow, current and former Ufc fighters have obtained legal representation and are launching a class action lawsuit worth hundreds of millions of dollars alleging that Zuffa,...
- 12/15/2014
- by Jay Anderson
- Obsessed with Film
Welcome to the world, John Nash Chatham! Television personality Jenn Brown and her actor husband Wes Chatham became parents on Monday, Nov. 24, when Brown gave birth to the couple's first child, Us Weekly can exclusively reveal. Baby boy John Nash was born at 5:33 p.m. on Monday, more than two years after Brown, 33, and Chatham, 36, exchanged vows in April 2012. The new parents became engaged in September 2011. Photos: Cutest Celebrity Baby Announcements "We are absolutely in love with our little boy, and feel very blessed!" the [...]...
- 11/25/2014
- Us Weekly
In the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything, two college girls rush into a '60s-era Cambridge party before the sight of the attendees stops them in their tracks.
"Oh, dear. Scientists."
So could the reaction be confronting this year's Toronto International Film Festival, where two of the most lauded and talked-about films are portraits of elite mathematical minds, courtesy of Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne. In The Theory of Everything, Redmayne plays theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking; in The Imitation Game, Cumberbatch plays British mathematician and World War II code breaker Alan Turing.
After glowing receptions in Toronto, both films are expected to be major players on Hollywood's awards circuit this fall following their theatrical openings. (Theory is due out Nov. 7. Imitation Game follows two weeks later.) Redmayne and Cumberbatch are already calculated by pundits to be favorites for a best-actor Oscar nomination.
"A lot of people talk about...
"Oh, dear. Scientists."
So could the reaction be confronting this year's Toronto International Film Festival, where two of the most lauded and talked-about films are portraits of elite mathematical minds, courtesy of Benedict Cumberbatch and Eddie Redmayne. In The Theory of Everything, Redmayne plays theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking; in The Imitation Game, Cumberbatch plays British mathematician and World War II code breaker Alan Turing.
After glowing receptions in Toronto, both films are expected to be major players on Hollywood's awards circuit this fall following their theatrical openings. (Theory is due out Nov. 7. Imitation Game follows two weeks later.) Redmayne and Cumberbatch are already calculated by pundits to be favorites for a best-actor Oscar nomination.
"A lot of people talk about...
- 9/9/2014
- by Cineplex.com and contributors
- Cineplex
Alex takes a look back at one of the most, er, not bad films ever made. It's Highlander III. It's better than Highlander II at least...
My introduction to the Highlander franchise came not through the original film, or the sequel, or the surprisingly alright TV series. It instead came from a promo video for Highlander IV: The Final Dimension, the music video of my favourite ever piece of music, James’ Honest Joe.
This is remarkable for several reasons. Firstly, this “song” (if it can be called that) was never a single, and is obscure enough to render a music video superfluous at best. Secondly, the song does not feature in the film (despite being in the credits, I’ve yet to see a version that actually includes it). Finally, at the time there was no Highlander IV, it was, in fact, Highlander III. Yes, this is a film so...
My introduction to the Highlander franchise came not through the original film, or the sequel, or the surprisingly alright TV series. It instead came from a promo video for Highlander IV: The Final Dimension, the music video of my favourite ever piece of music, James’ Honest Joe.
This is remarkable for several reasons. Firstly, this “song” (if it can be called that) was never a single, and is obscure enough to render a music video superfluous at best. Secondly, the song does not feature in the film (despite being in the credits, I’ve yet to see a version that actually includes it). Finally, at the time there was no Highlander IV, it was, in fact, Highlander III. Yes, this is a film so...
- 9/2/2014
- by sarahd
- Den of Geek
Nerdly had a moment to correspond with David Zuckerman, the mastermind behind the U.S adaptation of FX’s surprisingly sweet and often endearingly crass Wilfred. It ended it’s four season, forty-nine episode run on Wednesday with a touching, poignant tear-inducing hourlong episode. I watched it and felt immediately comfortable and happy with the ending. I was happy that the series ended precisely correct for what the writers had envisioned for the entirety of the run. There were moments that fulfilled everything that the show promised and left no strings lingering.
It ultimately ended as a sobering account of someone’s mental illness. There wasn’t some grand mytholgical ending where Wilfred was a mischevious god named Krungel or Matdamon. Nope. But it didn’t need that. It offered rational answers for everything and even gave us answers to why Wilfred looks the way he does, or who Bruce is.
It ultimately ended as a sobering account of someone’s mental illness. There wasn’t some grand mytholgical ending where Wilfred was a mischevious god named Krungel or Matdamon. Nope. But it didn’t need that. It offered rational answers for everything and even gave us answers to why Wilfred looks the way he does, or who Bruce is.
- 8/14/2014
- by Nathan Smith
- Nerdly
Stephen Hawking has a beautiful mind, and in the first trailer for The Theory of Everything, Eddie Redmayne stars as the superstar scientist before, during, and after he’s stricken with his debilitating illness. Like Ron Howard’s Oscar-winning movie about mathematician John Nash, director James Marsh (Man on Wire) focuses on the love story that keeps Hawking going.
Felicity Jones, who plays Hawking’s first wife, Jane, told EW in March that making the movie “was an absolute labor of love. … We play both of them from their teens, in Jane’s case, through to 45. So it’s all...
Felicity Jones, who plays Hawking’s first wife, Jane, told EW in March that making the movie “was an absolute labor of love. … We play both of them from their teens, in Jane’s case, through to 45. So it’s all...
- 8/6/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Hollywood has long struggled to depict different races, genders and faiths on screen. There is another group, just as large as many ethnic minorities, that operates on the margins of Hollywood: the disabled. “A Beautiful Mind,” a 2001 movie about a brilliant but disturbed scientist named John Nash, was a landmark in this realm, helping pave the way for Claire Danes’ bipolar character on “Homeland” and a James Brown movie. In addition to winning filmmaker awards, it caught the attention of the Child Mind Institute, an organizations eager to help kids grappling with disabilities. “A Beautiful Mind” producer Brian Grazer, who.
- 5/8/2014
- by Lucas Shaw
- The Wrap
Twelve years ago, Russell Crowe got his third Oscar nomination for his portrayal of mental illness as mathematician John Nash in Ron Howard.s A Beautiful Mind. Now he's at it again, signing up to star in the heavy drama Fathers and Daughters, in which he'll play another mentally ill character. No one can blame him for striking that iron twice while it was still hot. Directed by The Pursuit of Happyness's Gabriele Muccino, Crowe will star as a famous novelist living in Manhattan in the 1980s, suffering from mental illness after his wife.s death as he tries raising his 5-year-old daughter. The story will jump back and forth between this story and one of his daughter 25 years later as she deals with her own problems in modern day New York, struggling with problems that began in her youth. There.s a lot of promise here, as it...
- 10/15/2013
- cinemablend.com
Ron Howard is at his best when he’s directing award contenders. “Oscar bait” would be the cynical way to label them, but the sincerity of Howard’s movies makes it difficult to approach them with that type of mindset. As much as I love Night Shift and Parenthood, those movies were sometime ago, and since then, Howard has jumped from making lightweight entertainment to audience-friendly dramas. After the Robert Langdon movies and The Dilemma, I hoped to see him make more movies like A Beautiful Mind. He’s now returned to that territory with Rush. What makes Howard’s take on material like the Formula One rivalry is the amount of fun he brings to potentially heavy drama. He certainly achieved that balance with A Beautiful Mind as well. The movie may deal with mental illness, but the espionage segments of the film are as exciting as a Bond movie, and...
- 9/26/2013
- by Jack Giroux
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Interview Seb Patrick 12 Sep 2013 - 06:59
Ahead of the release of his superb racing drama, we interview director Ron Howard about making Rush, Formula 1, and much more...
Ron Howard has built a four-decades-plus career in Hollywood on constantly taking surprising twists and turns. From a start as a child actor, to his role as Richie Cunningham on Happy Days, to a directorial career that has brought him Academy Award success – not to mention his dual role as producer and narrator on the cult sitcom Arrested Development – perhaps his most defining characteristic has been (with the possible exception of the two Da Vinci Codes) never to make the same kind of project twice.
His latest step into the unknown comes with Rush, a biopic about the rivalry between 1970s Formula One drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt. As we sat down with the director for a roundtable chat about the new film,...
Ahead of the release of his superb racing drama, we interview director Ron Howard about making Rush, Formula 1, and much more...
Ron Howard has built a four-decades-plus career in Hollywood on constantly taking surprising twists and turns. From a start as a child actor, to his role as Richie Cunningham on Happy Days, to a directorial career that has brought him Academy Award success – not to mention his dual role as producer and narrator on the cult sitcom Arrested Development – perhaps his most defining characteristic has been (with the possible exception of the two Da Vinci Codes) never to make the same kind of project twice.
His latest step into the unknown comes with Rush, a biopic about the rivalry between 1970s Formula One drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt. As we sat down with the director for a roundtable chat about the new film,...
- 9/11/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
The Us union stepped in to prevent the sale of tapes by actors including Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow
A high-profile auction of tapes featuring A-list Hollywood stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and Brad Pitt auditioning for roles has been cancelled following complaints by the Us's largest acting union.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) stepped in after it emerged that video tapes made by casting directors for 2001's Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind, a 1990 TV adaptation of the 1983 brat pack drama The Outsiders and the 1991 firefighter thriller Backdraft were due to go under the hammer. The tapes included DiCaprio's failed audition for the role of Ponyboy in Frances Ford Coppola's little-seen small screen take on The Outsiders, Crowe's audition for the role of maths genius John Nash in Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind (which eventually won him a Bafta and a nominated for an Oscar for...
A high-profile auction of tapes featuring A-list Hollywood stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and Brad Pitt auditioning for roles has been cancelled following complaints by the Us's largest acting union.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) stepped in after it emerged that video tapes made by casting directors for 2001's Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind, a 1990 TV adaptation of the 1983 brat pack drama The Outsiders and the 1991 firefighter thriller Backdraft were due to go under the hammer. The tapes included DiCaprio's failed audition for the role of Ponyboy in Frances Ford Coppola's little-seen small screen take on The Outsiders, Crowe's audition for the role of maths genius John Nash in Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind (which eventually won him a Bafta and a nominated for an Oscar for...
- 4/3/2013
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Feature James Clayton 1 Mar 2013 - 06:39
To mark the release of Broken City, James trains a spotlight on the sterling work of actor Russell Crowe...
Broken City might be a broken city because no one single urban area is strong enough to hold both Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe. This town ain’t big enough for the both of ‘em.
Nevertheless, the new crime drama directed by Allen Hughes does contain both Wahlberg and Crowe. Playing, respectively, a wronged private investigator and the Mayor of New York, the pair have the opportunity to exhibit their great acting range, which is something I feel neither A-lister always gets due credit for. They’re both excellent actors whose best performances are possibly overlooked because they’re embedded in an ensemble cast or played opposite a scene-stealing extrovert.
This is definitely true for Marky Mark if you consider Boogie Nights, The Fighter and...
To mark the release of Broken City, James trains a spotlight on the sterling work of actor Russell Crowe...
Broken City might be a broken city because no one single urban area is strong enough to hold both Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe. This town ain’t big enough for the both of ‘em.
Nevertheless, the new crime drama directed by Allen Hughes does contain both Wahlberg and Crowe. Playing, respectively, a wronged private investigator and the Mayor of New York, the pair have the opportunity to exhibit their great acting range, which is something I feel neither A-lister always gets due credit for. They’re both excellent actors whose best performances are possibly overlooked because they’re embedded in an ensemble cast or played opposite a scene-stealing extrovert.
This is definitely true for Marky Mark if you consider Boogie Nights, The Fighter and...
- 2/28/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
By Joey Magidson
Film Contributor
***
They say that all’s fair in love and war, but perhaps it’s time to add Oscar campaigning to that duo. In a perfect world, the race for Best Picture would be a friendly battle between studios, but especially of late, things have taken a decidedly nasty turn. Just about as soon as a film gains momentum for the Academy Awards, the smear campaign begins.
At present, for example, some people are attempting to drum up a controversy about the usefulness of torture in regard to Zero Dark Thirty. While the film treats the real-life use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” as a matter-of-fact bit of the United States’ history, a campaign is underway to discredit that and the film along with it. There’s also been a recent instance of certain politicians proclaiming the film to be less accurate than it originally claimed.
On the one side,...
Film Contributor
***
They say that all’s fair in love and war, but perhaps it’s time to add Oscar campaigning to that duo. In a perfect world, the race for Best Picture would be a friendly battle between studios, but especially of late, things have taken a decidedly nasty turn. Just about as soon as a film gains momentum for the Academy Awards, the smear campaign begins.
At present, for example, some people are attempting to drum up a controversy about the usefulness of torture in regard to Zero Dark Thirty. While the film treats the real-life use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” as a matter-of-fact bit of the United States’ history, a campaign is underway to discredit that and the film along with it. There’s also been a recent instance of certain politicians proclaiming the film to be less accurate than it originally claimed.
On the one side,...
- 12/26/2012
- by Joey Magidson
- Scott Feinberg
Nobel prize-winning boffin John Nash gets a Hollywood makeover in this dumbed-down, sexed-up biopic
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Director: Ron Howard
Entertainment grade: B–
History grade: C–
John Forbes Nash Jr won the 1994 Nobel Memorial prize in economics, along with John C Harsanyi and Reinhard Selten, for their work on game theory. Nash has been public about his struggle with schizophrenia.
Education
John Nash (Russell Crowe) arrives at Princeton soon after the end of the second world war. "Mathematicians won the war," says a self-righteous professor. "Mathematicians broke the Japanese codes and built the A-bomb. Mathematicians like you." The university is full of horrible, snotty young men belittling each other, and the socially awkward Nash is belittled the most. "The truth is that I don't like people much," he tells his roommate Charles (Paul Bettany). "And they don't much like me."
Romance
For all his scribbling of equations on windows, Nash...
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Director: Ron Howard
Entertainment grade: B–
History grade: C–
John Forbes Nash Jr won the 1994 Nobel Memorial prize in economics, along with John C Harsanyi and Reinhard Selten, for their work on game theory. Nash has been public about his struggle with schizophrenia.
Education
John Nash (Russell Crowe) arrives at Princeton soon after the end of the second world war. "Mathematicians won the war," says a self-righteous professor. "Mathematicians broke the Japanese codes and built the A-bomb. Mathematicians like you." The university is full of horrible, snotty young men belittling each other, and the socially awkward Nash is belittled the most. "The truth is that I don't like people much," he tells his roommate Charles (Paul Bettany). "And they don't much like me."
Romance
For all his scribbling of equations on windows, Nash...
- 12/20/2012
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
Nobel prize-winning boffin John Nash gets a Hollywood makeover in this dumbed-down, sexed-up biopic
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Director: Ron Howard
Entertainment grade: B–
History grade: C–
John Forbes Nash Jr won the 1994 Nobel Memorial prize in economics, along with John C Harsanyi and Reinhard Selten, for their work on game theory. Nash has been public about his struggle with schizophrenia.
Continue reading...
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Director: Ron Howard
Entertainment grade: B–
History grade: C–
John Forbes Nash Jr won the 1994 Nobel Memorial prize in economics, along with John C Harsanyi and Reinhard Selten, for their work on game theory. Nash has been public about his struggle with schizophrenia.
Continue reading...
- 12/19/2012
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
Nobel prize-winning boffin John Nash gets a Hollywood makeover in this dumbed-down, sexed-up biopic
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Director: Ron Howard
Entertainment grade: B–
History grade: C–
John Forbes Nash Jr won the 1994 Nobel Memorial prize in economics, along with John C Harsanyi and Reinhard Selten, for their work on game theory. Nash has been public about his struggle with schizophrenia.
Continue reading...
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Director: Ron Howard
Entertainment grade: B–
History grade: C–
John Forbes Nash Jr won the 1994 Nobel Memorial prize in economics, along with John C Harsanyi and Reinhard Selten, for their work on game theory. Nash has been public about his struggle with schizophrenia.
Continue reading...
- 12/19/2012
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
The filmmakers of Les Miserables set out to find what director Tom Hooper often refers to as .the perfect storm of actors.. Elaborates producer Eric Fellner: .We needed three things from our cast: star power, gifted actors and accomplished singers, and we were blessed to hit a moment in time where that group of actors exists. The cast that we see in the film is pretty much everyone we originally went after.. This was a major attraction for Hooper when he considered an adaptation of a fully through-sung musical. He explains: .I wanted to take a risk and do something very different in a different genre. From the beginning, what excited me was the idea of doing it live. I don.t think I would have done it if it turned out not to be possible to direct the film live, because no matter how good the synchronization is of actors singing to playback,...
- 12/1/2012
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Russell Crowe is going in all different directions as he reengages in film starring roles. He’s playing Noah for Darren Aronofsky, is a corrupt ruthless mayor in Broken City and sings as Javert in Les Miserables. Perhaps no Crowe choice left people scratching their heads more than The Man With The Iron Fists, a kung-fu flick for Universal that stars RZA. I’m always hoping to see Crowe play characters as memorable as Bud White in L.A. Confidential, or Maximus in Gladiator, or Jeffrey Wigand in The Insider or John Nash in A Beautiful Mind. His turn as Jack Knife in Iron Fists seems more in line with his role in The Quick And The Dead, but it is certainly good to see Crowe slimming down and going after it again. There are few actors who bring such intensity and testosterone to the screen.
- 10/18/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Gervais collaborator gets his own TV pilot, Pegg's Comic-Con costume fetish causes offence, and Russell Brand wants to be a vicar ... so it seems
Best of the week's news
Stephen Merchant is working on his own TV project – his first outside of his partnership with Ricky Gervais. The lanky star is to write and appear in a pilot entitled Hello Ladies, based on his 2011 standup tour of the same name. The pilot – like the standup show – will focus on Merchant's supposed cackhandedness with the opposite sex, and will shoot later this year, according to Deadline. Merchant (who will also executive produce) has written the episode with Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, both former writers on the Us version of The Office. Eisenberg and Stupnitsky also worked on the comedy films Year One and Bad Teacher.
Lovers of comedy, look away now: Russell Crowe is to direct a biopic of Bill Hicks.
Best of the week's news
Stephen Merchant is working on his own TV project – his first outside of his partnership with Ricky Gervais. The lanky star is to write and appear in a pilot entitled Hello Ladies, based on his 2011 standup tour of the same name. The pilot – like the standup show – will focus on Merchant's supposed cackhandedness with the opposite sex, and will shoot later this year, according to Deadline. Merchant (who will also executive produce) has written the episode with Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, both former writers on the Us version of The Office. Eisenberg and Stupnitsky also worked on the comedy films Year One and Bad Teacher.
Lovers of comedy, look away now: Russell Crowe is to direct a biopic of Bill Hicks.
- 7/24/2012
- by Brian Logan
- The Guardian - Film News
It's easy to look at TNT's new crime procedural, Perception, and have your thoughts wander to a list full of other television series that have contained lead characters with quirky, eccentric and overly observant tendencies that help drive them to cracking cases when some just can't fathom the truth behind the clues.
Programs like Monk, Psych, Numb3rs and a slew of others have come and gone adding certain depth, humor and dramatic storytelling by often exploring the characters in addition to solving the mysteries. It seems to be a time-tested formula that's garnered successes and failures, but won't ever quit.
Which begs less of the question, "Do we need another?" and more so: "What makes Perception a compelling take on the popular genre?"
Because let's face it, as much as critics could groan about the similarities of the concept across shows, the fact remains that there's something entertaining about watching a mystery unfold,...
Programs like Monk, Psych, Numb3rs and a slew of others have come and gone adding certain depth, humor and dramatic storytelling by often exploring the characters in addition to solving the mysteries. It seems to be a time-tested formula that's garnered successes and failures, but won't ever quit.
Which begs less of the question, "Do we need another?" and more so: "What makes Perception a compelling take on the popular genre?"
Because let's face it, as much as critics could groan about the similarities of the concept across shows, the fact remains that there's something entertaining about watching a mystery unfold,...
- 7/10/2012
- by smckenna412@gmail.com (Sean McKenna)
- TVfanatic
By Kate O’Hare In the feature film A Beautiful Mind, schizophrenic mathematician John Nash (Russell Crowe) goes against a doctor’s advice and decides to forgo his medication and use his intellect to deal with his symptoms, including vivid hallucinations. In the TNT drama Perception, Eric McCormack plays neuroscience professor Dr. Daniel Pierce, who is also off his medication, instead using his hallucinations and paranoid delusions to help a former student, FBI agent Kate Moretti (Rachael Leigh Cook), solve crimes. But Pierce’s symptoms and the behavior they cause also put him at risk — and the disruption caused by his crime-solving [...]...
- 7/5/2012
- by Channel Guide Contributor
- ChannelGuideMag
As I was putting together my list of films to be sure to see in Cannes this year an Australian crime drama called Snowtown, from first time feature director Justin Kurzel, jumped out at me. Comparisons to last year's Oscar-nominated film Animal Kingdom, also an Australian production, are quite easy to make as a teen finds himself in the center of some disturbing criminal activity. Snowtown makes serial killing a "family" affair as it focuses on John Bunting, Australia's most notorious serial killer, and how he manipulated a 16-year-old boy into collaborating on a heinous series of crimes.
Beginning in 1998, Snowtown's opening moments introduce us to 16-year-old Jaimie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway), his two brothers and their mother, Elizabeth (Louise Harris). In addition to living in the dilapidated community of Snowtown, South Australia, trouble begins early for Elizabeth and her three boys as a neighbor uses a request to look...
Beginning in 1998, Snowtown's opening moments introduce us to 16-year-old Jaimie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway), his two brothers and their mother, Elizabeth (Louise Harris). In addition to living in the dilapidated community of Snowtown, South Australia, trouble begins early for Elizabeth and her three boys as a neighbor uses a request to look...
- 3/1/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Big Game Sunday had more hype than ever with speculation that the NFL was giving a wink and nod to capture the gay dollar by booking Madonna and Kelly Clarkson. Throw in a cadre of sex symbols like Beckham, Brady, and Ferris Bueller and this year's Super Bowl was the gayest ever.
For many in the Lgbt community, the Super Bowl has always been a Tale of Two Cities. That being those who love "it" versus those who don't care about "it." But, "it" all depends on what your definition of "it" is. (Hmm, sounds familiar.)
Personally, I watched the game out of fear of not wanting to be left out of the biggest media event of the year. Growing up, Mom always made a special dinner. In college my fraternity brothers often split into routing sections based on geography, but in my professional life I thankfully found that...
For many in the Lgbt community, the Super Bowl has always been a Tale of Two Cities. That being those who love "it" versus those who don't care about "it." But, "it" all depends on what your definition of "it" is. (Hmm, sounds familiar.)
Personally, I watched the game out of fear of not wanting to be left out of the biggest media event of the year. Growing up, Mom always made a special dinner. In college my fraternity brothers often split into routing sections based on geography, but in my professional life I thankfully found that...
- 2/6/2012
- by Tim Bennett
- Aol TV.
An Afro-Caribbean Heathcliff, a Caucasian anime hero and an all-black take on Tennessee Williams. How far can such 'race-bending, or 'race-lifting', go towards redrawing racial boundaries on film and stage?
Andrea Arnold's new version of Wuthering Heights has put the stray cat among the period-drama pigeons with its earthy realism and distinct lack of social niceties, but chances are, if you know anything about this movie, it is that it has got a black Heathcliff. "Black" meaning the role is played by two actors of Afro-Caribbean descent, Solomon Glave and James Howson.
This fact above all others as been widely reported in the press, perhaps with the expectation that the nation, like a 19th-century dame, would collectively primp its petticoats at the sight of "a coloured gentleman". Arnold's decision to augment Emily Brontë's text with lines such as, "He's not my brother, he's a nigger!" only exacerbates the racial provocation.
Andrea Arnold's new version of Wuthering Heights has put the stray cat among the period-drama pigeons with its earthy realism and distinct lack of social niceties, but chances are, if you know anything about this movie, it is that it has got a black Heathcliff. "Black" meaning the role is played by two actors of Afro-Caribbean descent, Solomon Glave and James Howson.
This fact above all others as been widely reported in the press, perhaps with the expectation that the nation, like a 19th-century dame, would collectively primp its petticoats at the sight of "a coloured gentleman". Arnold's decision to augment Emily Brontë's text with lines such as, "He's not my brother, he's a nigger!" only exacerbates the racial provocation.
- 11/14/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Almost as soon as it was announced that J. Edgar Hoover would be getting a new biopic, speculation has been rife over how his relationship with Clyde Tolson would be portrayed.
Although there's no definitive proof either way, it's widely assumed that Hoover, long-term director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Tolson, his assistant director, were lovers. Director Clint Eastwood sparked concern that Hoover's story would be “straightwashed” when he told The Wall Street Journal that the script “didn't quite go down [the] road” of addressing rumors of Hoover's being closeted and a cross-dresser. (Eastwood later confirmed with The Hollywood Reporter that he included a scene showing Hoover wearing his mother's dress.)
Meanwhile, out J. Edgar screenwriter Dustin Lance Black assured AfterElton that Hoover and Tolson would not be “de-gayed,” saying “To think that somehow you’re going to make a movie about somebody like J. Edgar and...
Although there's no definitive proof either way, it's widely assumed that Hoover, long-term director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Tolson, his assistant director, were lovers. Director Clint Eastwood sparked concern that Hoover's story would be “straightwashed” when he told The Wall Street Journal that the script “didn't quite go down [the] road” of addressing rumors of Hoover's being closeted and a cross-dresser. (Eastwood later confirmed with The Hollywood Reporter that he included a scene showing Hoover wearing his mother's dress.)
Meanwhile, out J. Edgar screenwriter Dustin Lance Black assured AfterElton that Hoover and Tolson would not be “de-gayed,” saying “To think that somehow you’re going to make a movie about somebody like J. Edgar and...
- 11/7/2011
- by John
- The Backlot
The chronicle of mathematician John Nash in A Beautiful Mind dabbled in the codebreaking needed during World War II, but now Warner Bros. has picked up a new spec script with all its focus on a certain codebreaker and math genius. Deadline reports the studio has paid seven-figures for The Imitation Game, a script from first-time screenwriter Graham Moore which follows Alan Turing, an important man of British history said to be the father of computer science as he played a pivotal role in the creation of the modern computer. In addition, apparently Leonardo DiCaprio "has the inside track" to play the lead role. Along with DiCaprio's interest, Ron Howard is said to have an eye towards directing the film as well. Deadline says many insiders have called The Imitation Game the best script they've read in years with one saying, "Think The King’s Speech without the huge uplifting ending,...
- 10/12/2011
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
A genre constantly overlooked at awards ceremonies, sci-fi cinema is full of stunning performances. Here’s a list of 10 that deserved Oscar attention…
There are certain aspects of cinematic storytelling that Oscar judges absolutely love: feel-good dramas in which characters triumph over adversity, sweeping period epics, or films in which a popular Hollywood actor undergoes some startling, uncharacteristic change (see Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, for example, or Ben Kingsley in Ghandi) are a few examples.
Should a film somehow incorporate all three of these features, it will almost certainly walk away with an entire armful of golden statues. It’s a depressing fact, meanwhile, that genre movies are regularly overlooked by almost all mainstream film awards, and not just the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
If you’re an actor in a science fiction film, for example, it’s quite unlikely that you’ll receive much attention for your performance,...
There are certain aspects of cinematic storytelling that Oscar judges absolutely love: feel-good dramas in which characters triumph over adversity, sweeping period epics, or films in which a popular Hollywood actor undergoes some startling, uncharacteristic change (see Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, for example, or Ben Kingsley in Ghandi) are a few examples.
Should a film somehow incorporate all three of these features, it will almost certainly walk away with an entire armful of golden statues. It’s a depressing fact, meanwhile, that genre movies are regularly overlooked by almost all mainstream film awards, and not just the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
If you’re an actor in a science fiction film, for example, it’s quite unlikely that you’ll receive much attention for your performance,...
- 8/23/2011
- Den of Geek
Week 12 of EW’s 2011 Summer Movie Body Count continues with Captain America: The First Avenger, in which Chris Evans is transformed from a scrawny wimp into a depilated Nazi-killing hunk. Warning: This post has more Spoilers than a muscle-car convention. But if you love your country (and/or costumed beefcake), we bet you’ll read it anyway.
In keeping with America’s global image as a non-violent, neutral peacekeeper, Captain America: The First Avenger has zero deaths. Thank you for reading.
Joke! The whole fun of this movie is watching the Cap’n crunch some evil Nazi skulls during WWII.
In keeping with America’s global image as a non-violent, neutral peacekeeper, Captain America: The First Avenger has zero deaths. Thank you for reading.
Joke! The whole fun of this movie is watching the Cap’n crunch some evil Nazi skulls during WWII.
- 7/26/2011
- by Adam Markovitz
- EW.com - PopWatch
The Take Shelter Trailer has premiered. Jeff Nichols‘ Take Shelter (2011) movie stars Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Kathy Baker, and Ray McKinnon. Take Shelter‘s plot synopsis: “Curtis Laforche [Michael Shannon] lives in a small Ohio town with his wife Samantha [Jessica Chastain] and six-year-old daughter Hannah, who is deaf. Curtis makes a modest living as a crew chief for a sand-mining company. Samantha is a stay-at-home mother and part-time seamstress who supplements their income by selling handmade wares at the flea market each weekend. Money is tight, and navigating Hannah’s healthcare and special needs education is a constant struggle. Despite that, Curtis and Samantha are very much in love and their family is a happy one. Then Curtis begins having terrifying dreams about an encroaching, apocalyptic storm. He chooses to keep the disturbance to himself, channeling his anxiety into the obsessive building of a storm shelter in their backyard….”
This movie...
This movie...
- 5/24/2011
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
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