Cinema and Popcorn

Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right The Kids Are All Right became THE indie Summer movie and between the lots of raves that the movie earned, Annette Bening was one of the targets of the critics' praise. Seeing Annette Bening laying a member of a lesbian couple and a mum in a comedy may be something that we aren't used to see and this is the point of a possible Oscar nod and maybe win: she's doing something light, different from her character in American Beauty, for example. We can't forgive the Academy for never gave her a golden statue (she lost to Hillary Swank twice!), but this year, a nod is sure and a win is possible, definetly. Although Bening is overdue for a win, she didn't delivered the best performance of the year... to be completly honest, I think that Portman delivered the best one in Black Swan by far, while the other contenders are really close to Bening's if we are talking about quality (I'm not saying that Bening's performance i...

Jeff Bridges for True Grit He might be the last year's winner of the Oscar of Best Leading Actor, but it seems that Bridges will take another Oscar nod this year, in spite of the fact that the won't win again (in fact, he have been raved for his performance in True Grit and have been collecting some awards nominations but he missed a Golden Globe nod and he didn't was named Best Actor for some major film critics' associations in spite of having Critics' Choice Award and a SAG Award nods). The previous interpretation of Bridges' character was from the legendary John Wayne in the previous adaptation of True Grit and it seems that the actor of Crazy Heart has "just" done a great tribute to it. Although he have already been recognized by the Academy last year, Bridges has good chances of getting a Best Leading Actor nod this year. Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network Eisenberg got raves for playing Mark Zuckerberg, the guy who founded the Facebook,...

Here's my nominees predictions list for the Academy Award of Best Picture: After Slumdog Millionaire , Danny Boyle brings a "one man show", a veridic story of a mountain climber who cut his own arm in order to save his life. 127 Hours received a lot of critical praise and the Academy loves extraordinary true stories, but the major awards haven't put 127 Hours between their Best Picture nominees, what may be a problem. This may look a little bit like Sean Penn's Into the Wild (it was snubed in the major categories in its year Oscar race), but Danny Boyle's latest work benefits from an happy ending, the suspense factor of the movie, a terrific performance from James Franco and the fact that no one has already forgotten Slumdog Millionaire . 127 Hours is in a good way to get a Best Picture nod, but it may fail due to the strong competition. The sensation of Venice Film Festival, Black Swan was the latest movie from the director Darren Aronofsky ( Requiem for...

The Online Film Critics Society has just announced its nominees. It seems that Black Swan keeps on fire, earning 7 nods, while The Social Network got 6. There aren't big surprises in the nominees and I think all of them deserve the recognition. If we check out the past nominees and winners, we realize that OFCS Awards Best Picture winners (and all the other categories' ones) were a kind of consolation prize for a lot of high-quality movies (almost always indie flicks) that didn't got a lot of wins in the awards season, but this year it seems almost impossible not to give a win to The Social Network , which is the movie of the year, by far! I think I can name OFCS Awards a kind of critics' awards for indie productions and few non-indie ones. In general, the battle will be between The Social Network and Black Swan , with indie produtions dominating the acting categories... Here's the list of the nominees with my winner predictions with *: Best Picture Black Swan In...

It seems that Johnny Depp will "appear" as a lizard next March... I mean, he will give his voice to a lizard in a movie named Rango , directed by Gore Verbinski ( The Pirates of the Caribbean 's three first installements). The way Depp's voice was captured was really interesting, it was a way that needs that actors playing the characters (on most animated feature, the animators are used as reference for character's movements, but in this one, the actors themselves are the references - characters sound and move like the actor, which make it a more natural acting experience, giving expressivity to Rango's characters!). Just watch it: According to Collider " Marvel Studios plans to shoot much of The Avengers in Albuquerque Studios in New Mexico, taking advantage of the state’s 25% tax rebate for film and TV productions. The rebate has lured over 150 projects to the “Land of Enchantment,” including Breaking Bad, True Grit, and Marvel’s Thor. According to V...

Well, Oscars are coming and there are a lot of contenders for every category. Some awards' nominees annoucements gave to the audiences a little perfume of which will be some of the Academy's choices, but the Academy likes to make surprises sometimes (like Maggie Gyllenhaal nomination for Crazy Heart last year). So, there are some lists of the placement of some contenders in the Oscar race: BEST PICTURE At the moment, The Social Network is leading the race in such a clearly way that it's almost sure that it will that the Best Picture Oscar home. But there's The King's Speech and Inception eyeing the top Academy's prize. All the other nominees will be there, but they know that they have almost no chance to win in the Best Picture category. Animal Kingdom , The Town or Another Year may have a chance to be placed between the 10 Academy's favs too. 1 - The Social Network 2 - The King's Speech 3 - Inception 4 - Toy Story 3 5 - Winter's Bone 6...

Just to say that I'm a little bit shocked about some winners of Satellite Awards. I considered that the fact of Noomi Rapace being nominated was already a win, but she won in the Best Actress (Drama) category, beating some Oscar favs like Natalie Portman , Nicole Kidman , Jennifer Lawrence or Michelle Williams (does it mean that Rapace should be considered an Oscar contender?). Another surprise is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World : it was suposed to be The Kids Are All Right winning the Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) award according to the Oscar buzz and the same can be applied to Anne Hathaway , who should be beaten by Annette Bening , the most likely contender to the Best Actress Oscar... Well, it seems that I've a lot to learn! The Social Network , Colin Firth , Christian Bale and Jacki Weaver keep on the road to an Oscar win, as well as Inception (mostly in the technical categories). Here's the list of the Satellite Awards winners: • Motion Picture (Drama)...

SAG Awards nominees were announced! There are some predictable names in all the categories but there are also some surprises and some snubs. I'm surprised that Hillary Swank , Hailee Steinfield and John Hawkes were nominated, but I think that Hawkes and Steinfield deserved their nods. What also surprises me is the fact that Ryan Gosling was snubed, because he has already two SAG nods, what would name him as a SAG's darling. Mila Kunis was also nominated for a SAG in the supporting actress category, but I would be pleased if I saw Jacki Weaver or Lesley Manville instead of her. In Swank's place I would put Blue Valentine 's Michelle Williams (I love this girl). Here's the list of SAG nominees for film with my winner predictions with an *: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Jeff Bridges for True Grit Robert Duvall for Get Low Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network Colin Firth for The King's Speech * James Franco for 127 Hours Outstan...

God! With the Golden Globes, I thought that some movies would be recognized, specially the comedies (which are the movies who are more hardly recognized for the majority of awards, because they seem to love "drama"). In fact, the Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical is so sad that you will want laugh with the silly choices: The Tourist ? Red ? They are action movies! Burlesque and Alice In Wonderland ? Well, "Alice" is visually delicious and has a great score, but Burlesque was a waste of its cast's talent. The Kids Are All Right ... well the only serious and deservable choice in that list! Where are Cyrus , Easy A , Made In Dagenham , Somewhere or Please Give ? These ones are much better than any Tourist or Burslesque ! Another questions: with all the sucess of Inception , why didn't the Globes nominate Leonardo DiCaprio or Marion Cotillard ? Where is Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right , Robert Duvall for Get Low and Lesley Manville for An...

Well, I must say that this year's Critics Choice Awards are plenty of good choices in my opinion. I loved the fact that they recognized Noomi Rapace as a nominee in the Best Actress category for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo , but there are some missing names like Lesley Manville for Another Year , Dianne Wiest for Rabbit Hole or even John Hawkes for Winter's Bone ? What about Somewhere and Animal Kingdom missing in screenplay categories? And... hey!... Why isn't The Kids Are All Right nominated for Best Picture? Shouldn't Hailee Steinfeld be in the leading actress category (I think she seems more a "leading" than a "supporting" actress)? But I can't complain about Critics' Choice Awards specially after having a look at Golden Globes, but it is another post... Here's the nominees list with my winner predictions with an *: BEST PICTURE 127 Hours Black Swan The Fighter Inception The King’s Speech The Social Network * The Town Toy...

According to Collider, " Oprah Winfrey is now in talks to star in the film adaptation of Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Ruined. The play ran off-Broadway to much critical acclaim, and focuses on Mama Nadi, a Madam at a brothel in war-torn Congo, who struggles to keep herself and the women working for her safe from the conflict between the government and rebel armies. Winfrey, who is producing through her Harpo Productions alongside HBO Films, would star as Nadi ." Remember that Oprah Winfrey is in the final season of her talk-show and that she's an Academy Award nominee actress for her amazing performance in Steven Spielberg 's The Color Purple . In my opinion, I thought that a return to the cinema was just a question of time for her. I see a good role in this project for Oprah! The Spider-Man reboot directed by Marc Webb began shooting this week. Remember that Marc Webb directed the critically acclaimed (500) Days of Summer and that the cast is compos...

The winners of the British Independent Film Awards were annouced a couple of days ago and we can say that the winner is... The King's Speech, but it seems that Monsters received a kind of honorable mention, winning in some categories. I'm proud to say that a lot of my winner predictions for this awards became reality in the Best British Independent Film, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Achievement in Production and Best Foreign Film categories. So, here's the list of the Bifa winners: BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM The King's Speech BEST DIRECTOR Gareth Edwards ( Monsters ) THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD (BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR) Clio Barnard ( The Arbor ) BEST SCREENPLAY David Seidler ( The King's Speech ) BEST ACTRESS Carey Mulligan ( Never Let Me Go ) BEST ACTOR Colin Firth ( The King's Speech ) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Helana Bonham Carter ( The King's Speech ) BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Geoffrey Rush ( The King's Speech ) MOST PROMISING NEWC...

National Board of Review announced its winners a couple of days ago, stating what everybody already know: The Social Network is the most serious contender for the Academy Award of Best Picture . NBR Awards have been a good indicator of the Oscar in the way that rarely a NBR winner don't get an Oscar nod. So, take a look at the list: Best Film: The Social Network Best Director: David Fincher, The Social Network Best Actor: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network Best Actress: Lesley Manville, Another Year Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter Best Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom Best Foreign Language Film: Of Gods and Men Best Documentary: Waiting for “Superman” Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3 Best Ensemble Cast: The Town Breakthrough Performance: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone Best Directorial Debut: Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, Restrepo Spotlight Award: Sylvain Chomet and Jacques Tati, The Illusionist Best Original Screenplay:...

Well, Satellite Awards revealed their nominees and it seems that the list is dominated by "star power" as usually happens in this award. Popularity and commercial sucess are some of the concepts that the Satellite seems to follow as the rule of "don't honor only the best productions". I see some indie films that were snubed here (like Sofia Coppola's Somewhere in general and Rabbit Hole outside acting categories) but others seem to have got all the glory they deserve ( Animal Kindgom , Blue Valentine , among other bigger productions like The Social Network , The King's Speech and Inception ). In spite of all the "Satellite's mistakes", the fact is that this awards have been a good indicator of who will be the Oscar winner in some categories, specially in the Best Picture one (movies like The Hurt Locker , Slumdog Millionaire , No Country for Old Men or The Departed won in the Best Motion Picture - Drama category and won the Oscar of Be...