Popscorn

83rd Academy Award Nominations Announced

Kevin Powers — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:40:14 +0000

Nominations for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, which airs Feb. 27, are out and the full rundown is below. (Bolded, orange entries are those films picked recently by the Washington Area Film Critics Association. Just as a reminder.)

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

DIRECTING

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

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Anette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawks, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jackie Weaver, Animal Kingdom

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

127 Hours (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing), Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Michael Arndt. Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
True Grit (Paramount), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter’s Bone (Roadside Attractions), Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Another Year (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter (Paramount), Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception (Warner Bros.), 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

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Biutiful
Dogtooth
In a Better World
Incendies
Outside the Law

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Matthew Libatique
Inception (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Danny Cohen
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit (Paramount) Roger Deakins

FILM EDITING

Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter Paramount Pamela Martin
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Tariq Anwar
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Jon Harris
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Exit through the Gift Shop (Producers Distribution Agency) Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz A Paranoid Pictures Production
Gasland Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic A Gasland Production
Inside Job (Sony Pictures Classics) Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs A Representational Pictures Production
Restrepo (National Geographic Entertainment) Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger An Outpost Films Production
Waste Land Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley (Arthouse Films) An Almega Projects Production

ORIGINAL SCORE

How to Train Your Dragon (Paramount) John Powell
Inception (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Coming Home from Country Strong (Sony Pictures Releasing (Screen Gems)) Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
I See the Light from Tangled (Walt Disney) Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
If I Rise from 127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
We Belong Together from Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.) Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
Hereafter (Warner Bros.) Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
Inception (Warner Bros.) Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Iron Man 2 (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment, Distributed by Paramount) Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

2010 Razzie Nominations Announced

Kevin Powers — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:40:48 +0000

Alongside the Academy Awards nominations for best films of the year comes the 2010 Razzies, recognizing the worst films. Not exactly a lot of surprises here, but I’m oh-so glad Sex and the City 2 made the list.

WORST PICTURE

The Bounty Hunter
The Last Airbender
Sex and the City 2
Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Vampires Suck

WORST ACTOR

Jack Black / Gulliver’s Travels
Gerard Butler /The Bounty Hunter
Ashton Kutcher / Killers and Valentine’s Day
Taylor Lautner / Twilight Saga: Eclipse and Valentine’s Day
Robert Pattinson / Remember Me and Twilight Saga: Eclipse

WORST ACTRESS

Jennifer Aniston / The Bounty Hunter and The Switch
Mylie Cyrus / The Last Song
Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis & Cynthia Nixon / Sex & the City 2
Megan Fox / Jonah Hex
Kristen Stewart / Twilight Saga: Eclipse

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Jessica Alba / The Killer Inside Me, Little Fockers, Machete and Valentine’s Day
Cher / Burlesque
Liza Minnelli / Sex & the City 2
Nicola Peltz / The Last Airbender
Barbra Streisand / Little Fockers

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Billy Ray Cyrus / The Spy Next Door
George Lopez / Marmaduke, The Spy Next Door and Valentine’s Day
Dev Patel / The Last Airbender
Jackson Rathbone / The Last Airbender and Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Rob Schneider / Grown Ups

WORST EYE-GOUGING MIS-USE Of 3-D

Cats & Dogs 2: Revenge of Kitty Galore
Clash of the Titans
The Last Airbender
Nutcracker 3-D
Saw 3-D (aka Saw VII)

WORST SCREEN COUPLE / WORST SCREEN ENSEMBLE

Jennifer Aniston & Gerard Butler / The Bounty Hunter
Josh Brolin’s Face & Megan Fox’s Accent / Jonah Hex
The Entire Cast of The Last Airbender
The Entire Cast of Sex & The City 2
The Entire Cast of Twilight Saga: Eclipse

WORST DIRECTOR

Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer / Vampires Suck
Michael Patrick King / Sex & The City 2
M. Night Shyamalan / The Last Airbender
David Slade / Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Sylvester Stallone / The Expendables

WORST SCREENPLAY

The Last Airbender, Written by M. Night Shyamalan, based on the TV series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Brian Konietzko
Little Fockers, Written by John Hamburg and Larry Stuckey, based on Characters Created by Greg Glenna & Mary Roth Clarke
Sex & the City 2, Written by Michael Patrick King, Based on the TV Series Created by Darren Star
Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer
Vampires Suck, Written by Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer

WORST PREQUEL, REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL

Clash Of The Titans
The Last Airbender
Sex & The City 2
Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Vampires Suck

Trailer for Insidious

Kevin Powers — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 21:22:19 +0000

A teaser trailer (and I do mean teaser) is finally out for the upcoming frightener, Insidious, brought to us by those quality folks behind Paranormal Activity and Saw. The film’s director, James Wan, was responsible for the very first Saw, which was arguably the only one of value in the entire line. He also helmed Death Sentence starring Kevin Bacon and a very rough-trade Garrett Hedlund back in 2007, which I actually quite liked. So how might he do working with Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, and shepherding a creepy story surrounding a haunted house and comatose child? I’m thinking he’ll do just fine. Hopefully we’ll get a better look at the film soon, since it’s release date is just around the corner (April 1).

New Captain America Photos

Kevin Powers — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:33:52 +0000

Captain America: The First Avenger isn’t due out ’til the end of July but Marvel continues to tease. This time with a couple new, high-res photos of Chris Evans in full patriot gear.

Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige will produce CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER. Alan Fine, Stan Lee, David Maisel and Louis D’Esposito will executive produce. The film will be released in the US on July 22, 2011 and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America.

Born during the Great Depression, Steve Rogers grew up a frail youth in a poor family. Horrified by the newsreel footage of the Nazis in Europe, Rogers was inspired to enlist in the army. However, because of his frailty and sickness, he was rejected. Overhearing the boy’s earnest plea, General Chester Phillips offered Rogers the opportunity to take part in a special experiment… Operation: Rebirth. After weeks of tests, Rogers was at last administered the Super-Solider Serum and bombarded by “vita-rays.” Steve Rogers emerged from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human. Rogers was then put through an intensive physical and tactical training program. Three months later, he was given his first assignment as Captain America. Armed with his indestructible shield and battle savvy, Captain America has continued his war against evil both as a sentinel of liberty and as leader of the Avengers.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Kevin Powers — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:14:49 +0000

If you happen to be in the D.C. area this holiday season (or one of these other lucky locales), head on over to E Street Cinema and catch what has to be the pick for holiday family movie, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. Unfortunately, we here at Popscorn have yet to catch the film (next time Oscilloscope, please?!), but we’re fairly confident this little indie present has all the camp and scare our Grinch-y dark hearts could hope for. Local outlet DCist unwrapped Exports early and said the film has “the goofy, kid-empowering spirit of ’80s flicks like Gremlins or The Goonies…[and] the content is just disturbing enough.” Sounds like a happy holiday time, and the perfect counter to all the traditional feel-good trimmings of the season. Ho-ho-ho everyone.

It’s the eve of Christmas in northern Finland, and an ‘archeological’ dig has just unearthed the real Santa Claus. But this particular Santa isn’t the one you want coming to town. When the local children begin mysteriously disappearing, young Pietari and his father Rauno, a reindeer hunter by trade, capture the mythological being and attempt to sell Santa to the misguided leader of the multinational corporation sponsoring the dig. Santa’s elves, however, will stop at nothing to free their fearless leader from captivity. What ensues is a wildly humorous nightmare – a fantastically bizarre polemic on modern day morality.
RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE is a re-imagining of the most classic of all childhood fantasies, and is a darkly comic gem soon to be required perennial holiday viewing.

TRON: Legacy

Kevin Powers — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 20:47:43 +0000

Set in a digital sub-reality, filled with humanoid manifestations of computer programs, it should come as no surprise that TRON: Legacy is a soulless film. The characters and plot are plainly one-dimensional — a heartily ironic situation given the film shows in 3D — and absent of anything that might trigger an emotional connection to its viewers. Yes, there is little to no substance to take away from the three-decades-in-the-making sequel. No commentary of consequence on the consuming digital landscape. No potent societal appeal to disconnect from the machines. Nothing that actually makes you think. But that doesn’t stop TRON from being one of the best, most engrossing cinematic experiences of 2010. What it lacks in brainy sustenance it more than makes up for in visual and auditory overload.

Don’t worry if you haven’t seen the 1982 original. Legacy provides the requisite amount of back-story, and picks up where that flop-turned-cult-classic left off — Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) is a computer genius that has seemingly disappeared, leaving his young son, wife and company, ENCOM, to fend for themselves. Fast forward 20 years, and Sam, Flynn’s son (Garrett Hedlund), is a reckless heir to the thrown, who eventually (and accidentally) discovers that his father’s dream of an alternative digital world called “The Grid” came true.

Caster and Sam chatting

Sam comes to be reunited with his father, who has been trapped inside The Grid all along. The pair, accompanied by giga-hottie, Quorra (Olivia Wilde), must race against the clock to get back to the real world. But first they have to get past Flynn’s digital twin, CLU, who’s the veritable mayor of the computer underworld. Will they make it?

Who cares. There’s nary a nanosecond in the film where the plot seems up for grabs. Similar to the defined lines upon which the The Grid is based, the story plods along expected and safe routes like a ride at Disney land. Turn up ahead! Here comes the drop!

One of the only surprising elements to the film is its humor. Smartly placed and well-timed, the film’s moments of levity are appreciable, as are the characters that deliver them. James Frain (“True Blood“) plays a weasel-y assistant to CLU, while Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon) assumes the eccentric, Bowie-esque club proprietor, Castor. During some otherwise flat, coasting parts of the story, these guys entertain.

TRON’s value is in the visuals and soundtrack, no question. So if you can sit back, wrap yourself in the computer nerd-ness of it all, it’s a damn — damn! — impressive two-hour journey. And don’t be surprised if when the credits roll, you want to hop on again. It’s clear why the film was short-listed for the Oscar for Achievement in Visual Design. The art, style and level of detail, not to mention the sophisticated techniques which bring it all to life, are simply remarkable. TRON magically and successfully transports you to The Grid, and that’s all we expect of it.

Trailer for Thor

Kevin Powers — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 15:45:21 +0000

As expected, following the release of the official poster for the film, the studio-approved trailer (as opposed to the earlier one, which wasn’t) for Marvel’s upcoming tent-pole, Thor, has hit the interwebs. The footage is pretty similar to what we’ve seen already, but this time it’s in HD with a smattering of new material here and there.

It’s still fun to see Anthony Hopkins assume the role of Thor’s father, Odin. The guy has the perfect intonation when scolding his son, which hopefully is an accurate peak at what might be some dramatic flair to the comic-book film. And then there’s Natalie Portman, for whom most will have a newfound respective post-Black Swan. I’m still skeptical of the studio’s ability to really pull off such a high-concept storyline. But, fingers crossed! (And in case anyone’s immediately curious, there’s, of course, the gratuitous shirtless shot of Hemsworth’s superhero figure.)

Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment present the epic adventure, “Thor,” which spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard. At the center of the story is the mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and is forced to live among humans. A beautiful, young scientist, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), has a profound effect on Thor, as she ultimately becomes his first love. It’s while here on Earth that Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

The Rite Trailer

Kevin Powers — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:37:19 +0000

Hang onto your crucifixes! Nothing scares like a good film that plays to the darker corners of religion and hides behind the veil of “inspired by true events.” That appears the direction of The Rite, Anthony Hopkins’ new film where he assumes the characteristically sinister old dude; this time a seasoned priest skilled in exorcisms. Ordinarily, this sort of film would be shaken off as generic genre fair, but I have a feeling The Rite might stand out from the unholy pack. Hopkins is joined by the increasingly enjoyable Alice Braga (Predators, I Am Legend), Ciaran Hinds (The Eclipse) and a somewhat unfamiliar (if not fetching) face, Colin O’Donoghue.

Crazy evil bitch.

Inspired by true events, “The Rite” follows skeptical seminary student Michael Kovak (Colin O’Donoghue), who reluctantly attends exorcism school at the Vatican. While in Rome, he meets an unorthodox priest, Father Lucas (Anthony Hopkins) , who introduces him to the darker side of his faith. Directed by Mikael Hafstroem (1408), “The Rite” is a supernatural thriller that uncovers the devil’s reach to even one of the holiest places on Earth.

Poster for Thor

Kevin Powers — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 15:53:44 +0000

Marvel goes for the dramatic in the first official one-sheet for Thor (May 2011). The first “real” trailer is supposedly to follow this weekend, despite the Comic-Con preview being around for some time. I can hear the marketing machine beginning to turn!

Transformers 3 and Real Steel Trailers

Kevin Powers — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 20:07:41 +0000

Today we’re blessed with not one, but two first looks at some upcoming robot shenanigans. First up is the anticipated — saying highly anticipated seems a stretch, no? — Transformers 3: Dark Side of the Moon. I have to admit, this trailer is done well and actually carries some weight to draw you in. That is until you see the ‘meh’-inspiring Michael Bay moniker and the familiar, laughably complex Transformer (or is it a Deceptacon?). I’ve never understood the design direction for these bots on screen and the need for a !ba-jillion! tiny shiny, screaming moving pieces. This early look doesn’t work too hard, save for officially getting the word out for the film; that kind of already happened when Bumblebee t-boned a cop while filming in DC.

The second trailer we have is for Real Steel, which is slightly more exciting, given it’s not the third installation in a stale line of childhood favorites-turned-films. Real Steel surrounds the classic Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em robots, with Hugh Jackman taking lead as promoter, Charlie Kenton. It looks like exactly what you’d expect from a film based on the kid’s game. And that’s not a cheap shot — I’m liking the look of these bots. (At least more than that of Transformers.)