Screen Actors Guild 2013 nominations revealed

Screen Actors Guild 2013 nominations revealed

We're heading into awards territory now as we approach the end of the year.

And the first cab off the ranks are the Screen Actors Guild nominations which have just come out.

As expected Les Miserables and Lincoln, along with The Silver Linings Playbook are the big scorers - all of which hit NZ cinemas early next year.

The full list is as follows:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper (“Pat”) - Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)
Daniel Day-Lewis (“Abraham Lincoln”) – Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)
John Hawkes (“Mark”) - The Sessions (Fox Searchlight)
Hugh Jackman (“Jean Valjean”) - Les Misérables (Universal Pictures)
Denzel Washington (“Whip Whitaker”) – Flight (Paramount Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain (“Maya”) – Zero Dark Thirty (Columbia Pictures)
Marion Cotillard (“Stephanie”) – Rust and Bone (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jennifer Lawrence (“Tiffany”) – Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)
Helen Mirren (“Alma Reville”) – Hitchcock (Fox Searchlight)
Naomi Watts (“Maria”) - The Impossible (Summit Entertainment)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin (“Lester Siegel”) – Argo (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Javier Bardem (“Silva”) – “SKYFALL” (Columbia Pictures)
Robert De Niro (“Pat, Sr.”) – Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Lancaster Dodd”) – The Master (The Weinstein Company)
Tommy Lee Jones (“Thaddeus Stevens”) - Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Sally Field (“Mary Todd Lincoln”) - Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)
Anne Hathaway (“Fantine”) – Les Misérables (Universal Pictures)
Helen Hunt (“Cheryl”) – The Sessions (Fox Searchlight)
Nicole Kidman (“Charlotte Bless”) – The Paperboy (Millennium Entertainment)
Maggie Smith (“Muriel Donnelly”) - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureArgo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Misérables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion PictureThe Amazing Spider-Man
The Bourne Legacy
The Dark Knight Rises
Les Misérables
Skyfall

Drama Ensemble
Homeland
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Downton Abbey
Mad Men

Drama Actress
Claire Danes, Homeland
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story Asylum
Drama Actor
Damian Lewis, Homeland
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom

Comedy Ensemble
Modern Family
30 Rock
Nurse Jackie
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
The Office

Comedy Actress
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland

Comedy Actor
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Louis CK, Louie
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Stunt Team
Breaking Bad
Boardwalk Empire
Game of Thrones
Sons of Anarchy
The Walking Dead

TV Movie or Miniseries - Male Actor
Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys
Woody Harrelson, Game Change
Ed Harris, Game Change
Clive Owen, Hemingway & Gellhorn
Bill Paxton, Hatfields & McCoys

TV Movie or Miniseries - Female Actor
Nicole Kidman, Hemingway & Gellhorn
Julianne Moore, Game Change
Charlotte Rampling, Restless
Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals
Alfre Woodard, Steel Magnolias

The SAG Awards will be broadcast on January 27 on TNT / TBS. 

New Man of Steel trailer drops

New Man of Steel trailer drops

Good news for fans of Superman...

The brand new Man of Steel trailer has arrived!

From Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures comes "Man of Steel", starring Henry Cavill, directed by Zach Snyder. The film also stars Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Henry Lennix, Christopher Meloni and Laurence Fishburne.

Star Trek Into Darkness villain revealed

Star Trek Into Darkness villain revealed

After the awesome Star Trek Into Darkness trailers last week, we've got our first look at Benedict Cumberbatch as the villain of the film - and a name for him too...

The first look image from Star Trek Into Darkness has been unleashed....

And here it is - with some spoilers below:

Zachary Quinto is Spock, Benedict Cumberbatch is John Harrison and Chris Pine is Kirk in Star Trek Into Darkness.

And of course, the extra footage Japanese version...

New trailer for The Last Of Us unleashed

New trailer for The Last Of Us unleashed

A brand new trailer for the awesome looking Last Of Us has been released.

The Last of Us is genre-defining experience blending survival and action elements to tell a character driven story about a population decimated by a modern plague. Cities are abandoned and being reclaimed by nature. Remaining survivors are killing each other for food, weapons and whatever they can find. Joel, a ruthless survivor, and Ellie, a young teenage girl who's braver and wiser beyond her years, must work together to survive their journey across what remains of the United States. 

The Last of Us is being developed by Naughty Dog, exclusively for PlayStation 3 (PS3).

Les Miserables: Movie Review

Les Miserables: Movie Review

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter.

Director: Tom Hooper

Anne Hathaway as Fantaine in Les Miserables

After countless years of stage shows and several cinematic attempts, it's time for another take on the Victor Hugo story, Les Miserables.

In this latest set in 19th Century France, Hugh Jackman takes on the role of Jean Valjean, who's served his time after stealing bread to feed a family member. Under the watch of beastly Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), Valjean is supposed to report in for parole, but he doesn't.

And that sets off decades of pursuit from Javert as Valjean tries to turn his life around - but the pair's dogged back and forth all culminates in the tragedy of the 1832 French revolution in Paris....

(Relatively) fresh from Oscar success, Tom Hooper returns with this, which makes much of the music and song being sung live rather than recorded and redubbed within the confines of the studio. And yet for all the plaudits that it should deserve for being brave, it's somewhat of a hollow experience.

Don't get me wrong - Les Miserables is certainly a hell of a visual spectacle. The sets and settings are incredibly evocative and hit the right note all through out.

Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert in Les Miserables

Talking of hitting the right note, it's really all about the singing, with maybe only 20 words all up being spoken throughout. (Which will tell you whether you want to see a film where every last word is sung at you for narrative purposes).

Of the main cast, all have varying degrees of success, all having some pedigree of musical history. Hugh Jackman gives his all and manages to imbue his singing with some level of emotion throughout - as opposed to Russell Crowe, whose staunch visage is emotionless as he barks his way through his dogged pursuit. It means you never really fully get his state of mind throughout and I can't for the life of me begin to explain why he's pursued this man for so long after he broke parole after being jailed for stealing a loaf of bread....

As Fantaine, Hathaway runs the gamut as her tragic journey plays out and certainly does a belter of a performance for I Dreamed a Dream. But, here's the curious thing - I never really felt any sympathy for her plight. And it's an odd discrepancy with this version; there's a real lack of an emotional connection through its somewhat overly long duration. I don't know whether it's the fact the action is on celluloid so you're more disconnected than you would be with a stage version but I never got the heart in my mouth moment at any point that I would have been expecting during any of the revolution scenes, various character demises and so on.

Perhaps, because there's so much music and musical on show throughout, you never really get a moment to catch your breath and wallow in the spectacle before the next iconic musical morsel is boisterously blasted in your direction and in quite extreme close ups in some cases.

After the unrelenting misery of the start, Sacha Baron Cohen brings some much needed humour to the proceedings as the innkeeper, but it's short lived as the main story continues. Eddie Remayne is a little squeaky as the love interest too; but Amanda Seyfried makes up for it, giving them the stronger bond and making them a likeable pair.

Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables

It could be the fact I'm a cultural slob and have consequently not seen Les Miserables before so it may resonate with others more. Whilst it is technically and visually dazzling, in my humble opinion the entire film remains a curiously detached experience. Some of the set pieces are brilliantly pulled together by Hooper but there's so many moments thrown one after another, that there's just not the letting up in pace which is sorely needed.

Its ensemble cast, overall, do good work (and I'd expect the production of Les Miserables to be Oscar nominated) but the lack of relative emotion and overly long running time (a few songs could have been trimmed) mean Les Miserables remains unfortunately thwarted by its ambition and doesn't quite hit the high peaks you'd have expected.

Rating:

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug First look

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug First look

Read The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey movie review

With The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opening this week in New Zealand, it seems like we've all gone Hobbit crazy.

So, wanting to fuel that fire even further, here's your first look at Bilbo in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug...

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is due in cinemas in December 2013...

WWE 13: PS3 Review

WWE 13: PS3 Review

Platform: PS3
Released by THQ

Wrestling - it's all about the show, isn't it?

It certainly appears to be in this latest game release, which heads out for the Christmas rush. This time around, the bout of wrestling heads into the Attitude Era of the sport, of which I confess I knew nothing of before.

The series gets annual updates and there's a danger that this kind of attitude to releasing could mean that the format feels a little tired by the time it hits the shelves, with people being asked to reinvest on a yearly basis - which these days is a big ask.

Thankfully, THQ's brought a game out which will appeal to the hardcore WWE gamer taking in new techniques and encouraging you to improve your game to ensure that you come back time and time again with the stack of matches to get through. From brawls to cage fights, there's plenty of content to engage again and with statistics as well as online playing, there's certainly something for everyone. Graphically, it all comes together well with the overall feeling of a crowd led environment and atmosphere certainly hitting the mark.

Simplified controls mean it's easier to take down your opponent but a little harder to achieve specific aims of you which are asked of you later on - it takes a little time to master but it's worth bearing with it. While I wasn't blown away by WWE 12, this latest is a smoother, more rounded kind of ride that fans of the genre will love - but I'm not 100% sure that non wrestling fans will be as blown away. It's a good solid game simulation which is slightly let down by a somewhat generic feeling commentary from the ringside mouthpieces, but it's still good fun for fans wondering if it's worth updating with the latest release.

Rating: