More films for January 2013

More films for January 2013

It's an extremely busy month for films in January.

So here are a few more trailers to whet your appetite for what's coming up - all of these are out January 31st.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters


Zero Dark Thirty


Lincoln


Anna Karenina

The Master: Movie Review

The Master: Movie Review

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Laura Dern
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Joaquin Phoenix returns to the screen after an absence, in a film which has netted him an Oscar nomination.

Phoenix plays Naval veteran Freddie Quell, who's back home in America after the end of the war and who's unsettled and unsure about what's ahead. An alcoholic, he lurches from one job to the next in a booze fuelled   state and one day ends up as a stowaway on a ship.

However, it turns out that ship is being operated by a group called The Cause, led by their charismatic leader, Lancaster Dodd aka The Master. Soon, Freddie is taken in by The Cause and they try to convert him to their ways.

But, is Freddie beyond saving? And what is it that The Master sees in Freddie that's so mesmerising?

None of these questions are really answered in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master.

Granted, it's masterful performances from Seymour Hoffman and Phoenix which really anchor this film as it rolls from one moment to the next. Some have said that The Master is about Scientology and a thinly veiled attack on the religion which has swept Hollywood. I'm not 100% sure I see that in it, but I can understand where it's coming from given that it's about the hold one man has on a group of people who are completely in his thrall, despite some feeling that he's simply making it up as he goes along.

What is evident though is that the film from Anderson shows why he's such a searing talent in the film-making department. Scenes take a while to build up and when he keeps the camera on his two leads, it's mesmerising and utterly compelling to behold.

One sequence, an interrogation between Quell and Dodd, is just an absolute masterclass in how to frame a scene and how to get the best of your leads. It helps that Phoenix and Seymour Hoffman are at their absolute peak as Dodd tries to burrow into Quell's mental state of mind. That powerful scene alone stays with you long after the film's finished.

Which is just as well, because there are a fair few unanswered questions throughout - such as why Dodd is so determined to stick by Quell when his wife (who at times appears to be the power behind the Cause) and family tell him to cut him loose. Granted, they're two sides of one coin with Dodd the charismatic, chiselled and sophisticated leader and Quell the base, loose scoundrel - but there's never any real reason given for the lifelong devotion.

Amy Adams delivers a masterfully understated performance and you have plenty of questions as to whether she's the actual power behind The Cause. (Behind every great man, and all that....) Once again, she shows that she's an incredibly versatile talent who's immensely watchable in anything she does.

All in all, The Master is an indispensable piece of film - it's likely to be loved by critics and award ceremonies but potentially will puzzle audiences who may be a little lost to its appeal. Simply put, it's Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman who make this such a compelling powerhouse for a film.

Rating:

Paranorman: Movie Review

Paranorman: Movie Review

Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Casey Affleck, John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin
Director: Chris Butler

He sees dead people - everywhere.

We've been here before, haven't we?

In  this stop motion animated film, Norman (Smit-McPhee) is an outsider in his home town of Blithe Hollow; a zombie lover, bullied by his classmates and mocked by his family for claims he can see the dead, he's an odd solitary figure in the world.

But one day, Norman finds a friend in fellow bully victim and fat kid, Neil (Tucker Albrizzi). Which is a good thing because shortly after that, Norman's eccentric uncle tells him that he holds the key to saving the day and must perform an annual ritual to stop the dead from rising due to a curse laid down by a witch centuries ago.

However, when the ritual doesn't go to plan, Norman has to convince everyone that his zombie obsession is real and that if they don't help him, it could be game over for Blithe Hollow...

Paranorman is a macabre animated treat which makes the best of a slightly lacking story by throwing in some truly undead animation. Purples and vibrant yellows pack out the screen towards the end and give a suitably spooky glow to the proceedings which get a little dark and frightening towards the end.

With hints of The Crucible and a tragic story of sadness, it's certainly enough to stand out from the usual animated fare but also wise enough to throw in a few great sight gags here and there. From the mocking of Norman's zombie obsession to the mafiosa ghost haunting the streets with his feet encased in concrete, this is a film which is reverential and respectful of the genres which have inspired it. Even the heroes of the piece, the jock, the cheerleader, the nerd, the fat kid and the bully are stock stereotypes from the splatter films of yore, but by putting a fresh spin on them, Paranorman doesn't rely on cheap gags and simplistic shocks as the dialled down story plays out. A great sight gag involving a certain hockey mask is cleverly executed as this skewed Grimm fairy tale rolls on.

Creepy visuals pierce some of the darker more nightmare scenes which unfold later in the piece, but it never looks anything other than original as the macabre mirth and furtive funnies are whacked up to 11.

Paranorman is a little something different for the animated holiday fare - it should have been released nearer Hallowe'en as it has that creepy feel - but at its heart, it's a sad story which just may touch you in ways you hadn't quite been expecting.

Rating:

Oscars 2013: Some Thoughts

Oscars 2013: Some Thoughts

The Academy Awards nominations offer up some surprises this year, but overall, it's a fairly safe year for the Awards season and no real surprise to see Lincoln take so many nominations. Life of Pi also scores highly, but it remains to be seen if it will win on the day.

Having seen the full list of the 2013 Oscar nominations, all I can say is that there is a clear front runner now - Lincoln - and a few which missed the list which should have been there (ie glaring omissions and major snubs).

The big glaring omissions to me were John Hawkes in The Sessions for best actor (Helen Hunt also scored on the supporting front) and Leonardo Di Caprio in Django Unchained. These are egregious mistakes from the Academy which are a real surprise as their roles clearly stood out this year.

As for best actress, what a surprise to see the tender young Quvenzhané Wallis of Beasts Of The Southern Wild score a nomination. She was pretty damn good in this - and I did miss out on picking her. No surprise that Emmanuelle Riva scored a nomination for Amour; her role in that was devastating. And it's impressive to see Michael Haneke's film get a nod for the best flick, rather than being confined to a minority category. I don't think it will win, but you can't have it all, right? Riva and Wallis at 84 and 9 are the oldest and youngest people ever to be nominated for the Awards.

The Silver Linings Playbook was widely tipped to be part of this list. Having not yet seen the film, I can't comment on its merits - but it must be impressive for Bradley Cooper to score the nomination - and it caps off a great cinematic year for young Winter's Bone star Jennifer Lawrence, who's clearly Hollywood's next big thing.

It's a surprise not to see Ben Affleck get a directing nod for Argo and to see Kathryn Bigelow losing out for Zero Dark Thirty. Both would have seemed shoo ins earlier. And I can't help but feel Spielberg doesn't really deserve it for Lincoln.

While The Hobbit may not have matched the Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of the Ring for nominations (LOTR FOTR scored 13 noms), it’s no surprise the technical side of the film picked up awards. Rightfully so, given that the 48 Frames per second was game-changing for the cinematic experience.

It’s not a surprise that The Hobbit didn’t score major nominations – since the first Lord of The Rings film debuted back in 2001, a lot of the cinematic landscape has changed. Hollywood had never really seen a fantasy epic like it, since Star Wars. But since then, we’ve had the likes of Avatar which changed the landscape for FX films. That, from James Cameron, didn’t pick up wins from any major nominations but scored for technical achievements.

The Academy voters don’t have a previous track record in recognising fantasy films as Oscar worthy – preferring to go for films which could be seen as more worthy (such as Lincoln).

But Sir Peter Jackson and the team shouldn’t perceive this as a major snub – after all, the Return of the King swept the Oscars when the final film in the franchise was released. In fact, if anything the aspects of the film which really raised the bar and were Oscar worthy have been recognised and that in itself should be a cause for celebration.

Well, we'll see which Golden statue winners come along on the day....but for now, let me know your winners  thoughts on the Oscar nominations in the comments section!

Oscar 2013 nominations announced

Oscar 2013 nominations announced

The Oscars 2013 nominations have been revealed this morning.

It looks like the Oscars belong potentially to Lincoln, starring Daniel Day Lewis and directed by Steven Spielberg, as it netted 12 nominations.

Other big winners are Les Miserables getting 8 nominations and Silver Linings Playbook also netting 8 nominations. Argo managed 7 nods, while there were 5 for Amour, Zero Dark Thirty, Django Unchained andSkyfall.

I'll post some thoughts later but for now here is the full list of the Oscar 2013 nominations:

BEST PICTURE
Amour
Argo
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life Of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Silver Linings Playbook

BEST DIRECTOR
Life Of Pi - Ang Lee
Lincoln - Steven Spielberg
Amour - Michael Haneke
Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell
Beasts Of The Southern Wild - Benh Zeitlin

BEST ACTOR
Denzel Washington - Flight
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Hugh Jackman - Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin - Argo
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln

BEST ACTRESS
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Quvenzhané Wallis - Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Naomi Watts - The Impossible

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - The Master
Anne Hathaway - Les Misérables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Sally Field - Lincoln
Jacky Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Brave
Frankenweenie
Paranorman
The Pirates! In An Adventure WIth Scientists
Wreck-it-Ralph

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Chris Terrio - Argo
Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin - Beasts Of The Southern Wild 
David Magee - Life Of Pi
Tony Kushner - Lincoln
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Michael Haneke - Amour
Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained
Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola - Moonrise Kingdom
Mark Boal - Zero Dark Thirty
John Gatins - Flight

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Anna Karenina - Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained - Robert Richardson
Life Of Pi - Claudio Miranda
Lincoln - Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall - Roger Deakins

COSTUME DESIGN
Anna Karenina - Jacqueline Durran
Les Misérables - Paco Delgado
Lincoln - Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror - Eiko Ishioka
Snow White And The Huntsman - Colleen Atwood

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How To Survive A Plague
The Invisible War
Searching For Sugar Man

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays At Racine
Open Heart
Redemption

BEST FILM EDITING

Argo - William Goldenberg
Life Of Pi - Tim Squyres
Zero Dark Thirty - Dylan Tichenor, William GoldenbergLincoln - Michael Kahn
Silver Linings Playbook - Jay Cassidy & Crispin Struthers

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour - Austria
Kon-Tiki - Norway
No - Chile
A Royal Affair - Denmark
War Witch - Canada

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Hitchcock - Julie Hewett, Martin Samuel, Howard Berger

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Findlater
Les Misérables - Lisa Westcott

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Anna Karenina - Dario Marianelli
Argo - Alexandre Desplat
Life Of Pi - Mychael Danna
Lincoln - John Williams
Skyfall - Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
'Before My Time' from Chasing Ice
'Everybody Needs A Best Friend' from Ted
'Pi's Lullaby' from Life Of Pi
'Skyfall' from Skyfall
'Suddenly' from Les Miserables

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables
Life Of Pi
Lincoln

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head Over Heels
Maggie Simpson In "The Longest Daycare"
Paperman

BEST LIVE FILM SHORT
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death Of A Shadow
Henry

BEST SOUND EDITING
Argo
Django Unchained
Life Of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST SOUND MIXING
Argo
Les Miserables
Life Of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life Of Pi
Marvel Avengers Assemble
Prometheus
Snow White And The Huntsman

NOMINEES BREAKDOWN:

Lincoln - 12

Life of Pi - 11

Les Miserables - 8

Silver Linings Playbook - 8

Argo - 7

Amour - 5

Zero Dark Thirty - 5

Skyfall - 5

Anna Karenina - 5

Beasts of the Southern Wild - 4

The Master - 4

The Hobbit - 3

Flight - 3

Moonrise Kingdom - 2

Snow White and the Huntsman - 2

Oscars 2013: My picks

Oscars 2013: My picks

It's Oscar nomination time tomorrow - and I'm guessing it'll follow most of the patterns of the recent slew of nominations.

Here's my picks for the Oscars 2013 nominations:

Best Picture:

Les Miserables
Argo
Zero Dark Thirty
Lincoln

Potentials - Life of Pi, The Silver Linings Playbook (the latter based on the fact a lot of buzz has generated around it)

Best director

Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)
Ben Affleck (Argo)

Best actor

Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
John Hawkes (The Sessions)
Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)

Best actress

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Helen Mirren (Hitchcock)
Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
Amy Adams (The Master)

The rest of the field is slightly wide open - convention has it potentially Jennifer Lawrence and Naomi Watts may score for their latest, but as I've not seen these films, it's hard to judge.

Best supporting actress

Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
Sally Field (Lincoln)
Ann Dowd (Compliance)
Dame Judi Dench (Skyfall)

Ann Dowd would be an interesting nomination - she's built up buzz for the role but it could be a little too controversial for the ballot.

Best supporting actor

Alan Arkin (Argo)
Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
Leonardo di Caprio (Django Unchained)
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Joaquin Phoenix (The Master) (maybe)
Phillip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)


I'd also like to see nods for The Imposter, Searching for Sugarman, West of Memphis and maybe some technical merit for the 48FPS with The Hobbit and also the technical work done in Life of Pi for Richard Parker, the tiger is incredible. I'd also like to see Looper take some nominations for screenplay; and The Hunt potentially for foreign film.

See you tomorrow to find out more when Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone reveal all!

Catching Fire: First look

Catching Fire: First look

It's been a little while since we heard anything from The Hunger Games, starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Thankfully, Entertainment Weekly's come to the party with the first look at Catching Fire.

This first shot from Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games, shows Katniss and Finnick (played by Jennifer Lawrence and Sam Claflin) as we get to see what the Catching Fire cast look like in the new film, due out in November.

The Catching Fire movie is sure to hit Mockingjay fans right where they want to be hit.