what's tasty and new in show business. [beta]
The West Coast is just waking up, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has already finished announcing their nominations for this year’s Oscars. It’s the first year since 1943 that there are 10 nominations for Best Picture, and it’s refreshing to see some films that might usually get overlooked receive some much-deserved kudos.
Most of the list is nothing surprising though, as the usual suspects that have been picking up noms and wins throughout the awards season are the ones filling out the categories for the Academy Awards. Leading the pack are James Cameron’s Avatar and Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, with 9 nominations apiece. There are still a few surprises here and there, though, so be sure to check out the full list of nominees after the jump.
Here are your nominees…
Read»
A new trailer has hit the nets for The Losers, the big screen adaptation of the Vertigo comic series by Andy Diggle and Jock, and boy does it look like all kinds of fun.
We were pretty excited when news about the fantastic casting first started rolling out for The Losers, being big fans of the comic, but the involvement of heretofore unproven director Sylvain White (whose most notable movies are Stomp the Yard and the direct-to-video sequel I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer) kept us from getting our hopes too high. Well, judging by the footage from this first trailer, it looks like we may have had nothing to worry about all along. The trailer is snarky, fun, and action-packed, exactly the sort of genre cocktail that we hoped would carry over from the comics.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Idris Elba play pretty wonderfully off each other, and is there any actress whose geek heat-meter is rising faster than Zoe Saldana’s? After a year that included roles in Star Trek and Avatar, it looks like the talented actress is in for another hell of a year. And for the borderline campiness that is Jensen, Chris Evans pulls off some of his more ridiculous lines with a solid amount of aplomb. He continues to be one of my favorite young actors working today.
MSN has the trailer, which you can check out after the jump: Read»
If you caught The Book of Eli this past weekend, you were treated to Denzel Washington unleashing some righteous ass-whoopings. Good times all around.
But The Book of Eli was a lot more than your run-of-the-mill action flick. It had atmosphere and heart, and pulsated with grimness and hope. Part of what made it such a potent vision of faith in a post-apocalyptic future was Atticus Ross’ haunting and powerful score. If you haven’t seen the film yet, you can get a taste of Ross’ music here.
We’re excited to host another giveaway here at c, vt, this time centering around the amazing film that is The Book of Eli. Hit the jump to see what’s up for grabs, and how you can win!
Read»
In case you missed it, yesterday night was the 2010 Golden Globes Awards ceremony. The show was pretty zippy, though the seating arrangements were kind of awkward in that a lot of the award winners seemed to take a while to get from their tables to the stage. I guess that’s what you get for putting your A-list celebrities in the front rows, instead of your actual nominees. Avatar was definitely the big winner of the night, though that isn’t too surprising considering how much the foreign press has been loving it up. The Hurt Locker got the worst snub of the night, getting shut-out completely, though (500) Days of Summer and even Inglourious Basterds, to an extent, should’ve gotten more love.
Ricky Gervais was pretty awesome as host. He really doesn’t give a damn, and all his bits were biting and hilarious. At one point, he quips that a Golden Globe can’t be bought, not officially, anyway, following it up with “what the hell, I’m not going to do this again anyway.” His joke at the end of the following clip was the comedic highlight of the night, and the funniest one I’ve heard at an awards show, maybe ever:
Catch the video and full winners list after the jump. Read»
Lionsgate has released a second trailer for Kick-Ass, this one showing off the film’s action while remaining suitable for all audiences. And you know what? It still kicks ass. We get a sense of the kooky, crazy fun that Matthew Vaughn’s movie is promising to be, and the real shit-your-pants stuff is hinted at just enough to entice. It introduces all of the key players with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor about it all that makes these otherwise outlandish characters seem (mostly) believable. Even a sword-wielding little girl that’ll literally leave you in pieces? You better believe it.
While Aaron Johnson is going to get his fair share of shine after the movie, I think it’s safe to say that the real breakout star is going to be Chloe Moretz with her turn as Hit-Girl. After stealing scenes in (500) Days of Summer, and with the upcoming Let the Right One In remake Let Me In coming out on October 10th, she’s poised to have a big 2010. And this isn’t even counting her appearances in the kid-friendly fare she has in the pipeline either (i.e. Diary of a Wimpy Kid). With her anchoring the supporting cast along with Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Clark Duke, and Mark Strong, Kick-Ass is looking to take names when it hits this spring.
Check out the trailer after the jump, or see it in HD over at Yahoo!
Read»
Universal has released their 2010 movie preview, and it’s got some pretty awesome stills for some of our most anticipated movies. The centerpiece is Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, which, being a big fan of both Wright’s body of work as well as the original Scott Pilgrim comics, is definitely the movie we’re most excited about in the bunch. The preview also gives us a look at David Gordon Green’s medieval stoner comedy Your Highness, the SNL-skit adaptation MacGruber starring Will Forte, and the third installment of the Meet the Parents franchise, Little Fockers.
Check out the stills (click to enlarge!) after the jump. Read»
A new teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Inception unspooled in front of most showings of Sherlock Holmes over the weekend, but if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s now online for you to view in high def glory. There’s still very little anyone actually knows about the film, and while the teaser does offer some hints of what to expect, it’s not enough to glean any solid plot details. What we do get is some stunning visuals of the expectedly mind-bending variety — Paris folding in on itself, a gravity-defying brawl, water tilting upwards in a glass, etc.
The film has a ridiculously amazing cast — Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, and Michael Caine. It doesn’t come out until next summer, but you can whet your appetite for what’s sure to be a head trip by checking out the teaser after the jump. We’ll also do some good ol’ speculating, too, so click through to ponder just what Nolan has cooked up for us.
Apple also has the teaser in HD.
Read»
Knight and Day, which was once titled Wichita (and really, neither are very good titles), has a new trailer up on E! The film re-teams Vanilla Sky co-stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz as a super-agent and his hapless hostage/cohort, respectively. I haven’t really loved any of James Mangold’s films, though I tend to like ‘em all well enough, so I wasn’t expecting much from the film. But after watching the trailer I have to admit, it actually looks like it could be some fun. The film’s also got a pretty stellar supporting cast, including Maggie Grace, Peter Sarsgaard, Paul Dano, Marc Blucas, and Viola Davis.
It seems pretty savvy to me that Cruise, who a lot of people haven’t been able to take seriously in a long time, has eschewed some of the more traditionally dramatic roles he would’ve played for the fun, off-kilter, kind-of-crazy roles that his public persona makes him perfect for nowadays. I’ve always loved him as an actor, and I’m glad to see him embracing this turn in his career. Humor can earn a lot of forgiveness, and Cruise definitely seems like he’s on the right path for a comeback. Well, I’m pullin’ for the guy, anyway.
Check out the trailer, as well as the teaser poster, after the jump. Read»
Earlier tonight, the viral ad campaign that has been going on for Iron Man 2 for the past week culminated in a ticking timer on www.starksecretconfessionrevealed.com. And what was waiting on the other side of the clock? The new trailer for Iron Man 2.
The trailer’s now up at Apple in full HD glory, but you can also check it out below the jump. The trailer teases a lot of what we can expect from the new film — namely, plenty of high tech battlin’. Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash makes a significant and splashy debut, while Don Cheadle’s War Machine also squeezes in his hero shot. All in all, a fairly epic trailer. But it’s no fun listening to me talk about it, hit the jump to see it for yourself!
Read»
Awards season is starting to kick into full swing in Hollywood. Plenty of regional organizations have already announced their picks for best movie of the year and, unsurprisingly, Up in the Air is claiming most of those distinctions. The Hurt Locker, however, is also scooping up a ton of top spots on the year-end best-of lists, despite being released way back in June. Anyone who was paying attention to the reviews that film was getting, though, shouldn’t be too surprised with the kudos it’s scoring now.
Today morning, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its nominations for the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards (in a televised event hosted by Justin Timberlake, John Krasinski, and Diane Kruger). Up in the Air scored the most nominations with six, while Rob Marshall’s Nine was right behind with five nominations. Avatar and Inglourious Basterds tied for third with four nominations each.
In the running for Best Drama are Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious and Up in the Air. (500) Days of Summer, The Hangover, It’s Complicated, Julie & Julia, and Nine will compete for the Best Musical or Comedy award. I’m glad to see a non-traditional film like The Hangover score a nom, and I’d love to see (500) Days of Summer win, but I think it’s a foregone conclusion that the usually-safe HFPA is going to dish the Golden Globe to Nine (which isn’t to say that Marshall’s film isn’t fully deserving of the prize).
Hit the jump to see what we thought of the other nominations, as well as a look at the full list of nominees!
Read»
Universal has released the teaser trailer for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, and it looks like they’re selling it as Gladiator Part II. Lots of epic battle scenes make the cut to the tune of a hard-rocking anthem, and it actually works pretty well. Russell Crowe looks to be in engaged in some full-on Maximus bad-assery, defying kings sheriffs, slaying dudes, and all that whatnot. We don’t see as much of Cate Blanchett as I would’ve liked, so I guess we’ll have to wait until the full trailer for some more Maid Marian.
Australian newspaper The Courier-Mail has also released the first official images from the film. I’ve posted a few of them below, but you can check out the rest by going over to their website. All in all, I’m impressed by what I’m seeing. Scott has proven himself to be more than capable of working with this kind of material, but I’ll admit that I did lose some confidence when early rumors of on-set troubles began to surface. It looks like they’ve put together something promising, though.
Check out the teaser and images below the jump! Apple also has the teaser in HD here.
Read»
Warner Bros. has released a short teaser trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It’s preceded by an introduction from both producer David Heyman and director David Yates (who also helmed Order of the Phoenix and The Half-Blood Prince), as well as some brief behind-the-scenes looks at the making-of for the last two films.
Catch the teaser after the jump. Read»
Yahoo has got the exclusive on the new Iron Man 2 teaser poster, showing off not only Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit, but Rhodey’s shiny new War Machine armor. The poster sure is a pretty piece of marketing; it’s simple, but effective. It does make me wonder just how much of War Machine we’ll see though. Based on the footage that’s been released, I’d guess that he doesn’t come in until close to the climactic and inevitable battle at the end, though the poster certainly wants to suggest more of a tag-team tandem than we may actually end up getting. I guess we’ll see.
Check out the poster after the jump (click to enlarge). Read»
While earlier trailers only hinted at the story and effects extravaganza we were going to get in Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief (I guess Fox realized that Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief was too much of a mouthful), this new trailer finally drops the curtain. Not only do we get a better sense of the story’s general trajectory, but we also see plenty of the creatures from Greek mythology that Percy will be facing off with.
It’ll be interesting to see how this film does alongside the more adult-oriented Clash of the Titans. They come out a little over a month apart, and take their inspiration from similar stories and characters within the larger pantheon of Greek mythology. I’m hopeful both will find an audience, as I think you can never get enough variations/retellings of these stories. Can Chris Columbus be launching another monster of a franchise with this one?
Catch the trailer (and an alarmingly young-looking Brandon T. Jackson) after the jump.
Read»
Lionsgate has released a teaser for Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass, the story about a regular teenager who decides one day that he’s going to become a superhero despite having no superpowers whatsoever. Caught on tape stopping an attempted mugging, he suddenly finds himself at the center of an emerging subculture of wannabe superheroes, regular joes dressed up in homemade costumes trying their hand at a little vigilante justice.
Based on the comic by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., Kick-Ass was independently made by Vaughn and co. before they took it to the studios. The film received an overwhelming response from fans at Comic-Con and early screenings, and Lionsgate subsequently scooped up the distribution rights. What this means is that Vaughn was basically free to make the film as he intended, which is purportedly very faithful to the very graphic, very violent source material. So far, we’ve seen an awesome set of posters and now we get a pretty awesome teaser, too. I definitely feel like a red-band trailer is in the works though, as it seems like this rather sterile (if effective) piece of marketing has got its hands tied behind its back. Hit Girl may look all sweet and sassy now, but she makes one hell of a bloody mess that we haven’t seen yet. Still, it’s got me excited for what’s to come, and I can’t wait to see more footage roll out for this.
Check out the teaser, which comes courtesy of MySpace Trailer Park, after the jump.
Read»
