New version of “The Grapes of Wrath” coming

John Steinbeck’s novel “The Grapes of Wrath” is considered by many to be a classic. The film adaptation from director John Ford and starring Henry Fonda is also considered a classic, ranking No. 21 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies list and winning two Oscars. Now Steven Spielberg is working to secure the rights to produce a new feature. Note that at this point, the “Lincoln” director is not up for helming this. Rumors are that Robert Redford wanted to make this into a miniseries on FX, but Spielberg will win out. In case you’re thinking this will never happen. 2014 just happens to be the 75th anniversary of the book. So, yeah. Expect this one to move fast.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Are you ready for $150 movie tickets?! George Lucas says you better be…

George Lucas (“Star Wars”) and Steven Spielberg (“War of the Worlds”, “Lincoln”) spoke at USC talking about the movie industry. And what they said wasn’t very encouraging to movie fans like me. As more and more studios make expensive, $200 million+  dollar blockbusters instead of smaller films, Spielberg said there will be  “an implosion where three or four or maybe even half a dozen of these mega-budgeted movies are going to go crashing into the ground.”

Lucas said going to the movies will be like going to a Broadway show, along with Broadway like prices of $150 or maybe even more.

“Everything else is going to look more like cable television on TiVo,” Lucas said.

That would be bad. I’m already nearly priced out of going to the movies as it is.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Get the Oscar nominations ready again…Spielberg and Day-Lewis reteaming?

Director Steven Spielberg (“War of the Worlds”) and Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood”) teamed up for “Lincoln”. The film earned critical praise, lots of money and awards, including an Oscar for Best Actor for Lewis. Now the pair may reunite for “Thank You For Your Service”, which is about soldiers dealing with PTSD.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Spielberg to direct Cooper in sniper film

Steven Spielberg (“Lincoln”) is taking the film based on the biography of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. The film is about Texas native Kyle came to record the highest number of sniper kills for an American. Tragically, he was killed at a shooting range by a fellow vet in February. Bradley Cooper (“The Hangover Part III”) is starring.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

New “Tintin” film out in 2015?

“The Adventures of Tintin”, which was directed by Steven Spielberg (“Lincoln”) and produced by Peter Jackson (“The Hobbit”) was a modest success, grossing $370 million worldwide. The two are switching roles for the next film, which both are now saying will be out Christmas 2015. Rumors are that “Seven Crystal Balls” and “Prisoners of the Sun” will be the basis of the second film. The first film featured the voices of Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig and Simon Pegg.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

“Godzilla” adds Oscar nominee

Well…I don’t know what to feel about this. “Godzilla”, which stars Aaron Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and Bryan Cranston, added a top-notch actor. David Strathairn, who was brilliant in “Lincoln” and amazing in “Good Night and Good Luck” has joined the cast as a military figure. I like Strathairn as an actor, but he and Cranston are some pretty serious actors for a film about a giant lizard. I know this film is supposed to be “grittier” but I really hope it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Oscars 2013: Winners and final thoughts

It’s officially over. The Oscars have been given out, the awards season is done and…the results were there was something for a lot of films. “Argo” ended its run with a Best Picture win, Jennifer Lawrence beat Jessica Chastain, Ang Lee surprised in Best Director. Lee’s win totally shocked me. I didn’t give him any real shot of winning. My biggest disappointment was Christoph Waltz winning Best Supporting Actor. Look, I enjoyed his performance, but out of that whole group, I actually thought he was least deserving. I also would have liked to see “Moonrsise Kingdom” get Best Original Screenplay. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a BIG Tarantino fan, but “Django” just wasn’t my favorite film, I enjoyed “Inglourious Basterds” a heck of a lot more and “Moonrise Kingdom” deserved to win something. What did you think of the Oscars? Share your thoughts!

Best Picture
Amour
Argo–WINNER
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln–WINNER
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight

Best Actress

Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook–WINNER
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible

Best Director
Michael Haneke, Amour
Ang Lee, Life of Pi–WINNER
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Original Screenplay
Amour, Michael Hankie
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino–WINNER
Flight, John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal

Best Adapted Screenplay
Argo, Chris Terrio–WINNER
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, 
Life of Pi, David Magee
Lincoln, Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell

Best Original Song
“Before My Time” from Chasing Ice, music and lyric by J. Ralph
“Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from Ted, music by Walter Murphy; lyric by Seth MacFarlane
“Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi, music by Mychael Danna; lyric by Bombay Jayashri
“Skyfall” from Skyfall, music and lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth–WINNER
“Suddenly” from Les Misérables, music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

Best Original Score
Anna Karenina, Dario Marianelli
Argo, Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi, Mychael Danna–WINNER
Lincoln, John Williams
Skyfall, Thomas Newman

Best Production Design
Anna Karenina, Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
Les Misérables, Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi, Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
Lincoln, Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson–WINNER

Best Film Editing
Argo, William Goldenberg–WINNER
Life of Pi, Tim Squyres
Lincoln, Michael Kahn
Silver Linings Playbook, Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
Zero Dark Thirty, Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables–WINNER
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Sound Editing
Argo, Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
Django Unchained, Wylie Stateman
Life of Pi, Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
Skyfall, Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers–WINNER
Zero Dark Thirty, Paul N.J. Ottosson–WINNER

Best Sound Mixing
Argo, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
Les Misérables, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes–WINNER
Life of Pi, Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
Lincoln, Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
Skyfall, Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour, Austria–WINNER
Kon-Tiki, Norway
No, Chile
A Royal Affair, Denmark
War Witch, Canada

Best Documentary Feature
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching for Sugar Man–WINNER

Best Documentary Short
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption
Inocente–WINNER

Best Live Action Short
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew–WINNER
Death of a Shadow 
Henry

Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin, Argo
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained––WINNER

Best Animated Short
Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head over Heels
Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”
Paperman–WINNER

Best Animated Feature
Brave–WINNER
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph

Best Cinematography
Anna Karenina, Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained, Robert Richardson
Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda–WINNER
Lincoln, Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall, Roger Deakins

Best Visual Effects
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
Life of Pi, Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott–WINNER
The Avengers, Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
Prometheus, Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
Snow White and the Huntsman, Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

Best Costume Design
Anna Karenina, Jacqueline Durran–WINNER
Les Misérables, Paco Delgado
Lincoln, Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror, Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Huntsman, Colleen Atwood

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchcock, Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
Les Misérables, Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell–WINNER

Oscars 2013: Best Picture

Here’s the big one. The nine nominees are: “Lincoln”, “Amour”, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, “Argo”, “Zero Dark Thirty”, “Django Unchained”, “Silver Linings Playbook”, “Les Miserables” and “Life of Pi”.

This is another wide open category. To me, this comes down to “Argo” and “Lincoln”. I’m giving it to “Argo”. I think the Academy will do this partly because the film has won pretty much every big award and they might be regretting snubbing Ben Affleck. Then again, maybe this is a big day for Steven Spielberg and company and they want to honor one of the nation’s greatest Presidents. But don’t be surprised if “Amour”, “Silver Linings Playbook” or “Les Miserables” wins the award too. that will depend on if any of the films gains momentum in the other categories. For example, if SLP wins Best Supporting Actor or Actress (Robert De Niro or Jacki Weaver), Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence) and Best Director (David O. Russell), this should be a shoo in to win. That being said if Les Miserables wins Best Supporting Actress (Anne Hathaway) and an upset is pulled in Best Actor (Hugh Jackman) perhaps this will be a big night for that film. And don’t forget “Amour”. If Emmanuelle Riva upsets Lawrence in Best Actress, this could be a big night for that film as well.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Oscars 2013: Best Director

This could be another wide open category. Who will take home the trophy?

This year’s nominees are: Steven Spielberg for “Lincoln”, Michael Haneke for “Amour”, Benh Zeitlin for “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, David O. Russell for “Silver Linings Playbook” and Ang Lee for “Life of Pi”. With “Argo” getting so much momentum, this could be the year in decades that a Best Picture winner also doesn’t win Best Director since Ben Affleck did not get nominated.

Of these nominees, only Seitlin I think doesn’t stand any real shot of winning. The other four you could make a very strong case for. “Amour” is just beloved by so many people, this could be a case of the Oscars looking to give it some recognition, though that will probably come with a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Lee’s “Life of Pi” was extremely successful at the box office, wowed critics and is probably the most unique film of the five in this category. But “Silver Linings Playbook”, again I go back to if that film gains momentum, look out, because it could be a big night for that film. I think we’ll know early on if Russell has any shot. If any of the other actors from the film besides Jennifer Lawrence wins, I’d say he’s one of the two who can win. But my pick is Spielberg. With “Argo” getting so much attention, it’s easy to forget “Lincoln” used to be the big favorite to win Best Picture. This seems like this could be a consolation prize given to the film.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Oscars 2013 : Best Actor

This one also appears to be a lock. But can anyone steal the Oscar from the favorite?

The nominees this year for Best Actor are: Daniel Day-Lewis for “Lincoln”, Hugh Jackman for “Les Miserables”, Joaquin Phoenix for “The Master”, Denzel Washington for “Flight” and Bradley Cooper for “Silver Linings Playbook”.

Like when he starred in “There Will Be Blood”, this seems to be Lewis’ award. Phoenix is a definite no and I’m shocked he even got nominated because of his little anti-Oscar rant. Washington was great in “Flight”, but just not too much sward season buzz for that film. Cooper is the dark horse candidate. But most of the awards attention for “Silver Linings Playbook” seems to be going to Jennifer Lawrence. That being said, if Jacki Weaver and/or Robert De Niro pull an upset in the Supporting Actress or Actor category, it could be an early sign that momentum is in this film’s favor. If that’s the case, don’t be shocked if Cooper takes home the Oscar. But it would seem that only Jackman has any real shot to take the award from Lewis. To be honest, it would seem if Lewis wasn’t in this category, this would be Jackman’s to win, so perhaps voters will throw him a bone since Lewis already is a decorated and respected actor? That’s probably his best chance at winning. But I’ll go with the safe pick Lewis.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.