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.
Unfortunately. “Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence)” has added an Oscar nominated actor. Eric Roberts, probably best known to younger audiences from his role in “The Dark Knight” has joined the cast of the film. He’ll star along side Tom Six, Robert LaSardo, Laurence Harvey and Dieter Laser.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Seth MacFarlane (“Ted”) hosted the Oscars and garnered a lot of strong reactions. Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron asked MacFarlane to come back, but he declined on Twitter. It makes sense. He’ll be working on “A Million Ways to Die in the West” starring Neil Patrick Harris, Amanda Seyfried, Giovanni Ribisi, Charlize Theron and Liam Neeson.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
“Fifty Shades of Grey”, for better or worse (worse in my opinion) has taken off with readers. Now the film adaptation is coming with screenwriter Kelly Marcel saying the film is aiming for an NC-17 rating. There were also rumors about the film hitting theaters next year. If that’s true the film needs a director and soon. Well a director has shot some test footage with Alex Pettyfer to film a sex scene to prove that this director is the right man for the job. Who is he? Well he directed…”Milk” and “Good Will Hunting”. Yes Gus Van Sant is going after ‘Fifty Shades of Grey”. No this doesn’t make any sense to me either.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
A week after “Evil Dead” comes the return of the horror spoof comedy that started it all, “Scary Movie V”. And just in time for baseball season comes “42”. Which will come out on top?
Back in 2000, “Scary Movie” surprised a lot of people grossing more than $150 million. Fast forward to 2013 and spoof movies…frankly are worse in quality and, for studios, worse in box office receipts. Marlon Wayans (Formerly from the Scary Movie franchise) saw “A Haunted House” open to $18 million and finish with $40 million. “Scary Movie 5” has seen franchise vets like Anna Faris move on but Simon Rex is back and Ashley Tisdale is joining him. Plus there’s those appearances from Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan. Still, it’s tough to see this faring any better.
Opening weekend: $15-20 million
I’m surprised its being released now, but “42”, the story of Jackie Robinson hits theaters as well. It has Oscar bait written all over it, though reviews haven’t been that enthusiastic. “Moneyball”, which starred Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, was very successful, opening to $19 million on its way to more than $75 million. But that was in the height of Oscar season. I’m not sure people will flock to see this one. Harrison Ford has been heavily prominent in marketing, but let’s face it, other than the universally hated “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, what’s the last hit he’s had?
Opening weekend: $10-15 million
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Ang Lee took home Best Director at the Oscars, but it was Ben Affleck who would have won for “Argo” if he hadn’t been snubbed. Now Affleck looks like he is gearing up for another run at the award. Affleck’s and Matt Damon’s production company is adapting the upcoming book “Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution”. Chris Terrio, who wrote “Argo” will write this film. The last big film about the Revolutionary War was “The Patriot” with Mel Gibson way back in 2000.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
“Life of Pi” did well at the Oscars. Among the awards it received included Best Visual Effects and Best Director for Ang Lee. But workers of the visual effects company protested the award. The company is facing bankruptcy. When Bill Westenhofer tried to talk about it during his speech, he was cut off…by the “Jaws” theme song. Lee had this to say about the subject: “I would like it to be cheaper and not a tough business… it’s very hard for them to make money.”
That inspired Phillip Broste to write this:
Mr. Lee, I do believe that you are a thoughtful and brilliant man. And a gifted filmmaker. But I also believe that you and everyone in your tier of our business is fabulously ignorant to the pain and turmoil you are putting artists through.
You can read his full letter here. It’s pretty scathing. And I must say, I feel for them. I actually was surprised “Life of Pi” won as much stuff as it did and after reading this, part of me wishes it hadn’t. This is a messy situation that shines a light to a bigger problem in Hollywood.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
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.
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.
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.
Lukas Eggen 