“Child 44” is getting a top notch cast. Tom Hardy (“The Dark Knight Rises”) and Noomi Rapace were already set to star in the film. Now Philip Seymour Hoffman (“The Master”) is joining the film. Daniel Espinosa (“Safe House”) is directing. Gary Oldman is also in the film.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s (“The Master) next film is shaping up. “Inherent Vice”, an adaptation of the novel wit the same name already stars Joaquin Phoenix, Benicio Del Toro and Owen Wilson. Now Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone (“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”) and Martin Short have joined the cast. This is quickly turning out to look like one of the most intriguing casts I’ve seen put together in a little while.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” and ‘There Will Be Blood” have been two critically acclaimed films. Now he’s coming back with “Inherent Vice”, which (from Cinema Blend) is “set in Los Angeles from the winter of 1969 through the summer of 1970, Inherent Vice centers on a pot-smoking private detective named Larry “Doc” Sportello as he investigates a kidnapping case that involves his ex-girlfriend, Shasta Fay Hepworth.”
Joaquin Phoenix has joined the cast to play the detective and rumors are that Charlize Theron and Benicio Del Toro are close to joining the film as well. Now comes reports that Owen Wilson is joining the film in an unspecified, but large, role in the film. This could be interesting! You know that it’ll be hard to watch, but will at least generate some discussion afterwards.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
The TV show “Friday Night Lights” was an amazing series. My favorite ever. The series featured some of the best performances from Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Taylor Kitsch, Adrianne Palicki, Aimee Teegarden, Jesse Plemons, Zach Gilford, Minka Kelly and many more. And yet, none have found any mainstream success since the series ended its incredible run. Why?
Kitsch’s case is the most easy to identify. Three films last year that all pretty much underperformed, including two giant bombs in “John Carter” and “Battleship”. And Kitsch struggled to show much charisma on screen. Kitsch is a great actor, but I don’t think he is the actor to call on for the action movie generic lead. He’s at his best playing a flawed character, something I’d like to see him take in future roles. Chandler deserves to be successful. He’s had great smaller roles in films like “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Super 8”. He can pull off being an ass hole, like he was in “The Day the Earth Stood Still” remake and, as obvious from his role as Eric Taylor, can be a complex, deep character as well. He may not have the name recognition, but this one annoys me. He deserves a chance to carry a movie. Get him with a director like Martin Scorsese and you’re in for a classic.
Britton may have had the most success. She was in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” remake and had a nice run on “American Horror Story”. Not big success, but not to shabby either. Kelly should be the most successful. She’s beautiful and talented. But aside from “The Roommate”, we really haven’t seen much of her. She was in the failed “Charlie’s Angels” TV show redo. Hopefully she gets a breakout role soon. Palicki has had her share of films. Whether they’ve been good films is another issue. “Red Dawn” and “Legion” aren’t exactly classics. She is also in the upcoming “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”, so maybe that will get her more mainstream appeal, but she has to choose better projects. Plemons was in “The Master”, but really haven’t heard much of him at all. Gilford I feel the most sorry for. He’s a great actor. But all the projects he’s done have just failed. From “The Last Stand” to shows like “The Mob Doctor” he just can’t seem to catch a break.
So why aren’t any of FNL actors breaking out? It’s not for a shortage of trying or a lack of talent. It would seem that either they don’t get their chances (Like Chandler) or the projects they are choosing just are plain bad (pretty much everyone else). Hopefully that will change soon.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
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
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.
The favorite is clear. Does anyone stand a chance of knocking her off?
The nominees for Best Supporting Actress are: Amy Adams for “The Master”, Anne Hathaway for “Les Miesrables”, Sally Field for “Lincoln”, Helen Hunt for “The Sessions” and Jacki Weaver for “Silver Linings Playbook”.
Hathaway won the Golden Globe and honestly, I can’t see a situation where she doesn’t win. But if she is going to get upset in this category it’ll be by Field or Weaver. Weaver’s best hope is that “Silver Linings Playbook” gets a lot of momentum as in Jennifer Lawrence wins Best Actress and if Weaver wins this category, that film moves up my list to win Best Picture. That seems unlikely, however. Field would be my choice as the actress to win if for some reason Hathaway doesn’t. The Oscars love historical films and this is right up there.
The two actresses with absolutely no chance are Adams and Hunt. For all the hype surrounding “The Sessions”, that film just didn’t generate the buzz after its release that it needed to be an Oscar contender. And Adams, like with Hoffman, will fall victim to backlash with Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master”. Clearly, this is Hathaway’s to lose and she seems to be the biggest lock of the acting categories.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Ok now we’re in crunch time for the Oscars. Today, I’m looking at the Best Supporting Actor race. Out of any category, this one appears to be the most wide open. The nominees are: Tommy Lee Jones for “Lincoln”, Robert De Niro for “Silver Linings Playbook”, Alan Arkin for “Argo”, Philip Seymour Hoffman for “The Master” and Christoph Waltz for “Django Unchained”. Every single one of these nominees have won an Oscar before, so there’s no chance of someone getting a “we owe you” Oscar this year. It’s safe to put Hoffman on the not going to win list. “The Master” just lacked the buzz this year after it’s release. Waltz won the Golden Globe, though personally, I hope he doesn’t win. I still think Leonardo DiCaprio was the more deserving actor from that film to be in this category. But he has to be considered one of the front runners. My dark horse is Arkin. The big question is with “Argo” gaining all this momentum because of Ben Affleck getting snubbed, will that carry into other categories, or just Best Picture? Arkin, of course, could sneak past the other nominees if the Academy gives in to the film’s momentum.
De Niro gives an absolutely great performance in “Silver Linings Playbook”. I just get the feeling that film is going to get largely overlooked, aside from perhaps Jennifer Lawrence. My pick is Jones in “Lincoln”. Let me put it to you this way: Daniel Day-Lewis is considered a lock for Best Actor. And for me Jones was much more memorable. End of story.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
“The Master”, from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on Feb. 26. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. This is a film that’s hard to watch, but I recommend you guys check this out! It didn’t work for me, but it’s certainly an interesting film none-the-less.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Lukas Eggen 