The Playground of Hollywood

The Playground of Hollywood

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Oscars - 265 Eligible Films this year!

Every year, there are usually somewhere between 250 & 325 or so films released that are eligible for the Academy Awards. The films released that AREN'T are few and far between. Either they didn't complete the necessary Los Angeles qualifying run, or they are foreign films that were eligible last year, or one of only a few other foreseeable circumstances.
Regardless, the list has been revealed by the Academy of the films eligible for this year's awards, and there are 265 films this year. How many have you seen? At the time of this post, I'm up to 84, almost a third of the way there.

Abduction
The Adjustment Bureau
The Adventures of Tintin
African Cats
Albert Nobbs
Alois Nebel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
Amigo
Anonymous
Another Earth
Another Happy Day
Answers To Nothing
Apollo 18
Arrugas (Wrinkles)
The Art of Getting By
Arthur
Arthur Christmas
The Artist
@URFRENZ
Atlas Shrugged: Part 1
Attack the Block

Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace
Bad Teacher 
Battle: Los Angeles
Beastly
Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest
Beautiful Boy
The Beaver
Beginners
A Better Life
The Big Bang
Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son
The Big Year
Blackthorn
Bloodworth
The Boy Mir – Ten Years in Afghanistan                       
Bridesmaids
Brighton Rock 
Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star

Captain America: The First Avenger
Carancho
Carnage
Cars 2
A Cat in Paris
Cedar Rapids
Certified Copy
The Change-Up
Chico & Rita
Circumstance
Colombiana
Conan the Barbarian
The Conquest
The Conspirator
Contagion
Coriolanus
Courageous
Cowboys & Aliens
Cracks
Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Dam999
A Dangerous Method
The Darkest Hour
Daydream Nation
The Debt
The Descendants
The Devil’s Double
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
The Dilemma
Dirty Girl
Dolphin Tale
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Dream House
Drive
Drive Angry

The Eagle
Elektra Luxx
Everything Must Go
Exporting Raymond
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Fast Five
50/50 
Final Destination 5
Finding Kind
The First Grader
The Flower of War
Fly Away
Footloose
Friends with Benefits
Fright Night
The Future

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Glee: The 3D Concert Movie
Gnomeo & Juliet
A Good Old Fashioned Orgy
The Grace Card
The Greatest Miracle
The Green Hornet
Green Lantern
The Guard

Hall Pass
The Hangover Part II
Hanna
Happy Feet Two
Happythankyoumoreplease
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hell and Back Again
The Help
Higher Ground
Hitler’s Grave
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
Hop
Horrible Bosses
Hugo

I Am Number Four 
I Don’t know How She Does It
I Melt With You
The Ides of March
Immortals
In Darkness
In Search of God
In the Land of Blood and Honey
In Time
Insidious
The Iron Lady

J. Edgar
Jack and Jill
Jane Eyre
Johnny English Reborn
Jose and Pilar
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
Jumping the Broom
Just Go With It
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never

Kill the Irishman
Kung Fu Panda 2

The Lady
Larry Crowne
The Last Ride
Le Havre
Life, Above All
Like Crazy
Limitless
The Lincoln Lawyer

Machine Gun Preacher
Margaret
Margin Call
Mars Needs Moms
Martha Marcy May Marlene
The Mechanic
Meek’s Cutoff
Meet Monica Velour
Melancholia
Midnight in Paris
The Mill & the Cross
Miral
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Moneyball
Monte Carlo
Mozart’s Sister
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
The Muppets
The Music Never Stopped
My Week with Marilyn
Mysteries of Lisbon
The Myth of the American Sleepover

The Names of Love
New Year’s Eve
No Strings Attached
Norman

Of Gods and Men
Olive
One Day
Our Idiot Brother

Paranormal Activity 3
Pariah
Passione
Paul
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Potiche
Priest
The Princess of Montpensier
Project Nim
Prom
Puncture
Puss in Boots

Rampart
Rango
Real Steel
Rebirth
Red Riding Hood
Red State
Restless
Rio
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The Rite
The Roommate
The Rum Diary

Salvation Boulevard
Sanctum
Sarah’s Key
Scream 4
Season of the Witch
Senna
A Separation
Shame 
Shark Night 3D
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
The Sitter
The Skin I Live In
The Smell of Success
The Smurfs
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Something Borrowed
A Somewhat Gentle Man
Soul Surfer
Source Code
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D
Straw Dogs
Submarine
Sucker Punch
Super
Super 8

Take Me Home Tonight
Take Shelter
Terri
The Thing
30 Minutes or Less
Thor
3
The Three Musketeers
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tower Heist
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life
Trust
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family
Tyrannosaur

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Undefeated
Unknown

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
Viva Riva!

W.E.
War Horse
Warrior
Water for Elephants
The Way
We Bought a Zoo
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Weekend
What’s Your Number?
The Whistleblower
White Irish Drinkers
Win Win
Winnie the Pooh
Women Art Revolution
The Women on the 6th Floor 

X-Men: First Class  

Young Adult
Young Goethe in Love
Your Highness

Zookeeper

Friday, December 30, 2011

Oscars -- 2011 Poster revealed


Here is the official poster for this year's Academy Awards. 8 films, 1 chosen from each decade, are represented. Can you name them? If not, here's some help. All but one of them are Best Picture winners.

Top left -- FORREST GUMP -- winner of 6 Oscars including Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Director & Best Picture (1994)

Top middle -- THE GODFATHER -- winner of 3 Oscars including Adapted Screenplay, Actor & Best Picture (1972)

Top right -- THE SOUND OF MUSIC -- winner of 5 Oscars including Director & Best Picture (1965)

Middle left -- GONE WITH THE WIND -- winner of 8 Oscars including Screenplay, Supporting Actress, Actress, Director & Best Picture (1939)

Middle right -- DRIVING MISS DAISY -- winner of 4 Oscars including Adapted Screenplay, Actress & Best Picture (1989)

Bottom left -- GIANT -- winner of Best Director (1956)  [only non-Picture winner on poster]

Bottom middle -- GLADIATOR -- winner of 5 Oscars including Actor & Best Picture (2000)

Bottom right -- CASABLANCA -- winner of 3 Oscars including Screenplay, Director & Best Picture (1943)

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Awards - Online Film Critics

One of my favorite awards of every year, as you can imagine. Many times I find myself agreeing with their choices, if not at least with their nominees. Hopefully, in the near future, I can gain membership myself. There are a few films I'm surprised to not see represented but all in all, I think they are a solid group of choices. Here are the full nominees...and winners. The Tree of Life takes home 5 awards, including Supporting Actress, Director & Best Picture.


BEST PICTURE
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Hugo
The Tree of Life

BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius - "The Artist"
Terrence Malick - "The Tree of Life"
Nicolas Winding Refn - "Drive"
Martin Scorsese - "Hugo"
Lars Von Trier - "Melancholia"

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney - "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin - "The Artist"
Michael Fassbender - "Shame"
Gary Oldman - "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Michael Shannon - "Take Shelter"

BEST ACTRESS
Kirsten Dunst - "Melancholia"
Elizabeth Olsen - "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Meryl Streep - "The Iron Lady"
Tilda Swinton - "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Michelle Williams - "My Week with Marilyn"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Albert Brooks - "Drive"
John Hawkes - "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Nick Nolte - "Warrior"
Brad Pitt - "The Tree of Life"
Christopher Plummer - "Beginners"

BEST SUPPORTRING ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain - "The Tree of Life"
Melissa McCarthy - "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer - "Albert Nobbs"
Carey Mulligan - "Shame"
Shailene Woodley - "The Descendants"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Midnight in Paris
A Separation
The Tree of Life
Win Win

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Descendants
Drive
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
We Need to Talk About Kevin

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Kung Fu Panda 2
Rango
Winnie the Pooh

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Artist
Drive
Hugo
Melancholia
The Tree of Life

BEST FILM EDITING
Drive
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Tree of Life
We Need to Talk About Kevin

BEST NON-ENGLISH FILM
13 Assassins
Certified Copy
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
The Interrupters
Into the Abyss
Project Nim
Tabloid

SPECIAL AWARDS
To Jessica Chastain, the breakout performer of the year
To Martin Scorsese in honor of his work and dedication to the pursuit of film preservation

Friday, December 23, 2011

Oscars - There are 97 eligible original scores this year....

.......and unfortunately, DRIVE, A DANGEROUS METHOD, THE TREE OF LIFE are not part of that list. This particular race just got a tad-bit (but not hugely) narrower in here. The submitted and eligible scores are..


“The Adjustment Bureau,” Thomas Newman, composer
“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams, composer
“African Cats,” Nicholas Hooper, composer
“Albert Nobbs,” Brian Byrne, composer
“Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
“Anonymous,” Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser, composers
“Another Earth,” Phil Mossman and Will Bates, composers
“Answers to Nothing,” Craig Richey, composer
“Arthur Christmas,” Harry Gregson-Williams, composer
“The Artist,” Ludovic Bource, composer

“@urFRENZ,” Lisbeth Scott, composer
“Atlas Shrugged Part 1,” Elia Cmiral, composer
“Battle: Los Angeles,” Brian Tyler, composer
“Beastly,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“The Big Year,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“Captain America: The First Avenger,” Alan Silvestri, composer
“Cars 2,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“Cedar Rapids,” Christophe Beck, composer
“Conan the Barbarian,” Tyler Bates, composer
“The Conspirator,” Mark Isham, composer
“Contagion,” Cliff Martinez, composer
“Coriolanus,” Ilan Eshkeri, composer
“DAM999,” Ousepachan, composer
“The Darkest Hour,” Tyler Bates, composer
“The Debt,” Thomas Newman, composer
“Dolphin Tale,” Mark Isham, composer
“Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, composers
“Dream House,” John Debney, composer
“The Eagle,” Atli Orvarsson, composer
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“Fast Five,” Brian Tyler, composer
“The First Grader,” Alex Heffes, composer
“The Flowers of War,” Qigang Chen, composer
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, composers
“The Greatest Miracle,” Mark McKenzie, composer
“Green Lantern,” James Newton Howard, composer
“Hanna,” Tom Rowlands, composer
“Happy Feet Two,” John Powell, composer
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“The Help,” Thomas Newman, composer
“Hop,” Christopher Lennertz, composer
“Hugo,” Howard Shore, composer
“I Don’t Know How She Does It,” Aaron Zigman, composer
“The Ides of March,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“Immortals,” Trevor Morris, composer
“In Search of God,” Rupam Sarmah, composer
“In the Land of Blood and Honey,” Gabriel Yared, composer
“In Time,” Craig Armstrong, composer
“Insidious,” Joseph Bishara, composer
“The Iron Lady,” Thomas Newman, composer
“J. Edgar,” Clint Eastwood, composer
“Jane Eyre,” Dario Marianelli, composer
“The Lady,” Eric Serra, composer
“Like Crazy,” Dustin O’Halloran, composer
“Margaret,” Nico Muhly, composer
“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” Rolfe Kent, composer
“Moneyball,” Mychael Danna, composer
“Monte Carlo,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“New Year’s Eve,” John Debney, composer
“Norman,” Andrew Bird, composer
“One Day,” Rachel Portman, composer
“Puss in Boots,” Henry Jackman, composer
“Rampart,” Dickon Hinchliffe, composer
“Real Steel,” Danny Elfman, composer
“Rebirth,” Philip Glass, composer
“Red Riding Hood,” Alex Heffes and Brian Reitzell, composers
“Restless,” Danny Elfman, composer
“Rio,” John Powell, composer
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” Patrick Doyle, composer
“The Rite,” Alex Heffes, composer
“The Rum Diary,” Christopher Young, composer
“Sanctum,” David Hirschfelder, composer
“Sarah’s Key,” Max Richter, composer
“Senna,” Antonio Pinto, composer
“Shame,” Harry Escott, composer
“The Skin I Live In,” Alberto Iglesias, composer
“The Smurfs,” Heitor Pereira, composer
“Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,” Rachel Portman, composer
“Super 8,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“Take Shelter,” David Wingo, composer
“The Thing,” Marco Beltrami, composer
“Thor,” Patrick Doyle, composer
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Alberto Iglesias, composer
“Tower Heist,” Christophe Beck, composer
“W.E.,” Abel Korzeniowski, composer
“War Horse,” John Williams, composer
“Warrior,” Mark Isham, composer
“Water for Elephants,” James Newton Howard, composer
“The Way,” Tyler Bates, composer
“We Bought a Zoo,” Jon Thor Birgisson, composer
“We Need to Talk about Kevin,” Jonny Greenwood, composer
“Win Win,” Lyle Workman, composer
“Winnie the Pooh,” Henry Jackman, composer
“X-Men: First Class,” Henry Jackman, composer
“Young Adult,” Rolfe Kent, composer
“Your Highness,” Steve Jablonsky, composer

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Awards - Utah Film Critics

The Utah critics have announced, and in a few categories, at least we got some variety. Nice love for JGL & 50/50.






BEST PICTURE:  DRIVE
Runner-up:  The Artist

BEST DIRECTOR:  MICHAEL HAZANAVICIUS - "THE ARTIST"
Runner-up:  Nicolas Winding Refn - "Drive"

BEST ACTOR:  JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT - "50/50"
Runner-up:  Jean Dujardin - "The Artist

BEST ACTRESS:  MICHELLE WILLIAMS - "MY WEEK WITH MARILYN"
Runner-up:  Rooney Mara - "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:  ALBERT BROOKS - "DRIVE"
Runner-up:  Christopher Plummer - "Beginners"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:  AMY RYAN - "WIN WIN"
Runner-up:  Vanessa Redgrave - "Coriolanus"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:  50/50
Runner-up:  Beginners

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:  THE DESCENDANTS
Runner-up:  The Muppets

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:  RANGO
Runner-up:  The Adventures of Tintin & Kung Fu Panda 2

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:  DRIVE
Runner-up:  The Tree of Life

BEST NON-ENGLISH FILM:  A SEPARATION
Runner-up:  13 Assassin

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:  SENNA
Runner-up:  Project Nim

Awards - London Film Critics

The critics from across the pond have released their nominees for the year. As always, they've broken their awards up between British and non. Good times. The only film to show up on both lists, is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.


FILM OF THE YEAR
The Artist
Drive
A Separation
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The Tree of Life

BRITISH FILM OF THE YEAR
The Guard
Kill List
Shame
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
We Need to Talk About Kevin

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Asghar Farhadi - "A Separation"
Michel Hazanavicius - "The Artist"
Terrence Malick - "The Tree of Life"
Lynne Ramsay - "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Nicolas Winding Refn - "Drive"

ACTOR OF THE YEAR
George Clooney - "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin - "The Artist"
Michael Fassbender - "Shame"
Ryan Gosling - "Drive"
Gary Oldman - "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

BRITISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Tom Cullen - "Weekend"
Michael Fassbender - "A Dangerous Method" & "Shame"
Brendan Gleeson - "The Guard"
Peter Mullan - "Tyrannosaur" & "War Horse"
Gary Oldman - "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Kirsten Dunst - "Melancholia"
Anna Paquin - "Margaret" (tie)
Meryl Streep - "The Iron Lady" (tie)
Tilda Swinton - "We Ned to Talk About Kevin"
Michelle Williams - "My Week with Marilyn"

BRITISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Olivia Colman - "The Iron Lady" & "Tyrannosaur"
Carey Mulligan - "Drive" & "Shame'
Vanessa Redgrave - "Anonymous" & "Coriolanus"
Tilda Swinton - "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Rachel Weisz - "The Deep Blue Sea"

SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Simon Russell Beale - "The Deep Blue Sea"
Kenneth Branagh - "My Week with Marilyn"
Albert Brooks - "Drive"
Christopher Plummer - "Beginners"
Michael Smiley - "Kill List"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Sareh Bayat - "A Separation"
Jessica Chastain - "The Help"
Vanessa Redgrave - "Coriolanus"
Octavia Spencer - "The Help"
Jacki Weaver - "Animal Kingdom"

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
The Artist - Michael Hazanavicius
The Descendants - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Margaret - Kenneth Lonergan
A Separation - Asghar Farhadi
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Le Quattro Volte
Mysteries of Lisbon
Poetry
A Separation
The Skin I Live In

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Dreams of a Life
Pina
Project Nim
Senna

BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH FILMMAKER
Richard Ayoade - "Submarine"
Paddy Considine - "Tyrannosaur"
Joe Cornish - "Attack the Block"
Andrew Haigh - "Weekend"
John Michael McDonagh - "The Guard"

YOUNG BRITISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
John Boyega - "Attack the Block"
Jeremy Irvine - "War Horse"
Yasmin Paige - "Submarine"
Craig Roberts - "Submarine"
Saoirse Ronan - "Hanna"

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT OF THE YEAR
Manuel Alberto Claro - "Melancholia" - cinematography
Paul Davis - "We Need to Talk About Kevin" - sound design
Maria Djurkovic - "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" - production design
Dante Ferretti - "Hugo" - production design
Alberto Iglesias - "The Skin I Live In" - original score
Chris King & Gregers Sall - "Senna" - film editing
Joe Letteri - "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" - visual effects
Cliff Martinez - "Drive" - original score
Robert Richardson - "Hugo" - cinematography
Robbie Ryan - "Wuthering Heights" - cinematography

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

News - HOBBIT trailer!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, in one week, we've had the new Dark Knight Rises trailer, and now, the trailer for the other most anticipated movie of next year....THE HOBBIT.  No further intro needed. Enjoy.

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Trailer on ITunes -- Watch it now!