What a week at Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics, where the pundits' hustle harmonized with the guilds' bustle to create a heavy-duty wake-up call for some otherwise dormant awards-season underdogs. They also telegraphed danger for a few juggernauts once thought unassailable. What does it all mean as we head into the Critics Choice and Golden Globe Awards weekend? To the Index!
more »
That unsubtle backhand slap you just heard was the sound of Steven Spielberg being whacked off his awards-season pedestal by the Directors Guild of America, which just announced Woody Allen, David Fincher, Michel Hazanavicius, Alexander Payne and Martin Scorsese as its 2012 Best Director nominees. This one has to hurt.
more »
The first Oscar Index entry of 2012 finds Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics a little hungover from the holidays and lot bored from the protracted inertia of awards season. Not even this week's Producers Guild Award nominations could do much to shake up a contest that appears to be both wide open and solidifying into place at the same time. Let's investigate...
more »
Well, this should go pretty fast: The holiday week has offered a dearth of new narratives to trace and pulses to take, with only one film demonstrating any significant mobility in the studies coming out Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics. Let's get to it!
more »
And so my most-favorite, least-favorite task of the year rolls around again. I never call it a "10 best" list -- meaning the unequivocal 10 best films of the year -- because I'm fully aware of how subjective it is. Yet as frustrating as it usually is to pull together just the right 10, I found the job surprisingly pleasurable this year. So many movies to love! How could this have happened? Let's not even address the fact that two 3-D movies made it onto my list -- that surprises me as much as anyone. The remarkable thing is that year after year, no matter how much samey-sameness Hollywood (or even so-called indie cinema, for that matter) seems to give us, there are always pictures that resonate, movies that stand apart as if to do so were their God-given right.
more »
Screw Christmas. Forget Hanukkah. To hell with New Year's. There is only one holiday we celebrate in the dank, windowless labs of Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics, and that is Oscar Night. Thus the latest edition of Oscar Index, offering all the festive year-end joy you can possibly stand. Let's get to it!
more »
Whether or not you buy into Dane Cook's brand of humor, you must acknowledge that the Boston-born stand-up has cornered a sizable comedy market and successfully infiltrated the movie business. Up next, Cook attempts to make the most challenging transition of his career -- from dependable funnyman to respected actor.
more »
PBS's American Masters series is shining their "Viewers Like You"-funded spotlight on Woody Allen, who is decidedly uninterested in being a part of Academy consideration this year. In the trailer for the star-studded doc, we field gushy soundbites from Diane Keaton, Sean Penn, Larry David, Scarlett Johansson, Mariel Hemingway, Mira Sorvino, and more. Oh, and Woody also shows up.
more »
Woody Allen may have lost his knack for titling his films, but he hasn't lost his sense of humor. In a recent New York Times interview conducted by Elaine May, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter asked Allen to reveal something "startling" about himself that he had never shared publicly. Allen deadpanned, "I'm wanted for pederasty in Mongolia." Other revelations? "I am already more than sufficiently attractive. Of course the actual impact of my physique might not be apparent to the naked eye at first glance, but with some laser surgery or perhaps corneal transplants the viewer will be amply rewarded." [NYT]
Some of Woody Allen's best films have had simple, straightforward film titles (Annie Hall! Crimes and Misdemeanors! Hannah and Her Sisters! Even Midnight in Paris...). But you know, I thought there was really something catchy to Bop Decameron, the former title of his current Rome-set next flick. Apparently, I may have been the only one who liked it; as Anne Thompson reports, Allen's changed the title to Nero Fiddled. Riiiight.
more »
"If I was in a room with Michelle Obama, and I thought she was right for a part, I wouldn't hesitate to ask her." Woody Allen cast French first lady (and former model-chanteuse) Carla Bruni in a small part as a museum guide in his Midnight in Paris "on a whim" after dining with the President and Mrs. Nicolas Sarkozy. He'd give Mrs. Obama a similar shot, he said on British T.V., if only he met with her first. Sounds like someone wants an invite to the White House! [USA Today via Onion A.V. Club]
It's week three of the 2011-12 Oscar Index, and the latest measurements, readings and conclusions are in from Movieline's Institute for the Advanced Study of Kudos Forensics. And aside from a few startling exceptions, they don't look that different than the ones disseminated here last week. But make no mistake: Like it or not, stuff is happening! Read on for the latest developments.
more »
Following the recent success of Midnight in Paris and the filming of Bop Decameron in Rome, Woody Allen is apparently planning to set his next film in Germany. Exciting! And maybe a little predictable, but I'm enjoying the minor Zelig flashback this news conjures. Do you have visions for locales in the next leg of Allen's film career? There's one hope I refuse to let go...
more »
Chances are you first laid eyes on former Verge designee Ari Graynor as a gum-snapping party girl in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, the breakout role that put the 28-year-old actress on Hollywood's radar back in 2008. Since then, she's continued to steal scenes in films like Youth in Revolt, Whip It, and Holy Rollers, but as she prepares for another big comedic year ahead of her (plus a run on Broadway), Graynor's ready to take her next big leap -- right into leading lady territory for the first time -- in the indie black comedy Lucky.
more »
Financing is still the main obstacle that stands between Terry Gilliam and his long-gestating Don Quixote project, and he's got at least one scapegoat to blame for sucking up all the money in Europe: Woody Allen. That's just one of the amazingly honest, semi-joking truth bombs he dropped on a Vulture reporter while discussing the failure of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, the "green" movies -- Green Lantern and Green Hornet -- the problem with comic book movies these days, and more.
more »
