Gus Van Sant’s new film Promised Land has been getting significant Oscar buzz. The Matt Damon-starring drama about the controversial practice known as “fracking” opens in limited release on December 28, with a larger roll-out on January 4. Other cast includes Frances McDormand, John Krasinski, Scoot McNairy, Rosemarie DeWitt, Titus Welliver, and Hal Holbrook. Check out these stills below.
Fifteen documentary features have been shortlisted for the 85th Academy Awards. Of these, five will receive nominations, which will be announced on Thursday, January 10 at 8:30am EST. The shortlisted films are as follows:
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
Bully
Chasing Ice
Detropia
Ethel
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
The House I Live In
How to Survive a Plague
The Imposter
The Invisible War
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
Searching for Sugar Man
This Is Not a Film
The Waiting Room
(Notable snubs include The Central Park Five and Love, Marilyn.)
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently released the official list of qualified films that will vie for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The record 71 nations includes first-time entrant Kenya. To qualify, each country must submit one film that screened in that country before October 1. Though the film does not need to be in the country’s official language, it must be made (director, writer, producer) by a person from that nation. From this list of 71, nine films will be shortlisted and the official five nominations will be revealed on January 10. The winner will be announced at the 85th annual Academy Awards on Sunday, February 24. Early front-runners include Austria’s Amour and France’s The Intouchables. (Continue reading for the full list of entries.)
Continue reading Record 71 Countries Vie for Oscar’s Best Foreign Language Film Award
(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekjfj8sLFqs]Screening: Saturday, October 6, 3pm
Venue: Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC
Series: NYFF50: Main Slate
Winner of this year’s prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, legendary filmmaker Michael Haneke’s Amour tells the story of an octogenarian couple living in France. After Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) suffers multiple strokes, her devoted husband Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) loyally stays by her side, caring for her throughout the duration of her deteriorating health. Amour tells a simple, truthful, emotional, tragic, haunting, and beautiful story—one that is likely to remain with the viewer long after the end credits roll. Both veteran French actors Riva and Trintignant offer exceptionally brave performances, only achieved by baring every bit of themselves to each other and on screen. Though the film’s pacing is slow, it reflects a feeling of quiet sadness that hangs heavily over the couple’s Parisian apartment. Amour is Austria’s official 2012 Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film and is considered an easy favorite for a nomination.
Limité Rating: 4/5
Director: Michael Haneke
Genres: Narrative, Drama
Country: Austria
Language: French with English subtitles
Runtime: 127 min.
The 50th New York Film Festival runs from September 28 – October 14, 2012.
(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiJRGbCKCu0]Screenings:
Monday, October 1, 9pm (Alice Tully Hall)
Sunday, October 7, 2:30pm (Alice Tully Hall)
Thursday, October 11, 3:30pm (Howard Gilman Theater)
Venue: Lincoln Center, NYC
Series: NYFF50: Main Slate
Voichita and Alina, childhood friends who were raised in the same orphanage, are reunited in the hills of Romania after years of separation. Voichita is a nun in training, living in a pious monastery in the hills without electricity or any other conveniences of modern life. Alina is returning from Germany, where she’s spent the last several years. Feeling anxious and alone, Alina is determined to convince her best friend to return to Germany with her, but Voichita is not the same girl. She’s found God and is under the watchful eye of the resident priest and patriarch of the monastery, simply known as Papa. Alina decides to stay, in hopes that she will be able to persuade her friend to leave the monastery. Things go awry for everyone there once Alina begins to display erratic behaviors, threatening the resident nuns and priest and forcing them to take action.
Continue reading New York Film Festival Preview: Beyond the Hills
If you’re anything like me, you’re sure to watch most (if not all) of the major Oscar-contending films before nominations are even announced (this year on January 10, 2013). Here are trailers and release dates for just some of this year’s major contenders in various categories.
THE AVENGERS
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIR8Ar-Z4hw]THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDY89LYxK0w]In Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper’s upcoming Les Misérables, starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway, the filmmaker made the choice to have the actors sing live on set, rather than the customary approach of having them record an album earlier and lip sync to the pre-recorded songs during filming. It’s a risky move, but appears to be one that gave the actors a certain freedom and the ability to express their characters in a very real and raw way. Check out this brief featurette for a behind-the-scenes look.
Les Misérables opens in theatres this Christmas and is primed for a major Oscar push. (Check out my previous post on “5 Reasons Why Anne Hathaway Will be Oscar Nominated for Les Misérables.”)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVxfyBumtm4](Re-posted from The Hollywood Reporter)
by Scott Feinberg
September 20, 2012
Fox Searchlight just shook up this year’s awards race by announcing that Hitchcock, which had been looking like a 2013 release, will now open on Nov. 23.
First of all, the facts: Hitchcock is a dramedy about the relationship between kinky master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and his trusted wife, Alma Reville, during the making of his seminal 1960 film Psycho.
The film was adapted by Black Swan co-screenwriter John McLaughlin from film historian/Playboy contributing editor Stephen Rebello’s book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. It marks the feature directorial debut of Sacha Gervasi, who is best known for his 2008 hit doc Anvil: The Story of Anvil, and was produced by Tom Pollock and Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Picture Co., which also handled 2009 best picture Oscar nominee Up in the Air.
Continue reading Why Searchlight Slipped HITCHCOCK into This Year’s Oscar Race (Analysis)
Sure, it’s probably a bit early to be making such claims, particularly since Les Misérables hasn’t even hit theatres yet. (It opens on December 14th.) However, I’m an Oscar buff and I can’t help but be thinking year-round about which films and performances will be honored come February. And so I’m going on record to state that I believe Anne Hathaway will receive an Oscar nomination next year for her supporting role as Fantine in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. (Whether Hathaway’s part is considered a lead or supporting role will depend on the adaptation. Those familiar with the stage version know that despite Fantine’s importance to the plot, she has limited stage time. So like Catherine Zeta-Jones’s role in Chicago [2002] and Kate Winslet’s role in The Reader [2008], Hathaway’s role in Les Mis could put her in either the lead or supporting races, depending on voters’ whims.)
Continue reading 5 Reasons Why Anne Hathaway Will be Oscar Nominated for LES MISÉRABLES
(Re-posted from Yahoo! News)
The motion picture academy said Thursday that there will be a minimum of five nominees in the original song category at next year’s ceremony.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says that the five nominated songs receiving the highest number of votes from music branch members will be up for the final award. The voting process previously only allowed songs that earned an average score to be nominated.
Only two songs were nominated for the trophy earlier this year for the first time in Oscar history, with “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets winning the prize.
The 85th annual Academy Awards will be presented Feb. 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
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