2011. Dir: Fernando Meirelles. Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Rachel Weisz, Jude Law, Maria Flor and Ben Foster. ●●○○○
Do you remember when Peter Morgan used to write structurally tradition biographical screenplays that read like simplistic portrayals of The Queen or Brian Clough but revealed inner depths that challenged the viewers perception of the central characters and ultimately displaying hidden their humanity. That time is gone, Morgan has clearly seen the success of multiple character dramas like Amores Perros and Crash and wishes to emulate them whilst ensuring we understand the deeper meaning. Last year his heartfelt humanist parable of death, Hereafter, showed how the emotional thematic elements eventually over-shadowed the interest we developed in the characters and the final act shoved all the storylines together to forcibly underline their individual arcs and yet rang false. In 360 he returns to the hyperlink drama charting the sexual and emotional connections of a diverse group of strangers across globe, and unsurprisingly the point feels just as tacked on and a good half of the plotlines feel so insignificant they could be cut out completely.
The film starts (and, without really spoilering, ends) with a young lady shooting a topless advert for a hooker internet profile, it's a nod to Arthur Schnitzler's turn of the century scandalous play La Ronde, bookmarked by a Viennese hooker, on which the concept of 360 is based. But where Schnitzler intended to shock his audience into the realisation that sex was both natural and dangerous (the play essentially follows a strain of Syphilis as it journeys between class and national borders before returning to the whore who kicked it off) Morgan wants to comfort us, there's a streak of misplaced romanticism that forces characters to get into cars with each other or to not have the affair they were planning. The theme of connection, the 360° we go through, is merely the means by which we make many story, rather than the end in itself.
So sexy Slovakian Lucia Siposová is about to offer herself to cuckolded husband Jude Law. He wimps out and goes back to his wife, Rachel Weisz, not so subtly having an affair with Juliano Cazarré (frankly who wouldn't). But before you can say plot device Rachel is back with Jude watching their daughter forget her lines in the school play and Juliano's live in girlfriend, Maria Flor, has also run off having caught the whole thing on tape. She gets on a plane with chatterbox Anthony Hopkins and they both get caught in a snowed in Denver with paroled sex offender Ben Foster. Hopkins then runs into Dinara Drukarova at an AA meeting before she goes back to Paris to tell her husband Vladimir Vdovichenkov it's over before expressing her love for her dentist boss Jamel Debbouze. Vladimir, feeling vaguely rejected but clearly not that put off, drives to Vienna with his obnoxious boss Mark Ivanir before a meet cute with Gabriela Marcinkova, the sister of Luica Siposová.
That's the plot in a nutshell and apart from the relentless coincidences that take us round full circle, the only real spoiler in there is the always watchable Jamel Debbouze playing a conflicted dentist, the sort of career choice that often gets marginalised on screen but here really informs their romantic stirrings.
The film started badly, with neither Law nor Weisz making interesting enough character choices to make me care if their marriage floundered or not. If it wasn't for Cazarre cavorting around in nothing but a towel, tattoo's and Clark Kent glasses I'd have walked out.
Luckily the second act, focussed around Flor, Hopkins and Foster kicks in. The three of them are all at the top of their game, Maria slipping between sisterly affection and drunken flirting and Ben tightly wound and electrifying with potentially every extra in the airport a victim if he can't control his urges. Meanwhile Hopkins gives a superb performance that reminds us of how potent a film star he can be - his speech at the AA meeting, drawing as much from his own experience as from the script is as heart-warming as it is heart-breaking. In those three characters, all of whom must turn over a chapter in their lives, director Fernando Meirelles finds a chord, allowing the comedy to flow organically, the tension to build (there's one scene I nearly had to cover my eyes for) and the pay-offs for the characters were rewarding for them and for the audience in a way the rest of the film failed to deliver. Yes, from there it quickly descended into Russian gangster and tart with a heart clichés.
Elsewhere Meirelles doesn't seem to have the confidence in the material, the occasional camera flourishes and cutting techniques only hammer home the themes rather than hint at them, like Clint Eastwood before him, he seems unable to make a solid enough film from the good script sections to allow to forgive the weaker parts, and the variable script is what really lets 360 down.
Overall I can't recommend the film, but if anyone every offers you the chance to watch a 30 minutes short about Maria Flor, Anthony Hopkins and Ben Foster stuck in an airport I urge you to watch that masterclass in screen acting.
Thursday, 16 August 2012
360
Saturday, 11 August 2012
Coming Full Circle (Out this week - 10/08/12)
Just as no major releases saw their debut at the same time as the Olympic opening ceremony a couple of weeks ago now the games at coming to a close there is again a slight pause in the proceedings. There are two major releases coming out on Monday, the latest from Pixar and a twist on the Bourne franchise, so afraid are they of losing a few punters on Sunday evening. There are a dozen foreign language efforts and mid-level independent releases competing for audiences with Stephen Daldry's closing night on Sunday. Most of them are forgettable and frankly look awful, but there are a couple that are worth a look. The Runs like a Gay film of the week may not be one of those but it's got a great cast so Fernando Meirelles sneaks into the lead with 360
Last weekend my scepticism about Seth MacFarlane's cinematic debut led to me underestimating it's chances predicting it to miss out on the lead in the charts. Instead it soundly defeated the third weekend take from The Dark Knight Rises proving the cult audience of "Family Guy" and "American Dad" would follow their hero to multiplexes. As I mentioned earlier there's only one big release this weekend - the latest dance drama Step Up 4: Miami Heat - which will certainly find an audience but will it surpass Ted of the Batman? My guess is The Dark Knight Rises will climb back to number 1.
360
Loosely based on Alfred Schnitzler play La Ronde, with a terrible on the nose title referring to the structure of following sexual and emotional couplings across class and geographical barriers, this international co-production brings together a huge number of stars from all continents - keen on the foreign market sales. It premièred at Toronto last September - reviews may explain why we've waited so long to see it.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●●○○○○
Read on for Albanian blood feuds, Scandinavian pools and Chinese thrillers and all of this weeks new releases and trailers.
In an Empire interview last week director Fernando Meirelles stated the Austrian trailer and poster best exhibited the film. What can I say, I don't speak German so you have the English version.
Forgiveness of Blood
I have a thing about Blood feud plots. No really, ten years ago I loved Behind the Sun which tackled a similar plotline in South America. So when I heard Joshua Marston - the genius behind Maria, Full of Grace - was travelling to Albania to film a similar stand-off between neighbouring families and tying in the themes of technological progress against cultural stand-still I knew I had to see it. It's a shame it's only on in London or Cambridge.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Jackpot
The second Jo Nesbo novel to get apated this year comes with less fanfare than the critically acclaimed Headhunters but should do equally well in terms of box office thanks to it's pitch black comedy elements. How could a former criminal who wins the pools with three mates and then wakes up, some hours later, squashed under a dead chubby hooker fail to make you laugh?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Harold's Going Stiff
It's difficult to try to work out what this well received independent British horror is aiming for, with it's mix of social realism and zombies. I expect it's a metaphor. With the question of whether Harold really is infected holding the entire plot together.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Let the Bullets Fly
A couple of cinema chains are holding an exclusive this weekend, with Reel cinemas the only place to find this immensely popular Chinese film which took over $100m in it's home country back in early 2011. Chow You-Fat is the name over the title even though this looks like a shared lead movie. If the film is half as fun as the trailer then it's worth travelling for.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Shpion
It's already been and gone on it's limited one day release but this Russian spy thriller set during the Second World War looks like it has the right balance of action and romance, including a delicious tango, seen intercut in the trailer. Probably worth digging out the DVD in next weeks bargain bin.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Barbie: The Princess and the Popstar
Make it stop. Please just make it stop. Luckily I don't have to watch this sort of garbage but the trailer was bad enough. Anyway this badly animated 90 minute advert is exclusively showing at Cineworlds nation wide this weekend. They shouldn't bother.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Dinosaur Project
It's the Blair Witch meets Jurassic Park in this fairly predictable adventure romp that sees a sextet of young athletic 'explorers' crash land into Conan Doyle territory and live just about long enough to regret it. Much like paying to see it at cinemas.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
I Against I
It's taken a very long time for this tale of London gangsters to make it to the big screen, but the patience the producers have shown in the 2 years since filming was completed has paid off, for at least 9 cinemas. It's a shame the same amount of effort wasn't put into an original and insightful script.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
In the Dark Half
I'm probably coming across as really harsh, bashing all these low budget British films, after all I'd probably kill to get into one of them and to have even a couple of cinemas showing my work. Some nice shots of stampeding deer is fine but it's not enough to make me want to see this over-worked plot.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Offender
Taking the starting off point of last summer's riots this ultra-violent youth picture follows our hero Joe Cole as he infiltrates a young offenders institution in order to take brutal revenge for his girlfriend being attacked. I think I'm too old and middle class to appreciate the warfare on the streets message.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Step Up 4: Miami Heat
Thankfully not all the bad looking movies this week are British, as the likely biggest selling bad movie will be American. I want to like to concept of flash mob dancers forming an alliance with small businesses against the corporate sharks aiming to buy up whole neighbourhoods, but there's still probably nothing new in either the romance plot or the choreography so why should I bother buying a ticket?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Monday, 7 March 2011
Rachel Weisz
Happy Birthday to
Rachel Weisz
41 today
In spite of her Oscar win five years ago Rachel has yet to live up to the promises of her career post Constant Gardener, all that may be about to change with Terence Malick and David Hare collaborations in the pipeline. I'm looking forward to three of her upcoming projects in particular: adult haunted house fable Dream House, the expose on sex between classes 360 and she's the latest lady to be attached to the transgender drama The Danish Girl.
Saturday, 19 February 2011
An Englishwoman abroad - (Film News - 19/02/11)
It's been a funny week. On the one hand there have been a number of news stories that could fascinate the potential cinema patron in the future, on the other hand none of those are really jumping out shouting "I'm the best story! Put me first!" Lots to see, not necessarily lots to get excited about. We've also been inundated with casting news which gives a reason to go beyond the jump.
Lady who Went too Far
Tom Hooper and David Seidler are currently on top of the world. The director and writer of The King's Speech are likely to come away with a number of Academy awards next weekend, and for both of them the collaboration seems to be the highpoint of their careers so far. With that in mind it's hardly surprising they are planning to work together again with the biopic of 19th century explorer and humanitarian Lady Hester Stanhope (below).
The niece of British Prime Minister Pitt the Younger, she travelled extensively across the Middle East treasure hunting and offering sanctuary to refugees, often whilst facing powerful opposition for her unconventional lifestyle from home and the largely Islamic local tribes.
It's a great role for a woman so expect a powerhouse performer snapping up the central part before long, especially given the additional budgetary clout the project may have due to the below the line talent involved. From the director of Oscar winning... works wonders for accountants.
Read on for spies, submarines, gang violence, reincarnation choices and fat cats acting outrageously (it's OK, I don't mean Garfield).
Agent Zigzag
As well as the return of Bond we have this non-fiction counterpart that may just be hitting our muliplexes in the next few years. Based on the life of Eddie Chapman, with the titular codename, it will focus on how his British spymasters and conveyor belt of lovers learn whether to trust him. It's being written by Brighton Rock scribe Rowan Joffe, son of Roland, and might be directed by Mike Newell once he's completed Great Expectations.
Hunter Killer
Submarine based movies are few and far between even though there have been some excellent examples (Red October (right), Crimson Tide). Notably both of these involved gung-ho Americans and mysterious Ruskies, and so it is with this latest script likely to go into production. It focuses on an American sub commander and a Navy SEAL team that must rescue the Russian president and defeat a renegade admiral who’s attempting a coup, which sounds utterly barmy will have some underwater action scenes as well as (hopefully) some torpedo dodging action.
The Knife
Curiously connected to Agent Zigzag above in both it's true story premise and scope this project looks at the modern version of spies: the snitch, the criminal who wants to get out but can only do so with the FBI so sings like a canary. Based on the 2008 GQ article by Guy Lawson it focuses on a South Central gang member who turns states to such a great effect it sends it's leaders into a panicked attempt to kill all snitches. Kimberly Peirce (Stop-Loss, Boy's Don't Cry) is the slightly unlikely director attached.
Ubik
Philip K. Dick's work is currently undergoing a film adaptation revival. Next month we'll see The Adjustment Bureau and a remake of Total Recall is in pre-production. Next will be his highly praised metaphysical comedy about death and salvation centering on a cabal of dead characters looking for their next physical manifestation. I'm not sure what the relevance of the aerosol can on the book cover is, really must read it, but if anyone can enlighten me I'd be very grateful. Michel Gondry is working on the script and planning to direct, let's just hope he's given enough rope to make a fun Gondry but not allowed to indulge his every whim a la The Science of Sleep.
Wolf of Wall Street
Formerly reported here as a potential project for Ridley Scott the biopic of investment banker Jordan Belfort has now moved to the schedule of Martin Scorsese an will mark his fifth film with Leonardo DiCaprio who's already signed on for the lead. However we will have quite a long time to wait as Franciscan monk movie Silence is still planned as Marty's next move.
Casting News
There have been another full wave of casting announcements made this week including Jude Law joining the love across class divide drama 360, Juliette Binoche and Matthieu Almaric will be helping to ruin Robert Pattinson's day in Cosmopolis, Rachel Weisz will learn to love her husband even after she becomes the first transgendered woman in Danish Girl. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard are the latest rumoured cast members for Dark Knight Rises, and talking of Batman alumni Michelle Pfeiffer is set to play the matriarch at the centre of the Dark Shadows with Helena Bonham Carter also set to join Tim Burton's movie (surprise, surprise). Colin Firth looks to be the next Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady and finally after sorting out her painful divorce (who says I don't pay attention to celeb culture) Halle Berry is back on for New Years Eve, although in a different role.
Anne Hathaway may be a better Catwoman than Halle Berry but she's got a lot to do to out Miaow Michelle Pfeiffer (above).
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Dinner fit for a bride (Film News - 05/02/11)
There's been some interesting headlines this week with a couple of new titles coming our way which look very watchable, in fact the beauty of my first title is it will provide casting opportunities to hundreds. This is on top of the usual rounds of casting rumours and our monthly check of upcoming movies on imdb.
Great Expectations
If watching Derek Jacobi intone a few lines of Little Dorrit in the third act of Hereafter made you salivate for more Charles Dickens then you're in luck. It's looking like a version of his classic tale of class envy and redemptive guilt is set to make a foray into the big screen. Naturally this isn't the first time Pip, Magwitch and Miss Haversham have been in cinemas, most notably in the 1946 David Lean version with John Mills, Finlay Currie and Martita Hunt in those memorable roles.
I won't go into the plot details here, like all Dicken's it's long and meandering and with characters disappearing and reappearing with alarming regularity. There are also some magical moments of descriptive writing including fog shrouded escaped convicts and uneaten wedding cakes that could easily become iconic shots from the film.
The key thing is to try to imagine the casting. It's a film that practically begs for the brightest and best of British acting talent to be assembled. I'm saying Andrew Garfield for Pip and Helen Mirren as Miss Haversham. You heard it here first. Any casting ideas you have?
An early illustration of Miss Haversham's Wedding feast.
Read on for an unlikely true story, an surprising director says his next film will be an epic and the usual News segments.
Argo
The hunt for Ben Affleck's next directorial task continues with this bizarre true-life tale set to be produced by Men who Stare at Goats colleagues George Clooney and Grant Heslov. Like Goats it's an expose on one of the weirder moments in US military history focusing on the CIA operation to release the American Embassy hostages in 1979. Their ultimate plan involved disguising the operatives as a film crew scouting for locations. Whether Affleck can produce the satirical edge a project like this might need remains to be seen but if he pulls it off this could be hilarious.
Place beyond the Pines
Derek Cianfrance has been talking up his follow up to Blue Valentine to almost epic proportions. In an interview with indiewire he used terms like "the transformative power of fatherhood", "a Darwinistic idea of survival through ancestry" and (if that wasn't enough "I’ve had people tell me they feel like its ‘The Deer Hunter’ meets ‘The Godfather." Proof that he's certainly willing to enthuse about the project. The story focuses on a motorcycle stunt driver (Ryan Gosling's already practising in Cage's of death like this one to our right) who has to learn how to be a father and will cross generations. If it taps into even half as much honest human emotion as his latest then it will definitely be one to watch.
Casting News
The usual suspects have been hogging the casting rumours with Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes both close to signing on for Bond 23 - which could just become the starriest Bond ever - and Eva Green and Jackie Earle Haley may be hiding in Tim Burton's Dark Shadows. Robin Williams continues to be a possibility for Hugo Strange in Dark Knight Rises, although the main issue seems to be are three villains too many for the film to cope with. David O. Russell may be inviting Amy Adams back for his next project, the big screen adaptation of Playstation 3 game Uncharted: Drake's Progress although Scarlett Johannsson is another name in the mix. Finally Samuel L. Jackson has surprised nobody by exclusively revealing he'll cameo in Thor, frankly I was surprised when it was rumoured he wasn't going to.
Production News
Every month I like to update on the latest films moving into the pre-production stage, essentially as a way of monitoring which of the stories I've previously covered have actually come to fruition. This time we're seeing movement on David Cronenberg's limousine set thriller Cosmopolis, 60's crimecaper remake Gambit, hyperlink love story 360, and big budget big effects movies The Wolverine, Prometheus, Oz, Th Great and Powerful and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. The last four of which are bound for box office glory if nothing else. One movie though caught my eye even though I hadn't imagined it would.
Playing the Field
Gerard Butler obviously believes he's a big star, and I expect the studios think the same, why else would he continue to get high profile roles. So to follow his "acting" turn in Machine Gun Preacher there will be this black comedy about a soccer coach working his way through the Mums from his son's team. Whilst this doesn't scream high quality there's something intriguing about the notion and I expect they'll be some fun to be had when they start joining the dots. 
You get some very odd results if you search for Soccer Moms on google, but this pic's relatively tame. Apparently there's a whole subculture relating to the term. Anyone want to clue me up on it?
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Will Someone, please, give Meryl an Oscar? (Film News - 26/06/10)
This week has been incredible, everywhere you look there have been fascinating projects appearing out of nowhere, so much so that until the great Meryl's next project was announced I just didn't know what to lead with. On top of that we've got some updated releases and the Academy have broadcast their latest inductees. So, without further ado lets dig in.
Great Hope Springs
The never ending talent that is Meryl Streep has finally picked her next project, a full six months after gracing our screens in It's Complicated. What's more it looks like it might just get here some awards attention - at least that's what a million bloggers are collectively sighing. The film will trace a couple (her and Jeff Bridges) as they spend a weekend with a relationship counsellor (yet to be cast). Depending on which rumour you read Jessie Nelson (I am Sam) or Mike Nichols (loads of great movies) will be in the directors chair.
Obviously I'm thrilled to see Meryl back on the job, and I am sure this will be a quality film, but the oscar hype that surrounds her mere casting is a little too much - and I realise I'm being deeply hypocritical when I say this. Lets face it Meryl already has two Academy Awards - more than about 8 Billion people - and she has a record for acting nominations that will probably never be broken. Many of these nods may not have been in the crowd of best performances that year which means Meryl is simply filling up ballot papers on some occasions. Of course I love watching her act but I will confess that sometimes what we love is watching her act and most of the time she is unafraid of letting us know she is acting.
Can't we just let her make the film, and enjoy it or not based on our opinions of the film itself and not hyping up some wholly arbitrary awards system, which Meryl herself doesn't seem that focused on?
That's come out a lot rantier than I expected. I just hope I enjoy the movie when it eventually comes out.
Meryl, on an Oscar red carpet.
Read on for distracted physicists, school bullies, gangsters, robots, lots of sex, a mystery and a few animals. Now combine that to make the perfect movie.
As She Climbed Across the Table
I suppose it's happened to everyone. You work with someone every day and slowly you develop a tiny crush, an element of attraction - only they are so focused on the job that they fail to notice you. Of course it's one thing when relentless sales targets and workplace geography are the main barriers, quite another if the object of your affection has a greater affinity to the Black Hole she's studying. Yes, this metaphysical love triangle pits the hero against super dense matter. Sounds great. Based on the novel by Jonathan Letham, right.
Elliot Allagash
Will Jason Reitman be going back to school, and aiming even younger than Juno with his next film? It's quite possible following the news that he's optioned Simon Rich (of SNL) debut novel. It's about how money can buy you happiness (or at least protect you from being unpopular) in the private education sector. Oh, satire, eh?
Pretty Boy Floyd
You remember the super short scene in Micheal Mann's Public Enemies where Channing Tatum got shot in the back whilst running through an orchard (oops, spoilers for this film, Public Enemies and early 20th Century American history) well he was playing the legendary bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd (right, and not rally that pretty), and it's that legend's turn to has a biopic all about him. I wonder how it's going to end?
Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots
Does anyone know what these are? (Original product on the left and I don't come close to recognising them) Or why they want to make a movie out of them? (Other than to boost the merchandise line that is.) I'm only including them here because I do quite like the title.
360
One for the adults here. Arthur Schnitzler's 1900 play, "Riegart", caused a great deal of scandal on it's release due to it's frank look at sexual relationships between class and social groupings. Whilst any dissection of those themes these days is highly unlikely to shock anyone it will certainly be interesting to see what has and hasn't changed in this field. The modern adaptation has been written by Peter Morgan and is set to be directed by Fernando Meirelles.
Untitled M. Night Shyamalan Project
You can tell M. Night's The Last Airbender (left) is about to hit cinemas because he's already showing his latest script about town. Oddly there's no talk about it being a sequel so I guess the tracking isn't very good. What we do know, and bearing in mind his scripts are more closely guarded than George Osbourne's budget plans, indicates a Taken like premise with supernatural elements. Bruce Willis, Gwynneth Paltrow and Bradley Cooper are interested in roles.
We Bought a Zoo
Cameron Crowe's next movie could well have the ubiquitous Matt Damon as Guardian columnist Benjamin Mee who, as the title suggests, bought a failing zoo in an attempt to revive it and ensure the safety of the animals. In spite of it being a true story (the wildlife park in Dartmoor is the real star) I have no idea what happens. I'm avoiding wikipedia for the next 18 months.
New Academy members
AMPAS have this week announced their latest inductees and as usual it's a fascinating list, as well as recent winners and nominees there are the usual mix of what really's and weren't they a member already's. Because I'm an actor I'm going to list those new to that branch and highlight some films that may have had a factor in their inclusion (going from the best choice, in my humble opinion, to the worst):
Mo'Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire and Shadowboxer
Christoph Waltz - Inglorious Basterds
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker, The Assassasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, North Country and Lords of Dogtown
Vera Famiga - Up in the Air, The Departed, Breaking and Entering, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Manchurian Candidate, Nothing but the Truth, Running Scared and The Vintner's Luck
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement, The lovely Bones and Death Defying Acts
Carey Mulligan - An Education, Pride and Prejudice, And When did you last see your Father, Brothers and Public Enemies
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air and Twilight
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
Tobin Bell - The Firm, Goodfellas, In the Line of Fire, Mississippi Burning, Tootsie, The Verdict, An Innocent Man, Loose Cannons and The Quick and the Dead
George Wyner - All the President's Men, Lady sings the Blues, My Favourite Year, To be or Not to be, The Bad News Bears Go to Japan, The Devil's Advocate, The Long Goodbye, The Postman, A Serious Man, Spaceballs, The Taking of Beverley Hills and Who's Life is it anyway?
Peter Sarsgaard - Boy's Don't Cry, Dead Man Walking, An Education, Kinsey, In the Electric Chair, Jarhead, K19: The Widowmaker and The Skeleton Key
LaTanya Richardson Jackson - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Lorenzo's Oil, Malcolm X, The Fighting Temptations, Lone Star, Sleepless in Seattle and When a Man loves a Woman
Shaun Toub - Charlie Wilson's War, Crash, The Kite Runner, The Nativity Story and Out to Sea
James Gandolfini - A Civil Action, All the Kings Men, Angie, 8MM, Fallen, The Juror, The Last Castle, The Man who Wasn't There, The Mexican, Mr. Wonderful, Money for Nothing, Night Falls on Manhattan, The Stranger among Us and Where the Wild Things Are
Sam Robards - American Beauty, Artificial Intelligence: A.I., Bird, Bright Lights Big City, Casualties of War, Che: Part 1, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Not Quite Paradise, Pret-a-Porter and Tempest
Miguel Ferrer - Traffic, Another Stakeout, The Assassin, Cigarettes and Coffee, The Guardian, The Manchurian Candidate, Silver City, Sunshine State and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
Peter Riegart - Traffic, Chilly Scenes of Winter, City Girl and Crossing Delancey
Zoe Saldana - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Avatar, Centre Stage and The Terminal
Adam Sandler - Mixed Nuts, Punch-Drunk Love and Spanglish
Ryan Reynolds - and every year there's one actor selected that I just don't understand. Sure hes cute, and maybe there are signs of talent underneath the six pack, but I don't think he deserves this just yet. The challenge out to Ryan now is to prove me wrong.
Release Date News
The Town - It's essentially a month of minor shuffles in terms of box office release dates, and the only film coming forward is this Bank Robber drama. Don't get held up on 24 September 2010.
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps - Another week's delay before we see Olive Stone's Financial skullduggery sequel, but I suppose if you've waited 23 years a few more weeks won't matter. Bring out the shoulderpads and big hair on 08 October 2010.
The Debt - Still no publicity for this Isreali thriller remake which is a tiny bit concerning to anyone hoping to see it, but maybe Helen Mirren's been too busy bathing for Love Ranch. Flash back to when you worked with Sam Worthington on 29 October 2010.
Eagle of the Ninth - Centurion has already hit the 2010 quota for slaughtered Roman legions, so Kevin MacDonald's literary adaptation has postponed a year. Echo through eternity on 25 February 2011.
Hanna - Will this be a more serious look at the character traits of Hit Girl, with Saoirse Ronan as a teenager brough up to be an ultimate killing machine. Bring up an assassin on 29 April 2011.
We Bought a Zoo - IMDb doesn't yet list it in Pre-production, the lead actor is still in negotiations (see above) but that doesn't stop Cameron Crowe from fixing a release date - I full expect it to change. Manage your menagerie on 08 October 2010.
You see I get my own back on Ryan by glorifying him as simply a sexual object. Take that Reynolds.
