Below are our Most anticipated films of the Awards Season with commentary and trailers. Enjoy!
Sean:
5. The Artist
Ever since The Artist’s debut at the Cannes Film Festival it has won numerous accolades and has steam rolled it’s way into the Awards Season. Many are expecting the Academy to go for this in a big way, which would be slightly odd. It is, after all, a French film about Hollywood in the 1920’s, it has a no name lead star, it was filmed in black and white, and to top it off it is a silent film. But audiences have loved the film and it has managed to snag quite a few awards at various film festivals. The movie is also backed by the Weinstein brothers, so you can bet that they are going to push this as far as it can possibly go. Nobody plays the Oscar game better than the Weinstein’s. Out of every film opening this season, this is the one that people need to watch out for. I myself will be seeing the film this Thursday at an advance screening and will have my review out by the weekend. Trailer and the rest of our list after the jump...
JJ:
5. My Week with Marilyn
When it was annouced that Michelle Williams had been cast as Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn I was instantly intrigued. The film is based on the missing chapter in Colin Clark's novel The Prince, the Showgirl, and Me.The story follows a young Production Assistant (Clark) who spends a week with Marilyn (Williams) while filming the classic The Prince and the Showgirl. I live for Michelle Williams. I feel she is one of the few actresses working in Hollywood who really understands her craft and knows how to execute a strong performance. She is such a force on screen and I am interested to see how to tackles playing such an iconic person. |
Sean:
4. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Director Tomas Alfredson, best known for the Swedish horror film Le the Right One In, makes his English language debut with this adaptation of John Le Carre’s famous British Cold War spy novel. The films trailer makes it look like a cold and calculated affair, which is perfect for a spy story. The cast is perhaps the most intriguing part of the equation with the great (and underrated) Gay Oldman leading the cast of supporting players that include up and coming star Tom Hardy, last years Oscar winner Colin Firth, the legendary John Hurt, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Oldman in particular is supposed to be in fine subdued form (unusual for Oldman, but his style as of late) and the early word is that he is a shoe-in for his long overdue first Academy Award nomination. I’ll believe it when I see it because Oldman has been burned on more than one occasion when it comes to Awards Season. He is one of the greatest character actors of all time, but his personality and politics have been problems for many of the Hollywood Elite. We shall see what ends up happening.
JJ:
4. Martha Marcy May Marlene
The story of a girl who escapes a cult has been getting great reviews since Sundance. Sean Durkin took home the Best Director award and Elizabeth Olsen has been receiving rave reviews for performance in the title role. It's billed as a psycological thriller and after watching the trailer I think it totally falls under that catergory. But, to be honest what really intrigues me about this movie is that Elizabeth Olsen is the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and from what I've seen from the trailer she is proving to be the most talented of the bunch. |
Sean:
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
I had no interest in the popular Millennium series of books or the Swedish movies that followed, but when it was announced that David Fincher would be directing the American remake I admit that I became intrigued. David Fincher directed the best film of the year last year, if not the best film in twenty years, with The Social Network. It seemed odd that he would choose to direct something so mainstream as a follow up, but don’t be fooled. Fincher is meticulous and he wouldn’t pick a project like this unless he had a vision for it. When the first stylish trailer landed it seemed that Fincher was returning to his roots with images recalling past gritty projects including Seven, Fight Club, and Zodiac. The marketing for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has continued to push the Fincher of old vibe and I hope that is what we end up getting in the theater. It has been reported that Fincher has been fighting with the studio over the runtime of the piece, which at the moment clocks in at over three hours. The studio wants the film to come in at two hours and 20 minutes. I can understand their hesitation with letting Fincher put out a three hour-long thriller during the Christmas Holiday, but Fincher is an artist who has proved himself time and again. Let the man make the movie he wants to make. It’s going to be interesting to see how this one turns out as it doesn’t really look like Oscar bait. But that could be precisely what propels it into the race. Many people are still looking for a film to fall in love with this year. Perhaps Fincher’s anti-hero thriller could do the trick.
JJ:
3. The Adventures of Tintin
Spielberg and Peter Jackson working on a film together? I'm sold. I was sold before I even saw the trailer or read anything about it. It was immediately placed on my "Must See" list. The movie is based on a series of comic books. I, like Sean, am not familiar with the comic books. The movie is directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson. The story follows Tintin (voiced by the delicious Jamie Bell) and Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) as they race to recover an artifact lost at sea. I'm interested to see what kind of awards this movie will garner? Will it fall under the animation category? We'll have to wait and see. |
Sean:
2. The Adventures of Tintin
2. The Adventures of Tintin
When it was announced that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson would be collaborating on a trilogy of films based on the comic series by Herge I was excited beyond imagination. No, I know next to nothing about the comic series (most Americans don’t), but the idea of these two visionary filmmakers working together was enough to almost make me wet myself. The film has already been released in Europe to glowing notices from local press and the trade papers. The trailer dropped a month or so ago and from a visual standpoint it looks absolutely stunning. It also appears that Spielberg has returned to his adventure roots to the point where this looks and feels very much like an animated Indiana Jones. That’s A-Okay in my book, especially since the last live action Indiana Jones was such a travesty. I’m a little miffed that we have to wait until the end of December to catch this while the rest of the world has pretty much already gotten it. But patience is a virtue and I think this is a cinematic experience that will be very rewarding come it’s release date on December 21. I do hope that the film is a hit stateside so that we can see the Peter Jackson directed sequel after he finishes The Hobbit of course.
JJ:
2. We Need to Talk About Kevin
The movie is based off a novel written by Lionel Shriver. After her son commits a violent crime Tilda Swinton finds herself questioning whether or not she really loved her son in the first place. I live for Tilda Swinton. If you have not spent time with Tilda Swinton I urge you to check out Michael Clayton, Burn After Reading, and I Am Love. She, to me, is like a chameleon that can lose herself in a performance and bring to life such a riveting character. The movie won Best Picture at the London Film Festival and from what I've seen in the trailer it is definitely not going to disappoint.
JJ:
2. We Need to Talk About Kevin
1. War Horse
Sean:
When it was announced that Steven Spielberg would be directing a film based upon the play and novel of War Horse I groaned. Great, just what we need a schmaltzy movie about a horse with Spielberg in his most sentimentally saccharine of modes. I then saw the first few stills from the film that were released and my mood on the picture didn’t improve… But then I saw the trailer. Yes the sentimentality is still dripping from every image (that will never change in a Spielberg film), but my god if it doesn’t look stunning. And much of the imagery in the trailer seems to recall early Spielberg, the kind of filmmaking that the man hasn’t done in years. Yes there is the war background, but there is also the childlike sense of wonder and heart. Look at the image of the girl walking into the barn reflected in the eye of the horse. Look at the way the light caresses the actors in every frame. Look at the love of a boy learning he has to lose an animal he loves. And yes look at the images that recall Spielberg’s gift for war and action including the Calvary charge. And listen to that great John Williams score. This is the kind of film Spielberg does best, and he is the only one who can do it. I love Steven Spielberg, but his style of filmmaking has changed so much in the past ten years. This looks to be a return to the Spielberg I fell in love with years and years ago. I hope that I’m not disappointed. This is the film I am looking forward to the most this Oscar season and if it is as good as it looks, then we could very well see Spielberg win his third Oscar for best director. Here’s hoping…
JJ:
I haven't spent too much time with Steven Spielberg movies, but there is something about this movie that seems special. When I watched the trailer for the first time I found myself obsessed with this movie. It is based off a play (which usually makes me a bit weary) but this movie looks different. Sean mentioned above that this movie looks like Spielberg is returning to his roots. I really can't wait to see it. When it is released I will have seen just about all the movies Spielberg has made so I'm interested to see if this movie really is a return to his roots.
When it was announced that Steven Spielberg would be directing a film based upon the play and novel of War Horse I groaned. Great, just what we need a schmaltzy movie about a horse with Spielberg in his most sentimentally saccharine of modes. I then saw the first few stills from the film that were released and my mood on the picture didn’t improve… But then I saw the trailer. Yes the sentimentality is still dripping from every image (that will never change in a Spielberg film), but my god if it doesn’t look stunning. And much of the imagery in the trailer seems to recall early Spielberg, the kind of filmmaking that the man hasn’t done in years. Yes there is the war background, but there is also the childlike sense of wonder and heart. Look at the image of the girl walking into the barn reflected in the eye of the horse. Look at the way the light caresses the actors in every frame. Look at the love of a boy learning he has to lose an animal he loves. And yes look at the images that recall Spielberg’s gift for war and action including the Calvary charge. And listen to that great John Williams score. This is the kind of film Spielberg does best, and he is the only one who can do it. I love Steven Spielberg, but his style of filmmaking has changed so much in the past ten years. This looks to be a return to the Spielberg I fell in love with years and years ago. I hope that I’m not disappointed. This is the film I am looking forward to the most this Oscar season and if it is as good as it looks, then we could very well see Spielberg win his third Oscar for best director. Here’s hoping…
JJ:
I haven't spent too much time with Steven Spielberg movies, but there is something about this movie that seems special. When I watched the trailer for the first time I found myself obsessed with this movie. It is based off a play (which usually makes me a bit weary) but this movie looks different. Sean mentioned above that this movie looks like Spielberg is returning to his roots. I really can't wait to see it. When it is released I will have seen just about all the movies Spielberg has made so I'm interested to see if this movie really is a return to his roots.
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