Review: "Uncharted" Stays Straight, Too Straight, On Course

by Jason Adams

When is a cannonball not just a cannonball? When it's a sight-gag aimed straight at Tom Holland's crotch, that's when. Rolling up out of nowhere in the explosive and overblown finale to Ruben Fleischer's fitfully entertaining but mostly lifeless video-game adaptation Uncharted -- which involves two full-sized pirate ships being swung below dueling helicopters careening through tropical passageways; don't ask --  the cannonball strikes me as more than just a cannonball and more than just a kick-in-the-nuts punchline. The cannonball becomes a Mousetrap-type puzzle-piece that Uncharted doesn't have the madcap skill to deploy in any interesting fashion. It's a what-could-have-been in the movie that never was.

Because a better filmmaker would've introduced that cannonball, or, even better, dozens of them, earlier...

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Oscar Trivia: When the Academy Nominates Lovers Together

by Cláudio Alves

Love is in the air…at the Oscars. Both lead and supporting acting categories feature a nominated couple. Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem are on the hunt for their second statuette with Parallel Mothers and Being the Ricardos, respectively. Then, there are Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, who played a married couple in the movie that finally earned them long-deserved Oscar nods. The Power of the Dog stars are the first real-life romantic partners to earn nominations for playing an on-screen couple since Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain – though, of course, the Burbanks have a better marriage than the doomed Del Mars. 

But how often do couples get nominated together at the Academy Awards? As it happens, much more often than you'd think...

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Japanese Academy Awards: 'Drive My Car' up for 9 prizes

by Nathaniel R

March is promising to be a big month for Japanese Best Picture nominee Drive My Car. It just became the second release from Janus Films to make more than one million at the US box office (their biggest hit remains Italy's Oscar winning  The Great Beauty) and despite its steady box office performance, it's moving to streaming on March 2nd on HBOMax. Then, two weeks before the Oscars on March 11th, it is competing at the 45th annual Japan Academy Awards. The nominees for that ceremony are after the jump including a description of the five films up for the big prizes...

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What did you see over the weekend?

by Nathaniel R

Weekend Box Office February 11th-13th 🔺 = new or expanding
OVER 800 SCREENS	UNDER 800 SCREENS
DEATH ON THE NILE	WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
1 🔺 DEATH ON THE NILE  $12.8	1 🔺 WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD $255k (cum. $451k)

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Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes are hosting the Oscars

by Nathaniel R

We'd already heard that the Academy was eyeing a "three-act" structure for the March 27th ceremony and now we know who is starring in those "acts". Fine actress Regina Hall, and two hilarious TV comediennes Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes. We'd hoped for Maya Rudolph or Kristen Wiig since they're always deeply hilarious when presenting Oscars but we like this trio. The past couple of years have proven that we really do need hosts for some kind of party throughline and the Academy could have chosen (and have chosen) much worse! 

What'cha think?