Who Will Be Nominated For The Animation Oscars?

This year's animated feature race still feels like a mystery: Brave wasn't beloved enough to slide right into Pixar winner position; Frankenweenie wasn't popular enough despite its fun aesthetic achievements; ParaNorman was a hit but not a huge one; Madagascar 3 was very well reviewed and a huge hit but the third in a series Oscar hasn't cared for; and so on.

With 21 eligible features this year we'll have five nominees and unless either Rise of the Guardians or Wreck It Ralph (just opened) are across the board sensations, we'll have a real race.

21 ELIGIBLE FEATURES 

• Adventures in Zambezia
• Brave
• Delhi Safari
• Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
• Frankenweenie
• From Up on Poppy Hill
• Hey Krishna
• Hotel Transylvania
• Ice Age Continental Drift
• A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman
• Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
• The Mystical Laws
• The Painting
• ParaNorman
• The Pirates! Band of Misfits
• The Rabbi's Cat
• Rise of the Guardians
• Secret of the Wings
• Walter & Tandoori's Christmas
• Wreck-It Ralph
• Zarafa

More after the jump...

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Posterpalooza Pt 1: Hitchcock, On the Road, The Wolverine

Not all posters inspire multiple thoughts like Django Unchained or The Guilt Trip so let's do a wee collection of new objects du marketing.

To quote Heidi Klum "it looks cheap, no?" I really can't fathom why they can never take photos of stars together during any of the months in which they film to make posters. Why are they always pieced together later by photoshop? Imagine how great movie posters would be if they did them like the promotional photoshoots you'll sometimes see movies do for magazines like Vanity Fair. But enough of that rant. Let's talk about the tagline.

Behind every Psycho is a great woman."

That clearly positions this as a comedy and, perhaps surprisingly, announces Helen Mirren as the MVP. Best Actress here she comes. Given the comic slant its path to Golden Globe Glory and thus Academy eyeballs is secured. I'm seeing the film tomorrow morning. Can't wait.

Three more posters after the jump...

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Review: Free Pass for "The Sessions"

This review was originally published in my column at Towleroad...

When Madonna's "Sex" book turned twenty last week, a common thread of blog coverage was 'tame by today's standards' and I wondered which new standards other people were living by that I wasn't privy to? I'm not talking about private culture -- people have been seeing strangers naked long before Grindr or easily clickable pornography -- but about mainstream entertainment. Which mainstream female celebrity has been running around aggressively in her birthday suit lately? We've hardly made great strides at accepting female sexuality since then. Proof positive: the current political debates. The male body has, on the other hand, become more commonly objectified two decades on but penis sightings are still as rare as they were in the "Sex" book and people continue to make a big flaccid point of being shocked whenever they're visually reminded of their existence... especially in the movies. Find even one article about Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Eastern Promises or Shame that doesn't mention Jason Jr,  Viggo Jr. or The Fassmember; tough assignment. 

This longwinded preface isn't as off-topic as it sounds for a review of THE SESSIONS. The sexually-minded lightly funny new drama stars Oscar nominee John Hawkes (Winter's Bone) as Mark O'Brien, a paralyzed man who dreams of losing his virginity from the discomfort of his iron lung. 

more...

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"Argo" is a Fake Movie but its Box Office is Real

Argo F*** yourself!"

That's what I imagine Ben Affleck and team were saying to their box office competition this weekend. In the Best Picture hopeful's third weekend, it climbed to the top of the charts which is a fine very good extremely significant sign that it's going to have legs and thus a indefatigable sturdy stride towards February's Oscar ceremony. Those getting f***ed included Cloud Atlas (some are wild for it -- see below -- some think its silly but the nearly 3 hour running time and gargantuan budget have made profit a ridiculously ambitious dream), and Chasing Mavericks... When was the last time Gerard Butler had a real hit? Was it The Ugly Truth? The specialty box office was good for The Loneliest Planet (reviewed) and The Sessions which will continue to expand as it moves into awards season.

Did you know that ARGO was inspired by this Wired article by Joshuah Bearman?

Box Office 15
01 ARGO  $12.3 (cum $60.7)
02 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA $9.5 (cum. $130.4)
03 CLOUD ATLAS  $9.4 *NEW IN WIDE RELEASE* 
04 PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 $8.6 (cum. $42.6)
05 TAKEN 2  $8  (cum. $117.3)
06 SILENT HILL: REVELATION 3D $8 *NEW IN WIDE RELEASE* 
07 HERE COMES THE BOOM $5.5 (cum $30.6)
08 SINISTER $5  (cum $39.5)
09 ALEX CROSS $5 (cum $19.3)
10 FUN SIZE $4 *NEW IN WIDE RELEASE*

a rather, uh, "enthusiastic" text received from Beau. Some people just go crazy for this movie!

11 PITCH PERFECT $3.9  (cum $51.3) podcast fun
12 FRANKENWEENIE $2.4 (cum $31.7) capsule | notes on the original short
13 CHASING MAVERICKS $2.2 *NEW IN WIDE RELEASE*
14 LOOPER $2.1  (cum $61.5) Review
15 SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS $1.4 (cum $11.9)

What did you see this past week? 

I saw Anna Karenina but Cloud Atlas eluded me in part because I am allergic to three hour movies, in part because I haven't rushed to see it because I disliked every single film the Wachowski Siblings made after The Matrix (which I didn't even love as much as Bound so it's frankly been all downhill with them since their debut). But mostly I missed it because my favorite theater stopped showing movies at 2 pm today (!) -- presumably due to Hurricane Sandy (quite the troublemaker)  -- and the subways are also closing up tonight which is big trouble. Boo. Thankfully I have screeners to keep me company and Sunday night is always good television (Revenge + Homeland. Holla!)

Linkfall

My New Plaid Pants "13 Whores of Halloween" a fun countdown of film characters: "Jules" from Cabin in the Woods, "Lucy" from Bram Stoker's Dracula and 11 more!
Star Ledger movies as political propaganda: Won't Back Down, 2016: Obama's America, and more
Pajiba a shirtless link roundup. Why haven't I thought of this? On a content related note: I hadn't heard that Ryan Gosling has left Nicolas Winding Refn's Logan's Run remake. Sad face. But I guess Ryan Gosling, who is 31 going on 32, would already be dead by Logan's Run standards! 
Hollywood Elsewhere on John Goodman's Oscar campaign problem for Flight.

 

After Elton cute and thorough interview with the star of Gayby out actor Matthew Wilkas
The Incredible Suit meets James Bond Daniel Craig in posh hotel as Skyfall takes London by storm 
Fashion It So funny newish tumblr on the costumes in Star Trek: The New Generation. Love how randomly specific the interwebs can be
In Contention looks at all the contenders in the Best Animated Feature race 
/Film gets excited by one random comment from the difficult brilliant genius Paul Thomas Anderson about Chris Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy  
Movie|Line wonders if Idris Elba will win the James Bond role in the future. But why are we talking about this? I want Daniel Craig to keep on running, shooting, fighting, travelling, stripping, and bedding those Bond girls. Don't you?
Cinema Blend ...at any rate, Daniel Craig's possibly final two Bond pictures MIGHT have linked stories, a la Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace