Vanity Fair's 2017 Hollywood cover

Photo: Annie Liebovitz/Vanity Fair

The annual Vanity Fair cover featuring the powerful, talented 'wonder women' of Hollywood was released last week and it is GORGEOUS! With recent Oscar nominees Emma Stone (La La Land), Natalie Portman (Jackie) and Ruth Negga (Loving), the cover showcases the current generation of actresses working in the business now. Some of them like sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning have grown up right in front of our eyes. Others like Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o, five-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams and Janelle Monae have given formidable performances in Queen of Katwe, Arrival and Hidden Figures respectively last year. Also part of the group are Aja Naomi King (The Birth of a Nation), Dakota Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey) and Greta Gerwig (20th Century Women).

New Trailer: Batman v. Superman Comic Con 2015 Edition!!

Probably the biggest film trailer to debut at this past weekend's Comic Con was Warner Bros' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This second much longer look at the DC Universe film gives us additional info on the conflict brewing brewing between two brooding superheroes, leading to an eventual fight on the yard (or a Batmobile). They'll take whatever is available at the moment.

We see Superman aka Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) feel more and more marginalised as an outsider. We  see an older, bulkier Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck, who takes over the role from Christian Bale) who's suppressed his feelings for a long time. Somebody's also goading Bruce with notes about his past and you can literally feel the waves of anger rolling of him against Superman. Cue the return of the vigilante Batman.

The trailer also shows us glimpses of other iconic characters of the universe, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Jesse Eisenberg as a very youngish Lex Luthor with hair and of course Gal Gadot debuting as Wonder Woman. Director Zack Synder sure has his hands full with all-star cast that I hope get the opportunity to do justice to their characters.

My only problem is (and I felt this with The Amazing Spider-Man reboot too and look what's happened there, it's being rebooted yet again) we just said an emotional goodbye to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. To say that Nolan's films changed the way we look at comic book/superhero films is an understatement. It's too soon. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is also setting up the road for the rest of the DC characters to go off and have their own adventures. More surprising news coming out of Comic Con was that Affleck himself would be directing a standalone Batman film after the Justice League film in 2019! Wow, that's a whole lot of Batman down the line.

Gotham's bringing the fight down to Metropolis. I sure hope Superman's ready. Will Earth survive the fighting between two ultimate superheroes? Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice releases March 25, 2016 ahead of the crowded summer season.

Movie Review: American Hustle

All last year I saw the making of/behind the scenes images of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams and their wild, wild hair. I cannot put enough emphasis on that wild hair which defines David O. Russell's American Hustle whose cast is the main reason to go see this film.

Christian Bale is Irving Rosenfeld, a balding middle-aged man handling a wife, a mistress and an illegal business selling loans. He thinks he's managing his life just fine until FBI Agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) enters their world and turns the tables on the tables on them. Irving and his mistress Sydney (Amy Adams) who have built this business together have no choice but to entertain this ambitious agent who is looking for 'the' case that will propel his career into the big league.

The two of them sink deeper and deeper into the sting operation DiMaso has planned involving the mayor of Camden, New Jersey Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) and other members of Congress.  And then to confuse matters more, there's a also a plot involving an Arab sheikh (played by Michael Pena, who is another FBI agent impersonating a sheikh), some mobsters and an overly jealous and possessive wife (Jennifer Lawrence).

How does this all make sense? It doesn't at plenty of times in the movie but the actors make it all worthwhile as every moment onscreen, you see Bale, Adams, Cooper, Lawrence, Renner and especially Louis C.K. all committing one hundred percent to these zany characters that inhabit this universe.  Inspired by the events of the 1970s and 80s in the actual ABSCAM case, it gives these actors some great material to work with.  Case in point, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are all nominated for their work at next month's Oscars.

While the writing didn't add up for me at several places during the film, what works is Russell's deft direction of the actors, bringing out the real emotions and motives behind their actions especially in the case of Adams and Lawrence.  I also loved the film's soundtrack, its grooving disco tunes and great use of songs at key moments.  My expectations were definitely way higher before I went in for the film.  I guess it had to do with the great quality of films that got released in 2013.  But if you are a fan of either of these actors, you won't be disappointed. 

Directed by David O. Russell, Written by David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer, Cinematography by Linus Sandgren, Editing by Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers, Alan Baumgarten, Music by Danny Elfman

Rating:

2014 Critics Choice Awards Winners!

 
The 19th annual Critics Choice Awards were held on the same day as the Oscar nominations were announced. Hosted by comedian Aisha Tyler, the night feted the recent Oscar nominees while noting the big name snubs (Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey).  The night's big winners were 12 Years a Slave whose Lupita Nyong'o who won best supporting actress, American Hustle who won best ensemble and best actress and Gravity won best director, best action actress and whole truckload of technical awards.

Director Richard Linklater and actors Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke also received the Louis XIII Genius award for their Before trilogy while actor Forest Whitaker was given the Joel Siegel Award from his costar from Lee Daniels' The Butler, Oprah Winfrey, for his humanitarian work all around the world.

The full list of winners is below:

BEST PICTURE
12 Years a Slave

BEST ACTOR
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue Is the Warmest Color

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
American Hustle

BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Spike Jonze – Her

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki – Gravity

BEST ART DIRECTION
Catherine Martin (Production Designer), Beverley Dunn (Set Decorator) – The Great Gatsby

BEST EDITING
Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger – Gravity

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Catherine Martin – The Great Gatsby

BEST MAKEUP
American Hustle

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Frozen

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Lone Survivor

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Sandra Bullock – Gravity

BEST COMEDY
American Hustle

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Amy Adams – American Hustle

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
Gravity

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Blue Is the Warmest Color

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
20 Feet from Stardom

BEST SONG
Let It Go – Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez – Frozen

BEST SCORE
Steven Price – Gravity

2014 Golden Globe Award Winners

The 71st Golden Globe awards were held this past Sunday and as usual it did not disappoint.  The show was hosted for the second time in a row by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who in their inimitable style "crushed it", with their jokes (Gravity is "the story of how George Clooney would rather float away in space and die than spend any more time with a woman his own age.") or hijacking the stage as teenager "Randy" and his mom.

The presenters were just as lively with Robert Downey Jr. promising us that no matter what happened that night, he was leaving home a winner or my favorite Emma Thompson who appeared on stage with a martini in one hand and a pair of Louboutins in another.  The red on the shoes, she told us, was her blood.  And she chose the martini over the shoes when it came to presenting the award!

(Photo: Getty Images)

Emma Stone (who's currently working with Woody Allen on the upcoming Magic in the Moonlight) and Diane Keaton (who worked with Allen from Annie Hall to Interiors) presented the Cecil B. DeMille award to an absent Woody Allen, who usually never attends awards functions. 

(Photos: Just Jared/The Hollywood Reporter)

Now, onto the awards, American Hustle won the most with 3 including best comedy/musical, 12 Years a Slave won for best drama, Gravity had the best director and Her had the best screenplay.  The acting awards went out to Dallas Buyers Club, Blue Jasmine, The Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle, while Frozen won the best animated feature.

(Photos: E! Online/Getty Images)

Here's the full list of the feature film winners:

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
“12 Years a Slave”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
“American Hustle”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Frozen”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

“The Great Beauty” (Italy)


BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
Spike Jonze, “Her”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Amy Adams, “American Hustle”

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
“Ordinary Love,” “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Music by: Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, Jr., Brian Burton
Lyrics by: Bono

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
Alex Ebert, “All Is Lost”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Jennifer Lawrence “American Hustle”

New American Hustle Character Posters

These new character posters are like a pack of 70s cards highlighting the questionable fashions and hairdos of the cast of American Hustle.  Directed by David O. Russell, the film based on the ABSCAM  scandal releases this December.  

Christian Bale is Irving Rosenfeld, a con man who aids the FBI against corrupt politicians.  

Bradley Cooper is FBI Agent Richie DiMasio. 

Jennifer Lawrence plays Rosenfeld's wife, Rosalyn.

Meanwhile, Amy Adams is Rosenfeld's British mistress, Sydney Prosser.

And finally, the man with the widest tie I've ever seen is Jeremy Renner as 

corrupt NJ mayor Carmine Politico.

Christian Bale's Batman Begins Audition Video

Christian Bale auditions for Batman Begins in... by BatmanNewsCom

With the Blu-ray of The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector's Edition signaling the end of Christopher Nolan's Batman series (and Warner Bros. moving onto Batman vs. Superman with Ben Affleck as the older, wiser superhero), it's time to look back once again at Christian Bale's tormented Batman.  In this look at Bale's audition, Nolan talks about how Christian understood Bruce Wayne/Batman and why he eventually got the role.  Fun fact: That's Amy Adams he's auditioning with. Yup, Lois Lane! Holy foreshadowing Batman!

Summer's Hottest Trailers: Man of Steel and Star Trek Into Darkness

Are we sure Man of Steel is not really directed by Christopher Nolan and not just produced by him? Because this trailer bears all his marks. This origin story of Superman looks incredibly promising with first looks of  Krypton, his father Jor-El (Russell Crowe), his adoptive father on Earth (Kevin Costner), Zod (Michael Shannon) and Lois Lane (Amy Adams).  Could this Superman film do what Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy did for the Batman brand? And what does the 'S' stand for? We’ll find out June 14, 2013.

 

The final trailer for this summer's most anticipated sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, shows Benedict Cumberbatch's John Harrison luring the impulsive Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and the Enterprise crew into a trap.  Will they survive?  I'd put some pretty good odds on it. Star Trek Into Darkness hit theaters May 17th 2013

10 Actors Who Have Yet To Win An Oscar

The 85^th Oscars are so last month.  We have clearly moved on and ahead to next year.  And while there are already potential Oscar contender names being bandied about (Grace of Monaco, August: Osage County, Inside Llewyn Davies, Wolf of Wall Street, 12 Years a Slave, Saving Mr. Banks to name a few), I wanted to look at some actors who have yet to nab that elusive Oscar.  Every year, we see some of the same actors (Daniel Day-Lewis, Christoph Waltz) win yet another Oscar and some actors who receive their very first (Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway).  When will this highly acclaimed bunch of actors make to the podium to finally make their victory speech? Very, very soon, one can only hope…

 

 1) Amy Adams

4 nominations for Junebug (2005), Doubt (2008), The Fighter (2010) and The Master (2012). 

Amy Adams leads this list with 4 nominations in the past 8 years. She is in the Kate Winslet category, meaning she has to really earn her eventual Oscar. Winslet was nominated for years and years before she won her Oscar for The Reader (2008), which actually was actually a supporting role and ignored for her real leading turn in the devastating Revolutionary Road. Either way, she got that Oscar monkey off her back after 6 nominations.  I think I've figured out what she needs to do to win, get nominated in an odd number year to finally win.  She's working with director David O. Russell again so that's great sign and she also has a Janis Joplin biopic in the pipeline.  The Academy does love its biopics.

(Rest of the actors after the cut)

Trailer Time: I'm Green With Envy!!

How do you drum up interest in the upcoming Muppets movie? Release parody/spoof trailers that make us want to see the movie RIGHT NOW.

Here are the trailers, prepare yourself for Muppets attack.  

BEING GREEN TEASER



FUZZY PACK TEASER




GREEN WITH ENVY TEASER




Bottom line: It's hard to resist Kermit the Frog!

Amy Adams is the new Lois Lane!

The Superman: Man of Steel announcements are moving along in an orderly fashion.  The director, Zack Synder, Clark Kent, his parents, now Lois Lane.  It's Amy Adams!  The Hero Complex blog first broke the  casting news that Adams had won the role.  I really like the idea of her in this role. Her name hadn't come up before, Jessica Biel was said to be the front runner but I like the pairing of Henry Cavill and Amy Adams and can't wait to see it onscreen.  Up next should be the official villain/archenemy aka Lex Luthor news, no?

Monday's Mentions

• It's the mother of all casting news!!! No, they haven't announced who's going to play the mother on How I Met Your Mother.  But Meryl Streep will play Julia Roberts' mother in August: Osage County, a dark comedy based on a Broadway play.  John Wells will be directing and Harvey Weinstein will be producing.  This will be definitely worth watching.  
• Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach G (that's what we'll call him as I can't keep typing his long last name all the time!) are back!!  And this time they're hitting up Bangkok on their Hangover 2.   That's what Todd Phillips has to say about the sequel on Empire Online.  He promises more tigers and more mayhem.   Oh, boy, there's so much trouble for the guys to get into in Bangkok.  I can't wait.
• One of my favorite actresses, Amy Adams, has decisions, decisions to make.  She's considering three different roles.  She could be starring in the Muppets Movie opposite Jason Segel.  Or opposite Matt Damon in Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo.  The story is about a man who, well, buys a zoo.  The title is literal.  Finally she may be thinking about joining Chris Pine in Welcome to People, being directed by Alex Kurtzman about a man whose father dies of cancer and learns that he kept a secret family.  Adams would play the part of the half-sister.  
• More Olivia Wilde casting news.  She'll play Justin Timberlake's mother in Andrew Niccols next project.  No, really.  The story takes place in a society where one stops aging at 25.  That should explain everything, right?  No, not really.  Well, along with Olivia and Justin, Amanda Seyfriend and Cillian Murphy are also part of the cast as a rich heiress and a corrupt lawman, respectively.  Maybe this was the mother of all casting news, no?
• The Social Network wins the weekend box-office and so begin the start of the Facebook puns.  Just you wait, this is will last all the way until Oscar weekend.  Brace yourself.