First look: Sandra Bullock gets her crew together for Ocean's 8

The spinoff to Ocean's 11 named Ocean's 8 has a release date, an awesome all-female cast and a brand new image out this week. Directed by Gary Ross (The Hunger Games), this new film will follow in the grand tradition of the previous films with 'the heist of the century' set in New York City.

Sandra Bullock plays Debbie Ocean who assembles the perfect crew to pull off said heist at the annual Met Gala. The crew consists of Cate Blanchett (as Lou), Anne Hathaway (as Daphne Kluger), Rihanna (as Nine Ball), Helena Bonham Carter (as Rose), Sarah Paulson (as Tammy), Mindy Kaling (as Amita) and Awkwafina (as Constance). The squad is seen in the first ever look from the film riding the NYC subway to the Gala, maybe?

A summer release by Warner Bros., Ocean's 8 hits theaters on June 8, 2018. The gals seem ready, are you?

New Minions Trailer: Introducing Scarlet Overkill!

Ever wondered who the minions worked for before Gru (B.G.)? The new Minions trailer gives us a first look as Kevin, Stuart and Bob hitch a ride all the way to Orlando's Villain-Con International, yes, that's a thing now apparently, where Scarlet Overkill, the world's first-ever female super-villain is introduced. Oh, and she's played by Sandra Bullock who tells the scariest bedtime stories. Minions releases in theaters July 10, 2015.

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

What I'm Thankful For: Movies Edition

 
1) Gravity: Every year we read dozens of pieces about the decline of cinema and how originality is lost and then a movie like Gravity comes along and shuts everybody up. Splendidly! A story of a veteran and rookie astronaut in space became the ultimate tale of survival in completely foreign and hostile environment.  Oh, and here's where it gets better, the films stars two of Hollywood's best, George Clooney and Sandra Bullock but the movie really belongs to Bullock and Clooney's just the supporting player. Say what? Did I also mention that the film's a neat 90 minutes and features some of the best CGI and 3D work seen in film so far? Gravity, directed by Alfonso Cuaron and written along with his son Jonas, was the definitive film experience for me this year. And even though the wait was long, I'm thankful the end result was completely worth it. 

2) Minions:  If the Dementors from the Harry Potter universe suck all the happiness out of the universe and eventually your soul, think of the Minions as their zany, fun-loving yet inappropriate equivalent.  The scene-stealers from the first Despicable Me are having their moment in the spotlight.  They came back strong in the sequel and will star in their own feature in 2015.  It's a good time to be a Minion, I think.  They bring the smile to your face, at least they do to mine. I would be even more thankful if I had one of them to have around the house.

3) Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them: Speaking of Harry Potter, that J.K. Rowling sure knows how sneak one up on her fans. Fast on the heels of the surprising revelation that she wrote the underrated The Cuckoo's Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, she also broke the news that she's writing the script for the new film based on Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them in collaboration with Warner Bros., who are pursuing more films in the Potter universe of magic and wizardry. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye to the books and films so to have this unexpected, bonus surprise, is indeed thankful.

4) The Heat: No movie has made me laugh as much this year than the surprise (to everyone who isn't female) hit of the summer, the Paul Feig directed The Heat, a female buddy cop comedy starring Sandra Bullock (who's really having a stellar year) and Melissa McCarthy. The $159 million plus blockbuster proved that in summer filled with superheroes and zombie flicks, there is room for a well-enacted and, most importantly funny, comedy featuring women to perform well.  It also helps when your lead actresses are as talented as Bullock and McCarthy.  Not only did I have tears of laughter running down my face, my stomach hurt from laughing too much.  These days when the laughs are far and few in life and in movies, I'm thankful for comedies that can deliver.

5) Gone Girl Film Adaptation: No sooner I did finish Gone Girl, the novel, I thought to myself, "This is needs to be a film." Actress Reese Witherspoon bought the rights and I had my fingers crossed as David Fincher as a dream director for this project. And what do you know? Sometimes the universe does listen to you.  The film adaptation of Gone Girl hits theaters next fall and will be highly anticipated as Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris join Fincher in bringing the book to the big screen.  I'd like to believe to myself that I wished this one into existence.

Those were some of my thankful moments with film this year.  What were yours?   

Movie Review: Gravity

I've been waiting for Gravity to release since I started my blog in September 2010.  The idea of a story set in space with only two main characters sounded so intriguing. How would director Alfonso Cuarón be able to pull it off? Three years later, I'm happy to report that the long wait was totally worth it.

Cuarón keeps the story simple and where it needs to be.  On a routine spacewalk, the crew of the Explorer is getting some repairs done.  They include rookie medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and veteran mission commander Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) who's on his last mission.  Stone and Kowalsky have a ominous conversation. He states how he's never going to break the record for the longest spacewalk and Stone comments how she likes the silence in space.

Of course, things aren't going to go well after that. A satellite is destroyed in space, sending along the after effects of debris along their way.   The result is swift and brutal.  Just as suddenly, Stone and Kowalsky are alone in space with no shuttle and no support and a slim plan to make to the International Space Station and then back to Earth.

All this is easier said than done. The two astronauts battle valiantly against the elements and it's up to the first timer in space to be put up to the ultimate test.  I think this is Sandra Bullock's strongest role where she just connects on every level with the story, its theme and with the audience.  George Clooney is at his charming best where he becomes not only the wise mentor but the guide who centers the experience for us and for Ryan Stone. 

The purpose of 3D is for the audience to become a part of the film experience and it's never been more evident than in this film.  There are moments which might seem to some as gimmicky to show off the format say when the objects in the shuttle float by your face.  But when we become one (literally) with Dr. Stone as she tries to get her bearings in space, it became like no other experience I've had in the theater.

Avatar broke the mold and started the trend of groundbreaking 3D in films.  Hugo and Life of Pi followed suit and furthered it by showing what master directors like Martin Scorsese and Ang Lee can bring to the medium with their artistic vision. Alfonso Cuarón puts his own stamp on the medium by making Gravity the most engaging and visual 3D film we've seen.  He doesn't clutter the narrative with by showing us any action on Earth, of mission control or any loved ones left behind. It's all about the survival ordeal the astronauts face. 

And there's the gorgeous cinematography of Emmanuel Lubezki where the visuals just about permeate into you forever.  My favorite shot in the film is when Ryan makes into the Russian shuttle after hitting rock bottom with her oxygen tank and rids herself of the spacesuit.  The visual invokes one of mankind's most fervent needs, to feel secure and protected, as one would in a womb.  It's the brief calm amidst the storm in space.

You will hear many things about Gravity. Some will like it, some won't.  It seems like an unusual experiment in cinema to some but it takes advantages of all the technological advances cinema has to offer today.  And for those of us who ever wondered what's it like to be in space and view down at Earth, Gravity is the closest we'll ever get to being out there.  

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón; Written by Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón; Cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki; Editing by Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger; Music by Steven Price.

Rating:

New Movie Clips from Gravity

"Detached"

"Drifting"

According to that famous tagline from Alien, In space no one can hear you scream.  Well, after watching these astounding clips from Gravity, all that remains with me are Sandra Bullock's panicked screams and her slow realization that she is all alone as she launched asunder by an accident in space.  I've been talking about and following this film since I first started my blog in September 2010 back when Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey Jr were up for roles that eventually went to Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.   

Does anyone else feel a little claustrophobic and want to go out for some fresh air after this?  The film, which will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, has already been described by Indiewire as "this year's Life of Pi", a 3D film that can be artistic as well.  Director Alfonso Cuaron has been working on this film for the past four and a half years and through these long seemingly one-take clips that were just released today, we can see that Gravity promises to be a uniquely different experience to the movies.  Gravity releases this October. 

Movie Review: The Heat

(Poster: Mondo)

In a summer filled with robots, zombies and actors pondering the end of the world, leave it to the lone female comediennes left to bring The Heat to the season. Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy team up for one of the more hilarious films you'll see this year and it's rare sight as well because it's one of the few instances of women headlining the blockbuster summer season.

Bullock plays FBI Agent Sarah Ashburn who's uptight, meticulous and all about getting the job done. McCarthy is Dectective Shannon Mullins who's rowdy and boisterous methods somehow get the job done. But when these two women are forced to work together is when the sparks really fly.  Mullins' abrasiveness and Ashburn's nerdiness (she has a good work shirt) put together make a good team, only they aren't aware of it.  There's a scene of when they first track down a suspect and bug his phone in a nightclub that had me in tears of laughter as I watched Bullock and McCarthy navigate a dance floor.

Most of the laughs come from the physical comedy and both McCarthy and Bullock excel in it. For a so-called chick flick (only because two women are in the lead), this is actually a male film in disguise with Bullock and McCarthy blowing up, stabbing, shooting and taking care of business in Boston.  The reason why their characters are forced to work together to take down a drug lord seems unfocused and the time lapses in the film never made any sense to me.  Did they take down all those dealers in a day or had a week passed by?

But who cares so long as the action and the laughs keep on coming.  Bullock proves she's still got it, she plays Ashburn's need to be perfect (down to the side pin in her hair) just right and you can see through McCarthy's foul-mouthed threats, that deep down she really cares. It's not easy being the only female in a job where the men don't often agree with you and you're mostly considered a loner or an outsider and they bring out their characters insecurities, both professional and personal, nicely.   

McCarthy delivered all her lines as such zingers, I'd sure like to see that sequel where she's teams up with Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man to fight crime on a global level. So if you're looking for a respite from all the male testosterone films this summer, look no further for the laughs and head over to The Heat.  

Directed by Paul Feig; Written by Katie Dippold; Cinematography by Robert D. Yeoman; Editing by Jay Deuby and Brent White; Music by Michael Andrews

Additional cast: Damian Bechir, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rappaport

Rating:

News Roundup: No Regency Zombie Apocalypse

• So, remember that DVD review of El Secreto de Sus Ojos (The Secret in their Eyes) I posted a few days back?  I thought back to that film often these few days thinking wow, what a great film and amazing story.  Apparently, Hollywood thought so too and yet another foreign film falls down to the way of the remake.  Director Billy Ray (Shattered Glass) will also write/adapt the screenplay.  I, meanwhile, am not amused.
• And the bad news continues.  Last month, I was delighted to discover that the comic novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, was going to be turned into a film.  Elizabeth Bennett, a martial arts experts, and Mr. Darcy, a zombie hunter.  I wanted more.  David O. Russell (Three Kings) was attached and Natalie Portman had been signed on as Elizabeth Bennett.  Things were looking promising but now both have dropped out of the project putting it in jeopardy of ever getting made.  Fitzwilliam Darcy, zombie killer, we hardly knew thee!
• Natalie Portman, does she have a super-secret project no one knows about? Because she is also not in consideration for Alphonso Cuaron's Gravity anymore.  Sandra Bullock is now in talks for the role.  This would be a good comeback movie for her after her Oscar win.  Natalie's loss, Sandra's gain.  
• Off to news that will cheer me up.  Sam Raimi is officially directing Oz: The Great and Powerful about, obviously, The Wizard of Oz.  They're hoping Robert Downey Jr will play the Wizard.  Yes, please!
• Kathryn Bigelow, first female Best Director Oscar winner, has got a great followup feature, Sleeping Dogs, set in South America about the dangerous underworld of crime and drugs.  Both Tom Hanks and Johnny Depp are said to be interested in the projects.  
• And finally, The Green Lantern website has been launched.  Have a look see to find out who the villain is!