The Book of Eli gets a new Trailer

-Thoughts?

Today's Posters: Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Fourth Kind, and Planet 51

Thoughts?

Rotten Tomatoes counts down the Worst Films of the Decade!

The full article can be found here, but for a taste, here are a few of the cinematic abortions that are featured within the piece (hopefully you haven't seen many of them, unfortunately, I have):
2000- Battlefield Earth, Down to You
2001- Corky Romano, Glitter
2002- The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Pinocchio, Swept Away
2003- Boat Trip, Gigli, House of the Dead
2004- Envy, Surviving Christmas
2005- A Sound of Thunder, Alone in the Dark, The Fog
2006- Basic Instinct 2, Date Movie
2007- Delta Farce, Good Luck Chuck, Redline
2008- 88 Minutes, College, Meet the Spartans
2009- All About Steve, Whiteout
-What are your picks for the worst flicks of the decade?

Poster for That Evening Sun

-FYC Hal Holbrook?

'Creation' finds distribution with Newmarket

From Variety:

Newmarket Films has acquired U.S. rights to director Jon Amiel's "Creation," starring Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany, and plans a December release.

The film, which focuses on Charles Darwin and his family as he struggles to finish "On The Origin of Species," played two weeks ago at the Toronto Film Festival.

After the Toronto screening, some predicted that U.S. distributors would be scared off by the theme of evolution.

Screenplay was written by John Collee, based on the biography "Annie's Box," which was written by Darwin's great-great grandson Randal Keynes.

"Creation" was produced by Jeremy Thomas at Recorded Picture Company with BBC Films and Ocean Pictures. The film co-stars Toby Jones ("Frost/Nixon") and Jeremy Northam ("Gosford Park").

Newmarket is best known for releasing "The Passion of the Christ."

-Thoughts?

ACCA voting for the year 2004 has begun!

In case you haven't already, head over here and begin voting, since it's a very strong year and plenty of great films are sure to be left off the final nominee list, so be sure to vote for your favorites!

Today's Posters: A Christmas Carol, The Tooth Fairy, and The Hole

Thoughts?

Jeff Wells knows exactly what 10 films will be nominated for Best Picture this year!

Well, no, but in his rather odd attack that he posted on Hollywood Elsewhere on Awards Daily's poll on what readers think will be nominated for Best Picture (poll found here) he seems to dismiss almost every film in the running except for the 10 he decided on. I don't mean to attack Wells, but there's two things that bug me about this:
1. It's a poll of what readers think, not what will happen. It's that kind of mightier than thou attitude that turns people off to film critics and some bloggers in general, and it's something we desperately try to avoid here, so when I see it, it bugs me.
2. It's 100% impossible to have any certainty about what will end up being the 10 Best Picture nominees. Half the movies in contention haven't even come out yet, and a handful have barely been seen by anyone, so it really just is a guessing game now, so for Jeff Wells to declare game over with him the winner just seems irresponsible to me.
-You be the judge though....am I off base and Jeff Wells has it all correct or did Wells unnecessarily attack the poll on Awards Daily?

Today's News: Diablo Cody goes back to High School, BAFTA honors Robert De Niro, and more...

In the news:

For Diablo Cody's third script, she's going to be adapting the series of 'Sweet Valley High' books for the big screen.

Robert De Niro will be receiving the Stanley Kubrick Brittania Award at this year's BAFTA ceremony.

Lionsgate has picked up the distribution rights to the next film that Stephen Gaghan will write and direct, an action thriller about, among other things, I'm sure, a Brooklyn cop.

The upcoming movie 'The Social Network' (about the start of Facebook) gets some cast members to go along with writer Aaron Sorkin and director David Fincher.

Summit Entertainment is looking to reboot the 'Highlander' movies and make a new franchise out of it.

The next movie based off of a toy might even be a remake too, as 'He-Man' has been bought for production by Sony.

Believe it or not, 'Barbie' is finally becoming a movie, as Universal has acquired the rights for a live-action feature.

And last, but not least, the Hollywood Film Festival handed out honors, and among the recipients were Carrie Mulligan, Jeremy Renner, Lee Daniels, and the writers of '(500) Days of Summer'.

-Thoughts?

Trailer for 'Fish Tank'

-This was well regarded at Cannes and looks pretty good to me...thoughts?

Darren Aronofsky's next film will be an indie heist thriller!

Variety has the story:

Darren Aronofsky will direct and produce an indie heist thriller based on the daring $85 million robbery at the Securitas Depot in Tonbridge, England, in February 2006.

XYZ Films and Time Inc. Studios are partnered with Protozoa Pictures on the project. Scott Franklin of Protozoa will produce alongside Aronofsky. Time Inc. Studios chief Paul Speaker is exec producing, with XYZ fully financing the development.

Kerry Williamson is adapting the script from an underlying rights package that includes Jon Wertheim's Sports Illustrated magazine article "Breaking the Bank" and Howard Sounes' nonfiction book "Heist: The Inside Story of the World's Biggest Robbery."

Time and XYZ established a partnership a year ago to develop and produce movies based on articles from Time Inc.'s publications (Daily Variety, Aug. 5, 2008) and identified its first project after optioning "Breaking the Bank," covering the alleged criminal exploits of Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor "Lightning" Lee Murray.

The companies recently signed Alex Holmes ("House of Saddam") to direct the John DeLorean feature project that is in pre-production and based on Fortune and Time articles, among other underlying rights.

Williamson recently adapted "Fork in the Road" for Alexander Payne and Fox Searchlight and "The Devil's Banker" for Paramount.

-Seems ridiculously cool to me...thoughts?

Some more new stuff at The Awards Circuit for you, the readers!

Indeed, we're now in full swing here at the site, and the Main Page is busy as usual. New to the site we have an Awards Profile for The Hurt Locker, which can be seen here. They'll be plenty more of these Profiles, so keep your eyes peeled...
We also have a review of the buzzed about French film A Prophet, which can be looked at here, adding to our growing database of new reviews.
The Tracker page has also had a minor change, with a new addition or two, which can be gazed at here.
Finally, we have an article that details how the Adapted Screenplay has been dominant when it comes to translating to Best Picture glory (even using sports analogies to prove the point). The article can be scoped out here.
-As always, be sure to read and comment!

EW dishes on who got the 5 biggest Oscar boosts at the Toronto Film Festival...

The entire article is available to check out here, but this is the rundown:

1. Up in the Air
2. Gabourey Sidibe
3. Colin Firth and Julianne Moore
4. Clive Owen
5. Joel and Ethan Coen

-I'm sure there's some ommisions to be found, but overall it's a decently solid list...thoughts?

Some nice variety on DVD this week for everyone to choose from!

As mentioned in the title, there's no shortage of things to choose from, though nothing will likely blow you out of the water. My choice for the PICK OF THE WEEK is a below the radar pick though, so readers interested in a challenge will like this. My pick is:
Adam Resurrected
This film barely got a release, but the few who saw it got to see Jeff Goldblum do career best work and Willem Dafoe be his excellent and creepy self in the latest film directed by Paul Schrader. It tells the story of a circus clown who survived the Holocaust and how he begins the ringleader of sorts at an asylum for survivors. It's not a perfect film, but it's powerful stuff.
-Also out this week worth a positive mention are Observe and Report, as well as Lymelife. The former film was an unfairly ignored dark comedy with an excellent turn by Seth Rogen as a disturbed mall cop. Think Taxi Driver in a mall, and you'll get an idea of where it goes. It's a good, but nowhere near great film, but one worth a watch. The latter is an indie about a family on the verge of divorce as Lyme Disease hits the community. It's a good little film to check out.
-Films out that don't get a recommendation from me are Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and Battle for Terra. Neither are terrible, but both are so average it's just really annoying.
-My Vintage pick is, in honor of the release of indie horror film Paranormal Activity (look for a review with the next site update), a fellow "found footage" horror film: The Blair Witch Project. It's been out long enough that you can watch it as a movie and not with the hype, and I think you'll enjoy it. It's still creepy, and that's something.
-What will you be watching on DVD this week?

No Country for "Actual" Film Critics?

It seems nowadays that the popular thing to do is to blame the internet for all the world's problems. The music industry sucks? Blame the internet. The movie industry is in the shits? Blame the internet. The economy is going down the tubes? Blame the internet. The Mets can't make the playoffs? Well, you get the point. But, as we learned in the first grade, the easy solution is not always the right one. For the last few days, some of the more intelligent and gifted online bloggers have aired their personal gripes about the watering down of the film critic. According to Sasha Stone (of Awards Daily), the line between an actual film critic and a 15 year old with a blog is dangerously close to blurring. For her, this is borderline blasphemous. She writes that:

Nowadays, anyone with a blog who sees movies is called a “critic.” I really think that should be amended to use the term “blogger” or “industry columnist.” Not everyone is an actual film critic. I feel like I’m the only person in the known universe who cares about the difference but that’s because I come from a time when there was a difference; not just anyone could write about movies and be called a “critic.”

I typically respect Sasha’s opinions. She’s very intelligent when it comes to writing about the Academy Awards, and her website is one of the dopest. However, her post on film critics was puzzling. First, she did not offer a proper definition on what it takes to be a real critic. Generally, when a person makes an assertion, it’s customary for that person to offer a defense of the assertion. Anyone can blurt out empty meaningless statements, but often one anticipates some sort of defense. Sasha offers nothing. All I know is that she believes people who write about movies on their blogs are not necessarily film critics. That seems fair, but what the hell is a film critic then? Also, is she arguing that people who just write about films on their blogs should not be considered critics? Or is she arguing that people who aim to critique films on their blogs should not be considered critics? There is a major distinction between the two. Some people just write, and others offer criticisms.

Also, I’m a little confused by her last statement. Any type of film critic just doesn’t write about movies. Any person aiming to be a film critic just doesn’t write about movies. It’s not that simple. Some try to offer objective and informative critiques of the films that they watch. Isn’t that what film critics do? I guess the real question is what distinguishes Roger Ebert from me? Am I just an impostor film critic? Maybe. I don’t get paid and my opinions are barely read. But, my passion for film cannot be questioned. I study it, I live it, I breath it, and I love it. Of course, I’m not in the same ball park as Roger Ebert. He’s in the major league. But can’t the rest of us impostors at least bat for the minor leagues? Sure, I'm not as good. I'm trying to become a better critic. That does not mean I am not a critic. It just means that I have a shit more to learn before I consider myself a somewhat decent one.

As Jay-Z once rapped, “You can’t knock the hustle”. Please stop knocking our hustle. We're not your Grandfather's critics, but we're critics.

(Brad Brevet chimes in.)

Sony Pictures Classics picks up 'Get Low' for distribution, as well as 'Lebanon'

Here's the story from Variety:

In a low-seven-figure deal, Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North American rights to another first feature out of Toronto: Aaron Schneider's debut "Get Low."

Southern period drama, a Toronto Gala premiere, stars Robert Duvall as a grumpy recluse who stages his own funeral. Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray co-star.

"Get Low" was produced by Dean Zanuck under his Zanuck Independent shingle.

Pic was one of the most buzzed-about projects at the fest, where the Weinstein Co.'s purchase of "A Single Man" was the only other acquisition priced above $1 million.

SPC also snapped up U.S. rights to Venice Golden Lion winner "Lebanon," the narrative feature debut of Israeli writer-director Samuel Maoz.

Maoz's pic is an unrelenting look at war based on his own experiences as a young soldier manning a tank during Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

SPC, which also released "Waltz With Bashir," will be hoping to position "Lebanon" for a run at the foreign-language Oscar, although it remains to be seen whether Maoz's pic will be Israel's entry.

The winner of the Israeli Film Academy's annual Ophir Awards is automatically selected as the country's Oscar pic, and "Lebanon" is up against gritty crime drama "Ajami."

The winner will be announced at a ceremony Saturday in Tel Aviv.

-Looks like Duvall and Murray are officially in the race...thoughts?

The PGA Awards expand their Best Picture Category to 10!

Here's the press release, in part:

The Producers Guild of America announced today that the 2010 PGA Awards nominations in the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures Category will be expanded from five to ten films. The 10 nominees will be announced on Tuesday, January 5, 2010. The 21st Annual PGA Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, January 24, 2010, and will be held once again at the Hollywood Palladium.

“The PGA board approved the expansion of our Best Produced Picture category nominations to support our colleagues at the Academy, but also because we feel it better represents the unprecedented diversity of films being produced today,” said PGA President Marshall Herskovitz.

“We’re excited to involve even more industry members in this year’s event, as having 10 Best Produced Picture nominees allows us to recognize even more extraordinary films,” said David Friendly and Laurence Mark, co-chairs of the PGA Awards. “The PGA Awards ceremony is the only night of the year that celebrates the meaningful contributions of producers across all mediums.”

In 1990, the PGA held the first-ever Golden Laurel Awards, which were renamed the Producers Guild Awards in 2002. Richard Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck took home the award for Best Produced Motion Picture for Driving Miss Daisy, establishing the Guild awards as a bellwether for the Oscars. Last year, the PGA awarded Slumdog Millionaire its Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures.

In June 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that they will have 10 feature films vying in the Best Picture category at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

Key dates for theatrical motion pictures competing in the 21st Annual PGA Awards include:

November 6, 2009: Deadline for Receipt of NOTICE OF CREDITS and PRODUCER ELIGIBILITY Forms for Theatrical Motion Pictures

December 7, 2009: Polls Open for Theatrical Motion Picture and Long-Form Television Nominations

January 4, 2010: Polls Close for Theatrical Motion Picture and Long-Form Television Nominations

January 5, 2010: Producers Guild Awards Nominees Are Announced; Final Polls Open

January 22, 2010: Final Polls Close

January 24, 2010: Producers Guild Awards

About the Producers Guild of America

The Producers Guild of America is the non-profit trade group that represents, protects and promotes the interests of all members of the producing team in film, television and new media. The PGA has over 4,000 members who work together to protect and improve their careers, the industry and community by providing members health benefits, enforcing workplace labor laws, the creation of fair and impartial standards for the awarding of producing credits, as well as other education and advocacy efforts. The PGA hosts important industry events including the annual PGA Awards and the Produced By Conference. Visit www.producersguild.org for more information.

-Thoughts?