We also saw an increase in the number of animated feature films that get nominated from three to five, meaning the majority of major animated movies are nominated for an Oscar by default. Also by default, the Pixar film of the year

I'm not a fan of the desperate attempts at bringing out celebrities like Taylor Lautner and Miley Cyrus for the sole reason of bringing their fanbases in for ratings rather than their accomplishments. There were quite a few shots of Lautner sitting near the front when he wasn't nominated for anything (like we saw with Rob Pattinson last year). He has a better seat than those who were nominated or even winners of other categor

The film takes place just before the overthrow of Saddam Hussein when the U.S. first invaded Iraq, and I found it interesting that they wasted no time whatsoever telling us that her father (Peter) is Catho

Martin Scorsese's Hugo led the way with eleven nominations, stacking up many a nod in the technical categories, while Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist was close behind with ten total. Academy members clearly love a good homage to the magic of old-fashioned cinema - be it a Hollywood flick set in Paris or a French production set in Hollywood. Moving o

The documentary has an interview with a New York Times art critic who discusses modern (or abstract) art and the reasons behind the sometimes apparently insane valuations for what looks like some paint splashed on a canvas. Part of his explanation is that the story behind the artwork contributes to the value. What has the artist gone through, for example? In Marlas's case part of the value is due to the fact of her young age and the apparent sophistication of the w

All in all, the event was solid for an industry awards presentation but to the viewers at home, it wasn't that exciting or up beat. There were a lot of good movies to choose from this year and I think we all would of liked to see Quentin Tarantino and his Inglourious Basterds get a little more cre

The viewer is left to draw their own conclusion and although I liked that the film did that, another part of me would have liked a definitive conclusion. Having said that, it's probably better that it was left open-ended because too many documentaries have an obvious agenda meant to convince the viewer of some particular point of v

Steven Spielberg's War Horse managed to land six nods, but the bulk of its nominations were for technical achievements; by comparison, Alexander Payne's The Descendants raked in five, including (as expected) one for George Clooney as an actor, and others in areas like adapted screenplay and direction. Similar to War Horse , David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo landed mostly technical category nods - though, Rooney Mara was recognized for her performance in the f

I watched this at a press screening and about a dozen people got up and walked out during the showing. About two or three actually applauded at the end of it, but I guess there's no accounting for ta

You can look at Towelhead from a couple of different angles, but as the parent of an 11 year old daughter, I look at it as a cautionary tale of exposing kids to sexual images too early, and not being a father that they can turn to for advice and comfort instead of whatever guys is availa

Directed by Martin McDonagh, In Bruges stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as Ray and Ken, two Irish hitmen sent to Belgium to carry out an assignment for their boss Harry, played by Ralph Fiennes. When a previous botched mission leads Harry to give Ken unexpected orders regarding Ray, the two find themselves at odds with each other and must decide how to proc

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence ( Winter's Bone , The Hunger Games ) jointly announced the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards this morning, on Tuesday January 24th. The actual 2012 Oscar ceremony will take place next month, on February 26th at the Kodak theater - with Billy Crystal serving as host, for the ninth time in his car

The film opens with Nancy discussing her thoughts on what happens after you die with another woman. At this point it sounds like she is optimistic about the afterlife while her friend is very negative and keeps bringing up counterpoints to make it sound like she could be somehow trapped in some way after death. As it turns out, the friend turns out to be a therapist who is trying to convince Nancy that death is not an escape or free

Back in November I posted the trailer to In Bruges and commented that it looked like a movie awards games story guide|https://moviefestivalhub.com/ that would not be a hit with mainstream audiences but those that like indie movies would probably love it. Well I just watched it and I'm more certain than ever that my first reaction will turn out to be accur

My Kid Could Paint That was the last film I saw at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and is a fascinating look at the story of four year old Marla Olmstead, who a couple of years ago took the art world by storm by rocketing from lower middle class obscurity to international fame through the sale of her paintings. This documentary by director Amir Bar-Lev is extremely well done and is about as close to neutral as I think one could