The Simpsons being associated with the Oscars? Yeah, I’m just as surprised as you are. But it’s true as “The Longest Daycare,” featuring little Maggie Simpson, is nominated for Best Animated Short. The four-minute, dialogue-free video (with music by Hans Zimmer) is cute but has no chance of beating Paperman (watch it here) on Sunday.
Check out “The Longest Daycare” below and tell us what you think.
With the (maybe unexpected) success of the Rise of the Planet of the Apes, we all knew a sequel was inevitable. Fox has been wanting to get things rolling for the sequel but hit a speed bump when director Rupert Wyatt left the project due to time constraints. They’ve since hired director Matt Reeves who did Let Me In and now have landed Zero Dark Thirty standout Jason Clark.
Jason Clarke has been a name that’s been buzzing around Hollywood lately with Clarke having such a big year in 2012 with his great performance in Lawless and his even more outstanding performance in Zero Dark Thirty. For a franchise that’s looking to continue the high momentum of the reboot, this is a pretty big pickup and I like it. What do you guys think?
Director: David O. Russell
Writers: David O. Russell, Matthew Quick (book)
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro
Synopsis: After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.
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DIRECTION
Silver Linings Playbook is one achievement by David O. Russell can be proud of. While I’m not a huge fan of his work outside The Fighter, Russell takes us on a journey that is full of emotion, drama, and even some action. The roller coaster ride you feel is an amazing accomplishment and it never ends. Throughout the whole movie there are turns and spins that have your emotions going in every direction. You almost aren’t sure what to expect next and that’s what I love from Russell in this movie. He gets great performances out of an amazing cast and by the end of the film you can’t help but be completely drawn in to what he’s doing here. He even turned Chris Tucker into a character that is bearable to watch. There’s been good hype about this movie and for good reason. It’s third on my list for the top films to win Best Picture.
Grade: A
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SCRIPT
Russell again getting the nods to a great script. I love what he does here with the story of an emotionally broken man meeting up with a woman that is essentially in the same spot. I’m not sure what you’re past experiences are, but anyone that has had a broken heart before can somewhat relate to these characters. Now, while they kind of go off the deep end just a little bit, the script brings you in enough to relate. The dialogue and the characters are written perfectly. This movie has such a sense of realism that the performers are set up to knock it out of the park. And that my friends, is why most of them are nominated for Oscars.
Grade: A
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PERFORMANCES
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence both shine bright in this film. They were equally as important to the movie as they were to each other as characters in the movie. They had a chemistry that was almost palpable. They were so believable it was great to see them both be in a different role that what we’ve seen from them in the past. This is the best Robert De Niro film I’ve seen in awhile and probably my favorite since Men of Honor all the way back in 2000. He does a phenomenal job and definitely earns the Oscar nom.
Grade: A+
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SCORE
The score was done by Danny Elfman who is one of Hollywood’s best composers. If you don’t know him, get to know him. His score from this film is actually pretty good, but it’s such a backdrop with everything else going on that you hardly notice it. It’s worth a listen to if you have time, but not an essential piece to the film.
Grade: B+
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Director: Ang Lee
Writers: David Majes, Yann Martel (book)
Stars: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain
Synopsis: A young man, Pi, survives a disaster at sea and is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery.
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DIRECTION
Life of Pi is visually out of this world and reason enough to warrant an Oscar nomination for Ang Lee, who won for Brokeback Mountain. But then you add in the fact that Lee shot this almost entirely in sequence with a relatively unknown cast and nearly lifelike CGI animals serving as major characters and it’s easy to see why he could win on Sunday. Plus, the way Lee utilizes 3D, with it being subtle and immersive and not gimmicky, is something that hasn’t been done since Avatar.
Grade: A
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SCRIPT
Based on Yann Martel’s 2001 novel of the same name, many have called Life of Pi “unfilmable.” But with Lee and an adaptation by David Majes, that is far from the case. The overall structure works well with an older Pi telling a writer about his adventure, letting us experience it just as the writer is hearing it. With that being said, however, some may lose their patience with the slow pace (although it’s never boring), its spiritual undertones and an ending that isn’t straightforward.
Grade: B
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PERFORMANCES
Suraj Sharma is special as the title character, Pi. Most of his scenes take place in a boat with a CGI tiger and the way he’s able to interact with something that isn’t even there and show so much emotion when sometimes nothing is being said is something most actors just can’t do – especially when they’ve never acted before. That’s right: Sharma has no other acting credits to his name, which makes his performance even more astounding.
Grade: A
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SCORE
Mychael Danna’s Oscar-nominated and India-infused score is both beautiful and haunting. It is used to its full effect in Life of Pi as it sometimes has to set the scene when there isn’t much being done or said. The highlight of the score is the Oscar-nominated “Pi’s Lullaby,” as it’s just a soothing piece with vocals by Bombay Jayashri.
Grade: B+
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Director: Tom Hooper
Writers: William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Victor Hugo
Stars: Hugo Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried
Synopsis: In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care for factory worker Fantine’s daughter, Cosette. The fateful decision changes their lives forever.
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DIRECTION
I loved what Tom Hooper did in this film. I thought the set design, the costumes, and the performances were all great. The opening scene with “Look Down” was incredible and set the tone between Crowe and Jackman’s characters. It left you with a high energy level that I thought carried throughout most of the film. There was some downtime in the middle of the film, but I thought he brought it some great humor with Sacha Baren Cohen’s character. The direction to have then sing live on set was the best choice he could of made in my opinion. The live singing really brought these characters to live and gave the actors and actresses room to really fill their voice and bring out their “A” game. It was a bold move not know how it would turn out, but it was a decision that made it all worth it.
Grade: A+
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SCRIPT
A strong script by a team of writers who know screenplay and musical performances. This movie allowed for some great acting and the songs were fun to listen to. It even had it’s own original song that was sung by Jackman’s character that I really like a lot. The talk singing sometimes was unnecessary which brought the grade down for me a little bit. I don’t mind that a little bit, but most of it made the scenes drag on, uninteresting, and sometimes even confusing. Overall though, it didn’t ruin the script for me and I loved it.
Grade: A-
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PERFORMANCES
The performances in this film were just incredible. Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway killed it. I loved Hathaway in the film, but because of her role and the amount of screen time she had, I’m not sure if it’s worth the nomination for an Oscar. But that being said, I did love what she did on screen when she was there, so kudos to hear and I support her in the nomination. How about Amanda Seyfried in this movie? She was amazing and pulled off her character well. I really felt her pain and she drew me in with her emotions and she was going back and forth between her love interest and the love she has for her father. Speaking of, I loved Eddie Redmayne in this as well. He was the perfect guy for that role and really drew you in to the character. His love and gratitude is all over his character. Russell Crowe is my only downside to the performance. While Crowe fits the character of Javert, a ruthless police officer, his voice didn’t sell me at all and I didn’t think he was great by any means.
Grade: A-
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SCORE
Since it was a musical, there is no original score so I’ll grade it on the music overall. The music for this film is done very well. The orchestra, led by conducter Stephen Brooker, was amazing with this orchestral tones and sometimes dramatic melodies. I loved it all.
Grade: A+
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Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writers: Mark Boal
Stars: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton
Synopsis: A chronicle of the decade-long manhunt for Osama bin Laden.
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DIRECTION
Starting with horrific sounds of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks played over a black screen and ending with the raid of bin Laden’s place of hiding, Kathryn Bigelow’s direction is top notch. Bigelow, the Oscar-winning director of The Hurt Locker, crafts a tight, visceral and sometimes pulse-pounding movie. She puts the viewer right into the events taking place, whether it’s the disturbing torture scenes (which forced one of my friends to leave the theater) at the beginning, the myriad of gripping dialogue exchanges in the middle or the riveting finale. With Zero Dark Thirty, she clearly proves she is one of the best directors working today.
Grade: A+
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SCRIPT
Mark Boal, the Oscar-winning screenwriter for The Hurt Locker, expertly pieces together a decades worth of information into a telling, almost documentary-style narrative. While the movie is nearly three hours long (with very little action and an ending that is already known), Boal still manages to keep the viewer engrossed and anticipating what will happen next.
Grade: A+
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PERFORMANCES
While the performances are great all around, this movie belongs to Jessica Chastain. She is a one-woman show as we see all the events take place through her eyes as the straight, fierce and determined CIA agent Maya. She deserves all the recognition she has been garnering and will likely win the Oscar in a couple of weeks. Jason Clarke also does solid work as Dan, a ruthless CIA agent who introduces Maya to the brutal workings of a US military black site in the opening moments. He does a good job of transitioning from brutish to likeable, sometimes even in the same scene.
Grade: A+
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SCORE
The score by Alexandre Desplat isn’t very memorable, but it was effective. That’s all you can really ask for with this kind of movie.
Grade: C
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Hey friends,
Just wanted to send out a friendly reminder that we’ll be posting our Oscar Reviews this week so be on the lookout as we’ll post reviews from the nine films nominated for Best Film and some of our other favorites as well. We’ll get you all caught up on what you can expect from The Academy this weekend. Don’t forget we’ll also be recording our Oscars podcast this weekend too so be on the lookout for that. Our podcast will be available via our website and pretty soon they will be up on iTunes as well. Thanks for the support and we look forward to interacting with you!
Director: Jonathan Levine
Writers: Jonathan Levine, Isaac Marion (book)
Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich
Synopsis: After R (a highly unusual zombie) saves Julie from an attack, the two form a relationship that sets in motion a sequence of events that might transform the entire lifeless world.
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DIRECTION
With 2011’s solid 50/50, Jonathan Levine showed that he could direct drama/comedy – and that doesn’t change with Warm Bodies. He does a good job of intertwining drama, comedy and action. There are also quite a few flashback/dream sequences that are integrated and transitioned into the movie well, particularly at the beginning where R thinks about what life might have been like before everyone turned into corpses.
Grade: B+
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SCRIPT
The best part about Warm Bodies is that it’s a different take on the zombie genre – The Walking Dead, 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead this is not. (But don’t worry, there is blood and gore as this is, after all, a movie with zombies!) Levine wrote the script based on Isaac Marion’s 2010 novel of the same name and whether or not it’s a true adaptation I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s fun and it’s entertaining; it’s the feel-good zombie love story movie of the year!
Grade: B
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PERFORMANCES
Most of the screen time in Warm Bodies is dedicated to R and Julie, played by Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer, respectively, and the bond they form throughout the movie. Their scenes together are very heartfelt and their chemistry are very solid. John Malkovich kind of phones it in as Julie’s father, but he doesn’t get much to do or say so it isn’t much of a distraction. And Rob Corddry is good as R’s best friend and gets most of the funny lines.
Grade: B+
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SCORE
The score by Marco Beltrami is quite good and gives you a good sense that you’re not in for typical zombie fare as it plays over the opening sequences – but that’s really the only time the score is utilized in Warm Bodies. Mostly, this movie uses songs (ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Guns N’ Roses to M83) to enhance specific scenes, which it does very well. Every song is incorporated well and the soundtrack is almost its own character in the movie.
Grade: A
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Welcome to the first ever InSession Film Podcast. Our weekly podcasts will consist of reviews, our take on the latest news, and some fun segments that we hope that you will enjoy!
On our first episode, here’s what to expect:
Our review of A Good Day to Die Hard
The latest news
– Jennifer Lawrence and David O. Russell team up again
– X-Men: Days of Future Past get a new cast member
– Star Wars movies are coming out the ying yang
– Les Mis and Brave get big music wins
The latest Trailers
– Imagine You at Monsters U.
– New Oblivion trailer
– Now You See Me
– Fast and Furious 6
Our top lists of the biggest Oscars snubs of all time
Closing and What We’ve Seen
Subscribe to our Podcasts RSS
Subscribe to our Podcasts on iTunes
A Good Day to Die Hard – Episode 1
Starting February 17, 2013, we’ll be starting something new! Check it out below!
Director: Lasse Hallström
Writers: Leslie Bohem, Dana Stevens, Nicholas Sparks
Stars: Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, Cobie Smulders
Synopsis: A young woman with a mysterious past lands in Southport, North Carolina where her bond with a widower forces her to confront the dark secret that haunts her.
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DIRECTION
Lasse Hallström does a great job with this movie. Hallström has really done well with some of his latest projects including Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Dear John, and this one also fits the bill. The opening sequence to this movie really sets the tone when Hough’s character is running frantic and scared and right away you know there’s a secret. The drama he builds is great and very different for a movie based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. Hallström gets great performances out of this actors and I think his musical choices were spot on for this movie. Some of the climatic sequences and the ending sequence could of been executed better which brought this movie down for me a little bit. I don’t think the big climatic drama between Hough and Duhamel hit hard enough and it didn’t provoke that emotion that most Sparks based movies do, at least not with the main love story in the film. There were some underdeveloped archs in the movie too which also brought it down for me. Overall though, Hallström did a great job and makes it worth going to see.
Grade: B
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SCRIPT
Anything that Nicholas Sparks writes is going to be good and its hard to argue that. This movie is a little bit different for Sparks, who also produced this film. It’s darker in tone and has more action drama than most films based off of Sparks’ novels. I think it’s a great script and has some surprises in it that are a nice touch. The biggest problems I have with this script is that I don’t think the main antagonist was written well and the ending twist came off a little weird. The antagonist, played by David Lyons, didn’t draw me in through most of the movie. The script does a great job of drawing in the character towards the end, but the middle of the film could have been executed better. The ending twist, which I thought was great in theory, needed a different set up than what it got. I didn’t read the book, but based off of what I saw, I think this fits perfectly in a book. The idea of this twist makes absolute perfect sense in real life and how people think and treat certain situation. In the movie however, there are elements that are needed since its a film, but it didn’t translate well to the big screen. The love story doesn’t live up other Sparks’ novels either. Nobody can touch Noah and Allie to me and I also prefer Jamie and Landon over Alex and Katie in this film. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, shame on you, and go look them up. Great movies.
Grade: B
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PERFORMANCES
I loved Josh Duhamel in this movie. He is an incredible actor, in my opinion, and pulls off a strong performance. My only downgrade to Duhamel in this film was that the climatic scene in the 3rd act with Julianne Hough’s charachter didn’t provoke anything in me, but that’s also on Hough as well. I thought Hough was pretty good considering she hasn’t done much before. Her performance lacked in the emotional scenes and you could tell she had a hard time pulling that out. My favorite part is easily the awesome surprise performances by Noah Lomax and Mimi Kirkland as Duhamel’s kids in this movie. They were fantastic and brought a strong performance to the film and added lots of value. Kirkland is adorable and I loved her in the movie. Grade A from her!
Grade: A-
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SCORE
The score wasn’t a huge element to the movie, but from what was there, it was great. The score and musical elements really drew me in and made a great impact on the movie. It’s a soundtrack I look forward to listening to later.
Grade: A-
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P.S. My girlfriend, Brandi, thought this was an A+. Most girls will probably like it.
Yesterday, director Bryan Singer announced via Twitter that Peter Dinklage would be joining the cast for X-Men: Days of Future Past. (You can read that story here) Well, today we have a better idea of the character he’ll be playing.
According to Variety, Dinklage will be playing the “main antagonist.” Who that is still unclear, but the film is based on the 1981 story in the Marvel comic “Uncanny X-Men,” which features the Sentinels as the villains. So Dinklage could potentially play Doctor Bolivar Trask, the creator of the mutant-hunting robots.
Once we know for sure who Dinklage will be playing, we’ll let you know. But for now, just get excited for what should be an amazing film come next summer.
After reprising his role as Indiana Jones a few years back, Harrison Ford will now play another one of his most popular characters again: Han Solo. According to Latino Review’s El Mayimbe, Ford will be returning to play Solo in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII.
As a big Star Wars‘ and Abrams’ fan, I’m excited for these next entries in this space saga. I mean, they can’t be any worse than the prequels, right? So what do you guys think? Excited to see what Han Solo has been up to since helping save the galaxy?
Director: John Moore
Writers: Skip Woods
Stars: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch
Synopsis: John McClane travels to Russia to help out his seemingly wayward son, Jack, only to discover that Jack is a CIA operative working to prevent a nuclear-weapons heist, causing the father and son to team up against underworld forces.
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DIRECTION
John Moore has done some really great work, such as Behind Enemy Lines, but he’s also done some terrible work, such as Max Payne. We’re going to put A Good Day to Die Hard in the awful category for Moore. This movie is really bad and probably the worst of the series. I won’t blame it all on Moore as I think the script screwed this project from the beginning, but he didn’t help a lot. The action in this movie is boring and senseless. There are scenes in this movie that are way over the top and don’t make any sense at all. In the first ten minutes of the movie, you basically hear Moore shouting from the set, “Let’s throw any sense of realism and credibility out the window.” I realize that the Die Hard series doesn’t set itself on realism, but this is bad even for that. I did like how Moore set up some of the relational pieces between McClane and his son. That part of it was good, but this is easily one of Moores’ worsts films. The movie takes itself way too seriously when the one-liners and premise are awful. Moore even stole sequences from the first film which was a little offensive as a fan and put this in the worst of category. That being said, the relational pieces of this bumped up the grade slightly.
Grade: C-
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SCRIPT
Every thing that Skip Woods writes turns to garbage and this is no exception. I tried to stay hopeful, but knowing that Woods was on this project let me wondering and boy did he not disappoint. The basic premise of the script was good, but Woods took it and jacked it all up in ways that you’ll see when you go see it. This script has the worst one-liners and dialogue of any action movie, let alone the Die Hard franchise. The third act of this movie and where it takes place is awful on a level I can’t begin to describe. Like I said in the direction, Woods threw out all plausible realism or credibility early and then in the third act just went crazy with it. There were people in my theater laughing and actually mocking it out loud during the movie. I think Woods tried to make it a little funny, but he failed miserably and added one liners that didn’t make any sense or were terribly cheesy. Little spoiler here, but Woods even ruined the Yippee ki-yay line! The characters, outside of McClane, were also poorly written. There, of course, is little character development, and the main antagonists of the film were poorly designed. The script’s tone and direction was degrading toward the franchise and makes me feel bad for Willis, who did his best to try to save this movie. Easily the worst script of the franchise.
Grade: D-
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PERFORMANCES
Thank God for Willis in this movie. He does a great job and brings back an awesome McClane. Willis took normal lines that in essence were not funny or entertaining, but made them fun to watch. While the script and direction took this movie 50 steps backwards in the franchise, Willis and Courtney were great. I thought they had some fun interaction with each other. The more intimate moments between Willis and Courtney were not handled great though. I enjoyed the performances from them, so it makes me wonder if it was directed to be that way. Since Courtney hasn’t been in much before, it was fun to see him come out in this movie. I thought he did a great job and I think this will definitely get him more roles in the future. The “bad guys” in this move were not great though, but I think they were poorly written to begin with.
Grade: B-
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SCORE
Marco Beltrami’s score wasn’t great but it was good. The beginning track and the ending track’s were fun to listen to. Here’s the kicker; the score didn’t fit this movie at all. While the music itself was good, it was way too serious for this movie and brought on a tone that didn’t fit in any way. The decision for that is not on Beltrami, but on Moore, once again another reason why this movie is the worst of the franchise.
Grade: C+
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The master of the action thriller, Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider), is ready to direct again. Mann will direct a film about cyberterrorism; this will be Mann’s fist film since Public Enemies (2009). Mann co-wrote the script with editor Morgan Davis Foehl. The film is set to feature action movie star Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Snow White and the Huntsman). Other plot and casting details are still classified at this time. The film will be produced by Legendary Pictures. No date is yet set for production to begin. However, Michael Mann fans will eagerly await what they hope will be another explosive masterpiece in Michael Mann’s directional cannon.
The Mummy reboot is starting to get underway and they’ve tapped The Hunger Games and State of Play writer Billy Ray to write a separate, competing script for the project. While this is not a typical approach, it seems that Universal is really wanting this thing to get under way. According to Vulture, Universal wants to ensure that production on The Mummy gets underway this year so that it will be ready by its 2014 release date.
In the report by Vulture, they state one source from Universal saying, “Studios don’t shoot movies anymore, they shoot release dates,” which means I would hope they also shoot for quality too. While this strategy is rare, it did happen for the Bad Santa sequel as well so it has been done before. It’s a pretty bold strategy and we’ll see if and how this may affect the project. I guess if you try to relate this to sports, there are lots of occasions where NFL teams bring in other quarterbacks to hopefully bring motivation to the current QB’s already there.
What do you think of this strategy? Like it or not smart?
X-Men: Days of Future Past director Bryan Singer recently announced via Twitter that Peter Dinklage will be joining the cast for the latest X-Men film. “Officially like to welcome #PeterDinklage from #GameofThrones to #XMEN #DaysofFuturePast Very very excited!” Singer said on Twitter under the name @BryanSinger.
Dinklage, 43, who has won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his role as Tyrion Lannister on the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, will join an already stellar cast that includes Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, along with Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Ellen Page.
X-Men: Days of Future Past will reportedly feature casts from both 2011’s X-Men: First Class and the original X-Men trilogy released between 2000-06. The film opens on July 18, 2014.
I can’t wait for this film as I’m a huge fan of X-Men: First Class (it may very well be my all-time favorite comic-book movie). And a big reason for that is Fassbender’s turn as Magneto. So amazing. So what do you guys think of this new one? Excited for the return of Singer, who directed the very good first two in the series?
As Oblivion is getting more hype, a new trailer was released yesterday that makes this movie look even more awesome. I’m very excited about it! Check it out below.
Last year was an incredible year for movies and it’s shown by the nine films nominated for Best Picture at The Oscars. Every single one of them deserves the nomination and it’ll be a fun watch to see who gets the big prize. Right now lots of talk for Argo and Lincoln are being passed around as the top films. If you didn’t get a chance to see any of these amazing films, now is your chance!
Cinemark will be hosting an Oscars Marathon later this month and will show all nine films nominated for Best Picture.
On February 16th, you can see the first five:
12:00 noon – Beasts of the Southern Wild
1:55 PM – Amour
4:15 PM – Life of PI
6:35 PM – Les Miserables
9:30 PM – Lincoln
On February 23rd, will be the last four:
1:00 PM – Argo
3:20 PM – Silver Linings Playbook
5:30 PM – Zero Dark Thirty
8:20 PM – Django Unchained
I recommend that you see all of these and here is a great chance to do it. We will be doing our Oscar Reviews next week as well as a few other surprises. Stay tuned and take advantage of this great opportunity.
We recently posted an extended featurette video for Monsters University where director Dan Scanlon basically gave us the full rundown on the story. Well, now we have a better look at the story, as Pixar recently debuted the trailer for this prequel to 2001’s Monsters, Inc.
I got to say, this looks better than I originally anticipated. The crazy creature designs are back and it appears the chemistry between main characters Mike and Sulley (voiced by Billy Crystal and John Goodman, respectively) hasn’t skipped a beat. I’m really looking forward to this when it comes out on June 21.
Check out the trailer below and tell us what you think.
