Michelle Williams graces the cover of GQ

A lot of netizens seem to be commenting heavily on the news that Michelle Williams has finally done away with her shy, demure and awkward demeanor, staying in character with her role in My Week With Marilyn and showing some skin in the February issue of one of the biggest lad-mags in the world.

But there’s certainly more meaningful content underneath if one finds the interest to go through the pages. Chris Heath (aptly named) of GQ Magazine paints a beautifully moving portrait of the unsure yet undoubtedly strong woman whom we all love with his cover story, and more importantly offers a glimpse at her life as an actress and as the mother of Heath Ledger’s daughter.

If I had my way, she’d take home the Oscar statuette in a jiffy. Maybe this will help.

The opening paragraphs from the feature after the cut:

An Afternoon on the Set of ‘The Bourne Legacy’

I am officially reviving my blog after about a one year hiatus, even if it is just for one day.

So, I work as a producer at a young creatives agency called OnMedia Creative Solutions, Inc. that’s been so generous and kind to me that I get to be flexible with my time. Today was one of those days where I didn’t have any work that was particularly pressing so I decided on impulse to head out and take a crack at visiting the biggest film production ever done in the Philippines, the fourth installment of the massively successful Bourne franchise. I mean, I’ve never been on a Hollywood film set, let alone one being shot in my hometown, so being the big movie guy that I am of course I’d head down even if it was just for a couple of hours (and of course take as many photos as possible).

Review: Sucker Punch (**)

Imagine the trenches in The Hurt Locker and Saving Private Ryan. Now imagine Mordor in The Lord of the Rings, with a thousand orcs coming at the protagonists and not even inducing a single scratch on them. Imagine 300 with just about every bit of convoluted mess that Zack Snyder could’ve pulled out of his sleeve, and that’s pretty much what you get out of his most disappointing outing yet in Sucker Punch – all style and no substance.

Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing; I’ve been known to love bright lights and flashy cars all my life. The problem with Sucker Punch though is that it’s just a little too much, with no room for a cohesive plot to put things into perspective. Compare that to Inception, where Christopher Nolan just nails how to use a grand idea and turn it into one of the biggest movies in history, Synder simply gets lost in his childhood fantasy.

We never know much about the other girls, and we sure as hell never know where the heck that old white guy came from. Yeah we get it’s all imagination, but seriously? The battle sequences seem forced and characters certainly one-dimensional and sadly, the suspension of disbelief does not function well in Sucker Punch and all hell breaks loose without any reasonable reason.

 

‘Hunger Games’ lead narrowed down to Jennifer Lawrence

Reports are flooding around the net concerning Academy Award nominee Jennifer Lawrence’s (Winter’s Bone) involvement in the new Hunger Games adaptation from director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit), and it looks like pretty much a done deal.

Again, I haven’t read the novels yet but from what I’ve gotten from my friends who have and from blogs I’ve gone through is that the book’s main character, Katniss Everdeen, is essentially a petite 16 year old brunette, a far cry from the busty blonde that Ms. Lawrence is. As much as I am stoked with the news and as much as I adore her, I can’t help but feel a little uneasy with the casting choice, especially given the long list of highly capable actresses who were up for the role.

The long list includes people I honestly would have loved to see in the role, and personally I might’ve preferred Kaya Scodelario (Skins), Academy Award nominee Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), or Emily Browning (Sucker Punch).

But no matter. I still love Jennifer Lawrence, and with her new image as superhero bad-ass via her upcoming X-Men: First Class, it’s nice to see that a great up-and-coming actress such as her is getting the attention she deserves.

The Oscar Movie is Back

And so the tide turns.

The 83rd Academy Awards is now over and the race has officially begun for 2012. I did pretty abysmally this year with my predictions totaling to 12 correct calls out of the 20 categories I attempted to predict.

But whatever, it’s over and I’m way over it. Hopefully we get some justice next year.

The best parts of the night were the very well deserved win for Wally Pfister and Inception‘s ethereal cinematography as well as the Reznor/Ross nod for The Social Network‘s fantastic score. Other than that the winners circle proved to be uneventful, unsurprising, and totally lackluster.

Full list of winners after the cut, with full commentary on the telecast to follow tomorrow.

The Great Divide: 2011 Oscar Picks

I’ve finally gotten past the hoopla of college life, and while I should be resting and sleeping my ass off for the next few days I can’t help but think about today’s inevitably lackluster Oscar night, with plenty of potential head-scratchers to whine about. It’s often said that when playing the Oscar game one has to separate heart from mind. Emotional predicting will certainly get the worst out of you after the ceremony.

With that said, I’ll do a quick rundown of each of the categories and hopefully I’ve successfully pushed my own preferences out the window, all in the name of good fun. Again I am opting out of the short form categories out of sheer lack of knowledge.

BEST PICTURE

Now here’s the tricky part. The King’s Speech (TKS) has since clamped down on The Social Network‘s (TSN) unbelievably quick start and has emerged as the logical frontrunner heading into today. After overwhelming support from critics groups, TSN has hit a dead end after falling out of favor by the industry guild awards, with TKS thundering towards the finish line.

The broad appeal of TKS’s plot and classical storytelling is right up the Academy’s alley as compared to TSN’s darker and snider structure. One can argue using the recent tide of atypical Oscar winners including The Hurt Locker, The Departed and No Country For Old Men, but even those were feel good stories in their own right (first woman director, and the Coens and Scorsese being overdue).

History very slightly favors Hooper’s historical drama, but if Zuckerberg loses this one it’ll be the first to lose with this many precursor awards under its belt. One can’t deny smart money is on TKS, but if we see an upset today, you heard it here only from yours truly.

• Prediction: The Social Network
• Alternate: The King’s Speech
• Preference: The Social Network
• Should Have Been There: Blue Valentine, The Town, Shutter Island

Hanna (Trailer 2)

Nice to see Joe Wright stepping out of his comfort zone to do something different. It kinda looks like a more ass-kicking Kick-Ass with a slightly Euro flavor. The PG-13 rating is kind of a turn off though… this kind of movie should have more blood!

Director: Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement)

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett

Genre: Action, Adventure

Release: April 2011

Thor (Trailer 2)

Now, THIS is what I’m taking about. Still kinda iffy on the effects, but who cares. Looks a lot more interesting than Green Lantern (which is an Iron Man rip off) and Captain America (another Iron Man rip off).

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård

Genre: Superhero, Action, Adventure

Release: May 2011

X-Men: First Class (Trailer)

This looks BAD-ASS. Love the cast and there’s no doubt Vaughn can make good movies!

Director: Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass)

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence

Genre: Superhero, Action, Adventure

Release: June 3

Updates + Superhero/Sci-Fi Domination at Super Bowl

I’d like to apologize for the subtle lack of updates the past few days because of the last few requirements left on my plate before I finally graduate from college. Hopefully then I can put all that behind me and brave the wild new world and enter the industry!

In the meantime, I’ve updated the blog below with what I thought were the four best Super Bowl movie spots for this year. Apart from the ones below, there were also lackluster spots for Pirates 4, Cowboys and Aliens, Captain America and Fast Five, which you can all find on YouTube at your own time.

My favorite of all of them must be the ones for Battle: Los Angeles (of which I was expecting to suck, but the trailer’s gotten my attention) and JJ Abrams’ Super 8. The latter’s bringing a little E.T. vibe to it so it’s definitely shot up my most anticipated list for the year.

I’ve also gotten around to seeing The King’s Speech and Love and Other Drugs, both of which you can expect reviews for in the coming days.

Thanks again for sticking around for NO POPCORN ALLOWED’s incubation period. Maybe I can hit 100,000 clicks in another week… in my dreams.

Bookmark me, guys!