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.
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!
Thor (Super Bowl TV Spot)
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman
Genre: Superhero, Action, Adventure
Release: May 2011
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon (Super Bowl TV Spot)
Director: Michael Bay (Transformers 1 and 2, Armageddon)
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
Release: July 2011
Battle: Los Angeles (Super Bowl TV Spot)
Director: Jonathan Liebesman (Darkness Falls)
Starring: Michelle Rodriguez, Aaron Eckhart, Bridget Moynahan
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
Release: March 2011
Super 8 (Super Bowl TV Spot)
Director: JJ Abrams (Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek)
Starring: Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
Release: June 2011
In a Better World (Trailer)
Director: Susanne Bier
Starring: Mikael Persbrandt
Genre: Drama
Release: April 2011 (US – Limited)
*Golden Globe winner – Best Foreign Language Film (Denmark)
*Academy Award nominee – Best Foreign Language Film
Batman and Bond 23 Casting Updates
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, one of the first names to come up to possibly play a villain in Christopher Nolan’s long-awaited sequel to his critical and box office success The Dark Knight, may get a role in the film after all. Slowly but surely, Nolan is making known his intentions to make The Dark Knight Rises a family affair once again, bringing back actors he’s comfortable with, this time from his latest flick Inception.
Not that I mind at all. I just want him to a get the movie done already.
In other news, Best Actor nominee Javier Bardem is once again making the rounds with confirmation from himself that he’s been offered a role in Sam Mendes’ (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) follow-up to Marc Forster’s Quantum of Solace. In a recent interview he’s been quoted that he’s up for a juicy villain part, hearkening us back to his splendid turn in the Coens’ No Country For Old Men.
One can only hope the MGM crisis won’t hinder this film from getting made as soon as possible.
Can’t you tell I’m just itching for Batman and Bond?
Incendies (Trailer)
Director: Denis Villanueve
Starring: Lubna Azabal
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Release: April 2011 (US – Limited)
*Academy Award nominee – Best Foreign Language Film (Canada)
Review: Dogtooth (***1/2)
A recently-anointed Best Foreign Language Film nominee, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooh raised many eyebrows upon its initial rounds during the festival circuit in its home country of Greece as well as at Cannes, where it snatched the event’s Un Certain Regard Prize. No doubt the film casts a stark and sometimes satirical portrait of society shunned in favor of a life of ultimate subordination, but to have it embraced by the grandest stage of them all validates this cinematic work as both thought-provoking and pertinent.
At the film’s heart is a twisted and malicious mystery, where we discover the family’s patriarch (Christos Sterioglou) deliberately submitting his three adult children (Christos Passalis, Aggeliki Papoulia, and Mary Tsoni) as well as his indifferent wife (Michele Valley) to lifelong imprisonment on their pristinely ordinary middle-class Greek home. The children have been taught incorrect vocabulary, with words such as “cunt” supposedly meaning a large lamp, while they obsess over airplanes falling from the sky, and fielded by incessant urges, the family’s only son is serviced by a female security guard from his father’s office. Sexual intercourse has become an emotionally devoid activity, and incessant licking, barking and gnawing have become the norm.
Vanity Fair’s 17th Annual Hollywood Issue
Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood Issue is pretty much a staple for any person with at least a passing interest in anything entertainment, and this year’s classic ensemble is another diverse and well-assembled group of young thespians who’ve made an impact in film one way or another.
Leading the pack are Green Lantern to-be Ryan Reynolds, with Love and Other Drugs stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, as well as Oscar co-host and 127 Hours star James Franco – all front cover-worthy I might add. On the inside, The Hurt Locker star Anthony Mackie gets a well-deserved appearance, flanked on both sides by Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence and the sizzlingly sexy Olivia Wilde.
Truth be told, I still prefer last year’s elegantly shot Annie Leibovitz set, of course for the simple reason that it was an all female photoshoot. Carey Mulligan, Mia Wasikowska, Amanda Seyfried, Emma Stone, Anna Kendrick, Rebecca Hall, and heck even Kristen Stewart all looked impeccable.
Shot of that after the cut…
One More ‘Speech’ at the SAG Awards
And there you have it. Your Oscar race is over, folks.
Only one film that’s nabbed the Producers Guild, Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild has not won the Best Picture Academy Award (Apollo 13). It is certainly a very precarious situation for David Fincher’s The Social Network, which was once thought to be a major player come February 27 after winning accolade after accolade during the critics awards circuit, as it came up empty during today’s SAG Awards.
It was an unfortunately predictable night, with the frontrunners in all of the top four categories coming up with confirmatory wins in their march towards the Oscar podium. Firth, Portman and Bale look like virtual locks at this point, but I am still having second thoughts about Melissa Leo’s campaign as I am still sensing a Hailee Steinfeld intrusion (or most probably hoping for one) on the red carpet.
Inception chalked up its consolation prize with Best Stunt Ensemble and you can pretty much only hope for wins in Sound Editing, Mixing and Visual Effects for the box office juggernaut. And even those might be in peril.
The King’s Speech is looking more and more likely to come up with a lopsided sweep come Oscar night, while outstanding films such as Fincher’s will forever be sidelined alongside other great films which failed to capture the elusive Academy Award.
The best part of the night? The amazingly dressed and drop-dead gorgeous Mila Kunis.
Full list of winners after the cut…
Henry Cavill cast as Superman
Warner Bros. has just announced that The Tudors star Henry Cavill will be donning the tights for the Christopher Nolan-produced and Zack Snyder-directed Superman reboot.
Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures announced today that Henry Cavill has won the coveted role of Superman, the iconic superhero.
The film will be directed by Zack Snyder, who stated, “In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honored to be a part of his return to the big screen. I also join Warner Bros., Legendary and the producers in saying how excited we are about the casting of Henry. He is the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield.”
Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder are the producers of the film. The screenplay is being written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.
Cavill recently wrapped production on “The Cold Light of Day” and stars in the upcoming “Immortals,” opening this fall.
Targeted for release in December 2012, the new Superman movie will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Royal Pain
Earlier today, the Director’s Guild of America, most known for its very accurate barometer when it comes to predicting the eventual Best Picture and Best Director winner at the Oscars, chose to reward The King’s Speech and its director Tom Hooper in place of the heavily favored David Fincher film The Social Network.
The DGA recipient has matched an overwhelming 56/62 times with the Academy, clearly cementing the British prestige pic as the clear frontrunner to sweep the Oscars come February.
Having not yet personally seen Hooper’s film, it would be unfair of me to directly hammer his film with relentless chiding. What irks me however is that the DGA decided not to reward Fincher for his career achievement, not to mention overlook heavyweights from the likes of Darren Aronofsky, Christopher Nolan and even David O. Russell to bestow the Hooper, in just his sophomore effort, with their top award. That’s not to say that sophomores aren’t any better than the experienced fellows I listed above – heck I even liked The Damned United. It’s just that this will simply go down as one of those years where the Academy got it all wrong.
Review: 127 Hours (***)
James Franco can host, direct, and probably sing and dance as well – but most of all, he can resoundingly act.
That’s precisely what he does in his latest and most challenging role yet in Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours where he portrays Aron Ralston and the harrowing five days he spent stuck in a deserted Utah canyon. Franco’s acting range is on full display here as he goes through phases of humor, despair, and outright insanity as he braves the elements during his dire encounter with death, undoubtedly deserving of his overdue Academy Award nomination for Best Actor (I was secretly wishing for him to sneak in for Pineapple Express).
Coming off his most successful film yet in Slumdog Millionaire, which brought him Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, Boyle heavily makes use of his trademark flashy editing and visual flourishes in order to tell this inspirational true story. It suits the film quite well and ultimately hearkens back to Boyle’s raw and edgy Trainspotting, while unfortunately and almost unintentionally almost drowning out the emotional resonance of Ralston’s character arc.
Saoirse Ronan joins ‘The Hobbit’
Double dip for The Hobbit news today.
The film’s casting director Ros Hubbard has announced today in an interview that Atonement star Saoirse Ronan has been tapped to re-team with her The Lovely Bones director Peter Jackson for the two-part epic. Her role however has yet to be determined.
“[W]orking with Peter Jackson is like working with a family,” says Hubbard, “So they’ll have a great time. Saoirse’s family will go too. Everyone is very close and very loving on those sorts of jobs. It’s not like typical studio movies at all.”
Ronan’s a great actress and I’m happy that she’ll be part of the franchise come 2012. Hopefully though the production doesn’t get delayed that much by Jackson’s ulcer problems.
Carlo Chong
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:
(more…)
January 19, 2012 | Categories: Awards Commentary, Commentary, News | Tags: gq, heath ledger, marilyn monroe, michelle williams, my week with marilyn | Leave A Comment »