We admit, this Hitler throwing a tantrum meme from DOWNFALL has worn very thin by now, but this version is funnier and better written than most. If you were almost this pissed that the Academy overlooked Albert Brooks as Best Supporting Actor and Ryan Gosling as Best Actor for DRIVE, then laugh along in der Fuehrer’s face:
With nominees for the 84th annual Academy Awards announced this morning, chalk up another year in which Hollywood happily rewards its own industry and spirit by pinning the bulk of Oscar nominations to two films devoted to celebrating cinema and the filmmakers who helped forge the industry.
Topping the field with 11 nominations including Best Picture and Directing for Martin Scorsese, HUGO is a fantastical tale about a young boy who, in a quest to fulfill his father’s dream of perfecting an automaton, encounters the pioneering filmmaker (and special effects guru) Georges Melies in Paris. Not only is Hollywood self-reflexively acknowledging its own cinematic past with a near-dozen nominations for the film, but Scorsese’s personal story makes this a film about filmmaking by a filmmaker obsessed with honoring and preserving film history, past and present. The only way HUGO could better celebrate cinema is to let audience members go up in the projection booth and change reels as the film unspools on screen.
Likewise THE ARTIST also nabbed Best Picture and Director nominations amid a total of ten nods for this silent, black-and-white slice of cinematic gold about a 1920s French actor whose fortunes fall with the rise of talking pictures in Hollywood. While THE ARTIST is definitely pleasing audiences and critics (along with some early award givers), its Oscar acknowledgements are definitely Hollywood’s feel-good treat to itself and its legacy. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but these two top nominee films signify Hollywood’s comfort with looking inward rather than outward at the crop of 2011 films.
Odds are, you can safely place your bets on these two front runners to battle for the gold in most of their shared categories, and with few exceptions fend off their competitors across the board. Speaking of which, here is the complete list of Oscar nominees announced this morning: Continue reading
From February 10-12th, not only do you get to see Jar Jar Binks in 3D but Hasbro and Lucasfilm are joining forces to put exclusive giveaways in your hands throughout the opening weekend of STAR WARS: Episode I THE PHANTOM MENACE [only at AMC Theaters, while supplies last]. These are the details you’re looking for:
Celebrate Star WarsTM: Episode I The Phantom Menace As it Returns to Theatres in Spectacular RealD® 3D with Exclusive Activities and Giveaways at AMC® Theatres
AMC Theatres to host special events and Hasbro giveaways during opening weekend, February 10-12
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (January 23, 2012)The first chapter of the Star Wars Saga arrives in theatres for the first time ever in 3D starting February 10, and AMC theatres across the country are celebrating the occasion with plans to make opening weekend one for fans and families to remember!
To mark the return of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace to theatres, now in immersive 3D, kids, collectors and Star Wars fans of all ages will receive an all-new Hasbro Star Wars Fighter Pod with the purchase of each RealD 3D ticket for Episode I, all weekend long, February 10-12 only at AMC theatres (limit one per ticket, while supplies last).
Additionally, 10 AMC theatres in the United States will host exclusive event screenings in RealD 3D to bring the fun of Star Wars in 3D to life for families and fans. Starting Saturday, Feb. 11 at 11 a.m. local time, select theatres will offer activities, giveaways, and interactive experiences. Fans can expect (while supplies last):
The 10 participating Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace exclusive event screening theatres are:
Atlanta: AMC Southlake 24; Boston: AMC Loews Liberty Tree Mall 20; Chicago: AMC South Barrington 30; Denver: AMC Highlands Ranch 24; Los Angeles:AMC Tustin 14 at The District; AMC Ontario Mills 30; New York: AMC Empire 25; AMC Garden State 16; Phoenix: AMC Mesa Grand 24; San Francisco: AMC Emeryville Bay Street 16
A bit late notice from The Weinstein Company, but if you enjoyed THE ARTIST, today you have a chance to join in on a live web chat with the star of the film Bérénice Bejo and director Michel Hazanavicius. Get the full details including how you can submit questions to participate below:
THE ARTIST STAR & DIRECTOR TO PARTICIPATE IN A SPECIAL LIVE Q&A CHAT
Q&A will stream live online January 23 at approximately 1:30pm PT/4:30 ET
LOS ANGELES, CA (January 23, 2012) The Weinstein Company announced today that they will feature a live Q&A session with director Michel Hazanavicius, and star Bérénice Bejo live online, beginning at approximately 1:30PM PT/4:30PM ET. The event will feature the director and actress, just days after the film was named BEST PICTURE by the Producers Guild of America and the Golden Globes.
The Q&A will be streamed online at www.theartistmovie.net and www.facebook.com/theartist.twc allowing film fans across the world to submit questions and participate in a discussion with the cast and crew on the making of the film. The Weinstein Company hosted a similar event with the ensemble cast of THE ARTIST earlier this month as well as last year with the film, THE KING’S SPEECH and had over 20,000 questions submitted in a 30 minute period during the Q&A. The Artist has been nominated for three SAG AWARDS including Best Ensemble Cast and Best Supporting Actress for Bejo.
Hollywood 1927. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent movie superstar. The advent of the talkies will sound the death knell for his career and see him fall into oblivion. For young extra Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), it seems the sky is the limit – major movie stardom awaits. THE ARTIST tells the story of their interlinked destinies. The film opened in U.S. theaters on November 25th.
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius THE ARTIST stars Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle, Penelope Ann Miller, Malcolm McDowell, Beth Grant, Joel Murray, Ken Davitian and John Goodman. It is written by Michel Hazanavicius and produced by Thomas Langmann.
