One of the reasons hundreds of millions still turn out to watch the Oscars is that, despite what many think, there can still be shocks and awe throughout.
The Academy Award upset is as welcomed during the annual broadcast as the “what were they thinking?” red carpet fashion disaster (hello, Cher!).
Sure, we predict the Oscar winners with our weekly column Oscar Watch and have been correct quite a lot. But, even we cannot see the huge upsets happening and that is exactly what makes Hollywood’s biggest night so much fun to watch.
Watch Rocky online and who would have thought that that Sylvester Stallone written film would beat some of the best films, not only of that year -- but ever -- for Best Picture?
At the other end of that spectrum, watch Saving Private Ryan online, and we would have guaranteed that that flick was a shoe-in for Best Picture.
Nope, a little movie about The Bard falling in love would win... and lead to controversy!
That’s just the tip of the iceberg!
We also recall an upset that had pundits thinking the presenter read the name wrong. And what about the upset that had many saying that the Academy was homophobic?!
Click through and discover our 13 biggest Oscar upsets!
The Good Will Hunting screenplay is top notch, but Oscar-winning good? The Academy felt so as it beat Paul Thomas Anderson’s impressive Boogie Nights and James L. Brooks' fantastic As Good As It Gets.
Brokeback Mountain had everything going for it. The Ang Lee romance had won the hearts and minds of everyone who saw it and it was sweeping the guild awards and just about every critic award up until the big Oscar night. When Crash was revealed as Best Picture, we’ve never heard such a gasp of shock in the Oscar audience in our entire life.
Judy Davis, Vanessa Redgrave and Miranda Richardson were all thought to have a bigger chance at winning the Oscar the year they shared a nomination with Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny. Think again, Tomei won and everyone was shocked. Like, everyone as in to this day people think presenter Jack Palance read the wrong name.
And the era of Harvey Weinstein making the Oscar a political race was officially on. Weinstein famously spent millions of dollars to get people to consider his little romantic period piece for Best Picture and a slew of other awards. Meanwhile, Saving Private Ryan was thought to be a lock for Best Picture. It didn’t work out that way as Harvey’s influence proved large as Shakespeare in Love shocked the world and, more importantly, upset Steven Spielberg’s beloved war epic that starred a national treasure in Tom Hanks.
Speaking of Shakespeare in Love, Gwyneth Paltrow scored because of Weinstein’s pushing his flick. I mean, Cate Blanchett played Queen Elizabeth and shocked the world with her powerful performance. Paltrow was good in Shakespeare in Love, but not even close to Blanchett as a royal good. Score another that year for Weinstein. How powerful was Weinstein's schmoozing? Even Judi Dench won that year for Best Supporting Actress and she was in the movie for only 90 seconds!
Oh, and Michael Caine too probably thought he’d win before Adrien Brody did. Those are some pretty huge names to win over. Even though The Pianist was a tour de force for Brody, no one thought he would actually win.
The Academy Awards are known for two things, traditionally. Rewarding people they adore (like Dolly Parton) and ignoring cultural revolutions that change our world (like hip-hop). So, how do you explain Three 6 Mafia’s big win for Best Song for It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp over Dolly Parton? You can’t, it’s a shocker!
What Ralph Fiennes did as the evil Nazi in Schindler’s List was absolutely stunning. What Tommy Lee Jones did in The Fugitive was make a stellar turn in a popcorn movie. How on Earth did Jones win Best Supporting Actor over Fiennes in Spielberg’s Oscar winner for Best Picture? How?
Who would have thought that a Sylvester Stallone-written movie would win Best Picture, beating back what many consider some of the best movies of all time, not just that year? Like what… how about All the President’s Men, Network and Taxi Driver.
Redford won Best Director for Ordinary People over Scorsese for his masterpiece Raging Bull. That first time seemed like an upset, but nothing personal.
Costner Danced with Wolves and won, Scorsese gave us Goodfellas and lost. Again. Now, it appears that maybe the Academy just does not like Martin Scorsese.
The Academy must even admit that this was a huge upset of the highest order. AFI considers Citizen Kane the best film Hollywood has ever made. So, How Green Was My Valley was better? A film that has been forgotten?
The year that Chariots of Fire won, the little British movie that could showed that even the mightiest could take a fall when it comes to the Oscars. Let this victory over On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Reds show any small film that it's never over, until it's over.
The End.
Did you like 13 Biggest Oscar Upsets? If so, please share:
It was 30 years ago, February 15, 1985, that Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall and Judd Nelson headed into detention and changed the teen movie world forever.
Thirty years ago, John Hughes released a masterpiece. We have already celebrated our favorite The Breakfast Club quotes as part of our tribute to the classic.
Now, we present to you 15 fun facts about the movie that is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
Watch The Breakfast Club online and you’ll see several things. One, it feels as real as can be and that could largely be tributed to something Hughes did when filming that is almost never done.
Also, that iconic cast could have looked quite different. Who else auditioned to be a member of The Breakfast Club?
And one of the most legendary movie songs ever was originally offered to Billy Idol instead of Simple Minds.
Emilio Estevez was supposed to be Bender. But Hughes couldn’t find someone who was perfect to be Andrew, so Estevez became Andrew and Judd Nelson was hired as Bender.
Hughes went to Glenbrook High School and that real school was used in many of the exterior shots, including the final one of Judd Nelson walking through the football field.
Speaking of Carl, he was originally supposed to be played by Rick Moranis. But, when he insisted on playing the part as an over the top Russian, he was fired and replaced by John Kapelos.
The End.
Did you like 15 Fun Facts About The Breakfast Club? If so, please share:
There were many things about the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary broadcast that made news. But, for us here at Movie Fanatic, the headline of the entire affair happened at the after-party. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the cast of the all-new Ghostbusters!
Leslie Jones posted the picture of herself with Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy and Kate McKinnon and for the first time, we truly get to see the Paul Feig-directed Ghostbusters reboot cast together. And yes, we like what we see.
“Ok I'm exhausted but this week was epic! #winning,” Jones posted with the photo on her Twitter feed.
Feig has promised a funnier and scarier Ghostbusters and given that the film has gone through many incarnations since original star Dan Aykroyd tried to get it off the ground, it’s just nice to hear the thing is moving forward.
Unfortunately, we have to wait until 2016 to see it. They start shooting in New York City this summer. Until then, watch Ghostbusters online and that’ll keep the excitement burning!
Aykroyd, who wrote the original script, penned it as a salute to his grandfather, who was a paranormal buff who even built a radio to try to contact ghosts.
Bill Murray’s role was originally written by Dan Akyroyd and Harold Ramis for their good friend John Belushi. When he died, they sought someone else.
When the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was supposed to first appear, he was to come out of the water by the Statue of Liberty, thus establishing his huge height. It proved too expensive to shoot.
Columbia Pictures paid a licensing fee to a little known production company named Filmation who had tried to launch a TV show in 1975 called The Ghost Busters.
Would you believe that most of Murray’s lines were ad-libbed? Yes, even when he addressed Sigourney Weaver after she says, "I want you inside me," his classic line, “It sounds like you've got at least two or three people in there already!†was completely ad-libbed!
When the Ghostbusters go to the library and ask the librarian if anyone in her family had a history of mental illness, she said she had an uncle who believed he was St. Jerome. Believe it or not… St. Jerome is the patron saint of librarians!
The Ecto 1 was only one car. Usually on film shoots with a vehicle like that, there are multiple ones. There was only one! And it made it almost halfway through Ghostbusters II before it had to be retired.
You notice a romance is hinted at between the characters played by Annie Potts and Harold Ramis, but it never comes to be? That’s because all of their romantic scenes were cut.
The ending of the movie, crossing the streams, was only thought of moments before shooting as they hadn’t figured out quite how to end the film yet. That “crossing the streams†line has since become iconic in pop culture.
Check out this all-star cameo list of people who appeared in the music video for Ghostbusters: Chevy Chase, Danny DeVito, Irene Cara, Teri Garr, Carly Simon, George Wendt, John Candy, Jeffrey Tambor, Al Franken and Peter Falk.
The film was so popular that in the middle of its blockbuster run, Ivan Reitman established a 1-800 number for people to call the Ghostbusters. They got a recording from Aykroyd and Murray saying that they were out catching ghosts. That number… got 1,000 calls an hour, 24 hours a day for six weeks!
Furious 7 will finally race onto screens in a mere six weeks, April 3. Atlantic Records and Universal have not only released information about the highly anticipated soundtrack to the seventh Fast and Furious movie, but also unveiled two music videos.
If these two tracks are any indication as to the mic drop power of this soundtrack, count us in when the Furious 7: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack lands March 17.
First off, we get some serious action-packed, toe-tapping music video greatness from Kid Ink, Tyga, Wale, Y.G. and Rich Homie Quan with Ride Out that not only features the artists doing their thing, but also some kick-ass scenes from the movie.
Next up is really just a single with a live action Furious 7 poster from Wiz Khalifa and Iggy Azalea. Of the two, their Go Hard or Go Home is our favorite, but it’s close.
The first Furious 7 TV trailer landed yesterday, so you know that highly anticipated film’s release date must be around the corner.
Here’s the full track listing for the Furious 7 soundtrack:
FURIOUS 7: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK
1. Ride Out – Kid Ink, Tyga, Wale, YG, Rich Homie Quan
2. Off-set – T.I. & Young Thug
3. How Bad Do You Want It (Oh Yeah)– Sevyn Streeter
4. Get Low– Dillon Francis & DJ Snake
5. Go Hard or Go Home– Wiz Khalifa & Iggy Azalea
6. My Angel – Prince Royce
7. See You Again– Wiz Khalifa (feat. Charlie Puth)
8. Payback– Juicy J, Kevin Gates, Future, Sage The Gemini
9. Blast Off – David Guetta & Kaz James
10. Six Days (Remix) – DJ Shadow (feat. Mos Def)
11. Ay Vamos – J. Balvin (feat. French Montana and Nicky Jam)
12. GDFR (Noodles Remix)– Flo Rida (feat. Sage The Gemini and Lookas)
13. Turn Down For What – DJ Snake & Lil Jon
14. Meneo – Fito Blanko
15. I Will Return– Skylar Grey
16. Whip (Bonus Track)* – Famous To Most
Gee, how do you think this fight will go between Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham? Well, given that Statham's our bad guy and that this is problably not the final fight, we're guessing he gets out of the beating somehow!
It is the closest Best Picture Oscar race we can remember. There are eight nominees for the top honor at this year’s Academy Awards. But many believe the race has come down to two: Birdman and Boyhood.
Before we make our prediction, first let’s look at the nominees:
Get more content like this delivered to your inbox for FREE:
Whiplash
If we were a voting member of the Academy, the J.K. Simmons/Miles Teller stunner would get our vote. Whiplash topped our top 15 of 2014 and it is an utterly brilliant character study that will leave you breathless. Unfortunately, it hasn’t had the award season push that we thought it deserved. The film family behind Whiplash will just have to be happy and satisfied with Simmons winning Best Supporting Actor.
The Imitation Game The Imitation Game has everything that Oscar loves. It’s a World War II movie. It’s a true story. It features someone rising above persecution to accomplish greatness, and then falling to a tragic end. Benedict Cumberbatch mesmerizes in this incredible film about Alan Turing and how he invented the first supercomputer that would break the German Enigma code and help win the war. Then, it was revealed he was a homosexual and that was against British law at the time. He was ruined.
American Sniper
If box office numbers equaled victory, then American Sniper would be your Best Picture. Thankfully they do not as this is a pretty good film, but the Bradley Cooper-starring story of Chris Kyle and his heroic journey on and off the battlefield is nowhere near the Best Picture of 2014.
The Grand Budapest Hotel
There have been some rumblings about The Grand Budapest Hotel winning Best Picture. We think it might take the Best Original Screenplay Oscar -- much like Spike Jonze did with Her last year. The Academy would love to reward a one-of-a-kind artist (like Jonze last year) with an Oscar for increasing the pulse of the industry with push-the-envelope filmmaking, as Wes Anderson has done with The Grand Budapest Hotel. But, Best Picture… now that is probably unlikely.
The Theory of Everything The Theory of Everything also has everything that Oscar adores. It is also a true story, also a tale of someone overcoming hardship (Stephen Hawking and his budding brilliance while battling ALS). The film features career-making performances by leads Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones (both nominated for best lead actors) and is an adorable love story that is truly moving and inspiring. But alas, despite all of that pedigree, the top two contenders are too much for this delightful tale.
Selma
In any other year, we think Selma is the Best Picture winner. But, for some reason, many of the biggest Oscar snubs involved Selma being left out of the Best Actor and Best Director categories. Therefore, we feel there is little love for the movie that chronicles Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for civil rights. It is truly a shame.
Birdman Birdman is a cinematic marvel and masterpiece. What filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu did with his film is nothing short of brilliant. That’s why Vegas has it at even odds with Boyhood to win. It would, in many ways, be a revolutionary choice. Birdman is no ordinary picture. Sure, we think Michael Keaton will win Best Actor. But, there is something sentimental about Richard Linklater’s film. That’s why we think your Best Picture will be…
Boyhood
Linklater famously filmed Boyhood for a couple of weeks each year for 12 years and truly captured Boyhood in its purest form. You would be hard-pressed to find a family movie that better captured the inner workings of a family than Linklater’s masterpiece. It is also the type of movie that the Academy can look back on decades later and be proud it anointed it with its top honor. And with Patricia Arquette already a lock to win Best Actress, we don’t see a world where Boyhood does not win. Watch Boyhood online right now and witness this year's Best Picture!
Now it’s your turn. Tell us who you think will emerge victorious?
After several tries that failed, audiences finally got a Hulk/Bruce Banner they could love with Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers. As we can tell from that Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer, the Hulk is at it again and those scenes of him battling Tony Stark in the Hulkbuster armor are one of many highlights. But, when will we get a Ruffalo-starring, stand-alone Hulk movie?
“Who knows where these things will go? But as Bruce is able to impress his will on the Hulk -- going into the Hulk and being inside the Hulk when he’s raging -- the Hulk’s will is also growing and able to impress upon Bruce,” Ruffalo told Empire.
“It’ll be interesting to see if that ends up being what would be the next Hulk movie.”
Ruffalo did say that he has not been approached about a Hulk movie and it is clear from the Marvel plans through 2019 announcement, that a Hulk movie will not be a part of Marvel Phase 3.
And the man who brought unabashed fan love to the character for the first time on screen admitted that a Hulk solo movie might be a difficult, almost impossible, task.
“[It’s] a tough nut to crack. Traditionally you’re watching a guy who doesn’t want to do the very thing that you want him to do. It’s hard to take for two hours,” Ruffalo admitted.
“I don’t know how many times you can use that same framing for it, but now he’s maturing and there’s a cool dynamic growing between Banner and The Hulk.”
Watch The Avengers online to see Ruffalo in action and get ready for Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1.
We still hold out hope that somewhere in the future we’ll get a solo Hulk movie with Ruffalo starring… before he gets too old!
Warner Bros. announced plans for the final Peter Jackson The Hobbit movie and it will arrive on March 24 in several formats: Blu-Ray 3D combo pack, regular Blu-Ray combo pack, a two-disc DVD special edition and digital HD.
Bilbo Baggins’ long journey of adventure comes to a close with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and it is somewhat sad that we won’t see Ian McKellen as Gandalf anymore. We also truly enjoyed Martin Freeman as Bilbo and, frankly, just living in the world of Middle Earth that Jackson has created for six movies now.
The J.R.R. Tolkien-penned universe brings down the curtain and with the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies home video, we have truly gone there and back again -- to paraphrase what the last chapter was originally called!
The all-star cast that comprises the ensemble from Jackson’s final Middle Earth film is impressive. From Benedict Cumberbatch to Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Billy Connolly, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett, it is one for the ages.
So, what can we expect from the home video release in terms of bonus features?
Recruiting the Five Armies
Completing Middle-earth
The Last Goodbye: Behind the Scenes
The Last Goodbye Music Video
New Zealand: Home of Middle-earth, Part 3
Of all those bonus features, we’re especially drawn to The Last Goodbye: Behind the Scenes. We bet there isn’t a dry eye!
The Cate and Ian poster for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Look, we know Gandalf makes it (cause of The Lord of the Rings), but it does not look so good in this poster!
The End.
Did you like The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Photos? If so, please share:
Lionsgate has released a deleted scene from the Mockingjay Part 1 DVD that looks to be just one of many fantastic bonus features on the hit film's home video release.
The clip that didn't make the final cut of Francis Lawrence's movie features a pretty intense meeting between President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). For those of you who have seen the film, the scene comes after Peeta does an interview that truly rocks Katniss' (Jennifer Lawrence) world.
There's a revolution brewing and President Snow knows it. And it will likely be won in the mind, rather than with weapons.
Influencing the Mockingjay will be key to who wins.
The Christopher Nolan epic Interstellar is coming back to IMAX theaters for one night only the night before the Academy Awards. The sci-fi flick arrives on IMAX (a format that Nolan shot some of the film on) at AMC Theatres and features an additional 12 minutes of footage!
We recently revealed that the Interstellar DVD is coming soon, but why not head to the theaters and see the film in the manner in which it was meant to be seen?
The one-night-only “An Encore of Interstellar: The IMAX Experience" will take place at 3 p.m. local time at participating AMC locations, and for fans of the film, the 12 minutes of bonus features that have never been seen will be a true treat.
Interstellar is looking like it will take home a few Oscars on February 22. It scored five Oscar nominations, including Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Original Score (for Hans Zimmer), Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects (where we think it is a lock).
Nolan’s spectacle stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, John Lithgow, Michael Caine and Jessica Chastain in a story about the need for humans to push the boundaries of space travel in order to find a more hospitable planet than the one we live on. It is on its last breaths.
Check out our favorite Interstellar quotes and click through some stunning visuals below in our slideshow that are likely to turn Interstellar into what it will now be known as... the Oscar-winning Interstellar.
The Theory of Everything is one of our top 15 of 2014 and it is no surprise that it scored so many Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, a Best Actor nod for Eddie Redmayne and a Best Actress nomination for Felicity Jones. Now that The Theory of Everything has landed on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download, it is a chance for the entire world to discover this romantic and inspiring cinematic gem.
Redmayne is Stephen Hawking and we first meet him as a brilliant student pushing the boundaries of what we know about physics. When he meets Jones’ Jane at a social, sparks immediately fly and these two are quickly peas in a pod. As their romance and his career blossoms, physically he starts to have some serious problems. He is diagnosed with ALS and with Jane as his rock, he fights through what would be a death sentence for many and emerges as one of the greatest minds to ever live.
As we stated in our theatrical The Theory of Everything review, the film (based on Jane Hawking’s memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen) is wildly enchanting and a tribute to the human spirit and how greatness cannot be held down by the limitations of the human body.
Where Hawking was weak, his mind was sensationally strong and we see throughout the movie how he became not just a great mind of our time, but one of the most recognizable names in science and a bestselling author who has permeated pop culture while simultaneously pushing our awareness of the universe’s birth, expansion and even mere existence.
When it comes to The Theory of Everything bonus features, there is as much here as there is in the film itself to utterly adore. The five-time Oscar nominee is a home video release to cherish and witness over and over.
Becoming the Hawkings takes an in-depth look at how filmmakers and the actors achieved the impossible. Watching Redmayne alone contort his body as he becomes the man whose body is ever-crippling, is nothing short of brilliance incarnate. His is one of the most astounding performances of our time and to see the behind-the-scenes efforts to bring this important story to life is a true gift.
What else becomes apparent on the Becoming the Hawkings featurette is how the entire cast and crew were so committed to this story. They knew it was something special. They knew it was an important motion picture that transcends the medium. Then there’s the relationship that developed between Jane and the woman charged with playing her, Jones. Jane’s passion for the project is all over the place and something truly to behold.
We are not normally one for deleted scenes as there was clearly a reason they were cut in the first place. But with the deleted scenes on The Theory of Everything, we relished them. Any chance to spend more time with these incredible souls within this astounding story are moments to treasure.
Then, there’s the feature commentary with director James Marsh. It is another powerful dimension to telling a story that is truly one for the ages.
Robert Langdon will be back! Sony Pictures has announced that Tom Hanks will return to the role he made famous in The Da Vinci Code for a third time in Inferno. Ron Howard’s back in the director chair and he will co-produce with his partner, Brian Grazer.
Hanks is joined by a stellar cast, led by Oscar nominee (for The Theory of Everything) Felicity Jones, Omar Sy (X-Men: Days of Future Past), Sidse Babett Knudsen and Irrfan Khan.
The series looks to add to its already $1.2 billion worldwide gross when the film lands October 14, 2016. The film will come from the Dan Brown novel and the screenplay by David Koepp. Production will start the end of April.
Inferno features the Harvard symbologist, Langdon, when he awakes in an Italian hospital with a nasty case of amnesia. When he hooks up with Sienna Brooks, a doctor who holds the key to him regaining his memory, the two will work tirelessly to stop a madman from unleashing a global plague that is inspired by Dante’s iconic Inferno.
Dr. Brooks will be played by Jones, Khan (Life of Pi) is Harry Sims, aka The Provost, Sy will be Christoph Bruder and Knudsen will portray Dr. Elizabeth Sinskey, the head of the WHO.
Howard is clearly thrilled to be back in the world of The Da Vinci Code.
“For this film, I wanted Tom Hanks to be surrounded by an international cast of actors whose energy will underscore Robert Langdon’s life-or-death peril, the high-stakes action he takes, and the global threat that he’s trying to prevent,” Howard said in a statement.
“Felicity, Irrfan, Omar, and Sidse have all broken through with recognition here in America as well as their home countries -- they are phenomenal talents and we can’t wait to get started.”
Paramount has released a series of 13 new photos from Hot Tub Time Machine 2. Hot on the heels of that Hot Tub Time Machine 2 clip that teased Christian Slater’s game show host and the unsuspecting contestant that is Craig Robinson’s character, these stills give us a further view into the sequel to those Hot Tub Time Machine quotes.
Robinson returns with Rob Corddry and Clark Duke and they are joined in the cast by Adam Scott and Gillian Jacobs, and we have our first photos of them as well!
This time out, the boys head into the future and try to stop something horrible from happening in the past. Does that make sense? It’s okay. It will all be explained with serious hilarity when Hot Tub Time Machine 2 hits theaters February 20.
Watch Hot Tub Time Machine online and get ready to head back to the future with the boys who turned a ski vacation into a chance for a fresh start.
And by the way, you’ll love how they handle the fact that John Cusack is missing from this installment, but how the door is left open for him to return should there be a Hot Tub Time Machine 3.
Cameras are rolling on the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales has started shooting in Queensland, Australia with Johnny Depp as one of his most beloved characters, Captain Jack.
Kon-Tiki directors Espen Sandberg and Joachim Ronning are helming this installment, under the watchful eye of producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The franchise has banked almost $3.7 billion so far and we suspect it may add close to a billion more to that total when Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales lands in theaters July 7, 2017.
Disney and Bruckheimer films have also released the film’s plot synopsis, so we finally have an idea what this one will be about!
Thrust into an all-new adventure, a down-on-his-luck Captain Jack Sparrow finds the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost pirates led by his old nemesis, the terrifying Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), escape from the Devil's Triangle, determined to kill every pirate at sea...including him. Captain Jack's only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artifact that bestows upon its possessor total control over the seas.
The Maze Runner star Kaya Scodelario and Maleficent’s breakout star Brenton Thwaites join in on the fun with returning favorites Geoffrey Rush, Kevin R. McNally and Stephen Graham.
Noticeably absent from this release is news that Orlando Bloom will be back. But, from what he has said, we suspect he will return.
When your series is based on one of the bestselling book series of all time, that's a good place to start. With the casting of the three leads, fate struck and a movie franchise for the ages was born.
Now on its fifth movie with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, J.R.R. Tolkien has produced a world perfect for the movies. We could head to Middle Earth time and time again.
The Force is so with this series that we're getting a new trilogy four decades after it started. Luke, Leia and Han Solo have become not just pop culture legends, but cultural icons.
Cap had us in World War II and has us expecting much from his present day adventure Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Chris Evans was born to be Cap!
He may be the Man of Steel, but Superman feels like the most everyman of all the superheroes. Whether Christopher Reeve and now with Henry Cavill, that "S" should stand for sensational.
Batman begins, ends, begins anew... it doesn't matter. Bruce Wayne (and his alter ego) is the rare superhero with no powers, yet is still so solidly super.
They're fast, they're furious and this gang of street-racing pros, led by Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker, is simply the best. With the franchise heading towards nine movies, it is one epic series.
There's something fascinating about food and it falling from the sky and then getting menacing. Now on its second film with a third likely planned, we're hungry for more.
The End.
Did you like 19 Movie Franchises We're Most Fanatic About? If so, please share:
Kingsman: The Secret Service is one of the best Colin Firth films. It’s fantastic that the Mark Millar graphic novel turned big screen thrill fest from Matthew Vaughn has made the fifty-something Oscar winner into an action hero.
He also gets to deliver some fantastic lines as a James Bond-type spy who doesn’t have the constraints of being under any world government.
The Kingsman are elite, refined and can kick-ass like nobody’s business.
So, when Firth’s Galahad meets Taron Egerton’s Eggsy, their tutelage is truly fascinating, exciting and all sorts of electric.
Eggsy also gets in a few fantastic quotes, as does our villain, Samuel L. Jackson’s Valentine.
The age old question of who we are gets a direct answer in the opening moments of Kingsman: The Secret Service.
Boys, I've had a rather emotional day, so whatever your beef with Eggsy is, and I'm sure it's well founded, I'd appreciate it if you could just leave us in peace.
Right away, we see why Colin Firth is an action hero. Who knew?
Eggsy: I’ve never met a tailor before, but I know you ain’t one. Galahad: Come with me. What do you see? I see a young man with potential. Pull the hook on your left. Eggsy: Oh, yes, very nice! What does this do, electrocute you? Galahad: Don’t be ridiculous. It’s a hand grenade. Eggsy: Shut up! That is sick!
Galahad: Did you see the film Trading Places? Eggsy: No Galahad: How about Nikita? Pretty Woman? All right, my point is, that the lack of a silver spoon has set you on a certain path but you needn’t stay on it. If you’re prepared to adapt and learn, you can transform. Eggsy: Oh, like in My Fair Lady. Galahad: You’re all full of surprises.
Arthur: [Talking about the dog] What's his name. Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin: JB. Arthur: As in James Bond. Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin: No. Arthur: Jason Bourne. Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin: Jack Bauer. Arthur: Oh.
Valentine thinks the Brits talk funny, which is hilarious considering his speech issues!
I'm a Catholic whore, currently enjoying congress out of wedlock with my black Jewish boyfriend who works at a military abortion clinic. Hail Satan, and have a lovely afternoon madam.
The DUFF is based on the bestselling book by Kody Keplinger that follows Bianca (Mae Whitman. The Perks of Being a Wallflower), an otherwise happy high school girl who excels at her schoolwork and being friends with a pair of the most popular girls.
Then, her next door neighbor Wesley (Robbie Amell) mistakenly tells her one fateful night that she’s a DUFF (designated ugly fat friend) and her entire world turns upside down.
What she thought was real, clearly isn’t.
We caught up with the stars of The DUFF, Amell and Whitman, for an exclusive chat about what makes this teen comedy the rarest of breeds in the classic film genre.
Amell and Whitman have serious chemistry, and that comes through in our interview and even in The DUFF trailer.
The stars chat how each was the other’s best resource on the set. And further proving these two are all too in synch, when asked for their favorite day making the Kody Keplinger book come to life, their answers were exactly the same!
The DUFF hits theaters February 20 and breaks the mold of the teen comedy that does the rarest of things, it appeals to everyone.
One of the biggest Oscar snubs was the lack of a nomination for Best Actor for Selma star David Oyelowo and Best Director for Ava DuVernay. There was much discussion about the mostly all-white (and male) Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences being racist and not sensitive to other races, creeds and colors.
That is not the case, so says one Academy member who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter anonymously. Tired of hearing about the racial criticisms of her organization, the member has clearly had enough.
“What no one wants to say out loud is that Selma is a well-crafted movie, but there's no art to it. If the movie had been directed by a 60-year-old white male, I don't think that people would have been carrying on about it to the level that they were,” she said.
“And as far as the accusations about the Academy being racist? Yes, most members are white males, but they are not the cast of Deliverance -- they had to get into the Academy to begin with, so they're not cretinous, snaggletoothed hillbillies. When a movie about black people is good, members vote for it. But if the movie isn't that good, am I supposed to vote for it just because it has black people in it?”
Well then, tell us how you really feel anonymous Academy member. Oh wait, you’re not done?
“I've got to tell you, having the cast show up in T-shirts saying 'I can't breathe' [at their New York premiere],” she said of the protest over the unarmed man who was choked to death by the NYPD, “I thought that stuff was offensive. Did they want to be known for making the best movie of the year, or for stirring up shit?”
We’re left wondering, which is it? Is it the protest of an innocent man being murdered by the police that pissed you off and prevented you from voting for Selma, or was it that the movie wasn’t as good as you thought it should be?
Tell us, what do you think of these comments?
Honestly, judging by our Selma review, it’s certainly worthy of a Best Actor and Best Director Oscar nomination.
After giving us our Spectre first look and video of the Austrian shoot for the 24th Bond movie, the action has shifted to the Italian capital of Rome! Sony has released a series of photos of Daniel Craig, along with Bond girl Monica Bellucci.
Among the shots Italians can expect to see (and we’re sure hear about) is an explosive car chase in Via Nomentana, that goes from viale Gorizia to Porta Pia.
Plans also call for another Spectre action sequence involving Bond behind the wheel, albeit not for long. After racing along the Lungotevere, Bond’s vehicle will land in the river! We’ve been told that more chase scenes will be captured at the Milvian Bridge, via Nazionale, via Quattro Fontane, via Barberini and the alleys surrounding Piazza Navona.
SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) has a long history of being the Bond villain collective. With Dave Bautisa as the thug and Christoph Waltz as the lead villain (or is Bellucci?!), look for the Spectre legend to continue as the latest Bond flick lands November 5, 2015.
When The Interview became an online blockbuster, viewers just got to see the film itself. Now that it has arrived on Blu-Ray and DVD, the Seth Rogen and James Franco flick delves deeper with a slew of hilarious bonus features and insightful extras.
The “Freedom Edition” of The Interview is loaded with 90 minutes of bonus features, and includes 14 deleted scenes and a gag reel that is not-to-be-missed. But first, let’s talk about the movie itself.
Besides having some fantastic and unforgettable The Interview quotes, the Rogen and Franco film works so well as an international political farce that is as simultaneously hilarious as it is a commentary on modern media and the utter complicated mess that can be international relations.
Franco is Dave Skylark, one of the most famous interviewers in the world. His Skylark Tonight is a ratings hit, but it leaves his producer Aaron Rapoport (Rogen) yearning for more. The serious newsman feels that they can do more and that opportunity arrives when they learn that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is a huge fan of the show and invites the pair to his country for an exclusive interview.
As seen in The Interview trailer, it is not too long after they accept the invitation that the CIA shows up and asks them to assassinate the dictator. Hilarity and some interesting ethics arise for audiences to discuss and ponder. But, let’s be clear: This is an explosive comedy that works well for laughs. Now, whether it was worthy of the controversy that saw Sony pulling The Interview from theaters, well, that is another story.
Once in North Korea, a star is born… well, two. The first is Randall Park and his powerful portrayal of Kim Jung Un, as we stated in our theatrical The Interview review. The other, of course, is the King Charles Spaniel that Un gifts his new friend Skylark.
Speaking of Park, the bonus feature Getting Into Character follows how Park achieved what may seem like the impossible: Capturing one of the most identifiable international figures that at the same time is the most elusive. The featurette looks at Park’s transformation that is uncanny. And in that vein, you’ll want to check out the extra Randall Park Audition Tape to see where it all started!
After their work directing together on This Is The End, watching Directors of This Movie, it’s easy to see that previous film was merely a warm-up for co-helmers Rogen and Evan Goldberg to tackle The Interview. These two are perfectly matched for creating a comedy with social commentary and to witness them at work in this featurette is priceless.
Speaking of that adorable puppy, Puppy Power showcases that audiences were not alone in the adoration of that adorable dog. The entire cast and crew wax poetic about the King Charles Spaniel puppy that managed to steal scenes from Franco and Rogen. If you loved the little pup in the film, you’ll love it even more after watching these grown men and women come down with their own bad case of puppy love.
In that animal vein, that scene with Rogen and the tiger could have been filmed using CG or utilizing creative editing. Not so, as we see in Here Kitty Kitty as Rogen illustrates the challenges of working with a real tiger!
You have heard about the Naked and Afraid parody that Rogen and Franco did around the time of the release of The Interview. It is one of The Interview bonus features and a clear don’t-miss.
Lastly, the gag reel is stunningly hysterical and viewers won’t want to miss the Line-o-Ramas that feature short collections of alternate shots of some of the most hilarious jokes on The Interview set.
The Oscar nominations are about to give way to Oscar winners on February 22 and Movie Fanatic’s Oscar Watch is ready to make our predictions in all 24 categories.
There is no clear front-runner in the biggest race, Best Picture. Since the eight nominees were announced, the “favorite” crown has been worn mostly by Birdman and Boyhood. We believe it will come down to those two, although given that our number one pick in our top 15 of 2014 was Whiplash, we wish that that film would get the honor.
But, J.K. Simmons is likely a lock for Best Supporting Actor for Whiplash, so we’ll have to be fine with that.
What about the numerous other categories? Who will win?
We break it down…
Best Picture
Who Will Win: Boyhood
Who Should Win: In a dream world, Whiplash
Why: Boyhood and Birdman have gone neck and neck in one of the tightest Oscar races for Best Picture that we can remember. In the end, we feel that what Richard Linklater did with Boyhood will win out the film lovers’ crowd, even if Birdman is slightly the better movie. As we've said repeatedly, our fave is Whiplash.
Get more content like this delivered to your inbox for FREE:
Best Original Screenplay
Who Will Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Who Should Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Why: Wes Anderson is this year’s Spike Jonze. Last year, the Academy rewarded the longtime auteur with a Best Original Screenplay award for his work on Her and this year a fellow fringe filmmaker will receive a similar honor for his most successful and most approachable film. There’s a reason that The Grand Budapest Hotel led all nominees when this year’s Oscar nominations were revealed. It is that good. It is that original. It reminds us of why we adore the movies.
Best Actress
Who Will Win: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Who Should Win: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Why: It’s about time for the five-time nominee to finally be crowned an Oscar winner. We’re still utterly heartbroken over what Moore did in Still Alice.
Julianne Moore scores her fifth nomination for her role as a woman in her 50s who learns she is in the early stages of memory loss. It is a haunting portrayal.
Reese Witherspoon headed out into the Wild and scored her latest Oscar nomination for playing the real life Cheryl Strayed. Will she win her second after her victory for Walk the Line?
Marion Cotillard has too won before, for her turn in La Vie en Rose. For her turn in Two Days, One Night, she might just be an also ran. But stranger things have happened at the Oscars!
Rosamund Pike stars in Gone Girl and the page to screen effort that was thought to be a no-win challenge, turned out to be a blockbuster success. And that is largely due to the performance of Pike.
Felicity Jones is largely responsible for her The Theory of Everything co-star Eddie Redmayne earning his first Oscar nod. The two make a terrific team in the most astounding of true stories.
The End.
Did you like Best Actress Nominees? If so, please share:
Get more content like this delivered to your inbox for FREE:
Best Adapted Screenplay
Who Will Win: Whiplash
Who Should Win: Whiplash
Why: The film will leave you breathless. It is truly an original screenplay, but due to an interesting wrinkle in the Academy’s rules, it wound up in Best Adapted Screenplay. Potay-to/potah-to here... it’s the best.
Best Actor
Who Will Win: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Who Should Win: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Why: Michael Keaton achieved a comeback that mirrored what his character went through in Birdman. We’ve adored Keaton since Night Shift and think that this is an Oscar that is long overdue for a man who can do it all -- comedy, drama and a hybrid of the two which is what he gave us so brilliantly in Birdman.
Get more content like this delivered to your inbox for FREE:
Best Animated Film
Who Will Win: How to Train Your Dragon 2
Who Should Win: The LEGO Movie
Why: How to Train Your Dragon 2 shocked Big Hero 6 at the Golden Globes and at the Annie Awards and with the absence of The LEGO Movie (which was one of the hugest Oscar snubs), we think that the troubled DreamWorks Animation will get a shot in the arm with a victory. Although, given who was nominated in this category, Big Hero 6 deserves the honor.
Best Supporting Actor
Who Will Win: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Who Should Win: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Why: Did you see the tour de force? The minute we saw Whiplash back in October of 2014, we knew we had seen the winner for Best Supporting Actor.
Get more content like this delivered to your inbox for FREE:
Best Foreign Language Film
Who Will Win: Ida
Who Should Win: Leviathan
Why: Leviathan won the Golden Globe in this category, but we think that Oscar voters will go with Ida for two reasons. One, they treasure rewarding Holocaust movies. And two, it would be Poland’s first Academy Award -- that too is appealing for members of the Academy. Also, the reason Leviathan won’t win is because it could be seen as too risky to salute the film that is critical of the regime in Russia.
Best Supporting Actress
Who Will Win: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Who Should Win: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Why: In many ways, Arquette is the emotional anchor of the incredible cinematic achievement that is Boyhood. The Academy will reward her for that fact, and also because she is simply stunning in the role of a single mother trying to raise a little boy from Boyhood to adulthood.
What Patricia Arquette did with Boyhood is nothing short of a miracle. She portrayed the same maternal character over the 12 years it took to make the movie. That is no easy task.
Emma Stone held her own opposite the man who is likely going to win Best Actor for Birdman, Michael Keaton. Stone's turn as the drug addicted daughter of a blockbuster movie star trying to wage a comeback was sublimely sensational.
Keira Knightley has come a long way from Bend it Like Beckham. She's an Oscar nominee now for Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Imitation Game.
The End.
Did you like Best Supporting Actress Nominees? If so, please share:
Get more content like this delivered to your inbox for FREE:
Best Cinematography
Who Will Win: Birdman
Who Should Win: Birdman
Why: Emmanuel Lubezki won last year for Gravity and he’ll win again this year for the stunning world captured with Birdman -- although there could be an upset here with the visually arresting The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Best Editing
Who Will Win: Boyhood
Who Should Win: Boyhood
Why: A lesson in how to seamlessly put together a movie that was filmed over 12 years is what you get when you see Boyhood. How could they not salute that?
Best Director
Who Will Win: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Who Should Win: Alejandro G. Inarritu, Birdman
Why: This one pains us as Richard Linklater is one of our favorite directors and we will delight in him finally getting his hands on an Oscar. But truthfully, the best directing job of the year came from the helmer of Birdman, Inarritu.
Richard Linklater made Boyhood over 12 years with Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as parents of a young man going through Boyhood. It is an astounding effort.
Get more content like this delivered to your inbox for FREE:
Best Documentary Feature
Who Will Win: CITIZENFOUR
Who Should Win: CITIZENFOUR
Why: We all know that the Academy is the firmest of believers in free speech and the Edward Snowden doc CITIZENFOUR could not be more of a celebration of that.
Best Production Design
Who Will Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Who Should Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Why: The meticulous detail that Adam Stockhausen took with Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel is something to behold. And Oscar clearly will reward it.
Best Costume Design
Who Will Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Who Should Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Why: As brilliant as the scenery was in Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, so too were the costumes.
Best Makeup/Hairstyling
Who Will Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Who Should Win: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Why: The Grand Budapest Hotel, besides that screenplay award, is going to win for every category it’s nominated for that deals with the overall texture of the film.
Best Original Score
Who Will Win: The Theory of Everything
Who Should Win: The Theory of Everything
Why: Johann Johannsson has won practically every award along the way for his beautiful score for the Stephen Hawking (love) story. We see no reason why that streak will stop at the Oscars.
Best Original Song
Who Will Win: Glory from Selma
Who Should Win: Glory from Selma
Why: Besides being the best song nominated, the Academy has to find some way to reward this important movie.
Best Sound Editing
Who Will Win: American Sniper
Who Should Win: Interstellar
Why: American Sniper is cut so crisp that we are able to hear each kill shot so impeccably from Chris Kyle that it is almost as if the sound itself was a character. But, what Christopher Nolan did with Interstellar is also impressive. We just think that American Sniper has to win something and this is the category.
Best Sound Mixing
Who Will Win: Whiplash
Who Should Win: Interstellar
Why: Traditionally whoever has won Best Sound Mixing also takes home Sound Editing. They go hand in hand. But this year it will be different because of the unique nature of the film and this category. The sound mixing on the music-heavy Whiplash is something to treasure.
Best Visual Effects
Who Will Win: Interstellar
Who Should Win: Interstellar
Why: Interstellar should inch out a win against those Guardians of the Galaxy. Even though James Gunn’s team created fantastical worlds from scratch, we think the visual mastery of deep space from Christopher Nolan’s team will win the day.
Best Short, Live Action
Who Will Win: Parvaneh
Who Should Win: Parvaneh
Why: It’s simple, Parvaneh won the Student Academy Award and it’s likely to win in the same category in the big leagues.
Best Documentary Short
Who Will Win: Joanna
Who Should Win: Joanna
Why: A film about a dying woman’s last days with her young son? How can the Academy not vote for this tear-jerking gem?
Best Animated Short
Who Will Win: Feast
Who Should Win: Feast
Why: For anyone who has owned a dog, Feast hits home. For everyone else, Feast hits home. It is another stellar piece of animated short film work from Disney, who marveled us with Paperman.
Richard Gere joins the all-star cast, and in this first clip from the John Madden-directed flick, he arrives at the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ready to check in.
Only thing, they are almost at capacity.
But Dev Patel’s hotelier knows full well who Guy Chambers is… and he is going to make room, even if that upsets his fiance.
