Academy Awards

5 things I found incredible about Interstellar

Posted on by Late Night

Yes, this is actually a kickass sci-fi movie. And a father-daughter tearjerker too.

Okay, Christopher Nolan is back in my good graces. I’ve been seeing the trailer for Interstellar seemingly all year, and started to get worried that it might be overpromising a good time. Turns out I was worrying in vain, as this movie rocks its socks off. This is the science fiction/space exploration/save the world/time travel action/adventure everyone has been waiting for. Nolan delivers big time with this one.

Even though I’ve been a big fan since Memento, I was seriously ready to cast Nolan into the Closet of Hacks after the deep disappointment of that logical mess of a movie, The Dark Knight Whatever.

First the trailer (and believe me, this trailer barely scratches the surface of what the film actually shows) and then my 5 incredible things after the jump:

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Prometheus… A Return to Form for Sir Ridley?

Posted on by Mr Ridley

Ridley Scott

A king has his reign, and then he dies – it’s inevitable. ~ Prometheus

After months of teasing and taunting, Ridley Scott’s latest film, Prometheus, lands in theaters this week.  The legendary filmmaker has been directing features for over 30 years, but his recent output has been less than stellar. 

Is Prometheus a return to form for Sir Ridley?

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Review: Joe Wright’s Hanna

Posted on by Mr Ridley

Joe Wright: Visionary?

Director Joe Wright’s Hanna is a stylish suspense thriller, which re-invents the story of the rogue assassin. 

Wright is the talented filmmaker behind 2007’s Atonement, which was nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress Oscars (Saoirse Ronan, who also plays Hanna’s title character).  Hanna may include familiar plot points of the modern-day thriller, but its execution is anything but typical. 

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Sidney Lumet, Visionary: 1924 – 2011

Posted on by Late Night

 

Visionary: Sidney Lumet

Prolific director Sidney Lumet is dead, may he rest in peace.

Despite his success in film making, Lumet never won an Oscar.  From the SF Gate article:

His actors, with whom he always rehearsed for at least two weeks before starting production, were nominated for 17 Oscars for their performances in his films; several, including Faye Dunaway and Ingrid Bergman, won. The director was, in four nominations, always shut out until he was given a lifetime achievement award in 2005.

“I guess I’d like to thank the movies,” the director said in accepting the award.

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David O. Russell on having a vision

Posted on by Late Night

In the Lobby: David O. Russell

Check out what Russell has to say to Moving Pictures Network:

I think being a community organizer and an activist, which I was, and being a writer, which I’ve always been, is all about having a vision. If you have a vision, you get to lead the parade. People want that. They want someone decisive. They can have their opinions and their creative input and their collaboration, but people need — and they want — a decisive arbiter, someone steering the ship. There’s nothing worse than when you can’t smell the vision.

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