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The first major awards show of the season is just weeks away. On Friday, January 15, the 15th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards will be broadcast live on VH1 at 9:00 PM ET/PT. This week the nominees were announced.
The Broadcast Film Critics Association, the largest movie critics organization in the United States and Canada, bestows the awards. Nominees, especially winners, often bring home Academy Awards. Here is a glimpse at the best of the batch — movies that have earned an 85+ rating.
Posted 12.17.09 by reelz -
| Title | Weekend | Total | Analysis |
| The Princess and the Frog | $25.0M | $27.9M | Disney 2-D animated pic easily wins very slow box-office weekend. |
| The Blind Side | $15.5M | $150.2M | Audiences still crazy for this feel-good sports drama in its 4th week of release. |
| Invictus | $9.1M | $9.1M | Critically acclaimed pic starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon lands in theaters with a thud. |
| The Twilight Saga: New Moon | $8.0M | $267.4M | Vampire epic losing steam fast but now #5 earner for 2009. |
| A Christmas Carol | $6.9M | $124.5M | We're pretty sure this Jim Carrey X-mas pic has set some kind of record for number of weeks in Top 5. |
Bomb of the Week: Invictus is directed by Clint Eastwood, stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, and is being mentioned as a possible Best Picture contender, but the South African-based storyline is apparently turning off moviegoers as it didn't even make $10M in wide release.
Posted 12.13.09 by reelz -
Disney looks to have a hit on its hands with a combination of old-school animation and a new-school princess.
"Funny, inspiring and gorgeously rendered, The Princess and the Frog is an instant classic."
— Dezhda Gaubert, E! Online
"...an old-fashioned charmer..."
— Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
"...the film positively overflows with color and life, and movement and characters and slapstick and music, too..."
— Jesse Hassenger, filmcritic.com
"...there's more than enough magic in The Princess and the Frog to enchant an entirely new generation of Disney fans and their parents. Tiana is a worthy addition to the Princess Hall of Fame."
— Lou Lumenick, New York Post
"...what a pleasure, after a season of bland computer-generated tales, to be swept up in the visual magic of The Princess and the Frog, the two-dimensional, handsomely hand-drawn feature that is classic, whimsical Disney."
— Claudia Puig, USA Today
Posted 11.25.09 by reelz -
Earlier today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced the list of 20 animated movies that will be considered for nomination at the Oscars, which air March 7, 2010.
The Best Animated Feature category traditionally consists of three nominees. (We should add that the use of the "traditionally" is kind of funny, considering the category is less than 10 years old). But according to Academy rules, if at least 16 movies are submitted for consideration, then the number of nominees increases to five.
Among the potential contenders already released are Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Coraline, Disney's A Christmas Carol, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Monsters vs Aliens, Ponyo, and Up. Also being considered are several titles yet to be released, such as Fantastic Mr. Fox, Planet 51, and The Princess and the Frog.
Although it's not likely, there is a slight chance the whole five-nominee thing might not happen. Variety cites the fact that for a title to qualify, a print of the movie must first be submitted to the Academy by this coming Monday. In addition, a movie can be disqualified simply on the basis of bad quality. The nominating committee has to confirm each of the 20 entries by awarding each a score of at least 7.5 (on a scale of 6 to 10). Titles falling below that range will not be eligible for competition.
Posted 11.11.09 by reelz -
Several new teasers and one-sheets have been released to get movie watchers hyped up about fall and winter releases.
Director Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus gets the deluxe treatment in a new teaser poster featuring the late Heath Ledger, as well as Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, and ... floating heads? The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus opens December 25.
Lionsgate serves up a dose of "Nazi horror" with the obscure Blood Creek, by director Joel Schumacher. Blood Creek stars Dominic Purcell and Michael Fassbender and recently opened in select theaters.
And, if you're looking for something on the lighter side, there's Disney's return to animated 2-D, The Princess and the Frog, about a young girl (Princess Tiana) living in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the Jazz Age. The Princess and the Frog features the voices of Terrence Howard, John Goodman, and Oprah Winfrey and opens December 11.
Posted 09.28.09 by BrentJS -
Disney just released a new featurette to promote its upcoming The Princess and the Frog, due in theaters December 11. The movie's animators discuss the development of the villain, Dr. Facilier, who is voiced by Keith David.
Posted 08.25.09 by reelz -
The new official trailer for Disney's The Princess and the Frog -- due in theaters this December -- is now available on Disney's official site. The movie is an adaptation of the familiar frog-into-prince fairy tale and the first traditionally drawn animated movie released by Disney in five years.
It's in 1920s New Orleans, and why a prince and princess would exist in this time and place is beyond us. In addition, Dixieland's burgeoning jazz scene is represented by music from ... Randy Newman?? It makes sense that they'd choose Newman for the score, since he grew up in New Orleans. But he's more pop than jazz, and his music certainly doesn't sound anything like the jazz of the '20s, which you can sample here and here.
You can also catch the trailer in theaters on May 29 ahead of Pixar's Up, or on YouTube:
Posted 05.11.09 by reelz -
Anika Noni Rose, who played Lorrell in Dreamgirls, has signed on to be the voice of Tiana, the main character in Disney's upcoming animated feature The Princess and the Frog, Variety is reporting.
The Princess and the Frog has already achieved note as it will be the first Disney cartoon movie to feature a black princess. Rose's character is a princess who lives in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Posted 05.24.07 by reelz