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Which of this year's directors deserve the industry’s highest honor?
No one was too surprised when French director Michel Hazanavicius and his (mostly) silent film The Artist practically swept the Academy Awards last year or when British director Tom Hooper's The King's Speech did the same the year before. This year, however, there are no "sure thing" movies, with several being heralded as "brilliant," "masterful," and "the best movie of the year" by critics...until the next great movie comes along.
Several Oscar-winning directors — including two-time Best Director winner Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan) and Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to win Best Director — are among this year's contenders, but they are up against stiff competition from upstart indie directors who helped to make this one of the best years for independent movies in recent memory and the genre movie directors who gave us superheroes, wizards and time travelers as compelling as the special effects that blew our minds. We won't know which directors the Academy will nominate until the middle of January, but we want to know who you, the moviegoers, think deserves the industry's highest honor.
Top 10 Most Oscar-Worthy Directors of 2012 >>
Posted 12.12.12 by BrentJS -
Which Director is Strongest With the Force?
Like many Star Wars fans, it took us a while to process the news that the creator and caretaker of the greatest sci-fi epic of all time, George Lucas, had sold Lucasfilm Ltd. to Disney. And, as if that news wasn't momentous enough, Disney concurrently announced that plans were already underway for an all-new Star Wars movie, a sequel to the original trilogy that would likely be the first movie in a new trilogy.
Minds thoroughly blown, we started to think about the future of the franchise. Jar Jar Binks and Hayden Christensen's horrible acting had really hurt the prequel trilogy and Lucas' constant meddling with the original trilogy tested our faith in ol' grey beard even further. With Lucas out of the picture, could the franchise regain its former glory?
In the days following the announcement, it was revealed that Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) had been hired to write the screenplay for Star Wars: Episode VII, while rumors continue to swirl that Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) is in the running to direct. Do you think that Vaughn is the right man for the job or would you like to see J.J. Abrams (Star Trek), Jon Favreau (Cowboys & Aliens) or someone else direct? Who do you think has the vision to chart the course of the future of the Star Wars franchise?
Rate the Top 10 Best Directors To Helm Star Wars: Episode VII >>
Posted 11.13.12 by BrentJS -
By the numbers: 50 years, 23 movies, 6 James Bonds, 100% awesome
covering the new classicsWeeknights after the movies
Posted 10.26.12 by BrentJS -
One of the characteristics of the movies based on Sir Ian Fleming's classic British super secret agent, James Bond, is how international they are in scope. Each installment takes us on an exotic journey to far-off locales as 007 circles the globe on the hunt for international terrorists and evil masterminds. The 23rd James Bond movie, Skyfall, is no exception, with the opening, pre-credits sequence of the movie finding Bond (Daniel Craig) racing through the streets of Istanbul, Turkey. A new featurette has just been released that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the "very ambitious opening action sequence," with commentary from director Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road), Craig and Naomie Harris, who plays MI6 field agent Eve.
watch the new featurette >> Posted 09.11.12 by BrentJS -
You can't take the London out of James Bond and based on a new behind-the-scenes-look at Skyfall, you can't take James Bond out of London. Director Sam Mendes, Judi Dench (M), and Bond himself, Daniel Craig, talk about shooting 007's latest adventure in the English capital.
The clip shows how much access Mendes got to shoot in London where they shot scenes at some of the city's most iconic locations, including Whitehall and the London Underground. Like Craig says, London is Bond's home. Much of the plot of Skyfall has been kept under wraps but we do know Bond's loyalty to M is tested when her past comes back to haunt her.
More Bond Behind-the-Scenes Weekdays 5:30p ET / 2:30p PT
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See, James Bond fans, we told you not to fret. Just because Skyfall will see 007 (Daniel Craig) cruising around in a Range Rover Evoque and racing through the streets of Istanbul on a Honda CRF250R motorcycle, that doesn't mean that director Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road) has trash-canned Bond's history of driving classy cars. In fact, the classic Aston Martin DB5 will make its fifth appearance in a James Bond movie in Skyfall, an inclusion that Mendes reveals in a new video blog about the movie was a "thematic" decision, about tying together "the old and the new."
watch the new Skyfall video blog >> Posted 07.20.12 by BrentJS -
Sony Pictures has released online the first trailer for the long-awaited 23rd James Bond movie, Skyfall, in advance of its first public screening at the Cannes Film Festival later today. The new trailer includes only a minute of footage from Skyfall, but it has everything we've come to expect from 007 movies — action, intrigue, beautiful women, exotic locations, and more action — without spoiling the plot of the movie or even clearly showing Bond's (Daniel Craig) latest nemesis, Silva (Javier Bardem).
Directed by Sam Mendes (Jarhead), Skyfall was written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and John Logan. The cast includes Dame Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Albert Finney, Helen McCrory, Rory Kinnear, and Bérénice Marlohe.
watch the trailer >> Posted 05.21.12 by BrentJS -
There's been plenty of secrecy surrounding Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond movie. What we do know is that Daniel Craig will once again play 007 and that, this time, Bond will see loyalty to M (Judi Dench) tested when her past comes back to haunt her — which could mean anything. We also know that director Sam Mendes (Jarhead) thinks Javier Bardem's character will be considered a "classic Bond villain." After that, the wheels fall off the bus.
Simplistic as it may be, the teaser poster for Skyfall gives a small clue as to what to expect as it depicts Craig walking down the classic gun barrel motif that has been a hallmark of the franchise since it first appeared in the opening credits of 1962's Dr. No. Much like Mendes' description of Bardem's villain, Skyfall may be trying to be more like the James Bond movies of the past and less like the less-traditional reboot of 2006's Casino Royale.
see the full poster >> Posted 05.17.12 by Ryan -
Another new production video has been released online for the 23rd James Bond movie, Skyfall, which manages to reveal plenty of behind-the-scenes footage without spoiling the movie's secretive plot.
Focused on the movie's elaborate production design, the video shows off the elaborate set designs created by Academy Award-winning production designer Dennis Gassner (Bugsy), who also worked on Skyfall's predecessor, 2008's Quantum of Solace. Judi Dench is also interviewed and discusses the feeling of working on the Gassner's detail-oriented sets, including one set in an underground office, while more of the movie's Shanghai sets, revealed in a previous production blog.
watch the video and read Sam Mendes' comments about Bardem >> Posted 05.05.12 by Ryan -
Fans of James Bond are going to love the first videoblog from Skyfall, especially if they also like director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Jarhead). Mendes discusses his focus while working on a movie like Skyfall, and why he was interested in working on a James Bond movie in the first place.
If you're expecting the videoblog to fill in some of the questions about the plot of the 23rd movie featuring Agent 007, though, think again. While we learn that Bond's loyalty to M (Judi Dench) is tested when her past comes back to haunt her, no other plot clues are revealed. But it does show Mendes and star Daniel Craig on the same neon-lit set that was the background of the movie's most recent photo.
watch the video >> Posted 02.22.12 by Ryan