Rise of the Planet of the Apes
12.13.2011 | By Jack Rico |
12.13.2011 | By Alex Florez |
With a stunning backdrop of the Manhattan Skyline, 67 year old pianist Monty Alexander took center stage Saturday night hoping to wind back the clock and turn Jazz at Lincoln Center into Jilly’s Saloon, a famed Rat Pack hangout of the 1960s.
Accompanied by a group of masterful musicians and vocalists, Alexander paid tribute to his heroes Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole in a cabaret-like show with American standards such as “Come Fly With Me”, “My Kind of Town” and “L-O-V-E.”
For the role of Old Blue Eyes, Alexander enlisted 22 year-old baritone James DeFrances while tapping charismatic jazz artist Allan Harris to play the “King.” Both traded classics and made for a “swinging session,” but the real delight here was the show’s supporting cast.
Blues guitarist Russell Malone’s haunting solo rendition of “Where or When” might have easily stolen the show. It was the one interpretation of the night that seemed entirely heartfelt and evocative of the nostalgia Alexander was looking to capture with this concert series. Also impressive was percussionist Bobby Thomas Jr., who seemed to hypnotize the audience every time he was given the spotlight.
Alexander’s appreciation for the music of Sinatra and Cole is sincere, and for jazz lovers the tunes are timeless and a joy to experience live – especially by such a talented bunch. But somewhere a note is missed when trying to strike the right tone.
While DeFrances holds his own as a singer, he underwhelms as a performer – never quite looking comfortable with the rest of the group. That, is not how we all remember the Chairman of the Board. Thankfully, Harris picks up the slack with his exuberance and Alexander’s anecdotes serve as a reminder that he himself is a direct link to the Rat Pack era.
12.12.2011 | By Karen Posada |
The romantic comedy ‘New Year’s Eve’ took the first place in the box office this weekend, with a high sum in the United States of $13.7mil and $26.6 mil world-wide, although the number of movie goers in the United States is at its lowest in three years.
Jonah Hill’s comedy where he plays the role of a babysitter, ‘The Sitter’ followed with $10millions.
Lastly, ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part I’ went to the third spot after it was in first place for the last three weekends, it accumulated $7.9 million dollars in dim ticket sales.
The top 10 movies in the box office are:
1. ‘New Year’s Eve’ -$13.7millon
2. ‘The Sitter’- $10mil
3. ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1’- $7.9 mil
4. ‘The Muppets’ – $7.1mil
5. ‘Arthur Christmas’ $6.6mil
6.’Hugo’-$6.1mil
7. ‘The Descendants’ -$4.8mil
8. ‘Happy Feet Two’ -$ 3.7mil
9.’Jack and Jill’ -$3.2mil
10. ‘Immortals’ – $2.4mil
12.12.2011 | By Karen Posada |
Karen Posada kicks back with two of the greatest living actors in England – Gary Oldman and Colin Flirth – to chat about their new spy thriller ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’. (Warning: you might just end up talking Spanglish with an English accent after viewing!)
Synopsis: In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6’s echelons. Read More
12.11.2011 | By Jack Rico |
The digital film organization that I am a member of, the NYFCO (New York Film Critics Online), voted today for the best of the best in film for 2011.
There were some surprises for me, in particular, the animated category. I voted for Rango as the best, but the rest of my collegues felt strongly for Spielberg’s Tintin. I agree that on a visual, Tintin is extraordinary, but as a whole movie, the film dragged to point of boredom. Rango was intellectual, funny, unique, and had very adult themes.
Also interesting was Michael Shannon for ‘Take Shelter’ in the Best Actor category. He wasn’t a favorite, but nevertheless, I’m happy he took the award as opposed to undeserved Clooney. Shannon is one hell of an actor. He was excellent in Revolutionary Road and was the best part of The Runaways. He should’ve been nominated for Best Supporting actor at the Oscars in 2010.
So many more deserved and surprising moments such as Melissa McCarthy for ‘Bridesmaids’ over Octavia Spencer from ‘The Help’ in the Supporting Actress category. Read on and enjoy the beauty that is film criticism during award season.
BEST FILM
“The Artist”
TOP PICTURES OF 2011 (alphabetical)
“The Artist” (The Weinstein Company)
“The Descendants” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
“Drive” (Film District)
“The Help” (Walt Disney Pictures)
“Hugo” (Paramount Pictures)
“Melancholia” (Magnolia Pictures)
“Midnight in Paris” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Take Shelter” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The Tree of Life” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
“War Horse” (Dreamworks Pictures)
DIRECTOR
Michael Hazanavicius for “The Artist”
ACTOR
Michael Shannon for “Take Shelter”
ACTRESS
Meryl Streep for “The Iron Lady”
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Albert Brooks for “Drive”
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Melissa McCarthy for “Bridesmaids”
CINEMATOGRAPHY
“The Tree of Life” – Emmanuel Lubezki
SCREENPLAY
“The Descendants” – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE
“A Separation”
DOCUMENTARY
“Cave of Forgotten Dreams”
ANIMATED FEATURE
“The Adventures of Tin Tin”
USE OF MUSIC
“The Artist” – Ludovic Bource
BREAKOUT PERFORMER
Jessica Chastain for “The Tree of Life, “The Help,”The Debt,” “Take Shelter”
DEBUT AS DIRECTOR
Joe Cornish for “Attack the Block”
ENSEMBLE CAST
“Bridesmaids”
12.7.2011 | By Karen Posada |
There’s not much to expect from ‘New Year’s Eve’, unfortunately this movie with so many well known actors doesn’t have much to give; not even entertainment value. I can’t help but compare it with Garry Marshall’s ‘Valentine’s Day’, the director used the exact same recipe here: tie in about 7 stories and try to use some humor along with drama on the biggest holiday of the year. It’s tough to get the audience to care about a character with so many things going on and so many stories to follow, you don’t get much of a background on the characters and just when you are starting to get into one of the stories it changes to the next one. The biggest star in the movie is of course New York City, a place where the holidays; New Year’s Eve in particular is like no other.
The film is an analogy to new beginnings, looking back in the past and pushing the rewind button to not make the same mistakes and to accomplish the resolutions we procrastinated on. The only story that has a little substance is that of Ingrid (Michelle Pfeiffer) a woman who has followed the same routine for years and worked endlessly without being appreciated until one day she decides to change it all and we have a little fun with her exploring NYC. We basically follow around the whole cast as they prepare for midnight, some are anxious about their midnight kiss, others are anti-holiday, others are nostalgic about the year that has passed and others are too busy working to care about the holiday. The love stories are predictable and boring, there are some minor twists but not exiting enough to improve the movie.
The audience was surprised with some guest appearances, but we already had enough of a cast for me to find it necessary. The Hispanics in the movie Ava (Sofia Vergara) and Kominsky (Hector Elizondo) have small supporting roles, Vergara plays the exact same character she does in her hit show ‘Modern Family’ with awkward anecdotes and childish behavior, who knows if they’ll ever cast her as something besides a stereotype. Elizondo is always a Marshall aka the help, so no surprise there.
A 2 hour-long movie of running around is exhaustingly boring, the movie has a nice (not original) concept but it’s not enough. I’m not sure how I feel seeing Academy Award winners such as Halle Berry and Hilary Swank in such petty roles that seem to be for amateurs. The only thing this movie inspired in me is a curiosity to actually be crazy enough to see the ball drop live in Times Square and I enjoyed recognizing the different sights in NYC, such as Smith Street in Brooklyn towards the end of the film.
12.2.2011 | By Jack Rico |
*Updated December 2025
In what can be considered one of the most intense films of the year, Shame, from director Steve McQueen, will make you reanalyze your opinion about sexual addiction. Michael Fassbender’s acting can only be considered brilliant, and his chance of being nominated for an Oscar is almost guaranteed. The film pushes the boundaries of nudity to levels of high discomfort for the usual moviegoer, and because of this, for those that go to see it, I suggest you keep an open mind free of judgments. Read More
11.29.2011 | By Karen Posada |
There are so many spy films out there that in order to appreciate a new one it has to have an element very few offer, ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ has it but not enough to entertain for more than an hour. The movie does well in drawing in the audience with its retro look and mysterious scenes but its game of cat and mouse starts getting boring. The fine acting in it gives it appeal as well as the fact that it’s based on a continuous successful story: John Le Carré’s book and TV miniseries from the 70’s.
Le Carré gave director Thomas Alfredson his blessing to create his own version of this well-known story, he told him “Please don’t shoot the book or remake the TV miniseries. They already exist.” The story is about discovering a mole that has infiltrated the English Secret Intelligence Services’ most secure circle referred to as “the circus”; it is set in 1973 during the Cold War. This was a period where the whole world was shaking with uncertainty and none trusted their own shadow. The director did an excellent job setting the piece in the 70’s it could be easily mistaken for something done in the era with the sepia colors, fashion and environment.
The story begins with a secret job done by Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) gone wrong and it opens up a whole can of worms. This incident puts George Smiley (Gary Oldman) into forced retirement, which he then is pulled out of in order to find the double agent inside the agency working for the soviets. Smiley works off the list of 5 men the head of the Circus “Control” had pinned down when he still worked for the service. These are all men Smiley has known most of his career: Percy Alleline (Toby Jones) code named Tinker, Bill Haydon (Colin Firth) known as Tailor, Roy Bland (Ciarán Hinds) nicknamed Soldier, Toby Esterhase (David Denick) and the last man on Control’s list is Smiley himself. Smiley is the perfect spy he blends in and is hard to notice at the beginning of the film where he barely utters a word, but as the film develops we see the beauty of Oldman’s acting while he gets help from the only two men he can trust Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) who shows up unexpectedly asking for help in exchange of information and Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch) an agent eager to learn.
It is said Le Carré’s story was so successful back in the 70’s because the Cold War and espionage was something many people could relate to at the time, so hearing a real spy tell his stories was worth seeing. The same can be said of this film because Oldman does an excellent job to try to involve us in the story but there are elements in the movie that confuse and bore us. The technique of flashbacks is used a lot throughout the narration, which works, but when we have continuous flashbacks and back and forth opinions on who might be the mole it just starts getting unappealing. There is more than one interesting story tying the movie together but by the time we finally find out who the mole is we no longer care and we forgot what information was even given to the other side to feel relieved.
It is refreshing to see a movie involving spies that doesn’t have much action or gore, with a few scenes in exception. Unfortunately though I think we have become accustomed to a small dosage of either or both in order to enjoy a good story. I see this more as a movie to pop in on a lazy Sunday as long as you are feeling awake enough to try to follow all the twists and chatter to figure out who the mole is. PS. Look out for Oldman’s favorite scene that he told us about in our interview, where he does a long monologue without the help of flashbacks a fine piece of acting!
11.29.2011 | By Jack Rico |
Mexican actor Demián Bichir and the half-Dominican, half-Puerto Rican transgender actress Harmony Santana have been nominated for awards at the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The films they represent are ‘A Better Life’ and ‘Gun Hill Road’, respectively.
Also, if you’re just becoming curious on what films are creating buzz in Hollywood come awards season, check out the rest of the nominations:
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer, Executive Producers are not listed)
50/50 Producers: Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin, Seth Rogen
Beginners Producers: Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Jay Van Hoy
Drive Producers: Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel
Take Shelter Producers: Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin
The Artist Producer: Thomas Langmann
The Descendants Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Mike Mills – Beginners
Jeff Nichols – Take Shelter
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive
BEST SCREENPLAY
Joseph Cedar – Footnote
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Tom McCarthy – Win Win
Mike Mills – Beginners
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash – The Descendants
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
Another Earth Director: Mike Cahill
Producers: Mike Cahill, Hunter Gray, Brit Marling, Nicholas Shumaker
In the Family Director: Patrick Wang
Producers: Robert Tonino, Andrew van den Houten, Patrick Wang
Margin Call Director: J.C. Chandor
Producers: Robert Ogden Barnum, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Joe Jenckes, Corey Moosa, Zachary Quinto
Martha Marcy May Marlene Director: Sean Durkin
Producers: Antonio Campos, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Josh Mond
Natural Selection Director: Robbie Pickering
Producers: Brion Hambel, Paul Jensen
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Mike Cahill, Brit Marling Another Earth
J.C. Chandor – Margin Call
Patrick deWitt – Terri
Phil Johnston – Cedar Rapids
Will Reiser – 50/50
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director, and producer. Executive Producers are not listed
Bellflower Writer/Director: Evan Glodell
Producers: Evan Glodell, Vincent Grashaw
Circumstance Writer/Director: Maryam Keshavarz
Producers: Karin Chien, Maryam Keshavarz, Melissa M. Lee
Hello Lonesome Writer/Director/Producer: Adam Reid
Pariah Writer/Director: Dee Rees
Producer: Nekisa Cooper
The Dynamiter Writer: Brad Inglesby
Director: Matthew Gordon
Producers: Kevin Abrams, Matthew Gordon, Merilee Holt, Art Jones, Mike Jones, Nate Tuck, Amile Wilson
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Lauren Ambrose – Think of Me
Rachael Harris – Natural Selection
Adepero Oduye – Pariah
Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn
BEST MALE LEAD
Demián Bichir – A Better Life
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Ryan Gosling – Drive
Woody Harrelson – Rampart
Michael Shannon – Take Shelter
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Jessica Chastain – Take Shelter
Anjelica Huston – 50/50
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Harmony Santana – Gun Hill Road
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Albert Brooks – Drive
John Hawkes – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
John C. Reilly – Cedar Rapids
Corey Stoll – Midnight in Paris
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Joel Hodge – Bellflower
Benjamin Kasulke – The Off Hours
Darius Khondji – Midnight in Paris
Guillaume Schiffman – The Artist
Jeffrey Waldron – The Dynamiter
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
An African Election Director/Producer: Jarreth Merz
Bill Cunningham New York Director: Richard Press
Producer: Philip Gefter
The Interrupters Director/Producer: Steve James
Producer: Alex Kotlowitz
The Redemption of General Butt Naked Director/Producers: Eric Strauss, Daniele Anastasion
We Were Here Director/Producer: David Weissman
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
A Separation
(Iran) Director: Asghar Farhadi
Melancholia
(Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany) Director: Lars von Trier
Shame
(UK) Director: Steve McQueen
The Kid With a Bike
(Belgium/France/Italy) Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Tyrannosaur
(UK) Director: Paddy Considine
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 15th annual Piaget Producers Award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.
Chad Burris Mosquita y Mari
Sophia Lin Take Shelter
Josh Mond Martha Marcy May Marlene
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 18th annual Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
Simon Arthur Silver Tongues
Mark Jackson Without
Nicholas Ozeki Mamitas
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 17th annual Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
Heather Courtney Where Soldiers Come From
Danfung Dennis Hell and Back Again
Alma Har’el Bombay Beach
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
Margin Call Director: J.C. Chandor
Casting Director: Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey
Ensemble Cast: Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci
