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Biutiful loses out at the Critics Choice Movie Awards

There is order in the universe: the largest critics’ U.S. group, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, agreed with almost all of the smaller critics groups and named “The Social Network” the best film of 2010 at the Critics Choice Movie Awards on Friday night.

The film took home four awards, winning Best Picture and also securing trophies for David Fincher (Best Director), Aaron Sorkin (Best Adapted Screenplay) and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Best Score).

Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”) and Natalie Portman (“Black Swan”) took home honors for lead actor and actress, while “The Fighter” swept the other acting awards: Christian Bale and Melissa Leo won for their supporting roles, while the cast of the David O. Russell film was also named Best Acting Ensemble.

In sheer numbers, the big winner of the night was Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” which took home six awards: Best Action Movie, and a near sweep of technical categories: Best Cinematography, Editing, Art Direction, Sound and Visual Effects.

“Toy Story 3” was named Best Animated Feature, “Easy A” Best Comedy, and “Waiting for ‘Superman'” Best Documentary.

In something of a surprise, the original Swedish version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” was named Best Foreign Language Film over “Biutiful” and “I Am Love.” David Fincher, who was not present at the show to accept his Best Director award, is currently shooting an English-language version.

Most of the top Oscar contenders came out of the evening with their hopes intact. “Social Network” won the big awards; “The Fighter” showed real strength in the acting categories (actors being by far the Academy’s largest branch); “The King’s Speech” picked up an expected win for Firth and a significant one for screenwriter David Seidler; “Black Swan” stayed in the game with Portman’s win; and “Inception” dominated below-the-line categories.

In the CCMA’s sole television category, the miniseries “The Pacific” beat two HBO movies, “You Don’t Know Jack” and “Temple Grandin.”

The awards, which were held at the Hollywood Palladium and broadcast on VH1, are voted on by the approximately 250 members of the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The BFCA includes television, radio and Internet critics.

The Critics Choice Movie Awards are generally a more reliable predictor of the Oscars than the Golden Globes are, matching the Oscar Best Picture winner the last four years in a row and eight of the last 10. (The only mismatches came in 2005 and 2006, when the Oscars chose “Million Dollar Baby” and “Crash” and the critics opted for “Sideways” and “Brokeback Mountain.”) 

Last year, of the 19 categories in which the CCMAs and the Oscars overlap, Critics Choice winners went on to win Academy Awards in 13 of them (including one case where Sandra Bullock won the Oscar and tied with Meryl Streep at the CCMAs).

BEST PICTURE: “The Social Network”
BEST ACTOR: Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech”
BEST ACTRESS: Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christian Bale, “The Fighter”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa Leo, “The Fighter”
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE: “The Fighter”
BEST DIRECTOR: David Fincher, “The Social Network”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: David Seidler, “The King’s Speech”
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Aaron Sorkin,  “The Social Network”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Wally Pfister, “Inception”
BEST ART DIRECTION: Guy Henrix Dyas, “Inception”
BEST EDITING: Lee Smith, “Inception”
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Colleen Atwood, “Alice in Wonderland”
BEST MAKEUP: “Alice in Wonderland”
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: “Inception”
BEST SOUND: “Inception”
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: “Toy Story 3”
BEST ACTION MOVIE: “Inception”
BEST COMEDY: “Easy A”
BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION: “The Pacific”
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: “Waiting for ‘Superman'”
BEST SONG: “If I Rise” from “127 Hours”; music by A.R. Rahman, lyrics by Dido Armstrong and Rollo Armstrong
BEST SCORE: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “The Social Network”

Official picture of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man!

Today I received in my email, a nice little arachnid gift from my contact at Columbia Pictures – the first image of Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man. This is without doubt, one, or if not, the, most anticipated movie photograph of 2011.

A few days ago we posted the first photographs of the set where Garfield and Emma Stone, who plays Gwen Stacy, were kissing. In those pics, Garfield looks happy, excited. But this time, Garfield, I should say Peter Parker, is miserable, sweaty, scratched up and contemplative as he walks through a dark alley. The tone of the picture is bleak and dismal letting us know that the film will not resemble at all a Disney movie. The scratch on the left of Garfield’s face must belong to Dr. Curt Connors a.k.a The Lizard, one of the fiercest archenemies of Spider-Man (that’s our speculation). We think that this photo was taken during, or after the supposed first battle scene with Connors.

The details are slowly being revealed, but the synopsis still remains a secret. On the other hand, don’t even think you’re going to see an official trailer until mid-summer or later this year. The director Marc Webb just started shooting this month and it would be illogical for any visual effects footage to be finished in order to preview already. The poster for the film could very well be this picture, but obviously, with the titles of the film, etc.

The other actors, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Denis Leary, Julianne Nicholson, Scott Campbell, Irrfan Khan and Annie Parisse, will join the film in the coming weeks. The official release in the US of ‘Untitled Spider-Man Reboot’ will be July 3, 2012 in 3D.

Eva Mendes to star in ‘Wrecking Ball’

Eva Mendes is set to star in Wrecking Ball, the directorial debut of Beatrice Letterier. She is the wife of Louis Letterier, director of The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk and Clash of the Titans.

The film, described as a “dramatic comedy” which involves a fractious Christmas family reunion, and a secret to which a five-year-old girl holds the key.

Beatrice isn’t exactly a newbie behind the camera; she’s been directing commercials and music videos in Europe for some years now. Wrecking Ball is her first attempt at full-length though, but whether or not it also constitutes a first giant step across the Atlantic remains to be seen: it’s unclear so far whether this is a Hollywood project, or a European one that’s bagged an American star.

Mendes is thought to be playing a mother, but again, whether that’s the mother of the five-year-old or one matriarch among several in a large family, is yet to be revealed. The source suggests it’s a role with some dramatic heft to it which she has portryaed in Bad Lieutenant and We Own the Night.

Mendes is the first star attached, but it’s thought that her presence will help the film gain momentum. Expect further developments before too long.

The Social Network

Rated: PG-13 for sexual content, drug and alcohol use and language.
Release Date: 2010-10-01
Starring: Aaron Sorkin, Ben Mezrich
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com/

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Although ‘The Social Network‘ isn’t a masterpiece, this film will undoubtedly be the film that defines our generation. Each decade had a film that captured the zeitgeist of the times such as ‘Saturday Night Fever‘ in the 70’s, ‘The Breakfast Club‘ in the 80’s and ‘Reality Bites‘ in the 90’s. ‘The Social Network’, based on the origins of Facebook.com, the popular global social network, possesses clever dialogue, entertaining performances, and a captivating and inspiring story that draws you in. Director David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benajmin Button, Fight Club, Panic Room) and writer Aaron Sorkin‘s brilliant script have created a biopic that will easily be nominated for several Oscars including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.

The plot is about the origins of Facebook, through conflicting viewpoints of two of the most intelligent young people who claim to have been there at the moment of its conception – Mark Zuckerberg and the Brazilian financier Eduardo Saverin. The result is a drama full of creation and destruction, intentionally avoiding having a single point of view. The characters are Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg), the brilliant Harvard student who designed a site that seemed to redefine the social fabric of our days overnight, Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), who used to be the best friend of Zuckerberg and provided the money to start the new company, the founder of Napster, Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), who led Facebook to venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, and the Winklevoss twins (Armie Hammer) who claim that their idea was stolen are suing Zuckerberg for their intellectual property. But the chaos of creation leads to conflicting passions about how it all happened and who deserves recognition for what is  clearly is the most important idea of the century. Tensions reign that divides friends and unleash legal action.

I must say that the real magic of the film does not come from the actors but from Fincher and screenwriter Sorkin. Fincher’s direction is refreshingly consistent. He has always been obsessed with antisocial and rebellious characters, but now, in mid-career, he has become more subtle, more eloquent in their arcs, both comic and tragic. Sorkin on the other hand, is a master of the written word. His script is smart, witty and absorbing. He made an impressive amount of research to get to the core of the story. He read legal statements, court documents, which offered the best possible material. The only thing that could be a detriment to the film is that it might have felt long in some parts.

Among the performances, actor Armie Hammer impressed. His role was a tough one. He played the Winklevoss twins – by himself (courtesy of special effects). Two of the best lines in the film, and perhaps of the year, were delivered by him. Another one that stands out is Jesse Eisenberg, who has undoubtedly done the best work of his career. His role as Zuckerberg – full of awkward moments, quick and extended philosophical monologues – was fierce, sad and brave. Basically, he gave us a soup of personalities and emotions that ultimately proved difficult to decipher – was Zuckerberg a hero or a villain?

Many are curious to know how things went with Justin Timberlake. I say this with all sincerity, he wasn’t so bad. The role fit him like a glove. His performance did not cause any kind of hysteria in the theater I saw it in – unlike his musical performances. His performance is modest at best, nothing to criticize.

Our new Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield, who played Eduardo Saverin, shows that has the acting chops to become an excellent actor for years to come.

I’m sure you’ll like ‘The Social Network’. Why? Because it moves quickly, no scene is wasted, the theme is current and compelling, the performances are magnetic and riveting and the dialogue is engrossing and unforgettable. What more do you want from a film!

Video: Seth Rogen wants to do ‘Knocked Up 2’

The mere idea of Seth Rogen being a part of a sequel to any of his movies sounds a bit too sudden. I mean his first real movie was ‘40 Year Old Virgin’ in 2005. Nevertheless, that is exactly what he might be doing in July of this year on the set of Judd Apatow’s ‘Knocked Up 2.’

Rogen was in New York to promote ‘The Green Hornet’, his new movie about a rich playboy who fights crime and injustice with Kato, his masked sidekick. I had a chance to chat with him, and of course, ask him about Apatow’ sequel to ‘Knocked Up’ with Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann (Apatow’s wife) as the leads. Is Rogen to be part of the cast? Was he coming back with Heigl? If he does return, would it be a cameo? To clear up the uncertainty in the air, I asked him if he would be a part of the sequel.

“It’s a good question,” said Rogen. “I just heard about myself. He mentioned it to me, like a year ago maybe, that he was gonna start writing it, but I literally haven’t talked to him about it in any way.”

When I asked if he wanted to do it regardless of not having official talks with Apatow so far, he said yes. “Yeah, I would like to, why not, I’ve done anything Judd asks”.

Tell us what you’d like to see from a ‘Knocked Up’ sequel in the comments section below and on our Twitter!