Palme d'Or winner The Square with Claes Bang. “Gobsmackingly weird” Cannes Film Festival favorite may have a tough time landing a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award nomination. As an aside, Ruben Östlund's comedy-drama is totally unrelated to Jehane Noujaim's 2013 Oscar-nominated political documentary of the same title, which refers […]

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty. With ten wins – and three nominations – to date, relative film newcomer Jessica Chastain is the top Best Actress pick this awards season for her portrayal of a dogged CIA analyst in Kathryn Bigelow's political thriller Zero Dark Thirty. Initially a TV and […]

Amour with Emmanuelle Riva. Michael Haneke's French-language drama Amour is easily the top Best Foreign Language Film pick this awards season. Strangely, the film's veteran leading man, Jean-Louis Trintignant, hasn't been winning any awards in the U.S.; on the other hand, co-star Emmanuelle Riva has been faring quite well. She has shared […]

Emmanuelle Riva in Amour. Written and directed by Michael Haneke, the French-German-Austrian old-age drama Amour was the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's surprise Best Film winner. Less surprising was 85-year-old veteran Emmanuelle Riva (Hiroshima Mon Amour, Léon Morin Priest) being selected as the year's Best Actress (along with, ahem, Jennifer […]

Amy Adams in The Master. Inspired by the life and times of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master had been touted as one of 2012's top awards season/Oscar contenders until it proved itself a domestic box office misfire in early fall. Even so, The Master is a likely […]

Milla Jovovich Resident Evil: Retribution, Pixar's Finding Nemo 3D underperform at the domestic box office Sept. 16, '12, update: Starring Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil: Retribution topped the North American box office this weekend (Sept. 14-16), taking in $21.1 million (including $665,000 from Thursday midnight screenings) at 3,012 locations according to […]

First of all, I must admit that before watching Walk the Line I knew nothing about Johnny Cash's music. In fact, I used to think of Johnny Cash as a Las Vegas act in the style of Tony Bennett or Neil Diamond. If nothing else, James Mangold's overlong and more […]

Neshoba: The Price of Freedom will have its US theatrical premiere in New York City on Aug. 13 at Cinema Village. Los Angeles will follow suit on Sept. 10. Directed by Micki Dickoff and Tony Pagano, Neshoba: The Price of Freedom delves into both the legacy and the story behind […]

Twiggy in Ken Russell's The Boy Friend (top); Joaquin Phoenix in Ridley Scott's Gladiator (middle); Andrew Marton's Crack in the World, starring Dana Andrews, Janette Scott, Kieron Moore, and Alexander Knox (bottom) Ridley Scott's Oscar-winning Gladiator, Jean Renoir's The River, Ken Russell's The Boy Friend, and Andrew Marton's little-seen Crack […]

Golden Globes vs Oscars: Crash with Thandie Newton and Matt Dillon. A clear Academy favorite – with Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay nominations – Paul Haggis' Los Angeles-set, race-obsessed drama Crash received a mere two Golden Globe nods: Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Matt Dillon. […]