Sriram Raghawan is back. Back with Agent Vinod. Director Sriram Raghawan releases te trailer of new Saif Ali Khan & Kareena Kapoor starrer Agent Vinod. Dark Hunour, Punches, kicks, uppercuts. This movie looks to have everything. The long-delayed Saif Ali Khan production venture has been completed finally and the film will release on March 23. Looks a lot of Bond-ish style but I am looking forward to this. Check out the trailer here-
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So the time has arrived. The nominations are out and the stage is set for the Academy Awards. The Academy Awards ceremony will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, hosted by Billy Crystal.
Martin Scorsese’s 3D movie “Hugo” earned 11 nominations, whereas “The Descendants” is considered to be the other top awards contender of the show. One of the most surprising Best Picture nomination was of ”Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” Stephen Daldry-directed adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel about a boy who goes on a search for a secret left by a father that died on 9/11. The film was shut out of the Golden Globes. Max von Sydow earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. ”Young Adult,” the Diablo Cody-scripted, Jason Reitman scripted dark comedy, was shut out entirely. Star Charlize Theron was nominated for a Golden Globe, while co-star Patton Oswalt was favored to get an Oscar bid for Best Supporting Actor. Tilda Swinton, heavily favored to get a Best Actress nomination, was snubbed of recognition for her haunting turn in “We Need To Talk About Kevin. ”Drive,” the Nicolas Winding-Refn directed LA street noir film, was shut out of the big awards, with Best Supporting Actor favorite Albert Brooks getting snubbed.
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” did very well during the Oscar nominations, scoring nods for Best Actress (Rooney Mara), Best Cinematography and Best Editing. but no nomination in Best Director for David Fincher, in spite of Fincher’s nomination from the Directors Guild of America. And why No Best Director nomination for Steven Spielberg??
But this years Oscars gave us a couple of surprises. Adventures of Tintin not receiving that many nominations as it should have not even in the Animated category. One which they very much deserved. . Ryan Gosling didn’t get the much anticipated nomination. Jonah Hill & Nick Nolte gets surprise nominations where as Michael Fassbender didn’t get any nomination at all. And ya what about J.Edgar team???
This year’s nominations gave us a number of surprises. Lets see if we get more during the Awards. Here are the list of nominations
Best Picture:
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“Moneyball”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”
Best Actor:
Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Jean Dujarin, “The Artist”
Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”
Best Actress:
Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams, “My Week with Marilyn”
Best Supporting Actor:
Kenneth Branagh, “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Best Supporting Actress:
Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
Best Directing:
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”
Best Foreign Language Film:
“Bullhead” (Belgium)
“Footnote” (Israel)
“In Darkness” (Poland)
“Monsieur Lazhar” (Canada)
“A Separation” (Iran)
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
John Logan, “Hugo”
George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, “The Ides of March”
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, “Moneyball”
Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Best Original Screenplay:
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”
J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation”
Best Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Kung Fu Panda 2″
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”
Best Art Direction:
“The Artist”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“War Horse”
Best Cinematography:
“The Artist”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”
Best Sound Mixing:
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”
Best Sound Editing:
“Drive”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”
Best Original Score:
“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams
“The Artist,” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo,” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse,” John Williams
Best Original Song:
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets,” Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio,” Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett.
Best Costume:
“Anonymous”
“The Artist”
“Hugo”
“Jane Eyre”
“W.E”
Best Documentary Feature:
“Hell and Back Again”
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
“Pina”
“Undefeated”
Best Documentary (short subject):
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
“God is the Bigger Elvis”
“Incident in New Baghdad”
“Saving Face”
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Best Film Editing:
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
Best Makeup:
“Albert Nobbs”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“The Iron Lady”
Best Animated Short Film:
“Dimanche/Sunday”
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
“La Luna”
“A Morning Stroll”
“Wild Life”
Best Live Action Short Film:
“Pentecost”
“Raju”
“The Shore”
“Time Freak”
“Tuba Atlantic”
Best Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Here is the first look of the Iron Lady. A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power.Another strong role by Meryl Streep it looks like. The movie has already a lot of Award nominations.
Cast: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Richard E. Grant
Directors: Phyllida Lloyd
Writer: Abi Morgan
Studio: The Weinstein Company
There was Sherlock Holmes and then there was Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. Guy Ritchie takes the movie away from the book and I say takes it to the next level. Those who would have read the book might say that it’s no where close to the book. Yes it is not as Guy Ritchie modifies the storyline to suit today’s audience. And for me he did a good job. A lot of times we compare the sequels and we end up getting disappointed. But not this time. The reason so many Sir Arthur Conan Doyle loyalists dismissed the film is that the frenetic pace and towering action sequences (besides the modified storyline) seem to go against what made the original stories so great. So what does Guy Ritchie do? He goes bigger, better & faster!
A Game of Shadows picks up shortly after the first Sherlock Holmes, with Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) trying to solve the web of a series of bombings and assassinations across Europe suspecting Professor James Moriarty as the mastermind behind all these events. Meanwhile, Dr. Watson (Jude Law) is preparing to wed fiancé Mary (Kelly Reilly). Moriarty’s targets those closest to Holmes.Holmes manages to wrangle the honeymooning Watson into helping solve this final case, and the two begin an odyssey across Europe, following each subsequent clue they discover to the next strand in Moriarty’s web. With the help of allies like Sherlock’s brilliant (but lazy) brother Mycroft (Stephen Fry), or knife-wielding gypsy, Simza (Noomi Rapace), for every step Holmes and Watson take forward, they find that Moriarty is already two steps further ahead and then the game of Shadow begins.
There are lots of action scenes that keeps the film exciting and running at a constant pace. The sequences are louder, much more explosive and exuberant. Best is the sequence where Sim and others escape from the German area. Guy Ritchie is known for inventive and momentum shifting action scenes. Sometimes bullets fly faster than the speed of light and then shift to ‘Matrix’ time . The sequence is one of the best shot sequences of the year. The simple chess game sequence between Holmes and Moriarty is another high rated sequence. While you think a chess game would be boring, Guy Ritchie films it as if it was a grand battle with Hans Zimmer’s music in the background setting up the tone.
Ten years ago, Robert Downey Jr’s drug abuse made him uninsurable; now he’s one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars. For turning his life around, he deserves respect. And he continues from where he left in the first movie. With his roughish charms and quick wit, Downing Jr.is just brilliant in portraying the detective but also at places went overboard. His bizarre behavior, regardless of his intelligence adds a layer of comedy to the film. His trademark hobby, disguising into several unexpected people is just purely entertaining. Jude Law is again very good as Watson, lovely Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler disappears from the film far too early on, to be replaced by Noomi Rapace playing a gypsy with an incomprehensible accent. While Downey Jr. and Law are just as impeccable and well matched as ever but the addition of Jade Harris as Moriarty makes it even better. The character’s presence was felt throughout the film. Watching Harris match wits with Downey is simply astounding, and makes for the most wildly enjoyable parts of the film. There is never a dull moment when he is around, and instead of making the film drone on, he invigorates it with an immense amount of energy. He and Downey Jr. have a fantastic chemistry, wherein Holmes and Moriarty are two sides of the same coin, and have just as much respect for one another’s intellect as they do disdain for how the other man chooses to use it. Watching the onscreen rivalry here made me compare it to the onscreen rivalry of Batman and The Joker.
The screenwriters, Michele and Kieran Mulroney, have drawn on Conan Doyle’s novel for Moriarty’s character. Hans Zimmer’s melodramatic score incorporates arias from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and a jaunty Morricone theme from Two Mules for Sister Sara.
Overall Sherlock Holmes 2 is entertaining in terms of pace, humour and style. Ritchie compels us forward, making us want to see what happens next and he achieves in doing so. As I said earlier it is bigger, better and faster than the first part. And yes its a different Sherlock but then we got a different James Bond too in Daniel Craig. Watch it for Downey Jr. Watch it for guy Ritchie and watch it for the duel between Moriarty and Holmes.
Rating- 3.5 out of 5
P.S- Thanks to Prassana @labellagorda & @warnerbrosindia for the special preview
And he is back. After a loooong delay, Jackson returns to Middle Earth with the first in a two-part prequel to his masterwork – The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
The movie follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths ofguile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
Writers: Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Evangeline Lily, Andy Serkis, Richard Armitage
After helping Spielberg on Tintin, this will be Jackson’s first film in 3D. Watch the trailer here-
