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1-20 of 222 articles from 2009 « Prev | Next »
10 Movie Events That Shaped the Decade (For Movie Fans)
7 hours ago
| ScreenRant.com
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We’ve come to the end of 2009, so we thought we’d weigh in with a look back at the first 10 years of the 21st century in the movie world and discuss the various different “events” which shaped the decade. Obviously we can’t cover absolutely everything, but sticking true to our core movie genres on the site, we’re just going to concentrate on the comic-book, sci-fi, action (and so forth) types of movies and take a look at what films had the maximum impact over this decade.
It’s amazing to think that it’s been 10 years since movies like The Matrix, American Beauty and Fight Club (to name but a few) came out in 1999 (check out our 1999 decade highlight, if you haven’t already). A Lot of movies – somewhere in the vicinity of 5,000-6,000 – have been released since then. We’ve had the good, the bad and
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- Ross Miller
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Bww Discounts: Save on Tickets to Sam Mendes' The Bridge Project
19 December 2009 11:29 AM, PST
| BroadwayWorld.com
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Bww Discounts is offering you the chance to purchase tickets at a very speciAl Price to Sam Mendes' The Bridge Project's production of 'As You Like It'.
Following a critically-acclaimed inaugural year and international tour, The Bridge Project returns to Bam for its second season, led by Tony and Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes (Broadway's Cabaret; the films American Beauty and Revolutionary Road).
Year two features another outstanding ensemble of American and British actors and an intriguing pairing of works by Shakespeare: the comedy 'As You Like It' and 'The Tempest', considered to be Shakespeare's last play. In their world premiering productions, Mendes and company explore outcasts, power, and magical lands. 'As You Like It' will run from January 12 to March 13; 'The Tempest' will run from February 14 to March 13.
Discounted tickets* for 'As You Like It' are now available for $18.75, $41.25, $56.25, and
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Is Avatar the Timeliest Movie of the Year?
14 December 2009 1:21 PM, PST
| Vanity Fair
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As we hurry up and wait for a clearer picture of the ten-nominee Best Picture race to emerge, a key concept driving much pre-season speculation is “timeliness.” Variety’s Todd McCarthy may have started it, with a Sundance wrap-up piece declaring eventual Oscar hopefuls as disparate as An Education, Precious and the environmental documentary The Cove to be “emblematic” of the “start of the Obama age.” The relevancy torch has since been carried by Frank Rich, who recently effused that Up in the Air “captures the distinctive topography of our Great Recession as vividly as a far more dour Hollywood product of 70 years ago, ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’ did the vastly different landscape of the Great Depression,” and by fans on Twitter, arguing the “zeitgeisty” merits of Jason Reitman’s film versus those of The Hurt Locker and Precious. Timeliness is not always next to godliness as far as the Academy is concerned.
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This decade’s film: 2000-2004
14 December 2009 8:08 AM, PST
| t5m.com
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Pottermania, Tolkein-mania, Twilight-mania…it’s fair to say that the noughties have been a strong one for different kinds of mania. Moreover, it’s also been the time for some pretty awesome movies.
2000 marked a particularly promising start: American Beauty, the directorial debut from Sam Mendes was a unique critique on the American dream that attracted widespread acclaim, being nominated for 8 Academy Awards and winning 5; including Best Picture. His next project, Road to Perdition proved this success to be no fluke. Apparently this was a good time for new directors, as further evidenced by Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides, and Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich.
Not that the decade was limited to low-budget concept flicks. Box office-smashing comic book adaptations became the name of the game; ranging from the great (Spider-Man, X-Men and Hellboy), to the not so much (Daredevil and Fantastic Four). It became (almost) socially acceptable
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- Uprising
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Blu-Ray Review: Excellent Release For ‘Fight Club: 10th Anniversary Edition’
7 December 2009 1:03 PM, PST
| HollywoodChicago.com
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Chicago – What took so long? Seriously, why are studios waiting so long to release some essential titles on Blu-Ray? Every time someone asks me why I think that Blu-Ray hasn’t taken off as quickly as some insiders expected, I have the same answer. “Because your favorite movie isn’t on Blu-Ray.” At least one of those “favorite movies” can be checked off the list with the release of “Fight Club” in a glorious tenth anniversary edition from Fox.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0
What more is there to write about “Fight Club”? It’s almost more interesting to think about the ten years that have passed and the influence that the film has had on the ’00s and what happened to the key players since. Helena Bonham Carter was an intriguing supporting actress then and her status hasn’t really changed. Brad Pitt hadn’t even met Angelina Jolie (as far as
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- adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
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Critical Thinking: Armored, Brothers, Fine, Air
6 December 2009 12:40 PM, PST
| Dark Horizons
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Armored
Rotten Tomatoes: 44% (4.8/10)
Metacritic: 51/100
Films with Comparable Scores: "My Bloody Valentine," "My Sister's Keeper," "Transporter 3"
Analysis: Cited as a streamlined heist thriller, the 88 minute runtime and pace are given good notices. Yet there's also many complaints about its formulaic predictability and lack of twists or surprises.
Brothers
Rotten Tomatoes: 56% (6.1/10)
Metacritic: 59/100
Films with Comparable Scores: "Beowulf," "The Good Shepherd," "M:i-2," "Spider-Man 3"
Analysis: A remake that's more melodramatic than its Danish predecessor, the performances (especially Tobey Maguire) are being singled out as superb and the family tragedy/romance elements handled with deft touch by director Jim Sheridan. Yet the story never clicked with some, and quite a few found it too strained and awkwardly oppressive.
Everybody's Fine
Rotten Tomatoes: 46% (5.3/10)
Metacritic: 47/100
Films with Comparable Scores: "27 Dresses," "Jennifer's Body," "The Box," "The Cell"
Analysis: A bland holiday movie about dysfunctional family that lacks laughs and emotion, but Robert DeNiro and a strong
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- Garth Franklin
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Critical Thinking: Armored, Brothers, Fine, Air
6 December 2009 12:40 PM, PST
| Dark Horizons
| See recent Dark Horizons news
»
Armored
Rotten Tomatoes: 44% (4.8/10)
Metacritic: 51/100
Films with Comparable Scores: "My Bloody Valentine," "My Sister's Keeper," "Transporter 3"
Analysis: Cited as a streamlined heist thriller, the 88 minute runtime and pace are given good notices. Yet there's also many complaints about its formulaic predictability and lack of twists or surprises.
Brothers
Rotten Tomatoes: 56% (6.1/10)
Metacritic: 59/100
Films with Comparable Scores: "Beowulf," "The Good Shepherd," "M:i-2," "Spider-Man 3"
Analysis: A remake that's more melodramatic than its Danish predecessor, the performances (especially Tobey Maguire) are being singled out as superb and the family tragedy/romance elements handled with deft touch by director Jim Sheridan. Yet the story never clicked with some, and quite a few found it too strained and awkwardly oppressive.
Everybody's Fine
Rotten Tomatoes: 46% (5.3/10)
Metacritic: 47/100
Films with Comparable Scores: "27 Dresses," "Jennifer's Body," "The Box," "The Cell"
Analysis: A bland holiday movie about dysfunctional family that lacks laughs and emotion, but Robert DeNiro and a strong
…
- Garth Franklin
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Twice the glitz and glamour?
5 December 2009 4:10 PM, PST
| The Guardian - Film News
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The Academy has decided to extend the shortlist for next year's best picture Oscar from five to 10 films. Is that a good idea? We can't quite decide…
It has to be a bad idea, doesn't it?
Ten best picture nominations in the Oscars instead of five? It's a cynical move by the Academy to boost viewing figures by opening the field to crowd-pleasers such as The Dark Knight, the exclusion of which last year caused fanboy outrage. The Oscars aren't exactly the gold standard where quality is concerned, but they remain the most important fixture in the movie calendar and the nomination process is not to be treated lightly. Now the list will be swamped with button-pressing blockbusters such as Avatar and Star Trek, which may deserve their box-office receipts but absolutely should not be honoured alongside the all-time greats: All About Eve! Lawrence of Arabia! The Godfather!
True, but
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- Killian Fox
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Best of the Decade #18: Little Children (2006)
4 December 2009 9:03 AM, PST
| FilmJunk
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When we first started putting together our Top 20 Films of the Decade, I really didn't expect Todd Field's Little Children to be among the titles that would make our combined list. However, I'm definitely glad that it did because I think it's a fantastic film that a lot of people still haven't seen. Most of us here at Film Junk overlooked it back when it was in theatres, and didn't discover it until we recorded the very first episode of The Movie Club Podcast [1] the following year (we have our friends at Row Three [2] to thank for that).
Although the marketing for the movie made it out to be a steamy romance or melodramatic Oscar bait, the truth is, the movie borders on dark comedy. I suppose anyone familiar with Todd Field or Tom Perotta would have known that from the start (Tom Perotta is the same man who
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- Sean
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Just How Often Does the Nbr Predict Oscar Winners?
4 December 2009 8:15 AM, PST
| Cinematical
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By: Erik Childress
It's sad that every year the awards season is kicked off with the National Board of Review (see our post from yesterday for the complete list of winners). As unknown as the members of the MPAA or the Hollywood Foreign Press - and about as credible as serious-minded critics of film - we nevertheless entrust their choices to help steer our curiosity towards the eventual Oscar nominees. Christening this flying wasp yesterday with the announcement that Up In The Air has taken their prize for Best Picture of 2009, they can now await their RSVP from George Clooney, amongst others to their annual party. Which is what it's really all about for them. But if the Academy Awards have taught us anything, it's to respect the trends and traditions in place. Plus a few people who have seen only about a quarter of the films released this year
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- Cinematical staff
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[DVD Review] Train
3 December 2009 8:25 PM, PST
| JustPressPlay.net
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Of all the possible reactions that one could have to a film (or album, or television show), there’s probably nothing worse than having it make you wonder if something you like was even good in the first place. For a long time, I have defended the Hostel series, arguing that it has a great deal more subtext than most critics give it credit for, and that its tonal inconsistencies are actually quite deliberate pieces of black humor on the part of director Eli Roth. Now I am confronted with Train, a film that is so similar in plot and theme that I can’t really argue that anything said in Hostel isn’t said here. Except that I really like Hostel, and Train totally sucks.
Traveling through Eastern Europe with her college wrestling team, Alex (Thora Birch) goes out one night with her friends after a humiliating defeat at
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- Anders Nelson
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Top Ten Overrated Films
3 December 2009 9:58 AM, PST
| FilmShaft.com
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Overrated films are an interesting breed. They are essentially the type that everybody goes crazy for until consideration, time, thought and retrospect force us to reassess the situation. They are, by and large, the product of Hollywood: though by no means exclusive. However, Hollywood films are the most hyped; the most seen; the most heard. They are garnered with awards and flattery and the cycle begins again. Is it genius of deception or commerce?
Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane is often labelled as “the greatest film ever made”. It will not appear in this list. It is not an overrated film. Even now, in the sixty-plus years since its release, Welles’ masterpiece remains inimitable. Searching for something to dislike in it is pointless. Yes, critics go ga-ga for Orson, and so they should. He was a true maverick.
If one looks at the history of the Best Film award at the Oscars,
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- Martyn Conterio
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‘True Blood’ Adds New Blood For Season 3
3 December 2009 9:55 AM, PST
| ScreenRant.com
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Shock Til You Drop may have been glamouring us, but it looks like HBO’s True Blood has added Marshall Allman , Theo Alexander and Grant Bowler into the fray for the coming third season of the deep-south vampire drama.
Allen, who played Lj Burrows in Prison Break and popped up in Mad Men and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia will appear as Sam Merlotte’s long-lost younger brother, Tommy Mickens. Is shapeshifting genetic? I guess we’ll find out.
Alexander, of CSI: NY and Chuck fame, will be playing Talbot, the beautiful, blood-sucking boyfriend of the vampire king of Mississippi (which must be a more impressive title than it sounds). How did kingdoms and wards get divided up by these folks anyway? Bowler, who we know from Ugly Betty and Lost, will play a biker gang-leading werewolf (obviously) named Coot.
Of course a lot of these roles were referenced
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- Scott Miller
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Shelf Life: Fight Club
25 November 2009 9:15 AM, PST
| Cinematical
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By all accounts, 1999 was one of the best years in film history, featuring an amazing glut of debuts and career-defining follow-ups from a rich and varied roster of directors who are steadily working some ten years later. For example American Beauty, which was also released in '99, was one of the first films revisited in our "Shelf Life" series, and it seemed most likely to lose its luster, especially given its Oscar win and almost universal critical acclaim, but thankfully the film sustained most of its initial appeal and impact.
Fight Club, meanwhile, faced markedly more polarizing reactions from audiences and critics, although like Alan Ball and Sam Mendes' film it captured a moment in the zeitgeist that made it important almost regardless of how good it was. Ten years later, Fox Home Entertainment just released the film on Blu-ray in a gorgeous new set, and after a decade
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- Todd Gilchrist
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1999: A Look Back, Pt. 3
25 November 2009 1:48 AM, PST
| JoBlo.com
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After spending the last two days looking at the blockbusters, and sleeper hits of 1999, for today.s installment, I wanted to take a look at two of the biggest prestige films of the year. One marked the arrival of a major new talent behind the camera, and launched a familiar character actor into stardom, while the other was the hugely anticipated and controversial follow-up to one of the best films of the decade.
American Beauty
Initial reaction: Of all the films that came out in
…
- Chris Bumbray
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25 Men Who Might Actually Consider Posing for “Playgirl”!
24 November 2009 10:47 PM, PST
| AfterElton.com
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You can’t buy the kind of publicity Playgirl magazine has received for getting Levi Johnston to pose naked.
Well, actually, I guess you can. What did the magazine pay the ex-future-second-son-in-law anyway? Given all the ink and pixels that have been spilled over this, it was pretty good deal for Playgirl, especially since the word now is that he didn’t even do the whole lumberjack.
Not surprisingly, the magazine is said to be eagerly looking for other famous folks willing to disrobe.
We have some suggestions.
But let’s face it: Jake Gyllenhaal and Chris Evans are never going to pose naked for Playgirl. The same goes for virtually every other person on our annual Hot 100 list. These folks are at the very peak of their careers, and they need neither the money nor the, uh, exposure.
That said, there are plenty of other familiar faces (and bodies
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- Brent Hartinger
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Galaxy Quest Blu-ray Review
24 November 2009 9:30 PM, PST
| Collider.com
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When you talk about the year of cinema that was 1999, there are the films that come immediately. Fight Club, The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, Eyes Wide Shut. I love The Insider, have a soft spot for eXistenZ and Three Kings and then it starts getting complicated, as films like American Beauty, Girls Don’t Cry, and The Green Mile haven’t exactly weathered as well, while films like Office Space have only grown in estimation. At the time, most wouldn’t have listed Galaxy Quest as one of the great films of 1999, and yet ten years later, someone like David Mamet can call it a perfect movie. And it is. By Grabthar’s Hammer, my review of Galaxy Quest after the jump.
The premise is simple: what if aliens watched Star Trek and thought it was real? Tim Allen plays Jason Nesmith who plays Peter Quincy Taggart, the Kirk character
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- Andre Dellamorte
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Kevin Spacey Wants 'Superman Returns' Sequel
23 November 2009 9:10 PM, PST
| CinemaSpy
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Kevin Spacey wants another crack at killing the Man of Steel.
Now if only Warner Brothers would bite. Recently, the star of The Usual Suspects and American Beauty stated that if he had his way, he’d be reprising the role of Lex Luthor for a Superman Returns follow-up.
"If I ran Warner Brothers I could tell you definitively we’d be making that movie," Spacey said. "But I don’t, and they haven’t called me to tell me."
The 2006 superhero adaptation was heavily-hyped, but not a big money-maker. For a while, Ninja Assassin director James McTeigue had expressed an interest in replacing director Bryan Singer, and subsequently rebooting the franchise.
But DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson recently said the company does not have "any current plans for Superman," and McTeigue has moved on, claiming executives are unsure what direction to take the franchise.
Unfortunately for fans of the character,
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10 closest Oscar races in the past 20 years
23 November 2009 1:12 PM, PST
| Gold Derby
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One of the shrewdest Oscarologists on the planet is Tariq Khan of Fox News, who often generously shares his views of current and past derbies with Gold Derby readers. Here he takes a nostalgic look at the past two decades, offering his take on the most competitive derbies. Words below are Tariq's. Thanks, m'friend!
We’ve often discussed those Oscar races that seem just too close to call . . . where it’s clear (or at least seems clear) that the eventual winner will nab the Oscar with only a few more votes than his or her nearest competitor.
While we can never really know for sure (unless we get one of those top jobs at the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers,) we do have some idea of what may have been the closest races in Oscar history. Allow me to present what I believe were the 10 closest acting races over the course of the past 20 years.
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- tomoneil
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Directors of the Decade: Brad Bird
21 November 2009 7:34 AM, PST
| FilmExperience
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Robert here. My initial thought for my series on the directors who shaped the past decade was to combine the Pixar guys into one big entry. Five minutes later I was filled with great shame. How dare I think that just because these men make animated films, they don’t deserve their own entries. It was ghettoization all over again! Sure, Pixar films all tend to have similar themes but that doesn’t mean that the great Pixar directors are interchangeable. Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at them and see what makes them the same and different. First up: Brad Bird.
Number of Films: Two.
Modern Masterpieces: One. With my apologies to The Incredibles, which is an incredible film, the masterpiece is Ratatouille.
Total Disasters: Not even close.
Better than you remember: If you think either of these could be better, you should probably just stop reading now.
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- Robert
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