Disconnect , which is the latest effort from Murderball director Henry Alex Rubin, looks like it could be the Babel of the wired world based on this trailer. The synopsis also indicates that we’ll be getting a series of intertwining stories with one thing in common: the perils of our digital society. The cast includes Jason Bateman , Hope Davis, Frank Grillo , Michael Nyqvist, Paula Patton, Andrea Riseborough , Max Thieriot and Alexander Skarsgard . The synopsis: A hard-working lawyer, attached to his cell phone, can’t find the time to communicate with his family. A couple is drawn into a dangerous situation when their secrets are exposed online. A widowed ex-cop struggles to raise a mischievous son who cyber-bullies a classmate. An ambitious journalist sees a career-making story in a teen that performs on an adult-only site. They are strangers, neighbors and colleagues and their stories collide in this riveting dramatic thriller about ordinary people struggling to connect in today’s wired world. Intriguing. The poster is cool, too. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
A new Iron Man 3 trailer will hit the Internets on March 5. In the meantime, Yahoo! has posted this exclusive new poster, which depicts an army of iron men rising behind a clearly cheesed-off Tony Stark ( Robert Downey Jr. ) whose armored suit is behaving like an iPhone that was accidentally dropped into a toilet. According to SlashFilm , this reveal may be a reference to the rumored climax of the movie in which Stark summons some multiple metal wingmen to kick some Mandarin pu pu platter, or whoever it is that’s causing all the trouble in his life. CHECK OUT MOVIELINE’S GALLERY OF IRON MAN 3 POSTERS The website also reports that a snippet of that iron-army scene will likely be featured in the trailer that drops next week, which will be the last one before the movie opens on May 3. Meanwhile, Yahoo! offers this interpretation of the poster. But what’s even more intriguing than the damaged suit he’s wearing are the seven he’s not. Streaking into the sky behind him are more armored suits, and while we don’t get a very clear look at them, they don’t appear to be any we’ve seen in the previous films. The one directly above Tony’s right arm has a grey and gold finish with spiky shoulders. Another directly behind his left shoulder is a bulkier suit with a gold, white and black appearance. Could this be the rumored “Deep Space Suit” fans have been buzzing about? A photo of an upcoming toy was released in late January with that description, which lead some Marvel acolytes to wonder if Tony might take a trip out into the cosmos, perhaps to meet up with the Guardians of the Galaxy , another comic-book team that will be getting their own movie in 2014. I don’t see Rocket Raccoon or Groot, who are both supposed to be part of the GOTG standalone, so I’m skeptical, but what do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter . [ Yahoo! , SlashFilm ]
A new Iron Man 3 trailer will hit the Internets on March 5. In the meantime, Yahoo! has posted this exclusive new poster, which depicts an army of iron men rising behind a clearly cheesed-off Tony Stark ( Robert Downey Jr. ) whose armored suit is behaving like an iPhone that was accidentally dropped into a toilet. According to SlashFilm , this reveal may be a reference to the rumored climax of the movie in which Stark summons some multiple metal wingmen to kick some Mandarin pu pu platter, or whoever it is that’s causing all the trouble in his life. CHECK OUT MOVIELINE’S GALLERY OF IRON MAN 3 POSTERS The website also reports that a snippet of that iron-army scene will likely be featured in the trailer that drops next week, which will be the last one before the movie opens on May 3. Meanwhile, Yahoo! offers this interpretation of the poster. But what’s even more intriguing than the damaged suit he’s wearing are the seven he’s not. Streaking into the sky behind him are more armored suits, and while we don’t get a very clear look at them, they don’t appear to be any we’ve seen in the previous films. The one directly above Tony’s right arm has a grey and gold finish with spiky shoulders. Another directly behind his left shoulder is a bulkier suit with a gold, white and black appearance. Could this be the rumored “Deep Space Suit” fans have been buzzing about? A photo of an upcoming toy was released in late January with that description, which lead some Marvel acolytes to wonder if Tony might take a trip out into the cosmos, perhaps to meet up with the Guardians of the Galaxy , another comic-book team that will be getting their own movie in 2014. I don’t see Rocket Raccoon or Groot, who are both supposed to be part of the GOTG standalone, so I’m skeptical, but what do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter . [ Yahoo! , SlashFilm ]
I come to praise Lindsay Lohan , not to bury her. Yes, you read that right. Just a few months ago, I had declared the 26-year-old actress a lost cause who had swapped a promising career for a rap sheet. And then Paul Schrader let me see The Canyons . ‘The Canyons’: A Porn Star & A Miniscule Budget Before I focus on Lohan, let me say this about the film: Despite the drawbacks of working with a miniscule, crowd-sourced $250,000 budget, and a cast that included porn star, James Deen , as its leading man, Schrader has made a taut, visually gripping movie that says some really smart things about the movie business and the Los Angelenos in their 20s who populate it today. It’s an unsentimental West-Coast Girls , done as tragedy instead of comedy. Lindsay Lohan In ‘The Canyons’: A Career-Saving Role? Anchoring the movie is a performance by Lohan that should mark the beginning of the 26-year-old actress’s path to professional redemption. Lohan plays Tara, a former struggling model/actress who’s made a Faustian bargain for a more comfortable life, and under Schrader’s shrewd direction, she gives an acrid, wounded performance that is going to change the minds of quite a few people who have written her off. “A lot of people are going to be asking, ‘What happened to the girl from Parent Trap ‘?” Schrader told me. “It’s really tough with young performers. By the time they’re 16 or 17, they have been taught that they are perfect and that everything in the world belongs to them. And then about three years later, somebody comes to them and says, ‘Okay, you have to start over again. And nothing you earned before is going to help you.’” Lohan has endured a lot of misery — much of it self-inflicted — since the giddy heights of her America’s Sweetheart days in Freaky Friday and Mean Girls, and, like Tara, she’s made some regrettable compromises, too, but her performance in The Canyons shows that she is really good at using the drama from her life to inform the character she’s playing onscreen. Her performance in The Canyons is more than a reminder that she’s got real talent: it’s an announcement that she’s ready to play complicated women instead of older ingénues. Paul Schrader Compares Lohan To Ann-Margret “This is her Ann-Margret Moment,” Schrader told me, referring to the 1960s bombshell who graduated from fizzy romantic comedies and musicals by portraying a woman in an abusive relationship in Carnal Knowledge (and earned an Oscar nomination in the process.) “When we were working, I kept noticing that Lindz was this blowsy, tough girl who, at times looked like Gena Rowlands, who, at times, looked like Ann-Margret and at times looked like Angie Dickinson.” That’s quite a compliment from the writer of Taxi Driver , The Last Temptation of Christ and the director of Auto Focus and Affliction (which he also adapted from Russell Banks’ novel) — especially since Schrader was reluctant to cast Lohan in the first place and then, as a lengthy piece in The New York Times Sunday Magazine r eported, the actress behaved like a diva on the set. But Schrader’s praise is leavened with some tough love: After noting that Lohan has got the the chops and a “mesmerizing” quality that can’t be taught in acting school, he adds: “Unfortunately, you also have to have self-discipline. And so, if she can organize her life better, I don’t see why she can’t have a career. A lot of people want to hire her. It’s just that she’s not helping them do that.” Is A Career Comeback Out Of The Question For Lindsay? In other words, it doesn’t matter who’s rooting for Lohan to make a comeback. It ain’t happening unless she gets her act together. And her track record is not exactly encouraging. As Schrader knows too well, there’s also a very loud and distracting contingent of blogosphere voices that envision only failure for Lohan. Their caustic response to Times story, which was snarkily titled Here Is What Happens When You Cast Lindsay Lohan In Your Movie , almost dashed his attempts to secure a distributor for the picture. Schrader says the cruelty of the comments leveled at Lohan and his movie surprised him. “I think that largely because of the Internet, it is now possible to publicly say things that used to be said in bars and locker rooms. We’re seeing a manifestation of vindictiveness and a viciousnessa cruelty — that’s also become evident in our political rhetoric, by the way — that was not acceptable at an earlier time.” The filmmaker says he feels “vindicated and legal” now that IFC Films has acquired rights to the picture and will release it theatrically and via VOD in the summer. Lohan could end up feeling vindicated, too. Nothing speaks louder than asses in seats, and if The Canyons finds an audience — and Lohan’s new lawyer Mark Heller keeps Lohan from going back to jail — Schrader will have given the actress her last best hope of resuming an acting career worthy of her talents. The rest is up to Lohan. And I’d like to offer this quote from the America’s original Sweetheart, the late Mary Pickford, for inspiration: “What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down.” [ TMZ , The New York Times ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter . More On Lindsay Lohan & ‘The Canyons’: Lindsay Lohan In ‘The Canyons’ — The Preview Looks Pretty Terrible Lindsay Lohan: ‘The Canyons’ NY Times Piece On Making Of Paul Schrader’s Film Lindsay Lohan In ‘The Canyons’ Teaser Trailer — LiLo & James Dean Get Retro
Get out your micrometers. The Amazing Spider-Man sequel doesn’t hit theaters until May2, 2014, but ComingSoon.net has an exclusive peek at the new costume that Andrew Garfield will wear, and, well, unless you’re a Spider-man geek (like me), it doesn’t look all that much different than the old one. I’ve included an “After” and “Before” comparison, but the key changes are two: The webslinger’s face mask has bigger eyes and the leg-span on his spider chest logo isn’t so wide — a look that resembles comic artist Mark Bagley’s take on the webslinger during his record-breaking run on Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man title in the early 2000s. Yeah, I know: not exactly a daring overhaul. THE NEW COSTUME THE PREVIOUS COS What does the new look say about the Spidey brand? This is definitely wishful thinking on my part, but I choose to interpret it to mean that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be more of a visual feast and the “Ultimate” Spider-Man movie. Certainly, a storyline that reportedly will include Electro ( Jamie Foxx ), the Green Goblin (the most excellent Dane DeHaan ) and the Rhino ( Paul Giamatti ) is promising, but it could also end up being as overstuffed as a Subway BMT sandwich. And that puts me in mind of Sam Raimi’s excruciatingly corny Spider-Man 3 . At least that movie had a black costume. Speaking of that last villain, I can’t wait until the first shot of Giamatti as the Horned Hot Mess is leaked. Foxx, not so much. I fear he’ll just end up looking like Static Shock, though I guess I’d prefer that to him wearing a giant cut-out lightning-star on his head. As Count Floyd would say, “Verrry scary, kids!” Here’s the official synopsis: In “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), life is busy — between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen (Emma Stone), high school graduation can’t come quickly enough. Peter hasn’t forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away — but that’s a promise he just can’t keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro (Jamie Foxx), emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past. [ ComingSoon.net ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
“ Argo to win it all.” This has been the Oscar pundit thesis statement ever since Ben Affleck was left off the Best Director list and promptly blew over the Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Awards in a whirlwind weekend of Oscar analysis. Every award Argo has gathered since that weekend last month has added to the confirmation bias. Affleck and his film established themselves as the storyline of the 2012 Academy Awards. But what about the several months leading up to the nominations? Remember when Les Miserables jumped ahead with a rapturous New York premiere? Remember when The Master exploded into the race with a series of secret screenings set up by Paul Thomas Anderson himself? Remember when Lincoln was predestined to win Best Picture, because War Horse lost last year? The storyline of 2012 isn’t Argo ; it’s confusion. And in keeping with that storyline, Movieline presents the “What The What?!” Oscars, a list of out-there-but-plausible winners in the hopes for a less predictable and more exciting show. All of my picks below go against the Argo storyline, as if it wasn’t coming at all. Just like in the film, Argo was a red herring all along. If all goes according to confusion, here’s what could happen: BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS “What The What?!” pick: Jacki Weaver , Silver Linings Playbook Based on previous ceremonies, this is potentially the first award of the night, and what better way to start off the night than ruining everyone’s ballots? An Anne Hathaway win has been too obvious, and when something is too obvious, voters tend to look for a way out. The same rule has been slowly killing Lincoln all season, which doesn’t play into Sally Field’s favor. The next choice would be Amy Adams in The Master , but here’s where we’ve got the Weinstein factor: somewhere in the season, Harvey looked at his prospects and picked the easy Silver Linings Playbook over the bold Master . Jacki Weaver’s nomination was baffling to begin with, and that same campaign leads to a win. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR “What The What?!” pick: Philip Seymour Hoffman , The Master This category has been swirling around the dependably exceptional Hoffman all season. Christoph Waltz is picking up some late backlash with people commenting that what he does in Django is identical to what he won for in Inglourious Basterds . Tommy Lee Jones didn’t win a lot of support with a grouchy turn at the Golden Globes, not enough Academy voters bought Robert De Niro’s Katie Couric cry-fest, and Alan Arkin’s performance is not all that different from his turn in Little Miss Sunshine . Hoffman’s steadiness wins the day. BEST ACTRESS “What The What?!” pick: Naomi Watts , The Impossible Just like Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain, Watts is on her second Academy Award nomination. Lawrence has a natural cockiness that charms the Internet crowd, but fmakes her a difficult Oscar campaigner. Chastain was similar to Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker , delivering a revelatory, powerhouse performance that’s overshadowed by the film itself (I’m curious if Bigelow will ever direct someone to an Oscar). The storyline behind Emmanuelle Riva is that she’ll turn 86 on Oscar Sunday, but old and accomplished does not guarantee anyone an Oscar. (Six years ago, they overlooked freaking Peter O’Toole, so there’s the love shown for the emeritus crowd.). Watts is someone current, who the voters seem to love, and wins based on a familiar role in a tear-jerker film. BEST ACTOR “What The What?!” pick: Joaquin Phoenix , The Master A hypothetic discussion between prognosticators: “But Daniel Day-Lewis had it in the bag!” “If Jamie Foxx can win for Ray and Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote , then DDL only makes sense!” “The Oscars love imitations.” “But it was just an imitation.” “No one really knows what Lincoln moved or sounded like.” “They didn’t want a history lesson.” “Phoenix also moved and spoke in a distinct style. Painfully.” “It looked like it hurt, moving all hunched over. He looked like he starved himself.” “The Oscars love pretty people breaking themselves down.” “This must be like Charlize Theron winning for Monster .” “But Phoenix trashed the Oscars.” “No more so than anyone else has in the past. And he hopped back on the trail at Harvey’s encouragement.” “Phoenix must’ve been destined for this. If Harvey has his back.” “I knew it was Phoenix all along!” “I said it first!” BEST DIRECTOR “What The What?!” pick: Michael Haneke , Amour Amour ’s glut of nominations showed there was serious affection for Haneke’s Palme d’Or winner, and it was clearly through the labor of Haneke himself. The Academy has a track record of not awarding prestige directors like Haneke or Malick or Hitchcock or Kubrick, but this is the year for weirdness. The most surprising choice would be Tarantino, but his Django stumping has sparked uncomfortable conversations, which leads to thought-provoking essays but not Oscars. (Plus, in this “What The What?” ceremony, he wins another Original Screenplay award). Spielberg, despite all the industry love, will be the poster child for Lincoln ’s struggles as the obvious choice. A Haneke win is the result of voters not knowing who to fall behind, so why not go with the smart Austrian? BEST PICTURE “What The What?!” pick: Zero Dark Thirty When the prognosticators decided Argo was in, everything else was out. ZDT riled up too much controversy and was done, because they had Argo, which was Diet ZDT . Well guess what: Out of left field comes ZDT for the win. It’s an amalgam of other nominees: it’s got the historical gravitas of Lincoln without the drag; it’s got the the true life thriller ending of Argo without the embellishment; it’s got the fire of Django Unchained without the mess; it stars a face of Young Hollywood who isn’t the too-cocky but too-familiar Jennifer Lawrence. It’s a massive critic success and has been victorious at the box office. A Zero Dark Thirty win would confuse everyone down to Kathryn Bigelow herself, but this has been a season of confusion, not surprises. Plenty of other things could happen to destroy Oscar ballots. Searching for Sugarman could lose Best Documentary; ParaNorman could win Best Animated Feature; Amour could lose Best Foreign Film if Haneke wins Best Director, like the latter is a consolation prize. Even if Argo wins the final prize on Sunday, it will still prove to be a bizarre year. Affleck was not nominated for Best Director, but somehow, an also-ran director became the discussion. The 2012 Oscar race has been strange, and here’s hoping Sunday is strange, too. John Hendel is a playwright from Los Angeles. Follow John Hendel on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
The weeks of punditry and teary talk-show performances are over! Seth MacFarlane is about to take the stage and Movieline is about to liveblog the Oscars. Grab your favorite cocktail, enable your hand-held device and join me for Hollywood’s most holy night. Let the pageantry and snarky comments begin!
The Oscar season enters its last weekend, but one suspects it is far from over. Even if Academy members ultimately hewed to tradition and voted Lincoln and Steven Spielberg Best Picture and Director, respectively — as is the customary coronation for films with the most Oscar nominations — this outlier season will be studied and debated. For at least days to come. The Final Countdown To The 2013 Academy Awards The final week of voting saw pundits and bloggers get in their final shots, filibuster like Jefferson Smith for their lost causes (“the only causes worth fighting for”), issue their final predictions or revise earlier forecasts. Roger Ebert backtracked slightly from his self-described “cocky” “Outguess Ebert” boast that he had guessed every (contest category) correctly. “Every year it is the same,” Ebert wrote. “I came out of the gate filled with certainty, and as the deadline draws near I begin to falter.” Several enterprising writers persuaded some Academy members from various branches to share—anonymously—their Oscar ballots, and the results might give pause to anyone convinced that any of the major categories (except perhaps Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress) are locks. The Oscar Index views and duly notes these ruminations objectively. The reported (conjectured?) groundswells make for compelling Oscars storylines, last-minute cliffhanging drama and even, perhaps, better ratings for the telecast. The Index admits to a conservative risk tolerance here, but on Monday morning will probably say it knew De Niro would win Best Supporting Actor all along. Let’s look at how the Gold Linings playbook plays out on Oscars eve. Academy Award For Best Picture In Oscar season, as in war, the first casualty is truth. Three of the Best Picture nominees, frontrunners at various stages of Oscar season, took Battleship -like hits for remaking history. Critics of Zero Dark Thirty , said it was pro-torture — oh, for the days of the Orwellian Bush era and “enhanced interrogation techniques” — and heightened its role in the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Lincoln slandered the state of Connecticut by depicting its representatives as voting against the 13 th Amendment. And to read The New York Times ’ Maureen Dowd and Salon ’s Andrew O’Hehir this week, about the only things Argo got absolutely right was that there is a country named Iran and a CIA operative named Tony Mendez. I’m bracing myself for the eleventh-hour revelation that Quvenzhane Wallis is actually a 32-year-old psychopathic Russian dwarf pretending to be a child. Which opens the door for Silver Linings Playbook . Reconsiders Ebert: “( Argo ) was also my choice of the year’s best movie. Now, more and more, from many different quarters, I hear affection for Silver Linings Playbook . People tell me, I have a brother-in-law exactly like that. I sense a groundswell.” But just as those Iranian guards discovered as they chased the hostage-carrying plane down the runway (yes, I know; didn’t happen) there should be no stopping Argo ’s awards season take-off, lifted by wins from such major Oscar precursors as the PGA, DGA, SAG, BAFTA and, most recently, WGA (you know; the guild supposedly more terrifying than the Ayatollah). For awards bloggers, this Best Picture race has been all kinds of personal. Lincoln champion Sasha Stone at Awards Daily concedes the race to Argo , but will have none of it, diss-missing director Ben Affleck as “a movie star director…(who) finally made a movie people liked” and bemoaning the injustice suffered by “a film that good, that well intentioned.” Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells, too, picks Argo to win, but not before raging against the machine for the film he believes should win: “ Zero Dark Thirty , Zero Dark Thirty , Zero Dark Thirty , and I don’t care…going down with the ship.” The more journalistic pundits at Gold Derby and Gurus o’ Gold mostly favor Argo to win, but Anne Thompson sees echoes of last year’s race between The King’s Speech and The Social Network : “On the one hand, there’s recognition of what the older Academy goes for: quality, heart, period seriousness. On the other is a more youthful, ardent and in its way, au courant popular favorite. This year, both contenders are resonant and timely, but one seems more establishment while the other is the hip up-and-comer.” And the Academy, she notes, is more establishment than the guild members who honored Argo . As for the Academy members who shared their ballots with the media, they’re all over the map. Of the five ballots shared with Entertainment Weekly , Argo was the pick of the Executive and the Actor. The Director went with Silver Linings Playbook , the Actress, Life of Pi, and the Writer, Beasts of the Southern Wild . A Director sharing his ballot with The Hollywood Reporter went with Zero Dark Thirty. Apropos of nothing, the Oscar Index remembers vividly being in thrall to Argo . When it was over, I leaned over to Mrs. Index and said, perhaps facetiously, “Best Picture.” Like Lincoln , it celebrated America at its best. But it also celebrated Hollywood at its best. It was not a valentine to the movies like The Artist ; it was more of a “We love this country, too,” pat on the back. But with all the potshots that Lincoln has taken over the last few months, it should be noted that the film truly did make history. After seeing the film, inquisitive Mississippi moviegoer Dr. Ranjan Batra discovered upon further research that the state had yet to technically ratify the 13th Amendment. He got the ball rolling and on Feb. 7, the state’s ratification became official. So Lincoln ’s got that going for it. 2013 Oscar Nominations For Best Director Here’s one of the categories in which we are fending off a little Index remorse. Steven Spielberg edges out Ang Lee , according to pundits Gold Derby and Gurus o’ Gold. With Affleck out of the running, this might be the category in which Academy voters choose to acknowledge Spielberg’s achievement. But The Wrap’s Steve Pond posits: “…as much as voters admire and respect ( Lincoln ), they don’t seem to love it, and as a result I think he is going to lose. The huge Actors Branch could sway things in favor of David O. Russell , whose film has been coming on strong in a typical Harvey Weinstein-engineered surge. But I suspect that the rest of the Academy will lean toward the spectacle of Life of Pi , and give Ang Lee his second Best Director award without a corresponding Best Picture win.” What do those shared Oscar ballots in EW reveal? The Director went with Russell (“the heart of the job remains performances”), but the Actress, Writer and the Executive went with Lee. The Actor voted for Spielberg. Academy Award Nominees For Best Actor Raymond Massey couldn’t do it. Henry Fonda couldn’t do it. Rex Hamilton couldn’t do it (that’s for any Police Squad watchers out there). Daniel Day-Lewis will be the first actor to win the Academy Award for portraying Abraham Lincoln. Oh, and he’s poised to become the first three-time Best Actor Oscar-winner. On this, Oscar-watchers are near unanimous. He was also the pick of four of the five members who shared their ballots with EW. The Actress went with Bradley Cooper . If she’s available and she ever runs into Cooper, it will make a nice icebreaker. Oscar Nominations 2013: The Best Actress Contenders This is another category that seems to be in last-minute flux. Jennifer Lawrence has retained her frontrunner status among pundits, but several are noting the intangibles attached to 85 year-old Emmanuelle Riva, not the least of which is the “too soon” factor. In other words, Lawrence and Chastain will be back and this is Riva’s first, and presumably last, bid for an Academy Award. Then again, three of those five EW ballots went with Naomi Watts in The Impossible . Could enough votes divided among the top three contenders make that possible? 2013 Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor Nominees Former frontrunner Tommy Lee Jones has endeared himself to no one this Oscar season and stayed off the campaign trail. On the one hand, you’ve got to grudgingly respect that. On the other, he might get the Golden Globe glums again watching Robert De Niro pick up his first Academy Award since Raging Bull . De Niro can be as taciturn and intimidating as Jones, but he gamely put himself out there this season and revealed an emotional side that swings votes. Now that is acting, dear readers. Twelve vs. nine of Gold Derby’s experts are now on Team De Niro. The Gurus o’ Goldsters also now rank De Niro as the frontrunner, dropping Jones to No. 2. Two out of three of In Contention’s experts are also in De Niro’s camp. If De Niro does win, he owes it to Katie Couric to acknowledge her in his acceptance speech. But there is one Silver lining — for TLJ: Nate Silver , the breakout prognosticator in the last presidential campaign, predicts Jones (and Spielberg) will win. There has, too, been some late-breaking buzz for Christoph Waltz. That Director who shared his Oscar ballot with the Hollywood Reporter admitted that he did not vote for Jennifer Lawrence because he was offended by her Saturday Night Live monologue (on principle alone, can his privileges be revoked?). I wonder what he thought of Waltz on “SNL” as “Djesus Uncrossed”? Oscar Nominations 2013: Best Supporting Actress Nominees This Oscar has a first name; and it’s Anne. LAST WEEK IN THE 2013 OSCAR INDEX: OSCAR INDEX: Will Academy ‘Amour’ For Emmanuelle Riva Lead To Best Actress Upset? More 2013 Oscar Nominations: Academy Award Nominees Announced – ‘Lincoln’ Leads 2013 Oscar Noms Oscar Nominations 2013 — The Biggest Snubs & Surprises Of The Year 2013 Oscar Predictions By The Numbers: Which Nominees Are Hot (Jennifer Lawrence) & Not Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Back in October, I wrote about how Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige was spinning Iron Man 3 villain the Mandarin as international rather than Chinese, his ethnicity in the Marvel universe. “It’s less about his specific ethnicity than the symbolism of various cultures and iconography that he perverts for his own end,” Feige told Entertainment Weekly at the time. The Mandarin’s topknot is supposed to evoke a Japanese samurai while EW called his beard “bin Laden-esque.” And now, Marvel has just released a new Iron Man 3 poster featuring the baddie, as portrayed by Ben Kingsley , wearing sunglasses, and my first thought upon seeing them was…”Oppan Gangnam Style !” I know the shades Kingsley’s wearing aren’t even close to the ones that Psy sports in the video, but that’s the vibe I get. And I think there’s an argument to be made for the Korean rapper to be a part of the pastiche. After all, his earlier work contained anti-American lyrics, and he still managed to conquer us. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
War Witch star Rachel Mwanza is headed to Hollywood, and she’s earned her close-up. On Wednesday, Tribeca Film announced that 16-year-old Mwanza has been granted a visa to travel to the United States to attend the Oscars and the Independent Spirit Awards this weekend, where War Witch is nominated, respectively, in the Best Foreign Language Film and Best International Film categories. And it’s time for the American media pays as much attention to her as it did to Quvenzhané Wallis . If you didn’t hit the film-festival circuit last year, where War Witch turned heads and won awards, then you might not be familiar with Canadian director Kim Nguyen’ powerful movie about Africa’s children of war. But I hope that’s about to change now that Tribeca Film is about to make War Witch available to American audiences starting Feb. 26 on various VOD platforms and, theatrically, beginning March 1 in New York City. War Witch is the anti- Beasts of the Southern Wild , and I’m not knocking the Benh Zeitlin’s e xcellent film when I write that. Both movies show us dangerous, chaotic worlds from the perspective of a wise and courageous girl who is forced to grow up fast. Both films hinge on the mortality of parents and use mystical components to tell their stories, and both films convey the message that hope and love can be found among the ruins. But War Witch ultimately proves to be the more powerful film because it is reserved and unsentimental where Beasts of the Southern Wild is effusive and romantic. Mwanza, who had been abandoned by her family and was living on the streets of Kinshasha when Nguyen cast her, plays Komona, the heroine of War Witch and the movie’s narrator. Within the first scenes of the movie, her parents are killed in horrifying fashion — suffice it to say she is present — when African rebels lay waste to Komona’s village and enslave her and the other child residents as soldiers to fight against government forces. “Respect your guns. They are your new mother and father,” the children are told as they embark on squalid lives of killing and dying. Komona is designated a “war witch” by the guerrilla leader after she is fed “magic milk,” a white tree sap with hallucinogenic properties that enables her to see the ghosts of the dead, including her parents, who warn her of impending attacks. Nguyen’s film is remarkably free of artifice and politics, and Mwanza’s stoic performance is its cornerstone. And if I can be sentimental for a moment, her performance has changed her life. The makers of War Witch have provided her with a caretaker and are now overseeing her education. For more on the movie, check out this extended featurette and here’s hoping some enterprising publicist engineers a photo op with both Wallis and Mwanza. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitte r. Follow Movieline on Twitter .
