Everyone deserves a second chance and Oscar Award winning actor Ben Affleck is about to get his. According to “Entertainment Weekly” the “Argo” star has…
What would you do if an online gambling site cheated you out of all your tuition money? Why, you’d fly to the remote island that the site is operated from and confront the site’s owner, ultimately turning into his protégé, right? You wouldn’t? You’d drink your sorrows away for a week and then move on? Well that wouldn’t be an interesting movie. Justin Timberlake’s character Ivan Block in the new film Runner, Runner , goes with the first option. Check out the first Runner, Runner trailer : Runner, Runner Trailer Ben Affleck plays the gambling site owner, with Gemma Arterton, Anthony Mackie, and Ben Schwartz also starring. Runner, Runner comes out September 27.
NBC has announced a few huge names that will grace the Saturday Night Live stage next month. On May 11, Kristen Wiig – who left the show in 2012 – will take over hosting duties, with Vampire Weekend serving as musical guest. Then, on the May 18 season finale, Ben Affleck will take the hosting reins and rapper/ Kim Kardashian Baby Daddy Kanye West will provide the tunes. Might a certain large-breasted reality star stop by for a cameo?!? We can only hope.
Amour director Michael Haneke is aware of the parody Twitter account that bears his name, and, as you might expect from a filmmaker who’s made an incredibly intense, Oscar-nominated film about love, life and death, he’s not too worked up about it. @Michael_Haneke has been live on the social media site since November and has amassed more than 15,000 followers by adopting a voice that couldn’t be more at odds with the 70-year-old Austrian filmmaker’s bleak, unsentimental perspective: The Twitter-verse version of Haneke sounds like a tequila-drinking, hip-hop-loving frat boy twink who’s as contemporary as the real director is old school. He also loves to zing Terrence Malick , to remind Ben Affleck that he was not nominated for a Best Director Oscar and to gloat over the five Oscar nominations that Amour got on Jan. 10. That means a lot of laughs, although Haneke doesn’t necessarily see the humor in it. At the Golden Globes on Sunday night, The Los Angeles Times asked the real Haneke about the Twitter parody, and the director told the paper that his students at the Vienna Film Academy where he teaches, “said there was a weird Twitter account.” Then he added: “But I’m not that interested in that kind of thing. It’s not for me.” He doesn’t sound all that incensed, and he shouldn’t be. If you have a sense of humor, the fake Michael Haneke is one funny dude: agh im in los angelies and i left my saruman tunic back in vienna!!1! i was gona punk the guy at kfc lol— Michael Haneke (@Michael_Haneke) January 14, 2013 . @ benaffleck well dun 4 winnin best director last nite. best of luck at the oscars. o wait, jst rememburd ur not nominaytid. my bad lol— Michael Haneke (@Michael_Haneke) January 14, 2013 heres me havin a secret nap wen @ benaffleck was doin his speech! wot did i miss? did he announce daredevil 2 yet lol http://t.co/vI3qAMUe — Michael Haneke (@Michael_Haneke) January 15, 2013 i jst got an amour tshirt made. it says “i made a film about strokes + all i got was this tshirt, a parms dorz + 5 oscar nominayshuns” lol— Michael Haneke (@Michael_Haneke) January 11, 2013 on my roof drinkin tequila and screemn the lyrix 2 'i got 5 on it' but im changin 'on it' to 'oscar nominayshuns' lol #friday — Michael Haneke (@Michael_Haneke) January 11, 2013 Oh yeah, and Ellen Page digs him too: A tweet from you is an honor sir “@ Michael_Haneke : thx 4 the follow. ur purformans in junebug is the reeson i has a hamburgr fone lol”— Ellen Page (@EllenPage) January 15, 2013 [ Los Angeles Times ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Three Oscar nominees including Kirby Dick ( The Invisible War ), Malik Bendjelloul ( Searching for Sugar Man ) and David France ( How to Survive a Plague ) are among the five nominees for the Directors Guild of America’s “Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary” award. The winners will be unveiled at the 65th annual DGA Awards Dinner on February 2nd at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles. Kelsey Grammar will host the DGA Awards. “Whether shining a light on sweeping injustice or bringing us along on an intimate journey, the best documentaries challenge and enlighten us and this year’s nominees are no exception,” said DGA president Taylor Hackford in a statement. “The powerful work of these nominated directors is a true testament to the skill and significance of non-fiction storytellers.” The nominees for the 2012 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Kirby Dick , The Invisible War , (First-time nomination) Rise Films, ITVS, Fork Films, Cuomo Cole Productions, Canal Plus, Chain Camera Pictures Malik Bendjelloul , Searching for Sugar Man , (First-time nomination) Sony Pictures Entertainment, Passion Pictures Production, Canfield Pictures & The Documentary Company, Red Box Films Lauren Greenfield , The Queen of Versailles , (First-time nomination) Magnolia Pictures, Evergreen Pictures, BBC Storyville, Impact Partners, Candescent Films, Plus Pictures, DR, VPRO, Queen of Versailles LLC David France , How to Survive a Plague , (First-time nomination) Public Square Films, Ford Foundation/Justfilms Impact Partners, How to Survive a Plague LLC Alison Klayman , Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry , (First-time nomination) United Expression Media, Muse Film and Television, Never Sorry LLC
Last night’s Golden Globes cemented Argo as the People’s Film from an awards season stand-point, setting the scrappy underdog to stand toe-to-toe with the monolithic Lincoln . Theoretically, the “People’s Film” would be The Hunger Games , which won Favorite Movie at the People’s Choice Awards, but in the context of the Oscars, the populism is relative to the awards — and none of the elite awards are more populist than the Golden Globes. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association established the annual Golden Globes as an opportunity to gather Hollywood’s elite, and the awards create the appearance of a competitive event instead of simply another gala. The goal is TV revenue, ostensibly to fund the HFPA’s philanthropic endeavors. The voting is dubious, with a body of less than 100 journalists with a penchant for press junkets that hinge on the interviewee’s charisma and charm. This is why the Globes live up to their reputation of grinning, drunken swagger: they can be loose and fun, because at the end of the day, it’s not about the awards, it’s about the audience. So the HFPA awarded Argo the title of Best Motion Picture – Drama, as well as giving Ben Affleck the award for Best Director — something he cannot replicate at the Oscars, where he’s not nominated for Best Director. But the narrative is shifting in Argo ’s direction. The film has always been a contender. With just three directed films and a severe image challenge as a personality, actor-turned-director Affleck has reconfigured himself as a filmmaker who demands respect. The fictionalized true story behind Argo , tying a Middle Eastern thriller to Hollywood in-jokes, was always the sort of smart film audiences could embrace. The box office reflected this, earning more than $111 million in the United States (ignoring a probable post-Globe, pre-Oscar rerelease), which is less than Lincoln to date but still nothing to scoff at for an R-rated political thriller. Along the way, Argo has quietly been picking up awards from various critics groups. It was one of the AFI Films of the Year and made the National Board of Review’s Top Films list. It won ensemble awards from the Hollywood Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festial, took the top prize from the San Diego critics and took 2nd place from the New York critics. This past week, it scored a major win at the Critics’ Choice Awards, taking Best Picture and Best Director on the same day the AMPAS directing wing blocked Affleck out. Like the Globes, the Critics’ Choice flexed the populism muscle, despite the assumed prestige from an umbrella group of critics. The Critics’ Choice tried something new this year by being broadcast on the CW, awkwardly combining the general intelligence of film critics with the popcorn atmosphere of the network. The organization received flack for poor decisions such as cutting away from the screenplay award (which went to Lincoln ‘s Tony Kushner) and for focusing on less prestigious nominees in favor of name recognition. What all of this amounts to, however, is a critics award that was aiming for Golden Globe-style populism. Argo winning both Critics’ Choice and the Golden Globe for Best Drama has set its tone and changed the popular conversation, commanding awards-watchers to take the film seriously again after losing momentum earlier in the season thanks to the thunder-stealing Zero Dark Thirty . What remains to be seen are the results of the Screen Actors Guild and the BAFTAs . Argo has received ensemble attention, so SAG’s big award isn’t out of the realm of possibility, but Argo has not received the individual acting attention that Les Miserables , Silver Linings Playbook , or even Lincoln have. This makes SAG the biggest landmark on Argo ’s horizon, because a win there would solidify the film’s narrative as the People’s Film, and the one that people want to win it all. Chime in below with your Oscar musings: With all this populist momentum, does Argo have a shot at Best Picture? MORE ON THE GOLDEN GLOBES: WATCH: Jodie Foster Wins The Golden Globes With Her ‘Coming Out’ Speech ‘Argo’ & ‘Les Misérables’ Take Top Movie Prizes At Golden Globes – WINNERS LIST High Five! The Best GIFs Of The 2013 Golden Globes John Hendel is a playwright from Los Angeles. Follow him on Twitter @hendyhendel . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
“I would like to thank the Academy… I’m kidding, I’m kidding. This is the one that counts,” joked Ben Affleck Thursday night at the Critics Choice Awards, accepting his Best Director prize at the event hosted by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. If Affleck was more than simply disappointed by being passed up by the Academy in the Best Director category for Argo in yesterday’s Oscar nominations , he didn’t show it at last night at the event. [Related: Critics Choice Awards Spread The Love Around, Name ‘Argo’ Best Picture AND Academy Award Nominations — What Were The Biggest Snubs & Shocks Of The 2013 Oscar Noms? ] “It doesn’t feel like [I got robbed],” Affleck told Access Hollywood at the Critics Choice Awards. “We not nominated for Best Picture and seven other nominations. I guess I would of liked to personal have two or like three, four or five for myself, but I’ll take whatever we got – it’s a pretty cool thing.” Affleck along with other heavyweight Oscar contenders Kathryn Bigelow, Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson were passed over Thursday morning in Oscar’s Best Director category. The actor/filmmaker won an Academy Award in 1998 for Best Screenplay with pal Matt Damon in 1998 for Good Will Hunting . “If you go into the situation where you think you’re entitled to get nominated, you’re probably in trouble,” added Affleck. “The best picture nomination is an acknowledgement and then we got seven other nominations. Editing, score and all these like people who worked really hard. So, it’s really satisfying to see those folks get acknowledged.” [ Source: Access Hollywood ]
On the heels of this morning’s surprising and not-so-surprising Oscar nominations , the Broadcast Film Critics Association handed their Critics Choice Awards to a rather familiar bunch as Lincoln , Silver Linings Playbook , Argo , Zero Dark Thirty , and Skyfall nabbed multiple major honors. In fact, the BFCA, an organization comprised of TV, radio, and online journalists, spread the love around to cover just about every Oscar favorite and token consolation prize there is. Take your bow, Cloud Atlas ! One thing’s clear: At least as of the close of voting on January 8, the critics’ group was feeling the Argo love. As Zero Dark Thirty and Les Miserables cool off in the Oscar race, Ben Affleck — snubbed for the Oscar, but honored with the Critics Choice Award for Best Director — and his jaunty ensemble period picture has been sneaking back into the hearts and minds of, at least, certain pundits. The BFCA/Critics Choice Awards tend to feel like the middle ground between the Golden Globes and the Oscars in terms of sensibility and taste, while the inclusion of separate Action and Comedy categories and acting subcategories give these voters every opportunity to strategically dole out awards to the widest variety of films. More power to Jennifer Lawrence , then, who was nominated as Best Action heroine and earned not one, but two additional nods for Silver Linings Playbook , for which she vied in both the Comedy and the straight dramatic Best Actress categories. Meanwhile, Jessica Chastain won the main Best Actress race, allowing both Oscar front-runners to win. That makes everyone happy, right? WINNERS OF THE 18TH ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS: Best Picture – Argo Best Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis ( Lincoln ) Best Actress – Jessica Chastain ( Zero Dark Thirty ) Best Supporting Actor – Philip Seymour Hoffman ( The Master ) Best Supporting Actress – Anne Hathaway ( Les Miserables ) Best Young Actor/Actress – Quvenzhane Wallis ( Beasts of the Southern Wild ) Best Acting Ensemble – Silver Linings Playbook Best Director – Ben Affleck ( Argo ) Best Original Screenplay – Quentin Tarantino ( Django Unchained ) Best Adapted Screenplay – Tony Kushner ( Lincoln ) Best Cinematography – Claudio Miranda ( Life of Pi ) Best Art Direction – Sarah Greenwood/Katie Spencer ( Anna Karenina ) Best Editing – William Goldenberg/Dylan Tichenor ( Zero Dark Thirty ) Best Costume Design – Jacqueline Durran ( Anna Karenina ) Best Makeup – Cloud Atlas Best Visual Effects – Life of Pi Best Animated Feature – Wreck-It Ralph Best Action Movie – Skyfall Best Actor in an Action Movie – Daniel Craig ( Skyfall ) Best Actress in an Action Movie – Jennifer Lawrence ( The Hunger Games ) Best Comedy – Silver Linings Playbook Best Actor in a Comedy – Bradley Cooper ( Silver Linings Playbook ) Best Actress in a Comedy – Jennifer Lawrence ( Silver Linings Playbook ) Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie – Looper Best Foreign Language Film – Amour Best Documentary Feature – Searching for Sugarman Best Song – Skyfall Best Score – John Williams ( Lincoln ) PREVIOUSLY IN AWARDS SEASON: Academy Award Nominees Announced – ‘Lincoln’ Leads 2013 Oscar Noms Academy Award Nominations — What Were The Biggest Snubs & Shocks Of The 2013 Oscar Noms? Academy Award Nominations − The Behind-The-Scenes Winners & Losers Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Quentin Tarantino and David O. Russell were edged out of the pack in today’s Directors Guild Award nominations announcement, giving way to a rather conservative quintet of Oscar hopefuls. So let the DGA backlash begin: Between Ben Affleck ( Argo ), Kathryn Bigelow ( Zero Dark Thirty ), Steven Spielberg ( Lincoln ), Tom Hooper ( Les Miserables ), Ang Lee ( Life of Pi ), which nominee should have gotten the shaft to make the DGA race even remotely interesting? Ben Affleck & Argo : A solid pick and, before ZDT came in and stole its thunder, the crowd-pleasing (and Hollywood ego-boosting) Middle Eastern true story political potboiler of choice. Kathryn Bigelow & Zero Dark Thirty : I mean, obviously . Steven Spielberg & Lincoln : It’s three-time DGA winner Spielberg’s eleventh DGA nod. Let’s face it, this was a gimme. Ang Lee & Life of Pi : Let’s think for a minute on how Quentin Tarantino was not nominated for the much better, much ballsier Django Unchained (even including David O. Russell’s solid rom-com Silver Linings Playbook would have suggested the DGA had more of a pulse), but — sigh — it makes complete, safe sense that Lee’s breathtaking 3-D CG work earned snaps from this guild. Tom Hooper & Les Miserables : The bigger WTF: Tom Hooper’s Tom Hooperness bamboozled the DGA. I blame Claude-Michel Schönberg’s music and Anne Hathaway’s tears for why the DGA nominated one of the worst directing jobs of the 2012 awards season. What say you, Movieliners? PREVIOUSLY IN AWARDS: Writers Guild Awards Unveils 2013 Nominees Oscars To Fete James Bond – Finally Producers Guild Of America Unveils 2013 Nominees Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Javier Bardem booms out, “You shall love (pause) whether you like it or not.” Bardem is seen dressed as a priest in ‘To The Wonder,’ the latest film by Terrence Malick , which debuted at the Venice Film Festival . The trailer opens with a couple walking across what looks like a bridge over the Seine in Paris who then head to what looks like the tidal island Mont Saint-Michel before heading back to more suburban locales and then pastoral expanses. Starring Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Olga Kurylenko and Bardem, the film was originally set to star Christian Bale who later dropped out. The feature by the reclusive Malick is a romantic drama centered on an American man who is torn between the woman who moved to the U.S. to be with him (Kurylenko) and the appearance of a local woman from his past (McAdams) as his marriage falls apart. The film managed to polarize audiences in Venice. Full text of Bardem’s voiceover in the trailer below. You shall love whether you like it or not. Emotions, they come and go like clouds. Love is not only a feeling; you shall love. To love is to run the risk of failure, the risk of betrayal. You fear your love has died; perhaps it is waiting to be transformed into something higher. Awaken the divine presence which sleeps in each man, each woman. Know each other in that love that never changes. [ Source: The trailer is exclusive to TheFilmStage.com via Huffington Post ]
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