Tag Archives: hugo

Martin Scorsese Sure is Guzzling the 3-D Kool-Aid

Martin Scorsese has long proven his mastery of filmmaking, passion for storytelling and an infectious worship of the medium in which he’s produced nearly five decades of singular, sometimes legendary work. Perhaps it should come as no surprise, then, that man of such fervency and skill would take so well to one of the rapidly developing hallmarks of contemporary cinema culture: Trolling. Scorsese joined fellow Oscar-winner Ang Lee on a panel Wednesday at CinemaCon , where the filmmakers told the industry crowd how sincerely they believed in the 3-D renaissance. I mean, sure, Hugo turned out OK ( critically , anyway; commercially, oof ), and Lee’s forthcoming 3-D epic The Life of Pi has plenty worth anticipating with or without the stereoscopic extras. But this … I mean, I just can’t: Martin Scorsese has become so enamored with 3-D filmmaking that he expects to use the technology in all his future projects. The Academy Award-winning director of The Departed told a crowd of theater owners at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas on Wednesday that he wishes his landmark films Raging Bull and Taxi Driver had been three-dimensional. Scorsese is so convinced of the power of 3-D, he said he only saw Hugo, his first 3-D movie released to critical acclaim last year, once in 2-D. “There is something that 3-D gives to the picture that takes you into another land and you stay there and it’s a good place to be,” he said. Yes! That land is called Migrainetown, and it is a good place to be if you are director with back-end points and/or an exhibitor selling the eye-cramping privilege for $16 a pop, both shuttered away in the local bank reinvesting the community’s money in more 3-D “infrastructure.” (“Keep them open,” Lee implored, for example, on behalf of Migrainetown’s independent movie houses. “Especially with 3-D, this is a new era coming. We have to keep up with it.”) And then there was… this , which apparently is the stock defense for anyone advocating new technology that completely takes viewers out of the movie : Scorsese compared 3-D to the rise of color movies. He said as a film student at New York University in the early 1960s, he was shocked when he heard predictions that all future movies would be filmed in color. He said anyone harboring doubts about the rising influence of 3-D technology should consider how color movies have taken over the industry. The 3-D craze allows filmmakers to accomplish the original goals of cinema, Scorsese said. “The minute it started people wanted three things: color, sound and depth,” Scorsese said. “You want to recreate life.” Wrong, wrong, wrong — they wanted color, sound and texting . Get it straight, Marty! Also: Come back to us! Also : If what happens in Vegas truly stays in Vegas, then why do I keep smelling sulfur? [ AP via Awards Daily ] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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Martin Scorsese Sure is Guzzling the 3-D Kool-Aid

Oscar Roundtable: Meet This Year’s Best Costume Design Nominees

As the big night fast approaches, it’s time for another of Movieline’s virtual awards roundtables. Our Oscar nominees this time are up for Best Costume Design. They are (in alphabetical order):

GALLERY: Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese and More Hit the 2012 BAFTA Awards

From Meryl Streep to Martin Scorsese and awards season juggernaut The Artist , Hollywood’s finest came out in full force Sunday in London for the 2012 BAFTA Awards. ( Get the full list of BAFTA winners here .) Hit the jump to see who dazzled on the red carpet and celebrated backstage at the last big hurrah before the Oscars. Launch the 2012 BAFTA red carpet gallery!

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GALLERY: Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese and More Hit the 2012 BAFTA Awards

Ever Wanted to Bite the Head Off Uggie? Now You Can

Despite the Consider Uggie campaign ‘s global impact on social media , auteur awards strategies and the ever-sensitive dynamics of poster giveaways , many adversaries would just as soon see the Artist wonder dog shot into space, Laika-style , never to be seen or heard from again. I hesitate to acknowledge or dignify their numbers, but since this is news we can both use, let’s all rally round one of the best Uggie-specific developments to date: Uggie is now a cookie. Eleni’s , the New York-based bakery renowned for its Oscar-season confections, this week announced its 2012 collection of Best Picture , Best Actress and Best Actor cookies. Among the Best Picture assortment — which annually transforms one or two key story elements from each nominee into an edible treat — we find a Hawaiian shirt from The Descendants , a clock from Hugo , a bloated, dripping hunk of Oscar bait for The Daldry , and a cheerful Jack Russell terrier representing Michel Hazanavicius’s Oscar front-runner: True, the tree representing The Tree of Life seems a little underimagined, but it’s not like you want to be devouring the goddamned baby’s foot we’ve seen for the last year-plus. Anyway. Uggie! Is a cookie! As an avowed devotee of this particular awards tradition for years (nothing — and I mean nothing — will ever beat the airgun cookie from No Country For Old Men , but hey), I can’t overstate my pride in this milestone. I also can’t stop you from hungrily snapping the head off the little guy in punitive glee, followed by the tambourine from The Daldry just to add to the puppy cookie’s prolonged gastric suffering. The possibilities are endless. Or endless-ish. Whatever. The Best Picture set is available now for $75 at Elenis.com . Enjoy!

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Ever Wanted to Bite the Head Off Uggie? Now You Can

Consider Uggie, Day 63: Martin Scorsese Calls Out Artist Wonder Dog; Facebook Fans Surpass 10K

So we’ve already established that The Artist is going to pretty much dominate next month’s Academy Awards — a certainty that we’ve seen reflected in the behavior of certain awards-season foes who’ve taken aim at the silent film’s ubiquitous wonder dog Uggie. Christopher Plummer led the offensive last week on behalf of his Beginners co-star (and Uggie’s fellow Jack Russell terrier) Cosmo, joined over the weekend by an unlikely ally hoping to raise another dog’s profile as we sleepwalk toward Oscar. Martin Scorsese — yes, the Martin Scorsese, master filmmaker and current Best Director nominee for Hugo — put his name on a cheeky L.A. Times op-ed asking viewers, voters and especially the organizers of the inaugural Golden Collar Awards to consider his film’s fierce Doberman, Blackie. It’s all kind of priceless: OK, let’s lay all our cards on the table. Jack Russell terriers are small and cute. Dobermans are enormous and — handsome. More tellingly, Uggie plays a nice little mascot who does tricks and saves his master’s life in one of the films, while Blackie gives an uncompromising performance as a ferocious guard dog who terrorizes children. I’m sure you can see what I’m driving at. I’m proud of Blackie, who laid it on the line and dared to risk the sympathy of her audience. Let’s just say that on the set, she had a fitting nickname: Citizen Canine. The bath scene alone is a masterpiece of underplaying, with Blackie’s wonderfully aquiline face accentuated by the 3-D. Ohhhh, boy. You really need to read the whole thing, for both a refreshing glimpse at Scorsese’s sense of humor and a bracing example of how dogs — dogs! — have politicized this year’s awards race. Dog News Daily has agreed to add Blackie to its Golden Collar nominees if she receives 500 write-in endorsements today on Facebook. I mean, come on . Blackie is fantastic and all, but Uggie’s 10,000 fans on Facebook say all anyone needs to know about the year’s most formidable four-legged awards contender. Oh, right: Did I mention that Movieline’s Consider Uggie campaign has eclipsed 10,000 supporters worldwide since its launch two months ago? It’s true! With a little less than 30 days remaining before the Academy Awards, we’re on pace for around 15,000 Uggieheads by the big night. I’d hoped for something a little closer to 20,000, so if you haven’t yet joined up, please consider heading over to Consider Uggie HQ and giving our boy a little boost. Tell your friends on Twitter to #ConsiderUggie as well, and continue keeping track of everything he’s up to via Facebook and/or Uggie’s own Twitter page ( @Uggie_TheArtist ). Or as always, keep on eye on Movieline for all your Consider Uggie news and to learn about the next great director to fire across Uggie’s bow. Go ahead, Terrence Malick, I dare you.

Oscars’ 2012 Makeup Short List: Hello, Albert Nobbs; Bye Bye J. Edgar

So much awards news! And it’s not all good for J. Edgar , the latest high-profile Oscar hopeful to see its balloon deflate as the Academy rolled out its Best Makeup short list. High-fives are in order, meanwhile, for the teams behind Albert Nobbs , Hugo , Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and four other awards contenders. Read on for the complete list. The group below will be pared to three when the Academy announces its nominations on Jan. 24. Good luck to all! Albert Nobbs Anonymous The Artist Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Hugo The Iron Lady [ AMPAS ]

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Oscars’ 2012 Makeup Short List: Hello, Albert Nobbs; Bye Bye J. Edgar

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum Showcase Their Sorry Dance Moves in New 21 Jump Street Trailer

In spite of our hesitations about a 21 Jump Street film, Movieline thoroughly enjoyed last month’s red band trailer for the feature adaptation of the ’80s television series. It teased the quippy chemistry of stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in a goofy buddy cop comedy similar in tone to Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller’s Starsky & Hutch reboot. But instead of infiltrating motorcycle gangs and Bat Mitzvahs, a new 21 Jump Street trailer proves that this ditzy male duo have a hard enough time uncovering a drug ring in between their afternoon chores and sad dance moves at prom.

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Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum Showcase Their Sorry Dance Moves in New 21 Jump Street Trailer

Technical Advisory: Commenting Disabled, Maintenance Underway at Movieline

A bit of maintenance around Movieline HQ means that our site’s content-management system — including its commenting apparatus — will be down for an hour or so starting at 11:30 a.m. PST. I apologize for any browsing or feedback delays during this time. Hold those thoughts, though; we look forward to your visits and notes as we come to on the other side. Thanks for your patience! [UPDATE 2:10 p.m. PST : We are back! Resume commenting at will! We appreciate your forbearance.]

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Technical Advisory: Commenting Disabled, Maintenance Underway at Movieline

John Logan on Skyfall, Rango, and the Secret of Successful Screenwriting

Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain have each had a well-documented great year, each no fewer than three well-received films — and all their corresponding buzz — arriving in theaters in 2011. Investigate slightly below the radar, however, and you’ll find screenwriter John Logan faring just as well — if not better.

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John Logan on Skyfall, Rango, and the Secret of Successful Screenwriting

Rejoice, Drive Fans: The BFCA Just Saved Your Awards Hopes

Good news for those Drive fans who’ve spent the last three months wondering who they had to head-stomp to get some awards recognition around here: The Broadcast Film Critics Association has singlehandedly boosted the film back into the seasonal spotlight, nominating Drive for eight Critics Choice Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. That tied with The Help ‘s showing, and while it isn’t quite the haul enjoyed by The Artist and Hugo — which nabbed 11 nods apiece — it’s something! Be encouraged! Read on for more notes and the complete list of this year’s Critics Choice nominees.

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Rejoice, Drive Fans: The BFCA Just Saved Your Awards Hopes