Black Swan Teaser Art

December 3 can not come fast enough. Srsly.

3 more stunners after the jump:

[via Empire]

 

In-Depth: Best Supporting Actress

Kris Tapley has a pretty great article up on this year’s still wide-open Supporting Actress field over at InContention..  Seriously, it’s anyone’s game at this point.  I just updated my own predictions for this category (as well as Supporting Actor), and I’ve got three veteran character actors (Miranda Richardson, Helena Bonham-Carter, and Dianne Wiest), a fresh face (Hailee Steinfeld), and a relative unknown (Jacki Weaver) as my top 5.  And I’m not particularly sure about any of ’em.  Still, it’s only October.  In all likelihood this category will start making more sense come December.

Trailer Park: “The Way Back”

Just a few days after we received confirmation that Peter Weir‘s The Way Back would receive a one-week Oscar-qualifying run at the end of December, this epic trailer hits the web.  And I do mean epic.  Studios and directors aren’t really making films like this anymore, these cross-continental historical dramas/tales of survival, which is a shame.  When done right they can be thrilling, breathtaking cinema.

The cast looks stellar (I can easily see awards traction for Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, and maybe Saoirse Ronan), and it’s obviously gonna show up in at least a few tech categories.  I’m worried that it’s already shaping up to be such a crowded race that it’s late entrance will handicap it severely…

“The Social Network” Review

It’s only been in theaters for a weekend, but David Fincher’s “Facebook Film” has already been saddled with the impossibly lofty adjective of “generation-defining”.  While I’m not so sure that a movie about the success story of the world’s youngest billionaire is relatable enough to be considered generation-defining in the way that, say, The Breakfast Club was, that doesn’t make The Social Network any less of a brilliant piece of filmmaking.  And it truly is brilliant, possibly one of the year’s very best films; Aaron Sorkin’s crackling script delivers some of the best and most instantly-quotable lines of dialogue of any film released in the past decade (“every creation myth needs a devil”), and the young cast is uniformly stellar.  Jesse Eisenberg finally carries a major league film, and absolutely kills.  His Mark Zuckerberg is perfectly cold, socially awkward, and ambitious, but still strangely magnetic.  You can’t take your eyes off of him, which any actor lesser than Eisenberg wouldn’t have been able to pull off.  Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake are also top-notch here (and likely on their way to Oscar nominations, along with Eisenberg), as are Armie Hammer, Rooney Mara, and Brenda Song, finally breaking away from Disney Channel in spectacular fashion.

The film does raise a lot of timely questions about the role of technology, the concept of intellectual theft, and privacy in our increasingly digitalized world (due in no small part to Zuckerberg’s work), though at it’s heart it’s really a story about friendship, ambition, and the need to be liked/loved/included.  Now who can’t relate to that?  A

Trailer Park: “True Grit”

I haven’t been all that excited for the new Coen Bros. film, but the trailer is definitely top-notch and places newcomer Hailee Steinfield front-and-center (I smell a supporting actress nominee!).  A lot of pundits have been predicting this for Best Picture, but I’m still a bit wary… Westerns have not been doing well, at least financially, in awhile and the fact that it’s a remake of an Academy Award-winning John Wayne film doesn’t help. Still, it is the Coen Bros…

New “For Colored Girls” Poster

Even if the movie fails to live up to the hype (as in is a typical Tyler Perry film), it will always have this gorgeous poster. Seriously, this is brilliant.

Prediction Updates (Director, Actor, Actress)

My post Toronto/Venice/Telluride prediction updates for Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress are all up and finalized now.  Check em out and lemme know if you agree/disagree/think I’m crazy

Trailer Park: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1”

Several trailers for the two-part Harry Potter finale have hit the web over the past few months, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to post the latest.  It’s two minutes of rapid-fire scene changes sure to leave Potter fans (such as myself) salivating for the film’s release this November.

Oscar chances are always surprisingly slim with this series, despite the technical and dramatic quality.  And I have a sneaking suspicion that Oscar might wait until the very final film to honor it (a la Return of the King).

Prediction Updates

With Toronto, Venice, and Telluride now but a memory, Oscar season has officially kicked off.  Most of the major contenders have screened for critics, and as such we have a much better read on what films are headed towards the Kodak.  I’m going to update my predictions in all categories this week, starting with The Big One: Best Picture.

Emma Stone – Oscar Contender?

Over at Awards Daily, Sasha Stone wrote up a nice little piece about the awards potential of Hollywood’s newest young star, Easy A‘s Emma Stone.  While I think most would agree that Stone likely has a Golden Globe nomination locked up, Stone puts forth the possibility of Oscar.  As interesting a notion as that is, I have a hard time visualizing Stone seriously entering the Oscar race, let alone winning a nomination in such a competitive year for Best Actress.  She might win the Golden Globe, unless Annette Bening is entered into the Comedy category (which is a definite possibility).  Of course, strangers things than Best Actress nominations for teen comedies have happened, but if Reese Witherspoon failed with Election, Lindsay Lohan failed with Mean Girls, and Winona Ryder failed with Heathers, I don’t see how Stone could pull it off.