
The Netflix Streaming Report for March 31, 2016 includes new titles such as The Assassin, Archer (Season 6), Sunshine Superman, and more Continue reading
The Netflix Streaming Report for March 31, 2016 includes new titles such as The Assassin, Archer (Season 6), Sunshine Superman, and more Continue reading
Now available to own titles for the week of January 26, 2016 are UnReal Season 1, Goosebumps, Burnt, The Assassin, Downton Abbey, Chi-Raq, and more Continue reading
After last week’s nominations were revealed for the 22nd Annual SAG Awards and 73rd Golden Globes, it feels like it could be anyone’s game at this point. This morning the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) and Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) announced their 21st Critics’ Choice Awards nominees with George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road leading the charge with 13 nods. Hosted by T.J. Miller, the winners will be revealed during a live broadcast from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on A&E, Lifetime, and LMN on Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST.
Mad Max: Fury Road has undoubtedly become the underdog favorite of this awards season, as it has become one of the most revered features of the year by critics, myself included – my review. The big topic of conversation, aside from gaining Best Picture recognition, is Charlize Theron’s nods for both Best Actress and Best Actress In An Action Movie. Tom Hardy, of course, is nominated for Best Actor In An Action Movie, but it’s George Miller for Best Director that has really invested my interest into whether he could be a contender come Oscars. The film has also garnered nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Action Movie, and Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie.
Trailing behind the whirlwind, critically acclaimed hit is Carol, The Martian, and The Revenant with nine nominations each. While this year’s big favorite, Spotlight, has earned itself eight nominations from critics, followed by The Big Short and The Hateful Eight with six each. Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, The Danish Girl, Jurassic World, and Sicario each earned five nominations and Room obtained four. Charlize Theron isn’t the only actress up for multiple Best Actress categories, as Jennifer Lawrence is up for three for her work in Joy and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, while Rachel McAdams is up for two awards for Spotlight and True Detective.
And while the film categories are all up in the air, the television categories prove that the increasing output of excellent programming continued this year with FX, ABC, and HBO both gaining 14 nominations each; FOX is close on their heels with 12 nods. The big standout series this year, as determined by critics, is FX’s Fargo with eight nominations. The Leftovers (HBO) and Transparent (Amazon) are not far behind with five nominations each; Black-ish (ABC), Mr. Robot (USA), and Penny Dreadful (Showtime) each earned four.
So what can we takeaway from this year’s 21st Critics’ Choice Awards nominees? For starters, no other awards group has seen more movies this year than the critics, assumably. It’s their jobs to assess the year in film. Who better has a sound voice of reasoning than those who sit in dark rooms and watch movies multiple times per week? In the long run, sure, all awards are practically meaningless gold statues, and the varying award categories the BFCA and BTJA have set have little influence when it comes to the Oscars, but if these voices of reason can help sway voters to at least make an earnest decision at the polls we can be safe in knowing we won’t have another year where a Shakespeare in Love wins against a Saving Private Ryan.
BEST PICTURE
BEST ACTOR
BEST ACTRESS
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
BEST EDITING
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
BEST ACTION MOVIE
BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
BEST COMEDY
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
BEST SONG
BEST SCORE
While we provide you with a list of available new releases Now Available to Own every Tuesday, Coming Soon to Blu-ray and DVD looks at all of the recent home video announcements. For the week of December 12, 2015 we have the The Martian, The Leftovers Season 2, Goosebumps, and more. Find out when they’ll be out and what special features movie fans can expect below.
The Martian (Ridley Scott) Rated PG-13 [141 min] – During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara, Michael Peña, Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Jeff Daniels
Special features include:
Bridge of Spies (Steven Spielberg) Rated PG-13 [135 min] – An American lawyer is recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to help rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union. Starring Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, and Amy Ryan [Watch the Trailer]
Special features include:
The Leftovers Season 2 (Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta) Rated TV-MA [60 min] – Revolves around mysterious disappearances, world-wide, and specifically follows a group of people who are left behind in the suburban community of Mapleton. They must begin to rebuild their lives after the loss of more than 100 people. Starring Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Chris Zylka, Margaret Qualley, and Carrie Coon
Crimson Peak (Guillermo del Toro) Rated R [119 min] – In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds…and remembers. Starring Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, and Charlie Hunnam [Watch the Trailer]
Special features include:
Goosebumps (Rob Letterman) Rated PG [103 min] – A teenager teams up with the daughter of young adult horror author R.L. Stine after the writer’s imaginary demons are set free on the town of Greendale, Maryland. Starring Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, and Ryan Lee [Watch the Trailer]
Special features include:
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (Christopher Landon) Rated R [93 min] – Three scouts, on the eve of their last camp-out, discover the true meaning of friendship when they attempt to save their town from a zombie outbreak. Starring Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan, and Sarah Dumont [Watch the Trailer]
The Last Witch Hunter (Breck Eisner) Rated PG-13 [106 min] – The last witch hunter is all that stands between humanity and the combined forces of the most horrifying witches in history. Starring Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood, and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson
Special features include:
The Assassin (2015) (Hsiao-Hsien Hou) Unrated [105 min] – An assassin accepts a dangerous mission to kill a political leader in seventh-century China. Starring: Qi Shu, Chen Chang, and Satoshi Tsumabuki
Special features include:
MI-5 (Bharat Nalluri) Rated R [104 min] – When a terrorist escapes custody during a routine handover, Will Holloway must team with disgraced MI5 Intelligence Chief Harry Pearce to track him down before an imminent terrorist attack on London. Starring Kit Harington, Peter Firth, and Jennifer Ehle
Special features include:
Broad City (Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson) Rated TV-14 [22 min] – Broad City follows two women throughout their daily lives in New York City, making the smallest and mundane events hysterical and disturbing to watch all at the same time. Starring Abbi Jacobson, Ilana Glazer, and Hannibal Buress
Special features include:
Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Cosmic Clash (Rick Morales) Unrated [Time N/A] – The brilliant, hyper-obsessive-compulsive, super-computer Brainiac is combing the universe fornew additions to his collection of worlds when he stumbles upon a ripe planet for his taking –Earth. Starring Nolan North, Troy Baker, Grey Griffin, Josh Keaton, Khary Payton, and James Arnold Taylor
Special features include:
And that’s it for this week. What are you looking forward to picking up when they release?
Stay tuned for more Blu-Ray and DVD announcements every Saturday.
All plot synopses courtesy of IMDb.com
The 2015 San Diego Asian Film Festival schedule was announced last night at Pacific Arts Movement’s annual Chew the Scene launch party. The 16th SDAFF will be jam packed with over 130 films from 20 countries at 5 different venues in San Diego this year and will run from November 5-14. The opening night film, Miss India America, will be the feature film debut from first time director Ravi Kapoor. Some may be more familiar with his work as an actor in Crossing Jordon as Dr. “Bug”.
A celebration of the arts and entertainment, Chew the Scene 2015 brought together cinephiles and foodies alike to feast on some of the best Asian cuisine San Diego has to offer, as well as preview the upcoming SDAFF 2015 lineup. The evening’s eats and libations included small plates from Common Theory, Cali Baguette, Fire Horse, Sandwich Emporium, Manila Sunset, Filipino Food & Bakery, Royal India, Bistro West, Tajima, Fry King, and Blush Desserts. Suffice it to say, guests came hungry and dishes were wiped clean.
The 2015 San Diego Asian Festival is broken down into four different categories: Masters, Asian American Panorama, Discoveries, and Asia Pop! Each with their own defining characteristics, there will be a bounty of genres for all to enjoy.
Masters: Fresh from Cannes, Berlin, and other prestigious international film festivals, these are premieres and rediscoveries of works by the world’s best directors.
Asian American Panorama: The best of Asian American cinema in all of its colors – from short film programs and animation, to documentaries about the famous and infamous, to feature-length tales of woe and humor.
Discoveries: From Asia’s most innovative and thought-provoking filmmakers come new stories and new ways of telling them.
Asia Pop!: Films to make you laugh, cry, and cheer, featuring Korean hotties, badminton buddies, imperial intrigue, cute kindergardeners, and women you do not want to mess with.
Chew the Scene 2015 reached its climax by playing a highlight teaser reel of all the films that will be shown during the festival. You can watch the trailer below:
Along with the highlighted feature films, which you can find below, actor Ken Jeong (The Hangover; NBC/Yahoo! Screen’s Community) will also be making an appearance as a guest panelist on Saturday, November 7. Tickets for the festival and events will be available to purchase on the PacArts website.
Without further ado, let’s get on with the lineup!
Miss India America (Ravi Kapoor) [USA] 93 mins – Lily is a college-bound valedictorian with a gilded future, so beauty pageants are way below her. But when a case of sass strikes, she finds out what she’s not above: some good ol’ fashioned competition. Thanks to a wily script and Tiya Sircar’s knockout comedic performance, nobody is safe from Lily’s schemes.
Seoul Searching (Benson Lee) [South Korea, USA] 105 mins – Don’t you forget about 1986, when the Latin Lover collided with the punk and the pastor’s daughter on a Seoul summer camp for overseas Korean youth to discover their roots. And by roots, we mean soju, laughs, and that weird science of young love.
Made in Japan (Josh Bishop) [USA] 90 mins – Howdy neighbors! So says Tomi Fujiyama to her friends in the U.S. who are about to discover just what kind of neighbor she is. With cowboy hat and guitar, she’s determined to re-take the Grand Ole Opry stage, where in 1964, she became the country music institution’s first Japanese star.