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Showing posts from October, 2013

New Trailer, New Release Date for Wolf of Wall Street

Martin Scorsese has a gift for all of us this year and it comes in the form of The Wolf of Wall Street , which was rumored to be delayed until 2014, but Paramount announced today that the Leonardo DiCaprio starring feature would be released theatrically on Christmas instead. " Revered filmmaker Martin Scorsese directs the story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio).   From the American dream to corporate greed, Belfort goes from penny stocks and righteousness to IPOs and a life of corruption in the late 80s.  Excess success and affluence in his early twenties as founder of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont warranted Belfort the title – “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Critic Speak at Movie Mezzanine

This week's Critic Speak over at Movie Mezzanine  focuses on review aggregators. Headed to the theatre this weekend? Were you intending on seeing The Counselor ? Prior to purchasing tickets, I bet you logged on to Rotten Tomatoes before making the final decision. And there it sat a 35% rotten rating like a sore thumb on a new releases list with four other film deemed “fresh.” If that number dissuaded you from seeing the film then this next installment of Critic Speak is for you. Critical debate regarding The Counselor has been raging back and forth this weekend with critics drawing lines in the sand over who “gets it” and who “hates it” with the ferocity reserved for a Lars Von Trier release. With all these feuds now is as good a time as any to address one of the stranger aspects of film criticism in the post-modern era: the obsessive pursuit of critical consensus. Read more at Movie Mezzanine !

Another 'Blue Is the Warmest Color' Feud Breaks Out

Things have not been good with Blue is the Warmest Color since winning the Palme d’Or over the summer. Scandals about the treatment of the two lead actresses have overtaken much of the good word that was spreading around and now, with the U.S. release of the film just a day away, director Abdellatif Kechiche, has re-ignited a feud that was considered stagnant. In a move that surprised many today, the director took out an op-ed in French publication Rue89 to accuse star Léa Seydoux of slandering him to highlight her burgeoning career. Read the rest at Movie Mezzanine !

'12 Years' Dissenters Signal Oscar Season

It happens like clockwork every year. A film comes out of a festival sitting on a cloud boosted by the word of critics that are left speechless post screenings. The filmmakers receive standing ovations, Oscar pundits run off to their hotel rooms to write their four star reviews, and the film itself is placed front and center in movie discussions for weeks. Things look very good for that film, but then a few months later the knives come out. Glowing reviews from August and September turn into vitriolic pissing contests where anything nice said is redacted or erased. Discussions like this just don’t make sense on an objective level, movies are an art form and deserve to be measured on their own strengths and weaknesses. Oscar backlash is hardly a new trend, yet it seems to have gotten more publicized and nastier in recent years. Read the rest at Movie Mezzanine !

All Is Lost Movie Ticket Giveaway

PartnersHub is giving away two tickets to see J.C. Chandor's All Is Lost in theatres, all you have to do is write your own "All Is Lost" story, post it and your email in a comment below and you're entered in the contest. Contest ends 10/25, U.S. participants only. Each household is only eligible to win 2 Free Movie Tickets via blog reviews and giveaways. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

Pacific Rim Giveaway

PartnersHub and Warner Bros. are teaming up to give away a copy of Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim All you have to do is take the superfan quiz in the app below and then post your results (and your email) in your comments section as a giveaway entry. "Each household is only eligible to win 1 Pacific Rim Blu-Ray via blog reviews and giveaways. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification." Contest ends Oct. 20th and is for U.S. entries only.

Review: Gravity

Space, an endless body that is both mesmerizing and terrifying in its expanse and scope. Nothing inspires more wonder in this day and age, but films have left a gap in stories that take place there. Stanley Kubrick set the bar for space exploration when he made 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 and very few movies have attempted to join that rarefied air since. Alfonso Cuarón has been away from directing full-length features since 2006's Children of Men and the time he has spent away looks like it was well spent. Gravity received ecstatic reviews at screenings at the Venice and Telluride Film Festivals and all the good word rocketed up the expectations for the film in the wait for its release. It can be safely said, that Gravity lives up to the hype. This is Dr. Ryan Stone's (Sandra Bullock) first shuttle mission in space. She worked long and hard before making her transition from engineer to astronaut, with vet Lt. Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) joining alongs