A Teasing Glimpse Into The Secret Life of Pets

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Arleigh

Pixar and Dreamworks had been the only two big boys in the CG-animated block, but in the last couple years we’ve had another studio make some inroads into that very block. It’s the studio that brought to the world Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2. It is also set to release Minions (itself a spin-off from the Despicable Me franchise).

Illumination Entertainment has released the first teaser trailer for their 2016 offering: The Secret Life of Pets.

From the look of the trailer we may be looking forward to a sort of Toy Story-type narrative but instead of toys coming to life and behaving like their owners it’s pets standing in.

The Secret Life of Pets is set for a July 8, 2016 release date.

What If Lisa Marie Picked The Oscar Nominees…

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

With the Oscar nominations due to be announced this week, now is the time that the Shattered Lens indulges in a little something called, “What if Lisa had all the power.” Listed below are my personal Oscar nominations. Please note that these are not the films that I necessarily think will be nominated. The fact of the matter is that the many of them will not. Instead, these are the films that would be nominated if I was solely responsible for deciding the nominees this year. Winners are listed in bold.

You can check out my picks for 2010 by clicking here.

My picks for 2011 can be found here.

And, finally, here are my picks for 2012.

Best Picture

12 Years A Slave

American Hustle

Before Midnight

Blue Is The Warmest Color

Frances Ha

Fruitvale Station

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Spring Breakers

Upstream Color

Best Director

Noah Baumbach for Frances Ha

Shane Carruth for Upstream Color

Spike Jonze for Her

Harmony Korine for Spring Breakers

David O. Russell for American Hustle

Best Actor

Bruce Dern in Nebraska

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf Of Wall Street

Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

Joaquin Phoenix in Her

Dennis Quaid in At Any Price

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine

Julie Delpy in Before Midnight

Adèle Exarchopoulos in Blue Is The Warmest Color

Greta Gerwig in Frances Ha

Amy Seimetz in Upstream Color

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips

Kyle Chandler in The Spectacular Now

Bradley Cooper in American Hustle

James Franco in Spring Breakers

Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle

Eva Mendes in The Place Beyond The Pines

Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years A Slave

Léa Seydoux in Blue Is The Warmest Color

Octavia Spencer in Fruitvale Station

Best Original Screenplay

American Hustle

Blue Jasmine

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Upstream Color

Best Adapted Screenplay

12 Years A Slave

Before Midnight

Blue Is The Warmest Color

The Spectacular Now

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Animated Feature

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Ernest and Celestine

Frozen

Monsters University

Best Documentary Feature

20 Feet From Stardom

The Armstrong Lie

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer

Stories We Tell

Tim’s Vermeer

Best Foreign Language Film

(Please note that I do things differently for this category than the Academy. For this award, I am nominating the best foreign language films to be released in the United States in 2013.)

Beyond the Hills

Blue Is The Warmest Color

Renoir

White Elephant

Best Production Design

12 Years A Slave

Gravity

The Great Gatsby

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Oz: The Great and Powerful

Best Cinematography

Frances Ha

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

Spring Breakers

Upstream Color

Best Costume Design

12 Years A Slave

American Hustle

The Copperhead

The Great Gatsby

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Best Film Editing

12 Years A Slave

American Hustle

Gravity

Her

Upstream Color

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

12 Years A Slave

American Hustle

Dallas Buyers Club

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Warm Bodies

Best Original Score

Gravity

Her

Maniac

Trance

Upstream Color

Best Original Song

“Let it Go” from Frozen

“A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)” from The Great Gatsby

“Young and Beautiful” from The Great Gatsby

“The Moon Song” from Her

“I See Fire” from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

“Atlas” from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

“Please Mr. Kennedy” from Inside Llewyn Davis

“So You Know What It’s Like” from Short Term 12

“Becomes The Color” from Stoker

“Here It Comes” from Trance

Best Sound Editing

All Is Lost

Iron Man 3

Pacific Rim

Rush

Upstream Color

Best Sound Mixing

All Is Lost

Iron Man 3

Pacific Rim

Rush

Upstream Color

Best Visual Effects

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Oz: The Great and Powerful

Pacific Rim

List of Films By Number of Nominations:

9 Nominations — Upstream Color

8 Nominations — American Hustle

7 Nominations — 12 Years A Slave, Her

5 Nominations — Blue Is The Warmest Color

4 Nominations — Frances Ha, Gravity, The Great Gatsby, Inside Llewyn Davis, Spring Breakers

3 Nominations — Before Midnight, Dallas Buyers Club, Iron Man 3, Pacific Rim

2 Nominations — All Is Lost, Blue Jasmine, Frozen, Fruitvale Station, Nebraska, Oz The Great and Powerful, Rush, The Spectacular Now, Trance, The Wolf of Wall Street

1 Nominations — 20 Feet From Stardom, The Armstrong Lie, At Any Price, Beyond The Hills, Captain Phillips, The Copperhead, The Counselor, The Croods, Despicable Me 2, Ernest and Celestine, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Maniac, Monsters University, No, The Place Beyond The Pines, Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, Renoir, Short Term 12, Stoker, Stories We Tell, Tim’s Vermeer, Warm Bodies, White Elephant

List of Films By Number of Oscars Won

3 Oscars — American Hustle, Upstream Color

2 Oscars — The Great Gatsby

1 Oscar — Before Midnight, Blue is The Warmest Color, Frances Ha, Frozen, Gravity, Her, Iron Man 3, Maniac, Pacific Rim, The Spectacular Now, Spring Breakers, Stories We Tell, The Wolf of Wall Street

Here Are The Producer’s Guild Nominations!

Posted on January 2, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Earlier today, the Producer’s Guild of America announced its ten nominees for best picture of 2013. Here they are:

12 Years A Slave

American Hustle

Blue Jasmine

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Saving Mr. Banks

The Wolf of Wall Street

There are two big shocks here: 1) Inside Llewyn Davis was not nominated and 2) Blue Jasmine was. As critically acclaimed as Blue Jasmine was, it’s mostly been viewed as a vehicle for Cate Blanchett to pick up her second Oscar.

Some people are also surprised that The Butler didn’t pick up a nomination. I’m not.

The PGA also nominated five films for Best Animated Feature:

The Croods,

Despicable Me 2,

Epic,

Frozen,

Monsters University

Last year, the PGA correctly predicted 4 of the 5 eventual nominees for the Oscar for Best Animated Film. It wouldn’t surprise me to see that happen again, with The Wind Rises replacing Epic.

Things I dug in 2013 (in no particular order and off the top of my head)

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Viktor VonGlum

I will start a trend of keeping positive by omitting the things that I disliked in Geekdom during 2013. At the end of the day, my negative opinions are opinions and shouldn’t be used to rain on anyone’s parade/geekery.

Battling Boy by Paul Pope is a remix and mash-up of a coming of age story and a hero’s journey that features science heroes, a variety of monsters, totem tee-shirts, and cosmic pantheon.

The Battle of the Atom covers featured epic artwork from the likes of Art Adams, Stuart Immonen, Ed McGuinness, Kris Anka, and Terry Dodson.

Despicable Me 2 is a delightful film and one of the few sequels that I thoroughly enjoyed. I love the characterization, the spy gadgets, and soundtrack.

Pacific Rim is a sheer geekasm crafted by Mr. Del Toro. It had kaiju, mechas, and cool mecha gadgets… three things that I have dug since I was a wee lad. I have watched it several times and each time my appreciation and love of it grow.

Here Are 2013 The Annie Nominations!

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 2013 Annie Nominations were announced earlier today. The Annies honor the best of the year’s animated features and television series. The race for the Best Animated Feature Oscar is unusually competitive this year so it’s interesting to note that Frozen, Monsters U., Despicable Me 2, and The Croods received the most Annie nominations this year.

Below are the major nominations. A full list of the nominees can be found by clicking here.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
A Letter to Momo –  GKIDS
Despicable Me 2 –  Universal Pictures
Ernest & Celestine  – GKIDS
Frozen –  Walt Disney Animation Studios
Monsters University –  Pixar Animation Studios
The Croods  – DreamWorks Animation
The Wind Rises  – The Walt Disney Studios
BEST ANIMATED SPECIAL PRODUCTION
Chipotle Scarecrow  – Moonbot Studios
Listening Is an Act of Love  – StoryCorps
Room on the Broom –  Magic Light Pictures
Toy Story OF TERROR! - Pixar Animation Studios

BEST ANIMATED SHORT SUBJECT
Despicable Me 2 – Puppy  – Universal Pictures
Get A Horse!  – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Gloria Victoria  – National Film Board of Canada
My Mom is an Airplane  – Acme Filmworks
The Numberlys –  Moonbot Studios

BEST ANIMATED TV/BROADCAST COMMERCIAL
Despicable Me 2 – Cinemark  – Universal Pictures
Sound of the Woods – Acme Filmworks
The Polar Bears Movie  – CAA Marketing

Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production For Preschool Children
Bubble Guppies  – Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Disney Sofia the First  – Disney Television Animation
Doc McStuffins  – Disney Television Animation
Justin Time  – Guru Studio
Peter Rabbit – Nickelodeon Animation Studio

Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production For Children’s Audience
Adventure Time –  Cartoon Network Studios
Beware the Batman  – Warner Bros. Animation
Disney Gravity Falls  – Disney Television Animation
Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness –  Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Regular Show –  Cartoon Network Studios
Scaredy Squirrel –  Nelvana Ltd.
Teen Titans Go!  – Warner Bros. Animation
The Legend of Korra  – Nickelodeon Animation Studio

Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production
Archer  – FX Networks
Bob’s Burgers –  Bento Box Entertainment
Disney Tron Uprising  – Disney Television Animation
Futurama  – 20th Century Fox Television
Motorcity  – Titmouse Inc.

Best Animated Video Game
Diggs Nightcrawler  – Moonbot Studios
Tiny Thief  – 5 ANTS
The Last of Us –  Naughty Dog

Best Student Film
Chicken or the Egg  – Ringling College of Art and Design
Kellerkind – Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg
Miss Todd  – Kristina Yee
Move Mountain  – Kirsten Lepore
SEMÃ•FORO –  University of Southern California
The Final Straw  – Ringling College of Art and Design
Trusts & Estates  – CalArts
Wedding Cake –  Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg

Here Are The 19 Films Eligible To Be Nominated For Best Animated Feature

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oscar season continues! The Academy today released it’s list of the films that are eligible for Best Animated Feature. Here are the 19 films that are in the running.

Per Academy Rules, no less than two and no more than 5 of these films will ultimately be nominated.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Epic
Ernest and Celestine
The Fake
Free Birds
Frozen
Khumba
The Legend of Sarila
A Letter to Momo
Monsters University
O Apóstolo
Planes
Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie — Rebellion
Rio: 2096 A Story of Love and Fury
The Smurfs 2
Turbo
The Wind Rises

2013: What Type of Year Has It Been So Far?

Posted on July 6, 2013 by Lisa Marie Bowman

We are now at the halfway mark as far as 2013 is concerned. This is the time of year that self-important film critics (both online and elsewhere) tell their readers what type of year it’s been so far.

So, without further ado — what type of year has 2013 been so far?

(By the way, you can also check out my thoughts from last year, July of 2011 and July 2010 as well.)

(Also, please understand that my opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the any other contributor here at TSL. And I reserve the right to change my opinion.)

Best Film Of The Year (So Far): Upstream Color (with The Bling Ring, This Is The End, Spring Breakers, Before Midnight, Frances Ha, Iceman, and Much Ado About Nothing as close runner-ups.)

Best Male Performance Of The Year (So Far): Michael Shannon in Iceman (with James Franco in Spring Breakers as a close runner-up).

Best Female Performance of the Year (So Far): Greta Gerwig in Frances Ha (with Emma Watson in The Bling Ring as a close runner-up.)

Best Voice Over Performance Of The Year (So Far): Steve Carell in Despicable Me 2.

Best Ending of the Year (So Far): Upstream Color

Best Horror Film Of The Year (So Far): Maniac

Most Underrated Film Of The Year (So Far): The Last Exorcism Part 2

Best Bad Film Of The Year (So Far): Safe Haven

Worst Film Of The Year (So Far): Tyler Perry’s Temptation, which was a guilty pleasure up until it turned out that Tyler Perry is apparently a messenger from God.

Biggest Example Of A Missed Opportunity For This Year (So Far): Man of Steel, which started out so strong before it became just another series of mind-numbing CGI sequences.

The Get Over It Already Award For The First Half of 2012: Disconnect. Hey, everyone, did you know that the Internet makes people feel disconnected from others? If this is news to you, then you’ll probably think Disconnect is a really profound movie.

The Cameron/Fincher Bandwagon Trophy (Awarded To The Upcoming Film That, Regardless Of Quality, Will Probably Be So Violently Embraced By People Online That You’ll Be Putting Your Life In Danger If You Dare Offer Up The Slightest Amount Of Criticism): Elysium

The Trailer That Has Most Outgrown Its Welcome: Elysium

The Sasha Award (Awarded To The Film That I Am Predicting Will Be The Most Overrated Of The Year): August: Osage County

The Stone Award (Awarded to the upcoming film that will probably get positive reviews based on the film’s political context as opposed to the film itself): The Butler

The Roland Emmerich/Rod Lurie Award For The Film That I’m Predicting Will Be The Worst Of 2012: Could any film possibly be worst than Tyler Perry’s Temptation?

Films I’m Looking Forward To Seeing In The Future (An incomplete list): American Hustle, Anchorman: The Legend Continues, Carrie, Dallas Buyers Club, Foxcatcher, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Inside Llewyn Davis, Insidious Chapter 2, Nebraska, Only God Forgives, Oldboy, Pacific Rim, Thor: The Dark World, The Wolf of Wall Street

Let’s hope that the second half of 2013 is better than the first.

Seriously, just because the Mayans were wrong, that’s no excuse for bad cinema.

Trailer: Despicable Me 2 (Official)

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Arleigh

Finally, we have the first official full trailer for the sequel to 2010’s surprise animated hit Despicable Me. The first two trailers were more teasers and sort of more like Minion-centric showcases.

This official trailer now brings back the rest of the cast and actually gives us an idea as to what could be the story for the sequel. It looks like Gru has been recruited by an Anti-Villain League to take on a new villain. Oh, there’s more Minion hilarities to be seen as well.

MINIONS.

Despicable Me 2 is set for a July 3, 2013 release date.

Trailer: Despicable Me 2 (Teaser)

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Arleigh

One of the big surprises for me film-wise in 2010 was a CG animated film that came out of left field. It wasn’t by Pixar and it didn’t come from Dreamworks Animation. No this CG film came from a little-known animation studio called Illumination Entertainment. Their very first full-length animated film would turn out to be a critical and box-office success. I’m talking about Despicable Me and while the character Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) and the three girls he adopts in the film were quite good it was Gru’s minions who stole the film from the bigger names.

In 2013 we’ll have the sequel to this film and what better way to lead off the first teaser trailer for Despicable Me 2 than get the beloved minions announce the film’s arrival.