I know what you’ve been wondering. Where’s the latest edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers!? Well, your wait is over because here it is! And this edition is all about women kicking ass.
1) Sister Streetfighter (1974)
2) Lady Snowblood (1973)
3) Lady Snowblood 2 (1974)
4) The Doll Squad (1973)
5) Police Woman (1974)
6) Coffy (1973)
What do you think, Trailer Kitty?
He’s thinking about it.
Here’s the official trailer for Kill The Messenger, a film that has been getting some early Oscar buzz.
Apparently based on a true story, Kill The Messenger is about a reporter (played by Jeremy Renner) who writes a story accusing the government of selling cocaine in order to fund right-wing guerillas in Central America. Some awards bloggers have predicted that Jeremy Renner will be nominated for best actor, largely because he’s Jeremy Renner. Judging from the trailer, it looks like Renner gets to be intense and deliver a lot of passionate monologues, which is usually a pretty good strategy as far as getting Academy recognition is concerned.
That said, the trailer feels just a little bit generic. In fact, as I watched it, I was reminded of last year’s ill-fated box office bomb, The Fifth Estate. Every year, there’s an overtly political film that’s expected to change the world and win a lot of awards that then ends up sinking into obscurity because most people don’t go to the movies to learn a lesson. They go in order to escape from the very world being detailed in films like The Fifth Estate and, possibly, Kill The Messenger.
Will Kill The Messenger be this year’s Fifth Estate?
We’ll find out in October.
It’s debatable what type of effect a victory of Cannes will have when it comes to the Oscars. Indeed, because of the festival’s international nature, it’s often the case that some of the most acclaimed films at Cannes aren’t even eligible to be nominated. Blue Is The Warmest Colour was one of the best films to released in the United States last year but its victory at Cannes certainly did not translate into Oscar nominations. However, at the same time, there’s probably some truth to the theory that winning the Palme d’Or allowed some of the more mainstream-minded Academy voters to consider The Tree of Life as a legitimate Oscar possibility, as opposed to just an art house indulgence.
So, in other words — who knows?
One thing is for sure. Winning at Cannes will definitely not hurt the Oscar chances of Bennett Miller, Timothy Spall, and Julianne Moore. In fact, the only film that truly seems to have been knocked out of Oscar consideration by its Cannes reception would appear to be Grace of Monaco. (Well, okay — Lost River, too. But was anyone expecting Lost River to be an Oscar nominee before it premiered at Cannes?)
Anyway, enough of me pretending to be an expert on how the Oscars work! Here are the winners from Cannes:
In Competition
As much as I wish I was in Cannes right now, I’m not. I’m stuck here in the States while everyone else gets to pose for the photographers, walk around topless on the beach, and see movies. Oh well, there’s always next year. Until then, I’m keeping up with Cannes via social media.
The festival opened last night with Grace of Monaco and guess what? The reaction would appear to confirm that the film is just as much of a misfire as I think everyone assumed it would be. It’s not so much that the film sounds terrible as much as it just sounds like it’s remarkably bland.
However, no sooner had everyone dismissed Grace than everyone started to rave about Mike Leigh’s latest film, Mr. Turner. I’ve been intrigued by Mr. Turner ever since I first heard about it, largely because it’s a biopic of the great landscape painter J.M.W. Turner and I’ve got a degree in art history. The enthusiastic reaction that both the film and star Timothy Spall have gotten at Cannes have only served to make me even more excited about seeing this film once it’s released here in December. (My friends in the UK will get to see it in October.)
(Not to brag or anything — because you know I would never do that! — but quite a few of the reviews from Cannes are speculating that both the film and Spall could be Oscar contenders. That’s something that I predicted way back in March.)
As the film premiered at Cannes, the official trailer was also released.
And here it is!
Whiplash
Of course, it’s way too early for me or anyone else to try to predict who and what will be nominated for an Academy Award in 2015. However, that’s not stopping me from trying to do so on a monthly basis!
Below are my updated predictions for May.
You can read my predictions for April here and my March predictions here.
Best Picture
Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash
Wild
I’ve dropped Get On Up from my list of best picture nominees, mostly because the film’s trailer is just too bland. As for some of the other films that some of my fellow bloggers are predicting will be contenders: The Grand Budapest Hotel may very well deserve a nomination but it may have come out too early in the year. Gone Girl may be too much of a genre piece while Inherent Vice may not be enough of one. Big Eyes would theoretically benefit from the fact that both Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams would appear to be perfectly cast but, after his last few live action films, I don’t have much faith in Tim Burton. As for Into The Woods, my instinct says that Rob Marshall’s latest musical film adaptation is going to have more in common with Nine than with Chicago.
Best Director
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman
Angelina Jolie for Unbroken
Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game
Jean-Marc Vallee for Wild
No changes here. I nearly dropped Angelina Jolie from the list, just because she’s being so aggressively hyped and early hype always seems to lead to later disappointment. If I had dropped her, I would have replaced her with Christopher Nolan for Interstellar.
Best Actor
Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton in Birdman
Joaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice
Christoph Waltz in Big Eyes
I dropped Chadwick Boseman from my list of predictions, again based on the blandness of the trailer for Get On Up. I also moved Ralph Fiennes down to best supporting actor. In their place: Joaquin Phoenix and Christoph Waltz.
Best Actress
Amy Adams in Big Eyes
Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl
Emma Stone in Magic in the Moonlight
Reese Whitherspoon in Wild
Michelle Williams in Suite francaise
I dropped Jessica Chastain from the list and replaced her with Michelle Williams. Why? There’s really no big reason, beyond the fact that I know more about the role Williams is playing in Suite francaise than I do about the role Chastain is playing in A Most Violent Year. If The Fault In Our Stars was being released in October (as opposed to next month), I would have probably found room for Shailene Woodley on this list.
Best Supporting Actor
Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ethan Hawke in Boyhood
Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher
Martin Sheen in Trash
J.K. Simmons in Whiplash
I dropped both Robert Duvall and Channing Tatum from this list, largely because I don’t know enough about Duvall’s character in The Judge and because I have a feeling that, when it comes to Foxcatcher, the Academy will either nominate Ruffalo or Tatum but not both of them. My first replacement is Martin Sheen for Trash, largely because Sheen has never been nominated for an Oscar and the role of an activist priest seems to be perfect for him. My second replacement is Ralph Fiennes for The Grand Budapest Hotel. Originally, I was predicting Fiennes would get a best actor nod but — as is explained in this article over at AwardsWatch — a pretty good case can be made for Fiennes getting a supporting nod instead.
Literally minutes before clicking publish on this post, I also decided to remove Christopher Walken and replace him with Ethan Hawke. With three nominations already — one for acting and two for writing — Hawke seems to be popular with Academy voters and he always seems to do his best work for Richard Linklater.
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette in Boyhood
Viola Davis in Get On Up
Marcia Gay Harden in Magic In The Moonlight
Kristen Scott Thomas in Suite francaise
Meryl Streep in Into The Woods
Two changes: I dropped Amy Ryan and replaced her with Kristen Scott Thomas. Again, it’s mostly just because I know more about the role Scott Thomas is playing than I do about Ryan’s role. I also, shortly before posting this, decided to remove Kiera Knightley and replace her with Patricia Arquette for Boyhood.
So, those are my predictions for this month! Agree? Disagree? Please feel free to let me know in the comments section below.
Boyhood
As I explained in March, I’m going to be doing a monthly series of posts in which I’m going to attempt to predict which 2014 films will be Oscar-nominated.
Obviously, at this point of the year, the nominations listed below are less like predictions and more like random guesses. However, if nothing else, these early predictions will be good for a laugh or two once the actual Oscar race becomes a bit more clear.
Below, you’ll find my predictions for April. Check out my predictions for March here.
Best Picture
Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
Get On Up
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash
Wild
Best Director
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman
Angelina Jolie for Unbroken
Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game
Jean-Marc Vallee for Wild
Best Actor
Chadwick Boseman in Get On Up
Steve Carell in Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton in Birdman
Best Actress
Amy Adams in Big Eyes
Jessica Chastain in A Most Violent Year
Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl
Emma Stone in Magic in the Moonlight
Reese Whitherspoon in Wild
Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall in The Judge
Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons in Whiplash
Channing Tatum in Foxcatcher
Christopher Walken in Jersey Boys
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis in Get On Up
Marcia Gay Harden in Magic In The Moonlight
Kiera Knightley in The Imitation Game
Amy Ryan in Birdman
Meryl Streep in Into The Woods
Even as I sit here typing, one of the local channels here in Dallas is currently showing a marathon of Charles Bronson action films. All of these movies come from the 70s, all of them star Charles Bronson, and all of them feature a lot of people getting shot.
Perhaps that’s why, when I sent the trailer kitties out to gather the trailers for this week’s edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers, they came back with 6 trailers that can only be described as being Bronsonrific.
1) Mr. Majestyk (1974)
2) The Stone Killer (1973)
3) Cold Sweat (1970)
4) Telefon (1977)
5) Borderline (1980)
6) The White Buffalo (1977)
What do you think, Trailer Kitty?
So, guess what I did this morning? That’s right — I put on a blindfold, a stumbled over to my ever-growing Blu-ray, DVD, and even VHS collection and I randomly selected 12 films!
Why did I do this?
I did it so you, the beloved readers of Through the Shattered Lens, could once again have a chance to tell me what to do. At the end of this post, you’ll find a poll. Hopefully, between now and next Monday (that’s March 24th), a few of you will take the time to vote for which of these 12 films I should watch and review. I will then watch the winner on Tuesday and post my review on Wednesday night. In short, I’m putting the power to dominate in your hands. Just remember: with great power comes great … well, you know how it goes.
Here are the 12 films that I randomly selected this morning:
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008) — This German film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. It tells the true life story of the left-wing German terrorist group, The RAF.
The Cat’s Meow (2001) — From director Peter Bogdonavich, this film speculates about the events that led to the shooting of silent film director Thomas H. Ince. Starring Kirsten Dunst as Marion Davies, Edward Herrmann as William Randolph Hearst, and Eddie Izzard as Charlie Chaplin.
Heavenly Creatures (1994) — The close relationship between two teenage girls (Melanie Lynesky and Kate Winslet) leads to both a vibrant fantasy world and real-life murder. Directed by Peter Jackson.
In A Lonely Place (1950) — In this film noir from director Nicholas Ray, Humphrey Bogart plays a screenwriter who may (or may not) be a murderer.
Liquid Sky (1983) — In this low-budget, independent science fiction film, an alien lands in New York and soon several members of the city’s underground art scene are vaporized. Not surprisingly, it all has to do with heroin.
Made in Britain (1983) — A very young Tim Roth makes his debut in this British film. Roth plays Trevor, a Neo-Nazi who — despite being intelligent and charismatic — also seems to be intent on destroying himself and everything that he sees.
Much Ado About Nothing (2013) — In between The Avengers and Agents of SHIELD, Joss Whedon found the time to direct this adaptation of Shakespeare’s play.
Peyton Place (1957) — In this Oscar-nominated film, the sordid secrets of an outwardly idyllic New England town are exposed.
Pretty Poison (1968) — Having just been released from a mental institution, Dennis (Anthony Perkins) finds himself involved with teenager Sue Anne (Tuesday Weld), who — despite her wholesome appearance — is actually psychotic.
Troll 2 (1990) — A family moves to Nilbog, a small town that is populated by vegetarian goblins. This movie is widely considered to be one of the worst ever made.
Walkabout (1971) — In this visually stunning Nicolas Roeg film, a teenage girl and her younger brother find themselves stranded and left for dead in the Australian outback. They try to survive with the help of an Aborigine.
Zabriskie Point (1970) — In this 1970 film, the great Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni takes a look at the 60s counter-culture. Airplanes are stolen, buildings explode, and orgies magically materialize in the middle of the desert.
The poll will be open until Monday, March 24th.
Happy voting!
Hi there! It’s Wednesday (or maybe Thursday — daylight savings time is so freaking confusing!) and that means that it’s time for yet another somewhat random collection of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers!
1) See No Evil (1971)
2) The Other (1972)
3) Hell Drivers (1957)
4) Exposed (1983)
5) The Lickerish Quartet (1970)
6) Reform School Girl (1957)
What do you think, Gamera?
Hi there! Last night, Jeff and I saw Pompeii and I enjoyed it so much that today, I told the trailer kitties to go out and find six trailers that would celebrate the grandeur of the ancient world.
Let’s see how they did with this latest edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers!
1) War of the Zombies (1964)
2) The Arena (1973)
3) The Avenger (1962)
4) The Last Days of Pompeii (1959)
5) Caligula and Messalina (1981) (Warning: Graphic And NSFW)
6) Caligula (1979)
What do you think, Trailer Kitty?
Through the Shattered Lens 