CineVue

84th Academy Awards: 2012 Oscars live feed

2012-02-26T15:44:12-08:00

Join the CineVue team for our live Oscar feed from London's Rich Mix. We'll be tweeting and live blogging throughout the night into the wee small hours, from the red carpet to the Best Picture winner. Martin Scorsese's Hugo leads the way with 11 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director, with Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist, Brad Pitt's Moneyball and Steven Spielberg's War Horse also in the running for most major awards. In the other major categories, Jean Dujardin, George Clooney and Gary Oldman are all up for Best Actor, with Meryl Streep and Viola Davis going head-to-head for Best Actress.
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84th Academy Awards: 2012 Oscar predictions

2012-02-26T15:24:31-08:00

The 84th Academy Awards ceremony takes place this Sunday evening (26 February) at Hollywoods's Kodak Theatre, with Martin Scorsese's Hugo leading the way with 11 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Despite its nomination hall, the hot favourites for this year's main awards include Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist, Brad Pitt's baseball drama Moneyball and Steven Spielberg's weepy War Horse. In the Best Actor category, Jean Dujardin and George Clooney will go head-to-head, whilst the Best Actress Oscar looks set for Meryl Streep's mantelpiece. Here are our award predictions:
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Spirit Awards 2012: Award predictions

2012-02-25T04:13:35-08:00

You'd be forgiven for not having noticed the buzz emanating across the Atlantic for the 28th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards which commence tonight (10pm ET/PT) thanks to this Sunday's more recognizable and prestigious Academy Awards. The Spirit Awards, created in 1984 and previously known as the FINDIEs (Friends of Independents) have become famous for celebrating artistic-driven filmmaking and recognizing the finest achievements of today's independent filmmakers. Below is a list of the nominees for all the major awards plus our predictions:
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DocHouse: 'Boxing Girls of Kabul', 'Light in Her Eyes' & ‘Unfinished Spaces’

2012-02-24T06:00:07-08:00

DocHouse Thursdays brings the best in documentary filmmaking from around the world to UK audiences, presenting an intriguing variety of untold stories that rarely make the headlines, and the recent screenings of Ariel Nasr's The Boxing Girls of Kabul, Juila Meltzer and Laura Nix's The Light in Her Eyes and Alysa Nahmias and Benjamin Murray's Unfinished Spaces were no exception.
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Edinburgh Film Festival 2012: Chris Fujiwara rings in the changes

2012-02-24T04:00:07-08:00

Let's be honest - last year's Edinburgh International Film Festival was a mockery. Not only was there a noticeable lack of direction (for some reason the board thought it could function without the appointment of a permanent Artistic Director), but there was also the feeling that the programme had been halfheartedly stitched together at the last minute with no clear vision or structure.
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Preview: 'Wrath of the Titans' Oblivion trailer released

2012-02-24T02:23:45-08:00

Warner Bros. today revealed a brand new trailer for CGI-heavy Ancient Greek odyssey Wrath of the Titans (2012), the 3D sequel to 2010's hugely underwhelming Clash of the Titans. Tagged the 'Oblivion trailer', the short montage of footage gives us a glimpse of some of the film's titular Titans (a race of powerful deities imprisoned by Zeus and his army of Olympians), obliterating pretty much everything before them. In their way stands Perseus (Sam Worthington), dragged out of retirement 10 years after defeating the Kraken to once again save both humanity and the gods from this new threat.
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Preview: 'Wanderlust'

2012-02-24T02:00:10-08:00

David Wain, the writer and director behind 2001 cult comedy classic Wet Hot American Summer and the mildly received Role Models (2008), returns to familiar yet intriguing terrain with Wanderlust (2012), a new film produced by Judd Apatow, the man many believe to be the 'mastermind' of modern day American comedy, and starring Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux.
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Competition: Win 'The Greatest Movie Ever Sold' on DVD

2012-02-24T01:07:52-08:00

Morgan Spurlock's latest documentary The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011) is released on DVD this coming Monday (27 Feb), and thanks to the powers that be, we have THREE DVD copies of the film to give away to CineVue readers - plus an exclusive Amy's Kitchen™ Goody Bag as a star prize. This is an exclusive competition for our Facebook fans, so if you haven't already, head over to facebook.com/CineVueUK, 'Like' us, and then follow the instructions below.
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Competition: Win 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' on Blu-ray

2012-02-24T00:00:07-08:00

One of the most critcally-acclaimed, jaw-dropping films of 2011 (and cruelly overlooked at this year's Academy Awards), Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) is released on DVD and Blu-ray this Monday (27 Feb). Courtesy of Artificial Eye, we have THREE Blu-ray copies of the film to give away to our loyal readers. This is an exclusive competition for our Facebook fans, so if you haven't already, head over to facebook.com/CineVueUK, 'Like' us, and then follow the instructions below.
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Preview: Disney Pixar's 'Brave' gets new teaser trailer and poster

2012-02-23T08:23:45-08:00

Disney Pixar look to be back on track again (following 2011s' disappointing Cars 2) with Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman's 3D effort Brave (2012), a Celtic-themed tale of one princess' rebellion against her clan's laws upheld traditions. Today, a brand new official poster and teaser trailer (well, an extended clip) was released for the film, and gives us more of an idea as to just how powerful a young female protagonist Pixar are readying to unleash in UK cinemas on 17 August.
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Berlin Film Festival 2012: 'Avalon'

2012-02-24T10:44:09-08:00

★★★★★

Avalon (2011), directed by Axel Petersén, maintains Swedish cinema's reputation for outstanding films with a captivating thriller starring Swedish comedian and buddy of Mick Jagger, Johannes Brost. Set in the wealthy town of Båstad on the Swedish coastline, the story follows club promoter Janne (Brost), a man who has never really grown up. Along with his sister and best friend, he plans to open the exclusive Avalon club but their plans go awry when Janne is involved in a car accident resulting in a young Polish man's death.
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Film Review: 'Hadewijch'

2012-02-23T04:00:12-08:00

★★★☆☆

French director Bruno Dumont, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at both the 1999 and 2009 Cannes Film Festival for his films L'humanité and Flanders, returns with his latest slowburning offering Hadewijch (2009), starring the remarkably talented Julie Sokolowski.
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Film Review: 'Laura' (BFI re-release)

2012-02-23T02:00:06-08:00

★★★★☆

Otto Preminger's film noir masterpiece Laura (1944) opens with the ominous line "I shall never forget the weekend Laura died". From there we meet hardboiled NYPD detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) in a stylish New York apartment and observe his interview with the waspish Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb). This ageing aristocrat/journalist shamelessly types his newspaper column from his bathtub as he answers McPherson's questions about his murdered protégé and close companion Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney).
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Film Review: 'Red Dog'

2012-02-23T00:00:16-08:00

★★★★☆

Kriv Stenders's Red Dog (2011), an adaptation of the Louis de Bernières novel and starring Josh Lucas and Rachael Taylor, is based on the true story of a stray, red Kelpie who - in the 1970s - gained legendary status in the Australian Outback.
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Berlin Film Festival 2012: 'Bel Ami'

2012-02-23T01:18:17-08:00

★☆☆☆☆

There are a mountain of problems with Declan Donnellan and Nick Omerod's adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's novel Bel Ami, which stars Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Christina Ricci and Kristin Scott Thomas. A combination of weak screenplay, dreadful direction and poor performances add up to what is undoubtedly one of the most disappointing films of this year's Berlinale - you'll laugh, but for all the wrong reasons.
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Week in Film: Oscar fever, Lincoln vs. vampires and 'Skyfall' blog

2012-02-22T13:16:33-08:00

After a 7-day hiatus, Week in Film returns - and the big news this week has to be the 84th Academy Awards, with the Oscar ceremony taking place this Sunday at 8.30pm EST. The likes of The Artist, The Descendants and War Horse will all be in the running for Best Picture award, whilst Jean Dujardin, George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Rooney Mara are up for Best Actor and Best Actress. This year's ceremony will (hopefully) be made all the more interesting by the return of US comic Billy Crystal as host, plus rumours that Sacha Baron Cohen will attempt to hijack the event as his character from the forthcoming film, The Dictator (2012).
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Berlin Fim Festival 2012: 'A Royal Affair'

2012-02-22T09:52:42-08:00

★★★★☆

Nikolaj Arcel's lavish historical drama A Royal Affair (En Kongelig Affære, 2012), starring Mads Mikkelsen, Berlinale Silver Lion winner Mikkel Følsgaard and Swedish star Alicia Vikander, is a fine example of an incredibly well-made and enjoyable costume drama that perfectly balances romance and politics against the backdrop of 18th century Denmark.
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Preview: 'This Means War'

2012-02-22T09:38:05-08:00

Released in UK cinemas next Friday (2 March), McG's espionage comedy This Means War (2012) has, rightly or wrongly, left some film fans slightly bemused. Not only is it a complete departure for British star Tom Hardy, who has cut his teeth with a number of excellent recent efforts including Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and MMA drama Warrior (and will appear as Bane in Christopher Nolan's final Batman entry The Dark Knight Rises in July), but will also be directed by one of Hollywood's best-known hacks, McG - responsible for the Charlie's Angels cycle and Terminator Salvation (2009).
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Film Review: 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'

2012-02-22T04:44:16-08:00

★★★☆☆

Featuring a stalwart cast of British actors in their senior years, including Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy, John Madden's The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) is an initially sluggish, yet perfectly pleasant comedy drama about a group of elderly expats retiring in a dilapidated Indian hotel.
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Film Review: 'Black Gold'

2012-02-22T04:07:57-08:00

★☆☆☆☆

Professing to shed some cinematic light on the 'Yellow Belt' oil disputes of the early 20th century, Jean-Jacques Annaud's Black Gold (2011) presented a fantastic opportunity for the construction of a complex, sweeping Arabian epic not seen since David Lean's 1962 masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia. Sadly, what we get instead is a stultifyingly stupid, mind-numbing farce - featuring some of the worst dialogue you will hear this, or any year.
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Film Review: 'Rampart'

2012-02-22T02:00:00-08:00

★★★★☆

Few actors have a résumé as diverse as Woody Harrelson's, and even less have managed to leave a long-running sitcom and avoid the perils of audience over-familiarity and typecasting. Since Cheers wrapped, Harrelson has worked with the likes of Oliver Stone, Terrence Malick, the Coen Brothers and Robert Altman, and his turn as a corrupt cop in Oren Moverman's Rampart (2011) is further proof that he is capable of creating troubled, complex characters.
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Film Review: 'Safe House'

2012-02-22T00:00:09-08:00

★★☆☆☆

Safe House (2012), the new action thriller from director Daniel Espinosa - starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds - spends most of its 117-minute running time much like its central characters - tearing madly around, making a lot of noise and not really getting very far.
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Berlin Film Festival 2012: 'Cherry'

2012-02-21T05:00:18-08:00

★★★☆☆

American activist and author Stephen Elliott puts down his pen to make his directorial debut with US drama Cherry (2012), starring James Franco, Ashley Hinshaw, Dev Patel and Heather Graham. The story reveals an unglamourous account of the porn industry in San Francisco, wrapped up in the sometimes compelling tale of high school drop-out Angelina (Hinshaw) and how she comes to be the successful pornstar 'Cherry'.
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Berlin Film Festival 2012: 'The End of Puberty'

2012-02-21T14:02:00-08:00

★★☆☆☆

An unique twist on the body-swap sub genre, Kimura Shoko's debut film The End of Puberty (Koi ni itaru yamai, 2011) is a kooky comedy about a young girl and her biology teacher, who inexplicably find that they've exchanged sexual organs during intercourse - only in Japan could you find such an outlandish premise.
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Berlin Film Festival 2012: 'Marley'

2012-02-21T03:00:10-08:00

★★★☆☆

Having proven an insurmountable task for masters of the medium in the past (perhaps notably Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker), Life in a Day (2011) director Kevin Macdonald brings the life of the late reggae icon Bob Marley to the screen in new documentary Marley (2012), which premiered at this year's Berlinale.
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