Rolling Stone's 2009 hot list revealed

Rolling Stone magazine has its list of the rockers, models, actors and movies standing between us and total despair. Naturally, only the actors and movies are relevant to our interests around here:

Hot Comedy: The Hangover



Hot Actor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt



Hot Wife: Leslie Mann



Hot Director: Duncan Jones



Hot Hick: Danny McBride



Hot Mid-30s Angst: Away We Go



Hot Sci-Fi Babe: Stephanie Jacobsen



Hot Network TV Hope: Mindy Kaling



Hot Sidekick: Rupert Grint



Hot Cameo: Mike Tyson



Hot Comic: Aubrey Plaza




Rolling Stone also has feature articles on Ben Stiller, Rupert Grint, Aubrey Plaza, and Jesse Eisenberg, and you can also check out the rest of Rolling Stone's hot list.

Trailer for 'The Goods'

The new trailer for The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (out August 14) starring Jeremy Piven is now online. The title is fairly stupid, and the trailer is pretty ridiculous. I'm only interested in this because of my inexplicable love for Jeremy Piven, though now that I think of it, I', probably really in love with Ari Gold. Anyway, check out the trailer:

HBO’s 'Hung' Trailer

Summer is often when my favorite shows come back on television: The Tudors, Mad Men, True Blood, Entourage, and Dexter. Anyway, HBO will be premiering its new series, Hung on June 28 at 10pm EST (right after True Blood).

Thomas Jane plays Ray Drecker, a newly divorced, restless middle-aged high school basketball coach. Thomas Jane is the reason I'm drawn to this show. Every year I think he'll have a breakout year but it never happens. And his role in The Punisher did nothing to help his career along, but he's been brilliant in smaller films like Thursday, so I'm looking forward to this.

Trailer via Film Junk:

Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant remake trailer

I think the trailer made its way online a while back, but Film Junk just posted it. I have never seen Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant, but apparently this remake starring Nicolas Cage looks nothing like Ferrara's 1992 version. Which might seem bizarre, but since Werner Herzog hasn't actually seen the original we'll have to let that slide. Why in the name of hell is this even considered a remake then? The words "Bad Lieutenant" are in the title so therefore, it's a remake? Nicolas Cage movies have a way of fucking baffling me.

Cage plays a drug addicted cop, and even though I've taken a few shots at Cage's ludicrous career, this looks interesting. At least he isn't trying to save the world and it reminds me of his oddball performance in Matchstick Men, which I liked.

Speaking about Cage’s performance, he [Herzog] is quoted as saying, “You will see something extraordinary when you see him on screen. It’s the best he’s ever done.” So there. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is expected to be released sometime in late 2009. [Film Junk]

Is Brad Pitt like Steve McQueen?

A Steve McQueen biopic has been in the works for a while, and now Examiner is pretty damn sure that Brad Pitt is about to sign up for the lead role. (The Playlist rightly notes that Examiner has listed no sources for this information, so one can only guess why they sound so damn sure about this). The film will be based on Steve McQueen's autobiography - Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel, and will focus mostly on McQueen's acting career which started in 1956. Keep in mind that this is one of the two McQueen biopics racing to open first, so we are going to have to deal with this speculation twice. Shooting is set to start later in 2009 for a 2010 release.

A lot of the reaction I've read is one giant hell no to Brad Pitt (wasn't this the same reaction to that rumor about Pitt remaking Bullit?) And usually I really hate having a knee-jerk hell no reaction to casting. In fact, I don't think Brad Pitt is as terrible an actor as some people believe. He was brilliant in Fight Club, underatted in Snatch, good in The Assasination of Jesse James, and even though I was dissapointed with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I at least liked his performance. So, he's not a terrible actor, he looks a little like McQueen, and he's probably one of the few movie stars we have left.

But casting Brad Pitt, just feels rather uninspired and predictable. A few other names have been suggested like Daniel Craig, Sam Worthington, and Damian Lewis. Damian Lewis, looks the most like McQueen, though he'd obviously have to dye his hair. I think knowing that we'll be doing this casting speculation all over again with another McQueen movie is going to take some of the fun out of this process.

Typhoid Mary to appear in 'Daredevil' reboot?

It seems like I'm the last person on the planet to know about Marvel wanting to reboot Daredevil. It's still a rumor at this stage, but The Movie Blog gives us a hint:

In wild speculation Golden Apple Comics in LA had a surprise visit from Katee Sackhoff attempting to buy them out of every Typhoid Mary comic in their stock.

She said it was “for a role” so we don’t know if she is courting to play Typhoid Mary, or a character like her Tie this in with rumours that Marvel wants to Reboot Daredevil, and the rumour mill hits the ground running.

So, it looks like Marvel wants to reboot some of its not so popular movies. The studio tried it with The Incredible Hulk last year, and with the decidedly mixed reactions to that endeavor, I'm beginning to wonder how successful a reboot of Daredevil can be. Daredevil was God-awful (what movie with Ben Affleck isn't?), and its spin-off, Elektra, was near unwatchable and made the Typhoid character totally different from her comic book incarnation. I don't really have anything against a reboot or a remake though, especially since I believe that if Hollywood wants to do remakes, they should do so with bad films, and try to improve them. Daredevil was always a fascinating character, and his relationship with Typhoid Mary, if handled well, could make for a very interesting movie. So, I've got mixed feelings about this, mostly because so far, the details are just at the rumor stage.

Uwe Boll discusses 'Darfur'

Uwe Boll was interviewed at Cannes and he discussed his upcoming film about the ongoing genocide in Darfur. At first when I read about this I thought it was a joke. But, it's not. This film actually exists and Uwe fucking Boll directed it. The most surprising thing about the interview is that the reporter didn't burst out laughing in the man's face, nor did he walk away in disgust. Kudos to him for that feat.

The folks at The Agony Booth sum up the video for us:

1) He got actual victims of the genocide to play themselves. I honestly think he says he got a rape victim, who now has AIDS because of the rape, to reenact the rape on camera. I really hope that's not true, and that his accent has made me completely misunderstand him.

2) The movie has no script and he wanted his actors to improvise, but then he found out quickly that they had "problems with improvisation". Really. Billy Zane and Kristanna Loken had trouble writing their own lines? You don't say.

3) He can't afford the submission fee to have his movies screened at festivals.

I just...whoa. I just have no words for this insulting mess, so head on over to the interview. Wouldn't you know it, the darn thing won't embed. Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something.

Lego movie posters

Check out these movie posters recreated with lego bricks. There are even more at the source.

'Avatar' trailer to play before 'Transformers 2' ?

Now this is something to look forward to if The Movie Blog is right:

There is word flying all over the internet today that the first trailer for James Cameron’s “Avatar” is going to debut in front of Transformers 2. Nothing has been officially confirmed at this point as far as I know… but the info SEEMS to be legit.

I'm probably one of the few movie buffs on earth who isn't all that excited for Avatar, though that's likely to change upon seeing the trailer. But, I don't like James Cameron movies (yes, I dare blaspheme), and nothing about the plot entices me, my sci-fi fanaticism be damned. Its only saving grace, at least at this point, is Steven Soderbergh' s enthusiastic endorsement.

This week in superhero news: (More) 'Thor' casting news and a 'Spider-Man 4' update

Actor Tom Hiddleston has been cast as villain Loki (sorry Josh Hartnett) in Marvel Studio's adaptation of Thor. Director Kenneth Branagh worked with Hiddleston on the London production of Chekhov's Ivanov and both starred in the BBC miniseries Wallander.

I've never actually seen anything Hiddleston has starred in, but his previous work with Kenneth Branagh will obviously help with the project. Thor opens May 20, 2011.

Now on to the Spider-Man 4 news. Director Sam Raimi has revealed that Spider-Man 4 will start shooting in February of 2009. Raimi explains why he has to force this upon us why he loves the character so much:

"I love Peter Parker. I've always loved the Spider-Man comics, and I fell like I still know more about the character that I think can bring to the screen - and perhaps make it great if I do it right. It's the same reason I keep reading the Spider-Man comic books. I'm really enamored with the character and now I feel like I have a history with him. I'd like to really make a great picture with him and bring the character to life at a level of detail that I've never realized before. It's almost like I have a desire to do something I've been trying to do right and haven't yet been able to. Not exactly." [LA Times via The Playlist]

That's about enough of that Mr. Raimi. Somewhere between Spider-Man 3 and just now, I had forgotten how much I really loved the first two Spider-Man films. I'm beginning to wonder if Raimi is morphing into George Lucas or something - like the guy needs to be saved from destroying his own work.

Martin Luther King Jr biopic in the works

Steven Spielberg is set to produce the upcoming biopic for DreamWorks. It will be the first film authorized by King's estate, and producers will be able to incorporate King's speeches into the film.

"We are all honored that the King Estate is giving us the opportunity to tell the story of these defining, historic events," Spielberg said. "It is our hope that the creative power of film and the impact of Dr. King's life can combine to present a story of undeniable power that we can all be proud of."

"In trying to tackle such an ambitious project, the question we had to ask ourselves is, 'Why now?' " Snider said. "The answer lies in MLK's own words: 'All progress is precarious.' With every step forward, new obstacles emerge and we must never forget that his life and his teachings continue to challenge us every day to stand up to hatred and inequality." [Variety via Awards Daily]

As usual, I'm trying to cast this project in my head. Jeffrey Wright played MLK flawlessly in the HBO film Boycott, so I think it'll be hard for me to imagine anyone else in the role. Would Spielberg hire Wright to play him again sort of the way Michael Sheen gets hired to play Tony Blair? Who knows? There have been other suggestions going around with everyone from Don Cheadle to Terrence Howard (who also starred in Boycott with Wright) to Chiwetel Ejiofor. Ejiofor would be a pretty great choice I think, but I wonder how people would feel about a British actor playing an American hero.

The other typical names are getting thrown around as well (mostly because you can count the amount of famous black actors in Hollywood on your hand): Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, and Denzel Washington. I doubt that I could get excited by any of those three actors mostly because they've all done their share of biopics, and because none of them actually seems to fit the part. There hasn't been an official release date announced yet, so there will be a lot of time to speculate.

'Sherlock Holmes' trailer

Chris Hemsworth to play Thor

Don't know who he is? You can catch him as George Kirk in the new Star Trek movie. Thor's director Kenneth Branagh has chosen Australian actor, Chris Hemsworth to be Thor. Hemsworth's casting is one of those rare and amazing Hollywood stories:

Ward [partner and co-founder of William Ward's ROAR management who reps Hemsworth] had found Chris during one of the manager's many scouting trips to Australia. Ward brought him to Los Angeles and really put him out there to casting directors and production executives.

Chris had read for the part of Thor but wasn't given a test because a casting director had nixed him early on. I'm told Chris' younger brother Liam (who's also a ROAR client) then tested for the role of Thor, but Marvel's Kevin Feigy passed. That's when Ward called up Feigy and said, "You've got to reconsider Chris. He's your guy." So Feigy let Chris read again. And once Marvel put him on tape, it was "Oh my god". Branagh came to town last week and saw the Chris test and made the final decision today.

What a week for Chris since, on Thursday, he just got cast as the Red Dawn lead. Brother Liam, who's only been in Los Angeles for 3 weeks and doesn't even have an agent yet, just got cast the male lead in Last Song opposite Miley Cyrus in the Disney film based on the Nicholas Sparks novel. Both brothers live in William Ward's guest house. Unreal! [Nikki Finke]

It is unreal, considering all the supposed frontrunners for the role. Everyone from Charlie Hunnam to Alexander Skarsgård had been suggested for Thor. I had initially been rooting for Hunnam, and I still think he would make a great Thor. But after seeing Hemsworth's brief, but memorable, and rather touching performance in Star Trek, I can't help but feel happy for the guy.

Get your first look at Chow Yun-Fat as Confucius

Production on the Confucius biopic started in early April, and FirstShowing points us to brand new photos of Chow Yun-Fat in the film. It all looks a lot more grand than I anticipated:

A Leonard McCoy tribute

I feel like kicking myself from about two weeks ago. My name will forever be linked to doubts and suspicions about the new Star Trek movie. But, now that I’ve seen it, and the Star Trek hype train has slowed somewhat, I honestly don’t think I could love the film any more if I tried – flaws, typically faulty science and all. There has been the expected hoopla over both Chris Pine’s Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s Spock, and truthfully, it’s mostly all warranted. They’re not only better than I expected, they’re just damn good in their roles. Despite that, and the rest of the cast’s talents, one supporting actor always seems to get a bit lost. So, to end all that, I’ll forgo a typical review and make this into more of a tribute to Karl Urban’s slightly manic, but often hilarious depiction of Doctor Leonard McCoy. To warn you, there are some spoilers.



McCoy was without fail, Captain Kirk’s closest confidante, and in some cases, more of a sibling than merely a friend. McCoy was Kirk’s conscience, and his being Kirk’s voice of reason was no accident – his divorce left him world weary, and at times dangerously over-emotional, giving way to moments of irrationality. With J.J. Abrams’ reboot most of this is clear within the first few minutes of his and Kirk’s meeting aboard a ship. While Kirk is calm about their flight – McCoy is the polar opposite, and rattles off a list of horrifying, potential deaths in space ("One tiny crack in the hull, and our blood boils in 13 seconds"). He also, rather bitterly, mentions the divorce from a wife who keeps him from his child, who took everything and left him nothing except his bones. Though it’s Kirk’s relationship with Spock that gets most of our attention throughout the new movie, it is Kirk’s friendship with McCoy that starts first.



Although Karl Urban’s cast mates performances are nearly spot on (Quinto’s job being the hardest with Leonard Nimoy’s presence), Urban is the only actor who comes eerily close to his predecessor’s performance. It’s a near perfect match with DeForest Kelly’s McCoy, and everything from the rhythm of how Urban speaks to even his hand gestures are spot on. And yet, it would be insulting to call his performance an impersonation. It’s more like some sort of restrained possession, and even knowing some of Urban’s techniques (like using a dialect coach) isn’t enough to explain how it’s done. It almost feels like watching an actor’s magic trick, and there are moments when you feel he can’t possibly pull it off. Somewhere, somehow he will make a mistake – perhaps his accent will slip, or his line delivery will slow, perhaps this incarnation of Bones will be less cranky, less manic. But, it amazingly, never happens.



With Urban’s McCoy, it has become increasingly easy to see why some women and men, reject the Kirk or Spock adoration, and rather, fall quite hard for McCoy. This revived love for McCoy is more substantial than superficial (arguably more akin to Spock fans) even though Karl Urban himself is handsome. This love comes from McCoy’s sometimes inexplicable loyalty to Kirk, shown in one instance when McCoy smuggles Kirk onto the Enterprise even though Kirk has been grounded. This love comes from McCoy’s often unintentional moments of hilarity, the best example being McCoy’s attempt to cure Kirk of the temporary disease he gave Kirk in the first place. This love comes from the fact that Urban’s McCoy, like Kelly’s, gets the most memorable (not to mention xenophobic) lines, most of which are directed at Spock (“Are you out of your Vulcan mind?” “Green-blooded hobgoblin!”) If ever there were a salesman to bridge new Star Trek fans to the original show, it is Karl Urban’s McCoy. If he can’t hook them, nothing will.

I was surprised by the amount of humor in the new Star Trek movie, mostly because its misleading trailers have been so self-serious. But for all its action-as-filler, and idealism, McCoy is the movie’s humorous, world wise voice.

So, is it Star Wars or Star Trek?

I love both, but if I had to choose I'd pick Star Trek. Probably because there are more guys to choose from.

There are Star Trek spoilers ahead.

Watch My Favorite Movie (Star Trek vs. Star Wars) and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

Video via /Film


For the record, I don't think the films are as similar as some have claimed. I just think the video is incredibly clever. It's a pity the Star Wars reboot prequels were nowhere near as good as Star Wars fans hoped (fuck you Jar Jar), but who knows, maybe when someone other than George Lucas* takes over the franchise and reboots it yet again, they could take a page out of the J.J. Abrams playbook. Create a parallel universe, stay true to the essence of the actual universe, but do some of whatever the hell you want - yes, blowing up Vulcan takes balls, but J.J. Abrams has got 'em, so all is forgiven.


*He shouldn't be allowed anywhere near his own material.

News on Terry Gilliam's 'Don Quixote' (like for real this time), Depp as Sinatra, and 'Public Enemies' clips

Is today Johnny Depp day or something?

According to Variety, Terry Gilliam will resurrect The Man who Killed Don Quixote, almost ten years after his first try failed. You'll remember that the film was plagued with everything from monstrously bad weather (a flash flood on day two of shooting) to lead actor, Jean Rochefort's back injury.

But, despite the hell it's been trying to bring Don Quixote to the big screen, it looks like Gilliam really will be able to get the film off the ground again. Gilliam will now work with producer Jeremy Thomas, and screenwriter Tony Grisoni, who also drafted the first script. Grisoni and Gilliam have rewritten the script, and the new version involves a filmmaker who joins forces with Don Quixote and unconsciously becomes Sancho Panza.

So, where does Depp fit in with all this? Terry Gilliam is reportedly in talks with Johnny Depp, but because of scheduling problems, it's far from a done deal. Depp or no Depp, Gilliam hopes to shoot The Man who Killed Don Quixote in the spring of 2010. You can watch the only six minutes of the film that were finished to get a feel of the project:

Now on to the Depp as Sinatra business. Niki Finke is trying to make Depp happen. Yesterday there was the announcement that Martin Scorsese really, truly is going to do the Frank Sinatra biopic. According to Finke, Universal Studios is very interested in Johnny Depp playing Sinatra. I'm a Depp cultist, but even I think this choice is a weird. Finke also says that Scorsese may be interested in Leonardo DiCaprio in the role which is something I (foolishly) didn't even expect. I just assumed that Scorsese would draw the line, considering the amount of biopics they have either done or plan on doing. And not to mention DiCaprio being an even weirder choice than Depp. I'm almost as big a DiCaprio cultist as I am a Depp one, but this is getting ridiculous and so predictable it isn't even fun to predict anymore. Despite the weirdness of Depp as Sinatra (then again, when is Johnny not weird?) I must admit, I'd be quite interested in seeing him work with Scorsese for the first time.

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, are two exclusive clips from Public Enemies:

Martin Scorsese to direct Frank Sinatra biopic

Universal Pictures has purchased Sinatra, by screenwriter Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams). Martin Scorsese is set to direct.

The deal comes after years of negotiations with Frank Sinatra Enterprises, a joint venture of the crooner's estate and Warner Music Group. One major obstacle was the internal politics of the estate, where family members had to come to consensus on how to tell the story and, more importantly, just how much of the story to tell.

Sinatra not only will allow Scorsese to tackle the life of a fellow Italian-American with enormous cultural impact, it will also give him a chance to paint a portrait of Sinatra's pal, Dean Martin. The filmmaker has for over a decade been developing a biopic on Martin titled Dino, working with a script by his Casino and Goodfellas writer Nicholas Pileggi based on the Nick Tosches biography, Dino: Livin' High in the Dirty Business of Dreams. [THR]

Considering that Scorsese got Kate Beckinsale to portray Sinatra's wife, Ava Gardner so well in The Aviator, and his affinity for biopics/celebrity documentaries (and being attached to even more biopics - Teddy Roosevelt anyone?), I have total confidence in this.

The cast hasn't been announced yet, but I like throwing out names. I suppose I'll throw out Zachary Quinto's name mostly because I still have Star Trek on the brain, and because he has Italian ancestry, and because I'm brave like that, since I know it will never happen.

New poster and trailer for 'Precious'

Lee Daniels' Sundance hit Precious (formerly called Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire) will be making the rounds at Cannes this month. Lionsgate has unveiled the poster (via FirstShowing) and the trailer. It looks amazing, and with a cast that includes Mo'Nique, Lenny Kravitz, Gabby Sidibe, Paula Patton, and Mariah Carey, who is completely unrecognizable.

Three brand new 'Public Enemies' posters

Full trailer for Disney’s 'The Princess and the Frog'

Looks pretty amazing:



From /Film via ONTD!

Audrey Tautou's Chanel ad

Audrey Tautou is now the face of Chanel No. 5 and In Contention points us to the commercial which is directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and obviously designed to remind us that Tautou plays Chanel in Coco Avant Chanel (a North American release date hasn't been announced yet):

Spock as sex symbol

So, I've been reading through everyone's Star Trek hoopla and the one that has struck me the most is Annalee Newitz's over at io9.com. The article is a review, to be sure, but it reads as a bit of a lust love letter (or is it a tribute?) to the new Spock's sexiness.



Zachary Quinto's Spock, while still a slave to logic, can't hold back his emotions nearly as well as the old Spock could. The current Spock loves and yearns.

That isn't to say that the Leonard Nimoy's Spock didn't have a legion of fans who fell for him:

When celebrated science fiction writer James Tiptree, Jr. (AKA Alice Sheldon) started watching Star Trek in the 1960s, she wrote in letters to her friends about how the one aspect of the show that truly fascinated her was Spock. She wrote a fan letter to Leonard Nimoy, explaining that his sexual magnetism came from humans' natural exogamy, their urge to marry outside their own groups. An alien would be the ultimate outsider, the ultimate object of desire. In one besotted passage, she described Spock's "touching shoulder blades, the tremor, the shadowed and infinitely effective squint."

Tiptree's renegade nerd sexual desires have now gotten a lot closer to being the desires of the mainstream. Zachary Quinto's new Spock still has a thin, trembling body and the squint of a scientist, but he's emerged into this special-effects blockbuster of a film as a leading man, competent, virile, and sexually desirable. This triumphant sexualization Spock could only have happened in the early 21st century, when geeks are culture heroes and dork actor Michael Cera has become a romantic lead.

I haven't seen what Quinto has done with the role yet, but I'm struck by Newitz's observation. The original Spock probably resonates more with women who grew up in the late 20th and 21st century, where geek suddenly become chic (think David Tennant as Doctor Who). He would have been a much less likely sex symbol in 1969 than in 2009.

While Kirk is still the object of most people's desires, a large enough minority of people are drawn to Spock. At least among the large minority of nerd girls (a largely ignored group of comic book readers and sci-fi lovers who came of age sometime between Amidala and Arwen). Where Kirk is hot, Spock is cool - cold even. I figure that there are two types of straight women in the world: the ones that fell for Kirk, and ones that fell for Spock. I've always been a Spock girl.

Diego and Gael and Jimmy

Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal appeared together last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to promote Rudo y Cursi which opens in limited release this Friday in the US. The movie is directed by Carlos Cuarón (Alfonso's brother). Youtube will probably take it down, but check out their appearance while you still can:

The movie is a drama/comedy about two brothers from a rural lower class Mexican family with roots in a little "banana town" on the coast of Mexico, and fighting over who performs better in professional soccer. It is also a parody of contemporary Mexico's "narco-society" perceptions of life and values. [Wikipedia]

Robert Downey Jr. on the set of 'Iron Man 2'

Every other movie blog has posted or will post the new photo that People has thrown out at us. And like a pack of hungry wolves we devour the thing. But who can help it? Downey Jr. looks cool as hell:

What kind of film nerd are you?

Photo source

Head on over to Filmnerds for a full guide to film nerds. I narrowed mine down and I'm of the crybaby variety:

The Crybaby
Known in the scientific community for his time-tested ability to fall for cliche without guilt or restraint, the Crybaby will embrace any film that makes him weep. Predictably, brittle emotions and dangerous exuberance leave this breed helpless to avoid falling for any potentially hackneyed plot element: the hero returns after an apparent death, dude cries. The drug dealer dies after finally atoning for his sins, dude cries. Ugly people fall in love because of indie pop music, dude cries. Give this blubbering exhibit a bit of slow-motion and Enya choir music, and watch the saline flow. Because the Crybaby typically attaches most of his emotional well-being to films that serve his needs-of-the-heart, his financial priorities usually place food, clothing, and shelter below a massive, and growing, DVD collection.

The Pros: Loves every movie you do.

The Cons: Wear a slicker if you sit next to him.

Characteristic Traits: Shouts “masterpiece” in his sleep; Gives bigass bear hugs in the lobby of the theater after shared experiences

So, which nerd are you?

A 1986 movie retrospective

I was born in 1986, and I've been curious about the movies that made an impact that year. My mother isn't much help on 1980s films mostly because she spent a great deal of her time studying in France and then taking care of yours truly. I did a hell of a lot of digging and ironically I'm more familiar with the French films from 1986 than the English language ones.


Events
Turner Broadcasting starts colorizing black and white classics (of course this blasphemy would happen in my birth year)

Legendary stuntman Dar Robinson, is killed on the set of Million Dollar Mystery

Johnny Depp appears briefly in Platoon and the world swoons

Notable Births
Brittany Snow
Jamie Bell
Amanda Bynes
Robert Pattinson
Shia LaBeouf
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Lindsay Lohan
Emmy Rossum
Camilla Belle

Deaths
Cary Grant
Heather Angel



Top Grossing Films
1. Top Gun ($176,786,701)
2. Crocodile Dundee ($174,803,506)
3. Platoon ($138,530,565)
4. The Karate Kid Part II ($115,103,979)
5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ($109,713,132)
6. Back to School ($91,258,000)
7. Aliens ($86,160,248)
8. The Golden Child ($79,817,937)
9. Ruthless People ($71,624,879)
10. Ferris Bueller's Day Off ($70,136,369)

Notable Films Released
9½ Weeks
About Last Night
Aliens
An American Tail
At Close Range
Back to School
Big Trouble in Little China
Blue Velvet
The Boy Who Could Fly
The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation
Castaway
Children of a Lesser God
Club Paradise
The Color of Money
Cobra
Crocodile Dundee
Le Déclin de l'empire américain, (The Decline of the American Empire)
The Delta Force
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
F/X
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
The Fly
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords
The Golden Child
Gung Ho!
Hannah and Her Sisters
Heathcliff: The Movie
Highlander
The Hitcher
Hoosiers
Howard the Duck
Invaders from Mars
Iron Eagle
Jean de Florette
Jumpin' Jack Flash
The Karate Kid, Part II
Labyrinth
Little Shop of Horrors
Manhunter
Manon des Sources
The Mosquito Coast
The Mission
Mona Lisa
The Money Pit
My Little Pony: The Movie
'night, Mother
The Name of the Rose
No Mercy
Peggy Sue Got Married
Pretty in Pink
River's Edge
Ruthless People
Shanghai Surprise
Sid and Nancy
Something Wild
Stand by Me
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
That's Life!
¡Three Amigos!
Top Gun
The Transformers: The Movie
Wildcats
X :The Unheard Music



Sundance Film Festival (17 January - 26 January)
Jury Members: Hector Babenco (dramatic), Molly Haskell (dramatic), Krzysztof Zanussi (dramatic), Martha Coolidge (dramatic), Bobby Roth dramatic), Julia Reichert (documentary), David Fanning (documentary), Ron Mann(documentary), Dennis O'Rourke (documentary)

Awards Grand Jury Prize:
Documentary: Private Conversations: On the Set of 'Death of a Salesman' (Christian Blackwood)
Dramatic: Smooth Talk (Joyce Chopra)

Berlin International Film Festival (14 February - 25 February)
Jury Members
Gina Lollobrigida (head of jury), Rudi Fehr (co-head of jury), Lindsay Anderson, August Coppola, Werner Grassmann, Otar Iosseliani, Norbert Kückelmann, Françoise Maupin, Rosaura Revueltas, Naoki Togawa, Jerzy Toeplitz

Awards Golden Berlin Bear: Stammheim - Die Baader-Meinhof-Gruppe vor Gericht (Reinhard Hauff)
Silver Berlin Bear: Caravaggio (Derek Jarman) and Yari no gonza (Masahiro Shinoda)
Best Actor: Tuncel Kurtiz (Hiuch HaGdi)
Best Actress: Marcelia Cartaxo (A Hora da Estrela) and Charlotte Valandrey (Rouge baiser)]
Best Director: Giorgi Shengelaya (Akhalgazrda kompozitoris mogzauroba)
Berlinale Camera: Gina Lollobrigida, Giulietta Masina, Sydney Pollack, Fred Zinnemann

Cannes Film Festival (8 May – 19 May)
Jury Members
Sydney Pollack (president), Charles Aznavour, Sonia Braga, Lino Brocka, Tonino Delli Colli, Philip French, Alexandre Mnouchkine, István Szabó, Danièle Thompson, Alexandre Trauner

Awards Palm d'Or: The Mission (Roland Joffé)
Special Jury Prize: The Sacrifice (Andrei Tarkovsky)
Jury Prize: Thérèse (Alain Cavalier)
Best Actor: Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa)and Michel Blanc (Tenue de soirée)
Best Actress: Barbara Sukowa (Die Geduld der Rosa Luxemburg) and Fernanda Torres (Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar/Speak to me of Love)
Direction: Martin Scorsese (After Hours)
Palm d'Or for Short Film: Peel (Jane Campion)

Venice Film Festival (30 August – 10 September)
Jury Members
Alain Robbe-Grillet (head of jury), Chantal Akerman, Jörn Donner, Pál Gábor, Román Gubern, Pontus Hulten, Alberto Lattuada, Nanni Moretti, Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Eldar Shengelaya, Fernando E. Solanas, Peter Ustinov, Bernhard Wicki, Catherine Wyler

Awards Golden Lion: Le rayon vert (Eric Rohmer)
Grand Special Jury Prize: Chuzhaya belaya i ryaboy (Sergei Solovyov) and Storia d'amore (Francesco Maselli)
Best Actor: Carlo Delle Piane (Regalo di Natale)
Best Actress: Valeria Golino (Storia d'amore)

Toronto International Film Festival (4 September – 13 September)
Awards People's Choice Award: Le déclin de l'empire américain (Denys Arcand)
Best Canadian Feature Film: Le déclin de l'empire américain (Denys Arcand)

Golden Globes



Best Film – Drama: Platoon
A Room with a View
Children of a Lesser God
Mona Lisa
Stand By Me
The Mission

Best Actor – Drama: Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa)
Harrison Ford (The Mosquito Coast)
Dexter Gordon (Round Midnight)
William Hurt (Children of a Lesser God)
Jeremy Irons (The Mission)
Paul Newman (The Color of Money)

Best Actress – Drama: Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God)
Julie Andrews (Duet for One)
Anne Bancroft ('night, Mother)
Farrah Fawcett (Extremities)
Sigourney Weaver (Aliens)

Best Film - Musical or Comedy: Hannah and Her Sisters Crimes of the Heart Crocodile Dundee Down and Out in Beverly Hills Peggy Sue Got Married Little Shop of Horrors

Best Actor - Musical or Comedy: Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee)
Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
Jeff Daniels (Something Wild)
Danny DeVito (Ruthless People)
Jack Lemmon (That's Life!)

Best Actress - Musical or Comedy: Sissy Spacek (Crimes of the Heart)
Julie Andrews (That's Life!)
Melanie Griffith (Something Wild)
Bette Midler (Down and Out in Beverly Hills)
Kathleen Turner (Peggy Sue Got Married)

Best Supporting Actor: Tom Berenger (Platoon)
Michael Caine (Hannah and Her Sisters)
Dennis Hopper (Blue Velvet)
Dennis Hopper (Hoosiers)
Ray Liotta (Something Wild)

Best Supporting Actress: Maggie Smith (A Room with a View)
Linda Kozlowski (Crocodile Dundee)
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (The Color of Money)
Cathy Tyson (Mona Lisa)
Dianne Wiest (Hannah and Her Sisters)

Best Director: Oliver Stone (Platoon)
Woody Allen (Hannah and Her Sisters)
James Ivory (A Room with a View)
Roland Joffé (The Mission)
Rob Reiner (Stand by Me)

BAFTAs



Best Film: A Room with a View
Hannah and Her Sisters
The Mission
Mona Lisa

Best Actor: Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa)
Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee)
Woody Allen (Hannah and Her Sisters)
Michael Caine (Hannah and Her Sisters)

Best Actress: Maggie Smith (A Room with a View)
Mia Farrow (Hannah and Her Sisters)
Meryl Streep (Out of Africa)
Cathy Tyson (Mona Lisa)

Best Supporting Actor: Ray McAnally (The Mission)
Klaus Maria Brandauer (Out of Africa)
Simon Callow (A Room with a View)
Denholm Elliot (A Room with a View)

Best Supporting Actress: Judi Dench (A Room with a View)
Rosanna Arquette (After Hours)
Barbara Hershey (Hannah and Her Sisters)
Rosemary Leach (A Room with a View)

Best Direction: Woody Allen (Hannah and Her Sisters)
Roland Joffé (The Mission)
Neil Jordan (Mona Lisa)
James Ivory (A Room With A View)

Best Original Screenplay: Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen)
The Mission (Robert Bolt)
Mona Lisa (David Leland and Neil Jordan)
Crocodile Dundee (Paul Hogan, Ken Shadie and John Cornell)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Out of Africa (Kurt Luedtke)
The Color Purple (Menny Meyjes)
A Room with a View (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala)
Children of a Lesser God (Hesper Anderson and Mark Medoff)
Ran (Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni and Masato Ide)

César Awards
Best Film (Meilleur film): Thérèse
37°2 le matin
Jean de Florette
Mélo
Tenue de soirée

Most Promising Actor (Meilleur espoir masculin): Isaach De Bankolé (Black Mic Mac) – interesting sidenote: Isaach De Bankolé is the star of The Limits of Control (how 'bout that?)
Rémi Martin (Conseil de famille)
Jean-Philippe Écoffey (Gardien de la nuit)
Cris Campion (Pirates)

Most Promising Actress (Meilleur espoir féminin): Catherine Mouchet (Thérèse)
Dominique Blanc (La femme de ma vie)
Julie Delpy (Mauvais sang)
Marianne Basler (Rosa la rose, fille publique)

Best Actor (Meilleur acteur): Daniel Auteuil (Jean de Florette)
Jean-Hugues Anglade (37°2 le matin)
Christophe Malavoy (La femme de ma vie)
André Dussollier (Mélo)
Michel Blanc (Tenue de soirée)

Best Actress (Meilleure actrice): Sabine Azéma (Mélo)
Béatrice Dalle (37°2 le matin)
Jane Birkin (La femme de ma vie)
Juliette Binoche (Mauvais sang)
Miou-Miou (Tenue de soirée)

Best Supporting Actor (Meilleur second rôle masculin): Pierre Arditi (Mélo)
Gérard Darmon (37°2 le matin)
Jean-Louis Trintignant (La femme de ma vie)
Claude Piéplu (Le paltoquet)
Jean Carmet (Les fugitifs)

Best Supporting Actress (Meilleur second rôle féminin): Emmanuelle Béart (Manon des sources)
Clémentine Célarié (37°2 le matin)
Marie Dubois (Descente aux enfers)
Danielle Darrieux (Le lieu du crime)
Jeanne Moreau (Le paltoquet)

Best Director (Meilleur réalisateur): Alain Cavalier (Thérèse)
Jean-Jacques Beineix (37°2 le matin)
Claude Berri (Jean de Florette)
Alain Resnais (Mélo)
Bertrand Blier (Tenue de soirée)

Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger): Der Name der Rose
After Hours Hannah and Her Sisters Out of Africa The Mission

Razzies




Worst Picture: Howard the Duck and Under the Cherry Moon (This was the first time two films tied for Worst Picture)
Blue City
Cobra
Shanghai Surprise

Worst Actor: Prince (Under the Cherry Moon)
Emilio Estevez (Maximum Overdrive)
Judd Nelson (Blue City)
Sean Penn (Shanghai Surprise)
Sylvester Stallone (Cobra)

Worst Actress: Madonna (Shanghai Surprise)
Kim Basinger (9 1/2 Weeks)
Joan Chen (Tai Pan)
Brigitte Nielsen-Stallone (Cobra)
Ally Sheedy (Blue City)

Worst Supporting Actor: Jerome Benton (Under the Cherry Moon)
Peter O'Toole (Club Paradise)
Tim Robbins (Howard the Duck)
Brian Thompson (Cobra)
Scott Wilson (Blue City)

Worst Supporting Actress: Dom DeLuise (as Aunt Kate - Haunted Honeymoon)
Louise Fletcher (Invaders from Mars)
Zelda Rubinstein (Poltergeist II)
Beatrice Straight (Power)
Kristin Scott Thomas (Under the Cherry Moon)

Worst Director: Prince (Under the Cherry Moon)
Jim Goddard (Shanghai Surprise)
Willard Huyck (Howard the Duck)
Stephen King (Maximum Overdrive)
Michelle Manning (Blue City)

Worst Screenplay: Howard the Duck (Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz)
Cobra (Sylvester Stallone)
9½ Weeks (Patricia Knop & Zalman King and Sarah Kernochan)
Shanghai Surprise (John Kohn and Robert Bentley)
Under the Cherry Moon (Becky Johnston)

Worst New Star: The six guys and gals in the duck suit (Howard the Duck)
Joan Chen (Tai-Pan)
Mitch Gaylord (American Anthem)
Kristin Scott Thomas (Under the Cherry Moon)
Brian Thompson (Cobra)

Worst Original Song: "Love or Money" (Under the Cherry Moon)
"Howard the Duck" (Howard the Duck)
"I Do What I Do" (9½ Weeks)
"Life in a Looking Glass" (That's Life!)
"Shanghai Surprise" (Shanghai Surprise)

Worst Visual Effects: Howard the Duck Invaders from Mars King Kong Lives
Worst Career Achievement Award
Bruce the rubber shark from Jaws (1975), Jaws 2 (1978) and Jaws 3-D (1983)

Oscars



Best Picture: Platoon
Children of a Lesser God
Hannah and Her Sisters
The Mission
A Room with a View

Best Direction: Oliver Stone (Platoon)
David Lynch (Blue Velvet)
Woody Allen (Hannah and Her Sisters)
Roland Joffé (The Mission)
James Ivory (A Room with a View)

Best Actor: Paul Newman (The Color of Money)
Dexter Gordon (Round Midnight)
William Hurt (Children of a Lesser God)
Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa)
James Woods (Salvador)

Best Actress: Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God)
Sigourney Weaver (Aliens)
Sissy Spacek (Crimes of the Heart)
Jane Fonda (The Morning After)
Kathleen Turner (Peggy Sue Got Married)

Best Supporting Actor: Michael Caine (Hannah and Her Sisters)
Dennis Hopper (Hoosiers)
Tom Berenger (Platoon)
Willem Dafoe (Platoon)
Denholm Elliot (A Room with a View)

Best Supporting Actress: Dianne Wiest (Hannah and Her Sisters)
Piper Laurie (Children of a Lesser God)
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (The Color of Money)
Tess Harper (Crimes of the Heart)
Maggie Smith (A Room with a View)

Best Original Screenplay: Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen)
Crocodile Dundee (Paul Hogan, Ken Shadie and John Cornell)
My Beautiful Laundrette (Hanif Kureishi)
Platoon (Oliver Stone)
Salvador (Oliver Stone and Rick Boyle)

Best Adapted Screenplay: A Room with a View (Ruth Prawer Jhabvala)
Children of a Lesser God (Hesper Anderson and Mark Medoff)
The Color of Money (Richard Price)
Crimes of the Heart (Beth Henley)
Stand by Me (Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans)