After seemingly spending the best part of three years in development hell, Kevin Smith’s Red State has a production start date and is close to confirming it’s supporting cast. Read the full story

“Some secrets are better left buried,” the film’s tagline reads. Perhaps Don McKay (Thomas Haden Church) should’ve been warned of this. But then there wouldn’t have been a movie, eh? Don McKay, the noir thriller from first-time director Jake Goldberger, has hit Blu-Ray and DVD. The film never got a wide release in theaters, leaving cinephiles wondering just what this Thomas Haden Church-driven vehicle was all about? It offered an intriguing premise, some well-known actors but little interest. Now that it is on DVD and Blu-Ray, people will finally have the chance to see for themselves just who Don McKay is.

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E-mail Matt Tyler and be sure to follow him on Twitter. You can also interact with him on our Facebook page!

Courtesy of Fox Searchlight, the new trailer for Tony Goldwyn‘s Conviction has been released.  Conviction stars Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell (why has this man not won an Oscar yet?), Minnie Driver, Melissa Leo, Peter Gallagher, and Juliette Lewis.  Check out the HD trailer below. Read the full story

E-mail Joshua Blackburn and be sure to follow him on Twitter. You can also interact with him on our Facebook page!

It’s safe to say that Mira Nair‘s Amelia – a Fox Searchlight production — was one of 2009′s biggest busts. Most people figured that a Hilary Swank biopic was going to be a shoo-in for awards left and right, but the film completely bombed with both critics and audiences. Well, it looks like Fox Searchlight is out for some redemption, as Variety reports that they have acquired the rights to Tony Goldwyn‘s Betty Anne Waters, another true story set to star the Oscar-winning Swank. Read the full story

Sundance has announced it’s 112 films that are entering in U.S. and World Cinema Documentary and Dramatic film competitions. The films represent “38 countries by 43 first-time filmmakers, including 24 in competition. These films were selected from 3,724 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,920 U.S. and 1,804 international feature-length films. 79 films at the Festival will be world premieres.” The festival takes place between Jan 21st and 31st at Park City Utah. Some interesting films to note are Mark Ruffalo‘s directorial debut, a new documentary by Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, It Might Get Loud) and films starring Jesse Eisenberg, Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, James Franco, John Hamm, Melissa Leo, Laura Linney, Orlando Bloom, and more.  Check out the full list below. Read the full story

As reported in Variety, Melissa Leo,  Frozen River star and recent first-time Oscar nominee, has signed on to the indie film Betty Ann Waters, joining Sam Rockwell, Hilary Swank and Minnie Driver. Longtime character actor Tony Goldwyn is set to direct the film – he has previously directed the Zach Braff-helmed The Last Kiss and a handful of Dexter episodes. He also directed the underrated Ashley/Hugh Jackman rom-com Someone Like You nearly a decade ago.

Here’s a rundown of the plot, courtesy of Variety reporter Dave McNary: ” ”Betty Ann Waters’ centers on an unemployed single mother who saw her brother begin serving a life sentence in 1983 for murder and robbery. Convinced that he was innocent, she earned a law degree and challenged the conviction with DNA evidence, resulting in her brother being freed in 2001.”

Swank is set to play the lead with Leo playing the solitary police officer bent on proving the man’s guilt. It’ll be interesting to see her as the antagonist.

I have always liked Goldwyn and feel he is a confident director capable of taken on this serious (and potentially Oscar-baiting) subject. Leo’s running hot right now and Swank can pretty much do no wrong all the time with the Academy (save The Reaping). And the more Sam Rockwell the better as far as I’m concerned.

What do you think? Does this film interest you?

A big Hoo-Rah goes out to Richard Jenkins for his Best Actor Oscar nomination for his excellent work in The Visitor. And while, for a small film like The Visitor, one large nomination appears to be more than enough kudos via the Academy (a la Melissa Leo shout-out for Frozen River), let us  not forget a large reason why Jenkins was nominated: Thomas McCarthy.

McCarthy, who wrote and directed The Visitor, has been a character actor in the business for well over a decade now, appearing in such films as Meet the Parents (he was the  “just call me Bob…M.D!” guy) and Good Night, and Good Luck, not to mention Tony Gilroy’s upcoming Duplicity and Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones.

Like his acting, McCarthy’s writing and directing are subtle and effective, never overbearing and always purposeful. His directorial debut, The Station Agent, took Sundance by storm a few years ago, featuring a tragically sweet performance by Peter Dinklage, not to mention acknowledging Michelle Williams’ abilities as an actress and putting Bobby Cannavale’s natural charm to pitch-perfect use. McCarthy does much of the same in The Visitor, once again offering characters whose motivations are both accessible and believable.

It appears that the guy knows actors and how to talk to them, which makes sense considering his background. He allows his actors to work with the frame rather than distract the viewer from the performance with tilted camera angles and extreme close-ups that play with focus. There are films that allow for that kind of style. McCarthy’s films find style in straight shots and medium close-ups, in frames that, at first glance feel empty and distance but soon become dense with meaning (see long shots of Jenkins sitting at the piano towards the beginning of The Visitor).

The narrative is calm in McCarthy’s films, not determined to win over the viewer but rather sure that it will in time. Patience is a virtue in McCarthy’s world. In the case of The Visitor, a poignant portrait of U.S. Government-allowed racial prejudice (via detention centers) is painted slowly and steadily with every passing moment of the film, the brush strokes slicing hard into the canvas as Jenkins reprimands with teared eyes a immigration officer for taking his Syrian friend from him without reason.

The moment is so powerful you might not know it until it’s over. But it is most certainly that well-made and that effective. And, for that, Jenkins most certainly deserved his Oscar nomination. And while Tom McCarthy cannot enjoy a chance at his own golden statue, he can find comfort in the fact that a Jenkins win will be a win for himself and his seasoned ability as an artist.

Keep making those small films Tom, and we’ll keep loving them, whether the Academy does or not.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leads with 13 Nominations.

Here are the 81st Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

Frost/Nixon

Benjamin Button

Milk

Best Actor

Richard Jenkins in The Visitor

Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn in Milk

Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Best Actress

Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jollie in Changeling

Melissa Leo in Frozen River

Meryl Streep in Doubt

Kate Winslet in The Reader

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder

Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt

Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Josh Brolin in Milk

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams in Doubt

Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Viola Davis in Doubt

Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marrisa Tomei in The Wrestler

Best Director

Gus Van Sant for Milk

Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Howard for Frost/Nixon

Stephen Daldry for The Reader

Best Original Screenplay

Courtney Hunt for Frozen River

Mike Leigh for Happy-Go-Lucky

Martin McDonagh for In Bruges

Andrew Stanton for Wall-E

Dustin Lance Black for Milk

Best Adapted Screenplay

Eric Roth and Robin Swicord for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

John Patrick Shanley for Doubt

Peter Morgan for Frost/Nixon

David Hare for The Reader

Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Animated Feature Film

Bolt

Wall-E

Kung Fu Panda

Best Art Direction

Changeling

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

The Duchess

Revolutionary Road

Best Cinematography

Changeling

Slumdog Millionaire

The Reader

Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Best Costumes

Australia

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Milk

The Duchess

Revolutionary Road

Best Documentary Feature

Encounters at the End of the World

Man on Wire

The Betrayal

The Garden

Trouble the Water

Best Documentary Short Subject

The Conscience of Nhem En

The Final Inch

Smile Pinki

The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306

Best Animated Short Film

La Maison en Petits Cubes

Lavatory – Lovestory

Oktapodi

Presto

This Way Up

Best Live Action Short Film

Auf der Strecke (On the Line)

Manon on the Asphalt

New Boy

The Pig

Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Best Film Editing

The Dark Knight

Slumdog Millionaire

Frost/Nixon

Benjamin Button

Milk

Best Foreign Film

The Baader Meinhof Complex

The Class

Departures

Revanche

Waltz with Bashir

Best Makeup

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Dark Knight

Hellboy II

Best Original Score

Wall-E

Slumdog Millionaire

Defiance

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Milk

Best Original Song

Down to Earth from Wall-E

O Saya from Slumdog Millionaire

Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire

Best Sound Editing

The Dark Knight

Wanted

Iron Man

Wall-E

Slumdog Millionaire

Best Sound Mixing

The Dark Knight

Wanted

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Wall-E

Slumdog Millionaire

Best Visual Effects

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Dark Knight

Wall-E

The Oscars are hosted by Hugh Jackman will take place on February 22nd.

Do you agree with the nominations?

The winners are:

Best Film: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Director: David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood, “Gran Torino”
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Best Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Best Foreign Film: “Mongol”
Best Documentary: “Man on Wire”
Best Animated Feature: “WALL-E”
Best Ensemble Cast: “Doubt”
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Dev Patel, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Best Directorial Debut: Courtney Hunt, “Frozer River”
Best Original Screenplay: Nick Schenk, “Gran Torino”
Best Adapted Screenplay (tie): Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire” and Eric Roth, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

The top ten (in alphabetical order):
“Burn After Reading”
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Defiance”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Gran Torino”
“Milk”
“WALL-E”
“The Wrestler”

Top five foreign films (in alphabetical order):
“Edge of Heaven”
“Let the Right One In”
“Roman de Guerre”
“A Secret”
“Waltz with Bashir”

Top five documentary films (in alphabetical order):
“American Teen”
“The Betrayal”
“Dear Zachary”
“Encounters at the End of the World”
“Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired”

William K. Everson Film History Award: Molly Haskell, Andrew Sarris
Spotlight Award: Melissa Leo, “Frozen River,” Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”
The BVLGARI Award for NPR Freedom of Expression: “Trumbo”

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