Not to discredit any of the competitors for Best Supporting Actor, but this award is sewn up and delivered.  Christoph Waltz will win the award for playing the quadrilingual villain from Inglourious Basterds.  From the very beginning of the movie, Waltz put his foot in the award circuit door, switching effortlessly from German to English to French to Italian, etching his name in Quentin Tarantino’s evil-doer hall of fame (presumably in whichever language he chooses). But for fairness sake, let’s look at the other nominees. Read the full story

The Lovely Bones is not only a terrible adaptation of a very good book, but more importantly it’s an emotionally hollow mess of a film. This is quite possibly Peter Jackson’s weakest film to date and it defines disappointment. The wonderful ensemble is wasted, it lacks an emotional punch, the effects are lackluster at best and the script lacks any sense of coherence. This isn’t a particularly ”bad” film. It has a few bright spots scattered throughout, but it’s still ultimately an underwhelming and frustrating experience. Read the full story

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced its longlist for the 2010 Orange BAFTA awards, with Lone Scherfig’s An Education ahead of the potential nominees with 17 mentions including best film, director, actor Peter Sarsgaard and actress Carey Mulligan. Read the full story

After weeks (and months) of different rumors and speculation regarding anything and everything about Guillermo Del Toro’s massive production of The Hobbit, we finally have some solid news. Production Weekly (via their twitter feed) has reported that shooting will begin this June. Part 1 is  still scheduled for a December 2011 release while the second will follow a year later in December 2012. What is most exciting about this news is the fact that Warners Bros has likely given the go ahead, as they previously had not confirmed the greenlight for the project. News was also recently released about the different casting for The Hobbit, but no one has been confirmed yet. Check back for more news as it is released, as I’m sure there will a whole lot of it with a tentpole like this.

What are your thoughts on Del Toro’s Hobbit? Should they rush it for the sake of releasing?

We brought you the actor roundtable a couple of days ago, but now we have the director roundtable, thanks to THR. The directors include James Cameron (Avatar), Peter Jackson (The Lovely Bones), Lee Daniels (Precious), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Jason Reitman (Up In The Air), and Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds). Check it out below. Read the full story

TheOneRing.net has translated a German interview from Moviereporter.net in which The Hobbit executive producer Peter Jackson explains the delay in filming while doing interviews for  The Lovely Bones: Read the full story

There’s been a recent flood of Peter Jackson-related news regarding THREE films he’s involved with,  so here it goes:

First, some early reviews of Jackson’s The Lovely Bones. In a word, mixed.

- Variety’s says that the adaptation “the massive success Jackson has enjoyed in the intervening years with his CGI-heavy “The Lord of the Rings” saga (the source of which receives fleeting homage in a bookstore scene here) and “King Kong” has infected the way he approaches this far more intimate tale.” Bold words to say the least.

- The Guardian is singing a similar song, awarding it 2 out of 5 stars and writing: “It’s not that The Lovely Bones is a bad movie, exactly. It is handsomely made and strongly acted, while its woozy, lullaby ambience recalls Jackson’s work on the brilliant Heavenly Creatures, before he set forth on his epic voyage through The Lord of the Rings.”

- Meanwhile, AICN’s Harry Knowles digs it, as shallow as his lovely love may be: “Lovely also describes the performances throughout this film.” C’mon, Harry – try a little bit.

- THR sits somewhere in the middle: “This was never going to be an easy story to film. Using the same characters and many events, Jackson and his team tell a fundamentally different story. It’s one that is not without its tension, humor and compelling details. But it’s also a simpler, more button-pushing tale that misses the joy and heartbreak of the original.”

The film is set for a wide release December 11th, 2009, and will open, it would appear, to mixed reviews.

In other Peter Jackson news, the director told the BBC that Steven Spielberg had finished principal photography on The Adventure of Tintin but that post-production will take two full years: “it will take two years for the computer animation to be completed, producer Peter Jackson has said.”

Tintin is based on a Belgian comic trip of the same name, drawn by artist Herge, following a young Belgian reporter named Tintin and his fox terrier sidekick Snowy. It is highly anticipated in terms of new cinema technology, set to follow the highly anticipated Avatar, which sports a similar motion-capture animation via  3-D in Imax.

In that same article, Jackson dispelled the recent rumors that Guillermo del Toro’s The Hobbit (which Jackson is producing) will NOT be in 3-D (“Guillermo wants to shoot in 35mm, old-fashioned film,” Jackson said, “which suits me, because he wants to keep it in the same space as the original trilogy”.). This is surprising news, if only because it seems as though EVERY film in pre-production these days will be in 3-D. Hopefully there’s no studio pressure to change Jackson’s report.

What do you think of this news surrounding Peter Jackson and his slew of projects?

Back Stage is a round-up of film news, articles, and interesting links in the past few days.

Spielberg Developing Crichton’s Unpublished Novel [USA Today]

Hitler Really Effing Hates Avatar [YouTube]

Capitalism: A Love Story Poster [Fandango]

Germany Submits Haneke’s White Ribbon for Oscar [In Contention]

Weinstein Company Still Struggling Despite ‘Basterds’ Sucess [Wall Street Journal]

Tom Cruise + Peter Jackson Meet To Discuss Something [Sydney Morning Herald]

Check out the rest of the list below >>

It’s rare to be genuinely surprised by a film in today’s age. We are bombarded by advertisements, spoilers, interviews, trailers, remakes, and familiar stories constantly. The expected is becoming a a norm. From the first act of most films one can tell where a character is headed and where the plot will conclude. Few filmmakers revel in the element of surprise. J.J. Abrams and his crew have it down to a science. Pixar can implement it with ease, and every so often a filmmaker can debut with an inventive, original story. Duncan Jones doesn’t stand alone this year.

In a summer filled with disappointments a film has quietly crept along. A film that has no stars, much less a prominent director. A film that started an eye-catching viral marketing campaign. A film that presented a trailer with more questions than plot summary. The film is District 9 and it has arrived. With the help of producer Peter Jackson, director Neil Blomkamp has crafted a unique, engrossing science fiction adventure that not only is the best summer action blockbuster this year, it also serves as a thought-provoking comment on humanity.  District 9 goes to places one can only dream and you will never want the experience to end.

Read the rest of this review below >>

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

Like this summer’s Moon, District 9 is the brainchild of a first-time director who displays real talent. Neil Blomkamp (assisted as producer by mastermind Peter Jackson) has crafted an astonishing debut. One which places itself among the top science fiction films of the twenty-first century.

Read more >>