Keanu Reeves will star in Jekyll, in a modern day telling of the 1886 classic story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Universal Pictures is producing. Nicolas Winding Refn is set to direct, who helmed the Pusher trilogy. Justin Haythe will be handling the script, who wrote last year’s Revolutionary Road.

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Variety is reporting that the new Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, Jarhead) film Away We Go, will be opening the Edinburgh Film Festival in Edinburgh, UK, on June 17. The film stars John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph as an expectant couple who travel across the country looking for the perfect place to start their new family. Check out the trailer after the jump.

Editor’s note: Justin Chouinard, one of our instructors here at University at Buffalo had his film, The Sound of Crickets, accepted to the festival. If you are attending, be sure to check it out!

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Hollywood Reporter is saying  Cillian Murphy (Sunshine, The Dark Knight), Ellen Page (Juno, Smart People), and Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose, Public Enemies) are joining Leonardo DiCaprio (Body of Lies, Revolutionary Road) in The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan’s 2010 summer sci-fi thriller, Inception.

DiCaprio’s character is mentioned as a CEO-type, while Cotillard would play his wife. Page is a young college grad student and DiCaprio’s sidekick. James Franco was also in talks to join the project but had to bow out due to a scheduling conflict with Your Highness. Nolan has kept the script strictly under wraps, only describing the film as a contemporary sci-fi action set within “the architecture of the mind”.

Inception is set for July 16th, 2010.

What do you think of this casting news?

Comedian Will Arnett (Arrested Development) and recent Oscar Nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) have just officially joined Warner Brother’s upcoming 2010 summer tent-pole Jonah Hex. Arnett will be playing a union soldier who enlists Jonah Hex and is blindsided by the dirty fighting style of his enemies. Michael Shannon is set to play Doc Cross Williams, the bizarre ringleader of a brutal gladiator circus event. That character also may be featured in future installments. The cast already includes Josh Brolin (Milk), Megan Fox (Transformers), and John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich). Jonah Hex is set for August 6th, 2010.

Will Arnett seems like an odd casting choice, but then again it’s Will Arnett so it would be a sin to call this bad news. Michael Shannon is of course great news. While it sounds like more of a cameo, Shanon will still most likely be great as he usually is. 

What do you think of this cast? Are you excited for Jonah Hex?

- Jack Giroux

Take a peek at Away We Go, the new film by Sam Mendes, the director behind American Beauty, Jarhead and Revolutionary Road.

Check out the trailer >>

Variety reports Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road, Body of Lies) is set to star in Christopher Nolan’s (The Dark Knight) science fiction thriller Inception. Script has been kept under wraps but the studio calls it a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind. Set to shoot this year the film will be out summer 2010.

I’m really glad Nolan is doing another project before another Batman. Leo is always great, can’t wait to see him Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, set to release this October.

What do you think of Nolan and DiCaprio working together?

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?

On Thursday morning, the Oscar nominations will be announced. However, we’ve got all the nominations and potential winners here for you now. And yes, we ARE predicting a Winslet sweep, based on her recent luck with her peers, many of whom are part of the Academy. Speaking of sweeps, it looks like it will be a Slumdog sweep as well.

Sixty percent of the time, we’re right – every time.

Starting from Screenplay and tracking up to Best Picture, these are films (and people) who we see getting nominated. We have bolded our predicted winners in each category. The nominations are announced at 8:38 am EST at Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Thursday, Jan 22nd.

Best Original Screenplay:

-Woody Allen – Vicky Cristina Barcelona

- Dustin Lance Black – Milk

- Mike Leigh – Happy-Go-Lucky

- Robert D. Siegel – The Wrestler

- Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon – Wall-E

Best Adapted Screenplay:

- Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire

- Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon

- Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan – The Dark Knight

- Eric Roth – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

- John Patrick Shanley – Doubt

Best Supporting Actress:

-Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona

- Viola Davis – Doubt

- Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

- Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

- Kate Winslet – The Reader

Best Supporting Actor:

- Josh Brolin – Milk

- Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder

- Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt

- Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight

- Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actress:

- Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married

- Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky

- Angelina Jolie – Changeling

- Meryl Streep – Doubt

- Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road

Best Actor:

- Clint Eastwood – Gran Torino

- Richard Jenkins – The Visitor

- Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon

- Sean Penn – Milk

- Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

Best Director:

- Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire

- David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

- Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon

- Christopher Nolan – The Dark Knight

- Gus Van Sant – Milk

Best Picture:

- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

- The Dark Knight

- Frost/Nixon

- Milk

- Slumdog Millionaire

The 81st Academy Awards will air on Sunday, February 22nd, hosted by Hugh Jackman.

Do you agree with our predictions? What are yours?

Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button have each received 11 nominations for the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2009.

The Dark Knight has 9 nominations and Changeling has 8 nominations.

Frost/Nixon has 6 nominations, The Reader has 5 and In Bruges, Milk and Revolutionary Road all have 4 nominations each.

Here are the nominations:

Best Film
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Best British Film
“Hunger”
“In Bruges”
“Mamma Mia!”
“Man on Wire”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Director
Clint Eastwood, “Changeling”
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Actor
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Dev Patel, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

Best Actress
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Kristin Scott Thomas, “I’ve Loved You So Long”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”
Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road”

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Downey Jr, “Tropic Thunder”
Brendan Gleeson, “In Bruges”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Brad Pitt, “Burn After Reading”

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Freida Pinto, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Tilda Swinton, “Burn After Reading”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”

Best Original Screenplay
Joel and Ethan Coen, “Burn After Reading”
J. Michael Straczynski, “Changeling”
Martin McDonagh, “In Bruges”
Philippe Claudel, “I’ve Loved You So Long”
Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Eric Roth, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”
David Hare, “The Reader”
Justin Haythe, “Revolutionary Road”
Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Foreign Language Film (announced earlier)
“The Baader Meinhof Complex”
“Gomorrah”
“I’ve Loved You So Long”
“Persepolis”
“Waltz With Bashir”

Best Animated Feature
“Persepolis”
“WALL-E”
“Waltz With Bashir”

Best Production Design
“Changeling” (James Murakami; Gary Fettis)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Donald Graham Burt; Victor Zolfo)
“The Dark Knight” (Nathan Crowley; Peter Lando)
“Revolutionary Road” (Kristi Zea; Debra Schutt)
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Mark Digby; Michelle Day)

Best Cinematography
“Changeling” (Tom Stern)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Claudio Miranda)
“The Dark Knight” (Wally Pfister)
“The Reader” (Chris Menges; Roger Deakins)
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Anthony Dod Mantle)

Best Costume Design
“Changeling” (Deborah Hopper)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Jacqueline West)
“The Dark Knight” (Lindy Hemming)
“The Duchess” (Michael O’Connor)
“Revolutionary Road” (Albert Wolsky)

Best Film Editing
“Changeling” (Joel Cox; Gary D. Roach)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Kirk Baxter; Angus Wall)
“The Dark Knight” (Lee Smith)
“Frost/Nixon” (Mike Hill; Dan Hanley)
“In Bruges” (Jon Gregory)
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Chris Dickens)

Best Makeup & Hair
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Duchess”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”

Best Music
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Alexandre Desplat)
“The Dark Knight” (Hans Zimmer; James Newton Howard)
“Mamma Mia!” (Benny Andersson; Bjorn Ulvaeus)
“Slumdog Millionaire” (A.R. Rahman)
“WALL-E” (Thomas Newman)

Best Sound
“Changeling”
“The Dark Knight”
“Quantum of Solace”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”

Best Visual Effects
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crustal Skull”
“Iron Man”
“Quantum of Solace”

Carl Foreman Award (for debut British writers, directors and producers)
Simon Chinn (producer), “Man on Wire”
Judy Craymer (producer), “Mamma Mia!”
Garth Jennings (writer), “Son of Rambow”
Steve McQueen, (writer/director), “Hunger”
Solon Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter (producers), “Of Time and the City”

Orange Rising Star Award (announced earlier; voted by the public)
Michael Cera
Noel Clarke
Michael Fassbender
Rebecca Hall
Toby Kebbell

Go Slumdog Millionaire! It’s nice to see The Dark Knight get so many nominations and Gomorrah not get snubbed like it did in the Academy Awards. The awards ceremony will take place Royal Opera House on February 8.

What do you think of the nominations?

I feel like I have been defending Leo DiCaprio all year. But I also feel like he deserves it. Having finally seen Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road, I feel almost unable to properly criticize it. Adapted from Richard Yates’ timeless, and extremely dense, 1961 novel, this film is fairly faithful to its source, primarily a satirical cautionary tale that ends in tragedy.

And while it is far from flawless, Revolutionary Road is interesting. Now, I know that reads like a dubious compliment, but I mean it, I truly do. This is an extremely thought-provoking piece of art that made me want to run out and find an excuse to stay with my friends so we could talk about it some more. Answers the “what” questions and breach the “why” questions.

And let me not forget that the performances are across-the-board incredible. In his review of the film in The New Yorker, David Denby wrote of DiCaprio’s performance as Frank Wheeler: “Frank is a liar, an adulterer, and a compromiser who betrays himself as much as his wife, but DiCaprio projects a natural heroic sweetness—it’s in his movie-star genes—which, in this case, is at odds with the character he’s playing.”

This is certainly true, but replace the negative critical tone with a positive one. Frank Wheeler, in both the book and the film, is a fickle man, swayed by other men and other men’s dreams, too scared to be confident in his own. In that inability there is an inherent tragic heroic-ness, and DiCaprio embodies it to perfection. However, Kate Winslet steals the show without a doubt. As April Wheeler, the veteran actress breathes an amount of life into her character not present in the book. While DiCaprio had much more material to work with the Frank character, it appears that Winslet decided simply to create her own form of the 50s housewife.

While the cinematography is faultless and the score (by the great Thomas Newman) is simple and effective, the direction can best be summed up in one word: professional. Mendes is something of a “method director.” It appears as though he falls in love with the story he’s telling and then goes out of his way to execute said story to perfection, leaving no room for error and, in turn, no room for spontaneity. And while this may have hurt a film like Jarhead, which examines the psychological breakdown of a soldier during peace in wartime, it helps this film, which is fueled on the absence of spontaneity.

Professionalism and all, this is still somewhat of a ridiculous film, and certainly heavy-handed throughout. Scenes screen as if Leo and Kate are on Broadway, or even back on the Titanic, the performing is so thick. Some members of the audience laugh out loud during scenes of anger and insults, quickly silenced as the fight rages on, sometimes for several minutes. But then, much like the widely-ignored Australia, this is a kind of extroverted acting not popular in today’s media. We tend to want our heroes brooding, tortured, tall, dark, and always handsome. The less they say the better. Too bad for DiCaprio, Frank Wheeler never shuts up. But then, how many people do you know like that?

Whether you appreciated the performance acting or not, this is a harsh look at the American Trap, a.k.a. “settling down.” Mendes (and one wonders if Yates knew when he wrote it) knows this trap is timeless, and knows the prevalence of it today. Sure, this is a suburbs mellodrama, but it is not ABOUT the suburbs. In their 1/13/09 review of the film on the /Filmcast, the guys over at slashfilm.com were quick to point out the far-fetchedness of the story and the resolution, deeming it a suburban worst-case scenario of sorts. And that it is. But is that not part of what a satire’s purpose is? Granted, this is certainly not a traditional satire and, in many ways, not one at all. However, as a whole the film mocks the American Trap and warns against it, much in the same way Sidney Lumet’s Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead did, following along the basic rules of satire and adding a poignant dose of reality. It asks the question: What if you abide by all of society’s rules? Even if you know they’re wrong?

Young people should see this film right now. It will haunt you out of your seats and force you consider yourself next to the characters on-screen, and I imagine you’ll find yourself praying that you are most comparable to the only “crazy” character in the whole film, John, played convincingly by the criminally underrated Michael Shannon.

Kate Winslet’s April asks the first question: “Who made these rules?”

Mendes leaves it up to the viewer to ask, and answer, the second: “Why follow them?”