Screen Rant » kung fu panda

Golden Globe Nominations: Little Love For The Dark Knight

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:35:24 +0000

The 2009 Golden Globe Nominations have been officially announced and it looks like The Dark Knight has been almost totally snubbed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

That’s right folks, The Dark Knight received just one nomination: a Best Supporting Actor nod for Heath Ledger’s groundbreaking (and freaky) turn as The Joker. No Best Director nomination for Chris Nolan; no Best Screenplay nomination for Chris and Jonathan Nolan; no Best Original Score nomination (although Dark Knight composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard are both nominated in that category for work on two other films).

So, want to see which films stole the slots that rightfully belong to TDK? Check out the list of the 2009 Golden Globe Nominees in film:

BEST DRAMA
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Revolutionary Road
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

ACTOR (DRAMA)
Leonardo DiCaprio – Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas – I’ve Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road

BEST MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges

ACTOR (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
James Franco – Pineapple Express
Dustin Hoffman – Last Chance Harvey
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges

ACTRESS (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson – Last Chance Harvey
Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You So Long
Waltz with Bashir
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Everlasting Moments

ANIMATED FILM
Wall-E
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler
Kate Winslet – The Reader

DIRECTOR
David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes – Revolutionary Road

SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare – The Reader
Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley – Doubt

ORIGINAL SCORE
James Newton Howard – Defiance
Alexandre Desplat – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
A.R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire
Hans Zimmer – Frost/Nixon
Clint Eastwood – Changeling

ORIGINAL SONG
“Down to Earth” by Peter Gabriel / Thomas Newman – Wall-E
“Gran Torino” by Clint Eastwood / Kyle Eastwood – Gran Torino
“I Thought I’d Lost You” by Miley Cyrus – Bolt
“Once in a Lifetime” by Beyoncé Knowles – Cadillac Records
“The Wrestler” by Bruce Springsteen – The Wrestler

So there’s a lot on this list I’m OK with (like Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise receiving Supporting Actor Comedy nominations for Tropic Thunder, or Kung-Fu Panda getting a nod for Best Animated Film); there are some things on this list I couldn’t care less about (Best Musical or Comedy, anyone?); and there definitely some things on this list that make my head just want to explode.

Forgetting my obvious (and aforementioned) problem with the fact that The Dark Knight has been shut out of nearly every relevant category, I think that a film as wonderful as Let The Right One In was should have earned a Best Foreign Language Film nomination. And how Colin Farrell got a Best Comedy Actor Nod for In Bruges (which also got a Best Picture Comedy nod) will forever be beyond me.

On the flip side, James Franco getting a Best Comedy Actor nod for Pineapple Express is just plain awesome; it’s also good to see Mickey Rourke back on the rise, earning a nomination for his apparently soul-wrenching turn as a washed up athlete in The Wrestler (which I have yet to see). However it’s strange as hell that after so much early buzz Clint Eastwood’s old-man-turned-vigilante drama Gran Torino only got one nomination… for Best Original Song.

Other than that, it seems to be award season as usual. No surprise that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is leading the pack in nominations (after all the tremendous buzz), or that a Sam Mendes domestic life drama (Revolutionary Road) is also raking in the nominations. I haven’t seen Frost/Nixon, but it seems to have impressed the right people, because it’s coming out of left field to grab up a handful of nominations. Might have to get out and see that before Oscar season rolls around.

Speaking of the little gold guy, what do you think about The Dark Knight’s chances at the 2009 Academy Awards, now that you’ve seen the Golden Globe nominations? Do you agree with the list of nominees, or do you feel some great films didn’t get the recognition they deserve? Sound off and let us know.

(You can read the full list of Golden Globe Nominees (Film and Television) by clicking here)

Source: First Showing

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Screen Rant Guests On The Cinema Blend Podcast

Vic Holtreman — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 03:59:29 +0000

I know that people have asked why we don’t have a regular podcast here at Screen Rant. I made an attempt about a year ago to do a weekly podcast before we had a great stable of writers, and I found it extremely difficult to do alone.

So what about now, you ask? Now it’s an issue of time, or rather not enough of it, plus trying to coordinate a time that most of us can get together when we are located across the country (with Niall in the UK!).

However this week Cinemablend was nice enough to invite me to join their regular weekly podcast “The Weekly Blend” and it was a lot of fun. Rafe, Margaret and Tim over there are all very cool and fun to chat with about our favorite topic: movies.

I thought it went pretty well and it actually gave me a little kick in the pants as far as thinking more seriously about doing a regular podcast here at Screen Rant (don’t hold your breath, though). My next podcast appearance will probably be over at /Film some time in the next few weeks.

This week’s discussion included movies that opened this week (including Babylon A.D., Disaster Movie, Traitor and College) but the main topic was the 2008 Summer movie season. What we liked or disliked, surprises and disappointments. How did The Dark Knight compare to Iron Man, why didn’t The Incredible Hulk do any better, Kung Fu Panda vs Wall-E, and more.

You can listen to it right here, and I’d love to hear what you think!

Click here to listen to the podcast.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

Review: Kung Fu Panda

Vic Holtreman — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:27:51 +0000

Short version: Kung Fu Panda is arguably the best animated movie Dreamworks has produced so far.

Sure, the commercials and the trailer are pretty funny, but is the actual movie any good?

Oh, yes.

Kung Fu Panda is the closest that Dreamworks has managed to get to the quality and feel of a Pixar film, and that’s a good thing. Although it’s rated PG like previous offerings from the studio like the Shrek series, here we’re missing the sharp edge and subtle “adult” humor.

Does it hurt the movie? Absolutely not.

This movie put a smile on my face right from the first thing that appeared on the big screen: a stylized version of the usual Dreamworks logo sequence that blends and leads right into the opening of the movie. The opening itself is “awesome” (see the movie and you’ll get the reference. The animation is highly stylized 2D and beautifully rendered in both style and action. Plus it’s laugh out loud funny to boot.

Soon thereafter we switch over to 3D CGI and again, really amazing visually. The detail and character design is fantastic and a pleasure to watch. Here we get to know “Po” the panda (Jack Black) and his father at the family noodle restaurant. “Dad” is a goose, but apparently the implications of that are lost on Po. Po has dreams of being a heroic kung fu master, but his dad is looking forward to his taking over the family restaurant. They have a good relationship, but dad is oblivious to Po’s real ambitions. On the other hand, Po doesn’t want to disappoint his father.

Po is a young, overweight fellow whose dreams seem to definitely exceed his abilities. He is accidentally chosen to fulfill a prophecy and joins his heroes, the legendary “Furious Five”: Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. Their master instructor is the great Master Shifu. The prophecy calls for the selection of the great “Dragon Warrior,” whose task it is to defeat the evil snow leopard Tai Lung, who has escaped from prison.

Following the very funny opening sequence, the movie seems to try a bit too hard to be funny for a while and while some of the bits are fairly funny, not all of them work for adults (kids on the other hand will laugh through it all). However soon enough the film finds its footing and combines heart with genuine humor. If you’re a martial arts/action movie fan in particular, much of the action in the film will leave you very satisfied. There’s a prison escape sequence that is jaw-droppingly cool.

As a matter of fact, I would say the action and fight scenes shown in this movie should be studied by the current crop of movie directors out there right now. You can actually see and understand what’s going on during the one on one battles. Fights are shown from a distance, without a lot of super-quick edits and with appropriate slow motion shots thrown in to enhance what we’re seeing. All in all it reminded me of those classic kung fu movies from the 1970s. Much better than the manic quick-cut, super close-up way of filming fight scenes today.

Then there’s the wit of the film, displayed throughout – in particular, the method found by Master Sifu to finally motivate and train Po was inspired. Jack Black was fairly subdued and it worked quite well, and the supporting characters were enjoyable too. I didn’t even recognize the voices until I saw the closing credits. Oh, speaking of which, hang around until they’re done as there’s a touching scene at the very end.

I highly recommend Kung Fu Panda for both kids AND grown-ups.

You Might Also Be Interested In:

MTV Tropic Thunder Clip

Vic Holtreman — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:56:09 +0000

From the MTV Movie Awards (which I never bother watching… way too “hip” for me, thanks) comes this “viral” promotional clip for Tropic Thunder. It starts out great with Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr and Jack Black. They manage to pull both Iron Man and Kung Fu Panda into a promo piece for Stiller’s film pretty creatively.

However, to me this is an example of one of the problems with comedy these days: Not knowing when to quit. I thought it was really quite funny for about the first minute and a half, but then it goes on for about another 2-3 full minutes and it literally beats the point of the skit into the ground. Overkill IMHO.

Plus watching Stiller kowtow to a stereotypical bored, disconnected teenager annoyed the heck out of me. On the other hand I really enjoyed Downey Jr in the skit.

Source: MTV

You Might Also Be Interested In: