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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

Superbad/Pineapple Express Crossover On the Way?

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:11:11 +0000

Alex Billington over at First Showing was at the Pineapple Express panel at this year’s Comic Con when Judd Apatow first cracked wise about a Pineapple Express/Superbad crossover movie during a Q&A session. At the time Billington was skeptical – until he leaned back to ask Superbad director Greg Mottola if Apatow was just B.S.’ing the crowd. Mottola let Billington know that it was no B.S.; the funniest movie crossover of all time could indeed happen.

Completing this holy trinity of rumors is word from Pineapple Express‘ main smoker James Franco, who recently let slip during an interview with MTV News that the PE/SB crossover was more than just a possibility; it is likely to happen. Said Franco:

“Even before ‘Superbad’ came out, I think the studio was trying to get [Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg] to write a sequel, but they really didn’t want to write a sequel… And so, an answer to that was to do a ‘Superbad’/’Pineapple Express’ crossover, an unprecedented crossover movie with two directors, Greg Motolla and ['Pineapple Express' director] David Gordon Green, each directing half of the movie and somehow these characters get together, which doesn’t make sense at all, but could work.”

Are you kidding me? I dare anybody to tell me how this concept could NOT work. Scratch that–I don’t even have to listen to any nay sayers telling me all the reasons why ‘Superbad Pineapple Express’ would never happen; especially since Franco has already made a pretty solid pitch for the film:

“[My character Saul] could sell [the characters from 'Superbad'] something, but I think we’d want some action, so you know, somehow the kids get in trouble somehow and we have to get them out of it,” Franco mused. “And Seth plays characters in both movies, so somehow we’d have to kill one of them off.”

Don’t know about that last part (I’d like to see Rogen “Eddie Murphy” it,) but the rest of that pitch is pretty. rock. solid.

What do you think, should Pineapple Express and Superbad bump funnies? (Keep in mind that fan buzz can really breathe life into this type of flick. So if it sounds good to you, like it does to me, speak up now!)

Pineapple Express hits theaters August 6, 2008. It stars Seth Rogen, James Franco and is directed by David Gordon Green.

Source: First Showing and MTV News

Seth Rogen: At Risk of Over-Exposure

Jamie Williams — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:39:22 +0000

Before anyone sends me hate mail, I’m asking this as a huge fan of Seth Rogen. Trust me, it’s awesome that he’s now in the “A-list” earning big bucks and making these films that not make alot of money but are actually good!

And the last few weeks we’ve been hearing news item after item about the latest projects the Knocked Up star is headlining.

He has two films coming in the next few months – the self-proclaimed “weed action movie” The Pineapple Express (which looks great and I’ve heard nothing less than stellar things about from those who’ve seen it) and Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno. At the moment, he’s filming Observe and Report and production will soon start on Judd Apatow’s Funny People

Then of course, there’s The Green Hornet, which Rogen is not only co-writing and producing, but in which he’s also playing the masked superhero himself. And the utterly-brilliant looking Jay & Seth vs. Apocalypse is gearing upon the horizon. If all goes according to plan, he’ll be headlining two films a year for the next three years.

I’m not saying he needs to do a film every three years or so. Look at Mike Myers. He hasn’t appeared on the silver screen since 2003’s stinker The Cat In the Hat. And now from the looks of things, people couldn’t care less about him or The Love Guru. Although to be fair, that might be simply because said film appears to be total garbage.

And that doesn’t even include his voice-over work in stuff like Kung Fu Panda, Horton Hears a Who!, The Spiderwick Chronicles and next year’s Monsters vs. Aliens.

As a fan, I’m concerned Rogen is at risk of over-exposing himself to the average film-going public in such a short amount of time.

The way I see it, audiences react to comedians like they do to fast food: Sure we all love cheeseburgers and french fries. But if that’s all we eat for a week straight, we’ll get sick of it and say, “You know, I’d rather have a pizza!”

It basically boils down to how long audiences are willing to put up with a comedian’s schtick. At the moment, they’re already tired of Will Ferrell’s “arrogant idiot man-child” routine – thus why Semi-Pro bombed earlier this year. And Ben Stiller’s “zany wacky guy” role is finally catching up with him – talk about a guy whose over exposed himself. To be fair, Tropic Thunder could turn things around for him (i.e. looks awesome).

Seth Rogen is an insanely talent actor and writer. I just don’t want audiences to get burnt out too soon and say, “I’m tired of him. Let’s go see something else instead…”

On the other hand, Adam Sander’s been doing the same schtick since 1995’s Billy Madison. But audiences still eat it up because he’s been smart enough to stick it to generally one film a year. Take note of that, good Sir.