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Latest Video: FilmCrunch 067: Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, Premonition reviewed

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, and Premonition in this episode of FilmCrunch.
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Box Office Breakdown: Semi-Pro Scores the Win

Semi-Pro

What comes up, must eventually come down.  That goes for ’s sports career as well.

Even though netted this weekend’s #1 spot, the basketball flick earned a measly $15 million.  That gross trails far behind 2006’s Talledega Nights ($47 million) and 2007’s ($33 million).  Sadly, Semi‘s debut also takes a backseat to Kicking and Screaming and Bewitched.  (In Ferrell’s defense, this movie was the only one of his sports films to be rated R.)

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Semi-Pro Scores the Win

Read More | Variety

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The 80th Annual Academy Award Nominations

Academy Awards statueThe nominations for the were announced bright and early Tuesday morning from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.  Assuming the ceremony goes on as scheduled, you can see the live broadcast Sunday, February 24th on .

Notable additions/omissions from today’s announcement:

Click to continue reading The 80th Annual Academy Award Nominations

Read More | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations (Film)

Thanks to an interim waiver granted by the , the telecast will air as scheduled on Sunday, January 27.  Since plans for the and the are still up in the air, this could be most viewed awards show in quite some time.

This year’s film nominees are:

Viggo Mortensen Eastern PromisesOUTSTANDING LEADING MALE PERFORMANCE

  • George Clooney, Michael Clayton
  • Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
  • Ryan Gosling, Lars And The Real Girl
  • Emile Hirsch, Into The Wild
  • Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

OUTSTANDING LEADING FEMALE PERFORMANCE

  • Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
  • Julie Christie, Away From Her
  • Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
  • Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
  • Ellen Page, Juno

Click to continue reading Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations (Film)

Read More | Screen Actors Guild

Box Office Breakdown: Will Smith a Legend in December

I Am Legend

You have to wonder whether is just a wee bit jealous of his friend’s success…

This weekend, not only smashed the box office debut of Cruise’s , he pounded everything in his path.  - the third adaptation of the 1954 Richard Matheson novel - nearly doubled the take of its nearest competitor while breaking the record for a December release.  Legend’s $77 million debut surpassed the bar set by Oscar-winner .  The final installment in the Lords trilogy brought in $72.6 million back in 2003.

Although was far behind in second place, its $44 million weekend was nothing to sneeze at.  The movie not only exceeded most expectations, it downright embarrassed third place finisher, How could anyone possibly explain freaky-looking chipmunks taking down a large polar bear? The latter film only added another $8.8 million to its total, putting it a smidge closer to its $180 million budget.  (Granted, it has done better overseas.)

But let’s not be fooled by the large numbers at the top of the charts, the weekend’s most notable turnout was made by #11: .  The comedic charmer earned an impressive $35,686 per screen.  Meanwhile, (which opened in 3566 more theaters) averaged only $21,411.  Take that, Fresh Prince!

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Will Smith a Legend in December

Read More | Yahoo!

AFI’s Top Films of 2007

The , probably best known its ‘100 Greatest’ countdowns, has just selected their top films of this year.  Unlike the other lists we have seen on television, this particular grouping does not include rankings nor does it highlight a winner.

Before the Devil Knows You're DeadThe AFI Movies of the Year are:

  • Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
  • The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
  • Into the Wild
  • Juno
  • Knocked Up
  • Michael Clayton
  • No Country for Old Men
  • Ratatouille
  • The Savages
  • There Will Be Blood

(You can find the AFI’s list of Top Shows here.)

Read More | AFI

Golden Globe Nominations (Film)

Assuming the ongoing doesn’t put a wrench into everyone’s plans, the 65th Annual ceremony is scheduled to air on Sunday, Jan. 13th. (The telecast will come just 9 days prior to the nominations.)

Here are the most notable omissions/additions in this year’s list of film honorees:
Atonement

(Click below for the full list of film nominees; click here for the TV nominations.)

Click to continue reading Golden Globe Nominations (Film)

Read More | Hollywood Foreign Press Assocation

New York Film Critics Choose ‘No Country’

No Country for Old MenOn Monday, the New York Film Critics Circle revealed their 2007 film award winners.  This announcement comes shortly after the National Board of Review (NBR) and the Los Angeles Film Critics (LAFCA) revealed their honorees.  Although the nominations are still two days away, certain trends have already started to emerge from just these three lists.

The 2007 NYFCC winners:

  • Best Picture: No Country for Old Men*
  • Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
  • Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis**, There Will Be Blood
  • Best Actress: Julie Christie*, Away from Her
  • Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
  • Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan***, Gone Baby Gone
  • Best Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen*, No Country for Old Men
  • Best Animated Film: Persepolis**
  • Best Foreign Film: The Lives of Others
  • Best Documentary: No End in Sight**

*also the NBR winner
**also the LAFCA winner
***both the NBR and LAFCA winner

Read More | New York Film Critics Circle

Box Office Breakdown: The Golden Compass Lacks Luster

Golden Compass

A Narnia-esque adaptation partnered with a holiday release date and an A-list cast should have conjured box office magic for .  Surprisingly, this weekend’s release from brought in barely enough money to cover the film’s catering budget.

Compass, based on Philip Pullman’s children’s series His Dark Materials, was and second disappointing collaboration this year (the first being ).  While it was enough for a first place finish, the $25 million debut was hardly impressive given the film’s $180 million price tag.

In other news, holiday flick remained in third place while the critically-panned bumped up two spaces from last week.  Meanwhile, and did well with their very limited releases.

Be looking for the highly-promoted (and ) to enter next week’s charts.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: The Golden Compass Lacks Luster

Read More | E! Online

Los Angeles Film Critics Favor ‘There Will Be Blood’

Posted by Veronica Santiago
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There Will Be BloodAn adaptation of the Upton Sinclair novel, Oil!, was just selected Best Picture of the Year by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.  , which opens in theaters December 26, stars (Gangs of New York) as an oil tycoon in the early 1900’s.  Blood won four honors overall including Best Director (), Best Actor (Lewis) and Best Production Design.  Just earlier this week, the National Board of Review gave its top prize to .

The New York Film Critics Circle is expected to announce its picks later today while the nominations come out this Thursday.

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Read More | Los Angeles Film Critics Assocation

‘No Country for Old Men’ Earns Big Honor

No Country for Old MenAlthough there’s a large slate of movies yet to be released, the National Board of Review kicked off awards season this week with its list of honorees.  film, , walked away with NBR’s prize for Best Film along with two other categories.

The NBR is not necessarily known for predicting success.  Nevertheless, the group consisting of educators, historians and film industry professionals did select and as its winners last year.

Here’s a list of the 2007 NBR honorees.  Even if you can’t use these selections in your betting pool, you now know which films you should become familiar with:

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