Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Fare Thee Well, Everyone

By now you should have had the opportunity to tune into The 4th Annual Critic Corner Award Show. It was my most ambitious show to date, and my last. I am retiring The Critic Corner.

It has been a great run and I thank you all for your support these past 8 years! Fare thee well, my friends!
-Andres Segovia, March 3, 2010

Saturday, February 27, 2010

The 4th Annual Critic Corner Awards Show!

Alas, The 4th Annual Critic Corner Awards Show debuts!!! Let me know what you think in the comments!

Total Run Time Length: Approximately 1 hour and 41 minutes


PART 1 - Run Time: 35:57


PART 2 - Run Time: 29:08


PART 3 - Run Time: 26:54


PART 4 - Run Time: 8:23


Monday, February 22, 2010

[UPDATED] CONTEST: Guess the Winners!!!

UPDATE (2/27/10)
Many played but only one submitted a guesstimate. No winners to declare but the sole entry gets a ticket to watch Christopher Nolan's much anticipated film Inception and concession goodies with a $25 Visa Gift Card!

Congrats, Russell S.!

*****

Alas, I'm going all out! Who can guess the winners to every category of the Awards? This is the ultimate challenge!

Prize details to come later, but you have to decide carefully! The deadline to submit your answers is by Noon on Saturday 2/27/10. All entries submitted thereafter will be disqualified. Why? The Awards Show debuts at 12pm!!

Go to: http://thecriticcorner.blogspot.com/2010/01/announcing-nominees-for-4th-annual.html for the list of the nominees. List to the podcast too. There might be some hints in there ;)
So what is/are the prize(s)? Will I make 2nd and 3rd place holders? That I am debating, but let the guessing begin!!!!

Submit your answers to this email address.

I'll hunt down anyone that delivers spam!!

Good luck!!!

--
-Andres

The Award Show is Coming!

The long-awaited Critic Corner Award Show podcast launches this weekend! If you haven't been following me on twitter, then you wouldn't know that production has officially wrapped up!

Stay tuned for another important announcement!!
-Andres
Sent from my UberBerry!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Soundtrack Reviews Coming Soon?

When I first opened this blog few were interested in reading what I had to say about soundtracks. Well, I've had several soundtrack reviews on my hard drive that I've tried to publish on other sites. I was able to get one published, but my other reviews were ignored without feedback.

Time has past and I've reconsidered posting up my soundtracks reviews. I probably won't do it here . . . But still, its a thought.

Christopher Nolan will oversee the next SUPERMAN while preparing BATMAN 3!!

REPORT:
It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's Chris Nolan! He'll Mentor Superman 3.0 And Prep 3rd Batman

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The 82nd Annual Oscar Nominees

Best motion picture of the year
“Avatar” A Lightstorm Entertainment Production
James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers (20th Century Fox)
“The Blind Side” An Alcon Entertainment Production
Nominees to be determined (Warner Bros.)
“District 9” A Block/Hanson Production
Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers (Sony Pictures Releasing)
“An Education” A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production
Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The Hurt Locker” A Voltage Pictures Production
Nominees to be determined (Summit Entertainment)
“Inglourious Basterds”
A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production
Lawrence Bender, Producer (The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures)
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production
Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
“A Serious Man” A Working Title Films Production
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers (Focus Features)
“Up” A Pixar Production
Jonas Rivera, Producer (Walt Disney)
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
A Montecito Picture Company Production
Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Achievement in directing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures) Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Jason Reitman

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

Best animated feature film of the year
“Coraline” (Focus Features) Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS) Tomm Moore
“Up” (Walt Disney) Pete Docter

Adapted screenplay
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell - “District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Nick Hornby - “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche - “In the Loop” (IFC)
Geoffrey Fletcher - “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner - “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring and DW)

Original screenplay
Mark Boal - “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
Quentin Tarantino - “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman - “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope)
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - “A Serious Man” (Focus Features)
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter - “Up” (Walt Disney)

Achievement in cinematography
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design
“Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Classics) Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell

Best documentary feature
“Burma VJ” A Magic Hour Films Production (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
“The Cove” An Oceanic Preservation Society Production (Roadside Attractions)
Nominees to be determined
“Food, Inc.” A Robert Kenner Films Production (Magnolia Pictures)
Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
“The Most Dangerous Man in America” A Kovno Communications Production
Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home” A Mr. Mudd Production
Rebecca Cammisa

Best documentary short subject
“China’s Unnatural Disaster” A Downtown Community TV Center Production
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” A Just Media Production
Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” A Community Media Production
Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Music by Prudence” An iThemba Production
Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” An MS Films Production (Deckert Distribution)
Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Achievement in film editing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year
Israel - “Ajami”
An Inosan Production (Kino International)
Argentina - “El Secreto de Sus Ojos”
A Haddock Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics)
Peru - “The Milk of Sorrow”
A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production
France - “Un Prophète”
A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics)
Germany - “The White Ribbon”
X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production (Sony Classics)

Achievement in makeup
“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Almost There” (Walt Disney)
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Down in New Orleans” (Walt Disney)
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Loin de Paname” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas from “Paris 36”
“Take It All” (The Weinstein Company)
Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston from “Nine”
“The Weary Kind” (Theme from "Crazy Heart") (Fox Searchlight)
Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best animated short film
“French Roast” A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production
Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” A Brown Bag Films Production
Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
“The Lady and the Reaper” Kandor Graphics & Green Moon Production
Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama” An Autour de Minuit Production
Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death” An Aardman Animations Production
Nick Park

Best live action short film
“The Door” An Octagon Films Production (Network Ireland Television)
Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
“Instead of Abracadabra” A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production (Swedish Film Institute)
Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
“Kavi” A Gregg Helvey Production
Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish” A Druid Films Production
Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants” A Park Pictures and M & M Production
Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Achievement in sound editing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
"Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)
Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount with Hasbro)
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)
Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Achievement in art direction
“Avatar” (Twentieth Century Fox)
Set Decoration: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg
Art Direction: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro
Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gordon Sim

“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros)
Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition)
Art Direction: Patrice Vermette
Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Cameron tops Cameron! Avatar Outgrosses Titanic!

Finally, after over a decade of holding the #1 slot atop the worldwide box office, Avatar unseated Titanic as the highest grossing movie in the world before adjusting for inflation. Both films were directed by James Cameron.

In about 7 days or so Avatar will outgross Titanic in the domestic market as well.
-Andres

Sunday, January 24, 2010

REUTERS: "Avatar" earns $1.84 billion worldwide

REPORT: "Titanic" just hit an iceberg named "Avatar."

James Cameron's sci-fi spectacular replaced his maritime melodrama as the biggest international release of all time during the weekend and is on the verge of claiming its worldwide crown, which also includes North American receipts, distributor 20th Century Fox said on Sunday.

The News Corp (NWSA.O)-owned studio said "Avatar" has sold $1.841 billion worth of tickets worldwide during its unbroken six-week reign, and was a day or so away from surpassing the seemingly insurmountable $1.843 billion racked up by "Titanic" in 1997-1998.

The international portion stands at $1.288 billion, eclipsing the $1.242 billion haul of "Titanic.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Announcing the Nominees for the 4th Annual Critic Corner Awards!

Listen to the podcast and follow along on the Newsletter announcement!

CLICK BELOW TO DOWNLOAD PODCAST

The Categories:
- Best Soundtrack
Clinton Shorter for District 9
Hans Zimmer for Sherlock Holmes
Karen O and the Kids and Clint Mansell for Where the Wild Things Are
Michael Giacchino for Star Trek and for UP
Taro Iwashiro for Red Cliff

- Best Opening Sequence
Inglorious Basterds
Red Cliff
Star Trek
UP
Watchmen

- Favorite Female Performer
Melanie Laurent for Inglorious Basterds
Rachel McAdams for Sherlock Holmes/The Time Traveler’s Wife
Sandra Bullock for The Proposal
Zhao Wei for Red Cliff
Zoe Saldana for Avatar/Star Trek

- Favorite Male Performer
Brad Pitt for Inglorious Basterds
Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker
Max Records for Where the Wild Things Are
Robert Downey, Jr. for Sherlock Holmes
Ryan Reynolds for The Proposal/X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Sharlto Copley for District 9
Takeshi Kaneshiro for Red Cliff

- Favorite Supporting Male Performer
Billy Crudup for Watchmen
Christoph Waltz for Inglorious Basterds
Jackie Earle Haley for Watchmen
Jude Law for Sherlock Holmes
Tony Leung for Red Cliff

- Most Disappointing
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Watchmen

- Best Non-Sequel
District 9
Star Trek
UP

- Favorite Director
John Woo for Red Cliff
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Neill Blomkamp for District 9
Pete Docter and Bob Peterson for UP
Quentin Tarantino for Inglorious Basterds
Spike Jonze for Where the Wild Things Are

- Worst Film Reviewed
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Ninja Assassin
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

- The Editor’s Best Picture of the Year
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds
Red Cliff
UP


The 4th Annual The Critic Corner Awards Show podcast will air February 27, 2010!
–Andres Segovia

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Highlights from the Golden Globes





List of Golden Globe Award winners

MOTION PICTURES:
_Picture, Drama: "Avatar."
_Picture, Musical or Comedy: "The Hangover."
_Actor, Drama: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart."
_Actress, Drama: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side."
_Director: James Cameron, "Avatar."
_Actor, Musical or Comedy: Robert Downey Jr., "Sherlock Holmes."
_Actress, Musical or Comedy: Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia."
_Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds."
_Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire."
_Foreign Language: "The White Ribbon."
_Animated Film: "Up."
_Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air."
_Original Score: Michael Giacchino, "Up."
_Original Song: "The Weary Kind" (theme from "Crazy Heart"), (written by Ryan Bingham, T Bone Burnett).
TELEVISION:
_Series, Drama: "Mad Men," AMC.
_Actor, Drama: Michael C. Hall, "Dexter."
_Actress, Drama: Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife."
_Series, Musical or Comedy: "Glee," Fox.
_Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock."
_Actress, Musical or Comedy: Toni Collette, "United States of Tara."
_Miniseries or Movie: "Grey Gardens," HBO.
_Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Kevin Bacon, "Taking Chance."
_Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Drew Barrymore, "Grey Gardens."
_Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: John Lithgow, "Dexter."
_Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Chloe Sevigny, "Big Love."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Its Official: Avatar will outgross The Dark Knight

According to Boxofficemojo.com, the 29-day gross for both The Dark Knight and Avatar are as follows:

The Dark Knight $459.6
Avatar $460.9

The growing feeling as the film continues to perform strongly is that Avatar may/can surpass the total all-time gross posted by Titanic. This is not adjusted for inflation and doesn't take into accounting the mark up ticket prices for 3D and IMAX showings.
-Andres

The Hurt Locker (Review Date: January 17, 2010)

The Proposal (Review Date: January 17, 2010)


The Critic Corner Awards are coming!

January is my deadline for qualifying movies! If you have any recommendations that I haven't seen, let me know!

-Andres

Friday, January 15, 2010

Avatar poised to pass The Dark Knight year-to-date gross this weekend!

I'm not excited or holding my breathe but news is news. As of Thursday, Avatar is at $450m. It needs to score at least $22m this weekend to outgross The Dark Knight at the same point year-to-date (5th weekend in release). Avatar should have no trouble doing unless The Book of Eli and other movies draw audiences away.

As of last weekend, Avatar's total gross was around 78% 3D and IMAX sells which means the ticket prices are indeed much higher than regular screen ticket prices. So far, more people in the American box office has seen The Dark Knight vs Avatar.

COMPARISON STORY TO FOLLOW
-Andres

Monday, January 11, 2010

Avatar makes over $50m this past weekend and $150m worldwide

Can avatar beat titanic? As of yesterday its about $500m away from tying! Avatar will top The Dark Knight as the second highest grossing film on record not adjusted for inflation!
-Andres,
from his mobile command center: Blackberry Storm! ;)

Sunday, January 3, 2010

AVATAR CROSSING $1B WORLDWIDE!!

Deadline Hollywood Daily is reporting that James Cameron's 3D epic just crossed the $1b mark this weekend worldwide making it the 5th movie to do so ever!

The tally so far beats The Dark Knight, the last film to cross the billion dollar mark.

If this weekend's estimate's hold, Avatar would be at an estimated $350m. If momentum holds this film could very well be on its way to $500m! It will shortly become the highest grossing film of 2009 beating the Transformers sequel!

-Andres