Review: American Hustle (2013)

Director: David O. Russell.

Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K., Jack Huston, Michael Pena.

Certificate: 15.

Running Time: 138 minutes.

Synopsis: Successful conman Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and his partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) find themselves forced to work amongst the Jersey mafia by FBI agent, Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper).

Corrupt politicians, sleazy American nightclubs and the threat of the mob may be far from novel, but David O. Russell’s AMERICAN HUSTLE feels extremely apt and relatable in a time of growing political distrust. Handled ever so coolly by the director and his stellar cast, every line and action is meticulously placed, right down to the very precise positioning of Irving’s glued-on hairpiece.

In a time where the hair was high and the necklines significantly lower, the audience are immediately intoxicated by the 1970s hairspray and rich mahogany. Elton John, David Bowie and The Bee Gees may punctuate the severity of the situations our main trio find themselves in, but amidst its slick, neon skylines, AMERICAN HUSTLE means business.

Review: The Hangover Part III (2013)

***THIS REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED HERE FOR THE HOLLYWOOD NEWS ON MAY 23RD, 2013***

Director: Todd Phillips.

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Justin Bartha, John Goodman, Melissa McCarthy, Heather Graham, Mike Epps, Sondra Currie, Jeffrey Tambor.

Running Time: 100 minutes.

Certificate: 15.

Synopsis: With Alan (Zach Galifianakis) off his meds, the Wolfpack form an intervention. On the way to rehab, the consequences of the first two films catch up with them as they find themselves the missing link to get the intimidating Marshall (John Goodman) to his goal – a certain Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong).

Todd Phillips’ first two booze-fuelled bouts of cinematic amnesia may have grossed over $1 billion worldwide, but 2009’s THE HANGOVER never screamed with trilogy potential. The gang’s all here, but you sense they’re ready to leave the fun behind. And so, it turns out, are we.

Mixing up its inherent formula, PART III once again sidelines Doug (Justin Bartha), with the boys in pursuit of Chow after he stole from angry businessman, Marshall – yes, that Marshall. With so much of what’s gone before passing without consequence, it’s a brave move to tie-in the fallout, but this was never a serious franchise to begin with, leaving the balls to the wall manhunt formula sorely missed. With a not so subtle JURASSIC PARK reference during Alan’s giraffe-based motorway opening (one of the film’s many green screen distractions), Phillips’ nods to big budget actioners lay the groundwork for a big adventure, but this final swansong never quite delivers.

I Should Probably Post These Oscar Nominations, Then

Seeing as everyone was a little Oscar’d out yesterday, I thought I’d wait until today to put these up. I’m not going to say too much, as I think I exhausted my point over on Twitter (@iamnotwaynegale) and said everything I wanted to when predicting my nominations here.

‘Snubs’ aside, all I’ll say is that I’m absolutely thrilled for Benh Zeitlin and little Quvenzhané and really pleased Eiko Ishioka gets a fitting tribute.

Check out the full list of nominees for the 85th Academy Awards below:

Fed Up Of People Talking About The BAFTA Nominations Yet?

Now, I’m sure you’re pretty sick and tired of hearing peoples’ two cents on today’s BAFTA nominations and how they might correlate with tomorrow’s (well, today now) Oscar nominations, yadda yadda, blah blah blahhh.

So I’m simply going to post the list of nominations below with no preamble. That can come with whatever tomorrow’s Academy Award nominations bring!

Check out the full list of the EE (eurghh) British Academy Film Award nominations below:

Critic Circle Update: Because I Got Slack, And That.

San Francisco, Satellite Awards, Chicago, St. Louis, Indiana, Toronto, Florida, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin, Black Film Critics, Utah, Dublin, Women Films Circle – I feel I may have neglected you slightly.

With thirteen different lists of winners to report back on, well, I’ll keep it brief, but a list of Best Picture, Director, all four Acting winners, Best Screenplays, Cinematography, Documentary, Animation and Foreign Film can be found below.

It’s mainly all about Zero Dark Thirty and Daniel Day-Lewis as expected, but there are some interesting wins to pick up on (namely thanks to Toronto) and prizes to whoever finds The Artist hidden within.

Check it all out below:

2012 St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Nominations

St. Louis loves a bit of Tarantino!

There’s a little bit more breathing space away from the usual suspects in this batch of nominations, with Moonrise Kingdom getting a lot of very deserved nods and a few more interesting people popping up in the Acting categories, including Aubrey Plaza, Jamie Foxx, John Goodman, William H. Macy and Emma Watson.

There’s also the inclusion of Best Arthouse or Festival Film and Best Scene, but as for Best Comedy, Ted can definitely bore off.

Check out the full list of nominees below:

2012 Detroit Film Critics Society Nominations

Ahh, finally. Something a little more refreshing.

David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook leads the nominations, with Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz also a big Detroit favourite.

There’s a lot to look at here, with a good dollop of nominations for The Impossible and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, as well as the ever-deserving Matthew McConaughey once again in the mix.

With Bill Murray, Greta Gerwig, Rebel Wilson and Ezra Miller also popping up, take a look at the full list of nominations below:

2012 National Board Of Review Award Winners

Beasts Of The Southern Wild and Zero Dark Thirty are riding the crest of a rather awesome wave right now. Yeah, someone really did use that saying in a conversation with me once. But let’s leave Sussex sensibilities behind for a minute and focus on Bigelow and Zeitlin.

Things are going pretty swimmingly for the pair, with Bigelow fresh off her NYFCC win, Zeitlin winning yet another accolade for his direction and both receiving prizes for their leading ladies.

It’s great to see Looper receiving Best Original Screenplay, but the money’s still on Moonrise Kingdom, especially when the Academy seem to keep sci-fi offerings reserved to the technical fields. But I’m definitely keeping my fingers crossed for more Rian Johnson nominations and it’s brilliant to see it make their top ten, as it’ll definitely make my list of the best 2012’s had to offer.

Talking of their top ten, indie offerings sit alongside Oscar frontrunners, with The Perks Of Being A Wallflower getting a very deserved mention.

Check out the full list of winners below:

2012 Satellite Award Nominations

Well this is a bit more fun.

Yes, all the familiar faces are here, but the Satellite nominations are peppered with some rather more exciting choices in the form of Emilie Dequenne, Samantha Barks and Eddie Redmayne. Whether this is set to be one of a small selection of nominations for the actors is yet to be seen, as is whether The International Press Academy will favour their more obscure choices over the current frontrunners. Either way, it makes an interesting read and it’s exciting to see Les Mis leading the way when there’s only just over a month to wait for us UK folk, now.

The winners will be announced on December 16th, so check out the full list of nominations below, minus all the TV stuff:

2013 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Sound the bongos – it’s a double nomination for Matthew McConaughey.

Jack Black’s nomination for Bernie is surely set to keep him ontrack for a Golden Globe nod and Emayatzy Corinealdi returns to contest Little Miss Hushpuppy once more, making it pretty clear that we’ll be seeing a lot more of the Middle Of Nowhere star before the season’s through.

Brit Marling gets some love, as does The Perks Of Being A Wallflower and Ruby Sparks, but you can always trust the Spirit Awards to dig up something a little different and nominate those who often go unseen for the rest of the season, so check out the full list of winners below: