The cinematography in the “Batman” series has been impeccable, as well as the cinematography in “Inception” and “Moneyball.” The man behind that impeccable level of cinematography, Wally Pfister, is now going to put his skills to the test as a director. According to ScreenRant via Deadline, his directorial debut will be a currently untitled screenplay by new writer Jack Paglen, based on a treatment by Annie Marter, a production assistant on films like “Girl, Interrupted” and “The Door in the Floor.” The film’s principal photography is expected to begin this fall. There’s no concrete word on what the film’s synopsis is, but it is assumed, according to ScreenRant, that the  [ Read More ]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been comparing ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ to his previous independent films that helped launch his career. In an interview with Comic Book Movie, the actor also pointed out that the superhero movie’s director, producer and co-writer, Christopher Nolan, started his career with such films as ‘Momento’ and ‘Following,’ and his second Batman sequel “has that same independent spirit.” Gordon-Levitt added “that’s what people love about it; he’s able to take that sensibility and that care and love for his work, and do it on a really large scale.” The two first worked together in the critically acclaimed 2010 sci-fi action movie ‘Inception,’ after Gordon-Levitt replaced James Franco  [ Read More ]

Last night a bunch of film and television producers, directors, actors and so on showed up to the 37th Annual Saturn Awards. The show is dedicated to honor all the top television shows and films that are in either the horror, science fiction and/or fantasy genre. Check out all the winners from the great event below. Life Career Award: Bert I. Gordon Best Local Stage Production: Small Theatre “Watson” – Accepting Jamie Robledo and French Steward Best Local Stage Production: Drama or Comedy “The Liutenant of Inishmore” – Accepting Andrew Connolly Best Local Stage Production, Musical: “Young Frankenstein” – Accepting is Mel Brooks Best DVD Collection: “Avatar” – Accepting are  [ Read More ]

Happy Sunday Shockya readers and happy Mother’s Day to all of the loving mothers out there. We’re back with a brand new installment of your weekly Movie News Cheat Sheet and we’ve got some big items to report. Not only is Paul W.S. Anderson putting together a historic disaster film, but the cast of Piranha 3DD is getting bigger and bigger and prettier and prettier. We’ve also got a handful of brand new trailers to show you, one of which proves Zoe Salanda still kicks butt even off Pandora and another that suggests Conan might just be more of the same. Meanwhile Thor is tearing up the box office and  [ Read More ]

The best interviews are always the ones that fall outside a formal setting. Press junkets, roundtables and conference calls serve a purpose, but there just too safe and processed. Even in-depth television chats fail to capture who someone truly is a lot of the time. And this is why a modern-journalist like myself, looks forward to film festival season. Especially when they come to my neck of the woods. Meeting accomplished actors at a film festival allows one to get a better feel for their personality. And when I yapped with Tom Berenger at the 5th annual Gasparilla International Film Festival this past weekend, the atmosphere was quite relaxing. Which  [ Read More ]

Here’s the complete list of Oscar winners for the Academy Awards 2011. Best Motion Picture of the Year The King’s Speech Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role The King’s Speech – Colin Firth Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Natalie Portman for Black Swan Best Achievement in Directing Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song Toy Story 3 – Randy Newman(“We Belong Together”) Best Achievement in Editing The Social Network – Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall Best Achievement in Visual Effects Inception – Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, Pete Bebb, Paul J. Franklin Best Documentary, Features Inside  [ Read More ]

With just a day left to go until the big show, I’d like to bet you’ve had enough Oscar predictions – especially considering quite a handful of the biggest honors are considered locks. Well, I offer you something a little different; not who I think will win, but who I think should win. Best Picture: The King’s Speech Every Best Picture nominee achieves some degree of filmmaking prowess, otherwise, they wouldn’t be nominated in the first place. Rather than pick apart the elements and compare the contenders by the writing, directing acting, etc., this category comes down to something far simpler, yet something tougher to achieve – poignancy. Which of  [ Read More ]

Warner Brothers has announced their newest line of feature film apps. These “app-editions” of feature films like “Inception” and “The Dark Knight” will give iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users a whole new way to watch films, according to the press release. The App Editions of films come with the first five minutes of the film and a bevy of extra features like soundboards, soundtracks, games, and trivia. The full movie can be unlocked via an in-app purchase; this purchase not only provides you with the downloading and unlimited streaming of the entire film, but also the entire collection of extra features available in the app. Fans can also communicate  [ Read More ]

In wake of its freshman police drama ‘Chase’ being put on an indefinite hiatus, NBC has picked up four additional pilots for next season, TVGuide.com is reporting. Leading the new series is ‘REM,’ a crime thriller that’s being compared to the Academy Award-nominated film ‘Inception.’ The show, which was created by Kyle Killen, follows a detective who’s been involved in a car accident. When he wakes up, he’s living two simultaneous, parallel lives. Due to the title, it’s rumored that the detective is sleeping and his dreams are being manipulated, much like the hit Christopher Nolan movie. The three additional series NBC has picked up are comedies. The first, ‘Free  [ Read More ]

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Costume Designer’s Guild have released their nominees for this year’s Costume Designer’s Guild Awards. Among those listed are Amy Westcott’s work on Black Swan, Michael Kaplan’s work on Burlesque, and Jeffery Kurland’s work on Inception. Other designers nominated include Jacqueline West for The Social Network, Ellen Mirojnick for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Mark Bridges for The Fighter, Jenny Beavan for The King’s Speech, Mary Zophres for True Grit, Colleen Atwood for Alice in Wonderland, Sandy Powell for The Tempest, and Michael Wilkinson and Christine Bieselin Clark for TRON: Legacy. Several special awards will be given out at the ceremony; Halle Berry will receive the  [ Read More ]

2010 is over. No more. Done. Finito. Some are more than happy to kiss that year goodbye, while others wish it would have never ended. In the realm of movies, 2010 looked great in terms of box office receipts. However, even with the second highest grossing domestic box office of all-time ($10.5 billion) in the books, let’s just say the quality of the product put out, is far from what the numbers suggest in terms of stellar entertainment all year around. Yet 2010 did have a few exceptional moments. With all that said, here’s 20 topics, accompanied by my candid/stripped-down thoughts, on what caught my critical eyes in cinema for  [ Read More ]

It’s that time of year again; time to look back on the year passed and recognize the best of the best. It seems every year we complain the crop of movies isn’t up to par, but then the time to compile a list of the best of the year arrives and it’s increasingly difficult. This year gave me a particularly tough time thanks to my latest endeavor: film school. Over the summer, I decided to take my passion for film one step further and enroll in Columbia University’s Film MFA program. It didn’t take long for the education to collide with my work. As I learned more about the filmmaking  [ Read More ]

You’ve still got a little while to go until I unveil my top ten movies of the year, but here’s something to hold you over: IMBd’s Top 10 Films and Stars. The results aren’t generated by critical reception or box office numbers, rather by searches for the stars and user ratings for the films. So, now for the winners. It should come as no surprise that top star of 2010 is Johnny Depp. Not only did he star in one of the year’s highest earners, Alice in Wonderland, but he’s just one of the most famous guys out there regardless. Twilight fans managed to snag the second and third spots  [ Read More ]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is trying to get his life back to normal after his older brother Dan died on October 4, Popeater.com is reporting. The ‘Inception’ star is back at work at his day job at hitRECord.org, and has appeared in a new clip on his ‘Regularity’ video series. In the video, Gordon-Levitt said he hasn’t yet taken on the normal workload that he used to do before Dan’s death. But he thanked all his fans for their support in the past month-and-a-half, adding that “It’s meant a lot to me.” Gordon-Levitt added that he plans to do another ‘Regularity’ video, as he’s going to “get back to full regularity at  [ Read More ]

Ben Affleck is this weekend’s big winner. Not only did his new film The Town win big with critics, but it was a smash hit at the box office as well. It took in $23.8 million, which is above and beyond the opening weekend earnings of Affleck’s last directorial effort, Gone Baby Gone, which only accumulated $5.5 million. Of course The Town hit far more theaters than Gone Baby Gone, but comparing Gone Baby Gone’s $3,211 per theater haul to The Town’s $8,319, it’s quite clear that this is a hugely successful production for Affleck. It will earn back its $37 million production budget with ease. Easy A may not  [ Read More ]