A lot of military stories ladle on audio-visual artifice, in an attempt to create an impactful audience identification with the disorienting nature of war or its psychological after-effects. “Return,” however, is a subjective document that plays out against the banality of everyday existence, wherein crisis unfolds in slow motion, and sometimes almost imperceptible strokes. The film stars Linda Cardellini as Kelli, a Rust Belt supply line soldier who comes back from a tour of duty and experiences a vague, free-floating sense of dislocation from her plumber husband Mike (Michael Shannon) and two young girls, and in the din of domestic homecoming dramas, the film is a striking, humane, low-fi offering….

It’s been a few hours since the official list of nominations for this year’s 84th Annual Academy Awards were announced, and in typical fashion, not everyone is happy with all of the results, which include myself. Now it’s time to air out what was the best, and the worst, of this morning’s quick broadcast, along with a few predictions of who could win what. Again, Just Let “The Artist” Win Best Picture Already The Michel Hazanavicius film has been practically sweeping every other awards show that it’s been nominated into, so why wouldn’t it walk away with a couple of golden boys under it’s belt? It’d be surprising if this…

We haven’t heard a lot about the reboot of the “Superman” franchise, “Man of Steel.” But, we do have some new news about the film from Collider.com. According to Collider, Richard Schiff has been tapped to play Dr. Hamilton in the film. According to the site, Dr. Hamilton is being described as Superman’s “scientific advisor,” a person who builds the machines Superman uses to fight crime. He’s almost like Superman’s Q (“James Bond”‘s Q, not “Star Trek”‘s Q). The character seems like a great addition to the cast, which includes Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Pa and Ma Kent, Laurence…

Hollywood’s award season is always a time filled with stress, especially for those who tend to follow every other list of nominations that pops up between now and late January. It’s not just stress from those distributors and studio folk who hope that their possible Oscar contender will make the cut, but from press and dedicated movie-watchers like us who bitch and moan the minute a favorite film of theirs doesn’t get awards love. Well, you can’t please them all, which seems to be more and more apparent as recent years have gone by. Perhaps it’s because I find myself even more engrossed in the fall awards season craze, but…

Apologies for the Movie News Cheat Sheet‘s tardiness, but it was for the sake of Steven Spielberg and Giancarlo Esposito! Totally worth it, right? I’d like to think so, but this Cheat Sheet is packed with some pretty exciting material. Well, the idea of Scott Disick playing Patrick Bateman might not be the most thrilling tidbit in there, but we do have a new director for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and a slew of posters from what should be some of the biggest movies of summer 2012. The trailer department is lacking courtesy of the one for What To Expect When You’re Expecting dropping just after the massive New Year’s…

Title: Take Shelter Directed By: Jeff Nichols Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart Well paced movies aren’t necessarily swift, but if the storytelling approach is more on the calculated and wallowing side, there better be a strong payoff. While writer-director Jeff Nichols presents Take Shelter as a piece that’ll rock a powerful crescendo, what we get is one that feels rather one-note most of the way through until it spikes just before the end. Nichols makes an honorable attempt at wrapping the piece up in a fulfilling and stirring way, but the jagged build doesn’t make it nearly as satisfying as it could be. Curtis (Michael Shannon) makes a…

Boardwalk Empire is on its way back and HBO’s got a little something to help fans get back into the swing of things and newcomers to get a sense of what they’ve missed, a Boardwalk Empire Cheat Sheet. The information comes in the form of an infograph that offers the details on the show’s main players and what they were up to at the close of season one. Looking for more? We’ve also got a selection of videos that show Boardwalk Empire‘s key characters in action. There’s one for Nucky (Steve Buscemi), Jimmy (Michael Pitt), Margaret (Kelly Macdonald), Van Alden (Michael Shannon), Al Capone (Stephen Graham), Arnold Rothstein (Michael Stuhlbarg),…

Happy Sunday, Shockya readers! Who’s ready for their weekly dose of must-known movies news? This week’s Movie News Cheat Sheet is overrun with casting updates, and some big ones at that. We’ve got everything from new additions to the cast of The Hunger Games to Lindsay Lohan’s attempt at getting back on the big screen. Looking for some eye candy? We’ve got that, too. Not only did a handful of impressive trailers drop during the week, but some great stills, too. The Hangover Part II, Fright Night, Melancholia and so much more in this week’s Movie News Cheat Sheet. 1. Hutcherson & Hemsworth in The Hunger Games: The Hunger Games…

Michelle Monaghan and Michael Shannon have joined the cast of “Machine Gun Preacher” from Lionsgate alongside Gerard Butler. The film is being directed by Marc Forster (“Quantum of Solace”) and will start filming this summer. The project’s script was written by Jason Keller and is based on Childers’ memoir, “Another Man’s War: The True Story of One Man’s Battle to Save Children in the Sudan.” Butler will be playing the real-life hero Sam Childers, a former biker gang member who became a missionary after finding religion in 1992 and going to Africa. While there, he began working in rescuing displaced and orphaned children from war-torn regions. He and his wife…

Title: The Runaways Directed By: Floria Sigismondi Starring: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Stella Maeve, Scout Taylor-Compton, Alia Shawkat, Riley Keough, Tatum O’Neal In the words of Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon), “It’s press, not prestige. Get used to it.” Those words are directed to the members of his band in The Runaways, but they’re easily applicable to the film as well. The Runaways is certainly not prestigious, but it knows it and uses its flaws to provide the film with a fantastic degree of authenticity. Just because you don’t abide by the standards of perfection, doesn’t mean you can succeed. One of the best examples of the beautifully flawed…