Hounddog takes place some time in the late 50’s or early 60’s in the rural south. Dakota Fanning plays Lewellen, a very precocious 12 year old. It seems that right from the start the goal of the film is to make viewers uncomfortable as it opens with a scene between her and a boy that looks a bit younger that is her best friend. They’re in the woods and she wants him to drop his pants and underwear for a peek in exchange for a kiss. She talks about wanting to kill her father, which led me to believe that there may have been some sexual abuse going on, but it’s never alluded to ag
From Melissa Leo’s F-bomb, Kirk Douglas’ never-ending jokes and womanizing to Hathaway’s fun anti-Wolverine solo and Christian Bale actually shedding a tear, it was another long night at the Oscars defined by its little moments scattered through
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and Oscar-nominated actress Jennifer Lawrence ( Winter’s Bone , The Hunger Games ) jointly announced the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards this morning, on Tuesday January 24th. The actual 2012 Oscar ceremony will take place next month, on February 26th at the Kodak theater – with Billy Crystal serving as host, for the ninth time in his car
Hounddog suffers from something I’ve noticed in some other indie films: It’s boring and it’s too long. Although it’s filled with gorgeous scenery, the film just seems to go on and on and on. This was yet another hour and a half long movie that felt twice as long. The best thing about the film is Dakota Fanning’s performance. She really is amazing at the range and subtlety of emotion she can convey at such a young age. I only hope that she is one of the very few child actors who survives the transition to adulthood unscat
Unlike the Golden Globes, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life was recognized, as was Gary Oldman for his much-praised lead turn in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy . Notable absences include praised indie titles (and Screen Rant favorites) Shame and Martha Marcy May Marlene in the acting categories, while Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive only managed to land one nod, in the technical categor
Surprisingly, neither Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin nor Disney’s 2D animated critical darling, Winnie the Pooh , is a contender for Best Animated Feature. However, despite Stephen Daldry’s critic-dividing Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close landing a Best Pic nod over a more universally-beloved title like, say, Warrior , that selection was (unfortunately) expec
We also saw an increase in the number of animated feature films that get nominated from three to five, meaning the majority of major animated movies are nominated for an Oscar by default. Also by default, the Pixar film festival games rankings|https://moviefestivalhub.Com/ of the year
The second act shifts gears and while gory, is extremely funny. It was a wierd feeling being jerked from extreme violence directly to hysterical comedy and back again, but it worked. There was a friend who showed up about halfway through this part of the film who was absolutely hysterical, acting oblivious to what’s happened and caring only about the party planned for that evening and the possibility of hooking up. The third act then shifts back to a more serious tone. One of the things I enjoyed about the approach was that I really didn’t know what was going to happen next or where the film was go
Is the director saying Lewellan was inadvertantly asking for it through her behavior? I doubt that. Is she saying Lewellen should be allowed to act seductively without fear of being attacked? I don’t know. My answer is obviously that there can be no justification for taking advantage of a child, but that she should be told that certain ways of acting are inappropriate and there are people out there who will respond to that behavior without giving thought to what is right and what is wr
Hosting this year’s show was the comedic pair of Alec Baldwin and previous Oscars host Steve Martin. The two did a great job of keeping the atmosphere light and no doubt, helping viewers not only tune in, but to stick aro
Some interesting notes: True Grit didn’t get a single award despite ten (10!) nominations; Christopher Nolan didn’t receive any awards despite Inception being entirely original and praised for its design, winning 4 other awards no less; Anne Hathaway, poking fun at the Academy’s attempt at appealing to a younger demographic is the presentation’s youngest host ever at 28 and last but not least, 8-time Oscars host Billy Crystal made a friendly and fun appearance making some wish he was back to host ag
Martin Scorsese’s Hugo led the way with eleven nominations, stacking up many a nod in the technical categories, while Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist was close behind with ten total. Academy members clearly love a good homage to the magic of old-fashioned cinema – be it a Hollywood flick set in Paris or a French production set in Hollywood. Moving o
