 Yesterday, I talked about the women I am almost 2000% positive will win an Academy Award before their (hopefully timely) demises. Today, I’m weeding through the men I’m willing to make bets on will waltz away with that bald statue sometime in the future. Note: Much like the ladies list, I also shied away from the men that I was ABSOLUTELY positive will win one of these things, so Liam Neeson, Robert Downey, Jr., Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, I salute you; but you guys are not on this list.      Christian Bale: Of the men on my list, I feel like Bale is the absolute lock. Why? Considering his Method-style acting and extreme measures taken for a role (hello, can of tuna and apple diet for Machinist) a la Daniel Day-Lewis, Bale is a total shoo-in for an Oscar. The only thing he needs to work on is getting rid of his Russell Crowe-like antics. Once Crowe stopped throwing things and shouting at people, he finally nabbed a statue. Take note, Bale. Take note. Leonardo DiCaprio: Leo is probably almost a shoo-in as well, considering his collaborations with both Scorsese and Christopher Nolan. But homeboy wasn’t even nominated for Titanic when he was thought of nothing more than a pretty boy, so perhaps that stigma could hurt him. I’m thinking one day when he plays a super whacked out role he’ll snag an award. Ryan Gosling: For me Ryan Gosling is the Laura Linney of men in that he tends towards the awesome roles in the small, indie movies. If he should ever branch out and star in something a little more grandiose—like a biopic—he’ll definitely up his chances for grabbing a statue. But Gosling definitely has the range to win one day. Peter Sarsgaard: Out of all the men on this list, Sarsgaard is perhaps the biggest toss-up, but I’m gonna step out on a limb here. With his knack of playing odd, quirky characters, I’m not sure Sarsgaard has much of a chance to walk away with a Best Actor Academy Award. Instead I think his greatest chances lie within the Supporting Actor category, and he should definitely keep pushing for intense smaller roles. Look at Christoph Waltz, Peter. That could have been you! Jude Law: Okay, so Law has been nominated twice before, so that wouldn’t make him much of a surprise if he actually one of these damned things. But considering his recent decline of truly exceptional roles—umm, remember The Holiday?—it’s no wonder he hasn’t cinched an Oscar yet. He needs to die more in his films or have a dying kid. I bet that would do it. What about you, folks? Which actors/actresses do you think WILL DEFINITELY win an Academy Award before they die? Also, make sure to tune in Monday when we report this year’s Oscar winners! --Darcie Duttweiler  With the Oscars literally right around the corner, I got to thinking about all the amazing actresses of our day who are incredibly talented but have never won a golden statue. Below is a list of the ladies who WILL win an Oscar before their demise—or hey, even Heath Ledger won one after his death, so we can extend the deadlines just a little. Note: I tried to steer clear of the super obvious ladies. Come back tomorrow for the fellas who will nab an Academy Award before their deaths!      Laura Linney: Laura Linney’s problem is probably the fact that she picks movies that are so small and independent that the voting Academy has never heard of the film, let alone seen the damned thing. If she eventually wants to win a statue, she might want to go for something a little bit showier. The Oscars are not about subtlety (cough cough if Sandra Bullock wins cough). Naomi Watts: Naomi Watts seems to only pick Oscar bait movies, but homegirl can’t seem to win one of those things. It’s seriously not for lack of trying on her part. Perhaps being BFFs with Nicole Kidman is missing one perk. Julianne Moore: Having been nominated a gazillion times, Julianne Moore has left the ceremony empty-handed every time. She just has some shitty luck. She lost to Kim Basinger for L.A. Confidential, Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry, and even losing twice in one night to Nicole Kidman and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Maggie Gyllenhaal: This may be the first year Gyllenahaal has been nominated for an Oscar, but she has been nominated for a slew of other awards for years. I even thought she had an Oscar nom already before I realized this was her first—that’s how talented she is. Plus she picks lead roles that are gritty and raw, which the Academy loves. And she doesn’t shy away from nudity either. Scarlett Johansson: I’m going out on a limb with this one considering that the typical bombshell beauty doesn’t tend to win Oscars (see Marilyn Monroe), and because Johansson has steered towards some poopy movies as of late. But Johansson definitely has the acting chops to procure herself a trophy one day. Perhaps she can pull a Charlize and uglify herself a bit. --Darcie Duttweiler  Hey! Yeah, you, obnoxious movie goer. We have a couple of things to say to you. With the fall season rolling around and the abundance of dramatic films coming out, we figured it was time we laid out some ground rules and general film-going etiquette. You see, we watch a lot of movies—a lot meaning sometimes six or seven in one month. So, considering how many movies we’ve seen, it should also come as no surprise then that we’ve encountered a ton of criminally bad moviegoers. Sure, there are the loud talkers, but that's only the peak of the iceberg of how annoying a person can get. And if you’re guilty of any of the following, Mastadon might just bite your torso and give you a disease. READ MORE after the jump!  Okay, so this is for all the ladies out there, as, fellas, I'm sure you couldn't give two shits about this, but it's being reported that Diablo Cody, of Juno and Jennifer's Body "fame," will be adapting the Sweet Valley High series for the big screen. Cue gasps! Okay, fine, Diablo Cody has an Oscar. Big deal; Ben Affleck got one for writing too, so suck it. But, I cannot condone Cody with the most beloved series of my youth. I spent many nights trying to decide which Wakefield twin I was--always hoping for the wild and crazy Jessica but knowing I was more the practical Elizabeth. They had blonde hair and blue eyes just like MEEEEEE. Seriously, I read almost all 150 books out there--even the racy college ones. I even watched the shitty TV show in the '90s to get my fix. So, why on earth is Diablo "I'm too fucking hip for my own good" Cody helming this project? It's not known what the story will be or who any of the key players will be other than Cody, but this marks her THIRD high school flick, and I'm seriously wondering if Cody remembers high school. It wasn't all indie rock and quirky pop culture references--especially not with the Wakefield twins. I know most of you Movie Pressers could care less about this news, but I, for one, am pissed. Please, Diablo Cody, don't fuck up my youth! Thank you. --Darcie Duttweiler  In commemoration of All About Steve opening this weekend, I’ve decided to compile a list of my favorite romantic comedies that I hate to love. You see, I want to see this movie. I love Sandra Bullock, and I've loved Bradley Cooper far before the whole Hangover craze. And, yes, I recognize that this film looks bad—not just bad, but fucking terribly shitty. Even Bullock’s awful wig in the commercials pisses me off. But the bigger problem isn’t the wig—it’s the fact that they’re making the female romantic lead into a crazy, psycho stalker. And this is where my pseudo feminist rears her ugly head and gets all sorts of pissed off. But that’s not gonna stop me from seeing this awful-looking movie. So in honor of shitty/sexist romantic comedies, I’ve decided to share my list of movies I hate myself for loving—and, no, comedies that really offended me (Bride Wars), didn’t make the cut. Read more after the jump!  Star of this summer's G.I. Joe movie and all around bad ass Joseph Gordon-Levvit recently sat down with MTV's Josh Horowitz and let slip a little on what he's up to next. He is collaborating with Batman Begins/The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan. It was really more of a non-comment, but we’ll take what we can get! “Here’s the thing,” Gordon-Levitt told MTV. “I cant wait to talk to you about [Inception] but I’ve been very specifically asked not to talk about it. I want to respect [director Chris Nolan's wishes] because I love his movies and I’m so honored and grateful to be working with him.” There’s apparently a very specific reason for Nolan’s insistence on maintaining the silence for now. “He’s got a really specific idea and way he wants people to be presented with this thing,” Gordon-Levitt said of the director’s plans. Variety has previously reported that Inception is "a contemporary sci-fi actioner within the architecture of the mind," and recent speculation is the film has a $200 million budget. Regardless, we know that Gordon-Levitt will play a role of some significance within the film. He wouldn’t go into any specifics of course, but he offered a sly response to the question of his role’s size. “I’m going to be working on it for awhile,” he said, laughing. Now this is where I begin to speculate, because when Heath Ledger met his untimely death, the world lost a true talent. After seeing his Joker, I couldn't have thought anyone could have done a better job. But then I got to thinking, and my geeky thoughts turned to Joseph-Gordon Levitt and how he bears a striking resemblance to Ledger, in addition to sporting some extremely diverse acting chops. If anyone could or would replace Heath, it should be Joseph. Well then Joseph got cast in Nolan's in between flick, and now I just hold onto hope that Nolan re-uses the guy like he uses Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, and Christian Bale. Heck, maybe if they aren't interested in re-hashing The Joker, maybe Levitt could be The Riddler? What do you guys think? --Greg MacLennan Random Rant: Denis Leary is funny. 04/15/2009
 So we here at The Movie Press typically stick to covering movie news we care about. We try and stay out of the gossip or trivial news reporting and sift through the endless amount of crap out there and bring you guys the real meat. But every now and again I come across a trivial something that makes me laugh or I feel like sharing, and well the good folks at MTV's Movie Blog really made me chuckle with this. So yes, this is trivial and stupid, but I hope it brightens your day. A call to arms in support of "Watchmen". 03/11/2009
 David Hayter has written a letter to fans. While it may have little to no impact, the word should still be spread. Was Watchmen the best movie ever? Hardly, but showing support for films that have balls, is a worthwhile cause. Because do we really want to see more Paul Blart type pandering to the masses? If the world makes The Watchmen a success it's not only helping that film that took decades to make, but it helps studios know we are okay handling challenging and layered material. Here's what the man had to say:  Forbes magazine recently named Will Smith the most bankable star in Hollywood according to industry insiders who rated actors on who can most easily attract financing, theatrical distribution and an audience. This really comes as no surprise, considering Smith's least successful movie of the past ten years was Ali, and that still made $61 million domestically. So get ready to see Will Smith save the world from aliens and/or inspire the world by being sad every Christmas and Fourth of July for the next several years.  So we somehow got enough love to make the list of nominees for the Austin American Statesman Social Media Awards and well, thanks! Now they are determining who will make the final 25, get invited to a swank party, and be labeled the social media award champion. And guess what, part of their determining of that comes from the comments people leave about the nominees, so we need YOU to mozey on over to HERE, and leave a comment about how great we are, what we do for you, and how much you love us and why. Thanks everyone! |
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