A Single Man

Tom Ford’s New Film Is in the Pipeline but Colin Firth Is Not Involved

by Ben Garman    Posted: November 10th, 2010 at 10:15 am

Relatively fresh from his recent directorial debut A Single Man (based on Christopher Isherwood’s 1964 novel), Tom Ford has begun work on his next film project. Whilst Ford has actually been silent about his new work, in fact emphatically refusing to comment upon it – Colin Firth, Oscar nominated star of A Single Man, has apparently been somewhat more forthcoming. In an interview with Moviefone, Firth distanced himself from the new project, declaring himself “jealous” of whoever will star, and saying, “it’s gonna be very different from A Single Man.”

Hit the jump for more on the project.

Matthew Goode as Bilbo Baggins in THE HOBBIT? Admits to Auditioning for the Role

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: February 23rd, 2010 at 8:58 am

Matthew Goode admitted in an interview with the UK Daily Telegraph that he auditioned to play Bilbo Baggins in Guillermo del Toro’s two-part film of The Hobbit.  Of course it’s important to realize MANY people are going to audition for the role, so please don’t start thinking he’s cast!  Saying that, with everyone so curious about who is going to play Bilbo, I figured you might want to know who is auditioning.  Here’s part of the article:

“Now he’s a father, Goode doesn’t even like travelling that much. But just before we met, he’d auditioned for the role of Bilbo Baggins in Guillermo del Toro’s two-part film of The Hobbit. As he is the first to admit, he’s not an obvious choice – ‘Look at the size of me for Christ’s sake!’ If he got the part, he would, he says, find it almost impossible to refuse – despite the fact that it would involve him spending several months in New Zealand.”

Recently Goode was in Tom Ford’s A Single Man, Leap Year, and he played Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias in Zack Snyder’s Watchmen.  I’m a fan of his work, but I’m not sold on him as Bilbo.  If you’d like to see a great interview that I did with Goode not too long ago, click here.  (via The One Ring)

THE HURT LOCKER Wins 6 BAFTA Awards Including Best Picture

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 21st, 2010 at 9:34 pm

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts added momentum to The Hurt Locker awards train tonight as they award the film Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Sound.  Hurt Locker‘s awards in the technical categories are particularly interesting because perhaps Academy-thinking that usually awards those categories to the big blockbuster movies, i.e. Avatar.  But perhaps BAFTA and Oscar voters on the same wavelength and despite the massive box office of Cameron’s tech demo, the Academy could recognize the impressive editing, sound, and achievement in other technical categories (although Avatar won the BAFTA for best visual effects and it’s a lock to win the Oscar in that category as well).

Other nice victories included Colin Firth for Best Actor (A Serious Man), Carey Mulligan for Best Actress (An Education), and my personal favorite: Outstanding British Debut to Duncan Jones for Moon.  He gave a very sweet acceptance speech and I’ve included video of it after the jump along with the full list of winners.

WGA Nominees Announced; Nods for AVATAR, STAR TREK, and THE HANGOVER

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 11th, 2010 at 12:41 pm

The WGA has announced their nominees for Best Original, Adapted, and Documentary screenplays today and because so many great films were ruled ineligible, these nominees are kind of a joke.  Avatar is getting way more love for its spectacle than its story (protect the Hometree from the Sky People), (500) Days of Summer‘s structure is impressive but the characters and story are completely vanilla, Julie & Julia is half a good movie, and Crazy Heart is a two-hour commercial for Alcoholics Anonymous.

Now here’s a list of movies that were rule ineligible:  Inglourious Basterds, District 9, In the Loop, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Up, and A Single Man.  I suppose the only bright spot of all this is that The Hangover received a nomination, which is hilarious.

Hit the jump for the full list of nominees.  Winners will be announced on February 20th.

An Awesome Video Interview with Matthew Goode; Talks A SINGLE MAN, LEAP YEAR, CEMETARY JUNCTION and WATCHMEN

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: January 7th, 2010 at 10:46 pm

Every once in awhile you do an interview that just comes out awesome.  Today is one of those days.

I recently got to speak with Matthew Goode and while some actors are guarded and careful with their answers and opinions, what I love about Matthew Goode is his honesty and his willingness to talk about anything and everything.  Also, he was willing to light up and smoke on camera and not apologize for it.  Trust me when I say most Hollywood actors would never do this.

The reason I got to speak to Goode was for his recent work in Tom Ford’s great debut film A Single Man.  But with Goode also in Ricky Gervais upcoming Cemetary Junction and the romantic comedy Leap Year, we also covered those films.  And for fans of Watchmen, we discussed that film at length as he played Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias.

If you’re a fan of Matthew Goode, trust me when I say this is a must see interview.  Hit the jump to watch it.

A Good Year for Directors Who Aren’t Straight White Men

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: December 30th, 2009 at 11:07 pm

The position of director has long been dominated by heterosexual, Caucasian males in Hollywood. For evidence of this, one need only look at the Academy Award for Best Director nominations over first 81 years of the award’s existence. Only three times have female directors received nominations (Lina Wertmüller in 1976, Jane Campion in 1993, and Sofia Coppola in 2003) and only once has an African-American director been nominated (John Singleton in 1991). Homosexual directors have had more luck, with such notable openly gay directors as Rob Marshall, Gus Van Sant, and Pedro Almodovar gaining nominations, while John Schlesinger and George Cukor even won the award. Still, directing in Hollywood is not a particularly diverse game. So it is noteworthy when, as Variety points out, “it’s possible the best-director noms might not include a single English-speaking, Caucasian, straight male”.

For a look at the directors who might instead seize this year’s Oscar nominations, including Kathryn Bigelow, Lee Daniels, Tom Ford, Lone Scherfig, and Rob Marshall, hit the jump.

Matt’s Top Performers, Director, Quotes, and Kills of 2009

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 30th, 2009 at 6:38 pm

The joy of list-making continues today as I’m running down who I thought gave the best performances of the year plus what I thought were the best quotes and kills of 2009.  Please keep in mind that regarding the performances, I haven’t seen a few key films that could have very well changed the winners and runners-up: Crazy Heart (Best Actor), The Last Station and Bright Star (Best Actress), and a few others.  If you think there was someone who clearly should’ve won or been nominated, shout out in the comments section and I’ll let you know whether I saw the film or not.

With this disclaimer out of the way, I present to you my picks for the best performers, directors, quotes, and kills of 2009.  Hit the jump to check them all out.

Matt’s Top 10 Trailers of 2009

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 29th, 2009 at 1:16 pm

Since it seems like I have to watch every trailer that comes out in a given year, I feel it only fair to highlight the ones that were worth my precious two-and-a-half minutes. A good trailer can throw a movie high on someone’s must-see list or change indifference into excitement. I hesitate to call them art not because I don’t believe the term technically fits (it does), but because “art” is such a loaded word. Still, when you forego Mr. Movie Voice, showing the entire movie, and edit together a piece that’s pretty damn cool in its own right, then you’re worthy of some attention.

Hit the jump to start the countdown.

Matt’s Top 10 Films of 2009

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 27th, 2009 at 7:45 pm

I’m so happy that 2009 was a front-loaded year.  Friends and family asked me on more than one occasion, “It’s the end of the year, so where are all the good movies?”  I responded that this year, for whatever reason, was different and some of the year’s best films had premiered as early as Sundance (The Hurt Locker technically debuted in 2008 with its premiere at the Venice Film Festival).  The scarcity of must-see year-end flicks worked out beautifully for me because I had the time to give more thought to films and have the opportunity to watch them more than once.  I feel confident in my Top 10 in a way that I’ve been uneasy about in years prior.  There was a wealth of great films to choose from this year and almost all of my favorites are now available to own or rent on DVD or Blu-ray.

If I had to sum up 2009 in films, I would say it was a year of surprises and disappointments.  Films I expected to enjoy like Funny People, Bruno, Public Enemies were letdowns, while films like District 9, In the Loop, and A Single Man, came out of nowhere to blow me away.  It’s also refreshing to see that movies like The Hangover, Paranormal Activity, and Avatar did so well at the box office despite not being adaptations or remakes.

I thought 2009 was a great year for film and while I seriously considered expanding this list to a Top 15 or even 20, I felt that ten was appropriate because while this is clearly a vanity project for me, I do hope it serves as a recommendation tool for people who can’t go see every movie.  If you only see ten movies from this year, see these ten.  Hit the jump to start the countdown.

San Francisco Film Critics Circle Helps THE HURT LOCKER Continue Its Winning Streak

by Ramses Flores    Posted: December 15th, 2009 at 9:54 am

Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker won best picture and best director again today at the San Francisco Film Critics Circle (SFFCC) awards. The film has already been awarded with both honors by critics in New York, Los Angeles, and Boston.  Meanwhile, the Southeastern Film Critics Association did not give the film best picture, but did award best director to Bigelow.  I really hope that these are all signs that Bigelow will be the first female to win best director come Oscar time.

Other SFFCC winners included Colin Firth for best actor in A Single Man, Meryl Streep for best actress in Julie & Julia, Mo’Nique for best supporting actress in Precious, Christian McKay pulling a surprise win for best supporting actor in Me and Orson Welles, and Quentin Tarantino winning best original screenplay for Inglourious Basterds while Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach  received the award for best adapted screenplay for Fantastic Mr. Fox.

The full list of winners are after the jump.

A SINGLE MAN Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 11th, 2009 at 1:30 am

A Single Man is unmistakably an art house film but in the best sense of the term.  It’s intimate, outside the mainstream, relies more on cinematography, music, and editing rather than dialogue to tell the story, and highlights actors, or in this case, an actor, who can completely embody a character and keep you mesmerized with a small, subtle performance.  It may be an art house film but A Single Man is an experience that will completely entrance you no matter the venue.

Director Tom Ford Interview A SINGLE MAN

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: December 7th, 2009 at 1:06 pm

While many people have heard of Tom Ford as he is a major designer in the world of clothing, he can now add something to his already impressive resume: filmmaker.

That’s because opening this Friday, in limited release, is his ridiculously impressive debut film A Single Man.  Set in Los Angeles in 1962, A Single Man is the story of George Falconer, a 52 year old British college professor (Colin Firth) who is struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his long time partner, Jim (Matthew Goode). George dwells on the past and cannot see his future as we follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters ultimately leads him to decide if there is a meaning to life after Jim. George is consoled by his closest friend Charley (Julianne Moore), a 48 year old beauty who is wrestling with her own questions about the future. A young student of George’s, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), who is coming to terms with his true nature, stalks George as he feels in him a kindred spirit.

To help promote the film, the Weinstein Company recently held a Los Angeles press day and I was able to participate in a press conference with Ford.  He talks about how he came to the material, why he wanted to make the film, casting, the technical side of filmmaking, and a lot more.  It’s a great interview for one of the best films I’ve seen this year.  If and when it plays in your area, seek A Single Man out, as Colin Firth gives an amazing performance and Tom Ford demonstrates he’s a natural at filmmaking.

2009 Spirit Award Nominees

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 1st, 2009 at 10:47 am

Film Independent’s Spirit Awards are meant to honor “indie” films, i.e. no blockbuster movies allowed but if you played at some festivals and didn’t cost a lot of money, you’re in consideration.  The Spirit Awards are a good indicator of what smaller films could be getting a shot at Oscar nominations in various categories.  Usually, their nominees are pretty solid and play like a nice alternative universe where the Oscars went to more deserving nominees (last year The Wrestler won Best Film and Best Actor).

But this year’s choices are obvious mixed with disappointingly bizarre.  In a year where some strong, hard-sell films came out of Sundance with strong buzz, the Spirit Awards have instead shown love to movies like Two Lovers, Cold Souls, and (500) Days of Summer.  It’s not that any of these films are resoundingly bad, but when placed alongside obvious contenders like Precious and A Single Man, it feels like Film Independent (who chooses the nominees) were struggling to fill all the nomination slots.  It’s even more bizarre for what you won’t find: Colin Firth for A Single Man; any nominations for A Serious Man beyond cinematography, direction, and the Robert Altman Award; and a Best Director nomination for Marc Webb just to name a few.  Hit the jump for the full list of nominees.  The 2009 Independent Spirit Awards will air on March 5, 2010 at 8pm PST on IFC.’

New Posters for A SINGLE MAN, THE ROAD and DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: November 23rd, 2009 at 8:21 pm

The Weinstein Company has released a new poster for The Road and A Single Man.  While I liked the previous poster for The Road, I understand using a huge quote saying how great the movie is as a way to help sell the movie.

However, the new poster for A Single Man is just perfect.  Just like the movie, the poster is elegant, and it sells the relationships of the film.  Colin Firth is looking at whatever is holding his interest (most likely Matthew Goode) and Julianne Moore is looking at what she wants most, but can’t have.  While I haven’t yet raved about A Single Man on Collider, the film is an amazing first feature from director Tom Ford and I’ll have more in the coming weeks.

Finally, Magnet has released the first poster for District 13: Ultimatum.  This is the sequel to the Luc Besson written D13.  The poster sells exactly what it should…the action.  Check them out after the jump:

A SINGLE MAN Review – Tokyo International Film Festival

by David Corbin    Posted: October 23rd, 2009 at 10:44 am

“A Single Man,” fashion designer Tom Ford’s striking debut, has been slowly gathering buzz as it travels the film festival circuit. At the Venice International Film Festival, the movie which stars Colin Firth, was nominated for the Golden Lion and Firth was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. Shortly, thereafter, following its screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, it was the subject of an intense bidding war ultimately won by The Weinstein Company. Though TWC secured the US distribution rights for a hefty $1-2 million sum, there is no doubt in my mind that the money was well spent. “A Single Man” is likely to attract a lot of attention this upcoming awards season. Hit the jump for my review.

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