Robert De Niro and Shia LaBeouf are looking to team up for a good old fashioned spy movie.  Heat Vision reports that De Niro and LaBeouf are attached to play a father-son spy team in Spy’s Kid for Paramount, which is described as a Catch Me If You Can-esque story set in the world of espionage.  LaBeouf’s Disturbia director D.J. Caruso is in talks to take the helm, and the project is based on a series of articles published in The Oregonian by Bryan Denson that tell the true story of a CIA veteran convicted of spying who enlisted his son to continue his work from behind bars.

A writer has yet to be attached to the project, and De Niro and LaBeouf’s involvement is contingent upon the final script.  Caruso has yet to get anything off the ground since he helmed the disappointing 2011 sci-fi pic I Am Number Four.  He previously worked with LaBeouf on Disturbia and Eagle Eye, and the two also circled an adaptation of Y: The Last Man.

Director David O. Russell’s follow-up to last year’s crowdpleasing awards contender Silver Linings Playbook now has a title.  Previously referred to as American Bullshit, the pic is now titled American Hustle per Box Office Mojo.  The story is based on a real-life undercover sting operation called “Abscam”, which was set up in the 1980s by a con artist working for the FBI who rooted out corruption in Congress.  The film boasts an incredible ensemble cast that includes a number of Russell regulars like Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro as well as some exciting Russell newcomers like Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K., Michael Pena, and Jack Huston.

Russell is currently in the middle of production on American Hustle in the New York City area, and we’ve already seen a number of wildly entertaining set photos of the cast done up in their 80s garb.  The film opens in limited release on December 13th before going wide on Christmas Day, and it’s safe to assume that American Hustle will be a serious player in this year’s awards race.

When last we reported on writer/director Jonathan Jakubowicz’s boxing biopic Hands of Stone, Gael Garcia Bernal (Letters to Juliet) and Al Pacino (Scarface) were in talks to play the leads.  Now, it looks like Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) and Edgar Ramirez (Zero Dark Thirty) are set as trainer Ray Arcel and the focus of the biopic, Panamanian boxer Roberto Duran.  Winning 103 of 119 contests against such top-tier talent as Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Hector Camacho and Vinny Pazienza, Duran might be most remembered for the infamous fight against Leonard in which Duran called out, “No mas!” in order to quit the fight prematurely.  Hit the jump for more.

Lionsgate has released a new trailer for director Justin Zackham’s ensemble romantic comedy The Big Wedding.  The film centers on a divorced couple (Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton) who are forced to pretend like they’re still married when their adopted son’s (Ben Barnes) deeply religious biological mother comes to town for his wedding.  Though the cast boasts some actual talent, the way the movie is framed in this recent trailer almost plays like a parody, complete with cheesy voiceover, zany physical comedy, and The Romantics’ “What I Like About You.”  The pic was previously scheduled for release last October before Lionsgate decided to push it to this spring.

Hit the jump to take a look at the new trailer.  The film also stars Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Susan Sarandon, Topher Grace, and Robin Williams.  The Big Wedding opens on October 26th.

When we first got word that Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) and Sylvester Stallone (Rocky) would meet in the ring as aging boxers in Grudge Match, we were curious as to what shape they both be in.  Now, thanks to the first image from the set, we have a pretty good idea.  They look a little bloody and beat up, but in more than decent enough shape to knock in the teeth of your average movie blogger.

Also starring Kim Basinger, Peter Segal’s Grudge Match opens this November 15th.  Hit the jump to check out the first look at De Niro and Stallone.

We’re only a short week away from the 85th Academy Awards, and with the close of Oscar season approaching, we’d thought this would be a nice opportunity to take a look back at how some of the races have played out, chronicling the ebbs and flows of the past 12 months or so that got us to where we are today.  We’re kicking things off with one of the more open categories: Best Supporting Actor.

One important thing to keep in mind when looking at the Oscars is that the race is incredibly fluid.  A film could be the clear frontrunner in a category one week, then might stumble to second or even third place in the ensuing weeks.  With this series of articles, we’ll be looking at exactly how much each race has changed, starting with Best Supporting Actor.  Hit the jump to read on.

Director Martin Scorsese has only just begun to dive into post-production on his financial drama The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but he’s already looking ahead to his next project.  The filmmaker has been developing an adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence for 15 years, and is now adamant that the 17th century Jesuit priest drama will be his next film.  Of course Scorsese said the same thing after wrapping Hugo, only to make Wolf of Wall Street his follow-up project instead (much to the chagrin of his investors).

Scorsese is apparently auditioning actors and looking to finally begin production on Silence in mid-2014, after the release (and presumably awards campaign) of Wolf of Wall Street this fall.  Silence isn’t the only project that Scorsese is actively developing to direct, though, and there was recently some forward movement on the mob drama The Irishman.  Hit the jump for more details.

The nominations for the 85th Academy Awards have been announced, and it’s quite a whirlwind of nominees.  As expected, Lincoln landed the most nominations with 12, followed with Ang Lee’s Life of Pi which nabbed 11.  The big story here, though, is the Best Director category.  Shockingly, only two (two!) of the DGA nominees for Best Director made the Oscar cut: Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg.  The rest of the category was filled out by Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild, David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook, and Michael Haneke for Amour.  It was almost guaranteed that Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow would be landing nominations for Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, respectively, but shockingly neither made the cut.  Apparently those films just directed themselves.  Based off today’s nominations, it now looks like it’s (surprisingly) down to Lincoln vs. Silver Linings Playbook for the big win.

Hit the jump to check out the list of nominees, and click here to check them against my predictions (somehow I predicted the Best Picture and Supporting Actor categories perfectly).  The 85th Academy Awards will take place on February 24th.

At last, Oscar is upon us.  Back in November I shared a look at the early awards season race by way of our 2013 Oscar Preview articles, and now nearly two months later there’s still quite a bit up in the air.  This truly is one of the more exciting awards races in recent years, as 2012 is so stacked with quality that there are a surprising number of uncertainties this close to the Academy Awards ceremony.  Nevertheless, I am once again foolishly going to attempt to predict how the Oscar nominations will shake out when they’re announced tomorrow morning, January 10th.  Hit the jump to check out my predictions.

New images have been released for the comedies The Incredible Burt Wonderstone and Last Vegas.  Wonderstone stars Steve Carell as the eponymous magician whose relationship with his partner (Steve Buscemi) becomes strained after the arrival of a hipper illusionist (Jim Carrey).  The script comes from Horrible Bosses screenwriters John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein so I’ve got high hopes.  As for Last Vegas (a.k.a. “The Hangover with old guys”), the movie centers on four old friends (played by Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Kevin Kline, and Morgan Freeman) who decide to throw a Las Vegas bachelor party for the only one of them who has remained single.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The Incredible Burt Wonderstone opens March 15, 2013.  Last Vegas opens December 20, 2013.

Oscar season is in full swing, folks.  2012 has been a fantastic year in film so far, and with merely weeks to go before 2013 begins there are still a couple of highly anticipated films that have yet to be seen.  Just like last year, I’ll be running down a preview of the upcoming Oscar race during this fine Thanksgiving week, giving readers a look at what the state of the race looks like right now.  To be clear, this isn’t a personal list but rather an objective look at how things look to be shaping up.  I’ve divided each category into frontrunners, likely to be nominated, and other contenders in order to parse out where things stand at the moment.  There are multiple strong contenders in nearly every category, so this is looking to be a rather heated run to the finish line.

We’ll be looking at a couple of different major categories each day over the next four days, and we’re kicking things off with the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories.  Hit the jump to read on.

[Note: This is a re-post of my review from the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.  Silver Linings Playbook opens today in limited release.]

We have acceptable levels of “crazy” in our society, and that in itself is kind of crazy. Some psychosis is cute and charming, while other acts of craziness demand hospitalization and medication. This distinction is obviously based on harm, both to others and to oneself. But there’s a “healthy” level of crazy, and the search for that level is what makes David O. Russell‘s Silver Linings Playbook sharply comic and surprisingly sweet. O. Russell has once again returned to study the dysfunctional family, and while Silver Linings Playbook is softer than Flirting with Disaster and even The Fighter, it still has enough of an edge to deliver some great jokes, and strong performances to make the emotions ring true.

The first image from the “The Hangover with old guys” comedy Last Vegas has been released on the heels of the official start of production.  The story centers on four old friends who decide to throw a Las Vegas bachelor party for the only one of them who has remained single.  Jon Turtletaub (National Treasure) directs the rather impressive cast that includes Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Kevin Kline, and Morgan Freeman.  Filming has now begun in Las Vegas (though this first image is horribly photoshopped) and will continue in Atlanta.  The cast will be doing location shooting in Vegas on the strip and at Aria Resort & Casino.

Hit the jump to check out the first image and to read the full press release.  The film also stars Mary Steenburgen, Jerry Ferrara (Entourage), Romany Malco (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), and Roger Bart (Political Animals).  Last Vegas opens on December 20th, 2013.

Some major veteran casting announcements to announce today:

• Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential) will join the Grudge Match between Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro in the Peter Segal-directed picture.
• Thomas Jane (The Punisher), Nick Nolte (Warrior) and Jeremy Irons (Die Hard: With a Vengeance) have joined the indie Western thriller, A Magnificent Death, to be directed by Jane.

Hit the jump for more on both pictures. 

Along with a new batch of release dates comes a title change to a significant picture.  Check out the details below:

• Jack the Giant Killer will be formally retitled to Jack the Giant Slayer (because it’s more family-friendly…) and will now open March 1st, 2013.  Pic stars Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci and Ewan McGregor.
• Malavita, Luc Besson’s comedic actioner, gets a new release date, opening almost a year to the day on October 18th, 2013. Relativity pic stars Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Dianna Agron.
• Also from Relativity, 21 and Over will move up two weeks to open opposite Jack the Giant Killer Slayer on March 1st, 2013. The picture stars Justin Chon, Skyler Astin and Miles Teller.

Hit the jump for much more on each picture.