I like to see the guild awards, because the specificity allows for nominees that you won’t see on more general lists.  The Art Directors Guild is especially interesting because they separate the films into three categories: period, fantasy, and contemporary.  The 15 nominees highlight everything from Oscar favorites Hugo and The Artist, to crowd-pleasers Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Captain America, to poorly received films like Cowboys & Aliens and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  There’s a similar contrast in the TV nominees between the classy HBO programs you’d expect (Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, and Mildred Pierce) and the critical punching bags American Horror Story and The Playboy Club.  The full list of nominees is after the break.

In one of the most exciting collaborations in a great while, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson teamed up on this fall’s The Adventures of Tintin. Spielberg directed the film as his first foray into motion-capture, with Jackson onboard as a very hands-on producer. The plan, if audiences flock to this first Tintin, has always been to make a trilogy of films based on Herge’s beloved characters, with Jackson directing the second installment. Anthony Horowitz was hired to pen the sequel last year, and now Jackson has confirmed that the Tintin follow-up is planned to be his next film after he finishes The Hobbit. Hit the jump for more.

A new featurette for The Adventures of Tintin has gone online along with an interview with director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson.  In the featurette, Spielberg explains how he was introduced to Tintin and he calls his movie “Unapologetic, shameless adventure,” as if there was anything to apologize for or be ashamed about adventure.  But the best moment in the featurette by far is the screen test for Snowy (Tintin’s dog) that also allowed Jackson to come on and fake audition for the role of Captain Haddock even though the whole movie is motion capture (Andy Serkis plays the role in the movie).  I saw the whole screen test at Comic-Con and it was one of the highlights of Hall H.  Hopefully, they’ll include the full screen test on the Blu-ray.

Hit the jump to check out the featurette along with Spielberg and Jackson talking about they met, how they came to work together on Tintin, and how this movie was his first true collaboration.  The Adventures of Tintin opens in 3D on December 21st.

Early reviews for Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin have been generally positive and the film is about to start its tour of Europe (where the source material, Herge’s comics, is well-known).  It’s a smart move since it will allow the film to build up strong buzz before it needs to convince an American audience that remains wary of 100% mo-capped movies and unfamiliar with the title character.  While the teaser posters tried to hide the face of its eponymous star, the new poster features Tintin proudly ignoring the burning ship behind him.

In related Tintin news, Animator James Curran put together an unofficial opening title sequence for the movie.  We saw some great fan-made opening credits earlier this year with X-Men: First Class and Curran’s Tintin work is just as good.  It doesn’t really fit with Spielberg’s big-budget motion-capture style for the movie, but it’s undeniably charming.  Hit the jump to check out the poster and the title sequence.  The Adventures of Tintin opens in 3D on December 21st.

A whole slew of goodies from Steven Spielberg’s upcoming performance-capture film The Adventures of Tintin have been unveiled today. Five new clips from the pic have debuted, as well as a few behind-the-scenes videos documenting the performance-capture filming process. Each new piece of material I see for the film looks better and better, and these videos are no exception. The clips are fantastic. This really feels like a good old-fashioned adventure pic in the vein of Indiana Jones, with incredible visuals to boot. The performance-capture doesn’t look rubbery at all, but it’s as if Herge’s cartoons have literally come to life. The behind-the-scenes videos are pretty great as well, giving us a look inside “The Volume” where the film was created (much the same as James Cameron’s Avatar). We also get a glimpse inside Spielberg’s process with the new format, and his collaboration with Peter Jackson.  [Update: We were asked to take down the behind-the-scenes videos.  Sorry if you missed them.]

Hit the jump to watch the videos. Written by Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, and Steven Moffat, the film stars Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig, Andy Serkis, Nick Frost, and Simon Pegg. The Adventures of Tintin opens in 3D on December 21st.

A new UK trailer for Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin has gone online.  It’s become pretty clear by now that Tintin is his spiritual sequel to the Indiana Jones movies, not Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  The set-pieces on display look tremendous and I’m excited to see how they’ll play on the big screen as opposed to my computer monitor.  I also applaud Tintin (voiced and mo-capped by Jamie Bell) for using every part of the motorcycle.  I’m tired of wasteful bikers.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Daniel Craig.  The Adventures of Tintin opens in 3D in the UK on October 26th and in the US on December 21st.

Three of this holiday season’s highest profile releases got new dates today.  We’ll start with the most unusual.  Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol has the same wide release date: Wednesday, December 21.  According to Deadline, Paramount will preview MI4 in “select theaters” on Friday, December 16.  I am curious how many theaters this will involve.  I don’t recall seeing this type of thing before—a blockbuster preview several days before the initial release.

Paramount also moved The Adventures of Tintin up from December 23 to open wide with the Mission: Impossible sequel on December 21.  Meanwhile, Disney will shift this year’s other Steven Spielberg feature, War Horse, from December 28 to Christmas Day.  More, including official synopses, after the jump.

If you’re a Steven Spielberg fan, December is gonna be a very good month for you. The director is releasing two films merely days away from each other: War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin. Earlier today, we were sent the Spanish trailer for the latter. While this trailer is unintelligible for those who are lacking in the bilingual department, we do get a look at a number of new scenes. I’ll admit the first trailer for the motion-capture film had me a bit skeptical, but I was more than won over by the 3D footage we saw at Comic-Con. The visuals are truly stunning on the big screen, and the best way I can describe it is as an extremely life-like cartoon (if that’s even possible). Spielberg and Co. have captured Herge’s comic beautifully.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film stars Daniel Craig, Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost.  The Adventures of Tintin opens in 3D on December 23rd.

New footage from Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin has popped up online courtesy of a German TV spot for the movie.  If you’re wondering why there’s a TV spot when the movie doesn’t open for three more months in the U.S., keep in mind that Tintin will probably go over huge in Europe where the Hergé comics that inspired the film are well-known and well-liked.  Keeping that in mind, the movie opens in Europe throughout October and November with almost every major country getting the film before we do.

While you may not understand what the characters are saying in the TV spot, visually the movie looks terrific when it comes to wide-shots, set pieces, and setting.  The challenge all comes down to buying the performance-capture because we all know Spielberg is capable of pulling off a rip-roaring adventure movie when he cares about the material (when he doesn’t care: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull).  I’m still not at the point where I’m out-of-my-mind-excited for Tintin but I can see that it has the potential to be a fun, exciting flick.  Hit the jump to check out the TV spot.  The film features the voices of Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Daniel Craig.  The Adventures of Tintin opens in 3D in the U.S. on December 23rd.

What I saw of The Adventures of Tintin at Comic-Con got me interested in the flick, but between this flick and War Horse, Spielberg is really banking on his name carrying these movies at the box office (at least in their opening weekend).  They’re both set in the middle of a competitive December and neither one has big-name stars (Daniel Craig plays the villain in Tintin, but he’s motion-captured and his character looks nothing like him).  I don’t know how Tintin will do at the box office (my prediction is that it will flop domestically but kill internationally where people have actually read Serge’s Tintin comics [Correction: it’s Hergé, further proving that I am a person who has never read the comics), but I’m just hoping it’s a good, old-fashioned adventure flick.

17 new images from the film have landed online and while they give a sense of the tone, it’s crucial to see what motion-capture movies look like in, well, motion.  Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film also stars Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost.  The Adventures of Tintin opens in 3D on December 23rd.

Immediately following the Hall H panel for Adventures of Tintin, director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson headed across the street to the Hilton Bayfront to talk about the film with members of the press. In the nearly twenty-minute conversation, the pair discussed using motion-capture technology in the film, the pressure of bringing a beloved international character to the big screen, what it was like collaborating with one another, the possibility of Jackson directing a sequel that would include Professor Calculus, using 3D and its place in the film industry, and more.

Check out a transcription of the conference after the jump.  Also, in case you missed it earlier, make sure to check out Adam’s recap of Tintin’s fantastic Hall H panel.

Immediately following the Hall H panel for The Adventures of Tintin, director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson held a press conference for the film at the Hilton Bayfront. I’ll be posting a full transcription of the conference a little later. In the meantime, I wanted to post an excerpt of what Spielberg had to say about 3D technology. The footage screened during Tintin’s panel looked really fantastic in the format and, given that he’s a highly influential voice in the industry, I thought some of what he had to say was pretty interesting. Hit the jump for the excerpt.

It’s a little hard to believe but Steven Spielberg has never made the trek to San Diego for geek weekend at Comic-Con…until now. The director appeared today for his first ever appearance during the panel for his upcoming performance capture animated film The Adventures of Tintin. If that wasn’t enough, we were treated to a surprise appearance by Peter Jackson, who joined Spielberg for what will most likely be the panel everyone is talking about once this Comic-Con is over. Hit the jump for my full recap.

Steven Spielberg has never appeared at Comic-Con… until this year. The famed director will be making a splash, stopping by San Diego to show off footage of his latest directorial feature, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. This is Spielberg’s first feature film since 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the first time Spielberg will direct a motion-capture animated film. Prepare to crowd into Hall H on Friday if you want to get a look at the footage he will be bringing. The release of Tintin this December will actually kick off an exciting flourish of activity for the director, who has taken it easy the last five years as far as sitting in the director’s chair.  Hit the jump to find out when Spielberg will appear at the Con, what his upcoming slate looks like, and the award he will receive. 

A new trailer for The Adventures of Tintin has gone online and unlike the uninspiring teaser trailer, this one actually delivers on the “adventures” part of the title.  While I’m still wary of the motion capture, this trailer does a terrific job of showing off the action, humor, and cast of characters.  I do have a question for those who grew up reading the Tintin comics: are you excited for this movie?  Does it look like Spielberg has captured what you loved (or didn’t love) about the series?  Sound off in the comments section.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film stars Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Daniel Craig.  The Adventures of Tintin opens in 3D in the UK on October 26th and in the US on December 23rd.