The Impossible is a tricky film to write about because there’s just something inherently tricky about the film itself. Maybe that’s because it’s based on a true story that often feels a little too impossible to believe. Or maybe it’s because that story has been so blatantly Hollywood-ized – with Spanish 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami survivors María Belón Alvárez and Tomás Belón recast as the impossibly blonde-haired and blue-eyed Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. Or maybe it’s because the finished film falls into a Hollywood genre that typically encourages us to revel in the onscreen wreckage, only here it’s impossible to do so without feeling weird – I mean, over 200,000 people died as a result of that really cool-looking wave! Anyway, these were the issues I had when I first saw The Impossible and which resurfaced while watching it on Blu-ray.  Hit the jump for my review.

Continuing on with our “Road to Oscar” feature, today we’re going to take a look at how the race for Best Actress played out over the past 12 months.  With the 85th Academy Awards taking place this coming Sunday, we figured this week would be a nice opportunity to reflect on how a number of Oscar categories got to where they are today.  Join us after the jump as we break down the race for Best Actress.

The Visual Effects Society has announced the nominees for the upcoming 11th Annual VES Awards.  This year’s major players include Life of Pi, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Prometheus, The Avengers, and Battleship, all of which landed nominations for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture.  The VES Awards also recognize visual effects work in more dramatic fare, singling out the impressive effects of films like Flight and The Impossible.  Duking it out for Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature will be the ridiculously impressive Richard Parker in Life of Pi, Hulk in The Avengers, and Gollum and Goblin King in The Hobbit.

Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominees.  The 11th Annual VES Awards will take place on February 5th.

Expanding this weekend in more theaters is director Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible.  Based on a true story, the film stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor as the parents of three boys vacationing in Thailand in 2004 when the tsunami hit.  Having survived, but finding themselves separated, the family members search for each other amidst the chaos, encountering strangers caught up in the same situation along the way.  The film also stars Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, and Oaklee Pendergast.  For more on The Impossible, here are eight clips and the trailer.

At the recent Los Angeles press day I got to speak to Tom Holland.  We talked about how he got involved in the movie, the transition from stage to screen, what surprised him about making a movie, and more.  In addition, Holland talked about Kevin Macdonald’s How I Live Now which also stars Saoirse Ronan.  Hit the jump to watch.

Opening this weekend, in limited release, is director Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible.  Based on a true story, the film stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor as the parents of three boys vacationing in Thailand in 2004 when the tsunami hit.  Having survived, but finding themselves separated, the family members search for each other amidst the chaos, encountering strangers caught up in the same situation along the way.  The film also stars Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, and Oaklee Pendergast.  For more on The Impossible, here are eight clips and the trailer.

At the recent Los Angeles press day I got to speak to Naomi Watts.  We talked about why she wanted to make The Impossible, how she prepared for the role, filming the intense water scenes, and more.  In addition, we also talked about David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and director Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Diana movie (she’s playing Princess Diana).  Hit the jump to watch.

Opening this weekend, in limited release, is director Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible.  Based on a true story, the film stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor as the parents of three boys vacationing in Thailand in 2004 when the tsunami hit.  Having survived, but finding themselves separated, the family members search for each other amidst the chaos, encountering strangers caught up in the same situation along the way.  The film also stars Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, and Oaklee Pendergast.  For more on The Impossible, here are eight clips and the trailer.

At the recent Los Angeles press day I got to speak to Ewan McGregor.  We talked about why he wanted to make The Impossible, how he prepared for the role, why he finally decided to get on Twitter (follow him here), and his thoughts on more Star Wars movies.  Hit the jump to watch.

We have eight clips from director Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible to share with you today.  Starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor as the parents of three boys, The Impossible centers on their family vacation in Thailand which is devastated by a tsunami. Having survived, but finding themselves separated, the family members search for each other amidst the chaos, encountering strangers caught up in the same situation along the way.  Hit the jump to watch the clips.

Here’s where things get interesting.  Over that past few days we’ve been taking an early look at the 2013 Oscar race, running down the contenders in a number of categories including Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Actor and Best Actress, and Best Animated Feature, Screenplay, and technological category quick picks.  We’ve now come to our final installment, Best Picture and Best Director, and these two races are shaping up to be incredibly interesting. Hit the jump for the full rundown.

The 2013 awards race is in full swing, and what better way to spend the Thanksgiving holiday then to take a closer look at how the categories are shaping up thus far?  Over the next few days we’re providing a bit of an overview of what the state of the race looks like at this point in time.  Yesterday we ran down the contenders for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, and today we’ll be taking a look at the fiercely competitive categories for Best Actor and Best Actress.  Hit the jump to read on.

Our latest poster round-up includes some international looks at familiar properties and a first look at a new comedy:

• The Russian poster for writer/director Christopher McQuarrie’s Jack Reacher breaks up an image of title character Tom Cruise with some of his co-stars. Jack Reacher opens December 21st.
• The Impossible, starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, now has a new German poster. Director Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible opens in LA on December 21st.
• The Swedish version of the Silver Linings Playbook shows off a colorized version of the American one-sheet. Directed by David O. Russell and starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook opens November 21st.
• The first poster for A Haunted House has premiered. From star/co-writer Marlon Wayans and directed by Michael Tiddes, this Paranormal Activity spoof opens January 11, 2013.

Hit the jump to check out the posters and synopses. 

We’ve got a few new posters to share this afternoon.  Briefly:

• Hitchcock – A new poster for the drama about the making of Psycho, starring Anthony Hopkins as the legendary filmmaker.  The film opens on November 23rd.
• Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning – Three new character posters for the fourth installment in the Universal Soldier franchise, featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Scott Adkins, and Dolph Lundgren.  The film is currently available VOD and opens in theaters November 30th.
• Safe Haven – The first poster for this Nicholas Sparks adaptation, starring Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel.  The film opens on February 8th.
• The Impossible – A U.K. poster for the tsunami drama starring Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.  The film opens on December 21st.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.

Our latest poster round-up includes:

• Cloud Atlas, from the Wachowski Siblings (or Wachowski Starship?) and Tom Tykwer, starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent and Hugo Weaving.  Cloud Atlas opens October 26th.
• Flight, from director Robert Zemeckis, stars Denzel Washington, John Goodman and Don Cheadle and opens November 2nd.
• Rise of the Guardians, the animated film from director Peter Ramsey, features the voices of Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher, Jude Law and Chris Pine, and opens November 21st.
• Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, from director Michael J. Bassett, stars Sean Bean, Radha Mitchell, Carrie-Anne Moss and Kit Harington, and opens October 26th.
• The Impossible, from Juan Antonio Bayona, stars Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts and opens in New York and Los Angeles on December 21st.

Hit the jump for the new posters and synopses.

A new U.K. trailer for the disaster drama The Impossible has been released.  Based on a true story, the film stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor as parents of a family caught in the tsunami that hit southeast Asia in 2004.  The tsunami scenes here look more terrifying than ever, but this trailer also has a strong focus on the human drama side of the story.  The pic premiered last month at the Toronto Film Festival to mostly positive reviews, with many noting director J.A. Bayona’s impressive work on the tsunami scenes.  The film also drew some criticism for being overly manipulative, but I’m a big fan of McGregor and Watts so I’m eager to see how this one plays out.

Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.  The film also stars Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, and Oaklee Pendergast.  The Impossible opens on December 21st.

We’ve got a lot of images from the upcoming slate of late-2012 films:

• Paranormal Activity 4, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, opens October 19th.
• The Impossible, starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, opens October 11th.
• Flight, starring Denzel Washington and John Goodman, opens November 2nd.
• Not Fade Away, from writer/director David Chase, stars John Magaro, Will Brill and Jack Huston and opens December 21st.
• Les Miserables, starring Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe and Amanda Seyfried, opens December 14th.
• Anna Karenina, starring Keira Knightley, Jude Law and Aaron Johnson, opens September 7th.
• Resident Evil: Retribution, starring Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez and Sienna Guillory, opens September 14th.

Hit the jump to check out the images and synopses, including a full second page featuring featuring Looper, This Must Be the Place, The Man with the Iron Fists,  Wreck-It Ralph, Frankenweenie, Red Dawn, and Chasing Mavericks.

A new trailer and two new images for director J.A. Bayona’s (The Orphanage) drama The Impossible have been released.  The film stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor as parents of a family caught in the tsunami that hit southeast Asia in 2004.  The tsunami scenes look genuinely terrifying, but it appears as if the majority of the film will focus on the aftermath of the disaster, as Watts and McGregor are separated with different members of their family.  It’s refreshing a take that focuses on humanity’s selflessness in a time of need, and hopefully we’ll see Bayona explore this theme further when the full film hits theaters.  This trailer is damn effective (set to the musical stylings of Damien Rice), so hopefully we’ve got something special headed our way.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer and check out the new images.  The film will screen at the Toronto Film Festival next month and opens in theaters on December 21st.