Thursday, January 29, 2015

"Body" Slamdance Film Review

This year's Slamdance Film Festival has brought us a handful of thriller films, horror films, and thriller documentaries, but none of them are quite like the film, "Body".


This suspenseful thriller follows three girls as their night turns deadly when they break in to what appears to be an empty mansion. Starring Helen Rogers, Alexandra Turshen, and Lauren Molina, "Body" is a film that will leave you on the edge of your seat and wanting more. 

Alexandra Turshen in "Body"

Lauren Molina and Helen Rogers in "Body"

The film gets off to a rather slow start with the girls trying to figure out what to do with their night as the Christmas Holiday sets in. These opening scenes spend too much time with unneeded fluff until the girls finally decide to go out and find something to do and see where the night takes them.

Once we get past the first act struggles, the film becomes an intense thriller as an unexpected guest finds the girls in the mansion and leaves them searching for a way out of there terrible situation. With each twist of the story, "Body"  leaves you waiting for more and anticipating what the girls will do next, and just how far they will go to get out of the nightmare they created.  


The performances by Helen Rogers, Alexandra Turshen, and Lauren Molina are excellent and their friendship and on screen chemistry was great. I really am looking forward to seeing what is next for these talented and beautiful actresses. 

Myself and Austin with the cast and Directors/Writers of "Body" at Sundance

Overall I really enjoyed "Body", and the Slamdance fans agree. In recent Slamdance news it was announced that Archstone Distribution has acquired the international rights to body and will be helping to distribute this thrilling film. I am also looking forward to what is next from Writers and Directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen. The entire cast and crew has a lot of promise for a bright future. 

If you are looking for a fun thriller to see, make sure to check out "Body" as it continues through the festival circuit. Don't be surprised to see this film in your local theaters in near future. 


Check out the official trailer for "Body"




Sunday, January 25, 2015

Tim's 21st SAG Awards Picks

Awards season continues to roll forward with the 21st SAG Awards tonights from The Shrine Expo Hall. It has been our tradition for the last few years to make our SAG Award picks.


We are currently having an amazing time at the Sundance Film Festival, but I made sure to take time to make these picks. Enjoy the awards tonight! Here are my picks for the 21st SAG Awards. 

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES


Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

EDDIE REDMAYNE – "THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING"

This is the only category that I really couldn't decide. I have been discussing this for a few months with several filmmakers about who will win between Keaton and Redmayne and none of us can confidently say who we think will win. They both had amazing performances and I really can't pick between the two. So to solve this dilemma, I turned to my trusty friend "The Quarter" to help make my pick.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

JULIANNE MOORE  – "STILL ALICE"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

J.K. SIMMONS  – "WHIPLASH"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

PATRICIA ARQUETTE – "BOYHOOD"

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

BOYHOOD (IFC Films)

PATRICIA ARQUETTE / Olivia
ELLAR COLTRANE / Mason
ETHAN HAWKE / Mason, Sr.
LORELEI LINKLATER / Samantha

Don't count out Birman in this category. I hate having to pick between these two films that are both more than deserving of the awards. However, I think this will go to Boyhood. 


TELEVISION PROGRAMS

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

BILLY BOB THORNTON  – "FARGO"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL – "THE HONORABLE WOMAN"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

KEVIN SPACEY  – “HOUSE OF CARDS”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series (6 nominees) 

ROBIN WRIGHT  – "HOUSE OF CARDS"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

WILLIAM H. MACEY - "SHAMELESS "

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS  – “VEEP”

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

HOUSE OF CARDS (Netflix)
MAHERSHALA ALI / Remy Danton
JAYNE ATKINSON / Catherine Durant
RACHEL BROSNAHAN / Rachel Posner
DEREK CECIL / Seth Grayson
NATHAN DARROW / Edward Meechum
MICHEL GILL / President Walker
JOANNA GOING / Tricia Walker
SAKINA JAFFREY / Linda Vasquez
MICHAEL KELLY / Doug Stamper
MOZHAN MARNÃ’ / Ayla Sayyad
GERALD McRANEY / Raymond Tusk
MOLLY PARKER / Jackie Sharp
JIMMI SIMPSON / Gavin Orsay
KEVIN SPACEY / Francis Underwood
ROBIN WRIGHT / Claire Underwood

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
AUBREY ANDERSON EMMONS / Lily Tucker-Pritchett
JULIE BOWEN / Claire Dunphy
TY BURRELL / Phil Dunphy
JESSE TYLER FERGUSON / Mitchell Pritchett
NOLAN GOULD / Luke Dunphy
SARAH HYLAND / Haley Dunphy
ED O’NEILL / Jay Pritchett
RICO RODRIGUEZ / Manny Delgado
ERIC STONESTREET / Cameron Tucker
SOFIA VERGARA / Gloria Delgado-Pritchett
ARIEL WINTER / Alex Dunphy

Another win for Modern Family? I love every show in this category, but I think Modern Family will run away with this award once again. 


SAG AWARDS® HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

“FURY” (Columbia Pictures)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series (6 nominees)

“GAME OF THRONES” (HBO)
Screen Actors Guild 51st Annual Life Achievement Award
DEBBIE REYNOLDS

The SAG Awards will be broadcast LIVE TONIGHT on TNT and TBS. 

Thursday, January 15, 2015

87th Oscar Nominees Announced! Official list of nominees

Chris Pine, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuarón took the stage at The Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theatre this morning to announce your nominees for the 87th Academy Awards.


Here is your official list of the 87th Academy Award Nominees:

Best motion picture of the year

“American Sniper” 
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” 
“Boyhood” 
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” 
“The Imitation Game” 
“Selma” 
“The Theory of Everything” 
“Whiplash” 

Performance by an actor in a leading role
  • Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher”
  • Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper”
  • Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game”
  • Michael Keaton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
  • Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
  • Robert Duvall in “The Judge”
  • Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood”
  • Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
  • Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher”
  • J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash”

Performance by an actress in a leading role
  • Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night”
  • Felicity Jones in “The Theory of Everything”
  • Julianne Moore in “Still Alice”
  • Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl”
  • Reese Witherspoon in “Wild”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
  • Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood”
  • Laura Dern in “Wild”
  • Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”
  • Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
  • Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”

Best animated feature film of the year
  • “Big Hero 6” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
  • “The Boxtrolls” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
  • “How to Train Your Dragon 2” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
  • “Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young
  • “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Achievement in cinematography
  • “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Emmanuel Lubezki
  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Robert Yeoman
  • “Ida” Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
  • “Mr. Turner” Dick Pope
  • “Unbroken” Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design
  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Milena Canonero
  • “Inherent Vice” Mark Bridges
  • “Into the Woods” Colleen Atwood
  • “Maleficent” Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
  • “Mr. Turner” Jacqueline Durran

Achievement in directing
  • “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu
  • “Boyhood” Richard Linklater
  • “Foxcatcher” Bennett Miller
  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson
  • “The Imitation Game” Morten Tyldum

Best documentary feature
  • “CitizenFour” Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
  • “Finding Vivian Maier” John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
  • “Last Days in Vietnam” Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
  • “The Salt of the Earth” Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
  • “Virunga” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best documentary short subject
  • “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
  • “Joanna” Aneta Kopacz
  • “Our Curse” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
  • “The Reaper (La Parka)” Gabriel Serra Arguello
  • “White Earth” J. Christian Jensen

Achievement in film editing
  • “American Sniper” Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
  • “Boyhood” Sandra Adair
  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Barney Pilling
  • “The Imitation Game” William Goldenberg
  • “Whiplash” Tom Cross

Best foreign language film of the year
  • “Ida” Poland
  • “Leviathan” Russia
  • “Tangerines” Estonia
  • “Timbuktu” Mauritania
  • “Wild Tales” Argentina

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
  • “Foxcatcher” Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
  • “Guardians of the Galaxy” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
  • “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Alexandre Desplat
  • “The Imitation Game” Alexandre Desplat
  • “Interstellar” Hans Zimmer
  • “Mr. Turner” Gary Yershon
  • “The Theory of Everything” Jóhann Jóhannsson

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
  • “Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”
    Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
  • “Glory” from “Selma”
    Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
  • “Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”
    Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
    “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”
    Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
    “Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”
  • Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

    Achievement in production design

    • “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
    • “The Imitation Game” Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
    • “Interstellar” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
    • “Into the Woods” Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
    • “Mr. Turner” Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

    Best animated short film

    • “The Bigger Picture” Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
    • “The Dam Keeper” Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
    • “Feast” Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
    • “Me and My Moulton” Torill Kove
    • “A Single Life” Joris Oprins

    Best live action short film

    • “Aya” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
    • “Boogaloo and Graham” Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
    • “Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)” Hu Wei and Julien Féret
    • “Parvaneh” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
    • “The Phone Call” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

    Achievement in sound editing

    • “American Sniper” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
    • “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
    • “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
    • “Interstellar” Richard King
    • “Unbroken” Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

    Achievement in sound mixing

    • “American Sniper” John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
    • “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
    • “Interstellar” Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
    • “Unbroken” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
    • “Whiplash” Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

    Achievement in visual effects

    • “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
    • “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
    • “Guardians of the Galaxy” Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
    • “Interstellar” Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
    • “X-Men: Days of Future Past” Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

    Adapted screenplay

    • “American Sniper” Written by Jason Hall
    • “The Imitation Game” Written by Graham Moore
    • “Inherent Vice” Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
    • “The Theory of Everything” Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
    • “Whiplash” Written by Damien Chazelle

    Original screenplay

    • “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
    • “Boyhood” Written by Richard Linklater
    • “Foxcatcher” Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
    • “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
    • “Nightcrawler” Written by Dan Gilroy

Watch the Oscar Nominations LIVE!

Join Chris Pine, Alfonso Cuarón, J.J. Abrams and Cheryl Boone Isaacs as they announce the nominations for the 87th Oscar Nominations LIVE from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills.


The complete list of nominees with also be available on our site following the announcement!



The 87th Academy Awards will be held LIVE Sunday February 22nd at The Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.


Monday, January 12, 2015

Episode 33 - Edward James Olmos

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE ON ITUNES HERE

The first episode of 2015 is here! On today's episode I talk with one of my personal filmmaking idols, Edward James Olmos!


Many of you know Edward James Olmos from his Oscar nominated role as Jamie Escalante in 'Stand and Deliver', as well as his Golden Globe and Emmy winning role in Miami Vice, as well as roles Battlestar Galactica, Dexter and so many more. 

Edward James Olmos in 'Stand and Deliver'

I talked with Edward about the new film 'Water &Power' that he Produced that is being released VOD on January 20th. Edward talked about the importance of the story behind 'Water & Power', and why they chose to make this movie available VOD. 

Water & Power available January 20th

Edward and I also talked about his role in 'Stand and Deliver', the power of cinema, producing films, 'Dexter' and so much more. It was an honor to have Edward on the show and learn more about his career and the behind the scenes of 'Water & Power'

A huge Thank You to Edward James Olmos for taking the time to talk with me on this episode. Make sure to check out 'Water and Power' as it is released VOD on January 20th. You can pre-order through iTunes on the link below as well as watch the trailer. 

Thanks, Edward James Olmos!

Enjoy the episode!



'WATER & POWER' OFFICIAL TEASER TRAILER