News

• only 22% of 2015’s movies had female protagonists

• best and worst representations of women on film in 2015 (and the average Watw score for the year)

• critics are slightly more likely to rate a film highly if it represents women well

• mainstream moviegoers are not turned off by films with female protagonists

• movies that represent women well are just as likely to be profitable as movies that don’t, and are less risky as business propositions

The Where Are the Women? project was designed to drill deep down into the films of 2015 in order to determine how well — or how poorly — they represented women. The project has now come to its end, and you can examine the final ranking here. The ranking includes 270 films released in the Us, Canada, and the UK, in both limited and wide release (including every wide-release North American film and most of the UK wide-release films). The...

Mad Max: Fury Road has landed the most 2016 Empire Award nominations — ten (the same it got from the Oscars!) — of 2016 with Star Wars: The Force Awakens nipping at its heels with nine. The British magazine Empire presents the awards, which are voted on by readers and cinema fans around the world — both the nominations and the awards themselves. (And, technically speaking, they’re the Jameson Empire Awards, since Jameson Irish whiskey began sponsoring them in their 14th year. Cheers to that!)

With The Force Awakens being part of the beloved Star Wars mythology and breaking box-office records left and right at record speed, it’s a bit surprising Mad Max outpaced it. It goes to show that both fans adore this instant classic as much as the critics do, getting nods for:

• Best Film

• Best Director (George Miller)

• Best Actor (Tom Hardy)

• Best Actress (Charlize Theron, who should teach a...

2015 European Film Awards winners and nominations Best European Film A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence. En Duva Satt På En Gren Och Funderade På Tillvaron. Sweden, France, Germany, Norway, 96 min. Written and directed by: Roy Andersson. Produced by: Pernilla Sandström. Mustang. France, Germany, Turkey, 100 min. Directed by: Deniz Gamze Ergüven. Written by: Deniz Gamze Ergüven and Alice Winocour. Produced by: Charles Gillibert. Rams. Hrútar. Iceland, Denmark, 93 min. Written and directed by: Grímur Hákonarson. Produced by: Grímar Jónsson. The Lobster. U.K., Ireland, Greece, France, Netherlands, 118 min. Directed by: Yorgos Lanthimos. Written by: Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou. Produced by: Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Ceci Dempsey and Yorgos Lanthimos. Victoria. Germany, 138 min. Written and directed by: Sebastian Schipper. Produced by: Jan Dressler. * Youth. Youth – La Giovinezza. Italy, France, U.K., Switzerland, 118 min. Written and directed by: Paolo Sorrentino. Produced by: Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima and Carlotta Calori. Best...

Michael Giacchino took Film Composer of the Year, while Antonio Sanchez took Film Score of the Year for Birdman.

Sitting alongside the 42nd annual Gent Film Festival in Belgium (October 13-24), the 15th edition of the World Soundtrack Awards doled out its musical honours with a coinciding orchestral concert featuring the works of leading composers Alan Silvestri, Patrick Doyle and Daniel Pemberton.

Michael Giacchino was awarded with top honours as Film Composer of the Year for Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Inside Out and Jurassic World. He was previously the World Soundtrack Award’s Discovery of the Year in 2005 for his work on The Incredibles.

Antonio Sanchez was also a big winner, beating out Bruno Calais (Song Of The Sea), Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation Game), Hans Zimmer (Interstellar) and Johann Johansson (The Theory Of Everything) for Best Original Film Score of the Year (Birdman).

Sanchez also nabbed the Discovery of the Year Award.

“I remember...

Good evening and welcome to the 87th Academy Awards, live from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

The biggest movie event of the year is with us once more, and Digital Spy will be bringing you comprehensive live coverage, from the first Manolos on the red carpet to the last teary speech from the stage.

Refresh your memory with this list of all the nominations and compare your prediction cards with our guesses for who will win all the major gongs.

21:15What were your favourite moments from tonight? And what do you think of all the big winners, especially Birdman's victory over Boyhood? Do let us know in the comments box below, and stick around on DS for our full reaction to the ceremony.

21:14Neil Patrick Harris was undoubtedly a bit hit and miss, lacking confidence in the middle more than anything else, but there were...

Tim here, with the second wave of the day's "the year is ending! give out all awards right away!" news. Asifa-Hollywood announced the nominees for the 42nd Annie Awards, honoring achievments in theatrical, telvision, and now video game animation. With 36 categories, we don't have space to look at nearly all of them, but here are three that matter for future awards prognostication:

Best Animated Feature

Big Hero 6

The Book Of Life

The Boxtrolls

Cheatin'

How To To Train Your Dragon 2

The Lego Movie

Song Of The Sea

The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya

Nomination leader The Boxtrolls

Best Animated Short Subject

Coda (on the Oscar shortlist)

The Dam Keeper (on the Oscar shortlist)

Duet (on the Oscar shortlist)

Feast (on the Oscar shortlist)

Inside Homer - The Simpsons Couch Gag, Episode #549

Me And My Moulton (on the Oscar shortlist)

The Raven

Silent

Animated Effects in a Live-Action Production

The...

Best Animated Feature Big Hero 6 – Walt Disney Animation Studios Cheatin’ – Plymptoons Studio How to Train Your Dragon 2 – DreamWorks Animation Song of the Sea – Gkids/Cartoon Saloon The Book of Life...

Yay! One of my favorite animated films of 2014 topped the recently announced 2014 Annie Awards honoring excellence in the field of animation. Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi's "The Boxtrolls" received 12 nominations including Best Animated Feature. The winners will be announced at a black tie ceremony on Saturday, January 31, 2015 at UCLA.s Royce Hall. For more information on the Annie Awards, click here.

Here's the full list of nominees for the 2015 Annie Awards

Production Categories

Best Animated Feature

Big Hero 6 - Walt Disney Animation Studios

Cheatin' - Plymptoons Studio

How to Train Your Dragon 2 - DreamWorks Animation

Song of the Sea - Gkids/Cartoon Saloon

The Book of Life - Reel FX

The Boxtrolls - Focus Features/Laika

The Lego Movie -Warner Bros. Pictures

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya - Gkids/Studio Ghibli

Best Animated Special Production

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey - Voyager Pictures LLC

Dawn of the...

The International Animated Film Society, Asifa-Hollywood, announced nominations today for its 42nd Annual Annie Award recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation.

Best Animated Features nominations include: Big Hero 6 (Walt Disney Animation Studios), Cheatin’ (Plymptoons Studio), How to Train Your Dragon 2 (DreamWorks Animation Skg), Song of the Sea (Gkids/Cartoon Saloon), The Book of Life (Reel FX), The Boxtrolls (Focus Features/Laika), The Lego Movie (Warner Bros. Pictures), and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (Gkids/Studio Ghibli).

The Annie Awards cover 36 categories and include Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Special Production, Commercials, Short Subjects and Outstanding Individual Achievements. The winners will be announced at a black tie ceremony on Saturday, January 31, 2015 at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

“We had a steady increase in submissions this year and I am excited to say it’s going to be a great awards ceremony,” remarked Asifa-Hollywood Executive Director,...

Today, Asifa-Hollywood unveiled the nominees for the 42nd annual Annie Awards ceremony that will be held next January. Leading the pack is Laika’’s The Boxtrolls with 13 nominations followed by DreamWoks’ How to Train Your Dragon 2 with 10 and Disney’s Big Hero 6 and Cartoon Saloon’s Song of the Sea with seven nominations each. A total of eight animated features are competing in the “best animated feature” category in a very close match that doesn’t include a Pixar film since they moved The Good Dinosaur for 2015.

The Annie Awards are honoring the animation and VFX industry in a total of 36 categories. Check below the complete list of nominees for best animated feature:

Big Hero 6 - Walt Disney Animation Studios

Cheatin’ - Plymptoons Studio

How to Train Your Dragon 2- DreamWorks Animation

Song of the Sea - Gkids/Cartoon Saloon

The Book of Life - Reel...

The world of stop-motion animation might be slowly going away, but don’t tell that to Laika Studios. They received heartening news today as their picture “The Boxtrolls" is the most nominated film at the 42nd Annual Annie Awards. With thirteen nominations including Best Animated feature, Laika's signature film leads the pack and is followed by DreamWorks Animation’s “How To Train Your Dragon 2” which earned ten nominations. Not far behind is Disney’s “Big Hero 6” with seven nominations, Warner Bros.’ “The Lego Movie” with six, five for 20th Century Fox’s “The Book Of Life” and three for Studio Ghibli’s “The Tale of The Princess Kaguya.” Want to know what films will be the animation frontrunners for the Academy Awards this year? The Annies are always your best bet. Full nominees below. Best Animated Feature "Big Hero 6" "Cheatin’" "How to Train Your Dragon 2" "Song of the Sea...

The Producers Guild Of America (PGA) has unveiled its Documentary Motion Pictures nominees.

The nominees in the 26th Annual Producers Guild Awards are: The Green Prince, Life Itself, Merchants Of Doubt, Particle Fever and Virunga from Netflix (pictured).

All other nominations and the names of the eligible producers for the Award for Outstanding Producer Of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures will be announced on January 5.

The 2015 Producers Guild Awards will take place on January 24 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

The Big Hero 6, Cheatin’, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Song Of The Sea, The Book Of Life, The Boxtrolls, The Lego Movie and The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya are in the running for best animated feature for the 42nd annual Annie Awards on January 31.

Monday morning, the International Animated Film Society, Asifa-Hollywood, announced nominations today for its 42nd Annual Annie Awards, recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation. Leading the pack with 13 nominations, including a nod for Best Animated Feature, is Laika Animation's "The Boxtrolls." Dreamworks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon 2" followed with 10 nominations, joining "Boxtrolls" in the Character Animation, Animation Effects, and Best Feature categories. Rounding out the organization's big prize are "Big Hero 6" (seven nominations), "Cheatin'" (three), "Song of the Sea" (seven), "The Book of Life" (five), "The Lego Movie" (six), and "The Tale of Kaguya" (three). The Annie Awards also announced nominations in TV, video game and short subject categories. “We had a steady increase in submissions this year and I am excited to say it’s going to be a great awards ceremony,” remarked Asifa-Hollywood Executive Director, Frank Gladstone. “We added a new category...

The Annie Awards cover 36 categories including features, commercials and the newest and 36th category, Best Character Animation in a Video Game. The winners will be announced on Saturday, January 31, 2015 at UCLA's Royce Hall. As expected, Best Animated Features nominations include: big leader "The Boxtrolls" (Focus Features/Laika) followed by "How to Train Your Dragon 2" (DreamWorks Animation Skg), "Big Hero 6" (Walt Disney Animation Studios) and "The Lego Movie" (Warner Bros. Pictures), as well as "The Book of Life" (Reel FX), "The Tale of The Princess Kaguya" (Gkids/Studio Ghibli), "Song of the Sea" (Gkids/Cartoon Saloon) and "Cheatin'" (Plymptoons Studio).   The jury awards honoring career achievement and exceptional contributions to animation include three Winsor McCay recipients: animators Didier Brunner, Don Lusk and...

Big Hero 6, Cheatin’, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Song Of The Sea, The Book Of Life, The Boxtrolls, The Lego Movie and The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya have been nominated in the top category for the International Animated Film Society, Asifa-Hollywood’s 42nd annual Annie Awards. The Annies cover 36 categories and include Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Special Production, Commercials, Short Subjects and Outstanding Individual Achievements. The winners will be announced January 31 at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Here’s the full list of noms:

Best Animated Feature

Big Hero 6

Walt Disney Animation Studios

Cheatin’

Plymptoons Studio

How to Train Your Dragon 2

DreamWorks Animation

Song of the Sea

Gkids/Cartoon Saloon

The Book of Life

Reel FX

The Boxtrolls

Focus Features/Laika

The Lego Movie

Warner Bros. Pictures

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

Gkids/Studio Ghibli

Best Animated Special Production

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

Voyager...

The Boxtrolls, from stop motion specialists Laika and Focus Features, and Dreamworks Animation's How To Train Your Dragon 2 are among the films nominated for the Annie (animation) Award for best animated feature. The Boxtrolls received 13 Annie nominations, the most for a feature, and How To Train Your Dragon 2 earned 10 nods. Rounding out the best animated feature category are Disney's Big Hero 6, Warner Bros.' The Lego Movie, The Book of Life from Reel FX, Cheatin' from Plymptoons Studios, Song of the Sea from Cartoon Saloon and Gkids, and The Tale of Princess Kaguya from Japan's

read more...

The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the complete slate for the 2014 edition of its AFI European Union Film Showcase, set to run from December 3-21 in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The 27th edition showcases more than 50 films from 27 of the 28 European Union member states and opens with Jan Komasa’s Polish selection Warsaw Uprising.

Komasa’s City 44, a fictionalised version of the Warsaw Uprising story, will screen on December 5 and 9.

Special presentations includes Mr. Turner, ’71, The Imitation Game, Clouds Of Sils Maria, Two Days, One Night and Song Of The Sea.

The Us premiere of Anne Fontaine’s Gemma Bovery will close the festival.

With Pixar sitting this year out, the animation Oscar race is not only totally wide open but there's still no clear frontrunner among the big studio three (Disney's "Big Hero 6," DreamWorks' "How to Train Your Dragon 2," and Warner Bros.' "The Lego Movie"). That leaves "The Boxtrolls" from stop-motion powerhouse Laika and Focus Features, Fox/Reel FX's "The Book of Life," and two Gkids indies -- "Song of the Sea" from the Irish Cartoon Saloon and "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" from Studio Ghibli -- as the other likely contenders also vying for the five nominations.  Since the Academy's animation committee adores hand-drawn animation, you can bet there'll be a place open for one or both of the Gkids. Then again, the committee also likes stop-motion, and how can you deny Jorge Gutierrez's imaginative and heart-warming "Day of the Dead" tribute (nurtured by producer Guillermo del.

Already a darling of the festival circuit,  Irish based animation studio Cartoon Saloon's follow-up to the visually stunning Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, has debuted a new trailer ahead of its U.S. release on December 19th. Drawing on Irish folklore, everything we see of this movie looks absolutely beautiful, and promises a magical story to go along with the visuals. Song of the Sea hits Irish cinemas in March of 2015.

Recorded live at the British Film Insitute’s headquarters, Dom, Liam, Dr Lindsay Hallam, David James and newcomer Emily Estep pour themselves a hot cup to warm them through an exhaustive discussion of this year’s sprawling and wonderful London Film Festival.

Amid the clattering of tea-trolleys and the background chatter of filmmakers from all walks of life, the assembled gang discuss their highlights, lowlights (and in Dom’s case, vomit inducing horrors) that have punctuated their various festival experiences.

Among many, many others, the team take on The Imitation Game, Wild, Foxcatcher, The Duke of Burgundy, Electricity, Song of the Sea, Goodbye to Language and The Falling.

This super extra bumper episode also features an exclusive interview with Tom Harper (director of War Book, a new podcast favourite).

Check it out below, and enjoy!

Download as MP3 (Right Click-Save As)

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Though the Academy Awards won’t take place until next February, us critics are already all abuzz about which movies from this past year stand a fighting chance of earning Oscar gold. And though the jury is still out on some major categories, especially Best Actress and Best Picture, we now have a pretty solid idea of which films might be contending for a smaller but still extremely competitive category – Best Animated Feature.

2014 has been a great year for animation, from The Lego Movie way back in February right up to Big Hero 6, which opens this Friday, so it should be interesting to watch so many accomplished titles duke it out for that coveted golden statuette. Personally, I’m still rooting for The Lego Movie, which may have faded from voters’ minds considering its early release date but still stands (in my opinion) as one of the most visually engaging,...

Ruben Ostlund’s Force Majeure to screen atop 3,200m high Aiguille Rouge Mountain at Alpine festival.

Susanne Bier’s A Second Chance, Lenny Abrahamson’s Frank and Gerard Johnson’s Hyena are among the titles set to compete at the sixth edition of Les Arcs European Film Festival (Dec 13-20) in the heart of the French Alps.

Festival co-founders Pierre Emmanuel Fleurantin and Guillaume Calop said the event’s focus on Europe was more relevant than ever as its citizens posed questions about the future of the region amid the ongoing economic crisis.

“We continue to believe in a united Europe where together we can safeguard our cultures and ways of life without renouncing progress,” they said in a joint statement. “Across the new line-up, each country shows off the best of its cinema.”

The titles in the competition, selected by artistic director Frédéric Boyer, will compete for the festival’s top prize, the Crystal...

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has revealed that twenty films are set to compete for the Oscars this year in the animated feature film category. The list, in alphabetical order, is:

"Big Hero 6," "The Book Of Life," "The Boxtrolls," "Cheatin’," "Giovanni’s Island," "Henry & Me," "The Hero Of Color City," "How To Train Your Dragon 2," "Jack And The Cuckoo-Clock Heart," "Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return," "The Lego Movie," "Minuscule - Valley Of The Lost Ants," "Mr. Peabody & Sherman," "Penguins Of Madagascar," "The Pirate Fairy," "Planes: Fire & Rescue," "Rio 2," "Rocks In My Pockets," "Song Of The Sea," and "The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya".

Several of the films mentioned have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run. Submitted features must fulfil the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process.

There are still six movies I need to add to the database, but today the Academy announced 20 movies that will compete for up to at least five nominations for Best Animated Feature at the 2015 Oscars. I've been tracking these for some time now and currently have Big Hero 6 at the top of the charts, but I'm beginning to think this may be The Lego Movie's award to lose. It's a difficult category to predict right now considering my personal opinion of those two top contenders and having not yet seen the likes of Studio Ghibli's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya or Song of the Sea, both of which could be top contenders, or Laika's The Boxtrolls, which has done modest business at the box office, hoping to crack $100 million worldwide by next weekend. Anyway, here's the complete list and I'll get the six I don't have in...

The Academy has received 20 submissions for the 87th Academy Awards’ animated feature film category.

The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:

Big Hero 6

The Book Of Life

The Boxtrolls

Cheatin’

Giovanni’s Island

Henry & Me

The Hero Of Color City

How To Train Your Dragon 2

Jack And The Cuckoo-Clock Heart

Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return

The Lego Movie

Minuscule - Valley Of The Lost Ants

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Penguins Of Madagascar

The Pirate Fairy

Planes: Fire & Rescue

Rio 2

Rocks In My Pockets

Song Of The Sea

The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya.

Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run.

Submitted features must fulfil the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process.

At least eight eligible animated features must be theatrically released in Los Angeles County within the calendar year for...

The Academy has received 20 submissions for the 87th Academy Awards’ animated feature film category.

The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:

Big Hero 6

The Book Of Life

The Boxtrolls

Cheatin’

Giovanni’s Island

Henry & Me

The Hero Of Color City

How To Train Your Dragon 2

Jack And The Cuckoo-Clock Heart

Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return

The Lego Movie

Minuscule - Valley Of The Lost Ants

Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Penguins Of Madagascar

The Pirate Fairy

Planes: Fire & Rescue

Rio 2

Rocks In My Pockets

Song Of The Sea

The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya.

Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run.

Submitted features must fulfil the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process.

At least eight eligible animated features must be theatrically released in Los Angeles County within the calendar year for...

Twenty features have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 87th Academy Awards.

The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:

“Big Hero 6”

“The Book of Life”

“The Boxtrolls”

“Cheatin’”

“Giovanni’s Island”

“Henry & Me”

“The Hero of Color City”

“How to Train Your Dragon 2”

“Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart”

“Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return”

“The Lego Movie”

“Minuscule – Valley of the Lost Ants”

“Mr. Peabody & Sherman”

“Penguins of Madagascar”

“The Pirate Fairy”

“Planes: Fire & Rescue”

“Rio 2”

“Rocks in My Pockets”

“Song of the Sea”

“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”

Several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run. Submitted features must fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process. At least eight eligible animated features must be theatrically...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the 20 films that have submitted for this season's best animated picture Oscar. The films in contention, if they qualify, include: “Big Hero 6” “The Book of Life” “The Boxtrolls” “Cheatin’” “Giovanni’s Island” “Henry & Me” “The Hero of Color City” “How to Train Your Dragon 2” “Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart” “Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return” “The Lego Movie” “Minuscule – Valley of the Lost Ants” “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” “Penguins of Madagascar” “The Pirate Fairy” “Planes: Fire & Rescue” “Rio 2” “Rocks in My Pockets” “Song of the Sea” “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” As noted by the Academy in an official press release, several of the films have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying run. Unless those films fulfill the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category’s other qualifying rules they cannot be part of the voting process.

Several of the films still need a qualifying one-week run in Los Angeles. Which are our picks for the frontrunners? Not having seen all the films, they are Disney's "Big Hero 6," DreamWorks/Fox's "How to Train Your Dragon 2," Warner Bros.' "The Lego Movie," and Fox's "The Book of Life." The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are:“Big Hero 6”“The Book of Life”“The Boxtrolls”“Cheatin’”“Giovanni’s Island”“Henry & Me”“The Hero of Color City”“How to Train Your Dragon 2”“Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart”“Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return”“The Lego Movie”“Minuscule – Valley of the Lost Ants”“Mr. Peabody & Sherman”“Penguins of Madagascar”“The Pirate Fairy”“Planes: Fire & Rescue”“Rio 2”“Rocks in My Pockets”“Song of the Sea”“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”...

The titles of the movies in this week's bulletin may not be instantly recognizable, but some of the names behind them are. Take for instance Get Hard, the feature directorial debut for Etan Cohen starring Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Craig T. Nelson, Alison Brie and Tip Harris and then you have the new Blumhouse thriller Curve starring Julianne Hough from director Iain Softley (The Skeleton Key). Black Sea is the Kevin Macdonald-directed submarine thriller starring Jude Law and Song of the Sea is the animated feature from GKIDs that will be bidding for one of five Best Animated Feature slots at this year's Oscars. Finally, there are a couple of documentary's including the Deepwater Horizon doc THe Great Invisible and the Robert Kenner's Merchants of Doubt. The complete bulletin is directly below. Air Rated PG-13 For some violence, language and sexual references. The Best of Me: Special Edition Rated PG-13 For sexuality,...

Excuse the absence in this column for the last few weeks. I’ve been covering the Chicago International Film Festival, catching up with a few of the Foreign Language Oscar contenders while there. Now however, many of these movies are finally making their ways into theaters, providing an extra wrinkle into the race as both critics and fans weigh in on their quality.

1. Birdman

Birdman has finally arrived, and it’s everything the critics and the public have imagined. The film had a solid opening on just four theaters in its opening weekend, earning half a million dollars, and Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis and more have all been making the talk show rounds to promote this weird, goofy film everyone loves.

Kris Tapley went right out and handed Keaton the Oscar for Best Actor, writing “The emotional spectrum of this character, Riggan Thompson — who all actors will identify with at the end of the day,...

Hayao Miyazaki's 2002 fantasy film "Spirited Away" is the only Best Animated Feature winner to be produced outside the English-speaking world. In fairness to the voters who still haven't bestowed Sylvain Chomet with an Oscar, there haven't been that many opportunities for outsiders to power through — the Academy only cemented the category for its 2002 ceremony (making Miyazaki's the only traditionally animated film to ever win the award too). So while the Oscars may not reflect the artistic legacy of Studio Ghibli — currently on a "brief pause" as it figures out how to be a money-making operation without recently retired, Walt Disney-like leader — the company arrives to the 2015 race with a major contender: "Tale of Princess Kaguya." Adapted from a 10th-century Japanese folktale by director and Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata ("Grave of the Fireflies," "My Neighbors the Yamadas"), "Princess Kaguya" is the story of girl discovered in a stalk of bamboo,...

Tiff 14 doesn't actually wrap until tomorrow night but my adventure in Toronto has come to an end. There are still a few writeups to come but here, for you, is my take on the Closing Night Film as I zip up the suitcase and head to the airport.

How to describe that thing where you thoroughly enjoy watching something that is neither objectively good, nor enjoyably bad? I imagine anyone who has an inordinate fondness for an entire genre or subgenre, quality be damned, will understand. Sci-fi and horror fans will line up nodding, I'm sure. But for me that genre is the costume dramedy.

Those with allergies to "light" costume period pieces should give this trifle from actor/director Alan Rickman a wide wide berth. For me, prone to enjoy both famous thespians playing dress-up and royalty porn as long as it neither are weighed down by the self-seriousness of Oscar-seeking biopics,...

Nathaniel's adventures in Toronto, the last leg.

I came out of my last screening a few hours ago and a plane awaits me tomorrow which is a good thing since I'm running on fumes. Four more films need writeups and we'll probably do a podcast. But we'll worry about this tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day. My Tiff screenings ended tonight. And get this: Less than 48 hours after my return to NYC, critics screenings for Nyff begin. I'm not even exaggerating. No rest at all for poor Nathaniel.

Met a paramedic and I'm like, Sorry, dude, Oscar bloggers are the real heroes.

— Bill Chambers (@flmfrkcentral) September 12, 2014

Lmao. Tweet of the Year! Okay, on to the movies...

Behavior (Cuba)

A huge hit in Cuba, and their probable Oscar submission if they submit at all (they often skip it), Behavior tackles tough topics like educational buerocracies, dead-end poverty, alcoholism, juvenile delinquency, prejudice against immigrants,...

Nathaniel's adventures in Toronto. Day whichever.

Three more quick takes on Norway's Oscar submission, a Lgbt romance of sorts in the Dominican Republic and a surprisingly intense film from Germany that I hadn't heard of before arriving.

Bent Hamer directs Ane Dahl Trop in the Norwegian Oscar submission "1001 Grams"

1001 Grams

How much does a soul weigh? I don’t mean to bring up painful memories of 21 Grams, but everything in 1001 Grams must be effortfully measured. Lab technician Marie is just such a meticulous woman, in charge of the official Norwegian kilo, which is to be weighed and calibrated in Paris at an annual seminar to ensure that all countries kilos are the same or else: chaos! Though the oddity of this international standards milieu suggests a comedy, what we get is stonefaced drama... or possibly comedy so dry, I needed a humidifier in the room to get it. Bent Hamer,...

Nathaniel's adventures at Tiff. Days Whichever.

Here are a two films that I feel I should see again, primarily because they're ambitious works and I wonder if my response would change if I had more familiarity with their visual language. You know how that goes with more complicated art.

Foxcatcher

Bennett Miller, a remarkably consistent auteurial voice, once again demonstrates great aptitute at exploring masculine intimate true stories and mining them for larger weighty themes, without any of the glazy sentiment that tends to be slathered onto both sports movies and biopics. His best move here is to study the alien body language of wrestlers, like it's a foreign tongue for which close visual track is your only form of subtitles. Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo speak this foreign tongue fluently. They play Mark and Dave Schultz, Olympic Gold Medalists in wrestling, "a low sport" (that's Mother DuPont's words as...

This October the London Film Festival brings a wonderful, eclectic mix of films, shorts and events to the capital once again. Firmly establishing itself as a people’s festival (it being the best of the other festivals, Clare Stewart and her team acknowledging they can’t compete on world premieres), it will look to build on last year’s impressive new direction.

From the opening night fun with The Imitation Game to the final push of Brad Pitt’s Fury there will be a number of essential films to catch. The HeyUGuys team have chosen their favourites from among the hundreds playing.

You can find everything you need to book tickets and find out more information right here.

Here are the films you need to see next month.

The Tribe

There is nothing more exciting than a filmmaker attempting to push the boundaries; to shatter audiences expectations of what is...

For the curious among you this is my very tentative list of films on my very jam-packed schedule at Tiff. This will be the 10th anniversary of my very first trip to Tiff from which my fondest memory was sitting behind Gael García Bernal and Javier Bardem for the premiere of The Sea Inside (the fondness of the memory is due to the view, not the movie). I haven't been attending annually but perhaps last year's short trip was the start of a tradition?

This list is highly subject to change - there are always cancellations, late starts, pop ups which all throw off schedules, you can try to follow the critical buzz which will throw off the schedule, you can meet with friends for food and conversation which will throw off the schedule, and you can sleep which will throw off the morning screening schedule. It's a madcap journey: eye strain,...

Fury (David Ayer)

[via the BFI]

The programme for the 58th BFI London Film Festival launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. The lineup includes highly anticipated fall titles including David Ayer’s Fury, Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher, the Sundance smash Whiplash, Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language 3D, The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, Jason Reitman’s Men, Women and Children and Jean-Marc Vallee’s Wild.

As Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals, it introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience, offering a compelling combination of red carpet glamour, engaged audiences and vibrant exchange. The Festival provides an essential profiling opportunity for films seeking global success at the start of the Awards season, promotes the careers of British and...

The Telluride Film Festival is over and done with and Venice is coming to a close, but we’ve got the Toronto International Film Festival on the way and the New York Film Festival coming up right after. On top of that, the lineup for the 58th BFI London Film Festival was just announced. The list includes a bunch of titles that are already making the festival rounds like the event opener, The Imitation Game, as well as Gala selections Foxcatcher, Whiplash, Wild and Mr. Turner. In addition, we’ve also got Testament of Youth starring Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Hayley Atwell, Emily Watson and Dominic West making its world premiere as well as The Falling with Maisie Williams, Silent Storm with Andrea Riseborough and Damian Lewis, and Serena with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. Hit the jump for more on the 2014 BFI London Film Festival lineup. The event begins...

World premieres include Wwi drama Testament of Youth, Carol Morley’s The Falling and sci-fi sequel Monsters: Dark Continent.

The line-up for the 58th London Film Festival (Oct 8-19) has been revealed this morning and it is packed with awards contenders and the best of this year’s festivals.

Click here for full line-up

Titles already generating awards buzz that will receive gala screenings at Lff include Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher, starring Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo, and Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, which proved the breakout hit at Sundance.

Other galas will give European premieres to Jason Reitman’s Men, Women & Children, starring Adam Sandler and Ansel Elgort with a racy voiceover by Emma Thompson, and biopic Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon and directed by Jean-Marc Vallee.

Mike Leigh’s Mr Turner will also feature among the main gala screenings as will the world premiere of Testament of Youth, a First World...

Chen-Zer Doze Niu’s Paradise In Service and Lee Bo-Cheung’s Gangster Pay Day to bookend 19th edition.

The 19th Busan International Film Festival (Biff) (Oct 2-11) today announced its line-up with the international premiere of Chen-Zer Doze Niu’s Taiwanese film Paradise In Service as the opening film.

Niu and cast members will be on hand at the opening ceremony on Oct 2, to be emceed by Moon So-ri and Ken Watanabe.

Lee Bo-Cheung’s Hong Kong-China film Gangster Pay Day will receive its world premiere as the closing film on Oct 11. The director as well as stars Anthony Wong and Charlene Choi will be on hand to present the film.

Biff will screen 314 films from 79 countries with 98 world premieres and 36 international premieres.

All the 12 New Currents competition films are world or international premieres, including Amin Dora’s Ghadi, the first Lebanese film to screen in this section, and Jalal’s Story, directed by Abu...

Been busy having a baby this week? I was, and more importantly so was my wife as we welcomed baby Mia into the world. Whatever you were doing, you might not have had time to get all the big movie stories, so here’s what went down during the last week! Richard Attenbourough passed away. Jack Reynor joins Andy Serkis’s Jungle Book Origins and will voice Brother Wolf. Sin City 2 flops as it made less than $10 million when it opened. The first teaser for Cartoon Saloon’s Song Of The Sea came to port, and if you like selkies you’ll love this! James Bond 24 is looking to bring back some iconic Bond henchmen. Remember National Lampoons Vacation franchise, well it’s being rebooted and Ed Helms will play Clarke Griswald. Christ Hemsworth and Charlie Day are also onboard in what is poised to be a reboot disaster,...

The distributor has taken Us rights to Participant Media’s supernatural thriller starring Julia Stiles and Scott Speedman and has scheduled an early 2015 theatrical release. Bloom handles international sales.

Out Of The Dark is a ghost story set in South America, where a young family embarking on a new life is forced to confront ancient legends and a family secret. Stephen Rea also stars.

Lluís Quílez shot the Spain-Colombia thriller in Colombia and directed from a screenplay by Alex Pastor, David Pastor and Javier Gullón.

Vertical will present the film in association with Participant Media and Image Nation. Out Of The Dark is produced by Apaches Entertainment, Cactus Flower and Fast Producciones in association with Dynamo and Xyz Films.

Belén Atienza, Cristian Conti, Enrique López Lavigne and Andrés Calderón produced and the executive producers are Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King, Roy Azout and Nick Spicer.

Vertical brokered the deal with Nate Bolotin of Xyz Films and Jeff Ivers for Participant...

The lineups for the Mavericks, Discovery, and Tiff Kids parts of the Toronto Film Festival were announced, wrapping up a series of lineup announcements for the Toronto International Film Festival.

With the added films, the festival’s entire slate is now a whopping 393 movies. Two hundred eighty-five of those movies are feature films, of which 143 are world premieres.

The Mavericks portion of the festival includes onstage discussions following the screening of each film. Do I Sound Gay? will be followed by a talk between director David Thorpe and sex-advice guru Dan Savage. Also premiering in that space is The 50 Year Argument,...

Bill Murray is coming to Toronto folks. Actually, the film he stars in (Theodore Melfi’s St. Vincent) is having its official World Premiere launch at the jaw-dropping 285 feature film 2014 Tiff line-up. In the final batch of items we finally get the confirmation that 2014′s Palme d’Or Winner Winter Sleep (which gets added along with a trio of others to the Masters Programme) will show, and Tomm Moore’s highly anticipated Song of the Sea (among the four item line-up for Tiff Kids) also lands. Worth mentioning are the sprinkling of add-ons to the various other sections (Marjane Satrapi’s Sundance preemed The Voices, Matt Shakman’s Cut Bank and the world preem of Danis Tanovic’s Tigers) with a Studio Ghibli docu item being fitted into the Tiff Docs, but it is the Discovery Programme that finally takes shape.

The “up-and-comers” include Berlin Film Fest (and future Nyff...

San Diego Comic-Con has released the full schedule of events for Friday, July 25, following the Thursday schedule that was released yesterday. You can clickHere to view the lineup in its entirety, which includes numerous comic book panels and events, but we have pulled out all of the movie, DVD and TV-related panels for your convenience.

Friday, July 25

10:00am - 11:00am - Cartoon Network: Uncle Grandpa & Clarence

Good mornin'! What's better than a panel of one Cartoon Network Comedy? Two cartoon network comedies! That's right fans, prepare yourself for double the comedy, double the fun and double the friends with Uncle Grandpa and Clarence! Join the always-entertaining cast and crew for a behind-the-scenes look at two of the newest hit shows on Cartoon Network. It's woooooorth it. Appearing from Uncle Grandpa are creator Peter Browngardt (Uncle Grandpa), Kevin Michael Richardson (Mr. Gus), and Eric Bauza (Belly Bag). Appearing from...

Fledgling animation company receives Copenhagen Film Fund investment for Longway North.

With the aid of Copenhagen Film Fund’s investment in major French feature animation Longway North, Nørlum ApS is setting up a base in Copenhagen.

The fledgling animation company from Viborg came to prominence in 2012 as a co-producer on Oscar-nominated Cartoon Saloon’s Song of the Sea.

Longway North will be directed by Remi Chayé and will be produced by Sacrebleu Productions in co-production with Nørlum.

Supported by the Danish Film Institute with investment from the West Danish Film Fund, the film centres on a young girl from 19th Century Russian aristocracy who dreams of the great expanses of the North and run aways from home to go there.

Copenhagen Film Fund’s CEO Thomas Gammeltoft commented: “We are incredibly proud that we can be a part of financing a top class international animation feature, and that this investment is directly responsible for creating jobs in...

Exclusive: The Secret of Kells director’s sophomore animation gets sales company.

WestEnd Films has signed on to sell Tom Moore’s anticipated animation Song of the Sea, the director’s follow up to Oscar-nominated animation The Secret of Kells.

Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, David Rawle, Lisa Hannigan, Pat Shortt and Jon Kenny are among the voice cast in the Cartoon Saloon-produced family-animation, due for release late this year.

Like Moore’s previous film, Song of the Sea takes inspiration from Irish folklore, centring on the legend of the Selkies, mythological creatures that are part seal, part human.

The storyline revolves around brother and sister Ben and Saoirse, who are forced to leave their coastal home to live with their grandmother following their mother’s mysterious disappearance.

Oscar-nominated composer Bruno Coulais again joined forces with Irish Band Kíla to create the score after their collaboration on 2009 feature Kells.

Previous deals done with producers include StudioCanal for the...

Last year's Animated Oscar race is going to be a tough act to follow. In what was arguably the most competitive race of all 12 years of Oscar's newest category, there was precious little agreement about who might win and even less about who deserved to; Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman and Wreck-It Ralph all had their loyal camps (Pirates! A Band of Misfits was the only "just happy to be nominated" contestant.) At the very last minute, buzz-wise, it appeared to boil down to Disney vs. Disney/Pixar. Big-fisted Ralph fought big-haired Merida and the Scottish lass won.

But what does 2013 have in store for us? It's looking like a much leaner year, and a least at first glance, a far less animated (heh) one. Monsters University might just be emblematic of what's going on. The prequel to the inaugural loser of this very category (Monsters Inc) is, like all the rest,...