WILMINGTON ON MOVIES: On the Bowery

“It is no exaggeration to say that Ray and Gorman, two amateurs with no film experience at all, give two of the most extraordinary and moving performances in the history of the American cinema.”

The Oscar Show: What Happened Was…

Mr. Blase’ and Miss Enthusiasm hosted the show… and how did that go?

Oscar Night

It’s Oscar Night .. have you filled out your ballot yet?

Get a little help from the Gurus and the results of the Guild Awards and the Critics Scoreboard.

Gurus o Gold… The FINAL Last Minute Changes (Round 3)

If you are interested in some last minute changes of heart in Doc, Short Doc, and Live Action Short, you’ve found the right link.

The Weekend Report — February 27

It’s Gnomeo & Juliet taking on Dumb & Dumber: The Married Edition, with special guest appearances from Nic Cage in 33333DDDDD and The Grace Card.

Friday Estimates – February 25, 2011

The Farrelly Bros are back with Hall Pass… did America want to see two middle aged married guys try to get laid or is it 2D (too dumb)? And will NIc Cage and a long drink of blond sex appeal draw a crowd in Summit 3D?

Gurus o Gold… Last Minute Changes (Round 2)

The Last Full Gurus Chart Last Minute Changes (Round One) Gregory Ellwood Best Documentary Feature * Inside Job – 1 Best documentary short subject * The Warriors of Qiugang – 1 Best live action short film * Na Wewe – 1 Original screenplay * The King’s Speech – 1 Pete Hammond BEST DIRECTOR: David Fincher…

WILMINGTON ON MOVIES: Hall Pass, I Am Number Four, Certifiably Jonathan, Poetry

“Anyway, when I say forgettable, I mean forgettable. I’ve actually forgotten the whole movie, and I had to struggle to write this synopsis.”

“Aren’t they a little ashamed of filming scripts like this, where the very best line of dialogue — by a crush — is ‘I am Number Six!'”

“Critics have not been too kind to it. Well, that’s their opinion.”

“The sorrows, pains and occasional beauties of old age have rarely been more movingly portrayed than they are here.”

3 Days To Oscar

We’re almost there… just a few more parties… a few more gowns… a few more hours of watching the Sunday sound and fury… and then… we start all over again!

WILMINGTON ON DVD: Fish Tank, Sweet Smell of Success, Megamind, The Steig Larsson Trilogy, Due Date

Mike goes from the UK to New York to Sweden to Jeffrey Katzenberg & Will Ferrell’s brains to give you the 4-1-1 on this week’s DVD releases…

The DVD Geek: America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

The one real reason why anybody would pay attention to this collection at all is that only Easy Rider had previously been released on Blu-ray, through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment so that Criterion’s Blu-ray boxed set of the films is a fully loaded treasure trove of must-have movies delivered in the finest condition home video can supply.

Gurus o’ Last Minute Changes (Round 1)

Here are 10 last minutes changes that Gurus would like to make to their
final ballots.

We’ll be back on Thursday and then again on Saturday if there are any more last second flashes of insight!

The DVD Wrap: Due Date, Birdemic, Memento, Fish Tank, Senso, Still Walking, Kites, Megamind …

Due Date: Blu-ray I wonder if, at some point during the pitch meeting for Due Date, any of the assembled suits uttered the words, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” or if memories of that movie lurked in a corner of the room like the proverbial 800-pound gorilla. It would have been disingenuous not to have mentioned…

The Weekend Report — February 20

The absence of an 11th hour Oscar surge didn’t help the situation, though two contenders — The King’s Speech and Black Swan — managed to pass the $100 million threshold. Still, the failure of most late calendar releases to find Academy favor and the wave of new releases pushing out front-runners trends toward a serious re-thinking in theatrical exploitation for award season movies.

Gurus o’ Gold – What Would The Oscars Look Like As Of Today?

All the Gurus votes are now in for the last round of voting the complete list of categories. Oscar ballots are due in by Tuesday.

The last group of votes put Melissa Leo back at the top of her category. What other surprises will there be… if The Gurus are right, 8 days from the show?

Friday Estimates – February 18, 2011

There are three new films in the market this weekend. Has Liam Neeson fought off the Gleeks? Has Martin Lawrence successfully hand off his fat suit to a new generation? And who was taller on Friday night, Gnomeo or Bieber?

Gurus o’ Gold – The Final Ballot, pt 3 of 3

In the last round of the last vote, the Gurus hand four Oscars to Inception, matching The King’s Speech’s four, The Social Network’s three and True Grit’s two. But are The Gurus the boss of The Academy?

We’ll know in nine days.

Wilmington on Movies: Unknown, Just Go With It, The Woodmans

UNKNOWN (Two and a Half Stars)

“This is all part of a nightmare movie thriller — Hitchcockian, Polanskian — that starts well and later collapses into utter balderdash, a movie vaguely reminiscent of Polanski’s 1988 Harrison Ford-in-Paris suspense picture, Frantic (in which Ford lost his wife), of the classic, fact-based 1950 British period thriller So Long at the Fair (in which Jean Simmons lost her brother), and of the great Alfred Hitchcock suspense comedy The Lady Vanishes (in which Margaret Lockwood lost Dame May Whitty‘s Miss Froy). The movie’s Dr. Harris, or whomever, has stumbled into an alternate movie life, full of skeptical witness, hired assassin thugs, bemused scientists, arrogant putzes like the false Dr. Harris, and people who just don’t know who the hell you are (or say they don’t).”

Documenting Social Justice and the Racial Divide

To further complicate matters, there are attitudes and anger from both sides that make it challenging to engage in meaningful conversation that could affect actual change in any kind of positive, lasting way. Do we want to win a war of words against each other, or find common ground on which to unite and solve problems? Regional film fests have a role to play in engaging audiences in conversations that unite rather than divide.

WILMINGTON ON DVD

This Week: Unstoppable, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Thelma and Louise, TCM Greatest Classic Legends: Errol Flynn