Pretty in link: Part 2

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The 12 Best Prison Movies

I love my lists, but I've got to be honest and admit I didn't come up with the idea for this one. Instead, full kudos go to the team at Blockbuster video whose Assignment 6 in the Blockbuster Super Blogger competition loosely eluded to this idea. For those of you playing at home, I'm an entrant in the Blockbuster Super Blogger competition where two winners score a trip to the Cannes International Film Festival to report on the event. Awesome, right? To help send me to Cannes, all you have to do is click on my page and give me hits. So click, click, click puh-lease. Moving on, here's my pick of the 12 best communal soap films (aka prison movies).

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)Why not start with arguably the best? Based on Stephen King’s short story, this is cinematic storytelling at its finest. There’s not much I can say about The Shawshank Redemption that hasn’t already been said. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman are unforgettable, almost equally as memorable as one of film’s greatest scenes – Andy standing free and liberated in the pouring rain. Magic.

Chicago (2002)

A sexy prison movie? If you be good to Rob Marshall, Rob Marshall will be good to you by rewarding audiences with an exciting and lush version of one of Broadway’s biggest hits. From the flawless casting and performances, to the on-the-money editing and musical numbers, this goes down as one of Hollywood’s best musicals and, coincidentally, prison movies.

The Great Escape (1963)

Steve McQueen once again proved he’s King in this Oscar-nominated tale of allied Prisoners Of War who plan a mass escape from a German camp during World War II. This real life account never gained the respect it deserved until years after its release, but thankfully, it’s now recognised as the classic it is.

The Green Mile (1999)

Random fact, but did you know Stephen King is the author with the most amount of works adapted for the big screen? Unfortunately, most of them are pretty darn terrible. The Green Mile is definitely not one of those. After the huge success of King’s prison tale in The Shawshank Redemption, director Frank Darabont returned for this spectacular supernatural epic set on death row. Tom Hanks and co-stars give incredible performances as guards affected by the presence of a convicted child murderer (Michael Clarke Duncan in his breakout role). Emotional, magical and moving, this retains much of Shawshank’s grandiosity – spanning years and lives. It’s important to note Movie Mazz favourite Sam Rockwell in scene stealing role as the despicable `Wild Bill’ Wharton.

Dead Man Walking (1995)This was the second of two stellar prison movies involving Tim Robbins released over a two year period, with everyone’s favourite strawberry blonde behind the camera as director, producer and writer his time. Based on Sister Helen Prejean’s book of the same name, Susan Sarandon plays the nun who becomes the unlikely friend to a convicted killer on death row (Sean Penn) and the victims’ families. An intelligent, eye-opening look at the death penalty, Sarandon won the best actress Oscar for her turn as the sassy and compassionate Prejean. In a testament to how deluded the Academy is, Penn lost out to Tom Hanks as a doofus in Forrest Gump.

Conviction (2010)

Sam Rockwell is back in jail in this under seen story about a single mother (Hilary Swank) who gets her highschool certificate then goes off to college and finally law school to become an attorney and free her brother (Rockwell) who was wrongly convicted of murder. Like a handful of films on this list, Conviction is based on an incredible true story and director Tony Goldwyn breathes life into this testament to love and loyalty. Swank and Rockwell carry the film with their powerhouse performances, with the supporting cast in Minnie Driver, Juliette Lewis and Melissa Leo rounding out an great ensemble acting triumph.

The Hurricane (1999)

He was a man the authorities came to blame, for somethin’ that he never done and it’s the Oscar Denzel Washington should have won. Instead, they gave him the compensation prize the following year, but there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that his staggering performance as an angry, talented and inspirational boxer; Rubin `Hurricane’ Carter should have been the real winner. Veteran filmmaker Norman Jewison is at his experienced best in this layered, powerful and ultimately heart-warming movie about a wrongly convicted man.

Stone (2010)

Edward. Norton. Has. Cornrows. If you need another reason to see this movie, then you clearly didn’t understand the full scope of that last statement – Edward. Norton. Has. Cornrows. He also delivers a fantastic turn as another manipulative psycho in John Curran’s Stone. Norton is a convicted arsonist who looks to manipulate a parole officer (Robert DeNiro) by placing his beautiful wife (Milla Jovovich) in the lawman's path to secure his parole. It’s a complex, twisted tale and looks at prison life through the perspective of three very different people affected in three very different ways.

Alien 3 (1992)

The only film on this list which features aliens and Sigourney Weaver-awesomeness. A very different film from the first two, both tonally and literally, Alien 3 comes from the demented mind of David Fincher. Many have criticised this industrialised take on the sci-fi series, but I say you can’t knock any flick brave enough to put girl-power icon Ripley in an all-male prison AND pull it off.

Rescue Dawn (2006)

Possibly the two bat-shit craziest people in Hollywood – Werner Herzog and Christian Bale – team-up for this account of a US Fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War. Bale once again drops about four small children’s worth of weight and completely immerses himself in a character who’s biggest enemy is the harsh environment keeping him prisoner.

The Longest Yard (1974)

This con-comedy proves the original is often the best with Burt Reynolds starring as a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, asked to put together a team of inmates to take on the guards. Gen Y’ers probably saw the Adam Sandler remake with Nelly, Chris Rock and Reynolds in a supporting role. The rest of us probably wish we hadn’t.

The Rock (1996)This is the only Michael Bay film I like. Period. As a general rule I tend to hate Bayhem – kill me if I think films need more than explosions and penis metaphors – but I actually enjoyed this. From Nic Cage doing his good guy-in-a-bad-situation shtick to the overly dramatic action scenes, this is a guilty popcorn pleasure. Sean Connery is also pretty awesome as a gnarly Scottish super-con. The Rock is the film that really kick-started Cage’s 90s action movie reign (which seems about implausible as the biological weapons in the film) given his reputation as a hardcore method and character actor.

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Bet it's the Oscars

Despite originally starting as the dark horse, The King's Speech is racing towards Oscars glory at the 83rd Academy Awards on Monday. The Social Network was the early favourite to take the best picture Oscar, but British Australian co-production The King's Speech has since stuttered to a comfortable lead with 1/4 odds for best picture ahead of the Facebook movie at 11/4. The King's Speech director Tom Hooper says while the prospect of taking out the major categories is ``fantastic'', he's trying not to get ahead of himself.
``I like to keep focus on what has already happened and I'm delighted just to have 12 nominations,'' he says.
``There's a lot to celebrate in that.''

The film's star, Colin Firth, looks set to have plenty to celebrate at the Oscars after party. Bookies have him as the shortest-priced favourite in Oscars history. Best actress honours are also likely to be a sure thing, with Natalie Portman (Black Swan) at 1/10 and Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right) at 5/1. Unfortunately, Australian nominees Nicole Kidman (best actress, 66/1) and Jacki Weaver (best supporting actress, 66/1) are outsiders, while Geoffrey Rush (best supporting actor, 3/1) trails hot favourite Christian Bale (1/5).

The Australian with the best chance of climbing the podium to make an acceptance speech is film editor Kirk Baxter, whose editing work on The Social Network has him at 1/5, with his main rivals 127 Hours and The King's Speech at 6/1. Other Australians nominated for Oscars include producer Emile Sherman (The King's Speech), animated short film director Shaun Tan (The Lost Thing) and visual effects gurus Ben Snow (Iron Man 2) and Joe Farrell (Hereafter).

In a year in which the favourites are tipped to triumph, the best director category is shaping up as the closest thing to a nail-biter. Christopher Nolan's (Inception) controversial absence in the best director category has left Hooper (The King's Speech) and David Fincher (The Social Network) in the Oscar's closest race at 7/4 and 21/50 respectively. Who would have thought a film that looks exactly like Oscar bait a bullied Brit overcomes adversity while his knowing and unconventional mentor looks on would turn out to be just that? Well, besides everyone.

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards screen Monday from 9am on Pay TV's Starpicsth1 and from 9.40pm on Nine and NBN.

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Cue boxing related puns in 5, 4, 3 . . .

I may be on holidays this week, but that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be visually stimulated. Or that I’m taking a break. Or that I will stop finding any excuse to talk about Mark Wahlberg. On that note, HERE’S my video review of The Fighter.

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Sent to the Ward

After The Fighter’s glorious triumphs at the Golden Globes yesterday and with a general release on Thursday, I figured what better time to hunt down someone who has actually met Micky Ward. Local boxer Paul Briggs fits that category and I chatted him about the Ward legend. It was pretty darn insightful. If the big screen adaptation of Jake La Motta's life story in Raging Bull taught us anything, it's that the best boxing stories come from fact, not fiction. That is proving to be the case with The Fighter, the real life story of boxer `Irish' Micky Ward (played by Mark Wahlberg) and his brother Dicky who helped train him. The film picked up two out of the six Golden Globes it was nominated for yesterday, with Christian Bale winning best supporting actor for his portrayal of the drug-addicted Dicky and Melissa Leo for best supporting actress as the brothers mother.

The Fighter has special significance for Gold Coast boxer Paul Briggs (above), who had the opportunity to meet Micky and Dicky at a boxing match several years ago.
"It was at a Kostya Tszyu fight in Las Vegas in 2002,'' he recalls.
"I was fighting in San Francisco the next weekend and he heard my accent and we started chatting from there.
"He was curious to what I was doing in the US as there weren't too many Aussies over there at the time.
"He was interested and curious as to what the scene was like over here.
"He was just a dude.
"It's funny when two boxers get together, the stuff you talk about.
"I sat there and watched a fight and we were just chatting away about the technique.
"It doesn't matter how big a superstar you are, when you get down to the nitty gritty it's just talk between two warriors.''Briggs met Ward just after the first of three fights with Arturo Gatti, which went on to become one the great boxing trilogies (Ward and Gatti are pictured above). Briggs said chatting with Ward "between fights and rounds'' he was struck by how ``down to Earth'' he was. Sitting next to Ward at the fight was his older brother Dicky who Briggs said was ``a bit of a lunatic''. Christian Bale's erratic portrayal of Dicky in The Fighter is tipped to win him an Oscar and Briggs said it seems authentic.
"He (Dicky) was pretty taken up with the fight and we actually ended up swapping places so Micky was just talking to me,'' he said.
"I've met some lunatics in my time, but he's up there.
"He's bananas.''

Although The Fighter lost out in major categories at the Globes, including best film, best actor for Wahlberg and best director for David O'Russell, it's tipped to go well when the Oscar nominations are announced next Thursday. Many critics who questioned the necessity of yet another underdog boxing film have been won over by The Fighter, which is one of the best reviewed films of the season. Briggs too thought the genre "had been stretched beyond its capabilities''.
"The genre has been flogged beyond belief,'' he said.
"I thought there's a real story there in their life story, I just didn't know if anyone could pull it off.
"Then I heard Mark Wahlberg was doing it and pushing the film and I thought `it's going to be bigger than Ben Hur."Wahlberg was a driving force behind the film, taking it from early development stages as an executive producer and hand-picking everyone from directors and trainers, to actors and producers. Bale had this to say about Wahlberg in his acceptance speech “Mark, really got to give a shout out to Mark as he really drove this whole movie. You can only give a loud performance like the one I gave when you have a quiet anchor and a stoic character. I’ve played that character many times and it never gets any notice. But the HPFA have nominated Mark for tonight so that’s fantastic, but thank you buddy. Kudos to you for that, otherwise I wouldn’t have got away with it.”

Melissa Leo also gave Wahlberg a shout-out in her acceptance speech “Mark Wahlberg you are a prince, you are amazing. It was so beautiful to play your mother, it was so beautiful to see you and your team work. Thank you so much for working with the Ward-Eckland’s so long and so hard so that Micky Ward’s legacy, and Dicky’s as well, will live on so much longer and so much brighter.” Now I can’t wait for those Oscar nominations next Wednesday, hopefully The Fighter gets the nods it deserves.

The Fighter is out on Thursday, January 20. You can read my full review here.

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Winners are grinners

First up, big props have to go to Ricky Gervais for his `take no prisoners' approach hosting this year's Golden Globes again. I would quote a few of his amazeballs jokes here, but frankly, there are too many. I will post someone's compilation later. Big disappointment over the best director and best picture gongs going to David Fincher and The Social Network respectively. Great film? Sure, but definitely not better than Inception, Black Swan and/or The Fighter. But wahoo for Christian Bale! Great acceptance speech and such a well-deserved win, one that has been a loooong time coming. Congratulations also Annette Bening, Aaron Sorkin, Colin Firth, Diane Warren and Melissa Leo. Natalie Portman got well-deserved kudos and produced the best nerd laugh of the night - adorable. Here's the winners in full:

Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Christan Bale for The Fighter

Actress in a TV Series – Drama: Katey Sagal for Sons of Anarchy

Supporting Actor in TV Series, Mini-Series or TV movie: Chris Colfer for Glee

Actor in a TV Series – Drama: Steve Buscemi for Boardwalk Empire

Best Mini-Series or TV Movie: CarlosTV Series – Drama: Boardwalk Empire (Ed. - A Mark Wahlberg production, might I just add)

Original Song – Motion Picture: Diane Warren for “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from Burlesque

Original Score: The Social Network, by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3

Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical: Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right

Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie: Al Pacino in You Don’t Know Jack

Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Movie: Claire Danes in Temple Grandin

Screenplay – Motion Picture: Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network

Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Mini-Series: Jane Lynch for Glee

Foreign Language Film: In a Better World, from Denmark

Actress in a TV Series – Comedy: Laura Linney for The Big C

Actor in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical: Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory

Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama: Melissa Leo for The Fighter

Cecile B. DeMille Award: Robert DeNiro

Director – Motion Picture: David Fincher for The Social Network

TV Series, Comedy or Musical: Glee

Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical: Paul Giamatti for Barney’s Version

Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama: Natalie Portman for Black Swan

Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical: The Kids Are All Right

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama: Colin Firth for The King’s Speech

Motion Picture – Drama: The Social Network

The Critics Choice Awards were also announced today and they results were pretty simiar to the Globes, which doesn't bode well for an Inception and Christopher Nolan best director Oscar. Life is so unfair.

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Wahlberg's passion project The Fighter is a real barnburner

It took four years, three directors and numerous stop-starts before Mark Wahlberg's biopic on boxer `Irish' Mickey Ward was able to get out of the gym and into the ring. Thankfully, it's worth the weight.

Wahlberg (who also serves as executive producer) plays 31-year-old Micky Ward who works as a road worker in Lowell, Massachusetts and is an amateur boxer hoping to shed his reputation as a `stepping stone' fighter. But the clock is ticking and after four straight losses it's now or never for Micky to live up to his older brother Dicky (Christian Bale) who once knocked down Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Robinson. Dicky is also Micky's trainer, but spends more time chasing the dragon in the local crackhouse than actually honing the skills of his younger brother. Also in Micky's corner is his domineering mother Alice (Melissa Leo), who doubles as his manager, and a total of seven sisters, with 11 heads between them. The younger Ward brother is the family's meal ticket and the pressure on him is great, with Alice summing it up best by saying "all I ever wanted was for you to be world champion.''

It's a depressing cycle, as Micky's talent is evident, but every time he tries to break out of the downward family spiral and make something of himself, he gets sucked back in. It takes sassy barwoman and college dropout Charlene (Amy Adams), who opens her legs and heart to Micky, to make him realise his dysfunctional family might not have his best interests at heart. As a boxer, Micky Ward is best known for fighting one of the great trilogies in boxing history with Arturo Gatti. However, The Fighter is set before Ward goes pro and is less of a sporting drama, than it is a family one. It would be easy to write it off as your typical underdog sporting story, but few people who enter the film will leave with that attitude. The most obvious element in its filmic arsenal are the performances - with Bale spine tingling as the erratic and crack cocaine addicted brother. In fact, he's so convincing as a crackhead it makes you wonder just what it is he does during his down time between films. Although Bale's acting talent outside of action blockbusters is no secret to fans of The Machinist, The Prestige, American Psycho and The New World, his portrayal is beyond worthy of the best supporting actor Oscar. Despite Bale's physical transformation to embody the unhealthy physicality of Dicky, his flamboyant and unbridled performance is quite simply a career best.

Wahlberg too is at his finest with a more restrained and understated role which is the heart of the film. He also does the Bale shapeshifter, by packing on weight to his famous abs mid film (sob), before trimming down and adding muscle to seemingly every part of his body. It's easy to see why Leo and Adams (along with Bale and Wahlberg) both received Golden Globe nominations for their supporting roles, with Adams in particular shedding her sweetheart image with more f-words than a 50 Cent tweet.Perhaps the real star of The Fighter is director David O'Russell, who delivers an absolute haymaker of a film. His third collaboration with Wahlberg, after Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees, O'Russell's product is a collage of greatness mixing documentary elements and confronting close-ups with stills and balls-out creative shots. From the unexpected tracking shots and angles to genius continuous shots, as a director he has mixed his indie filmmaking sensibilities with the conventions of the genre to make a sporting film that extends beyond its reach. Even the fight scenes in the ring, although beautifully constructed and toe-to-toe with anything from the greatest boxing films like Rocky or Raging Bull, act more as a Bolo Punch while the out-of-ring drama delivers the knockout. When other directors could have taken Dicky's addiction and imprisonment to a dark place, O'Russell brings in comedic elements without losing the significance of the situation.

Although the general flawlessness of The Fighter is continuous throughout the film, perhaps it's only at the end credits when real life footage of the brothers is played that you realise just how purely the film captures this remarkable true story. If this reviewer had to go to the scorecards, The Fighter is a 10/10. The Fighter is out in Australia on Jan 27 and the rest of the lucky world already have their mitts on it.

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The unconventional auntie goes to . . . .

HUZAH! The Golden Globe nominations were announced today and wooooow, talk about a few surprises. Okay, everyone knows the Golden Globes are like the unconventional auntie to the Oscars upstanding Republican first-child, but c’mon! The Fighter and Inception have nominations across the board so how can I NOT get excited! AND Mark freakin’ Whalberg is up for a best actor gong again! If you were near my computer right now you would be witnessing some panty throwing.

In surprising news, kudos Globe academy for nominating Emma Stone in Easy A because not only was it a wicked lil’ movie, she gave a smart and star-making performance which, although was great, isn’t usually something they would award despite its merit. Wahoo too for talented Brit Andrew Garfield, who’s co-staring in the Spiderman reboot with Stone and who’s up for best supporting actor. Shame he doesn’t have a chance in hell against Geoffrey Rush, but it’s nice to see someone we were raving about a few years ago come full circle. Big snubs for the cast of Inception, but you win some, you lose some.

The nominations council must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel with all the nods The Tourist got, but at least Burlesque got well-deserved kudos in the best musical or comedy and original song (go Christina and Sia).

While the results of the Globes are completely superfluous once it comes to the Oscars and there are things in here that will never get a nod at the Academy Awards come February . . . it’s still fun. Anywho, I have highlighted the things I would like to win, likelihood be damned, and the full list of nominees is below.

Best Picture, Drama: Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The King's Speech, The Social Network.

Best Picture, Musical or Comedy: Alice in Wonderland, Burlesque, The Kids Are All Right, Red, The Tourist.

Actor, Drama: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network; Colin Firth, The King's Speech; James Franco, 127 Hours; Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine; Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter.

Actress, Drama: Halle Berry, "Frankie and Alice"; Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole"; Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"; Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"; Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine."

Director: Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"; David Fincher, "The Social Network"; Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech"; Christopher Nolan, "Inception"; David O. Russell, "The Fighter."

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Johnny Depp, "Alice in Wonderland"; Johnny Depp, "The Tourist"; Paul Giamatti, "Barney's Version"; Jake Gyllenhaal, "Love and Other Drugs"; Kevin Spacey, "Casino Jack."

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"; Julianne Moore, "The Kids Are All Right"; Anne Hathaway, "Love & Other Drugs"; Angelina Jolie, "The Tourist"; Emma Stone, "Easy A."

Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, "The Fighter"; Michael Douglas, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"; Andrew Garfield, "The Social Network"; Jeremy Renner, "The Town"; Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech."

Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"; Helena Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech"; Mila Kunis, "Black Swan"; Amy Adams, "The Fighter"; Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom."

Foreign Language: "Biutiful," "The Concert," "The Edge," "I Am Love," "In a Better World."

Animated Film: "Toy Story 3," "The Illusionist," "How to Train Your Dragon," "Despicable Me," "Tangled."

Screenplay: Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, "127 Hours"; Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg, "The Kids Are All Right"; Christopher Nolan, "Inception"; David Seidler, "The King's Speech"; Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network."

Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, "The King's Speech"; Danny Elfman, "Alice in Wonderland"; A.R. Rahman, "127 Hours"; Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, "The Social Network"; Hans Zimmer, "Inception." Original Song: "Bound to You" (written by Samuel Dixon, Christina Aguilera, Sia Furler), "Burlesque"; "Coming Home" (written by Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, Troy Verges), "Country Strong"; "I See the Light," (written by Alan Menken, Glenn Slater), "Tangled"; "There's a Place for Us" (written by Carrie Underwood, David Hodges, Hillary Lindsey), "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"; "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," (written by Diane Warren), "Burlesque."

TELEVISION

Series, Drama: "Boardwalk Empire," HBO; "Dexter," Showtime; "The Good Wife," CBS; "Mad Men," AMC; "The Walking Dead," AMC.

Actor, Drama: Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"; Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"; Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"; Hugh Laurie, "House."

Actress, Drama: Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"; Elisabeth Moss, "Mad Men"; Piper Perabo, "Covert Affairs"; Katey Sagal, "The Closer"; Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer."

Series, Musical or Comedy: "30 Rock," NBC; "The Big Bang Theory," CBS; "The Big C," Showtime; "Glee," Fox; "Modern Family," ABC; "Nurse Jackie," Showtime.

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Toni Collette, "The United States of Tara"; Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"; Tina Fey, "30 Rock"; Laura Linney, "The Big C"; Lea Michele, "Glee."

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"; Steve Carell, "The Office"; Thomas Jane, "Hung"; Matthew Morrison, "Glee"; Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory."

Miniseries or Movie: "Carlos," Sundance Channel; "The Pacific," HBO; "Pillars of the Earth," Starz; "Temple Grandin," HBO; "You Don't Know Jack," HBO.

Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Hayley Atwell, "Pillars of the Earth"; Claire Danes, "Temple Grandin"; Judi Dench, "Return to Cranford"; Romola Garai, "Emma"; Jennifer Love Hewitt, "The Client List."

Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Idris Elba, "Luther"; Ian McShane, "Pillars of the Earth"; Al Pacino, "You Don't Know Jack"; Dennis Quaid, "The Special Relationship"; Edgar Ramirez, "Carlos."

Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Hope Davis, "The Special Relationship"; Jane Lynch, "Glee"; Kelly Macdonald, "Broadwalk Empire"; Julia Stiles, "Dexter"; Sofia Vergara, "Modern Family."

Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Scott Caan, "Hawaii Five-O"; Chris Colfer, "Glee"; Chris Noth, "The Good Wife"; Eric Stonestreet, "Modern Family"; David Strathairn, "Temple Grandin."

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert De Niro.

The 68th Golden Globes are on January 16.

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That Fighter spirit

You may remember me harping on about Mark Wahlberg’s project The Fighter a while back. He plays Irish boxer Mickey Ward and the film follows his early years when he was trained by his brother before he went pro in the 80s. Directed by David O Russell (who worked with Wahlberg previously on I Heart Huckabees and Three Kings), it also stars Christian Bale as Ward’s brother, Amy Adams as the love interest and Melissa Leo as the mother. I spoke to Mark Wahlberg exclusively about the film earlier this year and he had this to say;

“Mickey Ward is probably my favourite (character I’ve played). It hasn’t come out yet, it’s December 10th. It’s a film I produced, starred in and took four and a half years to get made. I’m very, very excited about it. It turned out really well.”

From the superbly acted and dramatic trailer below, I would have to say I agree with him. Although Bale, whoa, can that guy transform himself or what? He’s gone back to his The Machinist frame and even acquired a bald patch for the role, which looks like a return to his more versatile and brilliant acting days. I cannot wait.

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Oldman suddenly cool, and down with the kids

BATMAN 3 TO START FILMING NEXT YEAR?!

I’m sorry if my overuse of capitals hurt your eyes, but really, your pain pales in insignificance compared to the prospect of Batman 3 getting underway next year!!!

After the colossal success of The Dark Knight, rumours surrounding director Chris Nolan’s third Batman film have been flying out of every A-Lister's orifice. The latest comes from cast member and all-round stellar chap Gary Oldman who plays police commissioner Gordon in the films. Whilst taking part in a panel at Comic-Con with Denzel Washington and Mila Kunis to promote their latest film The Book of Eli, some ballsy person probed Oldman on the latest Batman 3 news. He had this to say:

“We’re starting filming on the next Batman next year. So it won’t be out for another two years at least, I think. But you didn’t hear it from me!”

Actually, Oldman, we did hear it from you since you’re the only semi-reliable person to dish anything about the movie in recent months. Hmmm, another two years you say? That would make a new Batman film due for release around 2012-ish which sounds about right considering Nolan is busy festering away on his latest project Inception. What’s that? Nolan is making a non-Batman film? Yes, kids, believe it or not he’s extremely good at it too. For those wanting to hear all about Nolan’s sci-fi actioner, stay tuned as I intend to post a full run-down on Inception in the next few days.

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Keep your friends close, and your Public Enemies closer

FYI if my enemy was Johnny Depp, I would be keeping him mighty close. I’ve been quite the inattentive blogging parent lately so I thought it was about time I gave some well deserved attention to a film that has been on my radar for a while. Public Enemies is a gangster flick, in essence, about the Feds as they try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s. Directed by Michael-I-can-do-no-cinematic-wrong-Mann, the Public Enemies trailer looks sensational (you can view here). Johnny Depp plays the leader of the gang, smooth talker John Dillinger and faces off against Christian Bale’s character Melvin Purvis, who is the federal agent in charge of bringing him down. Two of our generations strongest leading men are supported by a great cast with Channing Tatum as Pretty Boy Floyd, Billy Crudup (aka Dr Manhattan from Watchmen) playing J. Edgar Hoover, Ediath Piaf reincarnate Marion Colliard as Dilinger’s love interest, along with David Wenham, Giovanni Ribisi and Aussie fav Emile De Ravin in another strong career move. Based on true events, Mann looks like he has captured the stylish 30s vibe perfectly and Depp and Bale look like they’re performances are ball clenching. Another element, which is sure to be a standout, is the complex script and engaging plot. Mann has proved time and time again with films he has produced, written and directed (such as Collateral, Ali and The Last Of The Mohicans) that his best results are when he has his finger in every pie. Public Enemies is out in Oz on July 2 and I’m pipping this one early as a 2010 all-round Oscar contender.

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The Bale-inator in full force

Above: Christian Bale in happier, hotter times.

Oh, I do love a good dummy spit.

Especially from a well known celebrity on the set of one of the most highly anticpated movies of 2009. Some clever bugger has caught Christian Bale aka Batman having a massive blow up at cinematographer Shane Hurlbut on the set of Terminator Salavation. Apparently Bale started raving like the Hulk on speed after the cinematographer walked into his field of vision when he was shooting a scene.
Listen to his rant here.

Hi-freaking-larious. Whoever recorded this audio deserves a high five, followed by private bodyguards to protect him/her from Bale beating them to death once he finds out who recorded it. Hmmm maybe Bale is closer to the character of Patrick Bateman than originally thought. My favourite line? Ah there's so many. It's like asking someone which if their children they love the most, however, I can't go past:

"Fuck man you’re amateur."

Above: Bale causing Bale-hem on the set of Terminator Salvation (the fourth installment in the Terminator franchise)

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Holy haberdashery Batman!

This just in: according to a News.com article Angelina Jolie is looking at playing the role of Catwoman. Former Catwoman Julie Newmar has said Jolie is in final negotiations with studio execs to secure the role. But will she play the cat in a spin off movie or alongside Christian Bale in Chris Nolan’s Batman films? Previously Nolan has said he wants to steer away from some of the more fantastical Batman characters such as Dr Freeze and Clayman. But is Catwoman a possibility for future films? Hmmmmm. . . .
Lets hope Jolie does a better job than Halle Berry. But is it possible to do a better job than Michelle Pheiffer?
Very interesting . . . .
View the article in its entirety here:
http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,26278,24100359-7485,00.html

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