Amreeka Archives - The Playlist

‘Precious’ Leads Spirit Award Nominees

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:21:00 +0000

With the Gotham Award winners announced last night (“The Hurt Locker” being the big winner), Awards season is officially upon us. Today, The Spirit Award (formerly the Independent Spirit Award) nominees were announced. Taking place on The ceremony Friday March 5 in L.A., the low-key affair is like the anti-Oscars generally celebrating independent film (though why they changed the title of the Awards a year or two ago is beyond us). Leading the nominees was, to no real surprise, Lee Daniels’ ghetto horror-show, “Precious” which took six nominations including Best Picture, Director, two Screenplay nods and Best Actress Lead and Supporting plaudits for Gabby Sidibe and Mo’Nique.

Continue reading ‘Precious’ Leads Spirit Award Nominees at The Playlist.

‘The Hurt Locker’ Takes Top Prize At Gotham Awards

Gabe Toro — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:00:00 +0000

The 19th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards always kickstart awards season, and this year, they began festivities with a bang, awarding bomb-defusing suspense thriller “The Hurt Locker” with Best Feature. The Kathryn Bigelow hit, which some say is a longshot to get into the final ten at the Oscars, also took home the Best Ensemble Performance award. The Gothams are a pretty sparse affair, so the small-scale nominees are a change of pace from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, with “Hurt Locker” defeating other Best Feature nominees “The Maid,” “Big Fan,” “Amreeka” and “A Serious Man.”

Best Breakthrough Director went to Robert Siegel for his work on “Big Fan,” while “Food Inc.” won Best Documentary.

Continue reading ‘The Hurt Locker’ Takes Top Prize At Gotham Awards at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office – Fall Begins With A Whimper

Gabe Toro — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:40:00 +0000

Newsflash- when there are no interesting wide releases out, no one will go to the movies. In one of the slowest sessions in recent memory, “The Final Destination” keeps the ignominious position of #1 movie in America, fending off the horrifically-reviewed stalker-comedy “All About Steve.” The 3D horror picture has taken only two weekends to cross $50 million, and by next weekend it can successfully be crowned the most successful of the series. Does this mean a fifth installment is in the cards?

Continue reading Weekend Box Office – Fall Begins With A Whimper at The Playlist.

In Theaters: ‘Extract,’ ‘Gamer,’ ‘Amreeka’ (Good Luck!)

Hunter McClamrock — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:04:00 +0000

Labor day weekend is typically one of the worst movie-going periods of the year, and this weekend’s crop is no exception, christ. While everyone else is contemplating going back to school or trying to squeeze in one last dip in the ocean, it might be a good idea to give some legs to the late summer art-house quality from previous weeks. As for today…

In Wide Release: Mike Judge tries to replicate his “Office Space” success with another parable for the working class in “Extract.” Jason Bateman plays a dryly funny square trying to sell his business only to be challenged by unexpected circumstances.

Continue reading In Theaters: ‘Extract,’ ‘Gamer,’ ‘Amreeka’ (Good Luck!) at The Playlist.

‘Antichrist’ Gets Misogyny “Anti-Prize” At Cannes

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:46:00 +0000

Charlotte Gainsbourg may have won the Best Actress prize at Cannes ’09 for her harrowing portrayal of a mother gone almost suicidal after losing her child (and then batshit nuts, or possessed later on depending on your POV) in Lars Von Trier’s controversial and polarizing picture, “Antichrist” (we which we had mixed feelings about; neither a masterpiece or disaster), but the Ecumenical Jury at the Croisette was less kind to the film.

This jury which honors films with “spiritual value’ (though note it was originally started by Christian filmmakers) is one of three juries at the Cannes and they gave their top award to Ken Loach’s life-lessons football dramedy, “Looking For Eric,” starring real-life French football star Eric Cantona as himself (a film we truly enjoyed as well).

Continue reading ‘Antichrist’ Gets Misogyny “Anti-Prize” At Cannes at The Playlist.