Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire Archives - The Playlist

Tarantino, Reitman, Bigelow Score DGA Nominations; Is This Your Real Oscar 5 Best Pic Frontrunners? Essentially, Yes

Kevin Jagernauth — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:32:00 +0000

Well, the DGA nods are in and they are pretty much what we were expecting. Jason Reitman, who is quickly solidifying himself as a director with a feel for the pulse of contemporary, middle class America, earns a nod for “Up In The Air”. Kathryn Bigelow who is enjoying a renewed career thanks to the excellent “The Hurt Locker” (which is still criminally underseen) earns a nod. Bigelow’s ex, James Cameron, gets approval from his colleagues for his technologically ambitious and groundbreaking “Avatar.” It’s no shocker to find Quentin Tarantino in the group of nominees for his critically acclaimed and fanboy approved, “Inglourious Basterds.” The other slot goes to Lee Daniels for his hamfisted direction of “Precious,” a film that rests entirely on the shoulders of its capable cast who barely rescued the film from the depths of exploitative ghetto drama porn.

Continue reading Tarantino, Reitman, Bigelow Score DGA Nominations; Is This Your Real Oscar 5 Best Pic Frontrunners? Essentially, Yes at The Playlist.

Producer’s Guild Nominations Unveiled, ‘Star Trek’ And ‘District 9’ Make The Cut

Simon Dang — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:24:00 +0000

Wow, the Producer’s Guild of America (PGA) have spoken: 2009 was the year of populist sci-fi not regular Academy Awards fare.

Despite the general consensus that the award season would neglect the genre’s lesser hits when push came to shove, “District 9” and “Star Trek” both earned nominations and joined “Avatar” in the PGA’s ten picks to make it three from three.

Notable omissions from the ten include The Coen Brothers’ “A Serious Man,” big names Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones” and Rob Marshall’s “Nine,” contenders many thought might penetrate the Oscar 10 Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger” or Tom Ford “A Single Man,” but no real surprises for the exclusion of Jane Campion’s “Bright Star,” unfortunately.

Continue reading Producer’s Guild Nominations Unveiled, ‘Star Trek’ And ‘District 9’ Make The Cut at The Playlist.

‘Precious’ Director Lee Daniels Hoping To Tackle ‘Miss Saigon’

Rodrigo Perez — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:23:00 +0000

With “Precious” director Lee Daniels soaking in all the ecstatic buzz from his brutal coming-of-age drama, he’s already setting his sights on future projects. (We’re waiting for someone to realize that the least impressive thing about “Precious” was its technical ineptitude, both on the directorial and editorial fronts. Seriously, this thing is like cinematic finger-painting sometimes.)

He told our buddy Edward Douglas over at Coming Soon that he wants to do a big screen version of the insanely popular “Miss Saigon.” Again, this is an intriguing prospect but “Miss Saigon” would require a more refined stylistic approach, instead of Lee Daniels’ stylistic sledgehammer.

Continue reading ‘Precious’ Director Lee Daniels Hoping To Tackle ‘Miss Saigon’ at The Playlist.

Mo’Nique Makes ‘Precious’ Life Difficult For Everyone

Rodrigo Perez — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:57:00 +0000

You gotta love that little thing called Oscar politics which sometimes derails the forward momentum of a universally buzzed about film.

The first blow of the season lands on a film that really doesn’t need controversy around it: “Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” by Lee Daniels, which was a hit at Sundance, but so what. That generally means diddly, no? Not this year, the film, evidently a harrowing look at family abuse, has managed to leave its indie ghetto and pretty much impress and blow everyone who has seen it (though one of our reviewers from Cannes didn’t love it as much as everyone else did).

Continue reading Mo’Nique Makes ‘Precious’ Life Difficult For Everyone at The Playlist.

Not So ‘Precious’: Harvey Weinstein’s Lawsuits Dealt Blow

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:27:00 +0000

Harvey Weinstein lives for Oscars. Whether they mean as much monetarily as they did a few years ago remains to be seen, but he still loves the race and everything it entails. At one point in his career he was a master of the Oscar campaign (somehow convincing the Academy that “Shakespeare In Love” was a better movie than “Saving Private Ryan”).

So just asked week we asked, what’s the status of the Weinstein Company lawsuit against Lawsuit and the producers of the film for the rights to “Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire,” especially after receiving a huge Oscar bump last week when it won the People’s Choice audience award at the 2009 Toronto Intl.

Continue reading Not So ‘Precious’: Harvey Weinstein’s Lawsuits Dealt Blow at The Playlist.

‘Precious’ Wins The TIFF 2009 People’s Choice Award

Rodrigo Perez — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:19:00 +0000

In news you probably heard already unless you’re one of those types that doesn’t read the web on Sundays, Lee Daniels’ urban drama, “Precious,” won the People’s Choice audience award at the 2009 Toronto Intl. Film Festival.

It’s notable for three reasons. 1) Since there are not many awards given out during TIFF and most films are not judged by a jury award the Audience Award is generally viewed as the festival’s biggest prize.

Continue reading ‘Precious’ Wins The TIFF 2009 People’s Choice Award at The Playlist.

‘Precious’ Set For Box-Office And Oscar Push, Mariah Carey And Robin Thicke To Contribute Music

Simon Dang — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:46:00 +0000

A film which has slumped somewhat in award-season hype since earning stellar reviews at this year’s Sundance Film Festival is Lee Daniel’s “Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire,” formerly known as “Push.”

MTV has some new shots from the film which centers on an overweight and illiterate African-American teen (Gabourey Sidibe) who is pregnant with her second child, but invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.

Continue reading ‘Precious’ Set For Box-Office And Oscar Push, Mariah Carey And Robin Thicke To Contribute Music at The Playlist.

First Look: Brandon Routh In ‘Scott Pilgrim,’ Megan Fox Reviews ‘Revenge Of The Fallen,’ New ‘Precious’ Poster

Simon Dang — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:28:00 +0000

Here’s a glimpse at Brandon Routh as Todd Ingram in “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.” Ingram is the third boyfriend of Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who has special vegan psychic powers and also plays bass in Clash at Demonhead who is fronted by Brie Larson‘s character Envy Adams. [EdgarWrightIsHere]

Megan Fox keeps lobbing hilarious digs at Michael Bay and “Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen.” You gotta love her spunk. “I’m in the movie, and I read the script, and I watched the movie, and I still didn’t know what was happening.

Continue reading First Look: Brandon Routh In ‘Scott Pilgrim,’ Megan Fox Reviews ‘Revenge Of The Fallen,’ New ‘Precious’ Poster at The Playlist.

Does ‘Precious’ Appearing At Cannes Open Up A Can Of Worms For Ongoing Weinstein Co./Lionsgate Legal Battle?

Rodrigo Perez — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:24:00 +0000

We were cooing with such girlish frisson over the 2009 Cannes Film Festival line-up and names like Gondry, Gilliam, Almodovar, Campion, etc., etc., that we failed to really note – outside of listing it – that “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” aka “Precious” (they gave it a new title so it wouldn’t be confused with the lame sci-fi) was accepted to Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section (i.e., not prestigious enough to merit in competition qualification, but decent enough to appear).

Continue reading Does ‘Precious’ Appearing At Cannes Open Up A Can Of Worms For Ongoing Weinstein Co./Lionsgate Legal Battle? at The Playlist.