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Posts with tag million dollar baby

Eastwood's 'Changeling' Changes Release Date

Filed under: Drama », Universal », Distribution », Angelina Jolie », Oscar Watch »

Oh look, a Clint Eastwood movie with an Oscar-friendly release date. That's new. Actually, it is relatively new, if you look over the man's directorial career. Sure, he's had a number of films come out in the fall time, but not with the same consistency we've seen since 2003, when Mystic River arrived in a few theaters on October 8 then went on to receive six Academy Award nominations the following winter.

Then in 2004, his Million Dollar Baby opened in limited release December 15 and went on to win four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Finally, in 2006, two of his films were released in the fall, Flags of Our Fathers in October and Letters from Iwo Jima in December. Both went on to receive Oscar recognition, the latter garnering major noms, such as Best Picture and Best Director.

Clint Eastwood will Direct and Star in Mysterious 'Gran Torino'

Filed under: Deals », Fandom », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand »

Good news everyone: Looks like we're going to get TWO Clint Eastwood flicks this fall; one of which will actually star the legendary actor-director -- his first on-screen role since Million Dollar Baby. We already know about Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Eastwood. That's set to hit theaters on November 7. However, Variety now reports there's another Eastwood film called Gran Torino set to hit theaters in December. What's this film about? How does he make his films so friggin' quickly? And is he really a superhero ... or just a dude who moves fast?

Well, unfortunately, we know absolutely nothing about Gran Torino, save for its title. Yup, and we only know that because Warner Bros. quietly scheduled the film's release date yesterday without revealing any more information. Will it feature cars? Will Eastwood play an aging mechanic who teams up with a down-on-her-luck female race car driver for a go at the big prize (whatever that may be)?

Any guesses as to what this film is about or who will star alongside Eastwood?

Great Films Too Painful to Watch Twice

Filed under: Drama », Fandom », Home Entertainment », Lists »

The Onion AV Club is unquestionably my favorite entertainment-focused website (other than Cinematical, of course!). Their outstanding coverage of all things pop culture suggests an indie-leaning Entertainment Weekly, and I consider that a very good thing. They always do a great weekly list, and one of their recent offerings is no exception. Check out "Not Again: 24 Great Films Too Painful to Watch Twice." The first movie I thought of when I saw that title was Requiem for a Dream, so it's fitting that they put it in the #1 spot (not sure if these are in order of "most painful" or not). I saw Requiem for a Dream in college -- on a double date! So imagine not only suffering through one of the toughest movies of all time in a theater, but suffering through it with a hyperventilating girl you're trying to get to first base with! Needless to say, it didn't work out.

Though I don't think it's a "great film" by any stretch of the imagination, I can certainly see why Irreversible (#13 on the list) was included. I don't know if I physically could stomach that one a second time. I remember convincing my friends to come see it with me by telling them "It's supposed to be just like Memento!" It was not just like Memento. I still shudder when I walk past a fire extinguisher. I must be a masochist, because I either would watch or have watched several of the movies on their list more than once -- United 93, Million Dollar Baby, Audition, Leaving Las Vegas, etc. There's a lot of good rental ideas for those with a taste for challenging fare, so fire up your Netflix queue and head on over to the link. Just don't plan any parties around these flicks! How about you guys, what is a great film you could never sit through a second time?

Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon Eye Nelson Mandela Film

Filed under: Drama », Sports », Casting », Angelina Jolie »

Yes, Nelson Mandela is still alive, despite what President Bush said (I know it was taken out of context). And now the previously announced Mandela biopic is also very much alive, and may even get a multiple Oscar-winner as its director. According to Variety, Clint Eastwood is interested in helming The Human Factor, an adaptation of the same-titled book by John Carlin (with subtitle: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Changed the World). The film won't actually be a full biopic, though; instead, it focuses on the former President of South Africa post-imprisonment, on the eve of apartheid's end. It also deals with the 1995 Rugby World Cup and how it aided in the post-apartheid healing of South Africa. The adaptation has been scripted by South African screenwriter Anthony Peckham (Don't Say a Word).

We've already learned that Mandela will be portrayed by Morgan Freeman (perfect choice), who will also be producing with his company Revelations Entertainment (10 Items or Less). Now possibly joining Freeman on screen is Matt Damon, who is in talks to play the captain of rugby team the Springboks. Although both Freeman and Damon contributed to the 3D IMAX documentary Magnificent Desolation, the two have never acted together. Freeman and Eastwood, though, have collaborated a few times, and it was due to working with the actor-director on Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby that Freeman reportedly requested Eastwood's filmmaking talents for this project. My guess is that Eastwood appreciates the opportunity, as it sounds like something that will garner him yet another Oscar nomination. However, it won't be the director's next film; that has already been announced as The Changeling, with Angelina Jolie.

For those looking for a Mandela movie in the meantime, perhaps someone will finally pick up U.S. distribution rights to Bille August's new film, Goodbye Bafana, which features Dennis Haysbert as the iconic prisoner-turned-leader. Erik caught the pic in Berlin earlier this year and called it, "a perfect movie -- one that gets it all right," and it is very surprising that there's no plans yet to release the film here. Perhaps someone is waiting until they can pit it against The Human Factor, in order to fulfill the new Hollywood law that all biopics must have a dueling competitor.

Oscar-Winner Henry Bumstead Dies From Cancer

Filed under: Obits »

Oscar-winning art director and production designer Henry Bumstead has died from prostate cancer, according to the Los Angeles Times. Bumstead, who was born in Ontario, California, in 1915, began his career during the Depression as an apprentice draftsman at RKO Studios but was quickly hired by Paramount Pictures where he was taken under the wing of art-department head Hans Dreir (Oscar-winning art director for Sunset Boulevard). After World War II he began designing films for Paramount and by the middle of the next decade his stint at the studio led him to work with Alfred Hitchcock on The Man Who Knew Too Much and then Vertigo, the latter which got him his first Academy Award nomination. In 1960 he moved on to Universal and collaborations with Robert Mulligan. He won his first Oscar in 1963 for Mulligan's To Kill a Mockingbird. Then the 70s saw him working a few times with George Roy Hill and earning his second Oscar for The Sting.

Bumstead had a fairly weak period during the 1980s, but after teaming with Martin Scorsese on the remake of Cape Fear in 1991, he was hired by Clint Eastwood for Unforgiven, which led to another nomination. From that point he worked with Eastwood on eight more films up until he was diagnosed with cancer during production of Million Dollar Baby. In 1998, Bumstead, who was known as "Bummy" to friends and colleagues, received a lifetime achievement award from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Art Directors.

In an interview with MovieMaker Magazine, Henry Bumstead summed up his life as a great success: "I'm very happy. Nobody could've had more fun than I had. I've seen the world first class and worked with lots of talented and wonderful people. Sometimes I wake up in the night and just can't believe that I've been able to raise four kids, send them all to universities and, at the same time, been so lucky to do what I've always loved to do. It's been a great life every minute of it."

Trailer Park: It's Oscar Time!

Filed under: Awards », Trailer Trash », Steven Spielberg », Peter Jackson », Oscar Watch »

Now that we're just minutes away from this year's Academy Awards, I'm absolutely silly with anticipation. Who will win? Who will lose? Who will cry? Who will use their acceptance speech to try and save (insert random third world country here)? What about Jon Stewart? Will he bomb? Will he rock better than, well, Rock? Who will make the first Jack Nicholson joke? Oh, and am I the only one who wonders whether or not Ang Lee and Eric Bana will simply ignore that great big green monster mocking them from the corner? Perhaps they'll discuss a sequel during the commercial break - Jette's little brother would appreciate that.

While we here at Cinematical have done our best to predict the outcome of the Oscars, now it's time to sit back, relax and see who Isaac Mizrahi will decide to fondle on the red carpet. For this special Oscar Sunday edition of Trailer Park, I've decided to count down past Best Pictures, starting with A Beautiful Mind and leading up to this year's crop. By analyzing what's come before, will it be easy to choose the film that fits amongst Oscar's elite?

After checking out the following trailers, while you at home make your final predictions, be sure to stick around for my totally kick-ass red carpet coverage, followed by our live-blog of the actual ceremony. Sure, we're not as intelligent as Ryan Seacrest, but I'm positive we're better looking. Hell yeah, it's Oscar time on this week's Trailer Park...

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