Argo, Ben Affleck’s third feature film, is looking more and more like a lock for the Best Picture prize at Sunday’s Oscars, and even if the man himself didn’t get a Best Director nomination, it’s still a remarkable culmination of one of the most fascinating second acts in Hollywood. The actor-turned-director seemed shockingly confident and assured in his first feature, 2007’s marvelous Gone Baby Gone, but as The Playlist reminded us this week, his first film (pre-Good Will Hunting, even) was a 1993 short inventively titled I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Ηung Ηer on a Μeathook & Νow I Have a Three-Picture Deal with Disney. It is, as is often the case with these things, not very good, and (to his credit) Affleck is the first one to admit it: “It’s horrible. It’s atrocious. I knew I wanted to be a director, and I did a couple of short films, and this is the only one that haunts me. I’m not proud of it. It looks like it was made by someone who has no prospects, no promise.” But Affleck can take comfort in the fact that he’s not the only filmmaker with a cinematic skeleton in his closet: we found eight auteurs who rose to the Best Director Oscar from rather humble cinematic beginnings. … Read More
James Cameron
The 10 Worst Moments in Oscar History
Who’s ready to watch Seth MacFarlane host the Oscars? Well, no matter how wrong the Family Guy creator may be for the job, he can take solace in the fact that there’s a long, rich history of terrible Oscar moments. We’ve assembled ten of the most awkward and cringe-worthy to prime you for what lies… Read More
What You Need to Know Before You See ‘The Hobbit’
As you probably know — whether out of personal interest, interaction with your favorite geek, or a glance at any delivery device for mass marketing — the first of Peter Jackson’s three-part (!) Lord of the Rings prequel series, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, is out in theaters this Friday. What may be less clear, at least to the casual observer, is what all this chatter is about “frame rate” and “48 fps” and other blather that have been floating around since the films went into production. So here’s a quick breakdown, to help communicate with the LOTR geek in your life (we’re a service-oriented site, after all!): what is all this talk about “frame rate,” and what does it mean to you? … Read More
Awesome Storyboards from 15 of Your Favorite Films
With storyboards on our mind lately thanks to their use in both the opening sequence and the climax of Argo, we decided to put together a gallery of our favorites from iconic… Read More
James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ Sequels Start Filming Next Year
In case you were worried that Hollywood was lacking in the blue people and motion capture department, news from Slash Film confirms that James Cameron will finally start filming Avatar 2 and 3 next year. Expect to see more eco-drama after the tireless director wraps up his scripts (by February, he hopes) and starts… Read More
12 Horror Sequels That Don’t Suck
If you’re like us, you’ve probably spent a good (possibly unhealthy!) chunk of your October watching lots and lots of horror movies. But if you watch too many, you’ll start to notice a pattern. Horror movies seem to be the genre most prone to sequelizing and rebootinating — there are five Wrong Turns and six Leprechauns, for Chrissakes — and the results are seldom worth a damn. The logic is easy to understand; with horror, the genre itself (rather than big-name stars or mind-blowing special effects) is the marketable element, so once the connection has been made, it’s easy to go back for seconds. And horror movies are constructed accordingly, with doors left open for sequels and series. Most are just awful. But some aren’t; occasionally, the ingenuity and inventiveness of a good chiller will return in its follow-up. So, as you’re putting together your Halloween DVD stacks, allow us to help you separate the pop from the pap; our dozen horror sequels that (contrary to expectation) are not terrible are after the jump. … Read More
James Cameron: No, There Was Not Room for Two on the ‘Titanic’ Raft
Aficionados of pop-culture conspiracy theories will be familiar with the Reddit-driven idea that Leonardo DiCaprio didn’t have to die to save Kate Winslett in Titanic. Using a tape outline to approximate the size of the raft that carried Winslett’s Rose to safety, an industrious redditor found that two human beings could easily fit in the space. But, since we all must answer to the Internet in 2012, an IGN interviewer recently asked Titanic director James Cameron to respond to the theory, and he’s just not having it. “It’s not a question of room, it’s a question of buoyancy,” says Cameron, reminding us that the raft flips over when Jack initially attempts to join Rose on it. So, that’s settled. If you’re still not satisfied, though, the filmmaker also mentions that he’s planning to help Mythbusters debunk the rumor in a future episode. Watch the interview after the jump, and skip to 4:20 if you’re only interested in the raft theory. … Read More
Flavorwire’s Guide to Indie Flicks to See in August
Even among the mindless carnage and endless superheroes of summer, August tends to be a bit of a drag; studios put the blockbusters they’re less certain of in the late-summer slots, so for every Bourne Legacy, there’s sure to be two or three Premium Rushes. But that just means it’s an even better time to go off the grid and see what’s playing in the art houses, and indie distributors have stocked several gems into the upcoming months; check out our recommendations after the jump. … Read More
This Week in Trailers: Cruise, ‘Compliance,’ and Cirque du Soleil
Every Friday here at Flavorwire, we like to gather up the week’s new movie trailers, give them a look-see, and rank them from worst to best — while taking a guess or two about what they might tell us (or hide from us) about the movies they’re promoting. This week, we’ve got seven new trailers starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, Jesse Eisenberg, Jessica Biel, Gael Garcia Bernal, Melissa Leo, and Tracy Morgan; check ‘em all out after the jump, and share your thoughts in the comments. … Read More
James Cameron Will Shoot Three ‘Avatar’ Movies at One Time
At least that’s what Sigourney Weaver is saying. At last night’s premiere of her new six-part USA Network miniseries, Political Animals, she told Roger Friedman of Showbiz 411 that beginning this fall, she plans to be busy at work on a trio of new Avatar movies. While shooting everything all at… Read More
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