Comic Book Movie Round-Up #1: X-Men: Days Of Future Past

As you may have gathered, The Watchers are huge comic-book movie fans. There are so many future comic-book movie films coming out over the next few years, we thought it would be a good idea to do a round-up of some of the bigger ones that are due and what we know about them. We won't be doing a round-up for either Iron Man 3 or The Wolverine as both films are due out imminently (Iron Man 3 at the end of April and The Wolverine at the end of July).

So without further ado, here's our first round-up...

X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Director: Bryan Singer
Writer: Simon Kinberg, Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman from a story by Bryan Singer based on Days Of Future Past by Chris Claremont and John Byrne
Provisional Release Date: July 18 2014

What We Know: X-Men Days of Future Past is based on a storyline from two issues of The Uncanny X-Men comic book series released in 1981. In that, Kitty Pryde is warned about the future consequences of the X-Men failing to stop the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly which leads to anti-Mutant hysteria and a future where all Mutants are hunted by Sentinels. The title was confirmed in August 2012.

Who's In?: Cast members from X-Men: First Class as well as the original trilogy are reprising their roles, along with some new actors to the franchise.

From X-Men First Class:
James McAvoy (Charles Xavier/Professor X)
Michael Fassbender (Magneto)
Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique)
Nicholas Hoult (Beast)

From the original trilogy:
Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier/Professor X)
Ian McKellen (Magneto)
Hugh Jackman (Wolverine)
Halle Berry (Storm)
Anna Paquin (Rogue)
Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde)
Shawn Ashmore (Iceman)
Daniel Cudmore (Colossus)

New actors:
Peter Dinklage (rumoured to be Bolivar Trask, creator of the Sentinels)
Omar Sy 
Booboo Stewart
Fan Bingbing (Blink)

Who's Out?: It has been confirmed that several previous characters will not be appearing in Days Of Future Past. These include January Jones (Emma Frost), Alex Gonzalez (Riptide), Zoe Kravitz (Angel) and Jason Flemyng (Azazel) from X-Men: First Class and Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler) from X-Men 2. Rose Byrne (Moira McTaggart from First Class) has stated she is unsure if she will be returning, despite signing a three-picture deal.

Anything Else?: Bryan Singer came back in to direct after X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn had to drop out due to scheduling issues. Vaughn will still act as producer, along with Singer, Simon Kinberg, Richard Donner and Lauren Shuler Donner.

Oscar-winning production designer John Myhre, composer John Ottman and costume designer Louise Mingenbach are all confirmed to work on the film.

Days Of Future Past is set more than ten years after the events of X-Men: First Class, which would make it set primarily in 1973. American President Richard Nixon is due to appear (much like in Watchmen).

Singer tweeted this picture back in February 2013, showing the two wheelchairs for the different incarnations of Professor X:

Principal photography is due to begin in Montreal in mid-April, and the film will be released in 3D.

The Watchers Live Show on VideoMajic

We both traveled home to Pembrokeshire for a weekend at the beginning of March this year. We took part in a special live streaming event organised by our good friends over at videomajic.tv. Here's the highlights of our Live Episode of the Watchers! We discuss our home county and it's part within movies - more than you would think! Enjoy. Rhys :)

Programme 28: Die Hard Special

Programme 28 is here!

In this Die Hard special, Rhys takes a look back at this twenty-five year old film franchise (doesn't that make you pause for thought?) before delivering his verdict on the fifth film. But was it A Good Day To Die Hard?

Enjoy!

The Watchers LIVE On Videomajic.tv

 

As you may know, The Watchers Film Show is recorded for and shown on VideoMajic.tv, internet television for Pembrokeshire.

 

Tonight (Sunday March 3rd 2013), VideoMajic start live broadcasting.

 

And we will be there!

 

Yep, as part of the launch night, The Watchers will be doing a very special live show. To say we're both nervous is a complete understatement but we have every faith tonight will be a great success.

 

So point your browsers to VideoMajic.tv this evening- the broadcast starts at 8pm- and enjoy the show! 

 

 

Awards Season 2013: The 85th Annual Academy Awards

So last night saw the 85th Annual Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. This year's Annual Giving Out Of The Little Gold Naked Men (as the Razzies call it) was occasionally funny, occasionally touching and sometimes cringeworthy but nonetheless a great celebration of film.

Seth MacFarlane took up hosting duties for the first time this year and I was a little nonplussed by him, if I'm honest. His opening schtick was nearly twenty minutes long and felt like it, and a few nice touches aside (Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron dancing, Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt joining him for 'High Hopes') it wasn't great. Whilst the idea of having William Shatner come on as Captain Kirk and show MacFarlane destroying the Oscars might have sounded good in theory, in practice it didn't work so well. After he settled into the role, things improved but I don't expect the Academy to be beating his door down to host again. But I will say this: Sally Field is incredibly game for a laugh.

The theme for this year's ceremony was 'music in movies' and a lot of the incidental music was done well- I particularly liked the use of the iconic Jaws theme music as a kind of countdown to wrap the speeches up. I particularly loved the celebration of movie musicals, with Catherine Zeta-Jones vamping it up through a brilliant rendition of 'All That Jazz' from Chicago, Jennifer Hudson belting out 'And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going' from Dreamgirls and the cast of Les Miserables doing a medley of 'Suddenly', 'I Dreamed A Dream' and 'One Day More'. There were also storming performances by Shirley Bassey (singing 'Goldfinger' during the brilliant tribute to 50 Years Of James Bond) and Adele ('Skyfall', naturally). Barbra Streisand also gave a touching rendition of 'The Way We Were' and a personal tribute to the late Marvin Hamlisch at the end of the In Memoriam segment.

As usual, the guest presenters were very hit-and-miss: Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy were deeply, almost painfully, unfunny hosting Best Animated Short and Best Animated Feature, and the cast of The Avengers just about muddled through their awards (with Samuel L Jackson proving the best of them). Mark Wahlberg and Ted were pretty good hosting Sound Mixing and Sound Editing (even with Ted's expected Jewish joke) whilst Christopher Plummer was absolutely great presenting the Best Supporting Actress award. There was also a surprise co-presented for Best Picture... none other than First Lady Michelle Obama!

So, on to the awards themselves.

I was amazed to find my predictions were 100% right. Really wasn't expecting it. I did like that each of the acting winners acknowledged their fellow nominees; it shows a certain level of class, I think. All four nominees were well deserving of their honours. Jennifer Lawrence becomes the second youngest winner of the Best Actress Oscar (second only to Marlee Matlin who won for Children Of A Lesser God) and her speech was controlled and tight, despite her tripping on the stairs on the way up. Christoph Waltz has two Oscars from two nominations, which can't be at all bad. The Best Supporting Actor award was the first one awarded in the ceremony, so at least he got it over with early. Anne Hathaway's acceptance speech was lovely and Daniel Day-Lewis's was probably the best of the evening: how I would have loved to see him play Margaret Thatcher! Day-Lewis now has a unique place in Oscar history as the first actor to win three Best Lead Actor Oscars, and well-deserved it is too.

There was no real runaway winner this year. Life Of Pi won four Oscars (Best Director, Cinematography, Original Score and Visual Effects), with Argo (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing) and Les Miserables (Best Supporting Actress, Sound Mixing and Make-Up) with three each. Lincoln, Django Unchained and Skyfall all walked away with two Oscars apiece. I was over the moon that 'Skyfall' won Best Original Song, and was pleased that Paperman won Best Animated Short- I caught that before Wreck-It Ralph recently and thought it was beautiful.

---------------- 
Below is the full list of winners at the 85th Annual Academy Awards:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Argo

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)

Best Director: Ang Lee (Life of Pi) 

Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio (Argo)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Brave 

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: Amour

Best Cinematography: Life of Pi

Best Editing: Argo

Best Production Design: Lincoln 

Best Costume Design: Anna Karenina 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Les Misérables

Best Original Score: Life of Pi 

Best Original Song: 'Skyfall'

Best Sound Mixing: Les Misérables

Best Sound Editing: Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty (tied)

Best Visual Effects: Life of Pi

Best Documentary (Feature): Searching for Sugar Man

Best Documentary (Short Subject): Inocente

Best Animated Short Film: Paperman 

Best Live Action Short Film: Curfew 


Congratulations to all winners!

Tez

Awards Season 2013: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions 2013

Tonight, the great and good of Hollywood will convene to celebrate the best of filmmaking in 2012 at the 85th Annual Academy Awards, hosted for the first time by Family Guy's Seth MacFarlane. It has become a tradition for me to predict the nominations and the winners in the main six categories (the four acting categories, Best Director and Best Picture).  I've done this since 2003 with varying degrees of success. So, without further ado, here are my predictions for who will win.

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

I will be shocked if any of the other names are read out for this award. Hathaway's performance as Fantine is probably the best thing about the film and her bravura heartrending rendition of 'I Dreamed A Dream' is just sublime. She's been the runaway winner throughout the 2013 awards season and I don't see anyone stopping that at the Oscars.

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

This is one of the more open categories and we could well see any one of the five nominees named. For the first time in the Academy Awards' history, the Best Supporting Actor category is completely comprised of previous Oscar winners. There has been no clear runaway winner in this category throughout this awards season, but Waltz's wins at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs puts him ahead. His performance as Dr. King Schultz, a talkative dentist-turned-bounty-hunter, is a warm and effusive one and the film does suffer when he is not present. If not Waltz, then I think Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln.

Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

With no disrespect meant to the other nominees, this has been pretty much a two-horse race since awards season began. Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence have been neck-and-neck, claiming major awards apiece. Whilst Chastain's performance in Zero Dark Thirty is undeniably powerful, her character is a blank slate. You never get to know who Maya is behind the job. Whereas Tiffany, Lawrence's character in Silver Linings Playbook, has a full backstory and is a more rounded character. It's an astoundingly mature performance from a young actress- in one scene she more than holds her own opposite Robert de Niro which is no mean feat. I'm gonna say Lawrence for Best Actress but won't be surprised if it's Chastain (or even Emmanuelle Riva for a real left-field suggestion)

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Day-Lewis' performance as the eponymous President is just amazing. He really disappears into the role (as he always does) and what's left behind is a stoic, determined, dignified performance. As with Anne Hathaway, it's been Day-Lewis' show from the beginning of the awards season and I really don't see any other nominee coming close. If he does win, he will be the first actor to win three Best Leading Actor Oscars (Jack Nicholson also has three but one is for Supporting Actor) and he'll be the first actor to win an Oscar playing an American President. 

Best Director: Ang Lee (Life Of Pi)

This is the one I’m really not sure about. Usually you can count on the winner of the Directors Guild Award to also get the Oscar but this year's winner- Ben Affleck- wasn't nominated for the Oscar, so that theory goes for a burton. Whilst David O Russell and Michael Haneke get great performances from their respective casts, I didn't find the direction inspiring. Benh Zeitlin's direction of Beasts Of The Southern Wild is impressive, especially since he's dealing largely with a cast of non-actors. As you would expect, Spielberg's direction of Lincoln is polished, eliciting great performances across the board. But I think the technical challenges of Life Of Pi as well as a rare impressive use for 3D puts Ang Lee ahead. However, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's Spielberg.

Best Picture: Argo

Argo's blend of Hollywood satire and tense thriller might, on paper, seem like an odd combination- but it works. It ticks all the boxes that previous Oscar winners have- it's about films, it's about a real-life moment in American history, it's a surprisingly well crafted film- so it's kind of the whole package. If it's not that, I would imagine Lincoln would get it.  

Last year, I got 5 out of 6 (stating George Clooney would win Best Actor instead of Jean Dujardin). I have to be honest, I'm not even that confident this year. I'll be happy if I get 3 out of 6.

Check back on the blog on Monday February 25th for my thoughts on the Oscars ceremony and a full list of winners

Tez

Awards Season 2013: WGA, Independent Spirit and Razzies Results

Awards season is nearly over for another year (I hear some sighs and a lot of relief). There's just one more to go- the big one- the 85th Annual Academy Awards which is tonight (February 24th). It can be viewed on a dedicated Sky Movies channel in the UK and on ABC in the US. But before I turn my eyes to the Oscars, here's a round-up of the rest of the awards ceremony that have taken place in the last week. 

WRITERS' GUILD AWARDS

The WGA Awards- which honour both television and film writing, were presented on Sunday February 17th. Here are the film winners.

Original Screenplay: Zero Dark Thirty

Adapted Screenplay: Argo

Documentary Screenplay: Searching For Sugar Man

Both Zero Dark Thirty and Argo are nominated in their respective writing categories for the Oscars, so wins here will bolster their chances for winning at the Academy Awards. There is no category for documentary writing at the Oscars but Searching For Sugar Man has had a lot of recognition at various awards ceremonies so stands a good chance tonight.

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

Yesterday- Saturday 23rd February- saw the handing out of the Independent Spirit Awards. These honour films made (partly or wholly) outside the major film studio system. Some of the winners are below.

Best Feature: Silver Linings Playbook

Best Female Lead: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Male Lead: John Hawkes (The Sessions)

Best Supporting Female: Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

Best Supporting Male: Matthew McConaughey (Magic Mike)

Best Director: David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Screenplay: Silver Linings Playbook

Best First Screenplay: Safety Not Guaranteed

Best Cinematography: Beasts Of The Southern Wild

Best First Feature: The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Best International Film: Amour

Best Documentary: The Invisible War

John Cassavetes Award: Middle Of Nowhere

The John Cassavetes Award is given to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000. As an aside, I like the fact that most of the films mentioned on this list have had widespread cinema release. It's proof that independent film-making is not only alive and well but is breaking out of the niche that it's often put in. The full list of winners can be found here.

THE RAZZIES

As is traditional, last night (the night before the Oscars ceremony) also saw the 33rd Annual Golden Raspberry Awards. Dishonouring the worst in film in 2012, there was one overwhelming 'winner' among the ten categories awarded.

Worst Picture: Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

Worst Actor: Adam Sandler (That's My Boy!)

Worst Actress: Kristen Stewart (Snow White And The Huntsman and Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2)

Worst Supporting Actor: Taylor Lautner (Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2)

Worst Supporting Actress: Rihanna (Battleship)

Worst Screen Ensemble: The Entire Cast of Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

Worst Director: Bill Condon (Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2)

Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel: Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

Worst Screen Couple: Mackenzie Foy and Taylor Lautner (Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2)

Worst Screenplay: That's My Boy!

So that's pretty much covered the rest of the awards given out. But who will win the Oscars? My predictions for the winners of the Big Six, coming up soon.

Tez