Tom Hiddleston replaces Michael Fassbender in Jim Jarmusch’s vampire flick “Only Lovers Left Alive”

January 30, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting Leave a comment

Those who had been looking forward to a “Jane Eyre” reunion will have to wait a little while longer. While Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska had been set to co-star once again in Jim Jarmusch’s new vampire movie, THR reports that British rising star Tom Hiddleston will be replacing Fassbender in the film, now titled “Only Lovers Left Alive.”

Tilda Swinton, announced along with Wasikowska and Fassbender back in May, remains a part of the project, and veteran actor John Hurt is now on board as well for the “horror drama”, about two vampires who have been in love for centuries. Filming is set to begin in Germany later this year. Fassbender’s departure is perhaps unsurprising given his increasingly in demand profile in Hollywood, especially following an incredible year of films in 2011. Still, count me in as one who had been hoping for a Wasikowska-Fassbender reunion, and who’s a little disappointed by this news.

On the other hand, Hiddleston, one of our Breakout Stars of 2011 alongside Fassbender, had a pretty amazing 2011 himself and is an incredible talent in his own right. From “Thor”‘s Loki to “Midnight in Paris”‘s F. Scott Fitzgerald and “War Horse”‘s Captain Nicholls, Hiddleston has demonstrated the same sort of versatility and magnetism that Fassbender possesses. He just wrapped up reprising Loki in Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers”, is a nominee for BAFTA’s Orange Rising Star Award, and is vying for the male lead in Akiva Goldsman’s sci-fi epic “Winter’s Tale.”

BAFTA nominations solidify Oscar frontrunners, boost “Drive”, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

January 17, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Awards Leave a comment

The support for Nicolas Winding Refn’s violent, stylish arthouse action flick “Drive” was perhaps the biggest – and most pleasant – surprise to us when the British Academy of Film and Television announced their nominations for the 2012 Film Awards this morning. The film scored unexpected nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress for Carey Mulligan. “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” was also well-deservedly represented, nominated for Best Film, Best British Film, Best Director, Best Actor – Gary Oldman, Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as a bevy of below-the-line noms.

The usual suspects – aka Oscar hopefuls – were also well represented here, including our Breakout Stars Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer of “The Help” receiving expected Best Supporting Actress nominations. Both are expected to repeat on Oscar nomination morning a week from now. Melissa McCarthy, an on-the-bubble hopeful in the same category for “Bridesmaids”, got a big boost from BAFTA here with a nomination. “The Artist” continues its seemingly unstoppable march towards Oscar, with Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Jean Dujardin and Best (Lead, not Supporting) Actress for Berenice Bejo, among many other category nominations. Jonah Hill took a turn for the serious in “Moneyball” and is recognized by BAFTA in the Best Supporting Actor category as well – he is now well on his way to his first Oscar nomination.

The full list of nominations are below. The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on Sunday, February 12 at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

BAFTA 2012 longlist surprises include Alexandra Roach, Eddie Redmayne, Bryce Dallas Howard

January 6, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Awards Leave a comment

The BAFTA Awards are Britain’s Oscar equivalent, and the release today of the 2012 Longlist is an exciting look at which actors, films and directors the BAFTA members have enjoyed this year.

The usual suspects have turned up in the categories of Best Film, Director, Original and Adapted Screenplay, but the big surprise comes in the form of Steve McQueen’s exclusion in the Best Film and Director categories for “Shame”, his stark and frank look at sex addiction.
One pleasant surprise however is the inclusion of Mia Wasikowska for her leading role in “Jane Eyre”, a performance that UpandComers have been championing.

Other surprise rising stars that have been included are Alexandra Roach (“The Iron Lady”), Jonah Hill (“Moneyball”), Eddie Redmayne (“My Week With Marilyn”) and Bryce Dallas Howard (“The Help”), alongside those we have come to expect – Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Jessica Chastain and Shailene Woodley.

Final nominations will be announced on Tuesday 17 January, along with hopefully the BAFTA Rising Star shortlist, and all winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Sunday 12 February.

Click below for BAFTA’s announcement and explanation for how voting works amongst members, as well as the full longlist of acting nominations. Click here for the entire PDF longlist.

Up and Comers Podcast #9: Our off-topic favorites of 2011 (books, music, TV) and anticipated movies of 2012

December 30, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge and Rebecca Lewis in Podcast Leave a comment

Thank you for joining us again if you listened to our earlier podcasts or if you are new to the program, welcome! Once a week, Linda and Rebecca will take to the internet airwaves to discuss a variety of subjects, including all the latest news, movies we’ve seen recently, the Oscar season and more topics that interest us (or you! Please send us your suggestions for topics to talk about).

This week’s podcast WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS so please read below for the specifics before hitting PLAY.

• 00:00 – 25:00 – We review “Margaret”, “Drive”, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (12:00 – 17:30 spoiler-filled discussion), “Hugo”, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” and “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.”

• 25:00 – 67:40 – We go off-topic from up and comers to talk about things aside from movies that we loved in 2011 (though we do start with our favorite performances of the year). Our favorite TV shows, musical artists and albums and books.

• 67:40 – END – To wrap up the year and our last podcast of 2011, we take a look at some of the movies that we are looking forward to in 2012.

Have a happy new year! We should resume regular weekly podcasts starting on Tuesday, January 10th.

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Up and Comers Presents: The Breakout Stars of 2011

December 30, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge and Rebecca Lewis in Features, Lists 10 Comments

Just like last year, it was a great year for watching the discovery and rise of new young actors. While a few on the list were already on our radar heading into the year, the exciting part was discovering brand new talent that came out of nowhere to grab our – and the world’s – attention. There were a lot of wonderful actors to choose from, from new Sundance darlings to action heroes, Oscar hopefuls and future A-listers, and it took us a lot of work to narrow it down. We had to leave out some of our own favorites, so we’re sure we’ve missed some of yours as well, but we are proud to present our picks for the Top 11 Breakout Stars of 2011. We can’t wait to see where they go next!

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London Critics Circle nominate Gosling, Fassbender and add some fresh new names to the awards season

December 20, 2011 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Awards Leave a comment

Critic’s Circles and Guilds across America have already begun their awards season but today has brought the first set of critics nominations from across the pond in Britain, courtesy of the London Critics’ Circle, and we’re pleased to see some fresh rising stars joining those we’ve already come to expect.

The Best Actress category brings the two big surprises, with Kirsten Dunst being nominated for her stunning performance in Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia” – a role which won her Best Actress at Cannes – and Anna Paquin, in the little-seen but much-hyped “Margaret.”

Similar to the BCFA Critics Choice Awards, the London Critics Circle has a category focusing specifically on young rising British stars. Nominated this year are John Boyega (“Attack the Block”), Jeremy Irvine (“War Horse”), Yasmin Paige (“Submarine”), Craig Roberts (“Submarine”) and Saoirse Ronan (“Hanna”).

One film which has been mostly left out in the cold this awards season is Tomas Alfredson’s brilliant crime thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”, which stars some of Britain’s most exciting rising stars. But it leads the pack here with six nominations, including Best Director and Best Actor for Gary Oldman. Also with six nominations is Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” starring Ryan Gosling. Gosling was nominated in the Best Actor category, and joining him in this category are some more familiar names – Jean Dujardin for “The Artist” and Michael Fassbender, for both “Shame” and “A Dangerous Method. “

The London Critics’ Circle Film Awards will reveal their winners on Thursday, January 19th. The full list of nominations are below.

Golden Globe nominations: “The Artist”, “50/50″, Michael Fassbender, Rooney Mara and more

December 15, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Awards Leave a comment

More twists and turns in this exciting awards season this morning as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominees for the Golden Globe Awards. This season’s frontrunner, “The Artist”, continues to dominate, leading with five nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Jean Dujardin and Best Supporting Actress for Berenice Bejo. Also still full speed ahead is “The Help”, which landed four nominations. The big surprise and a major boost goes to “The Ides of March”, which garnered three nominations, Best Picture and Best Actor for Ryan Gosling (who is also nominated in the Musical or Comedy category for “Crazy Stupid Love”). One of our favorites of the year, “50/50″, also got some play, with surprise nomination for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy and a Best Actor for Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

After being snubbed by the SAG Awards yesterday, Rooney Mara (Best Actress for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), Michael Fassbender (Best Actor for “Shame”) and Shailene Woodley (Best Supporting Actress for “The Descendants”) all showed up here as well. But of course, to make room for them, others must be “snubbed”, and this time around, Melissa McCarthy was the one left out of the Best Supporting Actress noms, which also included Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer for “The Help.”

Full list of nominations are below.

NBR names “Hugo” Best Film, Rooney Mara and Felicity Jones Breakthrough Performers

December 1, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Awards 2 Comments

So early into the 2012 Award Season and already so many unexpected twists and turns. The National Board of Review, traditionally the first group to announce their winners but upstaged this year by the New York Film Critics, have released their list of the best movies and filmmakers of the year, and there are, once again, some surprises.

Martin Scorsese’s family-friendly 3D love letter to filmmaking, “Hugo”, takes Best Picture honors, with the director also taking Best Director, putting the film firmly into the hunt for a repeat at the Oscars. David Fincher’s highly anticipated and still barely-seen “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” also makes its first showing, listed in NBR’s Top 10 Films of the Year as well as a Breakthrough Performance award for star Rooney Mara. Mara will share the award with Felicity Jones, who lands another Breakthrough award (and another win over “Martha Marcy May Marlene”‘s Elizabeth Olsen) for “Like Crazy.” Jessica Chastain is left out in the cold this time around after dominating early, NBR instead choosing to give Best Supporting Actress to Shailene Woodley for “The Descendants.” Unable to choose between his four incredible performances this year, Michael Fassbender will get a special Spotlight Award for “Jane Eyre”, “X-Men: First Class”, “Shame” and “A Dangerous Method.”

Full list of winners and lists via press release below, thanks to Awards Daily.

The Hollywood courtship of Michael Fassbender continues; now sought for Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah”

November 30, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

We’ve said it before, but it really has become the least shocking news in the world to hear of yet another movie seeking the rapidly rising star power and acting prowess of German import Michael Fassbender. Today Variety reports this time it’s Darren Aronofsky who’s after the much in demand actor, courting him for his biblical epic “Noah”, which recently lost its star in Christian Bale, who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with his commitment to filming Terrence Malick’s next two films back to back.

Fassbender does not have an official offer yet, but has been meeting with the director about the project and is looking to fill a recently opened up free period in his upcoming schedule. He had been intending to do Rupert Wyatt’s “Londongrad”, but Wyatt has walked and that production has stalled. Aronofsky and Ari Handel wrote the “Noah” script, which presumably will follow the biblical fable about a man asked by god to build an ark and fill it with two of every animal in the face of an impending apocalyptic flood. The $130 million blockbuster is tentatively scheduled for a spring 2012 shoot.

For now, Fassbender is having a bit of a moment and basking in awards season glow, where he is awash in raves for his brilliant performances in Steve McQueen’s “Shame” and David Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method”, to speak nothing of “Jane Eyre” and even “X-Men: First Class.” He recently wrapped up Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” and has committed to just one other upcoming project, a third reunion with “Hunger” / “Shame” director McQueen for “12 Years a Slave.”

Watch: Michael Fassbender masters the art of seduction in “Shame” red band trailer

November 29, 2011 | Posted by Linda Ge in Videos Leave a comment

Michael Fassbender’s steely and seductive gaze is the star of the new red band trailer for “Shame”, visionary director Steve McQueen’s stark and frank look at sex addiction, and also my personal favorite film of the year so far. Fassbender stars as Brandon, a carefully controlled man whose neatly compartamentalized life begins to unravel when his mess of a little sister – played brilliantly by Carey Mulligan in a role unlike anything you’ve seen her in – moves into his apartment.

NSFW alert at the highest capacity here, as there are some very revealing glimpses of the NC-17 film. Its restrictive rating may prevent some movie theaters from showing it, but do try your best to find it near you when it releases on December 2.

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