The National Board of Review is one of the oldest awards bodies and today they unveiled their nominees for 2013 film awards. Her, the newest Spike Jonze film about a man who falls in love with an operating system, was named the best film of the year, along with picking up Best Director. The nominees were really interesting so let’s dig in!
Fanboys seem to be having an interesting week. Pacific Rim has arrived to wildly divisive response, Comic-Con fever is about to hit and we’re in the thick of the summer movie season. But the biggest news of the week was derived from an interview with current Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield in which he tells Entertainment Weekly that he talked with his director about the possibility of MJ being played by Fruitvale Station actor Michael B. Jordan. Not only would Spidey then get a male love interest but have an interracial relationship, which is rare on screen in any movie, let alone a superhero one.
This review was originally published at Awards Circuit during the Sundance Film Festival.
Every so often as a critic you get the opportunity to witness a film that’s so ingrained in your experience that it becomes difficult to even comprehend how you feel about the film. On one hand, Fruitvale Station is a rich, if slightly problematic, retelling of the day in the life of Oscar Grant, the Oakland man who was shot by police officers on New Year’s Day 2009. On the other is innate sense of personal relevance. I can still tell you exactly where I was sitting when I heard about him getting shot, the worry on my parent’s (and to speak the truth, all Black parents) faces that something like this could happen to me (their children), and the anger, not just African Americans, but most Bay Area residents felt when the officer who shot him was only sentenced to two years jail time. There’s no way to divorce those experiences from watching a film like this. However the movie doesn’t ask you to, it just wants you to be in the moment as it tells it’s story. For those reasons, Fruitvale Station is a feat of movie making, something that operates well within the medium and invites you to bring your emotions along for the ride.
Hollywood stardom is a difficult thing to quantify these days since Hollywood has become a place driven more by production value than the stars in the production. Yet despite that, we still can identify movies based on their actors. We will still refer to films as Tom Cruise movies or ask, oh is that the one with Angelina Jolie? Once you’ve ascended to stardom, you’ve pretty much made it. So what of the possible movie stars today? Well I’m here to offer you a glimpse at the people I think are next in line provided they play their cards right. I tried to pick a mix of people just on the cusp as well as some who might need a few breaks, but will succeed in the end. Check out my selection of people after the jump!