When looking at her best known film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) in particular, it is easy to see why this actress was so highly revered during the time of the film’s release. Throughout the film, the highly choreographed mise en scene, costumes and of course dance and song numbers, only serve to add to the idealisation of the films two major players, Monroe and Russell. From the very beginning, we see Russell and Monroe sumptuously dressed in furs, tailored dresses and of course diamonds. For the Hollywood studios at the time, Russell was undoubtedly the jewel in Hollywood’s eye; whilst Monroe offered a ditzy, almost vulnerable depiction of women, Russell was perhaps ahead of her time by depicting characters whose charm and charisma lay in the boisterousness aspect of her character which lay along with her feminine allure. One of the greatest example of this occurs in the gym scene in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) where Russell begins her song number in plea as to whether there is ‘anyone here for love?.’ This is perhaps the beginning of another stereotypical depiction of a woman in Hollywood, some may argue, however it is Russell’s strength of character and femininity which become most apparent in this scene, one may even go on to argue, that Russell allows an almost feminist reading here as the audience’s gaze turns not to her body or its objectification, but rather to those of the male gymnasts, whose flesh coloured underwear subvert the male gaze usually synonymous with Monroe pictures, and turns it in toward itself resulting in the male body becoming fetishized and the object of our attention.

Whilst Monroe relied on the depiction of the vulnerable, soft spoken blonde, Russell breaks out onto the screen with a robustness and attitude that was unlike most of the other Hollywood female icons at the time, and it is in this way that we will remember her best.

A few weeks ago Sony released the first official image from the new Spider-man re-boot; a moody shot of Andrew Garfield sans mask, battle-worn, in a non-descript dark alley. Now Sony have released another image and with it a title for the new film – “The Amazing Spider-man”

With yellow eyes and black webbing the suit looks sleeker, darker and rawer than previous film and comic book incarnations. It’s interesting to note the (re)addition of web-shooters, an integral part of the comic-lore which were left out of the three Sam Raimi films.

So what do you think of the new suit? Love it or loathe it the creation of a new suit was bound to happen. Marc Webb and the team behind the new re-imagining need to make their mark of the well-known web-slinger series, and a dramatic re-design of the suit was the invariable first step.

It’s been a little over a year since we first heard that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire would not be returning to make Spider-man 4.  Sure it still hurts, but there’s no going back now; what’s done is sadly done and now there’s no reason not to look forward to seeing “The Amazing Spider-man.” The cast is pretty impressive – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Sally Fields, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen – and the bold choices they’ve made with the suit (although fills me with a little trepidation) seems to indicate they’re taking the series in a fresh new direction. Whether it’ll work  or not is too early to tell, but I’m excited none the less…

The Film Buzz Anticipation Rating: ********** (10/10)

Release Date: 2012

A little info on the comic:

‘Mean Business’ is a hand-drawn narration of one of the key establishing scenes in the Coen Brothers’ movie (and Charles Portis’ novel) and allows a very visceral canvas upon which to introduce Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridge’s character) one of the film’s protagonists and all round badass bounty hunter.
What I thought you might find just as interesting though is the story behind its commission. UK comic artist Christian Wildgoose saw the teaser trailer back in the autumn and ended up posting a sketch of Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn on his blog.

These drawings were spotted by someone working with Paramount who thought they’d make a fantastic rendition as a graphic novel. Et voila. Full props to Dan & Saffron at Glass Eye Inc, as they were the two behind getting this project made.

The True Grit official website is now live and the film comes out 11th February starring Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin and the wonderful new talent Hailee Steinfield… we await with bated breath.

Best Motion Picture – Drama
The Social Network

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
The Kids Are All Right

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version

Best Director – Motion Picture
David Fincher, The Social Network

Cecil B. DeMille Award
Robert De Niro

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Best Foreign Language Film
In a Better World (Denmark)

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Best Animated Feature Film
Toy Story 3

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me,” Burlesque
Music and lyrics by Diane Warren

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christian Bale, The Fighter

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Best film: Black Swan, Inception, The King’s Speech, The Social Network, True Grit

Outstanding British film: 127 Hours, Another Year, Four Lions, The King’s Speech, Made in Dagenham

Outstanding debut by British writer, director or producer: The Arbor/Clio Barnard, Tracy O’Riordan, Exit Through the Gift Shop/Banksy, Jaimie D’Cruz, Four Lions/Chris Morris, Monsters/Gareth Edwards, Skeletons/Nick Whitfield

Best director: Danny Boyle/127 Hours, Darren Aronofsky/Black Swan, Christopher Nolan/Inception, Tom Hooper/The King’s Speech, David Fincher/The Social Network

Original screenplay: Black Swan/Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin, The Fighter/Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson; Inception/Christopher Nolan, The Kids Are All Right/Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg, The King’s Speech/David Seidler

Foreign language film: Biutiful; The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I Am Love; Of Gods and Men, The Secret in their Eyes

Animated film: Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon, Toy Story 3

Leading actor: Javier Bardem/Biutiful, Jeff Bridges/True Grit, Jesse Eisenberg/The Social Network, Colin Firth/The King’s Speech, James Franco/127 Hours

Leading actress: Annette Bening/The Kids Are All Right; Julianne Moore/The Kids Are All Right; Natalie Portman/Black Swan; Noomi Rapace/The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Hailee Steinfeld/True Grit

Supporting actor: Christian Bale/The Fighter, Andrew Garfield/The Social Network, Pete Postlethwaite/The Town, Mark Ruffalo/The Kids Are All Right, Geoffrey Rush/The King’s Speech

Supporting Actress: Amy Adams/The Fighter, Helena Bonham Carter/The King’s Speech, Barbara Hershey/Black Swan, Lesley Manville/Another Year, Miranda Richardson/Made in Dagenham

The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award (voted by public): Gemma Arterton, Andrew Garfield, Tom Hardy, Aaron Johnson, Emma Stone

The BBC documentary takes a look into the Pixar studios as they celebrate their 25^th birthday and at the creative process involved in creating the animation classics that we love.

The documentary is available on BBC iPlayer till January 10th, and can be viewed here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/x9cdm

Enjoy.

Check out the interactive trailer:

Family-patriarch Jack Byrnes wants to appoint a successor. Does his son-in-law, the “male nurse”, Greg Focker have what it takes?

Starring Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Teri Polo, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand.

For all you Little wannabe Fockers out there, The Bouncy Castle game will kill much time whilst you fight as either Jack Byrnes or Greg Focker against the other, wrecking havoc at a children’s party. Also keep up to date with all the Focker madness by checking out their Facebook profile.

Little Fockers is out this Wednesday 22nd December, be sure to check out the official site for additional video content!

There are some obvious ones, *ahem* Inception, *cough* The Social Network, however I didn’t see The Kids Are All Right coming! Looks like I underestimated that one, along with Easy A (Emma Stone – Best Actress – really??)

And judging from some recent reviews of The Tourist, I’m surprised it’s name cropped up more than a few times on this list. Well Depp and Jolie do make the most iris-sizzling pair on screen regardless!

What do you make of this list?

Best Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network

Best Picture (Comedy)
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, ‘Black Swan’
David Fincher, ‘The Social Network’
Tom Hooper, ‘The King’s Speech’
Christopher Nolan, ‘Inception’
David O. Russell, ‘The Fighter’

Best Actress (Drama)
Halle Berry, Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Actor (Drama)
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

Best Actress (Comedy)
Annete Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway, Love and Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone, Easy A

Best Actor (Comedy)
Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp, The Tourist
Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version
Jake Gyllenhaal, Love and Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack

Best Supporting Actor (Drama)
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Michael Douglas, Wall Street 2
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Best Supporting Actress (Drama)
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Jackie Weaver, animal kingdom

Featuring big names such as Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, the title of this film may be misleading in its filmic qualities, but call me cynical; I may need a little more convincing than this. The film’s synopsis outlines an archetypal Western genre film, except this time our hero is not faced with renegade Indians or those troublesome Mexicans, but instead a threat far worse than this…‘marauders from the sky.’

There are few films which I believe truly test the limits of cinema, and this boys and girls is one of them, not because of its thematic complexity like Inception (2010) but because I think whoever pitched this idea, must be trying to test how much we as the general public are willing to spend on something which is clearly a practical joke. I hope you prove me wrong Craig.

In keeping with this science fiction theme, comes the news of the current Skyline (2010). Once again we are presented with an apocalyptic illustration of what a visit from our outer space counter parts would look like, and frankly this time, I am significantly underwhelmed. From the trailers, the danger found within these particular aliens, is of course the mandatory looming spaceship/Godzilla-esque size, but more specifically when looking into the bright light, their victims suddenly find themselves being airlifted into the sky (hence the title – how very droll.) To be quite honest the lead up to Christmas for me should entail films like The Holiday (2006) and if science fiction must be included, then Gremlins (1984) or E.T. (1982) are the only acceptable forms. I do not want to be confronted with images of aliens promising death and destruction or indeed Brittany Daniel so close to the holidays.

Onto more exciting news, with the recent release of The Social Network (2010) experiencing such wide scale success, it was inevitable that Hollywood was to milk this cash cow for all it was worth and continue this trend of films exploring this fresh new zeitgeist. I have waited with baited breath for what was expected to be a project which greatly lacked in The Social Network’s thematic ingenuity and wit; however what has followed is perhaps greater than anything I could have expected. Catfish (2010) to be released this year is a film which uses a documentary set up to follow the story of Nev who falls in love Megan, a girl he met online. The trailer of this film promises suspense and what can be anticipated as being a dark twist, something I much look forward to this coming December.

First up – don’t you just love it when you get ‘Facebook-raped’? That term coins the scenario when your Facebook reputation is put into jeopardy when some sad ass posts up an embarassing/rude update at your expense then proceeds to post onto all of your friend’s walls too. Yes, we have all been there. Well imagine if the Jack-Ass boys get their grimy little hands on your profile? Jack-Ass wrecks havoc in this innovative Facebook takeover where Johnny Knoxville and his gang smashes through YOUR profile whilst showing you their trailer (don’t worry it’s not real before those of you have a heart-attack, your precious little profile is still intact). Check out the cool simulation here!

If you feel like doing some pain-inflicting, check out this batting practice game called T-ballin’. Get the accuracy perfect to see some really funny results!

Here is the international featurette of Jack-Ass 3D – Bring On The Pain. Behind the scenes of Jack-Ass 3D, only the painful bits of course, why waste time on the other bits?