Blake at the Movies: Archive

Fall Preview: What I'm Most Excited to See

(The cast of Carnage) As summer comes to a close, the raunchy comedies and action flicks that define the season start to drift toward the dollar theaters to make way for fall releases. The Venice Film Festival kicks off next Wednesday, Telluride two days later and Toronto the following Thursday, setting off the much anticipated fall film festival season and the eminent Oscar race to follow. As...

Aug 26th

Aug 15th

Jul 18th

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Jun 21st

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Article by Grady College About My Oscars... →

Jun 9th

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Jun 8th

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Where I've Been, Where I'm Headed.

It probably comes as no surprise that I’m gearing up for another summer in Los Angeles. But where have I been since the Oscars? I know, I know, I inundated you all with endless posts, Tweets, and messages about voting (once a day, every day, remember?) and then I disappeared. Well, life gets busy, and when you’ve neglected school for two months and only focused on the Academy Awards,...

May 16th

Photos from the Oscars Red Carpet →

Check out these fabulous pictures that David took from our front row seats on the Oscars red carpet!

Mar 2nd

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Mar 1st

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Blake's Academy Award Predictions

The Oscars are upon us, and it’s time that I reveal my predictions. I’m taking a step in a new direction and making a call on all 24 categories. I might as well give it a shot, right? Best Picture: The King’s Speech Directing: David Fincher, The Social Network Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman, Black Swan ...

Feb 26th

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Feb 25th

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Stars I'd Love to Interview: Meryl Streep

Living Legend. Academy’s Most Nominated Actress. Best Actress of Our Generation. Meryl Streep. Anyone who knows me certainly is aware of my deep appreciation and love for all things Meryl Streep. The place that legends like Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Joan Crawford occupied during the Golden Era in Hollywood in the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s, Meryl stands firmly...

Feb 17th

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Stars I'd Love to Interview: Cate Blanchett

When I learned today that Cate Blanchett will be presenting at the Oscars this year, my heart skipped a beat. Cate is one of those rare actresses whose body of work never falters from excellence. She has starred in Elizabeth, Notes on a Scandal, I’m Not There, and The Aviator. The former three performances brought her Academy Award nominations; the latter earner her the Oscar for Best...

Feb 16th

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Stars I'd Love to Interview: Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges, the dude. His infamous nickname really does embody his persona: carefree and badd-ass. He’s nominated this year for his performance in True Grit. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the film overall, I thought Jeff was incredible. He and Hailee Steinfeld carried the movie, in my opinion. He won Best Actor last year for his turn as “Bad Blake” in Crazy...

Feb 15th

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Stars I'd Love to Interview: Annette Bening

Anyone who has followed my Oscars posts and Tweets this year knows that I am pulling for Annette Bening to win Best Actress for her performance in The Kids Are All Right. Or, in Twitter speak, I’m #TeamAnnette. Yes, Natalie Portman was phenomenal in Black Swan. I get it. And if she does win, as I’m currently predicting she will, it will be a well-deserved win. It’s my...

Feb 12th

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Stars I'd Love to Interview: Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter is nominated for Best Supporting Actress this year for her role in The King’s Speech. She plays the Queen Mother, wife of King George VI, alongside Hollywood heavyweights Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. I think Helena would be fun to interview because, frankly, she’s a bit of a wild card. She always shows up to the awards wearing something “fun” (code...

Feb 11th

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Feb 8th

Great Oscars Moments: "I Love It Up Here!"

My all-time favorite Oscars moment is Julia Robert accepting her Oscar for Erin Brockovich. She starts by telling the “man with the stick” to go ahead and sit down because she has some things to say and may never be on that stage again. She noted that her award was “quite pretty,” and ended by yelling “I love it up here!” This clip has extra significance...

Jan 28th

Great Oscars Moments: Tom Hanks Wins for...

Tom Hanks won back-to-back Best Actor Oscars for his performances in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, respectfully. His first acceptance speech was especially touching where he thanked his high school drama coach and a classmate, both of whom were openly gay men who deeply impacted his life and contributed to his performance in the film. He ended his speech by paying tribute to all of those who...

Jan 27th

Great Oscars Moments: Why So Serious?

Heath ledger gave the performance of a lifetime in The Dark Knight. Tragically, his own life was cut short when he accidentally overdosed in his New York apartment in January of 2008. The entertainment and global community was shocked, having lost one of the greatest performers of our generation. Heath won the Academy Award a year later for Best Supporting Actor for his masterful turn as the...

Jan 26th

Great Oscars Moments: "It's About Time"

Katharine Hepburn won four Academy Awards during her long career, but she was wasn’t present to accept a single one of them. In fact, she only attended the Oscars one time, in 1974, to present the Irving G. Thalberg award to Lawrence Weingarten. When she came to the stage, she thanked the audience for not calling out “it’s about time” on her long-awaited attendance at...

Jan 25th

Great Oscars Moments: "Thank You Life, Thank You...

Marion Cotillard winning Best Actress for her performance in La Vie En Rose was one of the most charming moments in Academy history. Marion was visibly overwhelmed with excitement and shock as she came to the stage, and her acceptance speech was bumbling and endearing all at the same time. She ended her speech by saying, “Thank you life, thank you love. And it is true, there is some...

Jan 25th

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Academy Award Nominee Predictions

It’s been an eventful awards season thus far with lots of speculation and a large number of strong achievements in filmmaking coming out of 2010. In the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday, January 25th, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will announce the nominees for this years’ Oscars. As much as I would like to say that things will calm down after that, the truth...

Jan 24th

Jan 23rd

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Great Oscars Moments: Did You Get Her Cappuccino?

Academy Award veteran Meryl Streep is always a source of great entertainment at the Oscars. Having been nominated 16 times and won twice, she’s no stranger to the ceremony and has certainly learned to have fun with it. Back in 2007, Meryl shared a hilarious moment with Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, her The Devil Wears Prada costars, when the latter two ladies were presenting on stage....

Jan 23rd

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Great Oscars Moments: Myspace Picture

Ellen Degeneres, who hosted the 79th Annual Academy Awards in 2007, was, in my opinion, the best host that the program has seen. In her opening monologue, she tried to “relax” the audience by reminding them how much was on line if they won or lost. Her comments to the crowd about how to craft a good acceptance speech and her appropriate jesting with nominees was charming and entertaining. ...

Jan 22nd

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Jan 10th

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Film Review: "The King's Speech"

Starring Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, and Geoffrey Rush; Directed by Tom Hooper See the trailer here. The King’s Speech is a nearly perfect film. I say this because when the illustrious Katie Kellogg and I left the theater neither of us had a negative thing to say about it. The art direction, score, costuming, script, and performances are all solid. I think this film is a strong...

Jan 2nd

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Film Review: "Black Swan"

Black Swan — Directed by Darren Aronofsky; starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Vincent Cassel See the Black Swan trailer here. We open on a stunning shot of a spotlighted ballerina on stage. Her surroundings are black, but her outfit and skin are pale white. The music behind her performance is muted and the image on screen is slightly blurred. Are we witnessing reality or a...

Dec 19th

Dec 7th

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Wait... What Movie Won an Oscar?

The following quote comes from Patrick Goldstein and James Rainey’s LA Times articleThe Big Picture. “Why are the Grammys so much more oriented toward the mainstream than the Oscars, whose voters regularly opt for cinematic snobbery over populist appeal?” I hear this question brought up again and again in numerous different areas: why does the Academy of Motion Pictures...

Dec 2nd

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Independent Spirit Award Nominees Announced

Hot off it’s win at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, Winter’s Bone brought in 7 Independent Spirit Award Nominations. The films shares the Best Feature category with 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right, Black Swan, and Greenberg. See the full list of nominees here. The general consensus among those in the know is that 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right, and Black Swan are...

Dec 1st

Academy Award Campaign Season Kicks Off Early

When you were young, did your mother ever tell you that if you really wanted something you should pursue it as hard as you could? Mine did. And apparently many of Hollywood’s top filmmakers and talent also received this message somewhere along the line. Producers, directors, and actors alike are hitting the pavement — well, more accurately, hitting the red carpet — to get...

Nov 17th

Top 5 Films I'm Most Excited About This Fall

5. Conviction Starring Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, and Melissa Leo. Directed by Tony Goldwyn. A strong performance from one of my favorite actors or actresses is enough to draw me to the theater. When it comes to Hilary Swank, I always know what I’m going to get: quality. Films like Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don’t Cry — both of which brought her Oscar glory...

Nov 8th

Festival Gem: "Black Swan"

After it’s premiere at Venice, Black Swan has received a great deal of Academy Award Buzz. I haven’t seen the film yet — no one but filmmakers, critics, and festival-goers have — but I’m anxious to, and I think it won’t go unrecognized come February at the Kodak Theater. In his article for indieWIRE, Todd McCarthy talks in detail about this intriguing, dark, psychological thriller about a...

Oct 22nd

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Toronto, Telluride, Venice Promise Oscar Buzz

The only thing I love more than watching movies is guessing which ones will garner nominations and awards when the ‘old Academy Awards roll around each spring. This past year I was in front of the television at 8:00 a.m. to hear the nominees, and I’d already blogged my predictions. I take it a little too seriously. Since there have been several months to buzz about Cannes, and...

Sep 2nd

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Cannes Titles Trickle Into U.S. Market

You know when you can feel your friends getting sick of hearing you talk? Well, I get that feeling often when I start spouting off about how the trailer we’re watching is for a film that I saw in Cannes. Then I’ll share some story about how Michelle Williams, who stars in the film, was in the theater while I was watching it. As Tina Fey so smartly coined it in Mean Girls,this is what we call...

Aug 30th

Aug 18th

Jul 22nd

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A Random Collection of Thoughts and Anecdotes

1) Friends in the City I was very sad to take Brittany, Cortney and Monica back to LAX today and send them back to Georgia. And while I know he is going to have such an amazing time in Australia, I hated that Tanner had to leave us last Friday night as well. I miss all of my friends back east so much, and it’s wonderful that some have and will be coming out to visit me here in L.A. I...

Jul 6th

The 7-Eleven at Ashton and Demi's

-“Can I get you something to drink?” -“Sure, a water would be great.” -“Really? You don’t want something else? Come take a look in the kitchen — it’s like a 7-Eleven in here!” I proceeded into the kitchen, and the assistant showed me the spread: Coke, Diet Coke, sparkling water, still water, coconut juice, Red Bull, Izze soda… It...

Jun 30th

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#LiveTweetFromMileys... It Keeps Getting Better

She can’t be tamed… So, my lovely readers, I have another story for you. Yesterday, like most days, my boss sent me an email with things that she needed done for the day. Most of it was typical: calling the Four Seasons to check prices and availability, finding reviews on several books she is considering reading and turning into a script. You know, those types of things. Well, she...

Jun 26th

I look to my right and I see... Miley Cyrus?

So, I had to write a short addendum to my post from yesterday to update on a fun encounter I had today. The little things (continued)… 5) Party in the U.S.A. After I spent yesterday with the Burberry model, everyone in the office was giving me a hard time today. But it was all in good fun. I’m pretty sure they all think I’m just ridiculous. Maybe because I am. Anyway, so that...

Jun 25th

Burberry Models, Movies at the Cemetery, &...

The little things… I think that one of the most wonderful things in life is learning to appreciate the little things. Moments that light up your day; small surprises that make you smile. Sure, big things are great, but how often do they really come along? Learning to love the little things makes every day a treat. 1) Katharine Hepburn stamps. I have been looking for these damn stamps for...

Jun 24th

Jun 16th

Jun 7th

Jun 1st

May 29th

Watch

Part of the opening sequence for “The Sound of Music” was shot here, in the lake district outside Salzburg. So beautiful!

May 29th