Marvel vs DC Comics

Ever since the movie "The Avengers" premiered to record breaking numbers there has been alot of talk wheter or not DC Comics would "counter" with a Justice League movie. As it looks now, it is not sure when that movie would come, but I think it has a few disadvantages.

Marvel has had a really good plan starting when Iron Man was released and they slowly but surely built on until it all culminated in the release of The Avengers last year. By introducing characters as for example: Black Widow and Nick Fury in Iron Man 2 and later on releasing Thor which also featured a tiny cameo by Hawkeye. And then Nick Fury makes an apperance in the end of Captain America: The First Avenger. And also keeping Agent Caulson featured in almost all of those movies. 

All of that I think has been an excellent strategic move where many Marvel fans could surely realize what the ultimate outcome would eventually be. And now with the tvshow Agents of Shield they have continued to build and the show works within the already established Marvel Universe, not as a standalone show.

DC comics hasn't really done that, they have instead focused alot on both Superman and Batman, where the only real success in the 2000s and 2010s has been with the Nolan helmed Batman trilogy. 

The advantage that DC has it that is has a greater variety of characters that can and will most likely appeal to a wider audience, they have also in the movies(especially in the Nolan trilogy) had more of a realistic and more of a grounded approach, instead of going the fantastic route.

Well, all in all we will see what the future holds.

J J. Abrams to direct next Star Wars film

Credit: Lucasfilm

 Ever since Disney bought Lucasfilm last year and announced that there would be more Star Wars films alot of people have been speculating as to who would be directing the next film.

There has been many names that have been thrown in the mix; Zack Snyder, Matthew Vaughn, Steven Spielberg, Gary Ross and Christopher Nolan, just to mention a few.

But this past thursday the announcement everybody had been waiting for finally arrived. In a statement from Disney it was revealed that J.J. Abrams will direct the next Star Wars film. After reading several internet articles there seem to be mixed feelings about this.
I think that he's a great choice, given his earlier work with Star Trek(2009) and Super 8(2011). But it will be interesting to see the final result when it comes out in 2015. He has a tendency to make movies with a pretty fast pace, something that the Star Wars movies hasn't really had.

Lawrence Kasdan, the screenwriter for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi write the script for the next movie together with Simon Kinberg who wrote Sherlock Holmes and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

I'm excited for 2015! :) :) :)

Oscar predictions and guesses ;)

It's that time of the year again! Not long ago the nominations for the academy awards was presented. Overall there weren't so many surprises, but there were some snubs that were pretty obvious. Ben Affleck for example not getting a best director nomination for Argo and Kathryn Bigelow not getting a best director nomination for Zero Dark Thirty. 

A snub that I could find in the actor nominations was Anthony Hopkins not getting nominated for Hitchcock. I thought he was a shoo-in for that role.

I thought I would go through some of the "bigger" categories and share who I think will win.

Actor in a leading role:

• Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"
• Hugh Jackman in "Les Misérables"
• Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
• Denzel Washington in "Flight"

In this one Daniel Day Lewis is most likely the winner. He has won most of the awards so far for Lincoln with the exception of the golden globes. 

Actress in a leading role:

• Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"
• Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
• Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
• Naomi Watts in "The Impossible"

As much as I like Jessica Chastain as an actress I think it's Jennifer Lawrence year to win. She has won both the golden globe award and she won last night at the SAG awards, her odds is definetly in her favour. ;)

Actress in a supporting role:

• Amy Adams in "The Master"
• Sally Field in "Lincoln"
• Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables"
• Helen Hunt in "The Sessions"
• Jacki Weaver in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Without out a doubt, Anne Hathaway will most likely win. When the nominations were announced almost none of the other nominees in this category were discussed. 

Actor in a supporting role:

• Alan Arkin in "Argo"
• Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master"
• Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln"
• Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained"

I really really REALLY hope that Christoph Waltz will win because he was excellent in Django Unchained.

Directing:

• "Amour" Michael Haneke
• "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Benh Zeitlin
• "Life of Pi" Ang Lee
• "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg
• "Silver Linings Playbook" David O. Russell

My bet in this category is either Michael Haneke or Benh Zeitlin.

Best Picture:

• "Amour" Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka and Michael Katz, Producers
• "Argo" Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
• "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
• "Django Unchained" Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
• "Les Misérables" Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
• "Life of Pi" Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
• "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
• "Silver Linings Playbook" Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
• "Zero Dark Thirty" Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers

This has to be the first year in a long time where there hasn't really been a strong contender in this category. Ever single one has been mentioned in the media, but I think the dark horse might actually be Silver Linings Playbook. Given the controversy that has surronded Zero Dark Thirty I'm not so sure that it has a chance anymore.

For some other categories I think Adele will probably win for best orginal song.

As a swede I'm really rooting for Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn for their documentary feature Searching for sugar man. Bendjelloul used to attend the university that I'm currently studying at.

I'm really rooting for Quentin Tarantino to win for best original screenplay! He truly deserves it and he has once again made an excellent movie.

We will see how it goes on February 24th!