The MTV Movie Awards have been touch and go for years, but there's one thing we feel fairly confident about regarding the 2015 edition: Amy Schumer will rule.

The star of Comedy Central's “Inside Amy Schumer” and Universal Pictures upcoming (but already critically acclaimed) comedy “Trainwreck” is a stand-up force.  Schumer should have no problem winning over the Nokia Theater audience or viewers at home.  Considering Conan O'Brien seemed out of his element last year and Rebel Wilson pretty much bombed in 2013, that's actually something to look forward to.

Another reason to watch this year's MTV Movie Awards is the fact so many categories are up in the air.  With the “Twilight” series no longer in the mix many thought “The Hunger Games” would rule until the end of the franchise.  Instead, “Catching Fire” took home only three Moon Men last year and, in some ways, the MTV Movie Awards voters spread the wealth like it was a real awards show!  (We're kidding. It's not a real awards show. Hold your excitement until the Emmys return September.)  This year Best Shirtless Performance, Best Male Performance, Best Fight, #WTF Moment (geez, that hastag MTV, #dated) and Best Villain are complete tossups.  Moon Men are on the line people and its too close to call!

For catch up on all of this year's nominees, click here.

Keeping all this mind, and realizing there won't be a musical performance that will come close to Eminem and Rihanna, let's check out 10 things you should look for during the 2015 MTV Movie Awards in the embedded gallery below.

The 2015 MTV Movie Awards will be broadcast on MTV this Sunday, April 12 at 8 PM ET, 7 PM CT.  Look for complete coverage from the entire HitFix team beginning at 7 PM ET.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4909778759001

For a man whose directorial debut has earned almost uniformly stellar reviews, Alex Garland seems slightly pessimistic about what might come next.  It's likely because of his experiences writing “Sunshine,” “Never Let Me Go” and “Dredd.”  All three earned some heaping of critical praise, but either disappointed or had middling success at the box office.  “Ex Machina,” which has already had success on the other side of the Atlantic, may break that trend.

A contemporary science fiction thriller, “Machina” finds a young programmer, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), dropped off at the remote estate of his company's mysterious and genius founder, Nathan (Oscar Isaac).  Caleb has won a contest at their Google-like company to spend a week with this powerful, Steve Jobs-esque figure, but he soon learns, however, that he's been recruited for a specific experiment.  Nathan has secretly been developing an artificial intelligence that “lives” within a walking and talking robotic body.  Caleb has been brought in to interact with Eva (Alicia Vikander) and help determine if “she” has really reached a true level of independent consciousness.

Garland sat down with HitFix earlier this month to discuss whether machines can actually achieve human-level A.I., finding great actors (quite easy it seems), the film's stunning production design and what's next.

HitFix: You”ve probably heard this question a hundred times but…

Alex Garland:    I think I”ve heard it before.

Where did the inspiration for this story come from?

Three things.  When I was 12, [I was coding in the most basic way in the basic language],  in a very sort of ultra-simplistic way making it talk so it could do a little routine.  'Hello, how are you.  I”m fine.  What”s the weather like.' So, very limited but it would give you this weird feeling like it”s alive essentially, you know.  And then years later a good friend of mine, his thing is neuroscience and he comes from a position that says machines can”t be sensitive for various reasons.  There”s something we don”t understand about consciousness, our consciousness.  When we do understand it we”ll see that it precludes the idea that a machine can be conscious and it”s a very reasonable argument which a lot of people believe and it has strong sort of…

He basically believes that a machine can never have consciousness.

Correct.

Ever.

Ever.  And that”s not a niche position at all.  Nor is it a religious position.  I mean it is an absolutely kind of well-argued scientifically unphilosophical position, but it didn”t feel right to me.  And really because I used to argue against him and be left behind by his literal expertise, I just started reading about it and I read and read and read and another friend of mine who knew that I was sort of getting fixated on the subject matter gave me a book by a guy called Murray Shanahan, a professor of cognitive robotics at Imperial which is like our version of MIT.  And I started reading the book while we were in prep on Dredd out in South Africa and it really had an impact and it sort of consolidated some of the things I”d been thinking about.  [It]sort of answered some of the questions that kept buzzing around my head.  And the story for this film just kind of arrived.  I wrote it very, very quickly, just a smashed out thing, a way too short piece of shit.  You could never film it, but it gets it down [on paper].  And then we made 'Dredd.' At the tail end of that whole thing, I handed it over and then thought, 'Alright, now I”m going to try and get stuck into this' and that was it.

One of the things I love about the movie is you”ve clearly put so much thought into it.  I”m just wondering how real some of the ideas presented in the film actually are.  For example, there”s a scene in the movie where Oscar”s character brings Domhnall in and he shows him like sort of this brain.

Wetware.

Is that a real thing that is being developed in the scientific community?

No, what that is is a kind of reasonable speculation type thing.  There”s two big sort of pillars of science fiction in the film. One is that there”s a sentient machine and the other is the level of robotics on display, because you couldn”t do either at the moment.  It just wouldn”t be possible.  But it”s Sci-Fi so you”re allowed to.  So, it”s presenting a bunch of ideas which aren”t really my ideas.  They”re out there and it”s to represent them fairly and clearly and to dramatize them. I mean, you [can't] say they”re scientifically accurate because there is no science there.  It”s science fiction.  But what you can say is in the issues surrounding the matter this is a reasonable account of the ideas.  

What I did was write the script as best I could…then I approached three people and one of them was that professor Murray who I just contacted out of the blue and said, 'Look, I read your book and found it fascinating.  I want you to take a hard look at this and I want you to test it.'  Another was a lady names Gia Malinovich who I wanted to check her to look at other aspects of the film.  And [geneticist and science writer] Adam Rutherford had another set of things that he was looking at.  If it”s an ideas movie there”s a thesis.  If the thesis is bullshit the whole thing”s a fucking waste of time, right? And it really would devalue it.  I worked a few years ago on a film 'Sunshine' where I felt I”d seriously dropped the ball in some respects in terms of losing track of the connection between characters, themes, argument and narrative.  

You thought they weren”t integrated enough?

They”d separate and then reconnect or not reconnect or whatever.  On a personal level I was not at all satisfied with that.  I then had a kind of object lesson because the thing I did after 'Sunshine' was 'Never Let Me Go' and that was a novel adaptation where this amazing novelist had an argument and a character and themes that were really beautifully enmeshed and intelligently enmeshed and was almost demonstrating how badly I had managed some of this stuff previously.  It”s very good [when you do an] adaptation because you get inside the writer”s head a little bit to a degree.  I don”t want to overstate it, but to a degree you really think about 'Why this is like that?  Why has he done this at this moment?'  

Do you feel like you couldn”t have made 'Ex Machina' unless you had adapted 'Never Let Me Go'?

I think I could have made this film without all of the preceding movies.  In one way or another everything previously gets played out here.

Segueing a bit, let's talk about the production design. It's almost a fifth character in the movie. Is Nathan's remote estate supposed to be in Iceland?

No. We were specifically avoiding Iceland because everyone else keeps shooting in Iceland.  One of the things about film is that it has this unbelievable tolerance with familiarity.  It”s weird.  Sometimes it embraces familiarity and other times it kicks it in the teeth.  So, Iceland was out.  Because we knew what productions were going there and we knew which ones had been there.  We looked at the Alps.  It”s sort of doubling for maybe Alaska or something like that.

I wasn”t sure.

It”s not doubling for.  It”s someplace.

O.K., it”s not a specific place.

But the question is what effect does it have on the viewer and if you stick cameras around the Alps what you keep finding is that you”re just too familiar with this imagery.  You”ve seen it on a chocolate box or a postcard or just as like in a window as a backdrop in a travel agent's [office].  I don”t know.  You know it too much.  The thing about Norway was…

Ah, so Norway.

…It had this significant difference.  It hasn”t been seen much.  It”s got something desolate about it.  It”s very beautiful and it”s very powerful. These big [expletive] skies.  These powerful waterfalls.  These stunning mountains and the green and the rock, But there”s a hardness in there.  There”s a sort of power and a hardness amongst all the beauty.  You”ve also got this CEO of a tech company and if we know anything about those guys it”s that they”re rich, right?  So, they”ve got [expletive]  of money and we”ve got 15 million dollars, a lot of it which is going on a VFX budget.  So, how do you get the right house with the claustrophobia and the aesthetic and the wealth and the power in the landscape?  It turned out to be Norway partly because of the beautiful landscape, it”s not that familiar on an unconscious level.  Partly because they”re the smartest country in the world in some respects because when they discovered oil they nationalized it and they kept it.  They didn”t squander it.  They made their society affluent.  And what you find in Norway is these incredible architectural conceits in the middle of nowhere.  It was kind of perfect.

It was a six week shoot, four of it on a sound stage and two of it in Norway.  We found a house and a hotel built by the same architect about 15 minutes away from each other in an incredible rural dramatic setting, remote setting.  Then some of the design cues we carried from Norway back to Pinewood Studios.  I mean we shot Pinewood first.  So, some of that went back to Pinewood and some of it went the other way.  You know, through the magic of cinema.

Was the Norway location a private home or a hotel then?

It”s an Eco-hotel and it”s a private home.  There”s a living room with this huge rock wall and that”s someone”s living room.  Then at Pinewood Studios in Nathan”s bedroom and office there”s a big rock wall which is echoed.  These beautiful landscape windows that show a river and mountains behind as if it”s framed beautifully, it”s been framed beautifully by the architect.  That”s the hotel.  The hotel had like these black boxes where one wall is glass and…

So when he”s outside working out that”s a pretty good location.

That”s the location, yeah. The Juvet Hotel.  

I feel like the house also informs Alicia”s character in a way.  Were those elements developed separately?  

Yeah, we designed Ava before we got to the problem of where are we going to find this house. Where are we going to find the landscape?

Was that part of your location choice though?  That she has to be able to work in this space because that's Nathan's aesthetic?

No, it is integrated for another reason which is we”re sort of post iPhone.  Technology now leans towards the sort of minimalist aesthetic and sort of softness of contour lines and stuff.

There are no sharp edges.

Yeah, it”s stones on the bottom of a riverbed that have been polished for a long time.  So that”s in there and everyone working on the film, you know, everyone doing the concept art.  Andrew Whitehurst doing the visual effects.  Mark doing the production design.  It goes on and on.  All of us know that.  We”ve all got it in us.  You don”t want to do Robbie the Robot, you know.  You want to do the iPhone robot.

I”m guessing Ava was the hardest character to cast in many ways?  Am I wrong?

Oh no, real easy.  

Really? so you just met with Alicia and it was like, 'Yup, that”s it.  She”s got it.'

There really wasn”t much of a casting process.  I mean there was a film, 'A Royal Affair.'

Great movie.

You watch it and you think, 'She”s utterly captivating.  She”s got incredible control over her performance and she”s unbelievably beautiful.  Does she want to do it?'  I mean, she did go on tape.  She was shooting something out in Australia.  There was an element of that.  But, truly, this is how I have tried to explain it in the past so you can [expletive] use it in your interview if you want. You don”t need to work in film to recognize good actors.

True.

I think you probably need to work in film or be very steeped in film to notice good editing, but you don”t need to be that to notice good actors.  I”ve never met anybody who thinks Philip Seymour Hoffman was a bad actor.  It”s sort of empirical and when you see Alicia in 'A Royal Affair' she”s doing the same thing that Philip Seymour Hoffman does which his this strange double state that really good actors present you with.  Where one part of you is going 'My god, they”re a brilliant actor.  This is an amazing performance.'  And the other part of you is totally sucked in and in the narrative and in the moment and the two coexist.  They should be mutually exclusive, but actually you can admire what Meryl Streep is doing whilst being locked into what she”s doing at exactly the same time.

Did you want to do a screen test with her and Domhnall just to see how it worked?

I had no interest in that whatsoever.  I”ve worked with a lot with actors.  I know sort of the rhythms of it and kind of what you”re looking out for.  By the way this is the third film [Domhnall and I have] worked on together.  We know each other well.  We did 'Dredd' and 'Never Let Me Go' so that was kind of easy.

How about casting Oscar as Nathan?  Was that harder?  Or finding the right actor?

No it was [expletive] easy.  I had seen him in various things and I particularly remember watching him act opposite DiCaprio in this film set out in the Middle East.

Oh right.

Ridley Scott directed it.

Yes, what is that movie.

Whatever that movie is.  [It's 'Body of Lies'] I remember thinking, 'This guy is just owning everything.  It”s like he”s completely unintimidated by DiCaprio.' It was so impressive and you just had to notice him I thought.  He”s kind of incredible looking anyway so there”s all that stuff really.  Then we met in New York and while we were talking he actually started talking about 'Sunshine' which he”d read for back when he was leaving Juliard, but mainly what we spoke about was science.  I knew he could act and he was so clearly just so smart that after about three-quarters of the way through talking to him I began to feel this rising sense of anxiety because I was thinking, 'This guy is so right for this.'

He”s going to intimidate me?

No, 'How do I make sure we get him. What now?' (Laughs.)  Because who else can do it?  And in the whole filmmaking process the only moment of tension from start to finish was the casting process.  These [actors felt] so right. They did this incredibly dangerous thing of making you feel that no one else could do it.  And then you”re at the mercy. You have managers and agents and lawyers and producers [to deal with].

And scheduling.  

That too, yeah.

This also a rare case where the film has already been released in the U.K. and it”s a hit before it ever lands in the states. It appears as thought it's done really well financially so far. Do you feel that's the case?

It depends what you mean by really well?  We were a low budget film.  We did fine.  I mean but like…

But for the U.K. I mean…

[“Ex Machina” has earned $6.2 million outside the U.S. as of April 9]

Yeah it was great.  I”m really happy but I also know the way this industry works and at the end of the year when you look down the list of what grossed what you”re going to have to go a long way down before you find us.  But, I know in some respects that”s not important.

Did that give you more confidence that it could do well here? An industry expert would look at the results and say, 'Oh, if we extrapolate the U.K. results to the U.S. it could do this amount of box office.'  Do you feel relieved at all over the U.K. success?

Yeah.  I”m just trying to think.  I”m actually trying to think how to answer the question honestly.  

Sure.

It”s a funny thing in interviews how one can drift into dishonesty without meaning to.

Yeah, I get it.  I've experienced it.

Sometimes it”s almost out of politeness.  I don”t know, but usually it”s out of feeling some need to twist the facts to one”s own advantage…

Definitely.

…or lie.  I think that for me there can be concurrent feelings of relief and dismay and all sorts of different emotions of going at the same time.  The thing that lies under all of it is what I would really like to be able to do – and this is true of every film I”ve worked on –  is to be able to make another one afterwards.  That”s it.  At times, a film like 'Never Let Me Go' or 'Sunshine' creates an obstacle to doing that because it has nothing to do with critical reception.  It may or may not be actually.  Sometimes it is that, But if you”re going to point to one thing you”ve got to point to box office.  What I feel is in a way it”s not about this film.  It”s about the potential to be able to make another.  I feel I”m in with a shout.  I can make an argument.  I can write a script and I can propose it and, yeah, I”m in with a shout.  

Speaking of another do you know what you”re going to do next?  

That”s the thing right?  I”ve just written an adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer's book 'Annihilation.' I”ve adapted it and the producers, who also produced 'Ex Machina,' have just submitted it and we”re waiting to find out if we”re going to get the green light.

Is it set up in a studio or are you looking for independent financing?

The book is owned by Paramount so we”ll see if they want to make it or not.  That”s what I hope.  That”s what I”d love to do, but I know how the real world works.

The real world is not always great.  Well, best of luck and I truly thought that movie was remarkable.

Thank you.

“Ex Machina” opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday.

The Academy got some scheduling news out of the way today announcing the timetable for the 88th Academy Awards as well as broadcast dates for the 2017 and 2018 Oscars.

As expected, the 2017 Academy Awards will be broadcast in February on February, 26, 2017.  Because of the PyeongChang South Korea Winter Olympics, the 2018 date has once again been pushed back to March.  That means the 90th Academy Awards will take place on March 4, 2018. (You can already hear the complaints about how long that season will feel now).

The 2016 Oscar date had previously been announced as February 28, 2016, but the Academy has now provided the basis for the upcoming awards season calendar.

Saturday, November 14, 2015  – The Governors Awards
Wednesday, December 30, 2015  – Nominations voting opens 8 a.m. PT
Friday, January 8, 2016   – Nominations voting closes 5 p.m. PT
Thursday, January 14, 2016 – Oscar Nominations Announcement
Monday, February 8, 2016  – Oscar Nominees Luncheon
Friday, February 12, 2016  – Final voting opens 8 a.m. PT
Saturday, February 13, 2016  – Scientific and Technical Awards
Tuesday, February 23, 2016  – Final voting closes 5 p.m. PT
Oscar Sunday, February 28, 2016 – 88th Academy Awards begins 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT

Intriguingly, and happily for members of the media and a throng of publicists, the Oscar nominations announcement (Jan 14) will take place outside the 2016 Sundance Film Festival window for the second straight year (the festival runs from Jan 21-31, 2016).  

The Academy has still not announced who will produce the 88th installment of the world's premier awards show.

Vin Diesel is jumping back into the prestige movie world.  And, yes, that's “back.”  Diesel has made his name in the “Fast and Furious” and Riddick franchises, but many forget he actually has a Steven Spielberg movie on his resume (“Saving Private Ryan”).  He also starred in the cult drama “Boiler Room” and voiced the title character in the classic animated film “The Iron Giant.”  What many have already forgotten, however, is that Diesel earned the best reviews of his career in Sidney Lumet's 2006 courtroom drama “Find Me Guilty.”  Now, Diesel is getting serious again by teaming up with another cinematic master, Ang Lee.

According to Deadline, Lee has cast Diesel and Chris Tucker to star in his adaptation of Ben Fountain's novel “Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk.”  The drama focuses on a group of American soldiers, including Lynn, who are being celebrated for their heroism during the Iraq War.  The government has set them on a promotional tour while still not relieving them of their duties.  With the increasing stress of their impending return to active duty in Iraq, Flynn and his squad are honored as heroes during a Thanksgiving Day football game.  In the book this was a Dallas Cowboys game, but it's unclear whether the NFL is participating in the production.

Diesel and Tucker exact roles are still unknown, but they'll join previously announced cast members Steve Martin, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart and newcomer Joe Alwyn who is set to play the title character.  Even though the film has a relatively small scope at times, Lee has decided to film it in 3D and in the 4K high frame rate technology Peter Jackson used for “The Hobbit” trilogy.

Lee won his second best director Oscar for “Life of Pi” in 2014.  His first attempt at 3D filmmaking.

It's worth noting that Diesel publicly tried to recruit Lee to direct his big screen remake of “Kojak” in 2013.  That project currently appears to be in development hell, however.  Diesel next film is the fantasy thriller “The Last Witch Hunter” which will hit theaters just in time for Halloween.

Tucker ended a five-year absence from theaters by appearing in David O. Russell's Best Picture nominee “Silver Linings Playbook” in 2013.  

“Billy Lynn”s Long Halftime Walk” is expected to hit theaters sometime in 2016.

One of the amazing things about the Sundance Film Festival is it attracts people from all walks of life from all over the globe.  As one of the world”s preeminent film festivals that might seem obvious, but my experience during the world premiere of “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” may surprise even the most callous industry observers.

“Earl,” which was directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, is a coming of age drama that in its own ways shatters the cliche's of the genre.  It tells the story of Greg (Thomas Mann), a High School senior who is pressured by his mother (Connie Britton) to hang out with Rachel (Olivia Cooke), the daughter of a family friend who has been diagnosed with leukemia. Along with his seemingly one real friend Earl (Ronald Cyler II), they cheer Rachel up by screening their homemade remakes of classic films (“Senior Citizen Kane,” “2:48 PM Cowboy,” etc.) which they have been making for years.  They also start to make a movie just for Rachel, but Greg just can't get his head around it and, sadly, time may be running out. 

But, back to that fateful Sunday afternoon in Park City.

Before the premiere at the Eccles Theater began, I arrived early and looked to find a seat in the one row that allows for ample leg room.  There were still some seats in the center of the row available next to this one couple that must have been in their late 60's.  I asked the woman if the seat next to them was free immediately thinking I recognized her from somewhere. She kindly said, “absolutely” (paraphrasing), and I sat down still wondering who she was. Within a minute another woman came over to her, introduced herself and she said something akin to “My name is [whatever] and I'm on the Sundance Board of Trustees. If you need any help with anything, any screenings please let us know.”  Now, that's not something you hear everyday at a major film festival so I turned once more to look at the woman sitting next to me again and it hit me.  

My screening companion was California Senator Barbra Boxer.

This revelation might not mean anything to you, but as a longtime resident of California and someone who has voted for Boxer a number of times this was like sitting next to a rock star.  When you work in the movie business long enough, unless they are iconic superstars, actors don't tend to impress you much.  On the other hand, major political figures, sports stars and pop stars?  We become just as fan girl and fan boy as everyone else.

Mustering up some courage, I clumsily introduced myself to the Senator and thanked her for all her work (we have the same views on a number of issues).  Boxer was actually at the festival to support Kirby Dick's documentary on campus rape, “The Hunting Ground,” which has premiered the day before, but was spending the rest of the weekend seeing movies with her husband.  The film eventually began and it blew the packed theater away (as to why, read my review).  I'm 90% sure the Senator shed a few tears  or that's what I would testify to in court, at least.  And, this pundit?  I'm not sure I've bawled my eyes out at Park City screening so much since attending the world premiere of “Precious.”  Yep, it's not every screening that you find yourself wiping away the tears sitting next to the U.S. Senator from your home state.  

(For those curious, she did say afterward that she loved it.)

Clearly, after winning both the Grand Jury and Audience Award and the reports over it becoming the biggest acquisition in the history of the festival (not exactly true) “Me and Earl” is in danger of being incredibly over-hyped.  Truth be told, this level of buzz will always lead to negative reactions no matter what (it's called a backlash), but, trust me when I tell you that this one special movie.  And now you can get your first look the critically acclaimed dramedy with the release of the film's first trailer which you can find embedded in the bottom of this post.

Are you sold yet?

“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” opens in limited release on June 12.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qfmAllbYC8]

Will this upcoming awards season be the year of Tom Hiddleston?  The popular Brit already has Guillermo Del Toro's “Crimson Peak” on tap for October and, now, he's officially in the mix for his performance as the iconic Hank Williams in Marc Abraham's “I Saw The Light.”

“Light” is based on Colin Escott's 1994 novel “Hank Williams: The Biography” and chronicles his rise to superstardom and tragic death at the age of 29.  An autopsy revealed he died of a heart attack, but he was also a known alcoholic who had also developed addictions to morphine and other painkillers.  Williams had 11 no. 1 hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart including two posthumously.  

The cast also includes Elizabeth Olsen as William's wife Audrey Mae and Bradley Whitford as Fred Rose (founder of the legendary Acruff-Rose Music which published Williams songs) as well as David Krumholtz, Cherry Jones, Wrenn Schmidt and Josh Pais.  The screenplay is by Abraham (usually a producer best known for directing “Flash of Genius) and is produced by Brett Ratner's RatPac Entertainment.

Sony Classics hasn't revealed when “Light” will hit theaters, but considering production wrapped in December it's almost a foregone conclusion the biopic will be held for the Fall festival circuit.  And anyone who has followed awards season for even a short period of time can tell you this one has Oscar bait written all over it.

Sony Classics had a memorable Oscars taking home a Best Actress win for Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”) and three statues for “Whiplash” including J.K. Simmons for Best Supporting Actor.

Hiddleston also has the thriller “High Rise” looking for distribution in the U.S. and is attached to star in “Kong: Skull Island” for a 2017 release.

Sometimes movies can do a good job of sneaking up on you when you least expect it.  A prefect example is “Senna” director Asif Kapadia's new documentary about Amy Winehouse, “Amy.” The project was first announced with a lot of fanfare a little under two years ago, but now the final product is ready for its debut.

At the time, Winehouse's family said they had agreed to work with Kapadia and producer James Gay-Ress  because they would “look at Amy's story sensitively, honestly and without sensationalizing her.”

Winehouse passed away due to alcohol intoxication on July 23, 2011 at the age of 27.  During an eight-year career she had won six Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Rehab,” and her 2006 album “Back to Black” sold over 20 million copies worldwide.  To many on both sides of the Atlantic, however, she was primarily known for tabloid headlines that focused on her drug abuse, dramatic weight loss, legal issues and health problems.  “Amy” promises to shed new light on many of these controversies as it contains footage of Winehouse previously unseen by the public.

It's worth noting that Kapadia and Gay-Rees have an impressive track record and the critically acclaimed “Senna” is considered one of the biggest snubs in the Best Documentary category this century.  

As for “Amy,” A24 has come on board to distribute this doc in the United States and have released a brand new teaser trailer embedded at the bottom of this post. “Amy” follows “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck” as the second music documentary to get major theatrical distribution this year. Moreover, with a summer release date there is a chance it may have its worldwide debut at Cannes (maybe).

Check out the new preview and let us now if you're looking forward to “Amy” in the comments section.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiMb_hj1fTw]

There are now officially two competing movies about the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.  20th Century Fox already has “Boston Strong” in development with Daniel Espinosa (“Safe House”) directing.  Now, CBS Films has announced “Patriot's Day” is in the works from screenwriter Matt Chapman (“Bridge of Spies”) and producers  Scott Stuber, Mark Wahlberg, Dylan Clark, Stephen Levinson and Michael Radutzky.

Based on the personal account of Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, “Patriot's Day” is the first collaboration between “60 Minutes” and CBS Films and will feature information revealed in a report by Radutzky.  The studio has also secured Davis' life rights to tell the story and Mark Wahlberg is likely on board to play him.

According to a release from CBS, “Commissioner Davis played an integral role in working with the FBI, Watertown Police Department, Boston Police Department, Massachusetts State Police and local first responders to track, identify and apprehend the suspected bombers. Their tactics included the use of sophisticated identity technology and giving the historic order to put the city of Boston under lockdown as they rushed to apprehend the suspects. The story is envisioned as an intense thriller, spanning the five-day search up to the infamous siege where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was pulled from a boat in Watertown.”

CBS Films president Terry Press added, “There is nothing more compelling than a real story populated by real heroes. The team that we have assembled for this project is determined to give audiences a very personal look at what occurred during the days when the eyes of the world were on the city of Boston and how a group of contemporary patriots faced this crisis.”

The project currently does not have a director publicly attached, but, like “Boston Strong,” “Patriot's Day” hopes to begin filming later this year.

Wahlberg, an Oscar nominee for “The Departed,” most recently appeared in “The Gambler.” His upcoming slate includes a supporting role in “Entourage” and reuniting with the talking teddy bear in “Ted 2.”

It's probably something of a compliment that a “Weinstein Company” movie has become its own genre. Back in the day this would be known, of course, as a “Miramax” movie, but Harvey Weinstein has managed to keep this trope alive even at his relatively new company.

For those who are uniformed, a “Weinstein Company” movie usually includes a number of the following characteristics: (1) it's a period piece usually touching somehow on World War II, (2) it's primarily aimed at an over 25 and/or female demo, (3) it often features a meaty lead role that could lead to an Oscar nomination and/or (4) it features a previous Academy Award winner in some capacity.  This type of movie used to be the definition of Oscar bait, but over the last decade it”s become almost exclusively associated with a majority of The Weinstein Company”s releases (You can now argue Oscar bait”s meaning has expanded to include other notable clichés).  This formula is so associated with the Weinstein name that many incorrectly assumed that last year”s awards player “The Imitation Game” was developed and produced by TWC.  In fact, TWC acquired the picture after it completed production.  Now, the studio is releasing another film that perfectly fits in their wheelhouse: “Woman in Gold.”

Directed by Simon Curtis (“My Week with Marilyn”), “Gold” tells the story of Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren), an Austrian immigrant to the United States who struggled to gain custody of a number of Gustav Klimt paintings from the Austrian government at the turn of the 21st Century.  Altmann's family owned the paintings including “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I,” a masterwork eventually known as “Lady in Gold”, but the Nazis stole them during their occupation of the country.  After the war, the Austrian government insisted that Adele Bloch-Bauer, Altman's aunt, had left the paintings to the Austrian State Gallery.  Over 40 years later, the political climate turned in a direction that saw the Austrian government returning great stolen works of art to their rightful owners.  Historically, it's slightly unclear if Altmann ventured on a journey to recover the paintings because of the death of her sister or whether an Austrian journalist tipped her off over something he discovered, but the film paints it as the former.  The long and the short of it was that, legally, Altmann owned the paintings, but would the Austrian government hand over their “Mona Lisa” to her?

The movie begins with Altmann, now a longtime Los Angeles resident, recruiting a young, inexperienced lawyer in these matters, Randol Schoenberg (Ryan Reynolds), to help her suss out her legal options.  Schoenberg, a forgettable character whose arc finds him looking for professional redemption after failing with his own firm, becomes intrigued with the case and soon the two are on their way to Vienna for a hearing over the ownership of the paintings.  The modern day storyline with Altmann and Schoenberg soon descends into a pretty predictable courtroom drama with Mirren giving Altmann all sorts of feisty old lady moments that would absolutely be caricature in less experienced hands.  What's much more interesting, however, are the extended flashback scenes to Altmann's life in Nazi-occupied Austria and how she and her husband miraculously escaped from house arrest.

Granted, material of this sort has been mined many times before, but Curtis' direction is much more authentic during this earlier period in Altmann's life.  Much of the credit has to go to “Orphan Black's” Tatiana Maslany who plays the younger Altmann and veteran character actors such as Antje Traue, the subject of the famed painting, and Henry Goodman and Allan Corduner as Altmann's father and uncle, respectively.  Maslay, in particular, shines as she conveys the juxtaposition of Altmann's happiness before the Nazi's arrive and her horror over the fate of her family afterward.  Much of this is simply Maslay's natural charisma, but to say she breathes new energy into the movie when she appears on screen is something of an understatement. 

Curtis and screenwriter Alexi Kaye Campbell also do a good job of integrating the flashbacks as organically as possible even if their introduction, a family portrait that literally comes to life, is slightly jarring.  They make up for it with a wonderful sequence that eloquently ends the film and which we won”t spoil here.  Unfortunately, that makes the rest of the “modern” storyline a paint by numbers endeavor.

Condensing a complicated seven-year legal battle into a 109-minute drama isn't easy, but it”s more difficult when the result of the case is hardly in question.  Even if you've never heard of Altmann's story the movie pretty much telegraphs how it”s all going to turn out.  When “Woman in Gold” works in the relative present day its only because Mirren is talented enough to make the audience sympathize for Altmann and understand her simmering resentment towards a homeland she”d rather forget existed. Mirren's director, on the other hand, can't assist in this effort as he's unable to free the film of so many of the aforementioned clichés of the genre.  And, Mirren and Masley's contributions aside, that makes “Woman in Gold” nothing more than another polished trope in The Weinstein Company library. 

Is that a bad thing?  Not necessarily, but excuse us for at least hoping we might find something that even slightly breaks the mold.

“Woman in Gold” opens in limited release on Wednesday.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4909763990001

In case you hadn't heard, “Sons of Anarchy” creator Kurt Sutter teamed up with “Training Day” and “The Equalizer” director Antoine Fuqua for the new boxing drama “Southpaw.”  Harvey Weinstein has been touting it since he showed footage of Gyllenhaal “training” at Cannes last May.  Judging from the first preview, it may be box office heaven for The Weinstein Company.

We'd warn you about spoilers, but this is one trailer that pretty much puts it all out there.  Jake Gyllenhaal plays Billy Hope, a champion junior middleweight boxer who seemingly has it all.  A beautiful and loving wife (Rachel McAdams), an adorable daughter (Oona Laurence) and an opulent lifestyle.  When tragedy strikes Hope hits rock bottom until he decides to pick up the pieces of his life by hanging out at a small-time gym run by Forest Whitaker.  

You can predict the entire movie's plot based on this new preview, but guess what?  It doesn't matter. Moviegoers love a comeback story, Gyllenhaal looks cut enough to make most audiences swoon and the melodrama is packing every cliche you can imagine for a boxing movie.   Yep, “Southpaw” looks like a major cash cow for Harvey Weinstein's sometimes shaky empire.

The cast also includes Rita Orta, Naomie Harris, Victor Ortiz and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.  And you wouldn't guess it by the Eminem fueled soundtrack on the trailer, but “Southpaw” will be James Horner's first narrative movie score in three years.

You can watch the new trailer embedded at the top of this post. 

What do you think?  Does Harvey have a summer hit on his hands?  Share your thoughts in the comments section.

“Southpaw” opens nationwide on July 31.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4909793142001

At this time 12 months ago, Naomi Watts was coming off back to back indie misfires “Diana” (possibly one of the worst choices of her career) and “Adore.”  Sadly, the sheen of her second Oscar nomination for the global smash “The Impossible” only a year earlier was starting to fade.  

What a difference a year makes.

Watts earned a surprise Supporting Actress nomination at the SAG Awards for the indie hit “St. Vincent” in December.  The following month she took home her first SAG statue as part of the ensemble for Alejandro González Iñárritu's “Birdman,” one of many ensemble honors she earned for the critically acclaimed drama.  In February she took the stage with Iñárritu and her co-stars to celebrate “Birdman's” Best Picture win at the Academy Awards (the first Best Picture on her resume).  And there's more!  Last weekend she joined the “Divergent” franchise and “Insurgent's” $52.2 million debut beat out “King Kong” as the biggest opening of her career.  Now, just one week later, she's back with another new release, Noah Baumbach's “While We're Young.”

“Young,” which premiered at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival last September, centers on a fortysomething couple, Josh and Amelia (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts), who develop a strong friendship (or so it seems) with a twentysomething couple, aka Brooklyn Hipster Millennials Jamie and Darby (Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried).  You can assume with Baumbach involved there's much more to it, but Watts says she immediately found the script “hilarious” and a situation she could relate to.

“I get it. Unfortunately, it feels very familiar,” the 46-year-old Aussie says laughing.  “Just these two couples and being at such different stages in their lives and how they become symbiotic in some ways, but it's not obviously going to last.  But one couple comes out at the other and moves forward [past] that bump in the road.”

In the film, Darby convinces Amelia to go to join her at a Hip Hop dance class.  Now, if you think about this juxtaposition too much it won't work (Amelia could have been going to similar classes when she was Darby's age, they are not new), but Watts sells the funny in the moment wonderfully.  So much so that Baumbach has said he could not stop laughing during the filming.  Watts says that day was unlike any other because Baumbach, who usually sticks to the script, allowed her to improvise.  Plus, she doesn't necessarily have two left feet in real life.

“I have a little frustrated dancer in me,” Watts admits.  “I've always loved to dance, but [Cornelia] is obviously not supposed to know where the hell she was or what to do. At the same, she wanted to wake her body up and then she just sort of forgets and runs with it that she because almost tribal.”

For more on Watts' thought on making “While We're Young” watch the embedded video at the top of this post.

Moreover, make note: Watts' impressive run may be far from over. She appears opposite Matthew McConaughey in Gus Van Sant's upcoming drama “The Sea of Trees” and opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Jean-Marc Vallée's “Demolition.” Both films are expected to be hit theaters later this year. Moreover, Watts is currently filming the new thriller “Shut In” which is set for a 2016 release.

“While We're Young” is now playing in New York and Los Angeles.

As many expected, the big news out of last night's Academy Board of Governors meeting wasn't that the Best Picture nomination process would be changing, but that telecast producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan were out.

The news broke in an “exclusive” spin session, er, interview with Deadline's Pete Hammond and the longtime producing partners insist the choice was theirs to make. In fact, the duo insist they had been thinking long and hard about coming back and that “if we were ever asked, whether we wanted to do it again.”  

Of course, they could have announced their “decision” before last month's Academy Award telecast or even in the weeks following. Instead, they tweeted cryptic comments and waited for their bosses to decide. Now that the Academy has decided to move on?  Well, let the spinning begin!

“What people don”t know is that we signed a three-year deal with the Academy, and it was never announced, and it was never revealed to anybody, and they had asked us when we came on would we sign for three years. They said this idea came about because of having people come on for a year, they learned how to do the show, and then they”re gone. So there”s no continuity, and the ability to work with people for several years in a row seems like a really better way to go. So it was at that point we committed to three years,” Zadan waxed to Deadline.

Of course, we're 99% sure the Academy could have ended the contract earlier if they weren't happy with the results, but after Ellen DeGeneres hosted the highest rated show since 2000 last year why wouldn't they bring them back? We'll give Ellen credit for the greatest selfie of all-time, but all three Zadan/Meron productions suffered from too many musical numbers, not enough laughs and some incredibly dumb creative decisions including two screwy In Memoriam segments. They were also three of the worst reviewed telecasts of the AcademyAwards this century (although the Anne Hathaway and James Franco hosted telecast is clearly in a class all by itself).

Now, the producing partners can go worry about their next live NBC musical and their new three-year deal to develop Broadway shows for the Shubert Organization. It also means Oscar fans can begin to hope for something better in 2016.

Who should produce the telecast is now very a big question mark.  We'd warn the Academy on selecting TV veterans with no connection to the industry after the disastrous run by Emmy-winner Don Mischer (he was actually worse than Zadan and Meron). Many will dream of Lorne Michaels taking the reigns, but it's almost impossible to imagine that plan getting the green light from his defacto NBC bosses.  That being said, someone with a comedy background such as Judd Apatow, Ben Stiller or Paul Feig would be most welcome.  

And, of course, new producers mean the dream of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler reuniting to host next year as they no longer are bound to the Globes can live for another day. (Nope, we refused to let this dream die.)

Are you glad to see Zadan and Meron go?  Who do you think should produce the next Oscars telecast? Share your thoughts below.

Yep, “Dope” features the acting debut of A$SAP Rocky.  Yep, “Dope” features four new tracks from Pharrell Williams.  Yep, after this one you'll never think of the Lobby Boy from “The Grand Budapest Hotel” the same way again.  But, the first teaser for Rick Famuyiwa's Sundance hit wants to make sure you're down with how 90's style has made a comeback.

Open Road Films picked up “Dope” at Sundance for $7 million in January and when you see the new teaser trailer (embedded below) you can see why the indie was a hot acquisition in Park City.  Famuyiwa has crafted an entertaining coming of age movie set in a modern day Inglewood where a certain segment of kids are escaping to the '90s to forget their problems.  Even if those problems are just getting the girl they like to pay attention to them or get into their dream college.

You can watch the teaser embedded below and if you are wondering who the actor who ends the preview saying “Allow me to reintroduce myself…” is?  That's Shameik Moore and he's gonna be a star.

For more on “Dope” read my review from Sundance.

“Dope” opens nationwide on June 19.

Roland Emmerich is entering the awards season fray once more.  The filmmaker behind such blockbusters as “The Day After Tomorrow” and “Independence Day” attempted to make a smaller, more serious film with 2011's “Anonymous.”  That Shakespearean era tale was touted as a possible awards player before it debuted at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival to mostly negative reviews.  Any hopes for prestige recognition were quickly dashed. Now, after segueing into more familiar territory with “White House Down,” Emmerich is returning with a slightly more personal tale, “Stonewall.”

Roadside Attractions announced today it had acquired the period drama for a release later this Fall (which pretty much means at least a Toronto debut).  “Stonewall” is a fictional drama set around the real events that took place at the Stonewall Inn in New York City during 1969.  The Stonewall Riots found the gay community fighting back in a series of violent protests after a police raid at the small Greenwhich Village bar on June 28.  Considered a pivotal moment in the history of Gay Rights, the event inspired another fictional drama also titled “Stonewall” which was released in 1995 and starred “Scandal's” Guillermo Díaz.

Emmerich's version is also independently financed, but features an impressive cast including Jeremy Irvine (“War Horse”), Caleb Landry Jones (“X-Men: First Class”), Joey King (“The Conjuring”), Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Ron Perlman.

In a release, Roadside Attractions Co-President Howard Cohen noted, “Roland Emmerich's 'Stonewall' is an explosive, dramatic story set against one of the monumental events of the twentieth century. Roadside is so proud to bring this stirring film to audiences.”

The filmmaker added, “I was always interested and passionate about telling this important story, but I feel it has never been more timely than right now.  I am excited to work with Howard, Eric and the team at Roadside to get this film to audiences across the country. They have a unique approach to handling movies like 'Stonewall.'”

This past weekend, the openly gay Emmerich was presented with the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 2015 GLAAD Media Awards. This honor is awarded “to an openly LGBT member of the entertainment or media community for his or her work toward eliminating homophobia.”

Emmerich is also currently working on the long awaited sequel to “ID4,” currently titled “Independence Day 2,” which is slated for a June 24, 2016 release.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4910007323001

The rumor was that “Mad Max: Fury Road” would kick off the 68th Festival du Cannes.  Instead, George Miller's long awaited return to the post-apocalyptic world he originally created with 1979's “Mad Max” will take place on Thursday, May 14 and, most importantly, out of competition.

“Fury Road” stars Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult and finds Tom Hardy taking over the iconic role of Max Rockatansky that was originated by Mel Gibson over 35 years ago. It's also Miller's first live action film since 1998's “Babe: Pig in the City.”  The film has been described as effectively one long chase scene that finds Max Max having to team up with the Empress Furiosa Theron) who is fleeing a rabid gang in hot pursuit of her party.

Warner Bros. kicked off its campaign for “Fury Road” at Comic-Con last year and the Cannes debut will close it on la Croissette on the same day it effectively opens worldwide.

In an interview with HitFix's own Drew McWeeny earlier this month, Miller reflected on how long it took this fourth chapter in the series to come to him.

“Twelve years ago, the idea came to me,” Miller recalls. “I was crossing the street, and it flashed in my mind, the central idea. I said, 'Oh, that”s a 'Mad Max' movie.' By the time I got to the other side of the street, I said, 'No, there”s no way.'  Two years after that, I was on a flight from Los Angeles across the Pacific at night, and I woke up in the middle of the night, and as these things do, this is when it played out in my head.”

“Mad Max: Fury Road” opens nationwide on May 15.

Look for complete coverage from the 2015 Cannes Film Festival on HitFix from May 13-24.

http://players.brightcove.net/4838167533001/BkZprOmV_default/index.html?videoId=4909802860001

It's been a long and dramatic road for Vin Diesel and the cast and crew of “Fast 7.” The death of Paul Walker, one of Diesel's good friends, delayed the film for almost a year and led to additional work on the picture.

The film got a sneak screening at SXSW where HitFix's own Drew McWeeny raved about it.  This pundit was at another screening and is currently embargoed from discussing it in detail, but I will reveal that all the buzz about an emotional ending is very, very true.  

“Fast 7” is also reportedly looking at a monster $115 million three-day weekend when it opens a week from Friday which would top “Fast & Furious 6's” $97 million debut in 2013.  Diesel, who is also a producer of the film, recently spoke to Variety about the expected blockbuster and, not surprisingly, made some slightly out there comments.

“Universal is going to have the biggest movie in history with this movie,” Diesel told Variety.  “It will probably win best picture at the Oscars, unless the Oscars don”t want to be relevant ever.”

“This will win best picture,” Diesel continued. “There is nothing that will ever come close to the power of this thing.”

Diesel is clearly in a euphoric state over how the film turned out, but we think he might have overreached just a wee bit with his predictions. We're not even sure “Avengers: Age of Ultron” or “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” has a shot to top “Avatar's” $2.7 billion worldwide gross.  Moreover, a Best Picture win let alone nomination?  Um…well, it's never to early to start campaigning!

“Fast 7” opens nationwide on April 3.

In theory, the idea of Warner Bros. pairing up Bradley Cooper and Beyonce to star in a remake of “A Star is Born” is smart thinking.  Cooper has become a megastar thanks to “American Sniper” and the studio clearly wants to keep him in the fold.  Beyonce, on the other hand, is arguably the biggest pop star in the United States (maybe the planet) and she'd only cement her legacy by following in the steps of legends Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand who also appeared in adaptations of the original 1937 movie.  There's a kicker, however.  Warner Bros. is negotiating with Cooper to direct.

According to Deadline, Cooper would take the reins from Clint Eastwood who was the last filmmaker associated with the project. This would also be Cooper's directorial debut and it seems like very dicey material for a first-timer.  The material certainly isn't on par with a Samuel Beckett play, but it's a trope even casual moviegoers have seen again and again.  If you can't bring something entirely fresh to the project why make it?  Maybe Cooper has a pitch that blew the socks off WB execs, but excuse us for being slightly wary on the project's prospects.

Over the years, actors such as Tom Cruise, Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio have all flirted with possible remakes of “A Star is Born.” The last version was released in 1976 and featured  Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. It received mostly negative reviews, but “Evergreen” won the Best Original Song Oscar in 1977.

The report also indicated that Beyonce, who has been attached to the project in the past, isn't officially on board yet. She last appeared in 2009's over-the-top thriller “Obsessed,” but earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in “Dreamgirls.”

Cooper will appear next in Cameron Crowe's “Aloha” and David O. Russell's “Joy.”  He's also reprising his role as Ben in “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” which will debut on July 17 on Netflix.

Salma Hayek can breathe easy now. Her passion project “Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet” is finally coming to the big screen.

Directed by Roger Allers (“The Lion King”), “The Prophet” is a collaborative animated tale featuring individual “chapters” from animation legends such as Tomm Moore (“The Secret of Kells” “Song of the Sea”), Joan Gratz (Academy Award winner for “Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase”),  Bill Plympton (“Guard Dog and Your Face”), Paul and Gaetan Brizzi (“Fantasia 2000”) and Mohammed Harib (“Freej”), among others.  It's based on Gilbran's 1923 book and features a voice cast including Hayek, Liam Neeson,  Quvenzhané Wallis, John Krasinski, Frank Langella and Alfred Molina.  The film's score is by Oscar winner Gabriel Yared (“The English Patient”) and it also includes additional music from  Damien Rice, Glenn Hansard (“Once”) and Lisa Hannigan.  So, yes, that's a lot of pedigree talent in the mix.

“The Prophet” debuted to positive reviews at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, but producer Hayek was unable to find a studio willing to release it in time for Oscar consideration last year.  Hayek, who also campaigned at major film festivals around the world to raise money and awareness of the movie, was also hoping a mini-major would distribute it in the U.S.  Unfortunately, while the film is from a child's point of view it likely isn't a substantial commercial play in America. Enter GKids, who has had tremendous success earning Oscar nominations for below-the-radar animated films.

In January, GKids earned two Academy Award nominations for both “The Tale of The Princess Kaguya” and “Song of the Sea.”  Overall, the company has six nominations in the Best Animated Feature category and are setting “The Prophet” up to be their seventh.  The distributor announced today that “The Prophet” will open in New York and Los Angeles on August 7 and, eventually, open nationwide in the weeks to follow.  

Currently, “The Prophet” has an 80% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with just five reviews submitted, but HitFix's own Drew McWeeny gave it an A out of Toronto and it recently earned a rave from Peter Debruge in Variety.  

Other potential Best Animated Feature contenders this year include Pixar's “Inside Out,” DreamWorks Animation's “Home,” Pixar's “The Good Dinosaur” and Universal Pictures' “Minions.”  

You can watch a new preview of “The Prophet” embedded at the bottom of this post.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9dY5zkwK5M]