[Updated] Quvenzhane Wallis will star in Annie musical reboot

This is exciting.

Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) is not only up for a Best Actress Oscar tonight, but it has been confirmed that she will headline a new Annie reboot where she will star in the title role. The film has been planned for a holiday 2014 release so probably November or December. The President of Production at Columbia commented on Wallis' talent stating her "amazing range, not only as an actress but as a singer and dancer, and we can't wait for audiences to further discover her."

Annie will be directed by Will Gluck (Easy A) and produced by James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Will Smith through Overbrook Entertainment and also Jay-Z, Jay Brown, and Ty Ty through Marcy Media.

[UPDATE] Annie has been given a Christmas release, so we will have it on December 25, 2014. 

2013 Academy Award nominations announced; Lincoln in the lead

Lincoln leads this year's Oscar nominations with 12 total while The Dark Knight Rises got snubbed completely. It didn't even get a nomination for visual effects or original score. I am also a little bummed The Avengers only got visual effects. I thought it had a decent shot at a couple other categories. Also among the snubs are Kathryn Bigelow, Tom Hooper, and Ben Affleck for Best Director and Moonrise Kingdom in just about every predicted category. John Hawkes and Leonardo DiCaprio were also left out of the Best Actor category.

So here we go:

Best Picture:
Argo
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

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

Best Actor:
Denzel Washington - Flight
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook

Best Actress:
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Quevenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts - The Impossible
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour

Best Supporting Actor:
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook
Alan Arkin - Argo
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

Best Supporting Actress:
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Sally Field - Lincoln
Amy Adams - The Master
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook

Best Original Screenplay:
Mark Boal - Zero Dark Thirty
Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained
Michael Haneke - Amour
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola - Moonrise Kingdom
John Gatins - Flight

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Tony Kushner - Lincoln
Chris Terrio - Argo
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
David Magee - Life of Pi
Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Foreign Language Film:
Amour
No
A Royal Affair
Kon-Tiki
War Witch

Best Animated Feature:
Frankenweenie
Brave
ParaNorman
Wreck-It Ralph
The Pirates! A Band of Misfits

Best Documentary:
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
Searching for Sugar Man
5 Broken Cameras
The Invisible War

Best Documentary Short:
Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption

Best Production Design:
Lincoln
Life of Pi
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Anna Karenina
Les Miserables

Best Cinematography:
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Lincoln
Django Unchained
Anna Karenina 

Best Film Editing:
Zero Dark Thirty
Argo
Silver Linings Playbook
Lincoln
Life of Pi

Best Original Score:
Dario Marianelli - Anna Karenina
Mychael Danna - Life of Pi
Thomas Newman - Skyfall
John Williams - Lincoln
Alexandre Desplat - Argo

Best Original Song:
"Skyfall" - Skyfall
"Suddenly" - Les Miserables
"Pi's Lullaby" - Life of Pi
"Before My Time" - Chasing Ice
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" - Ted

Best Visual Effects:
Life of Pi
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman
The Avengers

Best Costume Design:
Lincoln
Anna Karenina
Les Miserables
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables

Best Sound Editing:
Skyfall
Argo
Zero Dark Thirty
Life of Pi
Django Unchained

Best Sound Mixing:
Skyfall
Lincoln
Life of Pi
Les Miserables
Argo

Best Animated Short:
Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole 
Head over Heels
The Longest Daycare
Paperman

Best Live Action Short:
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Henry


As far as my predictions go, I expect Lincoln to win as many as it was nominated for because that is how these awards seem to go every year. However, I am really pulling for Quevenzhane Wallis to take home Best Actress. That girl pulled me in and didn't let me go and she deserves the best recognition in the industry for that. If she doesn't win I will be disappointed. I will also be upset if Hugh Jackman doesn't take it home. He was fantastic in Les Miserables.
And for once I think I will be happy with any winner for Best Animated Feature. I would prefer Frankenweenie take the statue, but I won't be upset if Brave or Wreck-It Ralph or ParaNorman beat it out. I don't mention the Pirates flick because I don't think it has a chance of winning. I think it was a filler nomination.
I also want to say that if Adele doesn't win for "Skyfall" I am going to flip my lid. And speaking of Skyfall, how did this not get nominated for Best Picture? That is a shock to me.

Beasts of the Southern Wild - Review

Beasts of the Southern Wild follows a young girl named Hushpuppy who lives with her ill father in the small Delta community, "The Bathtub." In the wake of a storm and her father's fading health she is forced to venture off to find her mother and learn how to make her own mark on the world.


The only reason I wound up seeing this movie is because of the early awards season buzz, to be honest. I had heard about it previously and I never really learned exactly what the movie was about so I figured I would pass on it. However, I got curious enough after seeing the nominations for the Golden Globes and SAG Awards that I wanted to give it a shot. And let me tell you... wow.

This by far is one of the best movies I have seen all year. The story was interesting in the sense that it isn't all that calculated. It is a simple story of a small community who is hit by a terrible storm and this 6-year old girl living with her ill father feels the need to quickly adapt and learn how to love and care for herself and others in preparation for when her father is no longer there to protect her. Along the way prehistoric Aurochs are unleashed when the ice caps begin to melt and water in "The Bathtub" begins to rise.
With all that said, this is a fictional and borderline fantasy movie. It has a great, heartfelt message to it and that is what I loved. You connect so quickly with Hushpuppy it's unbelievable and a lot of that has to do with the acting. Quvenzhane Wallis has an incredible career ahead of her if she wants it and I am pulling for this girl to not only be nominated for an Oscar but to take it home. She was phenomenal. The acting in general was good.
I also loved the visuals and the cinematography. You do feel like you are in the "Southern wild" and it honestly reminded me of the footage I saw when Hurricane Katrina happened. People were displaced, homes went underwater, and a lot of the people went under with them. I loved all of it.

I would strongly suggest this film to anyone. If you love movies you will love Beasts of the Southern Wild. If you have a chance to see it before the awards season exercises all these movies to death I would do that if at all possible. I rented it through iTunes and it was worth the $4. Great, great movie. I mean... I cried, guys. More than once. I want to add that this definitely is added to my list of the best films of 2012.