Congratulations to Christoph Waltz! He has just won his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as dentist/bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained. This category was particularly hard to call this year since all of the nominees are previous Oscar winners. De Niro hasn’t won an Oscar since 1980 (Raging Bull) and hasn’t been nominated since 1992 (Cape Fear) until now (for Silver Linings Playbook), and some media outlets were really thinking that it would be De Niro’s year because he’s finally made something of a comeback to respectable movies.

But alas, that silver-tongued Austrian has thwarted the De Niro plan, and I couldn’t be more pleased for Waltz’s victory even though it’s unusual that the Academy would reward him so strongly again merely three years after his first Oscar for Inglourious Basterds. It’s nice to see that villains aren’t the only ones rewarded in this category because his Schultz character was such a good guy.

Once onstage, Christoph immediately gave “my respect” to all his fellow nominees (and his gesture was followed by much applause). He kept his speech short and sweet, but he made a point to say that “My unlimited gratitude goes to Dr. King Schultz … and, of course, his creator, Quentin Tarantino.” He and QT are quite a team, and hopefully, QT will win for Best Original Screenplay later tonight. Hurray for Christoph and Quentin!

Update: Quentin won too! He was so pleased and declared this year “the year of the writers.” Man, he’s going to get so baked tonight.

Photos courtesy of WENN

Kerry Washington hasn’t really been bringing her style game in this European tour for Django Unchained, right? The poor girl has worn a ruffled nightmare and then followed up with a cutesy/boob-cup combination that was like a triple gut punch to fashion lovers and even the most casual bystander. Although I thought the J. Mendel print dress she wore in Germany was slightly improved, most of you did not agree.

Now Kerry has travelled to the UK premiere and donned a milky white (and grey) Giles gown with Christian Louboutin shoes. As a red carpet dress, this is a little bit fussy but much preferable to the other outfits she’s been wearing to promote this movie. You can’t see the horse print very well in these photos, but it’s more visible in the runway version if you’re curious how it looks in better lighting. I really like the idea behind the fitted bodice atop a poufy skirt with this print — sort of like Kerry is riding in on a white horse, and it goes with the “rescue” theme of the movie quite well. Her makeup appears quite beautiful here, and the romantic, wavy hair really completes the look. This is the best she’s looked during this European tour.

Kerry also took some time to pose with Samuel L. Jackson and Jamie Foxx. I am certain that Sam has worn this entire outfit before on a red carpet, and he’s not even trying to look spiffy. As for Jamie, the purple suit isn’t awful (it’s at least interesting), but the sky blue shirt underneath makes me want to go colorblind.

Christoph Waltz was there, of course! His tie is wacky, but he’s so cute.

Finally, here is Quentin Tarantino himself. This movie will probably end up outgrossing all of his other cinematic efforts, and I really do think QT got robbed by not receiving a Best Director Oscar nomination, but he’ll be fine. This movie really speaks for itself. I’ve seen it twice, and I absolutely loved it.

Photos courtesy of WENN

Oh, where to begin on this topic. Nothing I could ever say would be adequate or add in any meaningful way to the discussion of the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday. I think most of us can willingly admit to shedding more than a few tears in regard to the 20 children and 6 adults who lost their lives at the hands of a sick gunman (whom I refuse to dignify by typing his name), and the tragedy has also stirred up a massive political debate in regards to the readily available access to firearms in this country as well as mental health issues. To state the obvious, there are no easy answers here as to why this happened, and I think the best thing to do is to continue to honor the victims instead of immediately falling into a left-right hate debate. That’s easier said than done, I know.

The day after the shootings, a press junket was held for Django Unchained, which is (of course) Quentin Tarantino’s revenge movie on the subject of black slavery in the United States. Naturally, the subject of the Sandy Hook massacre came up, and Quentin stated his opinion that violence in film has absolutely nothing to do with anything that happens in real life. Django himself, Jamie Foxx, respectfully disagrees with QT’s opinion. Here are the details:

Don’t blame Quentin Tarantino for Friday’s tragic Newtown, Conn., shooting.

The Django Unchained director is tired of having to defend his use of violence in film.

“I just think, you know, there’s violence in the world, tragedies happen, blame the playmakers,” he said Saturday at a press junket, per the BBC. “It’s a Western. Give me a break.”

Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx, however, disagrees with Tarantino. “We cannot turn our back and say that violence in films or anything that we do doesn’t have a sort of influence,” the actor said. “It does.”

Christoph Waltz, another actor in the flick, said that the “media’s responsibility is greater than the storyteller is because… Django is violent, but it’s not inspiring violence.”

Kerry Washington added, “I do think that it’s important when we have the opportunity to talk about violence and not just kind of have it as entertainment, but connect it to the wrongs, the injustices, the social ills.”

[From E! Online]

Okay, Tarantino sounds a little punchy here because he probably went into the junket wary of precisely this type of question. Yes, he was asked to defend his work in the context of last Friday’s tragedy, and it must have been a very uncomfortable situation for him to withstand such scrutiny. What QT says does make some sense even if he didn’t exactly phrase his answer in the most sensitive way. I mean, I grew up on violent films, and I remember the height of HBO when Commando, Terminator, and the Death Wish movies would essentially play on repeat during the entirety of summer vacation, and my parents let me freely watch this stuff. Lots of other people my age grew up the same way, and the vast majority of us are (mostly) well-adjusted adults now.

Certainly, the argument can be made that violence in movies (as well as music, video games, etc.) can influence unstable minds and provoke them to imitation. Right now, all thoughts should be with the victims of the shooting as well as their suffering families. Throughout the media and social media outlets, however, so many people are quick to point the blame at something, anything, that could possibly be held accountable for one sick man’s actions. Personally, I’d like to hold his mother responsible for at least providing the weapons used for mass slaughter, but that’s kind of a no-brainer at this point. Overall, it’s just a terribly sad situation with no easy solution for future preventative measures coming anytime soon.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

Confession time, y’all: Quentin Tarantino is my favorite director in the entire universe, and I was very ashamed for doubting his judgment after the commercial failure of Grindhouse when he really pulled off Inglourious Basterds on a (near) masterful level. For quite awhile, I was really nervous about how Basterds would turn out, but once I saw that movie’s teaser trailer, all fears were immediately dispelled. So I was pretty pumped for the eventual arrival of a trailer for Django Unchained, but now I find myself somewhat deflated.

The new teaser trailer for Django Unchained debuted last night even though the movie doesn’t come out until Christmas Day. First off, it seems way too early for a teaser trailer because — just last month — QT was still attempting to resolve some casting issues left by the void of Sacha Baron Cohen. Granted, Cohen was slated for a role that’s something of a cameo in the vein of Mike Myers’ part in Inglourious Basterds, but it still seems like a big rush to the trailer altar to get something (anything?) ready to play in front of the big summer movies. Promotion is everything these days where movies are concerned, but I just don’t know here. Indeed, this trailer seems like a rushed product, which would make sense because, according to Paste Magazine, this trailer is essentially “an edited version of the ten minutes of footage Tarantino premiered at Cannes” just a couple of weeks ago. Dare I say that the tragic loss of QT’s long-time editor, the amazing Sally Menke, has already had a signficant effect on QT’s output? Check out the trailer, and we’ll discuss below:

For those unfamiliar with the plot of Django Unchained, Jamie Foxx plays the titular Django, who is a freed slave that discovers his wife (Kerry Washington) has been captured by slave owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Django is aided by Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz, actually playing a sort-of-good guy for once), a German bounty hounter. The trailer’s declaration of “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of vengeance” certainly will satisfy many fans of QT’s style while allowing him to also make a mark upon the Western genre with a Southern twist. Honestly, I’m not sure whether I like this trailer or not, but I’m hoping that Tarantino will prove me wrong again. Part of the problem is that I’m not much of a DiCaprio fan and have always found his acting to be overrated. Here he’s mugging it up so much for the camera that it’s hard to take the entire trailer seriously, and I think QT has been a bit too obvious with his choice of music as well. Hopefully, the film’s further promotion will be more promising than this mess. Don’t break my heart, QT!

Oh and … Christoph drinking a very important beverage at a very important table during an obviously important scene in the movie? Oh Tarantino, you so crazy.

Photos courtesy of AllMoviePhoto

For a second consecutive week and by a rather narrow margin, Rio claimed the top spot in this weekend’s box-office race with an estimated $26.8 million. Taking second place was Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family ($25.8 million) and a distant third was captured by Water for Elephants ($17.5 million). Further down the line, Hop held onto fourth place with Scream 4 falling into fifth position. The main tussle, of course, was between the two debuting wide release pics, Big Happy Family and Water for Elephants that took second and third. The placement of these two new movies is rather deceptive, however, when one considers the inherent expectations involved with the so-called star attractions involved in each respective film.

Rio held up remarkably well, losing just 32 percent of last week’s business; $26.8 million is a figure most movies would kill for during their first weekend. In ten days, the cartoon has racked up $81.3 million. Since it should continue to hold up over the next couple of weekends, in the absence of much family-friendly competition, Rio could end up one of the biggest hits of the year.

Tyler Perry’s sixth movie featuring him performing in drag as gun-toting granny Madea had been expected to open between $30 and $34 million. After all, the last movie with “Madea” in the title (2009′s Madea Goes to Jail) debuted with a whopping $41 million, albeit on a less crowded weekend. While Big Happy Family premiered with an impressive per-screen average ($11,254 per venue, more than that of any other wide-release movie this week), its weekend total was more in line with Perry’s average opening of $23.7 million over his last nine movies. Perry’s popularity may not be slipping, but it seems he can no longer guarantee a $30 million-plus opening just by putting Madea’s name in the title.

Debuting in third place was Water for Elephants, with an estimated $17.5 million. That’s a tad higher than expected for the Robert Pattinson-Reese Witherspoon romance. It’s also a very good number for a Pattinson movie that doesn’t involve vampires. And it should continue to be a hit over the next few weeks, as there’ll be little prestige-drama fare or romantic movies targeted at women as we transition into the summer popcorn season.

[From Moviefone]

So between Big Happy Family and Water for Elephants, the former might very well have sold the greater number of tickets, but it fell far below predictions, especially for a Madea film. Like Kaiser, I too have been warming up to Tyler Perry over the years, but you can bet that when Spike Lee heard this news (probably while sitting in the VIP section at a basketball game) crapped his pants with glee while prematurely declaring the demise of Tyler Perry’s career. Oh suck it, Spike.

Meanwhile, the Sparklepants vehicle actually exceeded studio expectations (in the mid-teens) for opening weekend, and far surpassed that of Box Office Mojo’s derby game, which predicted that Water for Elephants would bring in a mere $13 million. Considering that Reese Witherspoon’s How Do You Know? only pulled in $7.4 million in last December’s debut; and Robert Pattinson’s last non-Twilight effort, Remember Me, only captured $8 million during its opening weekend, Water for Elephants did pretty well considering the circumstances (and for what it’s worth, I thought it was a good movie, and Christoph Waltz was superb). Of course, the movie didn’t do nearly well enough to justify Reese pimping her wedding photos, so she’s probably at home continuing to mourn the loss of her privacy as we speak.

Movie stills courtesy of AllMoviePhoto

I actually read Water for Elephants a couple of years ago. (I’m not as much of a reader now, as my attention span has reduced along with technology. I get books on the iPad and end up watching movies on Netflix instead. I tried to read The Help a couple of weeks ago, but ended up putting it down. Is it racist to only have the black women speak in poorly rendered slang or am I reading too much into that book?)

Water for Elephants was an incredible read and I was so excited to hear that was being made into a movie with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson. I pictured someone younger than Reese for Marlena, but Reese’s acting ability will surely help her carry that role. Circus star Marlena is regal and wounded, and young Jacob comes along to provide some respite from an abusive relationship with her cruel husband, played by Christoph Waltz.

This trailer makes it look like the film really does justice to the book, and I love that they’re using the same premise of the having it retold by the protagonist as a 93 year-old nursing home resident. (Hal Holbrook plays the other version of Robert Pattinson.) Also, I just checked IMDB and James Frain is in it! I just squealed a little.

I won’t give away anything more about the film, which is out in the US on April 15. It’s so nice to see a good trailer and get jazzed for a new movie.

Surprising absolutely zero people, Christoph Waltz won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his brilliant turn as Nazi Colonel Hans Landa, “The Jew Hunter” in Inglouious Basterds. Waltz has previously picked up the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild Award, the BAFTA, Critics Choice, Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actor, and a slew of critics’ awards. Of course, this has inspired some unfortunate and hilarious headlines, stuff about Hollywood “having a love affair with Nazis,” et cetera. Throughout the awards season, Waltz has been giving some of the most unconventional acceptance speeches, and tonight was no different. But his speech was very brief and he didn’t name check every person in his life, he just thanksed everyone involed in the movie. He did have a good first line after being kissed by Penelope Cruz: “An Oscar and Penelope … that’s an uber-bingo!” He seems like such a sweet man.

In previous interviews, Waltz has revealed himself to be one of the more magnanimous actors working today. The Austrian – who has toiled away in films, but mostly television throughout his 30-year career – recently told USA Today, “What’s it like, after 30 years, to be an overnight sensation? It’s fantastic!” He also said, in regards to the possibility of winning an Oscar, “”It’s like the tip of the pyramid. What does it mean to me? The Oscar is like more than an award. It’s more than a statue. It’s like a whole concept of reality. It’s not something to necessarily be aspired to, because it’s beyond my reach. It’s something that descends on you.” Last week, Waltz told Time Magazine, “I take praise as not just a reward and a result but also as the beginning of a new process.”

Congratulations to Christoph! It’s always lovely to see such a nice, hard-working actor win big!

Stills from ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and Waltz at the BAFTAs, courtesy of WENN.