Michael Keaton Page 6

Resurgent star Michael Keaton has spoken about his latest critically acclaimed role in The Founder, the story about the businessman who bought the McDonald’s franchise and built it to become one of the biggest companies in the world, Ray Kroc.

While working as a milkshake mixer salesman for Prince Castle, the middle-aged Kroc becomes a franchising agent for a fast-food restaurant, and helps the McDonald brothers (played by John Carroll Lynch and Nick Offerman) turn their idea into one of the most commercially successful business models in the world.

Keaton, 65, who won huge praise for his performance in the Oscar-winning movie Birdman in 2014, was asked at a red carpet event about what made him want to take on the role of one of the most successful businessmen in history in the first place.

Continue reading: Michael Keaton: 'The Founder Is A Classic American Story'

We love a good true story blockbuster as, indeed, was aptly demonstrated at the 88th Academy Awards; success came to the likes of 'Spotlight', 'The Revenant' and 'The Danish Girl', and now we've got a number of music biopics to look forward to like 'Nina' and 'Miles Ahead'. But what historical events of the world will be newly documented on the big screen in the coming months?

Here are 8 forthcoming biographical/historical films that we're definitely looking forward to:

Emma Watson and Daniel Bruhl star in 'Colonia'

Continue reading: 8 Upcoming Non-Music Biopics To Be Excited About

Spotlight was the big winner at last night’s Independent Spirit Awards, taking home five gongs, including best feature. The ceremony, which was held at Santa Monica Beach, included many references to the ongoing diversity debate in Hollywood, just one night before this year’s Oscars.

Spotlight’s Michael Keaton.

Spotlight took home the awards for best feature, best director, best screenplay, best editing and best ensemble cast. The drama, directed by Tom McCarthy focuses on the investigation by the Boston Globe newspaper into sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

Continue reading: 'Spotlight' Wins Big, As Independent Spirit Awards Celebrate Diversity

There were some nice surprises in cinemas this year, with thoughtful thrillers, quality blockbusters, exhilarating franchise reboots and twists on familiar genres...

10. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
An Iranian vampire movie shot in California, this super-cool black and white comedy-thriller is witty, scary and sexy. It's also so original that it takes the breath away.

9. Inside Out
Pixar triumphs again with this inventive look inside the mind of a young girl struggling with her emotions. It's colourful, hilariously silly and also the kind of movie that can make grown men cry.

Continue reading: Rich Cline's 10 Best Films Of 2015

Hollywood celebrated itself on Sunday night with the 87th Academy Awards, ignoring the critics' favourite Boyhood to present the best film, director and screenplay Oscars to the show business comedy Birdman. The lively presenters and winners were caught backstage by paparazzi in the press room.

Photos - 87th Annual Oscars Red Press Room - Sunday 22nd February 2015

Continue reading: A Week In Movies: Oscar Awards Birdman, Then The Stars Party And Return To Work. Trailers Arrive For Simon Pegg As An Aussie Hitman, A Bradley Cooper Romance And A Kristen Wiig Comedy

Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday and brought the usual flood of reactions, mainly because of notable snubs. Voters opened themselves to charges of both racism and sexism by ignoring black actors and female writers and directors. The biggest outcry was for Selma, which received a Best Picture nomination but nothing for its acclaimed cast or director Ava DuVernay.

More - 'Boyhood' Leads Oscar Nominations, but 'American Sniper' Is Strong

Continue reading: A Week In Movies: Golden Globes Glitter, Oscar Nominations Spark Controversy, Kingsman Premieres In London, New Trailers For Avengers 2, Spy, Fifty Shades And More

While the Academy Award nominations may have angered quite a few people, the Critic's Choice Awards took place on the same day (15th January 2015) at the Hollywood Palladium. Hosted by Michael Strahan, this year's Critic's Choice Awards was the twentieth anniversary of the ceremony, and continued the tradition of honouring some of the very best that the year's cinema had to offer. 

Michael Keaton won both 'Best Actor' and 'Best Actor in a Comedy Movie' (Credit Christopher Polk - Getty Images)

The ceremony differed from the upcoming Academy Awards in several ways. One of these was how it took the stance of being one of the few prestigious award ceremonies to honour 'Guardians of the Galaxy' (awarding it 'Best Action Movie' and 'Best Hair and Makeup'), and furthermore awarding the title of 'Best Animated Feature' to 'The Lego Movie' (which was shockingly snubbed by the Academy Award nominations).  Perhaps Chris Pratt is just a magnet for these things.

Continue reading: Critic's Choice Awards Honour Oscar-Snubbed Movies [Photos]

The reaction to this week's Oscar nominations was a loud one, because Academy voters played it so safe in a year when films expanded to explore a diverse array of themes. Throughout 2014, actors and filmmakers bravely took on big challenges, and many were recognised with nominations. But critics have been quick to point out that all of the acting and directing nominees are white, and #OscarsSoWhite was the trending hashtag on Twitter.

Neil Patrick Harris is hosting this year's Academy Awards

The most obvious snub was for Selma, which only received nods for Best Picture and Best Song (for Common and John Legend's 'Glory'), leaving out the acclaimed actor David Oyelowo and director Ava DuVernay, who would have been the first African-American woman ever nominated for Best Director.

Continue reading: Oscar Nominations Court Controversy

Michael Keaton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Steve Carell, Eddie Redmayne, Bradley Cooper, Julianne Moore, Marion Cotillard, Felicity Jones, Rosamund Pike, Reese Witherspoon, JK Simmons, Ed Norton, Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, Robert Duvall, Emma Stone, Meryl Streep, Patricia Arquette, Keira Knightley and Laura Dern are all white. They are the actors and actresses nominated for the individual awards at this year's Oscars.

Michael Keaton is the favorite to win Best Actor at the Oscars

This, together with the other categories, means this is the worst year for diversity at the Hollywood awards ceremony since 1998 - 17 years ago. As the Huffington Post notes, this is particularly troubling given last year saw Lupita Nyong'o and Steve McQueen winning for 12 Years a Slave.

Continue reading: It's The Whitest Oscars For 17 Years - But Why?

As expected, Richard Linklater's innovative drama Boyhood - filmed with the same cast over a 12 year period - dominated the Oscar nominations, announced on Thursday morning by Alfonso Cuaron and J.J Abrams. Wes Anderson's comedy-caper The Grand Budapest Hotel also picked up a slew of nods and is the clear second favourite to win Best Picture in February.

Boyhood looks the likely winner of Best Picture at the Oscars

In the category of Best Picture, Boyhood and Budapest will go up against Birdman, Foxcatcher, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash, Selma, The Imitation Game and American Sniper.

Continue reading: 'Boyhood' Leads Oscar Nominations, But 'American Sniper' Is Strong

Michael Keaton - the likely winner of the Oscar for Best Actor - appears to be continuing his resurgence of sorts by signing on for one of the more anticipated movies of the coming years. Keaton will appear alongside Tom Hiddleston in King Kong: Skull Island, set for release on March 10, 2017.

Michael Keaton is the favorite to win Best Actor at the Oscars

Executives at Legendary Pictures have been pretty clever developing this one - a story centered on King Kong's origins. As mentioned, Keaton is likely to be "Oscar-winning Keaton" come February, while another of the film's co-stars, J.K Simmons, is almost certain to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Whiplash.

Continue reading: Michael Keaton Signs On To Star In 'Kong: Skull Island'

Michael Keaton says he doesn't share Christian Bale's jealousy towards Ben Affleck playing Batman in the forthcoming movie Dawn of Justice. Speaking to Shortlist magazine, the actor - the bookies favourite to win best actor at the Oscars for Birdman - says he is confident of his history with the classic character.

MIchael Keaton is the current favorite to win Best Actor at the Oscars, for Birdman

"No," Keaton said firmly when asked if he was envious of Affleck's movie into the superhero world. "Do you know why? Because I'm Batman. I'm very secure in that."

Continue reading: Michael Keaton Not Jealous Of Ben Affleck, "Because I'm Batman"

When approaching 'Birdman', director Alejandro González Iñárritu decided that to fully get into the mind-set of his main character, his introspective film would be shot as a continuous piece. Or rather, six continuous pieces that could be stitched together in order to resemble one continuous piece. But when confronted with the monumental task of filming large sections of a motion picture in one sitting, there were certain, fairly obvious challenges to follow even if you had, as actor Michael Keaton describes, "an Academy Award-winning cinematographer who is kind of a genius".

Michael Keaton stars as Riggan Thomas in 'Birdman'

Keaton plays the starring role in 'Birdman', one Riggan Thomson - former superhero movie star, currently attempting to reinvigorate his career by writing, directing and starring in his own Broadway debut. "Everyday was one scene," explained Keaton, "and all the actors were petrified constantly." 'Birdman' boasts a fine cast of actors, including Emma Stone, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts and Zach Galifianakis amongst others, so Keaton's statement has even more resonance. 

Continue reading: Michael Keaton, Emma Stone And Edward Norton Discuss The Filming Of 'Birdman' [Exclusive Featurette]

The Golden Globe nominations are out, and yet again it’s the dark comedy of Birdman that leads the way with nods in seven categories in total. The surreal drama-comedy, by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, has been nominated for best picture in the comedy / musical category.

Michael Keaton's starring role in Birdman has had the critics purring since its release in October

Michael Keaton, whose flagging career was revitalised by the film, has been selected for the best actor category, and supporting actor Edward Norton and supporting actress Emma Stone have been given the nod in those respective lists. The other three nominations it attracted were best director, screenplay and score.

Continue reading: 'Birdman' Leads Golden Globe Nominations

The SAG Awards nominations are arguably the most telling set of film nods of the awards season so far, with Boyhood and Birdman going up against each other yet again and cementing the widely held view that Linklater and Inarritu's movie will going up against each at the Oscars in February.

Michael Keaton has a SAG nomination for his role in 'Birdman', which scored the most nods when the nominations were announced on Wednesday

It was Birdman, or Birdman: The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, that scored the most nominations with four. Michael Keaton was nominated for best actor, while Ed Norton and Emma Stone earned nominations in supporting categories.

Continue reading: It's 'Boyhood' Vs 'Birdman' As SAG Nominations Get Awards Season Started

In the first insight into how the nominations for Best Picture might look at the Oscars in February, the Gotham Independent Film Awards has announced its picks for 2014. As expected, Richard Linklater's Boyhood were do battle with Alejandro G. Inarritu's Birdman, though there were also nominations for Love is Strange, Under the Skin and Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Ellar Coltrane [L] scored an acting nomination for his performance in Richard Linklater's 'Boyhood'

Linklater's remarkable drama was 12 years in the making and Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and Ellar Coltrane also picked up acting nods. Birdman has been generating considerable Oscar buzz for several months and Michael Keaton - the current favourite to win Best Actor at the Academy Awards - picked up a nomination for lead actor at the Gothams.

Continue reading: 'Boyhood' Leads Gotham Independent Film Awards As Oscars Loom

Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman, featuring a career best performance from Michael Keaton, is now considered a serious contender to win Best Picture at the 74th Academy Awards in February 2015. Keaton plays a once-famous actor known for portraying an iconic superhero who struggles to mount a new Broadway play.

Michael Keaton is the favorite to win the Oscar for Best Actor, for 'Birdman'

The film made serious waves on the festival circuit over the summer and gets a limited release in the U.S on Friday (October 10, 2014). Richard Linklater's ingenious movie Boyhood remains the favourite to win cinema's major prize - available at around 2/1 with most bookmakers - though Birdman now shares second-favouritism with Angelina Jolie's Unbroken, starring Jack O'Connell. 

Continue reading: Inarritu's 'Birdman' Is Serious Contender For Oscar's 'Best Picture'

After the trailer hit, there was always the sense with Birdman was probably going to be very, very impressive but perhaps a little too avant-garde for the Academy. A sort of Synecdoche, New York situation. That may still prove the case, though a slew of five-star reviews at the Venice Film Festival has done nothing to hurt its chances as Hollywood gears up for the long campaign to the Oscars.

Michael Keaton in 'Birdman'

Alejandro González Iñárritu's follows Michael Keaton - a former Batman, remember - playing an actor once known for portraying an iconic superhero. He struggles to mount a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver's What We Talk About When We Talk About Love and, in the days leading up to opening night, battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, career and himself. 

Continue reading: Venice Film Festival: So 'Birdman' Just Joined The Oscars Race. Big Time.

Did anyone else see this coming? A videogame racer featuring no characters – just cars – molded into a movie turns out to be rubbish. That headline’s too long though, so we had to explain it in this first bit. What’s more, Need for Speed didn’t even manage to beat out Mr. Peabody and Sherman or 300: Rise of An Empire at the box office, both of which have already been for a week.

It's been a bad domestic start for NFS - hopefully it can rake it in internationally

This news will come as a major blow to Buena Vista, who will have undoubtedly hoped the star draw of Aaron Paul – who was on everyone’s lips at the end of last year for his brilliant role as Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad – would be enough to garner sufficient hype and make Need For Speed a financial juggernaut if nothing else.

Continue reading: 'Need For Speed' Is Rubbish And It Didn't Make Any Money

Robocop has failed to impress critics following its release in the US yesterday (12th January). Reviews have primarily focussed on comparisons between the original 1987 version of the film.

Joel Kinnaman stars as Robocop.

In this version, it's 2028 and police officer Alex Murphy is injured serving the people of Detroit, robot technology company OmniCorp step in and transform him into, well, a half robot, half human cop. Unfortunately the film's title is not the only thing which hasn't improved since the 1987 original. 

Continue reading: 'Robocop' Remake Fails To Distract Critics From 1987 Comparisons

So far, despite a rather touching performance by Gary Oldman, a suitably repulsive turn as the villain by Michael Keaton and, of course, the ever impressive Samuel L. Jackson, critics seem to agree that, for the most part, RoboCop fails to provide anything new. Sure, the human-robot morph is now black and he also drives a motorcycle, but other than that, director Jose Padilha has stuck to a somewhat confused and chaotic version of the original. In the age of CGI, Transformers, Avatar and The Avengers, reviewers seem to agree that RoboCop simply fails to hold moviegoers’ shrinking attention spans. It’s a retelling of Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) – one of the few honest cops left in Detroit gets nearly killed and is then given a robotic second life by a well meaning scientist (Gary Oldman) and a morally bankrupt corporate magnate, who made his millions in robotics. This version also gives Murphy a full backstory – a great life in the suburbs, loving wife and son – which most critics agree detracts from the original’s impact.

Where RoboCop works, it's the performances, not the story, that do it.

The LA Times’ Betsy Sharkey sums it up thusly: “The re-imagined crime, action, sci-fi thriller isn't going for the biting satire of Paul Verhoeven's 1987 original, or its extreme violence. The sci-fi side hasn't evolved much. And the thrill? Well, most of the thrill is gone.”

Continue reading: The New "RoboCop" Is Shiny, But Heartless, Say Critics

It's official Beetlejuice 2 could be an actuality! Tim Burton is in talks with Warner Bros. for a sequel to the 1988 classic, sources confirm to a US entertainment website.

Tim Burton with his wife Helena Bonham Carter.

For anyone who has never seen the hit film, starring Michael Keaton, a married couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) discover they are dead and have to deal with the living that moves into their home. In a desperate attempt to remove the Deetz family (played by Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones and Winona Ryder), the couple call upon ghost miracle-worker Beetlejuice (Keaton). 

Continue reading: Tim Burton In Talks With Warner Bros. For 'Beetlejuice 2'

Ben Affleck has finally responded to the backlash and online petition against him being the next Batman in the 2015 Zack Snyder face-off with Henry Cavill's Superman. As the petition's signatures crept past 90,000, the actor could not pretend he was unaware of the furore any longer. It was time for the Oscar-winning director to address the online tirades and bad feeling towards him.

See: It's All In His Stride.

Appearing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Monday night (16th Sept), Affleck was given a platform to air his views on the tidal wave of hatred he was hit with. He revealed how he was given stern advice by Warner Bros., who told him: "don't use the internet for a few days."

Continue reading: Ben Affleck Takes Batman Rejection In His "Big Boy" Stride

Joel Kinnaman will star as Alex Murphy/RoboCop in the upcoming reboot of cult 80's action movie RoboCop. This, like sop many other recent reboots, was a film that few people wanted or expected to be any good, however if the first official trailer for the film is anything to go by, then the naysayers may be proved wrong after all because from the look of the 2 and a half minute clip, the film doesn't look half bad.

Joel Kinnaman stars as Alex Murphy/RoboCop

With established stars like Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton and Gary Oldman featuring in the film, there is a presence of experience that is comforting to see for fans of the original film, and the action sequences that are teased look pretty decent too. On top of this, the glimpses of the storyline make it look as though the writers have given their own take on the original source material, rather than just rip off the 1987 classic.

Continue reading: The First Trailer For The 'RoboCop' Reboot Doesn't Look As Bad As You Might Expect [Trailer]

The Robocop reboot trailer has just hit the web and the revised, futuristic action film has already indicated differences from the original 1987 film. Joel Kinnaman stars as police officer Alex James Murphy, who eventually becomes 'Robocop'. 

Joel Kinnaman stars as the new 'Robocop'

The year is in the not too distant future, 2028, and the USA have decided to 'upgrade' their justice system with a crime fighting cyborg, half human/half robot. The law abiding citizens of Detroit will see a new addition to the police force as 'Robocop' pursues justice for the crime ridden city.

Continue reading: 'Robocop' Reboot Trailer Introduces New Justice System

Former Batman Michael Keaton says he approves of Ben Affleck's casting as Batman. Affleck has been under fire from fans of the superhero ever since news of his casting was revealed. Affleck will star as Batman, alongside Henry Cavill as Superman, in the 2015 sequel to Superman: Man of Steel.

Michael Keaton approves of Ben Affleck as Batman.

Keaton featured as Batman in two films. The first in 1989 was directed by Tim Burton and featured Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Keaton reprised his role in 1992 in Batman Returns, also directed by Burton, playing opposite Danny De Vito as the terrifying Penguin villain. 

Continue reading: One Batman To Another: Michael Keaton Approves Of Ben Affleck Casting

Ben Affleck was announced as Christian Bale's successor to the famed black cowl of Gotham City's caped crusader Batman last week, a move that outraged a huge number of fans of the superhero franchise. Thursday's (22 August) announcement that Affleck has been picked by Warner Bros. as the next Bruce Wayne/Batman has since been followed up with further news that will no doubt shock and reduce many fans to tears, and that is that Affleck will not only play the Bat in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel, but will also take on the role for multiple films.

Affleck has the chin, but does he have the chops to play Batman?

An analysis on his appointment by the Hollywood Reporter has revealed that, should his appearance in the Man of Steel sequel be a success, then Affleck will be given the green light to portray the Dark Knight for "multiples movies" and may even be given the chance to step behind the camera and direct one of the upcoming films. In particular, the studio's answer to The Avengers; The Justice League, will be Affleck's directing job of choice, with the actor also expected to star as Batman should the JL film come to fruition.

Continue reading: Ben Affleck Could Play Batman In 'Multiple' Films, And May Direct The 'Justice League' Film