Singapore Press Loves "Margin Call"

Boy was I glad when indie financial thriller "Margin Call" made its way to Singapore on the last week of December 2011.

It was screening only at the Cathay Cineplexes and Shaw Theatres rather than at the splashier blockbuster-loving GV cinemas. But it did have a good number of show times and the movie is in fact, still currently screening at Cathay's Cineleisure Orchard.

I guess there are only a few hardcore Zachary Quinto fans around on this island. It seems that no one had put the local press stuff out on the internet yet.

An Oscar Nomination For "Margin Call"!

The nominations list for the 2012 Oscars have just been announced and...

W00t W00t!

Everyone...  flail your biceps round the house...

'Coz "Margin Call" has received a nomination for Writing (Original Screenplay)! The movie's director J.C. Chandor, is also the screenwriter for the indie movie produced by Before The Door.

Check out the rest of the Oscar nomination list on ABC News.

This is such super-exciting news!

It is just the 2nd day of The Year of the Dragon and the mythical creature has already brought in good tidings!

Heartiest congratulations to Zachary Quinto and the fabulous Before The Door, J.C. Chandor and the team of actors, producers, crew members for "Margin Call". And it's marvellous that JC and BTD team receive an Oscar nomination for their first movie!

Will "Margin Call" actually walk away with an Oscar this year?

Together with the mass of ZQ fans, I certainly hope so!

A SArmy's Fan Review - "Margin Call" Arrives in the UK!

After making its rounds in parts of Europe, Canada, the USA, Hong Kong and yes! even Singapore, "Margin Call" finally premiered in the UK last week.

The indie film about Wall Street's money-mongerers which has been making respectable critics and reviewers take notice, opened with a red-carpet event at the Vue Theatre, Leicester Square, London on 9th January 2012.

Lead actors Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons and Paul Bettany (looking rather hipsterish in blue-tinted geeky glasses and scarf) were present to grace the gala event.

Two of our SArmy members, Kirsty (from ZacharyQuinto UK) and Natalie, were lucky enough to attend the movie's premiere. And here is Natalie's review of the low-budget but beautifully-made movie.

2011: My List of Top 5 Quinto-fied Moments

2011 has been a year of many outstanding Quinto events!

Zachary Quinto kept himself suitably busy throughout the year, working his biceps in various mediums on stage, in TV and films, on the social networks as well as behind the scenes.

It has indeed been a stellar year for Zach and the Before The Door team as they embarked on some wonderful things that elevated their profiles in so many different ways.

Here is My Top 5 List of Quinto-fied Moments in 2011:

#1 - Sundance and "Margin Call"

In January, together with writer-director J.C. Chandor, Zach and the Before the Team took their first full-length movie "Margin Call" to the Sundance Film Festival. The crew of cast members like Oscar-winners Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey and A-listers Paul Bettany, Stanley Tucci and Demi Moore came along for the official worldwide premiere at the Eccles Theatre.

"Margin Call" - Review by a ZQC Member

As "Margin Call" gathers momentum, there has been some talk about Oscar nominations.

I haven't watched the movie yet, but from the rave reviews I've read from some heavy press and top critics, I hope it does head toward that direction.

For those in LA and NY, there are some events coming up with the director and producers of the movie this Saturday!

On 29 October, in LA, our favourite bb Zachary Quinto (hopefully wearing a beanie??) and Before The Door partner and one of the movie's producer Neal Dodson, will appear for a special post-show Q&A at the 7 pm screening at the Century City AMC. Do hurry and buy your tickets now before they sell out!

Over at the East Coast, in NY, writer/ director of  "Margin Call" J.C. Chandor will be stopping by the Angelika for a Q&A after the 5 pm show.

If anyone is attending these events, drop me a note! I'm sure many other fans would like to hear how these sessions went!

And to add on to @HardlyanAngel's thoughts of the movie, here's another "Margin Call" review from a ZQC member, @Sunfell!

"Margin Call" - A SArmy Fan's Review

For an indie film, "Margin Call", the Before The Door-produced and J.C. Chandor-directed Wall Street thriller with an impressive ensemble cast, has been getting a lot of attention since it opened at theatres on just 56 screens in some key USA cities this week!

The movie was also available On Demand, thereby, increasing its reach to even more interested viewers across the country.

Several publications and websites have given the movie a big thumbs-up, with as many movie-goers and fans acknowledging that it is a rather involving and relevant film of the times.

My favourite movie ratings website, Rotten Tomatoes, has awarded it a commendable 87% rating.

Remember This Day - "Margin Call" Official Trailer Is Out!

It's a financial crisis!

SELL! SEEELLLLL!!!!

Finally, after many months of waiting impatiently for an official trailer, the one for "Margin Call" was released yesterday on Yahoo! Movies.

"Margin Call", written and directed by J.C Chandor, chronicles the start of a financial crisis happening right in the heart of a Wall Street investment firm.

Unprimeval abnormalies show up. Things get ugly. Facts get covered up. Blame gets wonderfully distributed all around.

"Margin Call" At Berlin Film Festival

After an exciting official premiere at the Sundance Festival, Before The Door's first film, "Margin Call" made its way to Germany for the 61st Berlin Film Festival this week!

The movie celebrated its international premiere at the festival, and is one of the 16 movies competing for the "Golden Bear Award" for best picture.

Zachary Quinto, joined co-stars Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany and first-time director, J.C. Chandor at the film festival. Together with him were also fellow BTD-ers, Neal Dodson and Corey Moosa.

"Margin Call" Premiere and After

After the press screening at this year's Sundance Festival, "Margin Call" had its official worldwide premiere at the Eccles Theatre on 25 January.

From the photo Executive Producer Cassian Elwes excitedly tweeted, the theatre looked totally filled! (Click here for pic.) This was probably due to the hype that had been surrounding the movie during the festival. Apparently, no one left the theatre when the cast and director, J.C. Chandor, appeared on stage for Q and A's. That's an indication of mega interest in this movie!

Margin Call -- SOLD!!!

This epic news is definitely worth a blog post by itself.

During last weekend, there were the initial rumours posted on various film-related websites about "Margin Call" 's sale of its USA distribution rights to Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate. Meanwhile, interested fans patiently waited for more news.

A few hours later, confirmation from Executive Producer Cassian Elwes arrived via Twitter.

Cassian tweeted: "The margin call distribution deal closed at 2 15am. And I couldn't sleep for a while afterwards. Just so excited for jc neal kevin rob mike."

The supportive Zachary Quinto/ Before The Door network broke out in jubilant cheers.

Margin Call Flexes Some Good Reviews

Together with its worldwide premiere at the Sundance Festival, there was a press screening on 21 January for "Margin Call". Many reviews for the indie movie then began to trickle through the interwebs.

The buzz has been picking up for the movie prior to the festival, with hoardes of distributors flocking to the screening, which was filled minutes after doors opened! There was definitely no shortage of offers from buyers for this star-studded indie film - the first one produced by our beloved bb, Zachary Quinto and his team at Before The Door.

Executive producer Cassian Elwes tweeted: "Variety loved margin call. Very good news. Multiple offers. Decisions to make."

"Be Careful" -- More Margin Call Buzz

Hyping up the "Margin Call" buzz with its Sundance Festival premiere this month, is an exclusive poster for the occasion.

Collider had the exclusive and posted the article and poster a couple of days ago. Here's the link to the article.

I thought it was savvy that the poster didn't focus too much on the faces and names of the acting luminaries that seem to be crowding the cast list. I mean, after all, these names already speak for themselves. And with a simple poster like this, it goes to show how much the producers and marketing team are more eager to highlight *the story* of the movie.

This must reflect something about the script that seems to be creating some excitement amongst the industry folks.

Margin Call To Go Sundance-ing

As you all might already know (.. well, unless you have been living thousands of feet underground in caves with some grumpy dwarves.... ), "Margin Call", the first movie produced by production company Before The Door, and directed by newcomer J.C .Chandor, is one of the films showing at the Sundance Festival 2011.

This is super exciting news for those who have been stalking ... er.. following Zachary Quinto's endeavours post-"Heroes" and BTD's list of projects.

Hardly Marginal At All

What are the chances that a new production company's first movie would be greenlighted, go into production soon after with an impressive cast, and then get invited to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival??

This was exactly what happened with Before The Door Picture's movie, "Margin Call", directed by JC Chandor.

The movie - a thriller - covers the 24-hour period during a financial crisis in Wall Street, and stars Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker and Penn Badgley. Of course, our very own bb Zachary Quinto, will also be flexing his biceps in a business suit in this movie. (I know I know, we *all* want to be the pen in the above pic. sigh.)

Angel Soaring Off-Broadway

On October 28, 2010 after weeks of performances to mainly press and privileged ticket holders, Signature Theatre's off-Broadway production of "Angels in America" finally spread its wings and soared to generally positive reviews.

Most critics have labelled the production as good or satisfying.

Leading up to opening night, our bb Zachary Quinto managed to some garner in-depth press, including one from NY Times! (Click here for the article.) I thought this article was fairly written and showed Zach's focus on things that he feels are *truly* important to him.

All Wrapped Up!

This week has been full of chatty news from some of the "Margin Call" stars and the Before The Door production team! We were so spoilt on Twitter!

After the news that Jeremy Irons had joined the cast, we received word that there was a scene where his character and that of Kevin Spacey's went "head to head". The entire cast was in the same room. OOOoooh. Intense!

Sean Akers also tweeted: "Jeremy Irons. Very nice guy. So impressive. It is like riding in the elevator with royalty. Watching him rehearse the next scene."

Metallic Elements Added ... Biceps Included

Does Zachary Quinto secretly know about this blog specially dedicated to his very nom-nom-nom-y biceps???

Coz seriously folks, this is twice within the span of a few days that he's shown off those squeezable arms of his in revealing sleeveless tops. This time, they were having lunch and snugly accompanied by a body-skimming turquoise tee. (Source: Zach-quinto.net)

I sit transfixed, staring at the vision on my computer screen. It's a nice way to get my eyes massaged :D In my line of work where you look at figures all day, it's nice to look at OTHER kind of figures *g*

A Spattering of Updates

This week has been chockful of "Margin Call" updates. Much to the delight of us fans!

For those who are still unaware, "Margin Call" is an indie movie about eight people during a tumultuous 24-hour period just prior to the 2008 Wall Street financial meltdown. It is Before the Door's first film production!

Zachary Quinto, who also stars in the movie, has been giving us pretty constant updates on Twitter and Facebook. And when I say pretty, I *do* mean pretty :D

Just look at the pic above. Zach's own self-portrait pic on the "Margin Call" set  in a suit with a night reflection of the Empire State Building. Srsly! Those pretty biceps in a suit! It is pretty as pretty does!

First Days

The first day of school. The first day at work. The first day at a new home.

First days can be terribly exciting... and yet daunting at the same time. First days usually bring with them a wave of changes to one's life experiences.

And so it was, on the First Day of filming in NYC on June 21st for the Before The Door-produced indie movie "Margin Call" that Zachary Quinto tweeted he was too excited to even sleep.

The set call started real early at 5 am and when the first shot began, Zach sent us all a cute pic of himself sitting on a stoop with that much-needed cup of coffee. (Although, I was really distracted by those biceps...yep, I can't help it. :D )

Indie The Way To Go?

Have you noticed that in recent years, some choice indie films have gained a lot of ground in terms of popularity compared to the big-studios so-called "blockbuster hits"??  

I am quite an ardent fan of the indie film, as the big-studio screen-splashes seem to use a set formula that one can expect before even stepping into the cinema. I still do enjoy some big-studio offerings - like Iron Man or the Harry Potter  films. However, good indie films tend to reach my inner-soul deeper, with topics which are more personal and realistic. Or the storylines are just plain quirky; or are an utterly disturbing but pleasurable mindwarp. Added to this mix are often charming performances by well-known as well as lesser-known or unknown actors, where they seem free-er to be more "out-of-the-box".  And I'm Sold. :)