Crumb by Crumb

Supporting Actress Blogathon:Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air

2010-01-17T04:50:00.009-05:00

There were many supporting women I admired this year, and I really wanted to write on someone original. I've actually seen a good bit of cinema for once, and could've come up with someone really unexpected if I'd tried.

I thought of reaching back to the beginning with Sunshine Cleaning's gloriously deadpan Emily Blunt, or going for one of the Whip It girls (Marcia Gay being my favorite). I thought of Meryl Streep's "foxy woman", Charlize Theron's Road woman (where did she come from??), and even the girls of Zombieland (those would be Abby Breslin and the no-name who plays her teenage sister, a character who it seems was meant for Lindsay Lohan before she found herself uninsurable). I've become enamored of Zöe Saldaña as of late ($2 billion sci-fi double feature!). Julianne Moore's famous Single Man cackle alone merits a write-up. And god knows Mo'Nique is worthy of praise.

But no matter how hard I tried to muster up words for someone else, I kept coming back to Vera. Vera, Vera, Vera... beautiful name. I fell hard for this one during Up in the Air. Isn't it lovely when you have all these preconceived notions of an actor, and out of nowhere, she just takes 'em down like Jake Sully did to that bomber plane? Like Meryl Streep's been doing for decades? Well, Meryl, watch out.

I'd previously pegged Vera as "the new Cate Blanchett" after seeing her in The Departed and Breaking and Entering, in which she portrayed a generic girlfriend and a Slavic whore, respectively. Clearly, she had no lack of range. But I'd seen no hint of the kind of movie star fire, mystery, effortless charm and sex appeal she displays here. And I mean that in the best way. To be blindsided by movie star charisma in an already-known-to-be-technically-brilliant actress is a glorious thing. And if it's all in the service of a role that's basically an "everywoman"? Not a queen, rock star, drug addict, Na'Vi princess, hooker, or glamazon? Wow.

I'm now inclined to anoint Vera "the next Meryl Streep" (no offense to Cate, who has her own strengths); they both have a beautiful looseness and effortlessness at their best which, while perhaps rooted in technique, looks like anything but. Not only could Vera be a Sophie, I think she could be a Karen Silkwood, a Susan Orlean, a Clarissa Vaughan, or dare I say it, an Alex Goran. She can find the extraordinary in the most seemingly ordinary of people, and make a simple close-up feel like heaven.

There's one close-up in particular that I mean. I believe it was the last time Ryan saw Alex before the infamous ending. The twinkle in her eye, the confident smile, the turn of the head - all pure bliss.

Golden Globe winner predictions!

2010-01-17T01:53:00.003-05:00

I've shifted my thinking on the globes a bit lately, so I've decided to hedge my bets and predict some things differently here than I have in official prediction contests. Here, I'm saying Avatar wins best pic and the HFPA decides two other awards are enough for Up in the Air. But a big part of me still thinks Up in the Air (the nomination leader) takes it. We'll see:

BEST DRAMA: Avatar
BEST COMEDY/MUSICAL: Nine
BEST ANIMATED FILM: Up
BEST FOREIGN FILM: A Prophet
BEST DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow
BEST SCREENPLAY: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner
BEST ACTOR - DRAMA: George Clooney
BEST ACTOR - COMEDY/MUSICAL: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA: Sandra Bullock
BEST ACTRESS - COMEDY/MUSICAL: Meryl Streep
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Mo'Nique
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Avatar
BEST ORIGINAL SONG: "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart

Can I just say...

2009-12-31T15:37:00.014-05:00

...that I will be sad if James Cameron wins the best director oscar for Avatar. Not because the directing wasn't great. But because of Kathryn Bigelow. And because the rundown would be frustratingly similar to the '93 and '03 situations. I'm referring, of course, to the two other recent years when a woman was a viable candidate for Best Director. In both years, the woman had directed a smallish, critically acclaimed indie film that she had also written. And in both years, she was up against a PHENOMENON: a huge film that had swept the board and literally couldn't lose. And what's happening this year? Yeah, the same thing.

1993: Jane Campion (The Piano) vs Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List)
Win: Spielberg (Campion wins best original screenplay)

2003: Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) vs Peter Jackson (LOTR)
Win: Jackson (Coppola wins best original screenplay)

2009: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) vs James Cameron (Avatar)
Win: ???

Round 3. What will happen?

For all the similarities, it is worth noting that there's a lot that's different about this year.

For one thing, the woman (Bigelow) has literally nearly swept the board of directing honors (so far), to a greater extent than either of her predecessors, I believe. Meanwhile, Cameron (as a director) has won nothing. This bodes well for Bigelow to win, unless the late-breaking phenom that is Avatar starts cleaning up at Golden Globe and DGA time (a distinct possibility).

Also, Bigelow has no consolation prize category to win, as did Campion and Coppola. This could be a factor. I think the fact that Campion and Coppola could be honored elsewhere helped voters feel less bad about denying them the big prize.

ALSO, Cameron has already won. And it was for the most recent film he made (Titanic, 12 years ago). So he's not "due" in any way. In previous years, the men in the race were very highly regarded industry giants who'd never won, despite whole careers of brilliant work. This year, Bigelow is the one with the career that demands attention.

Plus, all the other major films directed by women this year - Bright Star, An Education, Julie & Julia, It's Complicated, Amelia (in rough descending order of significance) - have caused many onlookers to declare 2009 "the year of the woman." There's a definite feeling in the air that "it's time." Everyone seems to feel that a woman should win.

But will she? Or will Avatar just become too big to ignore, as Schindler and Return of the King did before it? And how will the "ex" factor play into the race? You know what I'm talking about.

The dynamics of all three awards years ('93, '03, '09) actually have striking parallels to the recent Hillary/Obama primary war. Isn't that funny? Art imitates life, as film awards imitate politics. Every time a woman comes along and directs a film (or runs a Presidential campaign) that would've won in any other year, she has the bad luck to be up against a once-in-a-generation phenomenon who's simply unbeatable. Them's the breaks, it seems.

Bottom line: This is shaping up to be a very exciting contest, the likes of which we haven't seen for quite a while. All may become clear soon enough, but I, for one, hope there's plenty of suspense right up through the big night. It should be fun.

Golden Globe nominations! (& my prediction success)

2009-12-15T22:55:00.006-05:00

I did pretty well on these. Nominees I predicted correctly have an asterisk next to them. Those I'm now predicting to win are in bold. Let's dig in:

BEST PICTURE (DRAMA)
Avatar*
Inglorious Basterds*
~~Invictus~~
The Hurt Locker*
Precious
Up in the Air*

I scored 4 of 5. But I'm happy to be wrong on Invictus and wrong about the Precious snub. The latter is a very good film, and I'm glad to see it recognized. In fact, this lineup is pretty great in general. I'm still pretty sure Up in the Air will take this, though Best Director is probably headed to Bigelow (or her ex-hubby).

BEST PICTURE (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
(500) Days of Summer*
~~A Serious Man~~
The Hangover
It's Complicated*
Julie & Julia*
Nine*

4 of 5 again. Dammit. Deep down I knew The Hangover would make it here - after all, it was a giant sleeper hit with good reviews - but I refused to believe it. Nine will still win this award, though it isn't looking nearly as dominant as I thought it would.

BEST ACTOR (DRAMA)
Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)*
George Clooney (Up in the Air)*
~~Johnny Depp (Public Enemies)~~
Colin Firth (A Single Man)*
Morgan Freeman (Invictus)*
Tobey Maguire (Brothers)

4 of 5 yet again. So Tobey ended up in the wild card spot. Fair enough. He'll most likely be replaced by Renner at oscar time. I do think Clooney will take this one, with the momentum he has from all the critics' awards plus the fact that the starfucking globes love him. But Bridges will likely take home the SAG and oscar.

BEST ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria)
Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)*
~~Abbie Cornish (Bright Star)~~
Helen Mirren (The Last Station
Carey Mulligan (An Education)*
~~Saorsie Ronan (The Lovely Bones)~~
Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)*

Ouch! 3 of 5. I stupidly bet against Mirren, and (like most of the world) didn't see Emily Blunt coming. This probably puts Ronan's oscar hopes to rest... it now looks like Bullock, Mirren, Mulligan, Sidibe and Streep, with Blunt and Cornish looming on the outside. Also: I think Bullock will win this. Mulligan certainly could (as could Sidibe), but An Education didn't register much with them, and if the double nom is any indication, they're itching to reward Sandy.

BEST ACTOR (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
Matt Damon (The Informant!)*
Daniel Day-Lewis (Nine)*
Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes)*
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer)*
Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man)*

5 of 5! Nailed it. These really seemed like the right five. I think DDL is winning, but he's not the runaway favorite he would have been if Nine had gotten more love. I don't think Damon or JGL have what it takes, but I could see Downey or Stuhlbarg upsetting (though I haven't seen their films, so I don't know how confident I am in that happening).

BEST ACTRESS (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
Sandra Bullock (The Proposal)*
Marion Cotillard (Nine)*
~~Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer)~~
Julia Roberts! (Duplicity)
Meryl Streep (It's Complicated)*
Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)*

4 of 5. I was definitely on the right track here (double Streep, double Bullock, Cotillard, no Pfeiffer), but I did miss the crazy-out-of-nowhere love for Julia Roberts. Though it's really not that surprising. I do think that, with the Nine love dampened and Cotillard's categorization in doubt, Streep has this one locked up. She'll take it for J&J.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon (Invictus)*
Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)*
~~Alfred Molina (An Education)~~
Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)*
Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds)*

4 of 5. Not bad. I had an inkling that Molina wouldn't show up, but I predicted him anyway, leaving off the "duh" choice of Christopher Plummer. I do still think Waltz will win - he's been sweeping the critics, and the GGs are loving his film - but this one could really go to anyone.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penélope Cruz (Nine)*
~~Judi Dench (Nine)~~
Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)*
Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)*
Mo'Nique (Precious)*
Julianne Moore (A Single Man)

4 of 5. I definitely overestimated the Nine love. And I was doubting Moore's chances, so I left her off in favor of perennial nominee Judi Dench. But I think this category is great. Love the Up in the Air girls. Haven't seen Moore or Cruz yet, but love them in general. Also love Mo'Nique (who's clearly winning).

BEST DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)*
James Cameron (Avatar)*
Clint Eastwood (Invictus)
~~Rob Marshall (Nine)~~
Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)*
Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds)*

4 of 5. Overestimated the Nine love once again. And I assumed Eastwood's film would make it, but he wouldn't. Turns out I had that one backwards. This race should be very exciting - Bigelow, Cameron and Reitman are all definitely in play - though I think this one goes to the girl. Should be awesome.

BEST SCREENPLAY
The Coen Bros, A Serious Man
Nick Hornby, An Education
Neill Blomkamp & Teri Tatchell, District 9
Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds*
Nancy Meyers, It's Complicated
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker*
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air*

3 of 5. Not bad, considering how whacked out this category is. I'm proud of myself for calling The Hurt Locker here. But the Nancy Meyers nomination is unfortunate. The District 9 nomination is weird, but welcome. I'm perplexed by the Coen Bros snub, and rather happy about the An Education snub. All in all, kind of a fun category.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Avatar*
~~Bright Star~~
~~Coco Avant Chanel~~
The Informant!*
A Single Man
~~The Lovely Bones~~
Up
Where the Wild Things Are

2 of 5. Ouch. But the globe score category's always weird. At the least here, the nominees are good-weird. Loving the Single Man and Wild Things nods. Good on you, Golden Globes.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Avatar*
Brothers
Crazy Heart
Everybody's Fine
~~Nine~~
Nine*
~~Precious~~
~~Up in the Air~~

2 of 5. Meh. Sad about the Up in the Air snub. "Help Yourself" is REALLY GOOD, and the sequence where it's used in the film is quite memorable. Oh well. I'm assuming the Everybody's Fine and Brothers songs won't go the distance. What could win here? Tough to say. Right now, I'm saying Crazy Heart.

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline*
~~Ponyo~~
The Fantastic Mr. Fox*
The Princess and the Frog*
Up*

4 of 5. This is probably the oscar shortlist. Too bad for Ponyo and Mary & Max.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Baaria
A Prophet*
Broken Embraces*
~~Coco Avant Chanel~~
The Maid
~~Sin Nombre~~
The White Ribbon*

3 of 5. Not terrible.

So the tally is:

6 - Up in the Air (I guessed 7)
5 - Nine (I guessed 8... oops)
4 - Avatar (nailed it)
4 - Inglorious Basterds (nailed it)
3 - Invictus (got it, though in different categories)
3 - The Hurt Locker (nailed it)
3 - A Serious Man (failed it)
3 - A Single Man (I predicted the wrong Man for 3 nods)
3 - An Education (they didn't love it)
3 - It's Complicated (didn't see that third nod coming)
3 - Precious (got the # of categories right)
3 - The Lovely Bones (not so much)
3 - (500) Days of Summer (the Zooey nomination didn't happen)

So I knew which two movies would come out on top (though I thought Nine would fare better than Up in the Air), and I had a good idea of which other films would do well (i.e. 3 or 4 nods). Not bad, if I do say so myself.

Questions? Comments? Praise? I love reader participation...

Trailer of the year:

2009-12-10T03:54:00.002-05:00

This was up on Awards Daily many months ago, but I thought it deserved another home on my blog. This is one of the most gorgeous and rapturous trailers I've ever seen; it's more moving than it has any right to be. And it's SO ridiculously superior to the first Bright Star trailer, it's unreal. This one really captures the fleeting, poetic beauty of the film.

The music is available on iTunes in a slightly different form (the iTunes track has vocals instead of strings). It's called "To Build a Home", and it's by the Cinematic Orchestra (fittingly enough). It's worth the $0.99. Just beautiful.

My top five of 2009 so far (in no particular order):

2009-12-09T06:11:00.045-05:00

Perhaps the most perfect film this year, Jason Reitman's latest feels both timely and timeless. George Clooney gives the performance of a lifetime in a film that feels like it will age very well, despite its obvious relevance to the here and now. I'm convinced that history will mark this as the zenith of his distinguished career. But the other two principals are stellar as well: Kendrick is impressive in a role tailer-made for her, and Farmiga reveals a sly charisma and mystery that I had no idea was there.

The impeccably crafted script gives the actors room to create real characters, and the film, though annoyingly sleek and glossy at first, keeps deepening until its gloriously "open" ending. In short: believe the hype. This one is the real deal.

I'll be honest: I'm a trekkie from way back. I've seen all of the first ten movies; in fact, I owned nine of them on VHS. But after the embarrassing Star Trek: Nemesis and the slow fizzle of the latest series, I began to question my former fandom, and basically wrote the franchise off for dead.

But this reboot surprised me. I initially dreaded it, assuming it would chuck everything that was great about the originals and replace it with CW-style vapidity. But instead, it turned out to be perhaps the most viscerally cinematic entry in the whole Star Trek canon. All absurdities of physics and preposterousness of plot aside, this is one grand adventure yarn, powered by stirring music, editing and effects, and a wonderfully game young cast. My hat is off.

Lee Daniels' moving film about an obese, abused teenager in 1980s Harlem is not perfect. His seemingly indiscriminate directorial flourishes and indulgent, haphazard style do little to foster any sense of cohesiveness. But then, the world he's putting on display is not perfect either - far from it. And what Precious does best is put us, the audience, deep inside the head of its protagonist, and thoroughly immerse us in her world. The raw open wounds of her life are laid bare for all to see - and feel - in this gripping and deeply emotional film.

Great performances abound, but Mo'Nique is a true standout. Her monstrous Mary Jones is like the gritty naturalistic flipside of Streep's Miranda Priestly: not as sleek or fun, but much scarier and, ultimately, more moving.

What I respect most about Tarantino's newest epic ode to violence, vengeance and showmanship, other than all the pure craft involved, is that he dared to have fun with a topic normally considered sacrosanct: World War II and the Holocaust. As a result, he now has a film that is at once utterly trashy and totally oscar-bait. Oh, the irony.

That this film has become both a financial and (more than likely) an awards success, despite its somewhat divisive nature, is further evidence that filmmakers shouldn't be afraid to go for broke, defy expectations, and challenge stuffy viewpoints, preferably all in the service of a fun ride. Basterds does all this and more, and thus is one of the year's most fun and thrilling cinematic offerings.

Pure poetry. That seems like the most appropriate phrase to describe Jane Campion's beautiful study of first love. Many will find this Keats biopic (of sorts) slow, plodding, or even downright boring, but those adjectives describe many of my favorite films. This is the kind of movie I'll be able to pop in on a quiet afternoon while I work, or at night to help lull myself to sleep. It's a keeper. But it was also a joy to discover for the first time on the big screen: the gorgeous images, vivid atmosphere, and slow-burn romance were infectious.

Abbie Cornish is a revelation in a kind of "everygirl" role, but the underrated Ben Whishaw is also terrific: he captures the charm, elusiveness and "je ne sais quoi" quality of Keats with such aplomb that we easily see how Frannie would fall for him.

These writeups will likely be recycled when I do an official top ten list in the coming weeks. But since I've actually seen enough films so far this year to justify a bit of a retrospective, I thought I'd get started now. Unfortunately, I still have some major blind spots, The Hurt Locker and Hunger chief among them. But those will be rectified soon enough.

Thoughts? Similarities? Differences? I'd love to hear some opinions on this year's crop of films.

I'm back with Golden Globe nomination predictions!

2009-12-09T01:23:00.009-05:00

Hi, all! I know I don't blog anymore, so my readership is probably gone, but I'm gonna start back up again anyway since it's AWARDS SEASON now, and I have to vent my obsessions. I hope I can corral some people in here to comment. Early winner predictions in bold, with asterisks if I'm extra confident:

BEST PICTURE (DRAMA)
Avatar
Inglorious Basterds
Invictus
The Hurt Locker
*Up in the Air*

So many options... I wanted to go out on a limb and predict something like Bright Star or The Road or The Last Station, but there just doesn't seem to be room for a smaller film to break through. Apparently Avatar was very well received at an HFPA screening, Invictus has "bait + Clint Eastwood + international" in its favor, Inglorious Basterds is also international (so many languages!) and also has verve and an a marquée director, and Hurt Locker and Up in the Air have had all the buzz for some time now. I realize I'm taking a risk by leaving off Precious, but it hasn't had quite the box office people expected, and I'm sensing it's on the wane... and what is life without risks? And obviously An Education could show up here, too, though I feel surprisingly confident that it won't.

BEST PICTURE (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
(500) Days of Summer
A Serious Man
It's Complicated
Julie & Julia
*Nine*

The Hangover poses a definite threat, but I refuse to predict it. Here's hoping A Serious Man keeps it out of this list... though I suppose Sherlock Holmes is possible, too.

BEST ACTOR (DRAMA)
Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
George Clooney (Up in the Air)
Johnny Depp (Public Enemies)
Colin Firth (A Single Man)
Morgan Freeman (Invictus)

I think Depp takes Renner's spot here. The other four seem locked and loaded for both this list and oscar's. The one other guy (aside from Renner) who could totally end up on this list is Viggo... but I don't think there's room.

BEST ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
Abbie Cornish (Bright Star)
Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Saorsie Ronan (The Lovely Bones)
Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)

This category's actually quite crowded. I'm gonna just roll the dice and say Mirren gets snubbed (maybe they just won't respond much to The Last Station?) in favor of the above five. I wanted to predict Swinton, but I can't see her beating out any of these buzzier contenders. And that SUCKS. But there you go.

BEST ACTOR (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
Matt Damon (The Informant!)
*Daniel Day-Lewis (Nine)*
Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer)
Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man)

Let's just go with this. There are other contenders, but I feel pretty good about these five.

BEST ACTRESS (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
Sandra Bullock (The Proposal)
Marion Cotillard (Nine)
Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer)
Meryl Streep (It's Complicated)
Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)

Yes, I am predicting that Pfeiffer will get the shaft in favor of Bullock (or rather, her great year), Cotillard, Deschanel, and a double dose of Streep. I also think Adams will be undone by the prevailing notion that her storyline was the inferior half of Julie & Julia and should've been eliminated altogether. But those two would be the obvious spoliers... along with perhaps Ellen Page and a few others.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon (Invictus)
Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)
Alfred Molina (An Education)
Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds)

I've erred on the side of bigger names here - Damon, Harrelson and Tucci seem like good bets for the globes, along with likely winner Waltz - but I have left off Christopher Plummer. For some reason I'm feeling like they may just completely ignore The Last Station. We'll see.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penélope Cruz (Nine)
Judi Dench (Nine)
Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)
Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)
*Mo'Nique (Precious)*

I'm guessing this category gets totally swarmed by women from what I think will be the nomination leaders (and eventual best picture winners) Up in the Air and Nine. But for what it's worth, I think Julianne Moore and Samantha Morton have strong potential to upset this list.

BEST DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
James Cameron (Avatar)
Rob Marshall (Nine)
Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds)

Yes, I think both Clint Eastwood and Lee Daniels will be snubbed in favor of Tarantino and Marshall. I actually think Marshall could win here if they really go crazy for Nine, which they might. Obviously Reitman or Bigelow could also take the prize, as could Cameron if Avatar turns out to be huge.

BEST SCREENPLAY
The Coen Bros, A Serious Man
Nick Hornby, An Education
Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
*Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air*

I'm fairly confident in everything but The Hurt Locker. I actually didn't want to predict it, but I couldn't think of anything else I believed in more, so I figured it had the best shot for the 5th slot. It is a very well-regarded film and will probably get nominated somewhere other than picture and director, so I guess this could be the place. Not sure what could really replace it... maybe In the Loop, The Last Station, or The Lovely Bones? We'll see.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Avatar
Bright Star
Coco Avant Chanel
The Informant!
The Lovely Bones

No idea. But I think some of these will be right...

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Avatar
Nine
Nine
Precious
Up in the Air

Again, no idea. But I think some of these will be right, particularly Avatar, the Nine songs, and Up in the Air.

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Coraline
Ponyo
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
*Up*

A Christmas Carol, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs or Mary & Max could definitely place, but I'm betting on these five.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Prophet
Broken Embraces
Coco Avant Chanel
Sin Nombre
The White Ribbon

I think three or four of these will definitely place, but I doubt I'm totally on the mark. Just trying to go with acclaim, fame level of the filmmakers, and general buzz... although Spanish and French films are totally over-represented...

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Capitalism: A Love Story
Food, Inc.
The Cove
This is It
Valentino: The Last Emperor

The globes tend to go more populist in this category (as I recall), so I'll go with these. But it's really hard to say.

So the tally is:

Nine (8)
Up in the Air (7)
Avatar (4)
Inglorious Basterds (4)
Invictus (3)
The Hurt Locker (3)
A Serious Man (3)
An Education (3)
Precious (3)
The Lovely Bones (3)
(500) Days of Summer (3)

...and the rest with scraps. So I guess I'm thinking they'll really spread the wealth, outside of the clear dominance of Nine and Up in the Air. Though the best pics are obvious, I expect director to be very tight between Bigelow, Reitman and Marshall, so it should be fun to see how that plays out.

Questions? Comments? Praise? I love reader participation...

Happy 60th, Meryl! And happy 26th to me!

2009-06-22T23:55:00.002-04:00

Yes indeed. It took Meryl Streep's 60th birthday to bring me back to my blog, but here I am. I hope I still have one or two readers.

I've been very busy with other things for these past few months - gotta love real life - but I hope the blog hasn't completely died. I'm planning on continuing the Streepathon this month - finally - but right now I'm busy celebrating my birthday, which is one day after Meryl's. Or, more accurately, 1:09am in the morning after (so close!). So this post is going up at midnight, right between the two glorious days.

See you soon...

The List: The Birth of a Nation (dir. D. W. Griffith, 1915)

2009-02-26T23:19:00.010-05:00

So. Hmmm. I really disliked this movie. In fact, it took me many, many tries (and a few months of having it sitting here, sucking up netflix charges) for me to finally get through it. Given the triple whammy of its being...

A) silent
B) 3 hours long
C) incredibly offensive

...I never really expected any better. In any case, I'm gonna say as little about it as possible.

But I will give it this: watching it was an experience. Just not in the good way. Yeah, it was a technical milestone. Yeah, it was the first blockbuster. And yes, it may have secured the future of feature films as we know them. But damn if it isn't a total slog to sit through. The Lincoln assassination scene is cool, though.

My oscar success rate...

2009-02-26T23:06:00.003-05:00

...or lack thereof.

I got 18/24 in my blog predictions, which is better than the 16/24 I got with my (not updated with last-minute hunches) oscar pool predictions, but still not as well as many people did this year. I tripped up some on the small, obscure categories, and defied my earlier, more correct deduction that The Duchess would win best costume design (they really do ALWAYS just pick the most ornate period costumes year after year).

But what really killed me were the two sound categories. I refused to believe Slumdog would win either (though I was truly adamant that it wouldn't win sound editing, and was correct in that regard). I also REALLY thought they'd go on merit and give WALL•E sound editing, since they previously awarded The Incredibles there (d'oh!). I guess they just equate sound editing with action films and guns (animated or not). It was especially frustrating to correctly guess that Dark Knight would take one, but incorrectly guess which one (double d'oh!). Oh well.

I ended up tying for first in my pool - we're sharing the AMC gift certificate - and doing unremarkably here among the internet types... which is fine. Especially since there's probably no one still reading my blog anyway. : (

But let it be known, here and now: I have returned! (cue dramatic music)

last minute oscar predictions

2009-02-22T11:43:00.006-05:00

Yes, I do realize this is my first post in what seems like months.

Anyway, I'm changing these a bit from what I predicted in my oscar party contest. I think I slightly underestimated Slumdog and overestimated WALL•E, and I'm changing foreign film from Waltz with Bashir to Departures. There seems to be a last-minute collective feeling that Departures, the more traditional contender, will in fact emerge victorious. I'm also feeling the heat in actor and supporting actress, but I'm not changing them. So:

PICTURE: Slumdog
DIRECTOR: Slumdog
ADAPTED: Slumdog
ORIGINAL: WALL•E
(I'm bucking conventional wisdom here, but I'll probably be wrong)
ACTOR: Sean Penn, Milk
(its only statue of the night, denying Mickey Rourke his)
ACTRESS: Kate Winslet, The Reader
(she's safe; bumping her to lead and then denying her would just be cruel)
SUPPORTING: Ledger & Cruz
(I'm feeling a last-minute Davis hunch, but I'm not following it)
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Slumdog
EDITING: Slumdog
SCORE: Slumdog
SONG: "Jaiho" (Slumdog)
(I'm changing this from "Down to Earth")
ART DIRECTION: Benjamin Button
COSTUME DESIGN: Benjamin Button
(I think it wins here because of those 13 nominations)
VISUAL EFFECTS: Benjamin Button
MAKEUP: Benjamin Button
SOUND MIXING: Dark Knight
SOUND EDITING: WALL•E
FOREIGN FILM: Departures (Japan)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Man on Wire
DOCUMENTARY SHORT: The Conscience of Nhem En
ANIMATED FEATURE: WALL•E
ANIMATED SHORT: Presto
LIVE-ACTION SHORT: Toyland

So, Button and Slumdog each take 4 techs, Slumdog sweeps the Big Three. I'm convinced WALL•E will win 3 of the 6 oscars it's nominated for, I'm just not sure which 3. I think Milk wins only for Sean Penn, The Wrestler goes home emptyhanded. WALL•E and Dark Knight split the sound awards, denying Slumdog a clean sweep. I'm not at all confident in Best Song, but I'm giving in to the conventional wisdom that the Slumdog music is unstoppable (plus, I just don't think WALL•E can win 4 oscars).

We'll see how I did in a bit.

OK, so I did badly on those predictions I just made.

2009-01-22T14:00:00.003-05:00

Suffice it to say that I missed all the actual big surprises (The Reader, the Winslet switch, the Dark Knight snub, Michael Shannon, etc.), instead predicting my own big surprises that didn't pan out (Frost/Nixon snubbed for WALL•E, Patel in lead, Marsdan, etc.). I was on to something with the surprises, but my predictions still suffered for it. So basically I did worse than if I'd just played it safe. Oh well. Maybe next time.

I'll be light on the oscar stuff this year, just sayin'... though there will be more content in the near future.

OK, so here are the oscar nomination predictions that I barely have time to do...

2009-01-22T00:43:00.004-05:00

Sorry, to anyone still reading. The blog kind of died over the past few weeks. I've been very busy with real life... making my thesis film and whatnot. But I feel like I should at least make some oscar predictions, on the record. So here goes:

BEST PICTURE
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk
The Dark Knight
WALL•E

Mostly wishful thinking, I guess, but I'm gonna stick my neck out and guess that the generally unremarkable Frost/Nixon takes a dive for the very remarkable WALL•E... even though my mind says Milk is the one most likely to be snubbed.

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle
David Fincher
Gus Van Sant
Christopher Nolan
Darren Aronofsky

Just a hunch that best pic and best director will yield two different surprises. Consensus seems to be forming that The Wrestler is building momentum and Aronofsky is the most likely director to surprise here. Though I have a lingering feeling that Van Sant could actually emerge as the lone director. We'll see.

BEST ACTOR
Sean Penn
Mickey Rourke
Frank Langella
Clint Eastwood
Dev Patel

Yeah, I said it. Dev Patel will be nominated HERE, according to my crazy predictions. As will Clint Eastwood. I'm opting for the total Brangelina snub... dangerous, but with a potentially big payoff if I'm right.

BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep
Anne Hathaway
Sally Hawkins
Melissa Leo
Kate Winslet

Jolie is probably in, but I refuse to admit it. This lineup would be so sweet... and I think there is a decent chance of it happening.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Robert Downey Jr.
Josh Brolin
Dev Patel

OK, so here's where I hedge my bets. I really do think Patel will get a lot of votes in lead. But it'd also be crazy to bet against him here, for the simple reason that there's just no one to replace him. I think Shannon and Franco are dead in the water, frankly, mostly cause of lack of love for their films (or in Franco's case, just not ENOUGH love for the film to get it multiple nods here). The only other reasonable alternative is Eddie Marsdan, but Happy-Go-Lucky is on very shaky ground as well. If Hawkins is iffy, then I don't think he has much of a shot. So Patel it is. As long as he gets nominated SOMEwhere, I reap rewards. Hee.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams
Viola Davis
Penélope Cruz
Marisa Tomei
Kate Winslet

I wanted to be ballsy and predict Kate for The Reader in lead, but I really think that in this case, the category placement has set in. It's just how people see it at this point. It's won the globe and BFCA in this category, for chrissakes. But I hope I'm wrong... I really want Cruz to win this award. I've also lost faith in Henson and have gained faith in Adams (after that BAFTA nod). It seems that there are in fact people who love her more than Viola Davis.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Happy-Go-Lucky
Rachel Getting Married
Milk
WALL•E
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

There are a TON of possibilities here. It seems like they should all be able to get in. But they can't. So I just went with the most obviously easy gets: the Pixar film, the Woody Allen film, the Mike Leigh film, the best pic contender, and the nepotism/quirky indie spot (which also just happens to be the most deserving of them all). The Wrestler seems a likely spoiler except for the fact that even the film's biggest fans (Nat, Nick, etc.) haven't been nominating its script, even as they give it love in every other category. In Bruges also really seems poised to score here, but I just can't see it getting in over any of these five. We'll see.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader

I think The Dark Knight will take a back seat to The Reader in this category. The other four are pretty locked in. Rev Road is not even close here, I don't think.

Alright, now here's how I think the 5 most nominated films will do:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 11 nods
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Film Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design
Best Makeup
Best Visual Effects
Best Original Score
Best Sound

The Dark Knight: 11 nods
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Supporting Actor
Best Film Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Makeup
Best Visual Effects
Best Original Score
Best Sound
Best Sound Effects Editing

Slumdog Millionaire: 9 nods
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best (Supporting?) Actor
Best Film Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Sound

WALL•E: 7 nods
Best Picture
Best Original Screenplay
Best Sound
Best Sound Effects Editing
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Animated Feature

Milk: 6 nods
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Original Screenplay
Best Actor
Best Supporting Actor
Best Film Editing

I guess I'm being optimistic. We'll see in a few hours...

NSFC predictions and winners

2009-01-03T17:12:00.007-05:00

BEST PICTURE
My prediction: WALL•E
My alternate: The Wrestler
Could it happen? The Class
Actual winner: Waltz with Bashir

Well, I got the animated part right... but wow.

BEST DIRECTOR
My prediction: Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
My alternate: Andrew Stanton, WALL•E
Or will they go with Boyle again?
Actual Winner: Mike Leigh

Yay for me! Is he in contention for an oscar nod? He sure has done well with the critics. No one else really has a claim on the "lone director" spot. So I think if it's not him, the directors will most likely match the best pic nominees.

BEST ACTOR
My prediction: Mickey Rourke
My alternate: Sean Penn
Or maybe... Richard Jenkins?
Actual winner: Sean Penn

Well, I was close. I assumed they'd love The Wrestler a little bit more than they did. But I guess the critics are really getting behind Sean Penn for the win. And why shouldn't they? He'll need to really seem like a sweeper to scoop up oscar #2.

BEST ACTRESS
My prediction: Sally Hawkins
My alternate: Anne Hathaway
Can she win one? Kristin Scott-Thomas
Actual winner: Sally Hawkins

This was fairly easy, I think. They usually go for someone who hasn't yet gotten the critical attention they deserve, but in this case, the established critical favorite STILL hasn't locked up as a nominee, so they're giving her one final push. Good.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
My prediction: Heath Ledger
My alternate: Bill Irwin
Or maybe... one of the Milk guys?
Actual winner: Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky

D'oh! Deep down, I kinda knew they'd go with someone other than Ledger. But for some reason, I forgot all about Eddie Marsan. He and Bill Irwin are sharing the annual "why can't they get traction?" slot. And he did seem like the type who they'd prop up. What was I thinking? Oops.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
My prediction: Marisa Tomei
My alternate: Penelope Cruz
Will they throw her a bone? Rosemarie DeWitt
Actual winner: Hanna Schygulla, The Edge of Heaven

WAAAY outta left field... but that's to be expected with this group. And yay for me for having actually seen this movie! I didn't care for it as much as most people did, but Hanna Schygulla was very good. And bold choices are always fun.

BEST SCREENPLAY
My prediction: Rachel Getting Married
My alternate: Happy-Go-Lucky
Could it score here? The Class
Actual winner: Happy-Go-Lucky

Well, I knew they'd like Happy-Go-Lucky. Just didn't know it would be to THIS extent. I thought for sure Rachel Getting Married would score with this group somewhere, and this seemed like the most likely place. But alas, they really REALLY love Mike Leigh. So there you go.

BEST DOCUMENTARY
My prediction: Trouble the Water (kill the Man on Wire sweep!)
My alternate: Man on Wire
Actual Winner: Man on Wire

Boring.

Well, anyway... looking at the balloting scores, WALL•E actually tied for 2nd (with Happy-Go-Lucky) in best picture, so I wasn't that far off. Rourke and Ledger were also 2nd in their categories. And Viola Davis was actually numerically tied with Schygulla in supporting actress, but since she was on fewer ballots, she lost the tiebreaker (Cruz was in 3rd).

This has gotta be disappointing for Rachel Getting Married and The Wrestler, neither of which got anywhere with this group. I thought one or both of them would get a lot of love here. But you never can tell. Always an interesting group, that NSFC.

Wow, why didn't I watch THIS on New Year's Eve?

2009-01-02T14:28:00.005-05:00

My family decided to go the traditional route, so I got stuck with Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest, and that hyperactive Kate Hudson wannabe. But I bet they would've watched CNN, had they known Kathy and Anderson were on.

p.s. Just come out already, Anderson. It's time.

OMG, WALL•E just won yet another critics' award.

2008-12-18T10:22:00.002-05:00

Chicago. This makes 3, all from relatively major cities (including L.A.). One might even call it this year's critical favorite, though Slumdog and Milk are certainly running close. We'll have to see how the top ten lists go, but so far, it looks like WALL•E may be on top.

Please please please let it be nominated for best picture.

SAG nominations!

2008-12-18T09:10:00.003-05:00

Quick thoughts: Doubt did extremely well, like I thought. 5 nominations, including both supporting actress nods, as well as ensemble. This has to boost its best picture profile, though I still doubt it'll make the cut in that race. Frost/Nixon managed an ensemble nod despite its being basically a duet, so that indicates it has huge best picture support. And Slumdog made the ensemble cut even though it has no stars and is not really an actors' piece, so it of course is locked in for best picture as well. Milk bounced back with nods for the ensemble and for Josh Brolin, though Franco missed, and is sadly out of the race for oscar : ( The last nominee was Benjamin Button, which solidified its own nomination for best pic as well. Ensemble list:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (3 noms)
Doubt (5 noms)
Frost/Nixon (2 noms)
Milk (3 noms)
Slumdog Millionaire (2 noms)

No out-of-nowhere choices this year, but still some major snubs. Big "ouch" for Revolutionary Road. Beyond Winslet's "Year of Kate" citation, it failed to get traction. Rachel Getting Married, as I feared, went by the wayside as well. Something worthy always does. And finally, The Dark Knight failed to lock in its best pic chances today, which is what would've happened if it'd scored here. In the actors' minds (as in the globes'), it's Heath Ledger's show only. So it's anyone's guess as to whether the academy'll go for it, even if it has the guilds (which it will).

This could be the oscar lineup right here, though The Dark Knight and/or WALL•E still stand poised to replace something here, most likely the nomination leader, Doubt. I went 3/5 in my predictions, thinking Dark Knight and Rachel's ensembles would prove too enticing to ignore. But alas, the buzzy prestige best pic contenders ruled the day.

Best Actor:

Richard Jenkins
Frank Langella
Sean Penn
Brad Pitt
Mickey Rourke

Alright then. Penn, Rourke and Langella are still locks. But the surprise here is really Brad Pitt. The actors clearly loved Benjamin Button (the film and the character) more than expected. And consensus this season, surprisingly, seems to be that Brad > Leo. Maybe people are finally getting behind Brad with this prestige performance, thinking it's his time. And they'd be right. Jenkins makes his play here for the final oscar spot, and he could easily get it. And YAY for Clint Eastwood being snubbed again! Does this knock him down to 7th position? Is this the oscar list? Is Leo out? Is Brad in? Could both Leo and Brad get in? I think that's possible... we'll see. I went 4/5 in my predictions, like everyone else, missing Brad for Leo.

Best Actress:

Anne Hathaway
Angelina Jolie
Melissa Leo
Meryl Streep
Kate Winslet

Interesting. My Leo (Melissa, that is) hunch was correct. But it came at the expense of someone unexpected: Hawkins. This reminds me of last year's Linney-for-Jolie switch at oscar time. It's hard to believe Hawkins is out of the oscar race, having nearly swept the critics' awards, but who does she replace? Not Streep. Not Hathaway. Not Winslet. She could bump Leo even after Leo overtook her here. OR (more likely, I think), she could bump Jolie, who I just don't think will get #1 votes on ballots to make the oscar shortlist. OR, horror of horrors, Hawkins could miss. She has missed both the BFCA list and the SAG list, only making the cut at the globes in the comedy category. That does not bode well. So continue to rally, critics. Apparently she needs it. Ftr, I scored 4/5 here, missing Jolie for Hawkins, though I think my lineup could still be the one we see from oscar.

Best Supporting Actor:

Josh Brolin
Robert Downey, Jr.
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Heath Ledger
Dev Patel

EWWW, Dev Patel. Can't they at least reserve category fraud for truly exceptional performances? You can have your Gyllenhaal in Brokeback and Winslet in Reader, but Dev Patel? Really? Sigh. This puts him right back in contention for the oscar nod, surging him right ahead of James Franco (sigh). Though this reminds me a lot of the Keisha Castle-Hughes citation here that ultimately led to a lead nod from the academy. No other groups have really been buying the fraud on this one, and SAG probably only did it because they're only allowed to vote for people in the category they're gunning for. Hopefully Dev's votes will split at oscar time, and he'll be left out. But then, who would replace him? Neither Franco nor Michael Shannon have been doing particularly well, despite both being in films with big campaigns. And Cruise is not happening. So Dev could easily slip in. In any case, the other four are pretty locked. Ftr, I was 3/5 here... not good for me.

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams
Penélope Cruz
Viola Davis
Taraji P. Henson
Kate Winslet

Interesting. My last-minute Amy Adams prediction was a good call, but swapping out Taraji Henson was not. Both made it. So my the net effect was nil, giving me a success rate of 4/5. The loser in all of this, of course, was Rosemarie DeWitt (my one bad prediction). Rachel Getting Married has gotten pretty shafted all season (beyond Hathaway), and the eponymous Rachel has been doing no better. So this appears to be a 6-woman race between Adams, Cruz, Davis, Henson, Tomei & Winslet, with DeWitt falling into "longshot spoiler" status. Of those 6, I'd take out Adams first, as I can't imagine her being #1 on many ballots above Viola Davis, but she's done well so far, so I dunno. Tomei or Henson could also miss. We'll see.

For the win, the big question is of course: Where will they give it to Kate?? Or will they at all? SAG has given her a win before (waaaay back in 1995), so they're not under the same pressure to honor her. She's nominated twice this year, but neither of her ensembles are. In fact, she's the only nominee from each of her films. So it seems its not about the films, it's all about her. If Doubt takes ensemble, which I think it will, then they may not need to give best actress to Streep, giving Kate an opening there. But I could also see her upsetting Cruz, who just doesn't seem to me like a SAG winner for some reason. Could Kate win both, with enough people voting for her twice, simply to cover themselves? I don't think it's out of the question. Could she win neither? That's not out of the question either. It'll be very exciting.

last minute SAG prediction changes

2008-12-18T01:00:00.003-05:00

I'm switching out Taraji P. Henson for Amy Adams, who I think will benefit from massive Doubt love among actors. I'm also seriously considering Slumdog Millionaire for best ensemble, as it just seems too big at this point to be left out, but the fact is, I don't know what I'd bump to give it a spot. I still see Button, Dark Knight and Rachel ahead of it, though I fear that Rachel would be the first to go.

I really hope it doesn't miss here, since this is the award it most deserves to be up for. But the actors have a strange way of missing truly great ensembles, even from films on their radar (Juno, Junebug, etc.). I hope that when they pop in the DVD to see Anne Hathaway do her breakthrough thing, they notice how great everyone else is, too, and how well they work together. We'll see.

I love Wanda Sykes.

2008-12-14T17:55:00.001-05:00

Predictions, predictions, predictions...

2008-12-11T16:57:00.023-05:00

Here's how I'm expecting the SAG races to shape up:

BEST ENSEMBLE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Milk
Rachel Getting Married

This is far from final, but I think at least 4 of these 5 will be nominated. Which 4 is still unclear. The only one I'm totally confident in is Milk, globe snub or no. It's the only best picture frontrunner that's being touted for its ensemble acting, and has abundant stars. Button I think will show up, too, due to its combo of best picture frontrunner status and the mixture of established and rising stars. Doubt is a bit iffy, as its best picture stock is falling, but the ensemble cast is the film's main draw, and with all four of them waking up to globe nods this morning, I think it's safe to say they're in (and could even win). The Dark Knight is another film with lots of stars all doing good work, that's also in the thick of the best pic race. That leaves one spot open, which I'm hoping against hope will go to Rachel Getting Married simply because it's so deserving. They've nominated quirky indies out of nowhere here before - remember The Station Agent? - so I'm thinking this truly great ensemble might have a chance this year.

Frost/Nixon, though looking good for a best pic nom, is clearly a duet, rather than an ensemble, and I think that'll doom its chances here. Revolutionary Road is certainly a threat, but I think general mixed feelings toward the film, combined with the fact that it seems to be registering only as the Kate & Leo show, will cause it to miss here (but just barely). Slumdog Millionaire could certainly show up as well, but I think the fact that everyone in it is unknown, and that even its most diehard fans wouldn't claim that it's an acting showcase, will shut it out of this particular race. And finally, The Wrestler could surface here, but I think voters will think of it mostly as Rourke's show, and so it won't be able to slip ahead of any of the five titles above.

BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road)
Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)
Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
Sean Penn (Milk)
Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

I have a lot of confidence in this lineup. Unless Clint manages to rebound with this group (unlikely, if he couldn't get the globes to notice him), this is probably the list. I doubt the actors will go for Brad, since they usually prefer to recognize lesser-known character actors like Jenkins when they can, instead of super-famous stars.

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky)
Melissa Leo (Frozen River)
Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)

This is a tough one. I have a strong feeling Melissa Leo will resurface here. She's the kind of under-the-radar gem, like Jenkins, that they love to throw a bone to (most of the voters are unknown actors, after all). But Kristin Scott Thomas' globe nod indicates that she does have support, and isn't going away. It's either/or for the 5th spot, I think. Blanchett will have to sit this one out, I'd wager, as will Jolie.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin (Milk)
James Franco (Milk)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)

On this one, I'm really torn. As I said, I think Rev Road is registering mostly as the Kate & Leo show, and this is hurting Shannon. But he's also the kind of lesser-known, acclaimed actor that the SAGs love (see Jenkins & Melissa Leo). So I think he'll make it, even if the film misses ensemble (but I'm less than confident). I also think Milk will rebound here big-time, with both its supporting contenders getting in. Fiennes, I think, will suffer from vote-splitting and be left out. But Downey Jr. will be right on the heels of these five and could easily replace someone, most likely Shannon or Franco. Of course, this is also the lineup I predicted for the globes, and I was very wrong. So we'll see.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Viola Davis (Doubt)
Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married)
Taraji P Henson (Benjamin Button)
Kate Winslet (The Reader)

This is a toughie; this race is still very fluid. I would not be surprised in the least if Amy Adams got in again here, though I'm betting they'll think the ensemble award is honor enough for her. Marisa Tomei could of course make it, too. But I think the SAG preference for lesser-knowns gives DeWitt and Henson the edge. Look for Kate Winslet or Viola Davis to upset Cruz here... I just have a feeling.

I've also been thinking about the best picture race relative to the best picture races of the recent past, and I keep coming back to this feeling that Slumdog Millionaire will win it all. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic, but I really think it will. The two races that seem most analogous to this year are 2004 and 2005. Here are the parallels:

If 2008 = 2004 (which thankfully it doesn't, at least in politics)...

Benjamin Button = The Aviator (big, tech-heavy period epic with Cate Blanchett billed second to a Hollywood heartthrob; helmed by a respected, overdue auteur; early anointed frontrunner with double-digit nomination total; turns out to be "cold" and inaccessible to some)

Slumdog Millionaire = Million Dollar Baby (very emotional, somewhat facile, late entry that takes the awards race by storm; about competition with an underdog protagonist and hence has that scrappy "underdog" feel; has "million" in title to give it extra zing)

Milk = Ray OR Sideways (prestige biopic about eponymous famous man, with a central performance that lifts the whole film to oscar glory OR slightly prickly critical favorite, with strong ensemble acting along with an acclaimed central performance... take your pick, though it's really a combo of the two)

Of course, if this is the scenario, Slumdog wins, though there'll be suspense to the very end. For the record, that's what I think will happen. Not convinced? Here's exhibit B:

If 2008 = 2005...

Benjamin Button = Brokeback Mountain (big, beautiful tragic romance; helmed by a respected, overdue auteur; nabs the most nominations of all films, but some thing it "cold", "inaccessible" or "slow"; no emotional hand-holding)

Slumdog Millionaire = Crash (very emotional, somewhat facile, smaller film; feel-good entry that didn't seem awardsy until people declared it "the underdog" and then it became cool to vote for; doesn't require much thought; the kind of film people like to root for)

Milk = Capote OR Good Night and Good Luck (unconventional biopic about eponymous famous gay man, with a central performance that lifts the whole film to oscar glory OR small, overtly political film about recent historical events... take your pick, though it's really a combo of the two)

In this scenario, again, Slumdog comes out on top, though it's more of a shocking upset in this case.

Regardless, I'm starting to think it's Slumdog's year. It just feels right (even if it feels wrong). Then again, I could be wrong. After all, Benjamin Button IS an epic romance and is NOT gay. Plus, Slumdog has no stars attached (M$B and Crash definitely did). That counts for a lot. Then again, Button IS about a man who ages backwards, and it DOES show Brad Pitt as an elderly baby. That shit weirds people out.

Anyway, while The Curious Case of Benjamin Button may look like the frontrunner now, that's precisely why I think it'll end up losing. We'll see.

GG nominations (w/ my predictions)

2008-12-10T01:30:00.017-05:00

BEST PICTURE (DRAMA)

My predictions:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
The Wrestler
alt. The Reader

Actual nominations:
Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

My success rate: 3/5
That's 4/5 with my alternate. I had a feeling The Reader would surprise here. But the Milk exclusion floored me. Don't expect it to transfer to Oscar - Capote, for example, got nothing but a best actor nod here either - but it's still disheartening and a bit of a shock. In any case, the Rev Road crew must be happy. Today really saved them.

BEST ACTOR (DRAMA)

My predictions:
Leonardo DiCaprio
Frank Langella
Sean Penn
Brad Pitt
Mickey Rourke
alt. Clint Eastwood

Actual nominations:
DiCaprio
Langella
Penn
Pitt
Rourke

My success rate: 5/5

100%! Yay! I'm SO glad they booted Clint Eastwood. Maybe he'll be shut out of oscar after all? And yay for me for being right about it. With any luck, the oscar race will be similar to this, probably with Jenkins replacing Pitt... we'll see.

BEST ACTRESS (DRAMA)

My predictions:
Anne Hathaway
Angelina Jolie
Melissa Leo
Meryl Streep
Kate Winslet
alt. Cate Blanchett

Actual nominations:
Anne Hathaway
Angelina Jolie
Meryl Streep
Kristin Scott Thomas
Kate Winslet

My success rate: 4/5
Not bad predictions from me. I saw the Blanchett snub coming (just not enough room). But I thought they'd keep the Leo train going here, instead of stopping it in its tracks. Kristin Scott Thomas can breathe a sigh of relief that she hasn't been totally forgotten this awards season. She's not the critical fave we expected her to be, but she's still right back in the thick of it. I would expect that this will be close to the oscar lineup, with Hawkins replacing someone, mostly likely Jolie. But Leo and Blanchett aren't out of it yet... SAG will tell the tale.

BEST PICTURE (COMEDY/MUSICAL)

My predictions:
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
Mamma Mia!
Sex and the City
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
alt. Cadillac Records

Actual nominations:
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

My success rate: 4/5
Pretty strong slate of nominees, all things considered. All of these were acclaimed films, give or take global phenom Mamma Mia!, which you can't really blame them for recognizing. Given their love of Vicky Cristina overall, it could be headed for a win here, but the recent critical love for Happy-Go-Lucky will boost its profile. In Bruges could take it, too, I think. We'll see.

BEST ACTOR (COMEDY/MUSICAL)

My predictions:
Javier Bardem
Steve Carrell
George Clooney
Colin Farrell
Dustin Hoffman
alt. Robert Downey Jr.

Actual nominations:
Javier Bardem
Colin Farrell
James Franco
Brendan Gleeson
Dustin Hoffman

My success rate: 3/5
Not a bad score from me, in what turned out to be a pretty crazy category. Good for them for loving In Bruges, and for finding a way to honor James Franco even if they didn't love Milk. And I'm SO happy about Javier Bardem's including. Now who can win this? I'd guess it's Hoffman's to lose (as I said before the noms came out), seeing as he's got the pedigree and no one else is really standing out.

BEST ACTRESS (COMEDY/MUSICAL)

My predictions:
Sally Hawkins
Frances McDormand
Sarah Jessica Parker
Meryl Streep
Emma Thompson
alt. Scarlett Johansson

Actual nominations:
Rebecca Hall (!!!)
Sally Hawkins
Frances McDormand
Meryl Streep
Emma Thompson

My success rate: 4/5
WHOA. So the only one I missed was SJP? Color me shocked. I guess they feel like they've honored her enough? And good on them for resisting the urge to nominate my alternate, ScarJo, and instead tapping her superior (but unknown) co-star Rebecca Hall. Very nice. And yay for me for predicting McDormand, even if I didn't see the Parker snub coming.

BEST DIRECTOR

My predictions:
Danny Boyle
David Fincher
Sam Mendes
Christopher Nolan
Gus Van Sant
alt. Darren Aronofsky

Actual nominations:
Danny Boyle
Stephen Daldry
David Fincher
Ron Howard
Sam Mendes

My success rate: 3/5
You win some, you lose some. I'm proud of myself for calling Mendes (I knew RR would get a life preserver from this group). But I'm kicking myself for not going with my earlier hunch that The Reader would do well here. Honestly, I'm not at all surprised by Daldry's nod. But no Gus Van Sant for Milk? Color me shocked again. Oscar will rectify that one, to be sure. Though they'll probably keep Ron Howard. Sigh.

BEST SCREENPLAY

My predictions:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Slumdog Millionaire
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
alt. Milk

Actual nominations:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

My success rate: 4/5
Not bad. I'm proud of myself for having the foresight to exclude Milk, though I'm sad that I was right. Didn't see The Reader coming, but I'm not really all that surprised. I think the win's between Doubt and Frost/Nixon, depending one which one they aren't able to honor elsewhere. Interesting tidbit: these are all adapted screenplays. Is this the oscar list? Curiously enough, the only major contender missing is RR, which did very well in the nominations overall. What does that mean for its oscar prospects in this category? Also, this doesn't help clear up the original screenplay race, which will be a Battle of the Snubbed (Rachel Getting Married v. Milk).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

My predictions:
Josh Brolin
James Franco
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Heath Ledger
Michael Shannon
alt. Robert Downey Jr.

Actual nominations:
Tom Cruise (!!!)
Robert Downey Jr.
Ralph Fiennes (for Duchess, not Reader)
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Heath Ledger

My success rate: 2/5
3/5 with my alternate... what a nutso category. This muddies the waters considerably. Tom Cruise?? Really??? Whatever. And wierd of them to love The Reader so much but nominate Fiennes for his other film instead. Way to confuse oscar voters. Nice to see Robert Downey Jr. here, though. Sad and rather shocking to see Franco and especially Brolin excluded, but apparently they thought Milk was all about Sean Penn. Brolin, at least, will be back at oscar time for sure.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

My predictions:
Amy Adams
Penélope Cruz
Viola Davis
Taraji P. Henson
Kate Winslet
alt. Marisa Tomei

Actual nominations:
Amy Adams
Penélope Cruz
Viola Davis
Marisa Tomei
Kate Winslet

My success rate: 4/5
5/5 with my alternate. So did pretty well. I'm proud of myself for calling Adams. But I'm a bit surprised that they went with Tomei even though they didn't give The Wrestler a best film nod. Interesting. But Kate Winslet must be the happiest one of the night. Two nods for her, and for both her films as well. She's sitting pretty. I still expect Cruz to win this one, but Winslet's certainly a threat.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

My predictions:
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL•E

Actual nominations:
Changeling
Benjamin Button
Defiance
Frost/Nixon
Slumdog Millionaire

My success rate: 3/5
Not bad for this category.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

My predictions:
Australia
Sex and the City
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL•E
The Wrestler

Actual nominations:
Bolt
Cadillac Records
Gran Torino
WALL•E
The Wrestler

My success rate: 2/5
Meh. I hope The Wrestler wins (I think it will).

BEST FOREIGN FILM

My predictions:
The Class
Gomorrah
I've Loved You So Long
Let the Right One In
Waltz with Bashir
alt. The Necessities of Life

Actual nominations:
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Everlasting Moments
Gomorrah
I've Loved You So Long
Waltz with Bashir

My success rate: 3/5
Eh. Whatever. This category's hard. I think it's I've Loved You So Long or Gomorrah for the win.

BEST ANIMATED FILM

My predictions:
Kung Fu Panda
WALL•E
Waltz with Bashier
alt. Bolt

Actual nominations:
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL•E

My success rate: 2/3
3/3 with my alternate, but there were really only 4 contenders in this case. I forgot they had a way to honor Waltz with Bashir outside this category, hence the opening for Bolt. But WALL•E will win this in a walk.

So, in conclusion...

Single person given most benefit from these nominations: Kate Winslet
(I hope she and Sam and their beautiful kids throw a big party)

Single person hurt most by these nominations: Michael Shannon
(misses critics' awards and now misses with the globes, too, even when his film does well... ouch... not a good day for Michael)

Film that hit the biggest stumbling block: Milk (but it'll recover... that NYFCC award turned out to be very important after all)

Most ridiculous nomination in any category: Tom Cruise

Most welcome surprise inclusion: Rebecca Hall

Most welcome surprise exclusion: Clint Eastwood in best actor
(though they of course found ways to honor him elsewhere)

Most unwelcome surprise exclusion: everyone from Milk except Sean Penn (what's up with that?)

Who will win? Tough to say. The globes threw a few wrenches in the works, and that's exciting!

Streep v. Winslet is still on, and hotter than ever. I can't imagine they'll let 5-time nominee Doubt go home with nothing (even though they DID exclude it from best picture... weird, right?). I also can't imagine they'll let 2-time nominee Winslet go home with nothing. I also can't imagine Cruz not winning. So what gives? Something has to.

Can Penn win best actor all by his lonesome, all Capote-style, paving the way for lots of oscar nominations for his film? Or will Kate and Leo go home with his & hers statuettes? Or will Rourke take it?

Does Heath Ledger have the globe win sewn up? Especially since his main competition, Josh Brolin, was snubbed?

Is it still Button v. Slumdog for best picture (drama)? What about the comedy category?

Very exciting.

GG - Comedy/Musical: not a pretty sight

2008-12-02T22:30:00.023-05:00

Yikes! Apparently the globe people are getting strict about dramedies trying to pass themselves off as comedies, even though they seem to have no problem with leading roles going supporting (sigh). Anyway, this year's GG comedy/musical field is pretty dismal. No real oscar hopefuls. Just one musical (and a widely reviled one, at that). Barely even any good movies to speak of. What a huge change from last year.

Rachel Getting Married, W, and Iron Man were all bumped up to drama, and that's not good news for any of them. In Rachel's case, I think that was the right call, though I now worry for Anne Hathaway's globe (and by extension oscar) chances. In W's case, I think, it's just plain wrong. All that film's value was in the comedy. Tragicomedy, sure, but I laughed at it a LOT (certainly more than I cried). And Josh Brolin really deserved that nomination.

Comedy actor is now particularly empty. All THREE leading contenders will apparently not be there. That'd be W and Iron Man again, plus Philip Seymour Hoffman in Synecdoche, NY. Who's left? Not many people! Dammit, why couldn't Glen Hansard in Once been eligible this year? Sigh. The hilarious thing is that the most likely candidate I can think of right now is actually Colin Farrell in In Bruges... wasn't he really good in that? It's apparently on the GG comedy list.

Anyway, don't be surprised if the list ends up looking like this:

Javier Bardem (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Steve Carrell (Get Smart)
George Clooney (Burn After Reading)
Colin Farrell (In Bruges)
Dustin Hoffman (Last Chance Harvey)

...with no one really looking like a frontrunner to win. Beyond these, there's Jack Black (Be Kind Rewind), George Clooney again (Leatherheads), Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Seth Rogen and James Franco (Pineapple Express). After those, you're really scraping the bottom of the barrell. Maybe they'll throw us a bone and put Robert Downey Jr's Tropic Thunder perf in lead?

I guess it's kind of cool in a way that the category's so vacant... it leaves possibilities for people you'd never think could surface here (like Bardem in Barcelona, or Farrell in anything). But it's also kind of depressing. I can't even remember the last time I literally couldn't picture ANY of the candidates winning. I was really counting on (and rooting for) Josh Brolin in W... or failing that, Robert Downey Jr. going all populist in Iron Man. Could Dustin Hoffman actually get a trophy again? How nuts.

Actress is a little better, but a little emptier now without Hathaway challenging for the win. These would be my predicted five:

Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky)
Frances McDormard (Burn After Reading)
Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City)
Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia!)
Emma Thompson (Last Chance Harvey)

...with Hawkins cruising to a win, barring a surge of love for silly, singing Streep (not impossible), or the HFPA's Carrie Bradshaw obsession running even deeper than we thought (also not impossible). I hope Hawkins wins; that'd be good consolation for her now that the oscar nod is looking less likely, what with Blanchett and Jolie breathing down her neck.

Other possible contenders here include Hathaway's other role (Get Smart), Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!) Tina Fey (Baby Mama, having one of those years), Katherine Heigl (27 Dresses), McDormand again (for Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day), her costar Amy Adams, and the eponymous girls of Vicky Cristina Barcelona. We'll see what happens.

That leaves Best Picture. Yep, that one's pretty empty, too. Which of course means heterosexual male cinephiles everywhere will probably have to endure both Sex and the City and Mamma Mia! being up for this award (what's scarier is one of them could even win... the category still has no real frontrunner). If even my female directing professor loathes both these films, I can only imagine how straight men must feel.

My predictions, I suppose, would be as follows:

Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
Mamma Mia!
Sex and the City
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

...but I could see any of these five being snubbed. Other very real possibilities include In Bruges, Last Chance Harvey, Tropic Thunder, and Pineapple Express. Somewhat longer shots: Get Smart, Cadillac Records, and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

Any guesses at to what will win? I was really hoping (despite myself) that Rachel Getting Married would get placed here and then pull out a win. But with it out of the running, I'm worried that Sex or Mamma could really take it. But hopefully they split the divisive diva blockbuster vote, and the globes go all Mike-Leigh-highbrow with Happy-Go-Lucky.

It'll be interesting, at least.

NBR predictions

2008-12-02T03:46:00.007-05:00

Here are my predictions for the NBR announcement Thursday:

Best Picture: Milk
alt: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Director: David Fincher (Benjamin Button)
alt: Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road)

Actor: Sean Penn (Milk)
alt: Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road)

Actress: Meryl Streep (Doubt)
alt: Kate Winslet (Rev Road and/or Reader)

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (Dark Knight)
alt: Michael Shannon (Rev Road)

Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
alt: Viola Davis (Doubt)

Original Screenplay: Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married)
alt: Dustin Lance Black (Milk)

Adapted Screenplay: John Patrick Shanley (Doubt)
alt: Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Breakthrough Actor: Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
alt: Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)

Breakthrough Actress: Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky)
alt: Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married)

Animated Feature: WALL•E

Special Achievement: Clint Eastwood (Changeling and/or Gran Torino)
alt: John Patrick Shanley (Doubt)

TOP TEN
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Rachel Getting Married
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Reader
The Visitor
The Wrestler

The age old struggle once again in '08: Slumdog Millionaire v. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2008-11-28T12:54:00.016-05:00

It may be premature to speculate on this, but everyone else is doing it, so why not me?

2008 is already looking like another one of those years where the top category's a hard-fought battle between a cold, cerebral, subtle, (god forbid) "thinky" technical marvel, and a more overtly emotional, "feely" movie that people feel more of a "connection" to, or that makes them feel better about themselves when they vote for it.

Sigh.

This has been played out several times in recent years, and unfortunately, the latter always wins. People love their raw emotional manipulation. People don't like to think. People seem to feel that any degree of emotional distance from a piece necessarily makes it less moving. There's no room for both emotion AND brains in a movie. That seems to be the prevailing notion, anyway.

This bothers me, because it's always struck me as a kind of reactionary overcompensation away from the tendency toward new technologies and modes of storytelling, at the expense of old-fashioned emotional stories that touch one's heart. Emotion is great, and I love being moved by a movie. I'd even go so far as to say that being moving (in some way) is an essential part of being a great film. BUT I'd prefer for movies to make me think, as well as move me. I believe that pushing boundaries, asking the hard questions, being challenging... all that stuff... is the other ingredient in what makes a great film great. That's why I always come down on the side of the big, cold, thought-provoking films, and thus why I am always disappointed.

Let's look at previous examples this decade:

2000
Gladiator vs. Traffic vs Crouching Tiger
Case in point. The traditional, old-school epic about revenge and putting things right beats the marvelous Asian romance-wuxia fusion AND the challenging contemporary movie about the drug war. Granted, this time two better movies split the anti-Gladiator vote, but the outcome still proves my point. Not that Gladiator is bad, mind you. The other two are just better. But they LOST because they're "difficult" (i.e. challenging), whereas Gladiator is the same old yarn we've seen many times before.

2001
A Beautiful Mind vs. LOTR: Fellowship vs. ~~Moulin Rouge~~
This was touted as something of a threeway race at the time, but let's not kid ourselves: Moulin Rouge! never had a real chance to win. It lacked a director nod, and would've been a pretty big longshot even without that crippling hurdle. So the real fight here was between LOTR (the dazzling epic that made the fantasy genre respectable) and A Beautiful Mind (the biopic that made people feel happy). There were other factors at work here, as there always are, but again, the result proves my point. Mind, despite a 5-nom defecit, emerged the winner.

2002
Chicago vs. The Pianist
This is sort of a counterexample, since Chicago did in fact win the oscar (it's Benjamin Button in the analogy, for those keeping score), while The Pianist, all small and emotional, just barely lost. But that was a timing thing. The Pianist could've won with a bit more time to grow. And the fact that it won three major oscars over the juggernaut that was Chicago, when most people thought it wouldn't win any, again proves my point. The Pianist was really quite good, though - Chicago couldn't really be said to be obviously superior - so I didn't care much about the outcome of this race. But there you go.

2003 is N/A because Return of the King had no real competition.

2004, however...
Million $ Baby vs. The Aviator
Classic example: The Aviator was a technical marvel and the assumed frontrunner, whereas Baby was a sleeper hit that made people cry. The feel-bad movie of the year! (key word: feel). Succumbing to the emotional manipulation, the voters handed Baby the statue, despite Aviator's huge nomination tally.

2005
UGH. CRASH! vs. Brokeback Mountain
Need we even revisit this. Suffice it to say that the result here is consistent with the pattern: subtle films that make you think as well as feel, that don't offer instant emotional gratification, that require processing, that are challenging, that are technical marvels, DON'T WIN. Even when they have more nominations and MANY more precursors. The cheaply emotional, pedestrian, manipulative, nonsensical, self-involved, touchy-feely movies win. Again: UGH.

2006 and 2007 don't really fit the pattern. These two years resulted in two good winners, but the familiar "new and challenging vs. conventionally emotional" paradigm was not in place. This year, it seems, it will be. Button is this former, and Slumdog is the latter. If all goes as it seems it will, Button could get 11-13 noms, while Slumdog will be stuck in the mid-single digits. But that shouldn't keep Slumdog from an "upset" victory.

Just based on trailers and such, I already kind of love Benjamin Button. And Slumdog seems, to me, overly familar. I hope Button lives up to what seems like great promise, but I equally hope that the inevitable "huh?" reaction to it from some quarters doesn't doom its chances for victory.

For challenging films that treat their audience like adults are always the underdogs, no matter how it may seem. Just like Barack Obama.

"Up how many points in the polls? Whatever, I'll believe it when I see it."

Luckily, that one turned out well. We'll see how this next one goes.

The political analogy is, I think, is an apt one, for I see liberalism as the counterpart of the challenging film. It challenges us to think, to reject cheap emotional manipulation, to realize that there's room for more than one thing at a time (think AND feel! preserve my marriage AND allow equal rights for others! keep our country safe AND respected abroad! free market AND regulation!). Like challenging films, liberals often seem cold, scary and mechanical (hello John Kerry) until you actually stop to think about what they're saying. But I reject the notion that we cannot be both rational/thoughtful AND emotionally fulfilled. It's true neither in art nor in politics.

Anyway. This rant was brought to you by Adam C Keller, oscars and politics enthusiast extraordinaire, on a boring friday afternoon. Hope it was fun.

Now let's all root for Benjamin Button to go the distance, if only for the principle of the thing.

WHEN CRAZY DREAMS STRIKE: Shirtless Hugh Jackman takes me 200 feet in the air!

2008-11-27T11:15:00.008-05:00

I'm reviving this long-abandoned series (a former favorite of mine) because the dream I just woke up from demands it.

I don't remember much from it, though I know it was one of those epic dreams that I've already mostly forgotten (a broad sketch still remains in my head, though the details are gone). The one thing I still remember (how could I not!?) is the part where Hugh Jackman, all shirtless and glistening, somehow takes me up this giant ladder/flagpole/tall thing, all slow and romantic-like, out in the moonlight of the night. Don't laugh, it made sense in context (somehow). Just envy me and me active dream sex life. Cause in the dream, all bathed in moonlight, he kinda looked like THIS:
(except with shorter hair)

I totally remember even feeling vertigo (the happy woozy romantic kind) at the top, looking down and realizing Hugh was the only thing between me and a 200-ft (for argument's sake) fall to my death.

It was totally like something out of Superman, one of those things Superman would do to Lois Lane as a sweepingly romantic gesture to give her the ride of her life. Just... mmmmmmm. Now, I realize Hugh is more of a Wolverine than a Superman. But maybe that's where my subconscious got the superhero imagery from? I dunno. I guess the sweeping romance of Australia (which I saw last night) was stirred into the pot, too.

The rest of the dream somehow involved watching Hugh perform in a play, in a big open stadium-type theater (the same place where the 200-ft lift was). I was way up watching him from above (in the stands, I guess?) and he was below on the stage. I think I was sitting next to the director, who was telling him during the intermission that everything was great, but that he should switch it up a bit and be really energetic in the second act, and Hugh was like "alright, great!". I guess it was a rehearsal? And actually, maybe I was in the play? But I swear I was up top looking down. Weird.

I also remember bits of the dream where it was totally different and I was with a classmate agreeing to be in yet another film scene (that part was taken directly from life, where I've been doing a lot of that lately), and we were scheduling rehearsals. But those parts were boring. It was all about the Hugh. I think we were getting married or something in the dream, too, cause I remember being REALLY happy. I guess my subconscious decided to chuck Debora-Lee Furness' ass to the curb. Fine with me.

Anyway. I thought this would entertain you all. It was certainly fun for me. Shame that this can never fully replicate the euphoria of the experience. It was a really amazing dream.

2008 Oscar predictions (because I apparently have nothing better to do on a Friday night)

2008-11-22T00:09:00.004-05:00

BEST PICTURE
1) Milk
2) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3) Slumdog Millionaire
4) The Dark Knight
5) Revolutionary Road
6) Doubt
7) The Wrestler

BEST DIRECTOR
1) Gus Van Sant (Milk)
2) David Fincher (Benjamin Button)
3) Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
4) Chris Nolan (The Dark Knight)
5) Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler)
6) Jonathan Demme (Rachel Getting Married)
7) Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road)

BEST ACTOR
1) Sean Penn (Milk)
2) Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
3) Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road)
4) Brad Pitt (Benjamin Button)
5) Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino)
6) Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
7) Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)

BEST ACTRESS
1) Meryl Streep (Doubt)
2) Kristin Scott-Thomas (I've Loved You So Long)
3) Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)
4) Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky)
5) Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
6) Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
7) Nicole Kidman (Australia)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1) Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
2) Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
3) Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)
4) Josh Brolin (Milk)
5) Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder)
6) Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
7) Bill Irwin (Rachel Getting Married)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1) Penelope Cruz (Vicki Christina Barcelona)
2) Viola Davis (Doubt)
3) Rosemarie Dewitt (Rachel Getting Married)
4) Kate Winslet (The Reader)
5) Taraji P. Henson (Benjamin Button)
6) Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)
7) Cate Blanchett (Benjamin Button)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1) Rachel Getting Married
2) Milk
3) Vicky Christina Barcelona
4) The Visitor
5) Happy-Go-Lucky
6) WALL*E
7) The Wrestler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1) Doubt
2) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3) Slumdog Millionaire
4) Revolutionary Road
5) The Reader
6) Frost/Nixon
7) The Dark Knight

I just can't seem to push those daisies...

2008-11-14T15:41:00.005-05:00

So, recently I've tried getting into the endangered series Pushing Daisies. I bought the pilot episode, "Pie-Lette", on iTunes and assumed I'd love it and end up buying more. But that didn't happen. There are a great many things I admire about the show: Lee Pace, the camerawork, the beautiful sets, the music, Lee Pace, the music, Anna Friel, Kristin Chenoweth, Lee Pace. I even kinda like how the whole show sorta feels like it's taking place on a Nintendo Wii, what with all those CGI daisies and fields. But I just can't get into it.

I think I just don't like the writing. Does it get better and/or less cutesy after the pilot episode? I just can't really take it seriously and I get bored. Now, some people might say that it's not meant to be taken seriously. But I still get bored. And I feel bad, cause I know a lot of people who really like it. But I don't want to spend anymore money on this show, or put in the effort required to try to watch it some other way. And this is despite the fact that I think Lee Pace is sex on a stick and the cutest thing this side of Sasha Obama with a puppy.

I'm afraid I'm still on team 30 Rock all the way. You know, as comedies go. Obviously, BSG is still my show.

Awesome.

2008-11-05T11:25:00.003-05:00

And what a chance Michelle took with that dress. It really reminds me of that ET look, when his heart was glowing through his skin. Am I right? I don't think it worked, necessarily, but I love her for going all out. Laura Bush's outfits were crap.

Last Palin play before the big day:

2008-11-02T16:52:00.007-05:00

OK, I lied, there was actually another one monday. But this was the last Saturday where Fey appeared.

This is not the best Palin skit, but it's still funny. My favorite part is the collectible Joe action figures.

Smile With Your Eyes!

2008-10-22T23:11:00.005-04:00

This mashup has me strangely hypnotized. I just can't get enough:

The List: Double Indemnity (dir. Billy Wilder, 1944)

2008-10-20T20:27:00.018-04:00

Despite the unfortunate tag line (click on that poster to the left), this was a goood one. I actually got to watch it at the screening I administer each monday night, for a class called "American Movie Genres". So that was convenient. I've been neglecting The List, so I'm glad I was forced to see this.

In it, a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage (Barbara Stanwyk) plots with her would-be lover (Fred MacMurray) to kill her husband and capitalize on his life insurance policy (the sum was doubled in this case by - you guessed it - double indemnity). From the moment they met, it was murder. But killing for love is a dangerous game, as our killers soon find out.

This a really excellent noir/thriller (and I usually say "meh" to film noir). MacMurray, who I'd never heard of before, is "aw shucks" cute while also darkly compelling. I loved him in this. He combines the best qualities of Bogart and Cary Grant, with just a touch of Jimmy Stuart. Very effective antihero. And Barbara Stanwyk is the ultimate femme fatale, providing far more depth than that archetype usually permits. Their talents make you actually sort of root for these people when they commit such despicable acts. The two great lead performances (plus some good supporting turns) are enhanced by brilliant cinematography and a haunting score. The whole tone of this film was so complex and well-balanced... it was all like some beautiful nightmare. Billy Wilder sure does know his stuff, doesn't he?

So yes. See this. Please. It's excellent. Shame about the tag line. And why is the poster PINK!? Seriously. That is not good marketing.

And there's more...

2008-10-20T00:35:00.001-04:00

I just can't get enough of this stuff.

2008-10-20T00:29:00.001-04:00

The REAL Tina Fey is funnier.

2008-10-20T00:10:00.002-04:00

She loves the gays!

2008-10-13T17:29:00.001-04:00

I often find Sarah Silverman grating, but this is funny.

2008-10-08T01:30:00.001-04:00

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin: Part 3 (VP Debate)

2008-10-05T17:38:00.000-04:00

"Fair and Balanced" election coverage

2008-09-30T23:12:00.005-04:00

Unanimous vote for Obama = split decision. Amazing.

OMG, she's back: Tina Palin (plus Amy Couric)

2008-09-28T11:37:00.001-04:00

This is the funniest sh*t I've seen in a long time.

2008-09-26T20:36:00.002-04:00

For Tina Fey, Sarah Palin is the role of a lifetime.

2008-09-14T11:56:00.004-04:00

"I can see Russia from my house!"

Matt Damon and I both hate Sarah Palin.

2008-09-13T02:44:00.004-04:00

The List: Breaking the Waves (dir. Lars von Trier, 1996)

2008-09-08T15:48:00.017-04:00

"And now for something completely different..."

(yes I DID actually watch this on the same day as the last two... I broke it up into a few separate sittings)

Hmm. I'd actually never seen this before, despite being a die-hard fan of Dancer in the Dark. And may I say, the similarities are uncanny. Not just in filmmaking style, but in the actresses' perfs as well. It seems many of Selma's mannerisms I assumed to be "Björkisms" are actually "Von-Trier-isms" that he seeks out/encourages in his women. You know... the wide-eyed innocence, the not-all-there-ness, the awkward speech patterns. Emily Watson's got that shit down (it's kinda scary).

Anyway... other impressions...

Stellan Skarsgård was quite the dish when he was younger. It's weird to see Mamma Mia first and then go back in time to THIS (rawr). Also, I loved how Bess "talked to God". Exceedingly creepy and "out there", but it totally rang true (I won't spoil the specifics for those who haven't seen it). I do feel the film went a bit off the rails in the last third - that hooker getup! - but with a Von Trier film, that might be a compliment, I'm not really sure.

All in all, though, this seems more like a warmup for Dancer than anything else (at least in retrospect). All the distinctive techniques and elements here seemed more fully realized and effective in that later film. Same weirdly angelic heroine, same practical but loving best friend/sister figure, same martyr complex... if you're a Dancer fan, you'll want to check this out. And even if you're not, you should still see it. Watson and Skarsgard are both fantastic, and Von Trier is out in full force. Essential viewing.

The List: Singin' in the Rain (dir. Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen, 1952)

2008-09-08T15:25:00.015-04:00

What is there to say?

This film is a classic. Arguably the greatest musical comedy ever made (there are plenty of great musical dramas, but comedies this buoyant and joyful are hard to come by), it's also a moving love story and a scathing satire of Hollywood. All that plus the actual "Singin' in the Rain" musical sequence (guaranteed to make you smile).

But I do have a few quibbles. Not with the film per se, but... WHY was Jean Hagen the only one in the cast who was up for an oscar??? Yes, she was great at playing a crappy singer/actress/bitch. But where's the respect who those who have the chops (and pipes) to play GREAT singers, actors and comedians? The three major players were all great, and IMO more award-worthy than Hagen.

And another thing. WHY did Donald O'Connor win the golden globe for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical? That was GENE KELLY'S award. No disrespect toward O'Connor, who was terrific... but he's not really the lead. Kelly is. And he wasn't even nominated for the frakkin' golden globe?? Go figure. I won't even get started on how he directed the film, too...

Anyway, for the record, the nominations should've gone like this:

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Gene Kelly
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Debbie Reynolds
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Donald O'Connor
BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Jean Hagen
BEST PICTURE OF 1952: Singin' in the Rain

The under-awardage of this film when it was released was pretty criminal. Luckily, film history would provide some vindication.

The List: Top Hat (dir. Mark Sandrich, 1935)

2008-09-08T15:02:00.008-04:00

Yay for Top Hat! One of the most random and fun film titles ever.

I finally got going again with my "list" viewings (I'm getting way behind); both this and Singin' in the Rain were playing free at school (on actual film, or so it seemed) this past weekend. What a fun double feature! I made a point of seeing this one first, since I knew Singin' would top it easily (no pun intended).

Anyway... mistaken identity, romance, singing, dancing (tap dancing in a hotel room to be specific), and lots of Ginger Rogers to be ogled. By golly, she sure is pretty. I had no idea. I also had no idea Fred Astaire had such a weirdly triangular face... I guess I imagined him as more classically handsome. He is a great dancer, though.

A bit of trivia: there was apparently an oscar for "best dance direction" back in the day, since it's one of the four this film was up for. Best pic is another, as is best song for "Cheek to Cheek", an Irving Berlin original. I actually knew the "Cheek to Cheek" sequence already (from the immortal Purple Rose of Cairo) but didn't know it came from this particular film. That was a fun bonus.

All in all, a very cute depression-era charmer, with a timeless musical sequence in "Cheek to Cheek". It has an elegant simplicity and sense of purity (despite numerous continuity errors). Worth checking out, even if it's not on your list of 200 required classic films.

The best.

2008-08-29T00:52:00.005-04:00

If this man loses the election, I will be ashamed.

another Matt Mitcham post (because he deserves it)

2008-08-25T22:41:00.012-04:00

I smell an obsession coming on... (btw, here's a fun article)

Cute anecdote: When he saw the diving final online, my dad said Matthew looked like me. While flattered, I had to honestly say I disagreed. Matt is much shorter than me and much more... "cherubic" was the word I used. Isn't he?? He's like a little gay angel. And SO gorgeous. His face right before he steps up for his final dive is... just... (melts). I doubt it was intentional, but he totally did his best Instinct cover gay icon "this is my shot and I'm ready for it" face. And then he did that thing where he sorta pats down his chest in preparation (which, by the way, is AMAZING). And he delivered the highest scoring dive in Olympic history (also AMAZING).

Just for the record, I love the gay-porn-ish aspect of men's diving... and Matt's simply the best.

(oh come on, don't feign disgust, you know what I mean)

Matthew Mitcham is a Golden God.

2008-08-25T22:26:00.013-04:00

Still not over it... I'm kind of in love.

And now, just because:

2008-08-24T17:05:00.008-04:00

No, none of these guys are gold medalists. And probably none of them are gay either. AND to be honest, none are nearly as cute as Matt Mitcham. But whoever came up with the idea to shoot the whole American men's gymnastics team with nothing on their backs but medals is an effin' GENIUS. Redheads and Indians and Asians, oh my! And against a sexy red background, no less. Very nice.

Awesome olympian of the day: Matthew Mitcham

2008-08-24T12:57:00.044-04:00

Move over, Nastia, I have a new favorite person. That's Matthew Mitcham, the 20-year-old openly gay Australian diver who just won gold last night in a stunning upset over the heavily favored Chinese. I unfortunately missed his winning dive, apparently the highest scored in Olympic history, and for that I'm kicking myself. So I thought the least I could do now is give him a little shout-out on the blog.

In the semis two nights ago, Mitchem established himself as my favorite diver, mostly because he was the cutest one in the competition (I love Australians). He's also an exceptionally talented athlete. But I had no idea he was the only openly gay male athlete in the 2008 games. Major props for that. I mean, all the divers look gay, but you know... in athletics, that's not something you're open about. Unless you're Matt Mitcham, apparently.

There's actually a whole heartwarming story about how he nearly retired from the sport as a teenager due to problems reconciling his sexuality with his athletics, and then came back and trained hard to compete in Beijing. And then he won a GOLD medal (!!!) in the 10-meter final over the Chinese! And I missed it! WTF (luckily I caught it later online). But what's worse is that NBC never did any coverage of how he was gay, or what he went through in order to compete here. They just made some vague reference to "personal struggles." Lame. Big boooo to NBC. They cover European swimmers' love triangles, and volleyball players' struggles with early hair loss, but not this? Lame.

And when he won, it was SO emotional. Gotta love how the gays aren't afraid to cry. Lotsa waterworks. Big, shocking moment. Very touching.

Anyway, here's an interview with him afterward. Cute as a button:

Plus, he speaks French! How adorable:

UPDATE: Oh no! The video of him speaking French is gone! : ( But you can always watch the full 10-meter final on NBCOlympics.com by clicking here.

To see all Mitchum's semifinal dives, without having to sit through others (since they're not as hot as he is), click here.

Click here (courtesy of commenter Alison) to see video of all Mitchum's final round dives, as well as the medal ceremony, where he prances around gleefully with the flag and even climbs up the wall into the stands to kiss his boyfriend and his mom. If you listen closely, you can make out what sounds like him saying, "Am I allowed to go and hug my mum?" And then he does! Spot-on adorable. There's also a story on what his victory means for gay athletes everywhere. Highly recommended.

For more info on LGBT olympians, click here.

And for more pics of Mitcham to ogle, just look below:

Joe Biden

2008-08-24T01:39:00.009-04:00

So, for the political junkies among us (few and far between in these parts), and also, more importantly, for the non-political-junkies who otherwise probably wouldn't read this stuff, I offer up a short post about Obama's new running mate, Joe Biden. I, for one, am pretty happy with him, and have become only moreso the more I read and see.

Biden's not perfect, but I think he was a good choice given the specifics of what's been going on in the race. He's a scrappy, Catholic, down-to-earth old white guy, and those are all good things (electorally speaking). More importantly, he has 35 years in the Senate (first elected at age 29!), and is currently chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, giving him an unarguable claim to experience and expertise in world affairs.

AND he's not afraid to get down and dirty. That last part is key, since down-and-dirty is not one of Obama's many strengths. Biden's ability to really rip into his opponents, and do it in a way that somehow comes off as sympathetic and sincere, is his greatest strength. Say what you will about the man, but he tells it like it is. And isn't afraid to say mean things in the process. In short, he excels at kicking ass and taking names:

Plus, he can be charming and fun. Really helps release the tension:

But my favorite clip of him, short and sweet, is this instant smackdown of Rudy Giuiliani. Ouch:

So yeah, he's kind of a badass. But that's not to say he lacks a sensitive side. This interview from earlier in the campaign sheds some light:

And this video kinda speaks for itself:

So anyway. Yeah. I'll take Biden, warts and all. I actually find him pretty refreshing. So I'm just doing my bit to spread the love.

Hope that was fun.

DAMN STRAIGHT, girlfriend can tumble.

2008-08-15T01:03:00.005-04:00

I LOVE Nastia Liukin. I was totally rooting for her. SO happy. That vault score was bullshit. Most deserved gold medal ever. Also, hottest female gymnast ever. Seriously.

Love love LOVE.

Funny:

2008-08-12T13:18:00.001-04:00

If they IMed: Paris Hilton & John McCain

2008-08-07T22:54:00.010-04:00

Click on the IM window to make it grow (it should get big enough to actually read).

I found this pretty hilarious.

Anyway, just so's u know, I may be posting a lot more on politics in the coming months; the political arena is where the bulk of my thought and browsing has been lately. But I realize this is not a political blog, and that's not what my readers wanna read. So I'll try to limit it (usually) to things that at least have some connection to filmdom, pop culture, or useless celebrities (this Paris Hilton tie-in was perfect).

Below are John McCain's inane "celebrity" ad featuring Paris, and Paris' "hot" rebuttal, featuring John McCain. True theater of the absurd.

As always, feel free to leave comments (OR just gawk at the huge gaping space beneath these words).

...empty-ness...

Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Adfunny videosFunnyOrDie.com

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Can you guess who this is?

2008-07-24T04:54:00.004-04:00

This is very random, but...

2008-07-24T03:30:00.002-04:00

...I was just reading an IMDB thread (bad habit of mine) about how it's ridiculous that people think Maggie Gyllenhaal is ugly, cause she's actually quite attractive. And I came across this money quote:

"Honestly, she's a very attractive woman. She just has the misfortune of having a brother who's prettier than her."

WOW, so true.

Tuesday Top Ten: Mamma Mia songs

2008-07-22T13:49:00.033-04:00

Despite my general indifference toward the actual film, I fell in love with the soundtrack instantly. Thank god I had an iTunes gift certificate ready and waiting to be used. NOTE: This post is best read while listening to Mamma Mia. I wanted to embed the song files in the post, but I don't know how. Sorry.

Now, a note about my choices: though this list is about individual songs and is mostly in reference to their aesthetic quality as perceived by moi upon repeated listening, memories of their staging in the film still linger in my mind. I'd be lying if I said the dance numbers, visuals, etc. didn't factor into my thinking. But I think that's as it should be. For what is music anyway without elaborate dances, Meryl doing splits and shirtless men on the beach? Nothing, says I.

Now, first of all, I give an honorable mention to "SOS" for being so bad it's good. It's not even that Pierce Brosnan's singing is so bad over audio - it's not, really - it's that pained look on his face in the film each time he opens his mouth, implying that if he had to sustain a note longer than a second or two, he might die. And also, the actual song just has that wonderful 80s George Michael so-bad-its-good thing going. Bonus points for the amazing awkwardness of the obviously superior Meryl singing a duet with Pierce.

Now on to the list...

#10: "I Have a Dream"
This sweet bookending song made the cut but sits parked here at #10, by virtue of its being a little dull compared to all the tunes yet to come. I can't say I've listened to it all that many times. But it's essential to the film, and wins bonus points for the whole bookending thing, and for showing off Amanda Seyfried's surprisingly good voice. It's just very classic and soothing and worthy of a spot in the top ten (considering there are only 18 songs on the CD). So there you go.

#9: "Thank You for the Music"
I'm not sure when, or even if, this song made its appearance in the film. Maybe over the end credits? Or maybe it's just some sort of bonus track? Regardless, it's a really lovely little ditty that has nothing to do with the narrative but is immensely charming nonetheless. Alas, given that I couldn't even remember whether it was in the film, I couldn't justify I higher placement than this.

#8: "Money, Money, Money"
This plays as sort of a more disposable, more tempered, and less impressive preview of the super-fun ensemble numbers that come later, both in the film and in this list. It also feels like it might have been inserted out of some sense of misplaced obligation to have something in Mamma Mia that can pass as "important" social commentary... and following that train of thought to its natural conclusion, the song suffers badly in its inevitable comparison to the similarly titled "Money" number in Cabaret. Unlike Cabaret, this show is at its best when it's at its most breezy, fun, and silly. BUT that said, this song is actually quite fun, especially in the context of the film (enjoyable choreography, etc.). And as I said, it foreshadows the orgasmic silly-highs that come later in the film. Bonus points for that. But it's surely one of the more debatable inclusions in this list. Purely an opinion thing... plus I wanted an excuse to write about it ; )

#7: "Honey, Honey"
Honey rhymes with money! Yay. Anyway, this one earns its spot by virtue of its having officially (or at least temporarily) replaced The Devil Wears Prada's "Suddenly I See" as my preferred get-up-and-face-the-world-like-the-secretly-girly-little-gay-boy-I-am song. You know what I mean. That song you keep on your iPod and play on the bus, train, sidewalk, or whatever on your way to what is sure to be a boring day at work, to keep your spirits up. Or that you just play early in the morning to help wake you up. Coffee for those who'd rather not be addicted to caffeine. Bonus points for the way Amanda Seyfried spits out "...THING!" and "...BEAST!" She has goosebumps! And who wouldn't when singing about Dominic Cooper? Which brings me to...

#6: "Lay All Your Love On Me"
OK, you got me: the main reason this song is here (and this high) is that in the film, it features the beautiful, British, bare-chested Dominic Cooper strutting around a beach while singing it. Plus, it's actually a rather sexy song. It's like the sister song of "SOS" in terms of 80s badness, except it's actually sort of good at the same time. And it evolves into a rather elaborate dance number with lots of other hot, shirtless dancers in addition to Dominic Cooper, who by the way, gets very randy with Amanda during this song. Did I mention he's gorgeous? And British? And he sings this song? On the beach? Half naked? Cause he does. And he is. And he alone was enough to get this song almost into the top five.

Alright, now a slight pause for emphasis... because, it must be said, the disparity in quality between #6 and #5 is rather startling. The top five are all extremely fun (in some cases exceptional) songs to which I expect to listen constantly for at least the next few weeks. The cream of the crop are...

#5: "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" and...
#4: "Voulez-Vous"
A double dose of dance extravaganzas! These two were extremely hard to separate, since they're so similar in general vibe and dance-club-iness. I thought of just letting them tie for 4th, but I decided "Voulez-Vous" had the edge, cause it's better integrated into the film, whereas the other was more of a separate studio thing that was never featured in the film in its entirety, as I recall. Plus, I just think "Voulez-Vous" is more exciting. And I'd never heard it before seeing the film, so it surprised me. It certainly puts most contemporary "dance music" to shame. Sounds right outta Moulin Rouge!. Rawr.

#3: "The Winner Takes It All"
Meryl's one big solo showstopper, and the only non-ensemble song in the top five. In truth, I flirted with the idea of letting it top the list, but I couldn't deny either of the two following songs their coveted spots. Ultimately, Meryl dancing around joyfully beat out Meryl belting out her heartbreak. But boy does she BELT it. This one lets Goddess Meryl bring it like she's never brought it before in the movies. Musically, I mean. My personal favorite song of hers will always be "You Don't Know Me" from Postcards, but this one gave it a run for its money. Great, great stuff. Bonus points for the way Meryl oscillates from sweet talk-singing to true belting. Did I mention BELTING? I just can't get enough of Meryl belting. It's brilliant.

#2: "Dancing Queen"
You know what else I can't get enough of Meryl doing? Dancing. She may be much better at singing than at dancing, but as I said before, there's something so magical about watching her dance with such abandon. She just continues to surprise. Bless her heart. This song did lose a few points, though, on this particular list, for being so ubiquitous beforehand. It was the song I'd always associated with ABBA (ever since Muriel's Wedding) and the only one I really new well. So there was not much new going on here, except Meryl. With that in mind, I had to give the top spot to...

#1: "Mamma Mia!"
A rather obvious choice, I know. But I really do think it's the strongest song. What I just realized is that "Mamma Mia" combines the drama queen pathos of "The Winner Takes It All" with the buoyant jubilance of "Dancing Queen" to create a "best of both worlds" musical orgasm. Meryl gets to exorcise her demons and rediscover lost love through song and dance, for us all to enjoy. Cinematic heaven. Hence its place atop this list.

If Meryl tells me I can dance, it must be true.

2008-07-20T20:47:00.010-04:00

There's something uniquely magical about watching the woman who made Sophie's Choice (pun intended) dance around buoyantly while singing ABBA. Despite Mamma Mia's hit-and-miss, kamikaze comedy, whenever Streep starts singing, the film takes flight. This is not just because her voice is so gorgeous and expressive (though it is); it's also because we as viewers (or I at least) naturally tend to project all of Streep's previous perfs and career moves onto each new perfomance. I mean that in the best way. I think that is part of her legend. Just knowing that the same actress can play Joanna Kramer, Sophie Zawistowski, Karen Silkwood, Suzanne Vale, Miranda Priestly, etc. and then bust out with the sheer bubble-gum bliss of ABBA, and then seeing her do it... well, it does something very special for me. Something about it is very moving. It actually gives this material resonance. And that's pretty awesome.

As for the film as a whole... it's basically just another in the ever-lengthening list of Streep's middlingly reviewed mainstream comedies - She-Devil, Death Becomes Her, and Prime are other examples - all of which are far more fun than they would have been without her divine presence (though ftr, I think Death Becomes Her is much better than it gets credit for). This one, thankfully, has music. And super-fun music, at that. But the mixed reviews, and it's general dismissal as a mere trifle, are mostly deserved. I can't say I disagree with either assessment. But it's still probably the most pure fun I've had at the movies this year (despite being technically getting my worst grade... hee). In terms of quality, it doesn't hit the same highs as Devil Wears Prada (the exception to the rule in the reception of Streep's comedies), but it doesn't stoop to the lows of She-Devil either. One never gets the impression that Streep is slumming. On the contrary, she's having the time of her life. As is the whole joyous troupe around her. With the possible exception of poor Pierce Brosnan. Sigh.

Just a little anecdote now... my Mamma Mia experience was definitely made more memorable by external factors. I'd planned to go with my mom and sister today to the matinée showing. Unfortunately, once we got there, it was sold out, which really surprised me. But I guess it's the kind of thing most people seeing it would wanna see on a Sunday afternoon. Anyway, I convinced my mom and sister to see WALL*E instead. Since it's actually, you know, better. But mom was pretty set on Mamma Mia, so what did she do? She spontaneously decided we should sneak into the Mamma Mia screening and sit in the very front row (which they apparently don't count when calling a screening as "sold out"). So that was pretty awesome. My mom is ridiculous. And we got to see every wrinkle! Hee.

Meryl Streep singing ABBA: A
Dominic Cooper singing shirtless: A
The soundtrack in general: A-
The film as a whole: B-/C+

Another Meryl Streep interview!

2008-07-19T02:45:00.005-04:00

And this one's British! I love British things.

My 5 favorite 20-something actors

2008-07-09T21:34:00.003-04:00

Can anyone guess who they are? Let's see who was paying attention to all that junk on my sidebar before I took it down.

I'll be doing a series in the next few days/weeks, with a post on each of them. Stay tuned.

(no, the man in the towel below is not one of them... he's 35!)

I had never seen this particular towel pic before!

2008-07-08T20:23:00.002-04:00

I love it.

Whoever had the idea to do this photo shoot has my undying love.

2008-07-08T20:15:00.001-04:00

OK, so I apparently missed the Mamma Mia! world premiere in London by less than a week.

2008-07-06T21:33:00.010-04:00

If I'd just stayed one week longer, I could've been there for THIS:

This is SOOO not fair!!! I was in that very spot more than a dozen times!!!

As it is, I happened upon the crappy Hancock premiere a couple weeks before, while on my way to see Brief Encounter. My comrades were hypnotized by Will Smith, Charlize Theron, and the avalanche of media and bullshit mutual admiration. But I was having none of it. I had a show to see.

But why couldn't I have been there for THIS one??? This combined with the Emily Blunt near-miss just makes me feel... makes me feel... GAAAAAAAH

The List: Voyage to the Moon (dir. George Méliès, 1902)

2008-07-06T13:29:00.004-04:00

Yeah... this one's the very first on the list. It's quite primitive.

I'm watching it right now on YouTube. So I guess this is sort of a liveblog? Méliès basically set up a camera and had people walk and flail around in front of it... which I guess is still fundamentally what filmmaking's about anyway. There's lots of discontinuous editing (not sure if that's the correct term... I should know that). Eventually, the people board a little spaceship, as the French narrator man is telling me now. Then they fly up to the moon and the spaceship hits it in the eye, and looks like a bullet. The moon looks mad (it has a face, btw). Now they're on the moon. And the audio track for the second segment has changed from french narrator man into this bizarre techno/Philip Glass score. I kind of like it. French narrator man was getting boring. The sets are actually very elaborate. I wasn't noticing that before, because the actual filmmaking is so nonexistent. But I guess this qualified as "spectacle" back in 1902. It actually resembles a sort of filmed ballet. That's kind of cool. Yay, I'm appreciating it. Now there are all these primitive-looking moon natives with spears (to expound on the "primitive" theme). And the techno score is kicking serious ass. Oh my, they're on a cliff! Somebody's gonna fall. Oh wow, the whole spaceship fell. But they got away from the natives. That's good. And it landed in the ocean. Which I'm assuming is back on Earth. But who knows. This movie is trippy.

I'm now watching it again with a different audiotrack. This time there's a narrator AND a musical score. Awesome. The audiotracks MAKE this thing. I'm definitely appreciating it more now. It's like sci-fi meets vaudeville. And they made it over 100 years ago. Awesome.

time for a change

2008-07-05T20:25:00.002-04:00

Alright. So I really haven't been doing much film commentary here lately. And I'd like to get back into that. So hopefully you'll see more of that soon... at least during the summer months, before I start having to work on my thesis, lots of classes, TAing, etc.

And since it seems to actually be causing more confusion and headache than it's worth, I'm gonna phase out of this "non-grade" grading system I've been in. It just isn't working. It's much easier, logistically speaking, to just type a film's name with a grade next to it. What I've been doing is the same thing, but with more of a headache. And with letter grades, it's much better to be indecisive and put two grades separated by a slash. I'll be needing to do that.

I think I've made my point about not believing in grades. At least to myself. And, while the creative/productive/actor/director/whatever part of me will never believe in grades as a proper distillation of a film's worth, the critic part of me needs them in order to function. So back they are. There's a new (short) list of 2008 films on the sidebar now. The older ones will be filtered out of their current placements and into some other new area soon enough.

There will also be more Streepathon soon, I PROMISE. I refuse to quit that project. And now that I'm really into summer, it'll happen... eventually.

Mmmmm, Trucco...

2008-07-05T20:17:00.004-04:00

Can you believe Michael Trucco is almost 40? I'll have died and gone to heaven if me and/or my boyfriend look like that at 40. The seemingly shaved chest forces me to deduct a couple of points, but it really doesn't matter. I love this man.

Random video of the day: SUSAN SARANDON's Best Actress win!

2008-06-25T14:25:00.003-04:00

The video can be found here (embedding has been disabled by request).

This is a really classy moment, and a great decision by oscar. Susan is so lovely and poised and dignified, and so beautiful in that dress. The (gorgeos? haunting? thought-provoking?) Dead Man Walking theme played over her win gives it that much more weight and intensity. Well worth a watch, if you've never seen it (the oscar clip AND the film).

BSG Letterman Top Ten List

2008-06-23T06:07:00.000-04:00

Funny stuff.

I'm Voting Republican!

2008-06-19T14:02:00.002-04:00

This video makes me feel patriotic. It totally makes me feel proud of my country to hear patriotic music placed over a skewering of the Republican political platform. You could read it as the cheesy music being part of what's being skewered, but honestly when I watch it it's like the music is real and what your watching is the joke, and you're meant to feel patriotically proud to be making fun of Republicans. That's how I feel when I watch it anyway. It's kind of great.

It reminds me of how Bush really is a "uniter" not a divider, if by that you mean he united democrats, independents and moderate republicans against him and the mainstream of the Republican party.

I feel like this video would never have received an audience 4 years ago. But the times they are a-changin'. And it makes me proud that so many more people finally get it.

London blogging: my Emily Blunt non-sighting

2008-05-31T17:53:00.019-04:00

OK, so as you may or may not know, I am in London right now for a 3-week internship at the Blue Elephant, a little fringe theatre in Camberwell. It's a for-credit short study abroad program, in which we basically pay to go to London and work for free. I will be blogging about my adventures intermittently if and when I find the time.

Today, I just HAD to share a little story about what happened (or rather, didn't happen) to me this morning.

So we got in yesterday morning and were up basically for two full days at a time until last night when we finally were able to get a night's sleep. And naturally, I wanted to sleep in. I actually wasn't feeling well in the morning, which exacerbated my desire to sleep in, take a long shower, and mook around the room getting organized, instead of going out and randomly walking around. But that's what the other kids here wanted to do. So they did that, and right when they got back and we congregated, we had a convo that went basically like this:

Elizabeth: "OMG!!! This morning, on the street, we saw Emily... er... Emily Bl-- Br-- Emily B--... um...

Me: "YOU SAW EMILY BLUNT!?"

Elizabeth: "YES!!!"

Me: "OMG why wasn't I there!?!?"

Elizabeth: "We saw her right there on the street, she passed right by us! And I wanted to talk to her but I was too busy doing THIS: (makes silly, dumbfounded look)"

Me: "I can't believe I wasn't there!!! That is the best celebrity sighting EVER!"

Elizabeth: "I should've asked her how to get to the tube station!"

Me: "You mean as if she were a complete stranger?"

Elizabeth: "Yes."

Me: "She would've figured it out, but she probably would've told you anyway. You should've been like, 'could I please have directions to the nearest tube station... and YOUR AUTOGRAPH???'"

Elizabeth: "Yeah but I didn't of that until it was too late. We saw her go into an art gallery thing, where a bunch of people started looking at her funny, and we figured they were about to cause a scene and we shouldn't be part of it. She's SO pretty, even more in real life than onscreen. She was wearing all black, including really cool black boots."

Me: "She's totally prettier than Anne Hathaway. But Anne Hathaway is like even skinnier than her, which makes it funny that they joked about how she was fat."

Elizabeth: "She's totally skinnier than Anne Hathaway."

...

Anyway. I was pissed. A primo celebrity sighting on the very first day, and of course I missed it. Damn. Hugh Grant apparently lives in this neighborhood, so we might see him around. But still, even if he did, that's not as good as EMILY fr*king BLUNT. I don't give two pips about Hugh Grant. But if I saw Emily Blunt all the street, all bad-ass in her gothic attire and fabulous boots, I'd scream like a little girl.

Of course other things happened to me today, but nothing as cool as that. And it didn't even happen. Damn damn damn

Stay safe, Barack.

2008-05-24T15:46:00.003-04:00

Ugly Racism, Part 2

2008-05-20T21:52:00.001-04:00

Ugh.

You should be watching it:

2008-05-19T23:33:00.004-04:00

Start with the miniseries. You'll be glad you did.

WHO'S HOTTER: (special nostalgia edition) Jamie Bamber or Michael Trucco?

2008-05-19T22:57:00.020-04:00

So, it just occurred to me that WHO'S HOTTER? ended without my asking THE. MOST. IMPORTANT. QUESTION.

JAMBIE BAMBER or

MICHAEL TRUCCO???

True BSG fans will understand the urgency here. As the two main pieces of man-meat on the best show on TV, these two deserved a place in this competition. But I was neglectful. So I'm rectifying that now.

You guys obviously know where I stand, from the post below. But I shan't underestimate the carnal appeal of Captain Apollo (that's Jamie Bamber to you... sigh... why do none of you watch this show?). If you recall, I previously posted a sexy video of Jamie Bamber and also declared his famous towel slip the #1 most amazing thing about the show.

And still, I prefer Trucco. By a hair. I like the bad boys, what can I say?

Plus, when he takes his shirt off, he looks like THIS:

But he's actually not the "bad boy" type on the show... he's actually steadfastly loyal to his wife... but he looks like a bad boy, and all that's important. In fact, his being a lamb in fox's clothing (so to speak) just makes him that much more appealing.

But then again, Jamie in a towel looks like THIS:

Plus, Jamie is British and does a killer American accent. That takes talent.

Starbuck obviously still can't make up her mind. Can you?

Michael Trucco might just be the hottest man ever.

2008-05-18T17:54:00.004-04:00

If his torso doesn't get you to watch BSG, then I don't know what will.

Unbelievably Stupid People, Part 2

2008-05-15T20:51:00.003-04:00

This was awesome.

For the record: shouting doesn't automatically make you right.

Wow, people SUCK.

2008-05-15T19:38:00.003-04:00

My favorite is the woman who thinks Obama's a muslim. When confronted with the fact that he's not actually a muslim and was not raised as one, she replies:

"...but I don't agree with that."

Of course, "not agreeing" with facts is a widespread problem in this country. But this is in its own realm of ridiculous. And from a self-proclaimed democrat, at that. And then when asked whether she thought the muslim story was meant to be a smear on Obama:

"Yeah I do think it's a smear tactic, BUT I think we still have the right to know."

Um, if by "know" she means "form our own hateful, completely unfounded 'opinions' while ignoring the facts," then fine, fair enough. That's her right as a bigoted ignoramus.

I was in such a good mood earlier, too. Gaaaaaaaaaaaah

The List: The 39 Steps (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)

2008-05-14T16:37:00.006-04:00

This is out of order, but I had to watch this today for my London study abroad prep class, as part of the "history of British cinema" - a snapshot of British film in the 1930s. So I figured I might as well do an entry about it. The whole "chronological order" thing was kind of a pipe dream anyway.

Anyway, what struck me most about this fun little early Hitchcock thriller was how much Robert Donat (the lead) seemed like a youngish Clark Gable. In fact, I thought maybe he was a youngish Clark Gable... such is the depth of my ignorance of early film. So yeah, I was fairly tired this morning when I watched this (first day of summer school, don'tcha know), but basically Robert Donat aka "Richard Hannay" encounters a beautiful but enigmatic young female spy who is killed, and then spends the rest of the film being hunted down after being accused of her murder. Eventually one skeptical woman is forced along for the ride, and later learns the truth and helps him fight for his freedom.

It's fun to see this kind of old-school spy thriller, even though it's rather pedestrian by today's standards. I am curious what compelled UM's committee to choose this particular Hitchcock as required viewing, when gods know he's done plenty of worthy stuff. There is of course other Hitchcock on the list, too. But I forget which ones. I guess you can never get enough Hitchcock. But this is not one of my favorites of his. Whatever.

The point of watching it for this particular class is to see what Hitchcock's (and others') films were like before he (and they) came to America. I, for one, never even realized he was British. Whoops.

P.S. This entry was way longer than I'd planned. If I wrote this much about all 200 of these, I'd go nuts. This was supposed to be just a paragraph. So expect that much in the future.

totally random best Jake Gyllenhaal/Ellen clip EVER

2008-05-12T18:04:00.000-04:00

He is so fetching.

The most amazing thing you will ever see:

2008-05-08T02:30:00.004-04:00

Green Porno

Isabella Rossellini just got even more amazing.

The Golden Girl

2008-05-04T01:56:00.005-04:00

No, not "The Golden Girls" (Glenn). Something even more ridiculous.

This is my friend Brody's musical that he recently finished. It's utterly ridiculous because he's totally insane, but I love it/him for that. It's worth a watch if you wanna see me sing and dance around with bleached hair and a beard in a scruffy military getup. Plus the music is catchy. Watch:

You know you wanna comment on it. How could you not?

2008-04-24T12:39:00.000-04:00

The List!

2008-04-22T11:47:00.005-04:00

Below is the complete list of films I must watch for my master's degree, in chronological order. Forgive the lack of italics, but I just spent hours typing them out and putting them in chronological order, so you know...

Anyway, here they are:

Voyage to the Moon (George Mélies, 1902)
Birth of a Nation (D. W. Griffith, 1915)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Weine, 1919)
Male and Female (Cecil B. DeMille, 1919)
Within Our Gates (Oscar Micheaux, 1920)
The Blot (Lois Weber, 1921)
The Sheik (George Melford, 1921)
Nanook of the North (Robert Flaherty, 1922)
Greed (Erich von Stroheim, 1924)
The Last Laugh (F. W. Murnau, 1924)
Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
The Big Parade (King Vidor, 1925)
The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin, 1925)
The General (Buster Keaton, 1926)
It (Clarence G. Badger, 1927)
The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, 1927)
Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
Un Chien Andalou (Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dali, 1929)
Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
Betty Boop and Popeye shorts (Max & Dave Fleischer Studios, 1930s)
Morocco (Joseph von Sternberg, 1930)
A Propos de Nice (Jean Vigo, 1930)
City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
M (Fritz Lang , 1931)
Land without Bread (Luis Buñuel, 1932)
Red Dust (Victor Fleming, 1932)
Scarface (Howard Hawks, 1932)
Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1932)
42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 1933)
I Was Born, But… (Yasujiro Ozu, 1933)
It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)
The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)
Composition in Blue (Oskar Last Fischinger, 1935)
Top Hat (Mark Sandrich, 1935)
Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl, 1935)
The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 1937)
Grand Illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David Hand, 1937)
Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939)
The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)
Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939)
The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940)
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
Dance Girl Dance (Dorothy Arzner, 1941)
The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941)
Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, 1942)
Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944)
Maria Candelaria (Emilio Fernandez, 1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944)
Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1944)
Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945)
Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1945)
The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946)
The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946)
The Bicycle Thief (Vittorio de Sica, 1948)
Letter from an Unknown Woman (Max Ophuls, 1948)
D. O. A. (Rudolph Maté, 1949)
Late Spring (Yasujiro Ozu, 1949)
In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950)
Los Olvidados (Luis Buñuel, 1950)
Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950)
Awaara (Raj Kapoor, 1951)
The Hitchhiker (Ida Lupino, 1951)
Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952)
Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen, 1952)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953)
Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953)
La Strada (Federico Fellini, 1954)
On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)
Salt of the Earth (Herbert Biberman, 1954)
Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
Voyage to Italy (Roberto Rossellini, 1954)
Night and Fog (Alain Resnais, 1955)
Rebel without a Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955)
The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
Mon Oncle (Jacques Talli, 1957)
What’s Opera, Doc? (Chuck Jones, 1957)
Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut, 1959)
Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger, 1959)
Black Orpheus (Marcel Camus, 1959)
Hiroshima, mon Amour (Alain Resnias, 1959)
Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk, 1959)
Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)
The World of Apu (Satyajit Ray, 1959)
The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
L’Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)
Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960)
Primary (Drew Associates, 1960)
Chronicle of a Summer (Jean Rouch & Edgar Morin, 1961)
Cleo from Five to Seven (Agnes Varda, 1961)
Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais, 1961)
The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, 1962)
Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962)
The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 1962)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan, 1962)
Window Water Baby Moving (Stan Brakhage, 1962)
8 ½ (Federico Fellini, 1963)
Contempt (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)
La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1963)
Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1963)
This Sporting Life (Lindsey Anderson, 1963)
Black God, White Devil (Glauber Rocha, 1964)
The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1965)
Shop on Main Street (Jan Kadar, 1965)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)
Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)
Don’t Look Back (D.A. Pennebaker, 1967)
The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)
Wavelength (Michael Snow, 1967)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
Faces (John Cassavetes, 1968)
High School (Frederick Wiseman, 1968)
The Hour of Furnaces (Fernando Solanas & Octavio Getino, 1968)
Memories of Underdevelopment (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1968)
Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
Le Boucher (Claude Chabrol, 1969)
Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969)
Salesman (Albert & David Maysles, 1969)
The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969)
Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970)
M*A*S*H (Robert Altman, 1970)
Land of Silence and Darkness (Werner Herzog, 1971)
Shaft (Gordon Parks, 1971)
The Sorrow and the Pity (Marcel Ophuls, 1971)
Aguirre, Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)
The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)
State of Siege (Constantin Costa-Gavras, 1973)
Ali, Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974)
Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)
Xala (Ousmane Sembene, 1975)
Harlan County, USA (Barbara Kopple, 1976)
Taxi Driver (Martin Scorcese, 1976)
Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)
All That Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979)
Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
Asparagus (Suzan Pitt, 1979)
El Norte (Gregory Nava, 1983)
Sans Soleil (Chris Marker, 1983)
Yellow Earth (Chen Kaige, 1984)
Kiss of the Spider Woman (Hector Babenco, 1985)
The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Susaña Muñoz & Lourdes Portillo, 1985)
The Offical Story (Luis Puenzo, 1985)
Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)
The Sacrifice (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1986)
She’s Gotta Have It (Spike Lee, 1986)
Sherman’s March (Ross McElwee, 1986)
Street of Crocodiles (Brothers Quay, 1986)
Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987)
Distant Voices, Still Lives (Terence Davies, 1988)
The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, 1988)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Robert Zemeckis, 1988)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodóvar, 1988)
Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)
Roger & Me (Michael Moore, 1989)
Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami, 1990)
To Sleep with Anger (Charles Burnett, 1990)
Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou, 1991)
Thelma & Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991)
Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash, 1992)
Hyenas (Djibril Diop Mambety, 1992)
Like Water for Chocolate (Alfonso Arau, 1992)
The Player (Robert Altman, 1992)
Tale of Winter (Eric Rohmer, 1992)
Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)
Menace II Society (Hughes Brothers, 1993)
The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)
Wallace and Gromit in the Wrong Trousers (Nick Park, 1993)
Red (Krysztov Kieslowski, 1994)
Strawberries and Chocolate (Gutiérrez Alea & Carlos Tabió, 1994)
Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996)
Lone Star (John Sayles, 1996)
The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan, 1997)
A Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami, 1997)
Central Station (Walter Salles, 1998)
Earth (Deepa Mehta, 1998)
All About My Mother (Pedro Almodóvar, 1999)
Devil in a Blue Dress (Carl Franklin, 1999)
Kikujiro (Takeshi Kitano, 1999)
Amores Perros (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2000)
In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai, 2000)
City of God (Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund, 2002)
Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002)

My new thing is that I'm going to watch them all in chronological order over the next year, as a sort of guided tour through the history of film. That's roughly one film every two days. Yikes! But I can do it. Netflix is my friend. I just wonder how I'm going to fit in the rest of the Streepathon, Altmanathon, and all the contemporary stuff. Right now, of course, there's nothing good in theaters, but that'll change in a few months. Sigh.

But I guess there are worse things to complain about.

the one in which I bitch about bad DVD cover art

2008-04-17T02:24:00.008-04:00

Yeah, you heard me. Bad DVD cover art REALLY pisses me off. Particularly when I think I'm ordering one edition and then somehow end up with another that is horrifically and senselessly uglier.

The thing is, apparently the powers that be just released this new Gandhi 2-disc set this February... even though there's been a BEAUTIFULLY designed, pristinely packaged set on the shelves for a while now. This new one coincides with the film's 25th anniversary, which I suppose is why they felt it appropriate to release a new one at all. But why why WHY did they go from this:

...to THIS:

Alright. Now, putting aside the discrepancy over just how many oscars the film won (the correct answer is 8), this new DVD art is inferior in every way. I mean, can you say LAZY DESIGN? Could they really not think of anything better than a generic big floating head, with uniform, disposable garbage in the background? And if they had to use a generic big floating head, couldn't they have gotten an image that was ACTUALLY Ben Kingsley!? This face is either not him at all, or heavily doctored. It smacks of photoshop tinkering. Not to mention that there was this lovely pristine quality and nice material used on the previous box (I've seen it up close and in person), and this one is just a generic DVD box with wraparound art. I'm SO pissed.

Aren't newer additions supposed to look nicer? Isn't that the whole point of new "anniversary" editions? This one may in fact have better special features (though the other wasn't lacking), but it sure is ugly. I just don't get how anyone could've approved this. It frustrates to no end.

I wish I could say the moral of this story is "don't buy any DVDs without seeing what you're getting" but everyone knows they're cheaper online. And sometimes it's hard to tell just what the deal is with the edition you're getting. Sigh.

P.S. I know Glenn can back me up on this. I realize not everyone gets all up in arms over bad cover art, but I know Glenn's on the same page. Right, Glenn? Right? I need validation...

I think the idea of Natalie Portman rapping all badass-like is really funny...

2008-04-17T02:13:00.003-04:00

...and actually SEEING her do it?? Priceless.

I'm not even particularly big on her, but I could watch this all day.

omgSarahPolleyISUmaThurman!!!

2008-04-11T00:28:00.004-04:00

Isn't it kind of eerie how similar they look? I would love to see them play sisters... or better yet, the same person.

2008-04-10T16:39:00.002-04:00

So yeah, I realize the blog's kinda just been a forum for YouTube as of late... I've had neither the time nor the inclination to do much else. But I hope you all like videos. This one of Barack is choice. I had not seen this speech in its entirety, so I'm glad I caught it now. Expect more Obama love in the coming months. I heart him.

Because I haven't posted anything lately, and because it's so damn funny:

2008-04-10T00:49:00.002-04:00

Because it's been awhile since I've posted any Jennifer Holliday:

2008-04-01T03:20:00.001-04:00

Jamie Bamber is hot.

2008-03-28T04:04:00.001-04:00

Tuesday Top Ten (I do these?):Reasons why BSG is FRACKING AMAZING

2008-03-18T01:05:00.019-04:00

This top ten list is the result of a mad brainstorm, which in turn was the result of my renewed obsession with BSG (my Season 3 DVD gets here any day now!). Yes, I know none of my readers watch this show. No, I don't care. Yes, I am telling you you should all go out and buy the Season 1 DVD right NOW and get caught up. No, not in a little while. RIGHT. NOW. Season 4 starts April 4th!

Anyway... on to the list...

Honorable Mention: All the cool spaceships and exploding things. The special effects are great, though they're not the real reason the show is amazing. It's amazing because:

#10: It somehow refashioned a kitchy 70s sci-fi serial into a brilliant, naturalistic human drama... and turned "frack" from the poor man's "fuck" into a credible swear word. You'd think it'd be ridiculous, but it works. And it got them around the censors, allowing them to create a mood of gritty realism. KUDOS

#9: You could base an entire college course on it. I have actually considered going into academia just to see if I could swing that. Yes, I've thought about the curriculum. Hello, cylons as a metaphor for modernity? Amazing. Course title: "Battlestar Galactica: History, Theory, and Themes"

#8: Six's amazing outfits. OMG

#7: The endless plot twists that always somehow make sense. Who's a cylon??? You just. NEVER. KNOW. Unless you're me and you get it spoiled for you by Joe Reid.

#6: Katee Sackhoff.

#5: Mary McDonnell.

#4: The acting in general. Not a weak link in the whole cast... and that's including all the guest stars and new additions that are always popping up. LOVE. (Lucy Lawless, I'm talking to you). Also, James Callis and Edward James Olmos both deserve a shout out. I love the women more myself, but these two are choice.

#3: The themes: How did they manage to merge issues of politics, astrology, the post-911 culture-of-fear, the Iraq occupation, Star Wars, man vs. machine, man as machine, cybernetics, hot chicks, and lots of good old fashioned human drama, weave it all into a grand allegorical tapestry, and create a universe this cohesive, this endlessly compelling? Ronald D. Moore, my hat's off to you.

#2: The music: Minimalist drum beats meet minimalist synthetic melodies meet Aramaic chants meet classical strings meet exotic rhythms... you get the idea. Suffice it to say, Bear McCreary is a genius. Honestly, I think at least 50% of this show's power comes from its music. Brilliant, brilliant scoring.

#1: "The Towel Slip"... just... YES.

Glancing at spoilers for TV shows is like looking directly into the sun.

2008-03-18T00:15:00.003-04:00

You KNOW you shouldn't, it's painful, it's bad for you, everyone tells you not to, it can lead to irreparable damage if you keep doing it, and yet there's this perverse desire to do it anyway... just for a second. But then it's too late. ARGH

I just found out the identity of two more Cylons, thanks to my inability to keep from reading about Battlestar Galactica (thanks, Joe Reid).

Look how young she was!

2008-03-15T16:57:00.004-04:00

And look how young she still looks now!

The Streepathon will return eventually... I promise. It hit a bit of a snag when I watched Bridges of Madison County and had to return it before actually doing the entry... so now I feel like I have to watch it again to do it justice. And how am I supposed to do that? Netflix backtracking = evil. Plus I'm in school and stuff. But I will do it somehow... some way... some day...

OMG, this made me laugh:

2008-03-13T13:19:00.000-04:00

Hat tip: OMG blog

GOLDEN GIRL Production stills

2008-03-09T14:34:00.008-04:00

Here are some production stills from the student film musical I'm filming right now, The Golden Girl. In it, I play the King of the Homeless, a diabolical advisor to Carly Golden in her campaign for President of the World. Sound fucked up? It is. My friend Brody, the writer/director, is insane. But I think the finished product will be pretty cool.

These two are me and Rachelle, who plays Carly, on set. We're kinda staying in character:

This one I think was taken while we were rehearsing. I think it looks like a porn scene:

Here I am sitting on my throne in my homeless palace:

And here's me and Brody (the director). He likes to walk around shirtless:

Adam just took some sexy pictures of himself and uploaded them onto the web!

2008-03-08T22:42:00.006-05:00

Here are some of my favorites:

My OTHER favorite moment of the night: Oscar-winning (!!!) "Falling Slowly" live

2008-02-26T02:07:00.008-05:00

Look how much applause the film gets in the intro. I'm so glad the film has lots of fans.

I think the acoustics gave Markéta a little too much volume (sorry Mar... I love you, but this particular song just works better when you're supporting Glen... though your piano was gorgeous). I also don't like how the song was shortened for the broadcast (it's longer in the film).

But look at Glen during his close-ups. He clearly knows millions of people are watching him, and its very endearing. Luv ya Glen (and other Glenn, too!). How wonderful for them to have gotten this opportunity.

But the best thing about this song (I think) is that it actually works better in an intimate setting, without all the pomp, and lights, and cameras. It's about the connection between the two musicians (note how they put all those guitars in the background, in some kind of weird attempt to evoke and/or imitate the music store scene).

Still, I loved this performance. In fact, one of my friends at my oscar party was converted on the spot. She'd never heard of Once, but after hearing this, she said, "that music is beautiful, they should win." And they did.

And now for the most deserving winners, and the best moment of the night, bar none:

2008-02-25T22:12:00.004-05:00

I love them! The crowd loves them! Look how happy the audience is! Look how cute and appreciative Laura Linney is! This is like the happiest oscar moment ever. I just had to get it up here to share, before it gets taken down.

And for balance:

2008-02-25T21:54:00.001-05:00

I still prefer her BAFTA speech (and outfit), but this was classic. Go, Tilda, Go!

Look how shocked Cate Blanchett is when Cotillard wins the oscar. And what is going on with Julie Christie?

2008-02-25T21:46:00.005-05:00

I realize that for some, this clip only reopens wounds that are better off left to heal. You guys don't have to watch it.

But for those who ARE watching, pay special attention to Cate Blanchett. Isn't it funny how she's even more shocked and elated than Cotillard is? Also, Julie Christie seems not to react at all until after the whole name is read out. Just after "Marion", she sort of freezes, before acting happy a moment later. Cynics would say she's pissed, and needs a moment to calculate before putting on her game face. But I think she probably just didn't hear the name. Marion, of course, displays the requisite shock and awe, while classy Linney and Page are subdued and gracious.

I wasn't a big fan of the speech, to be honest. It was a bit too "OMG, I'm SO shocked and happy and girly I don't even know what to say!" for my taste (shades of Halle Berry). I prefer winners who know the game, know the award doesn't mean ALL that much, and are a little bit above it, while still showing class and gratidute. Go ahead, Cotillard fans, come at me with your pitchforks.

I guess I should really check out that performance, huh?

Don't worry, I will.