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Thursday, February 28, 2008 - 17:02:15
Friday.
Monday, February 25, 2008 - 08:49:24
What now? The Oscars are over and nine months of predictions are now a memory. You can review my live blog post below, and Jimmy Boy's comments as well. But that's all I'm willing to say about it. I'm done talking about 2007.As for 2008, I've only seen "Cloverfield," "27 Dresses," and "Vantage Point." None of those are awards worthy, although "Cloverfield" may pick up a technical nomination or two. Don't expect anything mesmerizing (like "Zodiac" of 2007) to come to a theater near you anytime soon.
On the national horizon, "The Other Boleyn Girl," may look like an Oscar caliber film, but it's not. It was delayed as long as "Goya's Ghosts." What?, you ask. Exactly. The same is true for "Penelope."
"Chicago 10" and "City of Men," the follow up to the Oscar nominated film "City of God" both open in limited release this month. So maybe . . . "Horton Hears a Who," probably has some legs in the Best Animated race. It opens on March 14th.
Marty Scorsese's documentary on the Rolling Stones titled "Shine a Light" opens April 4th and could be a player in the Best Documentary Feature race. Wong Kar-Wai's American road film "My Blueberry Nights," which opened to mix reviews at Cannes also opens that day.
A darkhorse, possible for screenplay, is Rian Johnson's ("Brick") new film called "The Brothers Bloom" starring Mark Ruffalo and Oscar winners Adrian Brody and Rachel Weisz. It's in theaters on April 11th.
May 2nd brings "Iron Man," Jon Favreau's adaptation of the Marvel comic starring Robert Downey, Jr. The Wachowski Brothers return on May 9th with "Speed Racer." They've been known to clean up the technical side of the Oscar race.
"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" is in theaters on May 16th. It's likely to be another technical darling of the Academy along with "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" which opens on May 23rd.
The summer brings a wrath of big budget (a.k.a Best Sound Editing) films: "The Incredible Hulk," "Wall-E" (the early favorite for Best Animated Feature), "Hancock," and "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (from Guillermo del Toro) get you through June and the early part of July.
On July 18th, you can officially ring in the Oscar season. That's when Chris Nolan latest Batman film "The Dark Knight" opens. Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor? You betcha.
"Mamma Mia," is destined for an invite to the Golden Globes. "Pineapple Express" could be this year's "Knocked Up"/"Superbad". It opens August 8th along with "Blindness" from Fernando Meirelles ("The Constant Gardner", "City of God") starring Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Gael Garcia Bernal.
And that's as far as we go. Not a real Oscar contender in the bunch, but several films that may make your Top Ten.
As for the awards caliber features? Expect them to ride in on a tidal wave this fall. Here are the films I'm tracking in 2008:
"Australia" starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman (Baz Luhrmann, director)
"Revolutionary Road" starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio (Sam Mendes, dir.)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" starring Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt (David Fincher, dir.)
"Doubt" starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams (John Patrick Shanley, dir.)
"Frost/Nixon" starring Frank Langella and Michael Sheen (Ron Howard, dir.)
"The Soloist" starring Robert Downey, Jr., Jamie Foxx and Catherine Keener (Joe Wright, dir.)
"Milk" starring Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, James Franco and Josh Brolin (Gus Van Sant, dir.)
"The Argentine" starring Benicio del Toro and Catalina Sandina Moreno (Steven Soderberg, dir.)
"The Changeling" starring Angelina Jolie, Amy Ryan and John Malcovich (Clint Eastwood, dir.)
"Nothing But the Truth" starring Matt Dillon, Kate Beckinsale, Vera Farmiga and Alan Alda (Rod Lurie, dir.)
"Body of Lies" starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crow (Ridley Scott, dir.)
"Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" starring Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson (David Yates, dir.)
"Defiance" starring Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell (Edward Zwick, dir.)
"The Reader" starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Feinnes (Stephen Daldry, dir.)
Sunday, February 24, 2008 - 18:58:55
OSCARS - LIVE BLOGGING7:00 - Here we go. Welcome to this year's Oscar ceremony and my second attempt at the live blogging the event. I'm back with the usual crop of players. We've got a buffet of food and enough wine to get us through a "Transformers" sweep. ABC's red carpet pre-game is off to a good start . . .George Clooney, Laura Linney . . . John Travolta? Well, two out of three ain't bad, friendo. Our dinner menu is anchored by TH's killer lasagna. My moviegoing friend brought a peanut butter pie that I keep thinking about. Why is Mylie Cyrus a presenter? Come to think of it, who is Mylie Cyrus? And we're off to our first commercial break. Early "super hot chick" award goes to the gal with George Clooney.
7:13 - Jennifer Garner's hair looks like she just finished a college walk of shame. Is it meant to look like that? The only true lock of the night, Daniel Day-Lewis, is cruising the red carpet. If he loses there's no justice. None. Here's super adorable Amy Adams, who was probably 6th or 7th in the Oscar balloting for "Enchanted." Commercial break number two. SRL and his son RL just joined the party. I asked RL why he wasn't watching the Oscars with his friends and he said, "dude, that's weak." Nuff said.
7:21 - I heart Ellen Page.
7:30 - How did Regis get this gig. Did he just call Javier Bardem "Jazier"? Must be the exposure to those tanning bulbs. Who's more bronze: Regis or Oscar?
7:33 - Will Jon Stewart suck? We're about to find out.
7:40 - Gaydolf Titler. That was funny. Unfortunately, that was it. Are the writer's still secretly on strike?
7:41 - Achievement in Costume Design. Moviegoer pick: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age." I thought the first award was always the supporting actor/actress? The first Oscar to . . ."Elizabeth: The Golden Age." Thank you for a 3 second speech.
7:46 - Nice montage of past winners. Is Stewart reading a message from Hillary thanking him for reminding the viewers that Obama's middle name is Hussein and his last name rhymes with Osama? Best Animated Feature. Moviegoer Pick: "Ratatouille." And the winner is . . . "Ratatouille." Great speech from Brad Bird.
7:57 - Best Achievement in Make Up. Moviegoer pick: "La Vie En Rose." And the winner is . . ."La Vie En Rose." Dammit, "Norbit," probably the worst movie ever nominated for an Oscar - ever - didn't win. I wonder if Eddie Murphy is still pissed that the marketing behind that movie cost him the Oscar last year.
8:07 - The Rock is here! Man, I thought Norbit getting a nomination was bad. Best Visual Effects. Moviegoer Pick - "Transformers." And the winner is . . . "The Golden Compass." That's a bit of an upset. Of course, if the Academy feels the same way about Michael Bay as I do, it's no surprise. The Rock being up there = stupid. "The Golden Compass" winning = stupider.
Best Art Direction. Moviegoer Pick - "Atonement." And the winner is . . . "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." No in the audience is excited. I think CGI created sets should be automatically disqualified.
8:12 - Let the Cuba Gooding, Jr. comeback begin. No one gets more screen time in the Oscars than that guy. No one became a bigger flop. Another award is up. Best Supporting Actor. Moviegoer Pick: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men." And the winner is . . . Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men." Atta boy, Javier.
8:22 - Jon Stewart comes back with another terrible joke. Seriously, his writers should stay on strike, Kerri Russell needs to eat one of those pies she made in "Waitress." I didn't see "August Rush." It was in theaters for at least a day . . . maybe two. Another song. That's a good reason to refill my glass.
8:28 - Owen Wilson's here. Best Live Action Short Film. Moviegoer Pick: "The Tonto Woman." And the winner is . . . "The Mozart of Pickpockets." Uh, okay. I had a 20% shot. "This awards show is suckin'," commented one of our group. Agreed. And to make matters worse, here's Jerry Seinfeld as that stupid bee. Best Animated Short Film. Moviegoer Pick: "Peter & The Wolf." And the winner is . . . "Peter & The Wolf."
8:34 - Best Supporting Actress. Moviegoer Pick: Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There." And the winner is . . . Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"! Wow. An early upset. Could it spell good things to come for "Michael Clayton"?
9:05 - I'm back and powered up. I see where the Coens won best adapted screenplay. "The Bourne Ultimatum" won best sound editing over "Transformers." Michael Bay is hiding under his own personal tanning bed. "The Bourne Ultimatum" takes Best Sound Mixing too. Bay can't even win technical awards. Putting Spielberg on the film made no difference. Michael Bay + $300 million = loser, loser, loser.
9:09 - Best Lead Actress. Moviegoer Pick: Julie Christie, "Away from Her." And the winner is . . . Marion Cotillard, "La Vie En Rose." Not a huge upset, but a bit of a surprise considering she was up against Julie Christier. But Christie followed the Peter O'Toole playbook and she ended up short. Cotillard played the PR game, incuding appearing at Newsweek's Oscar Roundtable with George Clooney and Daniel Day-Lewis.
9:18 - Finally, the song from "Once." Wonderful.
9:27 - Best Film Editing. Moviegoer Pick: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." And the winner is . . . "The Bourne Ultimatum." Three for three for that film. They have to be psyched. It was exceptional, and the editing was phenomenal. Hard to argue with this pick.
9:41 - I'm fading fast with this telecast. Jon Stewart has been nearly brutal. Too many montages. The Rock. . . . Best Foreign Language Film. Moviegoer Pick: "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" . . . Oh, wait. "The Counterfeiters." And the winner is . . . "The Counterfeiters" (Austria). McDreamy in the house! To the dismay of many, McDreamy wasn't recognized for his groundbreaking performance in "Can't Buy Me Love." Tragedy abides in Oscar land.
9:48 - Best Original Song. Moviegoer Pick: "Falling Slowly" (Once). And the winner is . . . "Falling Slowly"!!!! Outstanding choice, Academy. Outstanding.
9:58 - Best Cinematography. Moviegoer Pick: "There Will Be Blood." And the winner is . . . "There Will Be Blood."
10:06 - Heath Ledger. Patrick Verona. Gabriel Martin. William Thatcher. Sonny Grotkowski. Harry Feversham. Ned Kelly. Alex Bernier. Skip. Jacob Grimm. Ennis Del Mar. Casanova. Dan. Robbie Clark. The Joker.
10:09 - Best Original Score. Moviegoer Pick: "Atonement." And the winner is . . . "Atonement."
10:12 - Best Documentary Short Subject. Moviegoer Pick: "Sari's Mother." And the winner is . . . "Freeheld." Is this almost over? Best Documentary Feature. Moviegoer Pick: "No End in Sight." And the winner is . . . "Taxi to the Dark Side." I'm about to head to the dark side if this telecast doesn't get any better.
10:20 - How many times to I have to see this American Living ad for JC Penney? Is it supposed to make me want to buy something? Not working.
10:22 - An international movie star or an auto dealership. Even Jon Stewart knew that joke sucked. Best Original Screenplay. Moviegoer Pick: Diablo Cody, "Juno." And the winner is . . . Diablo Cody, "Juno." Yee-haw! Her acceptance speech was totally generic for such a gifted writer and former stripper/phone sex operator. But like I said, this telecast blows.
10:28 - Best Actor. Moviegoer Pick: Daniel Day-Lewis. And the winner is . . . Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood." There is justice in the world. He was my super mortal lock, but with Tilda Swinton's win earlier in the night, I began to have doubts. Clooney was great, but DDL was as good I've seen in my lifetime. He deserved victory and he got it.
10:40 - The end is near. We're pushing 3.5 hours. Only Best Directing and Best Picture remain. Best Directing. Moviegoer Pick: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men." And the winner is . . . Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men."
10:44 - Best Picture. Moviegoer Pick: "Atonement." And the winner is . . . "No Country for Old Men." There it is. I bought into the conservative hype of the Academy not thinking they would embrace a film more violent than "The Departed." I called it a masterpiece when I reviewed it in this space. It is.
10:47 - Another year of movies - an exceptional one - is officially in the books. My predictions were pretty bad: 13/24 (.541), but that's what I get for picking "Transformers" to win three Oscars. Tilda Swinton (Best Supporting Actress, "Michael Clayton") was the only surprise, and a mild one at that. The telecast was incredibly bad, one of the worst I've ever seen.
Congratulations, especially, to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for their win in the Best Original Song category; the technical folks behind "The Bourne Ultimatum" (Best Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing) and Robert Elswit (Best Cinematography, "There Will Be Blood).
I'm done. Good night.
It's Oscar Sunday. What are your plans? I'm heading over to watch the ceremony and blog live (here beginning at 6:30) with some friends on a screen the size of my living room. I shouldn't miss any of the cleavage or asinine red carpet questions. I'll drink a bit, eat a bit and, like you, watch and see what happens.
David Carr and A.O. Scott have dueling columns in today's New York Times about the awards ceremony. Carr writes, "So go ahead and bring the tomatoes. When Julian Schnabel, the nominated director of “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” wears pajamas, feel free to suggest that he makes Bjork’s infamous swan outfit from the 2001 ceremony seem demure. Whine when they bypass Tom Wilkinson’s shattering performance as a lawyer in “Michael Clayton” who loses his marbles and regains his humanity. And enjoy the brutal pleasure when some actor makes a stab at gravitas by injecting politics in the big moment and comes off like an airhead instead. You have to see it, right?"
David Edelstein and Lynda Obst debate their picks over at New York Magazine.
Sasha Stone has her No Guts No Glory picks up over at Awards Daily.
Kris Tapley of Red Carpet District and In Contention.com will be podcasting throughout the night at TheMovieBlog.com.
Enjoy the show, and be sure to check back here around 6:30 CST for the start of the running commentary.
Thanks to Max for the plug on the Arkansas Blog.
Saturday, February 23, 2008 - 08:36:59
"For those of us who have followed Julian Schnabel's larger-than-life career as an artist for nearly thirty years, watching his new movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a doubly extraordinary experience. It is a film that presents a nightmarish and almost unbearable medical case history that has been handled with humor, a lyrical deftness, and a remarkable absence of sentimentality; and if you have more than a passing sense of Schnabel the person and his work as a painter, your mind is running at the same time on a parallel track, one full of amazement and almost disbelief that, with no apparent training in theater arts or the directing of actors, or even a feeling for photography, he has turned himself into a sometime moviemaker—this is his third film—of such drive and sensitivity. The movie is about a patient's transformation of himself as he lies in a hospital bed; and it has been made by someone who, with a perhaps related kind of strength, is similarly extending himself." - - Sanford Schwartz on the work of Julian Schnabel in The New York Review of Books."For almost twenty-five years, the Coens have been rude and funny, inventive and tiresome—in general, so prankish and unsettled that they often seemed in danger of undermining what was best in their movies. Have they gone straight at last?" - - David Denby on Ethan and Joel Coen in The New Yorker. INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS
Little Rock native Jeff Nichols ("Shotgun Stories") is up for an Independent Spirit Award today in Los Angeles. You can watch the awards show tonight at 9:00 p.m. on AMC. Here's a list of the nominees.
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