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Oscar thoughts (2010)

by Alex on March 8, 2010

Well, that surely was riveting (not).
Sure, The Hurt Locker probably wasn’t the best 2009 movie, but nowadays I’m happy if good work is even recognized.
So, yay.

I was pleasantly surprised by Neil Patrick Harris’ opening number.
At least they know who to call for these sorta things.

On the other hand, this didn’t really show much confidence in Alec Baldwin/Steve Martin’s duo (not even seen on stage until the fifth minute).
Twice the host, half the screentime.

The banter following their arrival felt tame at best.
It almost seemed as if they were listing a bunch of famous celebrities in hopes that fangirls all around would “squee”. Alas that wasn’t the case.
Clooney certainly didn’t seem to care about the ceremony.
The jokes themselves didn’t feel much inspired.
Case in point with James Cameron’s “micro-roast” that revolved around, you guessed it, 3-D glasses.

Did anyone else notice that, right after Steve Martin made his joke about Christoph “Jew Hunter” Waltz having hit “the motherload”, they cut to…Ethan Coen?!
Bad taste much?

I was surprisingly surprised at one win: Best Foreign Language Film.
Seemed as if Das Weisse Band was going to get it. Ended up going to El Secreto de Sus Ojos.
Yes, I’m happy about that.

Another shock came when Michael Giacchino was given the Oscar for Best Original Music.
No, I wasn’t shocked because he had won, rather because he hadn’t won before that.
Indeed, this was his first Academy Award ever.
What a shame it didn’t happen sooner. Though great speech.
Incidentally, I’m actually listening to one of the Lost soundtracks as I’m writing this.
And a note to Jennifer Lopez: it’s pronounced Ja-Key-No.

Continuing on the Lost–related talk:
If you were thinking that J.J. Abrams, or, hell, even Terry O’Quinn/Michael Emerson, were going to win an Oscar way before the guy playing Minkowski, think again.

If you’re wondering about that “Kanye West” moment, as people are calling it now, check this out.

Up winning best animated film was a disappointment.
I wish Coraline or Fantastic Mr. Fox had the award.

What’s up with Colin Farell being Jeremy Renner’s actor-buddy on stage and talking about SWAT?!
Weren’t TPTB able to get, I don’t know, any co-star from The Hurt Locker?
Seriously, who thought we would hear about that SWAT movie ever again, let alone at the Academy Awards?

Anyhow, the horror tribute was a bit weird since it included a bunch of movies I’d describe as belonging to the “fantasy” genre (Edward Scissorhands to name just one).

Speaking of, the award for the scariest moment of the evening goes to:

Who knew a comedian painted in blue was going to be a highlight.
Haven’t seen that on TV since a guy named Tobias.

Notice my total lack of thought regarding the major categories.
That’s because I don’t have any.
I’m obviously happy for Bigelow (they took their sweet time to make the historic kudos).
Big “duh” for all the other wins.
And that’s about it.

To finish us off, here’s the genius Modern Family promo they made especially for the Oscars:

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Five under-the-radar movies you should watch

by Alex on October 6, 2009

in Entertainment Talk,Featured Posts,News

Post image for Five under-the-radar movies you should watch

Many movies are made each year, a few are box-office successes, and even less garner critical acclaim. Some great movies unfortunately pass through all the cracks and are almost never heard of, let alone recognized.
This post is here to repair this terrible mistake with the five “under-the-radar” films you should check out right now.
The films are here listed alphabetically, so pay no attention to the order they’re in.

Blindness

Crew and Cast: Julianne Moore stars in a movie helmed by Cidade de Deus/The Constant Gardener’s director, Fernando Meirelles. Don McKellar adapted the José Saramago novel of the same name. Also in the cast are Danny Glover, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga and Gael Garcia Bernal.

IMDb’s one-line pitch: A city is ravaged by an epidemic of instant “white blindness”. Those first afflicted are quarantined by the authorities in an abandoned mental hospital where the newly created “society of the blind” quickly breaks down.

Why you should watch it: Besides the gut-wrenching performances, the movie offers a brutal (albeit allegorical) view at our society.
Says LAT’s Cristiana Ferraz Coimbra:

In both book and film, blindness is not only a physical condition but a metaphor for the darker side of human nature: prejudice, selfishness, violence and willful indifference.

Its portrayal of the blind community has on the other hand been deemed controversial. Make your own mind by seeing the film.

Brick

Crew and Cast: Rian Johnson wrote and directed this indie film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the title role. He is accompanied by Nora Zehetner, Emilie de Ravin and Matt O’Leary.

IMDb’s one-line pitch: A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.

Why you should watch it: If you like film noir or hardboiled detective fiction (such as The Maltese Falcon), this one’s for you. Brick is the kind of film you need to rewatch to start understanding what’s going on, and the dialogue is so fine-tuned it makes you wonder if those high-school characters aren’t going to suddenly transform into Humphrey Bogart or Gloria Grahame.
You can see this is a passion project of Johnson’s. He even offers on his website the shooting script annotated with footnotes!
There’s also the great Joseph Gordon-Levitt in it. As to why this should be reason enough to see the movie, that’s for another post.

Children of Men

Crew and Cast: Adapted for the screen by Alfonso Cuarón (director of Y tu mamá también) based on P.D. James’ novel of the same name. Clive Owen has the title role. Julianne Moore, Michael Caine and Chiwetel Ejiofor are also present.

IMDb’s one-line pitch: In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child’s birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.

Why you should watch it: Where to start? First, the directing is incredible.
Talk about awe-inspiring single-shot sequences! One of them even lasts for seven minutes and a half.
As for the story, it is, in my opinion, one of the best adaptation of a novel ever done. Its depiction of this bleak future is simply astounding
To be honest, it would probably take weeks to list all the reasons why Children of Men is a science-fiction classic. Wikipedia has actually a very detailed page on the many, many themes and complex production of the dystopian film, though you should first see the movie.

Lars and the Real Girl

Crew and Cast: Written by Six Feet Under’s Nancy Oliver and directed by United States of Tara’s Craig Gillespie, the drama stars Ryan Gosling. There’s also in the mix Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Paul Schenider, and a sex-doll.

IMDb’s one-line pitch: A delusional young guy strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.

Why you should watch it: Well, Ryan Gosling is great (as is the rest of the cast), and the story is atypical to say the least (a sex-doll as a central character?).
Nancy Oliver’s screenplay was actually nominated at the Oscars, WGA Awards and won a Humanitas Prize. Kudos to her.

Oldboy

Crew and Cast: Adapted for the screen by Chan-wook Park (director of Mr. Vengance, Lady Vengeance, and the recent Bakjwi a.k.a. Thirst) based on a Nobuaki Minegishi manga. South Korean actor Choi Min-sik plays the title role.

IMDb’s one-line pitch: After being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in 5 days.

Why you should watch it: Probably the most well-known movie on this list given its international status (it won, amongst other prizes, Cannes’ Grand Prix).
This thriller is at its core a dark and twisted tale of revenge, part of the filmmaker’s Vengance Trilogy. There’s also a live octopus being eaten whole and one of the most memorable continuous take ever made.
Unfortunately, an American remake is currently in preparation. Given its somewhat scandalous side, this doesn’t bode well for the American “reimagination.”

It’s now time for you to rent some movies out.
Enjoy.

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Cry me tears

by Alex on September 29, 2009

in Entertainment Talk,News

A short post today to quickly talk about the ratings.
They’re in, and people are actually watching TV!
Well, to be fair, people are watching the new shows on the air, but that’s a revolution on to itself.
For NCIS: LA, FlashForward, even the Vampire Diaries and the Good Wife, the scores are good.
For some though, the ratings are, uhm, bad.
When you get worse ratings than My Own Worst Enemy, like Trauma did last night, it’s time to call it quits. Yes, even with your astronomical special effects (which are not that impressive quite frankly).

In sad news territory, the first images of The Beaver have surfaced.
And it looks as pathetic as one might expect with Mel Gibson in the lead.

A shame given how great the script was…

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The MGM ever-delayed debacle: In the jungle, no one can hear you roar

by Lordy on September 25, 2009

in Entertainment Talk,Featured Posts,Guest Posts

Post image for The MGM ever-delayed debacle: In the jungle, no one can hear you roar

So, I was busy writing a blog on another subject which may or may not see the light of day later, and I come across this story, written by Deadline’s Nikki Finke, about how MGM is on the verge of bankruptcy, and has a $4 billion debt to erase. Actually the past 20 years were a bumpy ride for the firm of Leo the Lion (and his family, The Lionhearts. Yes, I did my homework again, but my curiosity knows no bounds.)

So, I’ll do the Cliff’s Notes version, but the firm with the Lion has been passing from owner to owner. First, there was the very Français Pathé Frères, and the French bank Crédit Lyonnais. During their tenure, successful movies like Thelma and Louise were made. There was also businessman Kirk Kerkorian, who owned MGM no less than three times in the span of 20 years, and finally, from 2004 onwards, Sony and several equity partners, trust funds and banks. But during those 7 years, no really successful movies were produced to speak of.

It’s no wonder that MGM has only one remaining viable franchise, and that is the 007 one. The reason why the studio can’t exploit its catalogue is simple: all the pre-1986 classic movies and cartoons like “Tom and Jerry” and the Tex Avery shorts were sold to Ted Turner and Time Warner more than 20 years ago. Sure, MGM bought off other failing studios such as Orion Pictures. But even moderate successes produced by Orion, like the first “Addams Family”, are not their property.

In short: upcoming Blu-Ray restored and remastered editions of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone With the Wind”, sure to garner profit from movie lovers….won’t be saving MGM, even though it was originally produced by the studio.

So, there it is, folks: a studio with a whopping 4,000 movies in its vaults, produced in-house or by other studios, and unable to exploit them correctly.

In 2006, worldwide distribution for DVD and Blu-Ray reverted to Fox Entertainment. Did you hear about any “special editions” of forgotten movies such as “Heaven’s Gate”, the swan song of Michael Cimino? Neither did I. Oh sure, there was the “Rocky” collection, but nothing really groundbreaking.

Instead…
This is what we get, for example.

Each MGM DVD of “catalogue” has the same tasteless cover art. I know of…hum, heard of adult DVDs that have better design than this.

Sure, the Stargate franchise does well on DVD. And apparently, two movies are on the way (one for SG-1, another for Atlantis), and the premiere of “Stargate Universe” will surely reboot the franchise…once again.
But then, other long-running franchises such as “The Outer Limits” second incarnation have barely been released on DVD, in their unedited, non-syndication form. Nevertheless, they are one of the better-remembered sci-fi series of the 1990s? So…what’s the hold up? Poor sales can be fixed with the right marketing. Why not start producing more TV shows again?

In the past few years, MGM has taken bizarre decisions. It’s not a studio that big, never has been since the 1980s. Under the supervision of Harry Sloan, its biggest recent move was the hiring of Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner to oversee a “reborn” United Artists. To prove his willingness, Cruise starred in the first two movies: one was “Lions for Lambs”, written by Matthew Carnahan and directed by Robert Redford. It was sure Oscar-bait, right? Wrong.

The movie tanked, and the “New York Times” estimated that UA lost $50 million over the promotion of the movie. Bryan Singer’s “Valkyrie” fared better, but still underperformed. Now all development at UA seems to have stopped. Bringing over Mary Parent from Universal led to an “ambitious” slate of films, including Drew Goddard’s “Cabin in The Woods” slated for release in 2010. So yeah, the upcoming remake of “Fame” will do well, if not domestically, at least internationally. But bringing in trucks of cash for the studio? Nope!

MGM partnered with, among others, The Weinstein Co. to finance a lot of their recent movies, but it doesn’t even ear n a dime in DVD sales (Harvey and Bob do, through Genius Corp.). So, last month, they brought in turnaround specialist Steven Cooper to oversee a potential restructuring, that, from the look of things, may come sooner rather than later. Steven Cooper worked miracles for Krispy Kreme Doughnuts; will he tidy up the MGM kitchen as well? Compared to Lions Gate, which is a mini-major with Oscar-winning projects (Crash being the most famous), the Lion firm pales. Lions Gate has profitable filmmakers (African-American mogul Tyler Perry), and great cash cows in the Saw franchise, as well as a flourishing TV division, producing Weeds and Mad Men. Why can’t MGM do the same? When DreamWorks severed its ties with Paramount and John Lesher, the president of the studio, got shown the door, his replacement was ordered to put more projects in the pipeline and revive franchises. It shouldn’t be that hard for MGM to follow the same template.

But in order to achieve these things, it seems that time has run out. The goodwill of the shareholders, too.

About the Author

Based in Southwest France, Lordy is a local reporter in all areas of France (really, look it up). As a hobby though, he has a keen and often deconstructing look on the entertainment business, even as a simple fan. — You can follow him on @lordofnoyze

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Put down the remote (Emmys 2009)

by Alex on September 21, 2009

in Entertainment Talk,Technology & Art,TV Analysis

The Emmys still fail.
There, I said it.
Despite Neil Patrick Harris doing an incredible job (obviously way superior to last year’s abysmal opening), most of the results did suck.

Obviously, there were no major surprises regarding who won the major awards.
Overhyped much?

On a completely random subject, I was surprised to see Elisabeth Moss kissing Fred Armisen.

Turns out, they’re engaged.
(Yeah, I’m not one to peruse the E! Online pages)

And was that a dig from Glenn Close at the poor writing from Damages’ Second Season?
Said Close:

I wanna begin by thanking Todd, Glenn and Daniel for giving me, probably, maybe, the character of my lifetime — depending on what they do this season. (awkward laugh)

Anyways, Little Dorrit garnered the most Emmy wins of the night with a total of seven, closely followed by Grey Gardens.
I was pretty disappointed that Generation Kill didn’t win best mini-series. Poor Flight of the Conchords never had a chance either.
30 Rock is at five, one more than…Pushing Daisies, the second TV show on the list!
Kristin Chenoweth winning was both surprising and well-deserved.
HBO dominated the Emmys with 21 awards (NBC comes in second with 16, ABC third with 11, and FOX fifth with 10).

It’s funny seeing how the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences categorizes the web-based wins.
For instance, the network (yes) for Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog (which won “Outstanding Special Class – Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program”) is actually drhorrible.com.
For you Lost fans out there, in case you didn’t know, the show did win something else: “Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media (Fiction)”, thanks to the latest Dharma Initiative ARG.
As you might have guessed, the same thing applies here; dharmawantsyou.com is listed instead of ABC or some other studio.
Ironically, this was the worst received of all Lost ARGs.
That, and the website is now dead.

Even the NBC web-based content (such as The Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Digital Experience) is not filed under NBC but NBC.com.
It’s certainly an interesting shift to note, especially given the fact that this year’s broadcast seemed to be under the theme of network failure.

Moving on to the other wins, I was very happy for both Bryan Cranston and Michael Emerson and was even more ecstatic to see Kristin Chenoweth win.
Cherry Jones is a great actress but her 24 material was pretty weak compared to the extraordinary In Treatment.
Sadly, Colbert didn’t win anything. I’m awaiting the fallout next Tuesday.
There was a bit of an emphasis this year on Battlestar Galactica (probably since it was its last season).
First, a few clips were shown in the “One Year of Drama” section. Pretty late in the game for that, especially given the quality of the final season.
Also, Bear McCreary’s fantastic score for the series was used for the same section.
Pretty neat.

However, perhaps the most talked-about moment from last night’s show was the “surprise” appearance of Dr. Horrible.

Now that was great.

On the polar opposite, we have CBS advertising in the middle of an acceptance speech the In Memoriam!

What the hell?!

Despite this little mishap, and a few skits that bombed (like that “greatest TV fan badly seated” one), these 61st Primetime Emmy Awards were definitely enjoyable, if only for Neil Patrick Harris.
Certainly not for their results though.

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