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:
Looks like I’m back.
Okay, that’s a half-lie (or is it half-truth).
Since late-November, a lot of stuff has happened.
Avatar came out and broke box-office records.
Golden Globes were delivered, and Oscar noms went out.
The final season of Lost has begun as well as the 2010 Olympics.
Pilot season is upon us, and there was this whole Conan/Leno story.
Wow, what a (few) month(s)!
Oh, and I have a Green card.
Now if you’re wondering what the hell happened to me in the past three or so months, the short answer is that I’ve been away.
For the longer version, stay tuned. I do have a lot to talk about.
The one thing to note is that I have been busy working on the new version of the blog (remember?).
I admit, I took a Christmas break, but it’s almost over now.
You’ll have to wait a bit before discovering the new website as I still need to transfer (right now) the 400+ posts and basically re-tag every one of them (among other things).
Hang tight, we’re almost there.
- MTV has had its shair of dumb moves, most of which involving non-music programming, but this time a new low has been reached. The network is preparing a US version of Skins. Yup, we’re talking about the “trashy” UK series. But how the hell can the project “break new territory” as MTV says if you can’t even say fuck (let alone show nudity nor rebelious acts)?
- Steven Spielberg/Robert Rodat’s still-untitled alien invasion pilot for TNT has begun shooting in Toronto under the helm of Carl Franklin. As you might recall, E.R.‘s Noah Wyle is the star of the pilo. However, there’s still not much news on the rest of the cast nor the basic premise of the show.
- Don Cheadle has lined up a producing gig for March to Madness, an upcoming FX show (yup, another one). The pilot is being written by Joel Silverman and shot by Pete Segal. The show centers “around a corrupt college basketball program that cheats its way to the “March Madness” NCAA basketball tournament. Project will be told through the eyes of the college coach, whose idealistic approach to the job has slowly been eroded by the compromises he’s forced to make.”
I’m just back from seeing the 15-minute preview of James Cameron’sAvatarand one word comes to mind: gorgeous.
Wiggle your big toe!
We were able to see six very intense scenes in 3-D from the movie’s first half.
A quick note regarding the story: I didn’t expect much beforehand so I wasn’t disappointed on that part. It looks like a “green futuristic Pocahontas.“
Nothing more, nothing else.
Yesterday, I said I was going to wait until after Avatar Day to see the 2-D version of the teaser trailer, thinking the teaser would look pale in comparison to the true result. Looks like I was correct.
Indeed, the 2-D version is, dare I say, awful. Too flat, too unrealstic, too CGI. A video-game of sorts, like Crysis but on screen.
However, the 3-D end-product transcends everything you might expect.
Here it is folks: the most immersive movie in History.
Yes, that’s what over 120 years of technology have led up to.
I’ll refer you back to my November post about how “3-D will be introduced in 2009.“
If you think about what all those technological advancements in the entertainment industry were for, the answer is simple: realism.
With the use of sound, color, and now 3-D, mimicking the real was always the main goal of cinema.
And this is real enough, folks.
The CGI is so advanced that its uncanny valley equivalent has been skipped. Sure, we’re not talking about fake-humans here, this is no Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, but the Na’vi skin and eyes are more than convincing. There’s no dead-eye syndrome either.
The movie seems to have completely immersive CGI aesthetics that perfectly blend in with the raw footage. Though you can obviously guess what was added (answer: everything non-human), it is still extremely realistic.
The night scenes are absolutely amazing, same goes for the fauna. Colors were vivid, despite the use of darkening glasses.
I might seem overly enthusiastic about the movie but I had two problems with the footage (hey, there had to be some):
The first scene we got to see was one only involving humans, and presented to us the world we were about to enter. As the camera was dollying in, the depth of field created by the 3-D camera felt too…forced. It was almost problematic. Basically, it looked to me like the technology seems to work great with CGI-based sceneries and scenes with some human/CGI interaction (like above), but seemingly not that well with “semi-raw” footage (or rather scenes only involving human interaction in normal surroundings).
Given that about 40% of the movie should be live-action, I’m still waiting to make up my mind regarding Cameron’s use of 3-D in non-VFX scenes.
Probably the main disappointment however came from the main action sequence featured in the preview (a chase between Jake Sully and an alien creature through a forest). The camera and editing were way too quick. The scene was almost all a blur. With 3-D, eyesight cannot really adapt to the various depths.
Also another minor quarrel: Given that I saw the preview in Paris, the movie was subtitled (fortunately not dubbed). You might have noticed the use of subtitles yourself during the native Na’vi language as well as its Papyrus font. They were pretty distracting overall. The eye has to deal with the subs in the forefront, plus the whole movie behind with its own depth of field.
Anyway, in case you’re wondering, theatres aren’t being equipped with Avatar-only technology. It’s your standard run-of-the-mill modern 3-D tech, including XpanD glasses (the ones you might have used on Up).
Incidentally, Cameron has just inked a deal with Panasonic to help promote 3-D TV and 3-D Blu-Ray players. The home video business plan for Avatar will be extremely interesting to see…
That said, what separates Avatar from previous movies is its use of the revolutionary Fusion/Reality Camera System 1 developed by James Cameron and Vince Pace allowing groundbreaking stereoscopic imaging.
Remember when I said:
If [typical 2-D movies were meant for 3-D], something huge would have been missing from the first time we laid eyes on them.
Avatar is exactly that.
Seeing the 2-D trailer just shows how great the gap between the two “dimensions” is.
Even on a big screen, I doubt Avatar 2-D would visually work, or at the very least if it would be as immersive as 3-D.
James Cameron clearly revolutionizes 3-D not by the way it is made but by the way it is used.
We’re far from Journey to the Center of the Earth or My Bloody Valentine with their “gimmicky” use of the tech.
We’ll just have to see the 2-hour result on December 18th.
Not much time today to post something worth it but there’s one thing you should check out either immediately or tomorrow, post–Avatar Day: the freakin’ Avatar teaser.
Personally, I’m waiting ’til after I’ve seen the 15-minute preview on the big screen in 3-D.
