For a complete wrapup of the Cannes Film Festival go to Advocate Insider. And here's the brief wrapup for the NY Daily News. A lot of my favorite movies won top awards -- guess Sean Penn (the jury president) and I are right in sync.
THE MOVIES I SAW AT THE FESTIVAL (from best to worst)
Entre Les Murs/The Class **** (out of four)
El Dorado *** 1/2
Il Divo *** 1/2
Linha De Passe *** 1/2
Waltz With Bashir ***
The Good, The Bad and The Weird ***
Of Time and the City ***
O'Horten ***
Hunger ***
Elevre Libre/Private Lessons ***
It's Hard Being Loved By Jerks -- The Trial ***
Che ** 1/2
Wendy and Lucy ** 1/2
Vicky Cristina Barcelona ** 1/2
Uc Maymum ** 1/2
Rumba ** 1/2
Synecdoche, New York ** 1/2
Tyson ** 1/2
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ** 1/2
The Changeling/The Exchange **
Un Conte de Noel/A Christmas Tale **
Two Lovers **
Acne **
The Silence of Lorna **
Tokyo Sonata **
The Chaser * 1/2
Sanguepazzo * 1/2
La Mujer Sin Cabeza/The Headless Woman * 1/2
La Frontiere De L'Aube/The Frontier of Dawn * 1/2
Tokyo! * (three shorts; stayed for two)
My Magic *
What Just Happened? *
Serbis -- no stars
Movies I Missed and Regret:
Gomorra, Leonera, 24 City/Er Shi Si Cheng Ji, Snow, Afterschool, Maradonna By Kusturica, Tony Manero, Better Things, La Sangre Brota, Summer Hours, Tulpan
Theater I Saw in London before and after Cannes:
Yazmin Reza's "The God Of Carnage" in London with Ralph Fiennes and Janet McTeer ***
"Fram" at the National * 1/2.
Books I Read:
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Hero by Jon Lee Anderson ****
Blindness by Jose Saramago ****
Reminiscenses of the Cuban Revolutionary War by Ernesto Che Guevara **
Ten Men Dead: The Story of the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike by David Beresford ***
The Bolivian Diary by Ernesto Che Guevara * 1/2
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie **
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
More Cannes -- Viva Che!
Here's my Daily News feature on the world premiere of Steven Soderbergh's "Che" films. And if you go The Advocate Insider, you can read my rambling comments on Che and all my coverage of the fest. Viva la revolucion!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
American Idol and Cannes
Here's my Huffington Post column on the "American Idol" finale -- no surprise that David Archuleta will win it all. And don't forget to go to The Advocate Insider for all my daily Cannes coverage. Tonight: the debut of Soderbergh's "Che."
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Pandas, Lions, Woody, Indiana Jones, Idol and Cannes
Lots of stories to catch up on. On Huffington Post, last week I covered American Idol of course. For the Daily News I did a silly roundup of movies featuring lions, pegged to the release of the new Chronicles of Narnia. For th Daily News, I've also been covering the Cannes Film Festival, including a fluff piece opening the festival and featuring lots of pandas, a story on the new Woody Allen movie and coverage of the premiere of the new Indiana Jones flick. I'm also blogging daily for The Advocate. So, start reading!
Friday, May 02, 2008
American Idol -- The Top 5
Whoops! I forgot to post a link to my Huffington Post piece on this week's Idol. Thanks for reminding me, Linda. (You can always find it on Huffington, of course, even if I'm too dumb to link to it.)
Monday, April 28, 2008
TriBeCa Film Festival, Secret Admirers and Runnng With Serial Killers
Been away, so here are links to all my stories from lhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifast week (finally). At TriBeCa, I covered a JFK documentary, the first feature film from one of the co-directors of The Blair Witch Project, and a documentary about an artist determined to get the blessing of David Hockney for his work. All those ran online only. In the Sunday edition, I had three short pieces on TriBeCa documentaries, including a basketball docu by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, a film about the driving force behind the NYC marathon and a short blurb on Julian Schnabel's Lou Reed's Berlin -- all included in this omnibus roundup. I also did a roundup of movies featuring secret admirers and had a q and a with memoirist Augusten Burroughs.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
American Idol -- The Top 6
Here's my Huffington Post on the Top 6 performing the songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
TriBeCa Film Festival and Hubert's Freaks
Here are my latest articles for the New York Daily News: coverage of three short films at the TriBeCa Film Festival and an interview with the author of Hubert's Freaks, the story of an antiquarian who discovered a cache of unknown Diane Arbus images. My rundown of classic stoner movies? Apparently, you'll have to buy the print edition to enjoy that one.
But you can read my latest Huffington Post DVD column (highlighted by some trash talk about season two of Friday Night Lights) for free, so life isn't all bad.
But you can read my latest Huffington Post DVD column (highlighted by some trash talk about season two of Friday Night Lights) for free, so life isn't all bad.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
On Alfred Pond: 2008 Edition
Some guest musings from my Yankee friend Pete, who just became a dad for the second time a few short weeks ago. He lives in Alfred, New York, way upstate, by the by:
ON ALFRED POND
Okay, so it's been almost 2 years since I broke out an OAP and that's completely unacceptable. However, the material that would have been included these past 20 months would have been exclusively parental drivel that only my parents and I would enjoy. But, I will give you one parent-of-a-newborn anecdote before I move on to my other musings.
If you never knew that I wore contacts, then you may not know that I'm as blind as an 80 year old man with cataracts without my corrective lenses. I'm also lazy and a psuedo-vampire when it comes to my disdain for lights on at night. Having to get up multiple times each night to feed and change an infant is brutal for anyone, but when you add in those three conditions from above - poor vision, sloth, aversion to light - to general exhaustion, bad things happen. As Janet likes to point out to me, without my glasses on I tend to put my face within 6 inches of whatever I'm looking at. So, it should come as no surprise to anyone that during Micah's first month he has on separate occasions peed and pooped in my mouth!
Having kids does make you consider things you never did before. Justin is now at the age where a stop at a fast food restaurant requires a kids meal to appease him. In staring at the menu board at on McDonalds I discovered a peculiar pricing model which is constant throughout the fast food world. Consider this: a hamburger costs 89 cents and a cheeseburger 99 cents at most McDonalds. That clearly establishes that the value of cheese on a burger is 10 cents. Now, if you shift your eyes over to the Happy Meal section of the board you will notice that a hamburger Happy Meal costs $2.59, but a cheeseburger Happy Meal is $2.89! Basically, the fast food chains are leveraging the fact that no kid will eat a burger without cheese by price gouging their parents an extra 20 cents over the preestablished value of adding a slice of cheese to a burger. How is it that there isn't a class action lawsuit because of this practice?
Speaking of McDonalds, have you ever thought about the population of McDonaldland? What a truly bizarre collection of characters. Half of the citizens look like food objects and the other half are either odd looking humanoids or whatever the heck Grimace is. How about Mayor McCheese? He's essentially a cheeseburger with arms and legs and while there is more burger and bun to him his last name is McCheese. But that's not nearly as confusing as the fact that in McDonaldland, home of golden son Ronald, he is Mayor! How did he possibly win that election? Or consider the Hamburglar. Here is a man who ostensibly eats only McDonald's hamburgers and he only has one tooth! What does that say about the nutritional value of McDonald's food that someone whose staple dietary item is a McDonald's cheeseburger has lost all but one of his teeth and runs around talking nonsensically? The Hamburglar should sue Morgan Spurlock for copyright infringement.
Enough with the fast food, how about some local politics? I'm now a member of the village planning board which really serves no purpose except to be one of the first people to hear the newest village gossip each month. But, the new president of my employeer, Alfred State College, just presented a proposal to build a wind farm on the college farm. I'm torn about whether I'll support the idea or fight it (especially since I bought my house for its view and I'm not sure 300 foot wind turbines are as idyllic as the current arrangement), but what purplexes me is the extent to which both Alfred State and Alfred University are embracing the the whole "greening" movement. It would seem to me that both institutions would benefit from supporting global warming since the village of Alfred is some 1700 feet above sea level. If the oceans were to rise about 100 feet, that would wipe out all their low-lying, coastal competitors while simultaneously raising the
average temparature in Alfred and increasing the number of potential students who live near the schools (out of necessity once Scranton becomes beach-front property). This really seems like a missed opportunity for both schools.
Okay, that's about all I have for now, so I think I'll go home and not watch the two disks of Battlestar Galactica that I have from Netflix like I've been doing ever since Micah was born. Oh, and get ready for Friday's 70 degree day (the first time Alfred will hit that mark since September).
Pete
NOTE -- ADDITION TO THE POST
Since the release of the On Alfred Pond earlier this week, I have been contacted by Burt R. King author of "Fanatics in a Fantasyland" an exposé into the sordid affairs which have led to the current political structure in McDonaldland. For a number of years, a bloody civil war was waged against the residents of McDonaldland who resemble food items by their human and furry creature brethren. Many in the shunned community were forced to go into hiding and change their names to avoid persecution. This was the case for the ancestors of McDonaldland's current Mayor who went by the surname McCheeseburger prior to the genocide of their people.
The power structure has been reversed in McDonaldland with McCheese having won election as Mayor and Big Mac working as the Chief of Police. Ronald, whose family masterminded the McDonaldland atrocities is so guiltridden that he daily covers his face with clown make-up to hide his sadness and shame, spending all of his time and family blood money to provide for orphans and terminally ill children. Constant rumors of pedophilia have never been proven, though many wonder due to the fragile state of his psyche.
There still remain backwater factions who wish to return McDonaldland to the apartheid state that was ruled by Ronald's ancestors. Among them are Hamburglar and Captain Crook who spend all their time undermining the McDonaldland economy by stealing hamburgers and Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, respectively. A gang of neo-conservative youngsters known as the Fry Guys roam the streets at night perpetrating malicious acts against the food people of McDonaldland such as spilling condiments on their lawns and toasting effigies of the Mayor and Chief of Police in McDonaldland square.
There has been a lot of progress in McDonaldland, but much education and reconciliation still needs to occur. As such, all of us at On Alfred Pond have enacted a moratorium on McDonaldland jokes. We sincerely regret the comments we made in jest earlier this week and ask that you will keep the good people of McDonaldland in your thoughts and prayers.
-- Pete
ON ALFRED POND
Okay, so it's been almost 2 years since I broke out an OAP and that's completely unacceptable. However, the material that would have been included these past 20 months would have been exclusively parental drivel that only my parents and I would enjoy. But, I will give you one parent-of-a-newborn anecdote before I move on to my other musings.
If you never knew that I wore contacts, then you may not know that I'm as blind as an 80 year old man with cataracts without my corrective lenses. I'm also lazy and a psuedo-vampire when it comes to my disdain for lights on at night. Having to get up multiple times each night to feed and change an infant is brutal for anyone, but when you add in those three conditions from above - poor vision, sloth, aversion to light - to general exhaustion, bad things happen. As Janet likes to point out to me, without my glasses on I tend to put my face within 6 inches of whatever I'm looking at. So, it should come as no surprise to anyone that during Micah's first month he has on separate occasions peed and pooped in my mouth!
Having kids does make you consider things you never did before. Justin is now at the age where a stop at a fast food restaurant requires a kids meal to appease him. In staring at the menu board at on McDonalds I discovered a peculiar pricing model which is constant throughout the fast food world. Consider this: a hamburger costs 89 cents and a cheeseburger 99 cents at most McDonalds. That clearly establishes that the value of cheese on a burger is 10 cents. Now, if you shift your eyes over to the Happy Meal section of the board you will notice that a hamburger Happy Meal costs $2.59, but a cheeseburger Happy Meal is $2.89! Basically, the fast food chains are leveraging the fact that no kid will eat a burger without cheese by price gouging their parents an extra 20 cents over the preestablished value of adding a slice of cheese to a burger. How is it that there isn't a class action lawsuit because of this practice?
Speaking of McDonalds, have you ever thought about the population of McDonaldland? What a truly bizarre collection of characters. Half of the citizens look like food objects and the other half are either odd looking humanoids or whatever the heck Grimace is. How about Mayor McCheese? He's essentially a cheeseburger with arms and legs and while there is more burger and bun to him his last name is McCheese. But that's not nearly as confusing as the fact that in McDonaldland, home of golden son Ronald, he is Mayor! How did he possibly win that election? Or consider the Hamburglar. Here is a man who ostensibly eats only McDonald's hamburgers and he only has one tooth! What does that say about the nutritional value of McDonald's food that someone whose staple dietary item is a McDonald's cheeseburger has lost all but one of his teeth and runs around talking nonsensically? The Hamburglar should sue Morgan Spurlock for copyright infringement.
Enough with the fast food, how about some local politics? I'm now a member of the village planning board which really serves no purpose except to be one of the first people to hear the newest village gossip each month. But, the new president of my employeer, Alfred State College, just presented a proposal to build a wind farm on the college farm. I'm torn about whether I'll support the idea or fight it (especially since I bought my house for its view and I'm not sure 300 foot wind turbines are as idyllic as the current arrangement), but what purplexes me is the extent to which both Alfred State and Alfred University are embracing the the whole "greening" movement. It would seem to me that both institutions would benefit from supporting global warming since the village of Alfred is some 1700 feet above sea level. If the oceans were to rise about 100 feet, that would wipe out all their low-lying, coastal competitors while simultaneously raising the
average temparature in Alfred and increasing the number of potential students who live near the schools (out of necessity once Scranton becomes beach-front property). This really seems like a missed opportunity for both schools.
Okay, that's about all I have for now, so I think I'll go home and not watch the two disks of Battlestar Galactica that I have from Netflix like I've been doing ever since Micah was born. Oh, and get ready for Friday's 70 degree day (the first time Alfred will hit that mark since September).
Pete
NOTE -- ADDITION TO THE POST
Since the release of the On Alfred Pond earlier this week, I have been contacted by Burt R. King author of "Fanatics in a Fantasyland" an exposé into the sordid affairs which have led to the current political structure in McDonaldland. For a number of years, a bloody civil war was waged against the residents of McDonaldland who resemble food items by their human and furry creature brethren. Many in the shunned community were forced to go into hiding and change their names to avoid persecution. This was the case for the ancestors of McDonaldland's current Mayor who went by the surname McCheeseburger prior to the genocide of their people.
The power structure has been reversed in McDonaldland with McCheese having won election as Mayor and Big Mac working as the Chief of Police. Ronald, whose family masterminded the McDonaldland atrocities is so guiltridden that he daily covers his face with clown make-up to hide his sadness and shame, spending all of his time and family blood money to provide for orphans and terminally ill children. Constant rumors of pedophilia have never been proven, though many wonder due to the fragile state of his psyche.
There still remain backwater factions who wish to return McDonaldland to the apartheid state that was ruled by Ronald's ancestors. Among them are Hamburglar and Captain Crook who spend all their time undermining the McDonaldland economy by stealing hamburgers and Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, respectively. A gang of neo-conservative youngsters known as the Fry Guys roam the streets at night perpetrating malicious acts against the food people of McDonaldland such as spilling condiments on their lawns and toasting effigies of the Mayor and Chief of Police in McDonaldland square.
There has been a lot of progress in McDonaldland, but much education and reconciliation still needs to occur. As such, all of us at On Alfred Pond have enacted a moratorium on McDonaldland jokes. We sincerely regret the comments we made in jest earlier this week and ask that you will keep the good people of McDonaldland in your thoughts and prayers.
-- Pete
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Osama Bin Laden, Rapp Music and Numerology
My latest features for the NY Daily News include an interview w Morgan Spurlock about his new documentary Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, a chat with actor and musician Anthony Rapp and a dive into the numerology of movies that include the number 8 in their title.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
American Idol -- The Top 8
Here's my Huffington Post rundown of the Top 8 performances on Inspirational Song week. And here's my Post on the results show and the Jesus controversy.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Kicking, Slashing and Hoofing
Three new stories for the New York Daily News: a profile of hoofer Savion Glover, a story on the flood of remakes in the Eighties slasher genre and a rundown of kung-fu comedies. (And yes, I know "sensei" is a Japanese term and inappropriate for a story on Hong Kong star Jackie Chan and the Chinese art of kung-fu. It was an editing error, so hi-yaaah!
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
American Idol -- The Top 9
Here's my latest Idol coverage for Huffington Post, this time covering the Top 9 and guest mentor Dolly Parton.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Gridiron Giggles
My latest NY Daily News article is a rundown of that much-beloved movie genre, football comedies. Hey, when is someone going to ask me to turn this regular feature (picking five or six flicks from the past that tie into a current feature) into a book already?
The IRA's 2008: An Historic Sweep
The 2008 IRA Awards have just been announced and it's an historic, perhaps record-setting sweep for one of the year's most acclaimed but overlooked movies.
The IRAs is an annual get-together of movie buffs that was launched by college friends 32 years ago as a counter to the more mundane Oscars. These are film fanatics who go to Film Forum and Anthology Archives and film festivals throughout America and around the world. Members have won major Oscars and worked on Oscar-winning Best Picture winners, they've written acclaimed and best-selling Hollywood biographies like Ed Sikov's Dark Victory: The Life Of Bette Davis, the definitive Oscar book (indeed the definitive awards book) Inside Oscar, worked at major magazines and newspapers covering the industry, worked at major studios and in the independent film industry or in my case just schlepped around as a freelancer and watched a lot of movies year in and year out. In other words, IRA members range from major players to avid fans.
So here are this year's winners followed by the balloting as it happened with all the top vote-getters listed and the Bronx cheers at the end of Sominex and Dramamine movies (those that put us to sleep or made us sick) and Mechanical Actor and Actress.
BEST PICTURE: The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
BEST DIRECTOR: Andrew Dominik - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
BEST ACTOR: Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
BEST ACTRESS: Marina Hands - Lady Chatterley
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Paul Schneider - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Lars and the Real Girl.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
BEST SCREENPLAY: Corneliu Porumboiu - 12:08 East Of Bucharest
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Roger Deakins - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, No Country For Old Men, In The Valley Of Elah
BEST SCORE: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Patricia Norris - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
BEST COSTUMES: Patricia Norris - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
AND HERE'S THE FULL VOTING RECORD:
BEST COSTUMES:
1. Patricia Norris - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 38 points
2. Marit Allen - La Vie En Rose 23 points
3. (tie) Chaiwichit Somoboon - Tears Of The Black Tiger 11 points
3. (tie) Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh - The Wind That Shakes The Barley 11 points
5. (tie) Jacqueline Durran - Atonement 8 points
5. (tie) Lai Pan - Lust, Caution 8 points
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:
1. Patricia Norris - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 28 points
2. Ek lemchuen - Tears Of The Black Tiger 20 points
3. Donald Graham Burt - Zodiac 15 points
4. Laura Couderc - L'Iceberg 14 points
5. Sarah Greenwood - Atonement 12 points
BEST SCORE:
1. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 24 points
2. (tie) Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Once 19 points
2. (tie) Jonny Greenwood - There Will Be Blood 19 points
4. Carter Burwell - No Country For Old Men 14 points
5. Michael Giacchino -- Ratatouille 9 points
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
1. Roger Deakins - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, No Country For Old Men, In The Valley Of Elah 42 points
2. Harris Savides - Zodiac, Margot At The Wedding, American Gangster 20 points
3. Robert Elswit - There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton 15 points
4. Janusz Kaminski - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 10 points
5. (tie) Peter Suschitzky - Eastern Promises 9 points
5. (tie) Sayombhu Mukdeeprom - Syndromes and a Century 9 points
BEST SCREENPLAY:
1. Corneliu Porumboiu - 12:08 East Of Bucharest 24 points
2. James Vanderbilt - Zodiac 22 points
3. Count Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck - The Lives Of Others 19 points
4. Brad Bird & Jan Pinkova & Jim Capobianco - Ratatouille 17 points
5. (tie) Todd Haynes & Oren Moverman - I'm Not There 9 points
5. (tie) Nancy Oliver - Lars and the Real Girl 9 points
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
1. Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone 28 points
2. Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There 18 points
3. Emily Mortimer - Lars and the Real Girl 14 points
4. Emmanuelle Seigner - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, La Vie En Rose 9 points
5. (tie) Leslie Mann - Knocked Up 8 points
5. (tie) Chloe Sevigny - Zodiac 8 points
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
1. Paul Schneider - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Lars and the Real Girl. 20 points
2. Robert Downey Jr. - Zodiac 14 points
3. (tie) Sam Rockwell - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 9 points
3. (tie) Paul Rudd - Knocked Up 9 points
3. (tie) Paul Dano - There Will Be Blood 9 points
BEST ACTRESS:
1. Marina Hands - Lady Chatterley 23 points
2. Julie Christie - Away From Her 21 points
3. Fiona Gordon - L'Iceberg 19 points
4. Julie Delpy - 2 Days In Paris 15 points
5. Kate Dickie - Red Road 14 points
BEST ACTOR:
1. Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 41 points
2. Ulrich Muhe - The Lives Of Others 27 points
3. (tie) Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises 12 points
3. (tie) Joseph Gordon-Levitt - The Lookout 12 points
5. Woody Harrelson - The Walker, Nanking 10 points
BEST DIRECTOR:
1. Andrew Dominik - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 33 points
2. David Fincher - Zodiac 27 points
3. Brad Bird - Ratatouille 13 points
4. Todd Haynes - I'm Not There 12 points
5. (tie) Alain Resnais - Private Fears In Public Places 10 points
5. (tie) Wisit Sasanatieng - Tears Of The Black Tiger 10 points
BEST PICTURE:
1. The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 35 points
2. Zodiac 27 points
3. (tie) L'Iceberg 10 points
3. (tie) Private Fears In Public Places 10 points
3. (tie) Tears Of The Black Tiger 10 points
SOMINEX AWARD (MOVIES THAT PUT US TO SLEEP:
1. Youth Without Youth 23 points
2. Breaking and Entering 9 points
3. Sleuth 7 points
4. (tie) Perfect Stranger 5 points
4. (tie) Starting Out In The Evening 5 points
4. (tie) Sunshine 5 points
DRAMAMINE AWARD (MOVIES THAT MADE US SICK):
1. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead 20 points
2. Into The Wild 15 points
3. There Will Be Blood 13 points
4. 300 12 points
5. Across The Universe 10 points
MECHANICAL ACTRESS AWARD:
1. Meryl Streep - Lions For Lambs, Rendition 16 points
2. Nikki Blonsky - Hairspray 15 points
3. Jennifer Garner - The Kingdom, Catch and Release 11 points
4. (tie) Diane Keaton - Because I Said So 10 points
4. (tie) Nicole Kidman - Margot At The Wedding 10 points
MECHANICAL ACTOR:
1. John Travolta - Hairspray 14 points
2. Philip Seymour Hoffman - Before The Devil Knows You're Dead 13 points
3. Hayden Christensen - Factory Girl 10 points
4. Jude Law - Sleuth, Breaking and Entering 9 points
5. (tie) Richard Gere - I'm Not There, The Hoax 7 points
5. (tie) Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood 7 points
5. (tie) Gerard Butler - 300 7 points
5. (tie) Shia La Beouf - Transformers 7 points
The IRAs is an annual get-together of movie buffs that was launched by college friends 32 years ago as a counter to the more mundane Oscars. These are film fanatics who go to Film Forum and Anthology Archives and film festivals throughout America and around the world. Members have won major Oscars and worked on Oscar-winning Best Picture winners, they've written acclaimed and best-selling Hollywood biographies like Ed Sikov's Dark Victory: The Life Of Bette Davis, the definitive Oscar book (indeed the definitive awards book) Inside Oscar, worked at major magazines and newspapers covering the industry, worked at major studios and in the independent film industry or in my case just schlepped around as a freelancer and watched a lot of movies year in and year out. In other words, IRA members range from major players to avid fans.
So here are this year's winners followed by the balloting as it happened with all the top vote-getters listed and the Bronx cheers at the end of Sominex and Dramamine movies (those that put us to sleep or made us sick) and Mechanical Actor and Actress.
BEST PICTURE: The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
BEST DIRECTOR: Andrew Dominik - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
BEST ACTOR: Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
BEST ACTRESS: Marina Hands - Lady Chatterley
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Paul Schneider - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Lars and the Real Girl.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
BEST SCREENPLAY: Corneliu Porumboiu - 12:08 East Of Bucharest
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Roger Deakins - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, No Country For Old Men, In The Valley Of Elah
BEST SCORE: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Patricia Norris - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
BEST COSTUMES: Patricia Norris - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
AND HERE'S THE FULL VOTING RECORD:
BEST COSTUMES:
1. Patricia Norris - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 38 points
2. Marit Allen - La Vie En Rose 23 points
3. (tie) Chaiwichit Somoboon - Tears Of The Black Tiger 11 points
3. (tie) Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh - The Wind That Shakes The Barley 11 points
5. (tie) Jacqueline Durran - Atonement 8 points
5. (tie) Lai Pan - Lust, Caution 8 points
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:
1. Patricia Norris - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 28 points
2. Ek lemchuen - Tears Of The Black Tiger 20 points
3. Donald Graham Burt - Zodiac 15 points
4. Laura Couderc - L'Iceberg 14 points
5. Sarah Greenwood - Atonement 12 points
BEST SCORE:
1. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 24 points
2. (tie) Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Once 19 points
2. (tie) Jonny Greenwood - There Will Be Blood 19 points
4. Carter Burwell - No Country For Old Men 14 points
5. Michael Giacchino -- Ratatouille 9 points
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
1. Roger Deakins - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, No Country For Old Men, In The Valley Of Elah 42 points
2. Harris Savides - Zodiac, Margot At The Wedding, American Gangster 20 points
3. Robert Elswit - There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton 15 points
4. Janusz Kaminski - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 10 points
5. (tie) Peter Suschitzky - Eastern Promises 9 points
5. (tie) Sayombhu Mukdeeprom - Syndromes and a Century 9 points
BEST SCREENPLAY:
1. Corneliu Porumboiu - 12:08 East Of Bucharest 24 points
2. James Vanderbilt - Zodiac 22 points
3. Count Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck - The Lives Of Others 19 points
4. Brad Bird & Jan Pinkova & Jim Capobianco - Ratatouille 17 points
5. (tie) Todd Haynes & Oren Moverman - I'm Not There 9 points
5. (tie) Nancy Oliver - Lars and the Real Girl 9 points
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
1. Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone 28 points
2. Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There 18 points
3. Emily Mortimer - Lars and the Real Girl 14 points
4. Emmanuelle Seigner - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, La Vie En Rose 9 points
5. (tie) Leslie Mann - Knocked Up 8 points
5. (tie) Chloe Sevigny - Zodiac 8 points
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
1. Paul Schneider - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Lars and the Real Girl. 20 points
2. Robert Downey Jr. - Zodiac 14 points
3. (tie) Sam Rockwell - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 9 points
3. (tie) Paul Rudd - Knocked Up 9 points
3. (tie) Paul Dano - There Will Be Blood 9 points
BEST ACTRESS:
1. Marina Hands - Lady Chatterley 23 points
2. Julie Christie - Away From Her 21 points
3. Fiona Gordon - L'Iceberg 19 points
4. Julie Delpy - 2 Days In Paris 15 points
5. Kate Dickie - Red Road 14 points
BEST ACTOR:
1. Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 41 points
2. Ulrich Muhe - The Lives Of Others 27 points
3. (tie) Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises 12 points
3. (tie) Joseph Gordon-Levitt - The Lookout 12 points
5. Woody Harrelson - The Walker, Nanking 10 points
BEST DIRECTOR:
1. Andrew Dominik - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 33 points
2. David Fincher - Zodiac 27 points
3. Brad Bird - Ratatouille 13 points
4. Todd Haynes - I'm Not There 12 points
5. (tie) Alain Resnais - Private Fears In Public Places 10 points
5. (tie) Wisit Sasanatieng - Tears Of The Black Tiger 10 points
BEST PICTURE:
1. The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford 35 points
2. Zodiac 27 points
3. (tie) L'Iceberg 10 points
3. (tie) Private Fears In Public Places 10 points
3. (tie) Tears Of The Black Tiger 10 points
SOMINEX AWARD (MOVIES THAT PUT US TO SLEEP:
1. Youth Without Youth 23 points
2. Breaking and Entering 9 points
3. Sleuth 7 points
4. (tie) Perfect Stranger 5 points
4. (tie) Starting Out In The Evening 5 points
4. (tie) Sunshine 5 points
DRAMAMINE AWARD (MOVIES THAT MADE US SICK):
1. Before The Devil Knows You're Dead 20 points
2. Into The Wild 15 points
3. There Will Be Blood 13 points
4. 300 12 points
5. Across The Universe 10 points
MECHANICAL ACTRESS AWARD:
1. Meryl Streep - Lions For Lambs, Rendition 16 points
2. Nikki Blonsky - Hairspray 15 points
3. Jennifer Garner - The Kingdom, Catch and Release 11 points
4. (tie) Diane Keaton - Because I Said So 10 points
4. (tie) Nicole Kidman - Margot At The Wedding 10 points
MECHANICAL ACTOR:
1. John Travolta - Hairspray 14 points
2. Philip Seymour Hoffman - Before The Devil Knows You're Dead 13 points
3. Hayden Christensen - Factory Girl 10 points
4. Jude Law - Sleuth, Breaking and Entering 9 points
5. (tie) Richard Gere - I'm Not There, The Hoax 7 points
5. (tie) Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood 7 points
5. (tie) Gerard Butler - 300 7 points
5. (tie) Shia La Beouf - Transformers 7 points
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
American Idol -- The Top 10
My Huffington Post rundown of the performances from the Top 10; the theme is "songs from the year you were born."
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Synonyms, Spoofs and a Stripper
My latest bach of articles for the NY Daily News: a q and a with the author of a book about Roget's Thesaurus; a chat with actress Laura Benanti, who stars in Broadway's revival of Gypsy, and a rundown of movie spoofs like Airplane! pegged to the new comedy Superhero Movie. Oh, and here's my rundown of Tyler Perry comedies. Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
American Idol -- The Top 11
My latest Huffignton Post covers another Beatles night. And this post on the results show.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Adding Ghosts In The Machine
Two new pieces for the NY Daily News: a feature on the acclaimed Off Broadway musical Adding Machine and a silly roundup of movies that feature the supernatural combined with modern technology. Hey, it's a living.
And on Huffington Post, my latest DVD column, this one describing a "perfect" movie-going experience when I stumbled into a showing of The Ice Storm late one rainy fall evening.
And on Huffington Post, my latest DVD column, this one describing a "perfect" movie-going experience when I stumbled into a showing of The Ice Storm late one rainy fall evening.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
In Patagonia -- Where Lying Isn't So Bad
I'll happily get on my high horse about memoirists who distort the truth or out and out lie -- the news has been filled with them lately, from a half-Indian gang banger in LA who turned out to be a upper class white chick who wanted to give voice to the voiceless (and get a lovely near $100,000 advance in the process) to a Holocaust survivor who was not a Jew, not a Holocaust survivor and apparently was NOT sheltered by wolves who defended her from the Nazis. (I wonder what tipped people off?)
So here I am just finishing Bruce Chatwin's delightfully untrustworthy book "In Patagonia," which I suspected was half fabulist, half true and I couldn't care less. The tale of his travels in Patagonia (which encompasses Argentina and Chile and isn't a well-defined region -- see, even the geography is suspect), it is bursting with stories about dinosaurs, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (who cavorted in Patagonia while making half-hearted efforts to settle down), Welsh farmers who clung to their Welshness, history lessons, Germans who recreated the Rhineland, a Scotsman who had never seen Scotland but wore a kilt to dinner, seafarers, priests, mad poetry-quoting lingerie salesmen and really quite a bit more to do with dinosaurs than I expected.
I finished in a glow and read the introduction (which should always be read last, if at all, in any book) and it reassured me that in fact the book was indeed "colorful" with the truth -- Nicholas Shakespeare helpfully says, "He told not half a truth but a truth and a half." Chatwin himself did not want this posted in the travel section and freely admitted it was not a documentary of his journey, changing names of people, throwing in a fanciful detail when it felt right and so on. And that self-awareness of what he had created forgives a lot of sins. The label that Penguin uses on the back of my edition is even more succinct: "In Patagonia" is listed as "literature/travel." Indeed. And in the right order.
So here I am just finishing Bruce Chatwin's delightfully untrustworthy book "In Patagonia," which I suspected was half fabulist, half true and I couldn't care less. The tale of his travels in Patagonia (which encompasses Argentina and Chile and isn't a well-defined region -- see, even the geography is suspect), it is bursting with stories about dinosaurs, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (who cavorted in Patagonia while making half-hearted efforts to settle down), Welsh farmers who clung to their Welshness, history lessons, Germans who recreated the Rhineland, a Scotsman who had never seen Scotland but wore a kilt to dinner, seafarers, priests, mad poetry-quoting lingerie salesmen and really quite a bit more to do with dinosaurs than I expected.
I finished in a glow and read the introduction (which should always be read last, if at all, in any book) and it reassured me that in fact the book was indeed "colorful" with the truth -- Nicholas Shakespeare helpfully says, "He told not half a truth but a truth and a half." Chatwin himself did not want this posted in the travel section and freely admitted it was not a documentary of his journey, changing names of people, throwing in a fanciful detail when it felt right and so on. And that self-awareness of what he had created forgives a lot of sins. The label that Penguin uses on the back of my edition is even more succinct: "In Patagonia" is listed as "literature/travel." Indeed. And in the right order.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
American Idol -- The Top 16
Here's my Huffington Post coverage of the show. My thoughts on the men tackling Eighties night. My rundown of how the ladies did. And my recap of the results show.
Monday, March 03, 2008
And We Danced! (With the Hooters)
My latest NY Daily News feature is on 80s band the Hooters on the comeback trail. (But they've always been big in Europe!)
Friday, February 29, 2008
Gymnastics at Madison Square Garden
My latest Huffington Post previews the March 1 Tyson American Cup Gymnastics event at Madison Square Garden. I spent the day there watching practice and interviewing the athletes. Hey, someone's got to do it. And here is my post on the results.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
American Idol -- The Top 20
Here's my Huffington Post rundown of the men on Tuesday. And here's my post on the women. And my post on the results show.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Weekend Wrapup: The National, Cheez Doodles, the Beatles, Stew and a Transvestite Comic
My head is still spinning from all the stuff I did this weekend. Thanks to press invites and the such, I did it all for the grand total of $49. Who says New York is expensive?
The National at BAM *** -- I wish I liked them more, but there's no denying this NYC band can build up a head of steam musically. I find them more interesting melodically than lyrically and the lead singer unfortunately reminds me of the guy from Crash Test Dummies. The crowd loved it when he shredded his voice on some ecstatic riff. Intelligent and fun, if not overwhelming. $16 ticket. (I was in the front row of the THIRD level. Never been that high before at BAM but for a rock show it really didn't matter.)
The Strawberry New Play Festival ** 1/2 -- Six one act plays, including one by Jack Slattery, the 16 year old son of friends I met via Yankee Stadium. "Cold April" by Jack's teacher actually won Best Play. Though I found it a bit noble, Erica Lauren as Mosi was solid. "Rodwart's World" was a so-so work about a therapist and her interfering, middle-aged son Rodwart. "An Acute Triangle" was an uninspired tale of two brothers desired by a female vampire who can't choose between them enlivened somewhat by the lead actors. "Marked" was an ambitious, challenging piece about an elderly woman refusing to take her meds who is paranoid and the son trying to help her. Unfortunately, the lead female repeatedly stumbled over her lines, making it impossible to get lost in the story. "What Cheer, Iowa" was my favorite of the fest, a rambunctious comedy about people trapped in a waiting room hoping their cars will pass inspection. The only flaw was a secondary character wildly overacted, for which I blame the director who otherwise did a fine job keeping it moving. "Can Cheese Doodles Do You Harm?" was -- I'm delighted to say -- a close second in my favorite of the plays. (It should be Cheez Doodles, by the way, Jack.) A fun broad comedy about a super fat girl trying to fit into new clothes for the prom but accidentally popping off buttons that killed or wounded passers-by, unlike most of the other plays it actually wanted to entertain and had a game cast making the most of it. I especially liked the surreal touch of the Boy Scout putting a fish into the punch bowl -- now that was a trippy non sequiteur. Lots of fun. I would have felt obliged to vote for it anyway, of course. But I could happily make it one of my two best play votes (you had to vote for two) with a clean conscience. Free tickets.
Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles? ** 1/2 -- Truly one of the most banal titles for a nice little play by Adrienne Kennedy about how she came up with the idea of turning John Lennon's "In His Own Write" into a play and ended up in London during the Swinging Sixties hobnobbing with Larry Olivier and the rest. A modest, simple show with basically one actress on stage telling her anecdote with the off-screen voice of her son prompting her with questions. Brenda Pressley (who I've admired since ...And The World Goes Round, my first NY show and recently in Seven Guitars) held the stage wonderfully. The story is slight but they might have cut out a few "I'll never forget"'s and added a little more sense of drama. Though the son has just a few lines, they're actually a little interfering and annoying. His voice really isn't that necessary. There is a little drama with Kennedy getting pushed aside from the project. (I was very relieved that John Lennon was clearly not involved in that, I must say.) Without overwhelming the show, it might have been more pointed. However, for a fan of the Beatles like myself, a glimpse of them at the height of their powers was great fun and Kennedy is generous of spirit. And for $13 it was just right.
Eddie Izzard *** -- a peerless stand-up comic, Izzard is working on a new show. The run is sold out but I just showed up and bought a standing room ticket for $20 and had a grand time. I joked before that he would spend half the show muttering "transition, transition, transition" and indeed Izzard did spend quite a bit of time saying, "Where was I? and What was I talking about? and making it seem quite charming. Whenever he did I muttered to my friend "Transition, transition, transition." That led me to think of doing a stand-up act even more pared down than Stephen Wright's one-liners. I'll just do a show of transitions and people will fill in the leaps of logic themselves and giggle over how they connect them. "Mothers...breasts...Mt. Everest...Dalia Lama...prescription drugs...Mothers." Izzard focused quite a bit on the Bible (as always) and he doesn't seem to hold truck with the whole "literal" thing. Also joked about how Latin made it impossible for people to hold angry conversations because everything took so long to say, Noah and the Ark (Try it, he says. It won't work.) and other erudite topics or rather standard topics dealt with eruditely. Doesn't reinvent the wheel but should easily be shaped into a solid show.
Passing Strange ** 1/2 -- A Broadway musical by Stew about "passing," first a young black man trying to "pass" for black at his church when he's an artistic loner alongside the gay choir director who befriends him and gives him pot and then as a black man in Berlin trying to "pass" for ghetto black so he can be seen as authentic by his fellow artists. I really enjoyed the cast and the energy of the show. After the first act, which goes from our hero's childhood to Amsterdam, I was really hopeful. Nice spare set with a bold lighting backdrop, a rock band member in tiny sunken pits at four sides of the stage, virtually no other sets, just a winning cast. The it just repeated itself with the fish out of water story of Amsterdam repeated in Berlin and our hero's mom wishing he would come home but not telling him what we suspect (that she's desperately ill). The two women he falls for are ultimately interchangeable so it means nothing when he rejects them and moves on. Even his mom hasn't made much of an impression so when she dies we're not terribly moved either. Feels like a first draft that could get more specific and become a solid work, but unfortunately it's already on Broadway, so this is the end of its development. Intelligent to a fault, with a rather abstract final moment that doesn't satisfy. Also, Stew is an engaging presence on stage but he could have had a more driving purpose. Instead of keeping the show honest, he more often opened the door to humor that undercut the big scenes. A send-up of European art films is funny (and better than most skits on SNL) but really serves no purpose. Fun, smart and really a terrific cast. But can't quite recommend.
And then I watched the Academy Awards. I'm exhausted just writing about it. And all for $49.
The National at BAM *** -- I wish I liked them more, but there's no denying this NYC band can build up a head of steam musically. I find them more interesting melodically than lyrically and the lead singer unfortunately reminds me of the guy from Crash Test Dummies. The crowd loved it when he shredded his voice on some ecstatic riff. Intelligent and fun, if not overwhelming. $16 ticket. (I was in the front row of the THIRD level. Never been that high before at BAM but for a rock show it really didn't matter.)
The Strawberry New Play Festival ** 1/2 -- Six one act plays, including one by Jack Slattery, the 16 year old son of friends I met via Yankee Stadium. "Cold April" by Jack's teacher actually won Best Play. Though I found it a bit noble, Erica Lauren as Mosi was solid. "Rodwart's World" was a so-so work about a therapist and her interfering, middle-aged son Rodwart. "An Acute Triangle" was an uninspired tale of two brothers desired by a female vampire who can't choose between them enlivened somewhat by the lead actors. "Marked" was an ambitious, challenging piece about an elderly woman refusing to take her meds who is paranoid and the son trying to help her. Unfortunately, the lead female repeatedly stumbled over her lines, making it impossible to get lost in the story. "What Cheer, Iowa" was my favorite of the fest, a rambunctious comedy about people trapped in a waiting room hoping their cars will pass inspection. The only flaw was a secondary character wildly overacted, for which I blame the director who otherwise did a fine job keeping it moving. "Can Cheese Doodles Do You Harm?" was -- I'm delighted to say -- a close second in my favorite of the plays. (It should be Cheez Doodles, by the way, Jack.) A fun broad comedy about a super fat girl trying to fit into new clothes for the prom but accidentally popping off buttons that killed or wounded passers-by, unlike most of the other plays it actually wanted to entertain and had a game cast making the most of it. I especially liked the surreal touch of the Boy Scout putting a fish into the punch bowl -- now that was a trippy non sequiteur. Lots of fun. I would have felt obliged to vote for it anyway, of course. But I could happily make it one of my two best play votes (you had to vote for two) with a clean conscience. Free tickets.
Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles? ** 1/2 -- Truly one of the most banal titles for a nice little play by Adrienne Kennedy about how she came up with the idea of turning John Lennon's "In His Own Write" into a play and ended up in London during the Swinging Sixties hobnobbing with Larry Olivier and the rest. A modest, simple show with basically one actress on stage telling her anecdote with the off-screen voice of her son prompting her with questions. Brenda Pressley (who I've admired since ...And The World Goes Round, my first NY show and recently in Seven Guitars) held the stage wonderfully. The story is slight but they might have cut out a few "I'll never forget"'s and added a little more sense of drama. Though the son has just a few lines, they're actually a little interfering and annoying. His voice really isn't that necessary. There is a little drama with Kennedy getting pushed aside from the project. (I was very relieved that John Lennon was clearly not involved in that, I must say.) Without overwhelming the show, it might have been more pointed. However, for a fan of the Beatles like myself, a glimpse of them at the height of their powers was great fun and Kennedy is generous of spirit. And for $13 it was just right.
Eddie Izzard *** -- a peerless stand-up comic, Izzard is working on a new show. The run is sold out but I just showed up and bought a standing room ticket for $20 and had a grand time. I joked before that he would spend half the show muttering "transition, transition, transition" and indeed Izzard did spend quite a bit of time saying, "Where was I? and What was I talking about? and making it seem quite charming. Whenever he did I muttered to my friend "Transition, transition, transition." That led me to think of doing a stand-up act even more pared down than Stephen Wright's one-liners. I'll just do a show of transitions and people will fill in the leaps of logic themselves and giggle over how they connect them. "Mothers...breasts...Mt. Everest...Dalia Lama...prescription drugs...Mothers." Izzard focused quite a bit on the Bible (as always) and he doesn't seem to hold truck with the whole "literal" thing. Also joked about how Latin made it impossible for people to hold angry conversations because everything took so long to say, Noah and the Ark (Try it, he says. It won't work.) and other erudite topics or rather standard topics dealt with eruditely. Doesn't reinvent the wheel but should easily be shaped into a solid show.
Passing Strange ** 1/2 -- A Broadway musical by Stew about "passing," first a young black man trying to "pass" for black at his church when he's an artistic loner alongside the gay choir director who befriends him and gives him pot and then as a black man in Berlin trying to "pass" for ghetto black so he can be seen as authentic by his fellow artists. I really enjoyed the cast and the energy of the show. After the first act, which goes from our hero's childhood to Amsterdam, I was really hopeful. Nice spare set with a bold lighting backdrop, a rock band member in tiny sunken pits at four sides of the stage, virtually no other sets, just a winning cast. The it just repeated itself with the fish out of water story of Amsterdam repeated in Berlin and our hero's mom wishing he would come home but not telling him what we suspect (that she's desperately ill). The two women he falls for are ultimately interchangeable so it means nothing when he rejects them and moves on. Even his mom hasn't made much of an impression so when she dies we're not terribly moved either. Feels like a first draft that could get more specific and become a solid work, but unfortunately it's already on Broadway, so this is the end of its development. Intelligent to a fault, with a rather abstract final moment that doesn't satisfy. Also, Stew is an engaging presence on stage but he could have had a more driving purpose. Instead of keeping the show honest, he more often opened the door to humor that undercut the big scenes. A send-up of European art films is funny (and better than most skits on SNL) but really serves no purpose. Fun, smart and really a terrific cast. But can't quite recommend.
And then I watched the Academy Awards. I'm exhausted just writing about it. And all for $49.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Oscar Feedback
Brother Andy of the IRAs had this to say:
Why was it that most of the key actresses this year felt that the ultimate coif was to band their hair in a pony tail--all that was missing was a scrunchie--as if they were headed to the laundromat?
Jessica Alba deserves an Oscar for reading all the technical nominations and winners clearly, gracefully, and with the right inflections. She is a model of enunciation and served all of the nominees well in her duty. Forest Whitaker was not far behind; his presentment intro to the best actress nominations was flattering without being cloying. He also pronounced Marion Cotillard correctly.
Tilda Swinton?? Ruby or Saoirse were robbed. (I never did get Cate's raves for I'm Not There. Get me lit up and I can do a better Dylan . . .) Isn't Swinton fascinating to look at though? She looks like a perfect pre-op tranny. No makeup needed . . .
Marion Cotillard was good, but, let's face it, any year in which Julie Christie is nominated is a done deal as far as I'm concerned. She was luminous in Away from Her.
I found the acceptance speech by the director of The Counterfeiters to be appropriate and appropriately short.
Jack Nicholson has become an overexposed ass. His shades are stupid.
Regis Philbin is a sensory offense and should be banned from the Oscar 'red carpet' segment. He screams at everybody like Barton MacLane in an old Warner Brothers actioner, will never be intentionally funny, and finally looks as ridiculous as Joan Rivers.
Jon Stewart is tedious. (All things considered, is that a compliment?)
Bill Conti's music has an unintentionally sedating effect. (That is not a compliment.) It's especially tiresome when it soundtracks all these verities pontificated about seeking emotional truth in film art.
Somebody should blowtorch the person who wrote that wholly ignorant description of Murnau's Sunrise for the cinematography awards intro.
And finally, the song nominees were, as expecfed, awful--rarely are they more than good. (The bronze standard, which is now all we can hope for, is found in Marvin Hamlisch, Dolly Parton, or Randy Newman. It's downright perverse when something like 'It's a Hard Life Out There for a Pimp" is even shortlisted much less honored.)
In fact, it's during these stultifying musical bits that I've broken away from my fellow party guests to use my host's laptop and write these comments . . .
P.S. Clumsy Stewart cut out the song winner's acceptance speech. When she finally came onstage after his apology, she gave one of the best speeches on behalf of independent musicians (really, all free-lancers) ever.
P.P.S. Best line of the night: Producer for best picture to his partner: "Without you, honey, this would just be hardware."
Enjoy the after-parties everyone, and see you at the IRAs. (THOSE are the honors that REALLY count!!)
Andy
Brother Mark responds:
Andy, I have to semi-gently tug your ears on one point -- Jon Stewart wasn't the one who cut the Irish woman songwriter off from getting to make her acceptance speech -- blame that one on either Bill Conti, down in the orchestra pit, or whoever it is that put the order to cut someone off with music onto his prompter. Stewart was apparently the perfect gentleman to bring her back on stage after the commercial break so that she could give her lovely acceptance speech after all.
Personally, I was happy to see someone from such a fringe-background as Tilda Swinton get the recognition. Better to look like a pre-op tranny than a plastic post-op tranny (a la Scarlet Johansson). (And, yes, one of my late best friends was a tranny, so I can get touchy on this subject.)
Something really refreshing this year: not one acceptance speech thanking Jesus or God. Thank God!
Mark
Michael says: As for myself, I blame the producers -- not Jon Stewart -- for cutting off the acceptance speech of the co-writer of the Best Song "Falling Slowly" from Once. UNlike the other song nominees, it's a gorgeous, appropriate tune for the movie. And even worse than cutting her off was the direction during their number. At the emotional climax of the song, the camera panned away from the performers and peaked down into the pit so we could look at the orchestra and then just as the music swelled to a finale we got a close-p of Bill Conti and then looked out into the audiece -- during the finale of a musical number! Only after moments of applause did we finally cut back to the duo. Totally obnoxious.
Overall an incredibly dull ceremony, even by Oscar standards, with endless idiotic montages of seemingly every winner in every category. Surely the low point was the 3 to 5 minute ode to Price Waterhouse explaining how people get to see movies for free and then vote on their favorites. Mind-numbingly dull.
Jon Stewart had a very good opening monologue and then was inoffensive or bad. Constantly telling us we had just seen a special moment did in fact ruin any special moments there might have been. And how non-plussed the Coens looked.
Why was it that most of the key actresses this year felt that the ultimate coif was to band their hair in a pony tail--all that was missing was a scrunchie--as if they were headed to the laundromat?
Jessica Alba deserves an Oscar for reading all the technical nominations and winners clearly, gracefully, and with the right inflections. She is a model of enunciation and served all of the nominees well in her duty. Forest Whitaker was not far behind; his presentment intro to the best actress nominations was flattering without being cloying. He also pronounced Marion Cotillard correctly.
Tilda Swinton?? Ruby or Saoirse were robbed. (I never did get Cate's raves for I'm Not There. Get me lit up and I can do a better Dylan . . .) Isn't Swinton fascinating to look at though? She looks like a perfect pre-op tranny. No makeup needed . . .
Marion Cotillard was good, but, let's face it, any year in which Julie Christie is nominated is a done deal as far as I'm concerned. She was luminous in Away from Her.
I found the acceptance speech by the director of The Counterfeiters to be appropriate and appropriately short.
Jack Nicholson has become an overexposed ass. His shades are stupid.
Regis Philbin is a sensory offense and should be banned from the Oscar 'red carpet' segment. He screams at everybody like Barton MacLane in an old Warner Brothers actioner, will never be intentionally funny, and finally looks as ridiculous as Joan Rivers.
Jon Stewart is tedious. (All things considered, is that a compliment?)
Bill Conti's music has an unintentionally sedating effect. (That is not a compliment.) It's especially tiresome when it soundtracks all these verities pontificated about seeking emotional truth in film art.
Somebody should blowtorch the person who wrote that wholly ignorant description of Murnau's Sunrise for the cinematography awards intro.
And finally, the song nominees were, as expecfed, awful--rarely are they more than good. (The bronze standard, which is now all we can hope for, is found in Marvin Hamlisch, Dolly Parton, or Randy Newman. It's downright perverse when something like 'It's a Hard Life Out There for a Pimp" is even shortlisted much less honored.)
In fact, it's during these stultifying musical bits that I've broken away from my fellow party guests to use my host's laptop and write these comments . . .
P.S. Clumsy Stewart cut out the song winner's acceptance speech. When she finally came onstage after his apology, she gave one of the best speeches on behalf of independent musicians (really, all free-lancers) ever.
P.P.S. Best line of the night: Producer for best picture to his partner: "Without you, honey, this would just be hardware."
Enjoy the after-parties everyone, and see you at the IRAs. (THOSE are the honors that REALLY count!!)
Andy
Brother Mark responds:
Andy, I have to semi-gently tug your ears on one point -- Jon Stewart wasn't the one who cut the Irish woman songwriter off from getting to make her acceptance speech -- blame that one on either Bill Conti, down in the orchestra pit, or whoever it is that put the order to cut someone off with music onto his prompter. Stewart was apparently the perfect gentleman to bring her back on stage after the commercial break so that she could give her lovely acceptance speech after all.
Personally, I was happy to see someone from such a fringe-background as Tilda Swinton get the recognition. Better to look like a pre-op tranny than a plastic post-op tranny (a la Scarlet Johansson). (And, yes, one of my late best friends was a tranny, so I can get touchy on this subject.)
Something really refreshing this year: not one acceptance speech thanking Jesus or God. Thank God!
Mark
Michael says: As for myself, I blame the producers -- not Jon Stewart -- for cutting off the acceptance speech of the co-writer of the Best Song "Falling Slowly" from Once. UNlike the other song nominees, it's a gorgeous, appropriate tune for the movie. And even worse than cutting her off was the direction during their number. At the emotional climax of the song, the camera panned away from the performers and peaked down into the pit so we could look at the orchestra and then just as the music swelled to a finale we got a close-p of Bill Conti and then looked out into the audiece -- during the finale of a musical number! Only after moments of applause did we finally cut back to the duo. Totally obnoxious.
Overall an incredibly dull ceremony, even by Oscar standards, with endless idiotic montages of seemingly every winner in every category. Surely the low point was the 3 to 5 minute ode to Price Waterhouse explaining how people get to see movies for free and then vote on their favorites. Mind-numbingly dull.
Jon Stewart had a very good opening monologue and then was inoffensive or bad. Constantly telling us we had just seen a special moment did in fact ruin any special moments there might have been. And how non-plussed the Coens looked.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
My Oscar Ballot
Here are my picks for what will win:
Best Picture: No Country For Old Men -- YES
Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen -- YES
Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis -- YES
Best Actress: Julie Christie -- NO (Marion Cotillard)
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem -- YES
Best Supporting Actress: Ruby Dee -- NO (Tilda Swinton)
Best Original Screenplay: Juno -- YES
Best Adapted Screenplay: No Country For Old Men -- YES
Best Cinematograpy: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly -- NO (There Will Be Blood)
Best Art Direction: Atonement -- NO (Sweeney Todd)
Best Costumes: Elizabeth: the Golden Age -- YES
Best Score: Atonement -- YES
Best Animated Film: Ratatouille -- YES
Best Documentary: No End In Sight -- NO (Taxi To The Dark Side)
Best Documentary Short: Sari's Mother -- NO (Freeheld)
Best Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum -- YES
Best Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters -- YES
Best Makeup: La Vie En Rose -- YES
Best Song: "Falling Slowly" from Once -- YES
Best Animated Short: I Met The Walrus -- NO (Peter and the Wolf)
Best Live Action Short: The Mozart of Pickpockets -- YES
Best Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum -- YES
Best Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum -- YES
Best Visual Effects: Transformers -- NO (The Golden Compass)
I scored a measley 16 out of 24
Best Picture: No Country For Old Men -- YES
Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen -- YES
Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis -- YES
Best Actress: Julie Christie -- NO (Marion Cotillard)
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem -- YES
Best Supporting Actress: Ruby Dee -- NO (Tilda Swinton)
Best Original Screenplay: Juno -- YES
Best Adapted Screenplay: No Country For Old Men -- YES
Best Cinematograpy: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly -- NO (There Will Be Blood)
Best Art Direction: Atonement -- NO (Sweeney Todd)
Best Costumes: Elizabeth: the Golden Age -- YES
Best Score: Atonement -- YES
Best Animated Film: Ratatouille -- YES
Best Documentary: No End In Sight -- NO (Taxi To The Dark Side)
Best Documentary Short: Sari's Mother -- NO (Freeheld)
Best Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum -- YES
Best Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters -- YES
Best Makeup: La Vie En Rose -- YES
Best Song: "Falling Slowly" from Once -- YES
Best Animated Short: I Met The Walrus -- NO (Peter and the Wolf)
Best Live Action Short: The Mozart of Pickpockets -- YES
Best Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum -- YES
Best Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum -- YES
Best Visual Effects: Transformers -- NO (The Golden Compass)
I scored a measley 16 out of 24
A Man Called Kotto, A Festival For Kids, Books For Giants, a Writer Called Kidd and Blu-Ray DVDs
Here are my latest articles: a profile of actor Yaphet Kotto, who was the first black Bond villain, a look at the NY International Children's Film Festival, a look at the reading habits of one of the members of They Might Be Giants; a review of graphic artist Chip Kidd's second novel and my Huffington Post discussion of the Blu-Ray DVD format triumphing over HD-DVD and whether you should take the plunge.
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